History SecretTestOfCharacter / WesternAnimation

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS4E06ParthFerengisHeartPlace Parth Ferengi's Heart Place]]", Captain Freeman and Admiral Vassery arrive in Ferenginar in order to try and recruit the planet into Starfleet. However, Grand Nagus Rom and his wife/First Clerk Leeta give him the runaround as the former acts like a {{Manchild}} while the latter keeps adding ridiculous stipulations for joining in, which Vassery agrees to with growing defeat and disdain. Ultimately, Freeman decides to agree to all of that ''and'' add in a 1 billion gold-pressed latinum signing bonus contingent on Ferenginar signing up a planet. [[spoiler:Rom happily agrees and gloats that they made a big mistake, but Freeman tells them to ReadTheSmallPrint: the planet they need to recruit is Qo'nos, the Klingon Homeworld, an ImpossibleTask. As it turns out, they needed to know if Starfleet isn't just an organization filled with "suckers and rubes" and that they understand their commerce-based culture by being swindled like a Ferengi. Rom agrees to sign the original document and begin the process for Ferenginar to join the Federation]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E07MuchAdoAboutBoimler Much Ado About Boimler]]", Mariner's friend, Captain Amina Ramsey, has come from her command of the USS ''Oakland'' to see if Mariner is good enough to get promoted to her crew. Mariner, wary that her best friend from the Academy might be testing her for such a promotion, intentionally underperforms to sabotage that attempt. However, when the mission turns risky and lives are on the line, Mariner quickly becomes the hyper-competent officer that she could be, which leads to Ramsey questioning why Mariner is even in Starfleet.

* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Lucius sets up a game show that citizens of Miseryville [[TrumanShowPlot unknowingly]] compete on where they have to keep their promise to stay on a single spot. Unlike most tests, Lucius wants to prove that no one is really good enough to do it, even staking his [[{{Fiction500}} entire fortune]] on it. Which means it's trouble when the contestant is [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Jimmy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'': In "Depths", Black Manta sends his son Aqualad to lead a mission to sabotage a rocket launch. They fail to stop the launch, but the rocket inexplicably explodes in low orbit anyway. Aqualad reports back to his father that their success was a mere fluke, but Black Manta tells his son that he smuggled a bomb aboard the rocket days ago, the ''real'' test was to see if Aqualad would take credit for a victory that was not his own to determine his character in the face of failure (if he had succeeded in destroying the rocket, Black Manta simply would have continued with more assignments until he failed).

* ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseKamandi''. The gorilla cult put the title character and his companions through TheThreeTrials to determine if one of them is "The Mighty One". While the trials are obviously designed to identify someone with superpowers (SuperStrength and NighInvulnerability) their real purpose is to identify someone with those abilities who also has wisdom and compassion. Unsurprisingly, the Mighty One is revealed to be Superman.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', [[KidHero Finn]] is told to kill several evil monsters to prove that he's a real hero; he does it easily. Then he is told to slay a perfectly normal ant. After ascertaining that the ant is not, in fact, evil (but not good, either; it's [[TrueNeutral neutral]]), Finn [[LargeHam loudly]] refuses and attacks his tester instead.
* The final test in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingFeatsOfYoungHercules''. [[spoiler: Hercules passes when he willingly [[TakeMeInstead offers his life]] for Falina's]].
* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. In "Bullocks to Stan" Avery Bullock (Stan's boss at the CIA) has been sleeping with Stan's daughter and forcing Stan to go along with it by bribing him with a possible promotion. Eventually the pair break up, Bullock begins insulting Hayley and Stan beats the crap out of Bullock. To keep Stan from killing him, Bullock tries to pass off everything he did as a test to see if Stan would stand up for himself and his daughter. [[BlatantLies He's clearly making it all up]], but is ''just'' persuasive enough that Stan lets him go.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower'' episode "Rocket Rescue", Tito falls off the pier while filling a bucket with sea water. Otto calls out for help, and Twister and Sam, two junior lifeguards in training, immediately spring into action. After untangling Tito and bringing him back to shore with their surfboard, Lieutenant Tice Ryan reveals that Tito was a lifeguard himself and he'd sometimes surprise new recruits with a pop quiz like the one Twister and Sam had just passed.

