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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 6 | ->'''Zed:''' May I ask why you felt little Tiffany deserved to die?\ |
| 7 | '''Jay:''' Well, she was the only one that actually seemed dangerous at the time, sir.\ |
| 8 | '''Zed:''' How'd you come to that conclusion?\ |
| 9 | '''Jay:''' Well, first I was gonna pop this guy hangin' from the streetlight, and then I realized, you know, he's just working out. How would I feel if somebody come runnin' in the gym, bust me in my ass while I'm on the treadmill? Then I saw this, uh, snarling beast guy. Then I noticed he had a tissue in his hand, and I realized, you know, he's not snarling, he's ''sneezing''. You know, ain't no real threat there. Then I saw little Tiffany. I'm thinkin', you know, eight-year-old, white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night, with quantum physics books? She 'bout to start some shit, Zed. She's about eight years old. Those books are ''way'' too advanced for her! If you ask me, I say she's up to something. |
| 10 | -->-- ''Film/MenInBlack'' |
| 11 | |
| 12 | When the heroes know they're being tested, but the purpose of the test isn't what they think it is. Subtrope of FalseCrucible. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | This is commonly done in RealLife psychological tests, to get around people giving the answers they think the tester wants to see. It's harder to do that if you don't know the true purpose of the test. Unlike {{secret test}}s, the hero does know they're being tested, so there's less need to go to elaborate, and unsafe, lengths to fake danger. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | This is related to DangerRoomColdOpen, since in both cases the heroes know they're being tested, but that trope applies when the viewer doesn't know it's a test, irrespective of whether the test has a hidden purpose. Compare and Contrast with KansasCityShuffle, where characters know they are being tricked, but have the wrong idea about what the con is. Often overlaps with WaxOnWaxOff and WhenYouSnatchThePebble, especially when an OldMaster sets a bizarre test whose true purpose is to encourage a specific type of training. May also overlap with SecretTestOfCharacter in cases where an apparent test of skill is actually an evaluation of the subject's moral fitness. May take the form of an UnwinnableTrainingSimulation if the test is meant to determine how the subject responds to death and/or extreme pressure. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | !!Examples: |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 24 | * ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' had [[HeroicComedicSociopath Hiruma]] staging a test to eliminate the many people who want to join the team. The test is to carry a bag of ice to the top of TokyoTower within a day. However, Hiruma set it so it was very difficult (but not impossible) to reach the top. Such as adding sugar to the ice to make it melt faster, certain floors have the temperatures raised to alarming levels and being chased by Hiruma's vicious AngryGuardDog. When asked about the unfairness of the test, Hiruma stated that he was looking for [[TheDeterminator those with determination]] who could make it to the top, regardless of how difficult or challenging the test was. [[spoiler: So Hiruma and co. waited until sundown for ''anyone'' who was strong-willed enough to fulfill the task no matter what. The last one is [[WeakButSkilled Yuki]][[GeekPhysiques mitsu]], who arrives as the sun's setting and has lost all the ice in his bag, but makes it onto the team anyway.]] |
| 25 | * ''Manga/FoodWars'' has the Stagiaire, a month-long period where the first-years of Tootsuki are sent off to various professional kitchens to work for them for a week. However, the objective isn't simply to get experience working in a real restaurant. The true objective is to leave "visible results", in other words, to prove that they can do more than what was just simply assigned and leave a lasting impact on their assigned restaurant (such as making a new dish or permanently solving problem the kitchen had been facing). Beyond even that, the student is also expected to surpass their own limitations and learn something new during this period. |
| 26 | * In ''Manga/HoneyHoney'', Honey ''thinks'' she has to run over hot coals as a ritual for a nomadic tribe's people, but in truth she has to remove her shoes because they are looking for a rose-shaped birthmark that represents royalty on a young girl's foot. |
| 27 | * Heavily implied to be the case for Polpo's test in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind''. The initiation to join Passione is that you are to keep a lighter lit for twenty-four hours. However, it's easier said than done. If the lighter goes out, that's when the ''true'' test begins as his Stand appears and pierces you with an arrow that [[SuperEmpowering either manifests a Stand of your own when hit]] or [[DieOrFly die from the strain]]. And if for whatever reason you are able to keep the lighter lit without issue, [[XanatosGambit you are considered capable enough to be an asset to Passione]]. |
| 28 | * In ''Million Dollar Kid'', a tycoon gives one hundred million yen to each of his three sons and tells them the one who best uses the money will succeed him. What the youngest son (a gambling addict who happens to be the protagonist) doesn't know is that his father is using this as an excuse to cast him off from the family. |
| 29 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': In the U.A. entrance practical test, candidates earn Villain Points by defeating robots, and they need a certain minimum to pass. [[TheHero Izuku]], due to a combination of his inexperience with combat, suffering damage from using his new powers and helping the other candidates, ends up failing to defeat a single robot with a point value assigned (he destroys a large robot, but its value was zero) and earning zero Villain Points. However, when he gets the results he learns that the test had a hidden part where candidates could earn Rescue Points for heroic actions such as saving others - and he has earned enough points that he passes. In contrast, [[{{Munchkin}} Katsuki]] passes purely by destroying robots, and Tenya only guesses that there ''might'' be a hidden purpose test after he sees Izuku destroy the zero-point robot. |
| 30 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' loves doing this: |
| 31 | ** Hatake Kakashi sets up a test where three fresh ninja recruits have to steal bells from him... which is totally impossible. The day before, he told them to skip breakfast without explaining the exercise, [[TrainingFromHell under the premise that it'd make them throw up otherwise]], so they'd be hungry during the test, and then busts one of them trying to sneak food. [[spoiler:The test is actually to see whether they will break the rules and feed their starving team mate, since ninja who fail missions are trash, but ninja who don't look out for each other are "lower than that!"]] |
| 32 | ** The first stage of the Chuunin Exam is just finding the room for it by seeing through an illusion technique. The final question is given at the end with the condition that once you've heard the question, if you get it wrong you instantly fail and can never take the exam again. However, you can quit and try again next year, but this also makes your teammates fail. [[spoiler:There is no question, it's just a test to see if you'll risk yourself for your teammates' benefit.]] |
| 33 | ** During a {{filler}} episode, its revealed that the dreaded "final question" in the chuunin exam one year was subtly different. In this version, if you get the question wrong, you're still fine but your teammates are stuck as genin forever. [[spoiler:Agreeing to continue means you fail, as once again, the purpose of the question is to determine who will sacrifice their teammates for their own benefit.]] |
| 34 | ** The first nine questions are themselves a hidden purpose test of ''skill'': The questions are too difficult for most genin to know, but there are two fake candidates taking the test. There are proctors watching the candidates, and any genin caught cheating five times is automatically failed, along with their team. The key to passing the test is to figure out how to get the answers [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught without getting caught,]] as a test of the ninja's information-gathering skills. The proctors merely pretend not to notice some of the cheating (Ibiki notices that Gaara is up to something, but gives him a pass as he can't figure out what), but presumably give penalties for what they consider to be substandard information gathering. |
| 35 | *** Both Naruto and Sakura managed to pass via accidental LoopholeAbuse. Neither of them got caught cheating because they simply didn't cheat in the first place - Sakura was smart enough to answer the questions legitimately, and Naruto [[spoiler:left his page blank. Due to the way the Chuunin Exam rules worked (you automatically pass if you make it to the tenth question and answer that correctly), he passes despite not having done anything]]. |
| 36 | * ''Manga/ShadowsHouse'': The LivingShadow residents of the titular house are assissted by Living Dolls who are their personal servants in private and serve as their faces when they are out in public. Shadows are assigned their Living Doll some time before they participate in debut trials that, if successful, allow them to leave their room and mingle with other Shadows. Living Dolls themselves are in a IDontPayYouToThink situation. On the way to the room in which [[spoiler:some of]] the debut trials take place, the Living Dolls are asked why the hallway separating two parts of the house is quite long. The right answer, which nets the Shadow to which the Doll belongs a head start in their score at the trials, is [[spoiler:to not give an answer and state the rule according to which Living Dolls are not supposed to have unnecessary thoughts]]. |