* In "The Princess Test" on ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'', Fauna disguises herself as Royal Prep's librarian, and asks each princess in turn for help, just before the Princess Test begins. Sofia is the only one willing to put off the test and help, which earns her full marks for displaying a Princess' most important trait: Kindness. Not only this, but the test is rigged with a number of pitfalls specifically designed to test Sofia's resolution to ''continue'' helping Fauna; in each instance, she passes. While most of the students get silver stars, Sofia passes with the highest score possible and gets a big gold trophy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "The Great Simpsona", Lisa learns magic from an experienced magician. Eventually, she finds a book that reveals how one of his greatest tricks is done, a trick she hadn't even been told how to do. She briefly considers looking in the book, but then decides against it. The magician then reveals that it was a test to see if he can trust her with knowing how to do the trick.
* The end of the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Pinewood Derby" [[spoiler: reveals that the whole plot of the episode was just one big test of character to decide whether or not to let Earth into the Galactic Federation after they discovered warp travel (Randy enhanced Stan's Pinewood Derby car with a supermagnet from the Large Hadron Collider). Earth fails and is barred from the rest of the universe. As Randy says at the end of the episode "Well, that sucks!"]]

* In the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' series, the turtles, who have been kidnapped along with four other people, are subjected to one of these by their kidnappers, the Ninja Tribunal. The Tribunal states that the kidnappees must fight each other to the death, and that only those who survive would become the Tribunal's students. The kidnappees refuse, attacking the Tribunal instead and therefore passing the test.
* In the "Abraham" episode of ''WesternAnimation/TestamentTheBibleInAnimation'' God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son to see if he'd obey Him. He stops Abraham before he actually has to go through with it.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}}'', after Lion-O [[spoiler: dies and the rest of the Thundercats are captured by Mumm-ra]], he's saved by the [[McGuffin spirit stone]] and is told that he has to undergo four trials to prove that he's worthy [[spoiler: of being brought back to life]]. [[spoiler: He fails the last one and is told that he cannot return to life, but that the stone can return his soul to his body until sunrise. After the sun rises, however, he will die and his soul will be stuck forever in limbo. Lion-O, of course, chooses to return to life temporarily in order to save the Thundercats. After he rescues the Thundercats and is prepared to die, Jaga appears and tells him that his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people ''was'' the last test and he's earned his life back permanently.]]
* Professor Wizgiz in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' pulled one of these on all the students by saying there would be a pop quiz the next day, and letting them all find envelopes which appeared to contain the answers. In reality, the envelopes contained dust puffs, which let him easily see who was honest enough not to open them.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Depths", Black Manta sends his son Aqualad to lead a mission to sabotage a rocket launch. They fail to stop the launch, but the rocket inexplicably explodes in low orbit anyway. Aqualad reports back to his father that their success was a mere fluke, but Black Manta tells his son that he smuggled a bomb aboard the rocket days ago, the ''real'' test was to see if Aqualad would take credit for a victory that was not his own to determine his character in the face of failure (if he had succeeded in destroying the rocket, Black Manta simply would have continued with more assignments until he failed).

* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'': Prince Keldor had kidnapped Prince Adam and demanded the power of Grayskull for himself to usurp his brother as king of Eternos. Eldress, the guardian of Castle Grayskull and its power, offered Keldor a choice between a sword and a scepter as a means to harness the power. Keldor dismissed the sword as the tool of a soldier, a ''servant'' to the power, and chose the scepter as the symbol of a ruler. When he tried to take the power, his selfishness instead exposed him to the power of [[TheDarkSide Havoc]], [[SkeletalAppendage rotting away his left arm]] and [[PowerDegeneration threatening to kill him in time]]. When Keldor attacked Eldress in retaliation, young Adam took the sword to protect her, proving he had the heart of a true champion and would eventually gain the power of Grayskull and become He-Man.

* In the ''{{WesternAnimation/Ewoks}}'' season two episode "The Tragic Flute", Latara desires a golden flute after having seen that King Elbo from the underwater awarded Kneesaa with two golden anklets. Her friends, rushing to save her are captured and King Elbo sends her to a room full of precious items asking her to bring back what's most valuable. Eventually, [[spoiler: she comes across her old flute, realises that this was a test of her morals and her friends are set free.]]

*** In "The Crystal Empire", Princess Celestia tells Twilight Sparkle that she alone has to save the Crystal Empire in order to prove that she is ready for the next level of her studies. [[spoiler:Twilight is forced to have Spike save the empire instead after getting caught in a trap, but passes the test anyway because she put the needs of others before her own need to succeed. Celestia would have had difficulty actually planning this all--though it would not be her first GambitRoulette--but all we really know about the test is that the end result was this, and Celestia's wording ''was'' kind of specific.]]

*** The main story arc of Season Four centers on this, though it's never told who in the heck set up the challenge in the first place. In the season premiere, the Mane Six comes across a mysterious chest sealed with six locks. Later, each of the ponies gets [[ADayInTheLimelight an episode all about her particular element]] and the challenges associated with it; for example, Rarity, who wields the Element of Generosity, must choose between winning a fashion design contest or going to apologize to her friends for mistreating them, while Pinkie Pie, the holder of the Element of Laughter, has to decide whether or not winning a party-planning contest is worth hurting a friend's feelings. Inevitably, each of the Six chooses to honor their element even if it means making a personal sacrifice, and as a reward for making the right decision, they're granted small, seemingly mundane items which give off a rainbow shimmer. When these six items are placed on the chest, they transform into the keys needed to unlock it and free the incredible Rainbow Power inside, granting them the ability to defeat [[BigBad Tirek]] and undo his massive destruction.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' had one in the episode "Night Game". Winston's found himself in the crossfire of a battle between the forces of good and evil... which happens to take the form of a baseball game (ItMakesSenseInContext). The other three come in to save him, but can't, because he's already in the game and there's no room for more players. All they can do is sit and let the game continue--the stakes are for Winston's soul. If good loses, he becomes the slave of evil. If Ray, Peter, and Egon try to involve themselves, it will be considered cheating, and, as the Umpire says, "evil cheats." [[spoiler: Winston revealed in the end that they were playing for Peter's soul. Peter was understandably scared, since he and the others considered interfering with the game.]]

** Parodied in another episode where Gus becomes a temporary playground king. He has to solve a dispute between two girls over a doll. Gus takes some inspiration from King Solomon and orders the doll to be cut in half--intending to give it to the girl who protested. But his advisors then tell him that he gave the doll to the wrong girl.

** In season four, [[spoiler:conflicted over her role in the Horde, TokenGoodTeammate Scorpia delivers one to Catra by pretending to botch a simple task. Her supposed best friend's enraged reaction convinces Scorpia that she has no reason to remain with the Horde and [[HeelFaceTurn defects to the Rebellion.]]]]

*** The main story arc of Season Four centers on this, though it's never told who in the heck set up the challenge in the first place. In the season premiere, the Mane Six comes across a mysterious chest sealed with six locks. Later, each of the ponies gets [[ADayInTheLimelight an episode all about her particular element]] and the challenges associated with it; for example, Rarity, who wields the Element of Generosity, must choose between winning a fashion design contest or going to apologize to her friends for mistreating them, while Pinkie Pie, the holder of the Element of Laughter, has to decide whether or not winning a party-planning contest is worth hurting a friend's feelings. Inevitably, each of the Six chooses to honor their element even if it means making a personal sacrifice, and as a reward for making the right decision, they're granted small, seemingly mundane items. When these six items are placed on the chest, they transform into the keys needed to unlock it and free the incredible Rainbow Power inside, granting them the ability to defeat [[BigBad Tirek]] and undo his massive destruction.

* Late into the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', the three girls that got teleported were tested on their personality relating to the Calamity Gem they represent in order to power them up at each of the three respective temples. Marcy was tested of her wit and intelligence, and gave up the Flipwart game for the sake of Anne and the Plantars when she realized it was unwinnable. Anne was tested of her compassion by Valeriana to the point of confessing her bad deeds and learning from her mistakes. Sasha was tested of her strength by using her mental energy within to persevere herself and defend Anne and Marcy. Out of the three, Anne only got her gem charged halfway, as she asked Valeriana to send her back when she thought the Plantars and Marcy were in danger when really, they were watching harmless cat videos with Marcy's phone at max volume. This allowed her to retain her connection with her gem, granting her a SuperMode so she can fight King Andrias.

* Late into the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', the three girls that got teleported were tested on their personality relating to the Calamity Gem they represent in order to power them up at each of the three respective temples. Marcy was tested of her wit and intelligence, and gave up the Flipwart game for the sake of Anne and the Plantars when she realized it was unwinnable. Anne was tested of her compassion by Valeriana to the point of confessing her bad deeds and learning from her mistakes. Sasha was tested of her strength by using her mental energy within to persevere herself and defend Anne and Marcy. Out of the three, Anne only got her gem charged halfway, as she asked Valeriana to send her back when she thought the Plantars and Marcy were in danger when really, they were watching harmless cat videos with Marcy's phone at max volume.

** In the second season, BigBad Hordak is giving one of these to Catra. Hordak is a practitioner of PragmaticVillainy, usually willing to overlook a few flaws or missteps if it helps the Horde's causes. However, to make sure Catra is capable, he asks Catra what's happened after things go pear-shaped for the Horde. Hordak already knows the answer, but wants to see if Catra will tell him the truth or lie to save her own skin. [[spoiler:Catra accidentally allowed Shadow Weaver to escape, despite knowing that Shadow Weaver is a MagnificentBastard who manipulates people. Rather than admit fault, Catra lies and says Shadow Weaver is still in her cell, causing Catra to fail Hordak's test. Hordak is ''not'' happy about it.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Patriot Act" sees Shining Knight recount a time KingArthur asked him to slaughter a village, which Knight refused. When [[GeneralRipper General Eiling]] sneers that Knight was a horrible soldier for not doing so, Knight retorted that Arthur thanked him, revealing that the "order" was in fact a test.

* In "The Princess Test" on ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'', Fauna disguises herself as Royal Prep's librarian, and asks each princess in turn for help, just before the Princess Test begins. Sofia is the only one willing to put off the test and help, which earns her full marks for displaying a Princess' most important trait: Kindness. Not only this, but the test is rigged with a number of pitfalls specifically designed to test Sofia's resolution to ''continue'' helping Fauna; in each instance, she passes.

* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Patriot Act" sees Shining Knight recount a time KingArthur asked him to slaughter a village, which Knight refused. When General Eiling told Knight he was a horrible soldier for not doing so, Knight retorted that Arthur thanked him, revealing that the "order" was in fact a test.

* Late into the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', the three girls that got teleported were tested on their personality relating to the Calamity Gem they represent in order to power them up. Marcy was tested of her wit and intelligence, and gave up the Flipwart game for the sake of Anne and the Plantars when she realized it was unwinnable. Anne was tested of her compassion by Valeriana to the point of confessing her bad deeds and learning from her mistakes. Sasha was tested of her strength by using her mental energy within to persevere herself and defend Anne and Marcy. Out of the three, Anne only got her gem charged halfway, as she asked Valeriana to send her back when she thought the Plantars and Marcy were in danger when really, they were watching harmless cat videos with Marcy's phone at max volume.

*** It's revealed in the GrandFinale that [[spoiler:Discord disguised himself as Grogar and freed Equestria's greatest villains]] so he can test Twilight on her bravery before her coronation as ruler of Equestria. But it causes more harm than good, and the heroes are not happy about it.

* The entire backbone of imaginary friends in ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is to test the kid who brought them to life to learn a valuable life lesson and become better. Bloo's [[{{Jerkass}} jerkassery]] is meant to teach Mac to avoid being too much of an ExtremeDoormat unwilling to stand up against people even if he means well, Eduardo's scary appearance is meant to protect his kid from bullies until he himself started to fear them which led to her growing a backbone and defend ''him'' instead (which led to her becoming a police woman), Will meanwhile was created to be a basketball partner for his kid who went on to become a famous basketball player (despite Will losing an arm and getting an eye damaged), etc.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'': One of Hordak's plans goes terribly wrong, and he and She-Ra wind up trapped in another dimension. The Being that lives there tells them they have to pass a series of tests to be allowed access to the door and key to get home. After most of the episode, they're finally within sight of the door area.
** As they approach the door, She-Ra notices a small, scared, fox-like animal stuck on a high ledge. Hordak complains as she starts climbing, saying they need to be searching for the key to open the door. She-Ra ignores him and brings the kit back to ground level. It disappears, leaving behind the crystal in its forehead -which splits in three. [[spoiler: One to open the door out of the dimension, one key each for Hordak and She-Ra -the Being's not stupid.]]
** Hordak has been musing on the idea of trapping She-Ra in the dimension. One of the most powerful champions of the Rebellion, potentially gone forever? [[VillainHasAPoint What's not to like?]] In the effort to keep her in the dimension [[spoiler:by stealing her crystal, he loses his down a crack in the stone floor. But She-Ra refuses to leave without him, causing the Being to commend her on her mercy. Although there's the far more practical issue that the replacement Horde Prime]] sends might actually be ''competent''.

* ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsAcceleracers'': [[spoiler: The Racing Realms are revealed to be a long series of this, designed to create "the perfect driver" with each track teaching a different kind of skill. The point of the final race is not to be first, but instead to make it through all previous tracks on your own without using the Accele-Chargers.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', to test if Marinette and Adrien are worthy candidates for the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses, Master Fu pretends to be infirm and in jeopardy to see if they come to his aid. [[ForegoneConclusion Naturally, they pass with flying colors.]]

** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E08PathOfTheJedi "Path of the Jedi"]]: Much like in the ''Clone Wars'' example above, Ezra is put through one at the Lothal Jedi temple, and is rewarded with a kyber crystal when he passes.