| 37 | * The last chapters in the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' manga, ''Manga/StrangeAndBrightNatureDeity'', had [[RealityWarper Yukari]] testing [[NatureSpirit the three fairy protagonists]] via [[BulletHell danmaku]] to see if they were fit to live in the very special tree they were planning to move in. After the three fairies were shot to hell and back and were ready to give up on the tree, Yukari revealed that she wasn't testing how strong they were, she was testing how ''weak'' they were. Yukari didn't want anything powerful and potentially troublesome inhabiting the tree because it was important to the border around [[MagicalLand Gensokyo]]. Since the three fairies proved themselves to be utterly pathetic in terms of power, they passed with flying colors. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': |
| 39 | ** Genkai makes the interested applicants for her Spirit Training play video games. One is a karaoke machine, another a punching bag, and another a "rock-paper-scissors" type of game. The bag tests Spirit Energy, the karaoke machine tests how well they can sync up with the supernatural and the rock-paper-scissors game tests spiritual awareness. |
| 40 | ** Prior to this, Genkai weeds out potential students from rejects by way of a lottery. Each candidate receives an envelope with a piece of paper. Those with blank paper strips are sent home, while those with red strips advance. In truth, ''all'' of the strips start out blank. They only turn red if the candidate has a certain minimum amount of spirit energy. |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Fairy Tales and Folklore]] |
| 44 | * A fairy tale has a king distribute seeds to his subjects, promising great reward for the one who grows it best. The main character tries her best to care for the seed, but nothing grows. At the end of the contest time limit, she brought the empty pot, and is discouraged to see the other competitors bringing beautiful plants. Later, the king reveals that the seeds he gave out had been roasted so that they're impossible to grow. He rewards the main character for her honesty. |
| 45 | [[/folder]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 48 | * There was an ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' fanfic where Ione (an Avatar like Trance) and Harper argue over who should marry Trance. It is stated that the matter should be decided in a battle. Naturally, Ione beats Harper badly...after which it is announced that ''Harper'' is the winner, since he was more honorable (Ione refused to fight as an equal) and more determined (by refusing to surrender). There could never be any doubt about who's stronger. |
| 49 | * ''Fanfic/DreamingOfSunshine'': |
| 50 | ** Shikako realizes that Kakashi has ulterior motives for telling her and her teammates not to eat before their first test, along with recognizing the true purpose of the bell test. She warns Naruto about ahead of time, and explains to Sasuke afterwards. |
| 51 | ** When Shikako warns her teammates about a possible ambush while they're traveling to the Land of Waves, Kakashi asks her to describe what she's feeling. This is implied to be because he's attempting to gauge just how powerful a sensor she is. |
| 52 | * ''Fanfic/TheDuskGuardSaga'': Officially, the first training exercise in ''Rise'' is meant to be testing everybody's skills when outnumbered. Over time, however, it becomes increasingly clear that it's also about their ability to trust and work together with each other. |
| 53 | * The U.A. entrance exam in ''Fanfic/TheEmeraldPhoenix'' has the massive zero-point robot also have a clause that will cost all of an applicant's points if they engage it at all. The teachers muse that the real purpose of the robot is to see what the applicants will do in a situation with nothing to gain and everything to lose. Izuku is the only one to fight the robot, in order to save the trapped Uraraka, and thus earns the most Hero Points out of everyone. |
| 54 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4563333/1/For-The-Greater-Good For The Greater Good]]'' by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/956921/marietsy2 marietsy2]], it turns out that [[RonTheDeathEater Dumbledore]], after winning a PyrrhicVictory against Grindelwald (he waited too long, believing that he could gain more glory by defeating Gellert after he caused more destruction), had summoned [[DeusExMachina Gaia]] who promised to hit a ResetButton for him...on the condition that if he fails to defeat the new darkness rising, he will not just be killed, but [[YourSoulIsMine his soul will be Gaia's]]. After Harry wins a PyrrhicVictory as well, once again thanks to Dumbledore, Gaia comes in to collect what was promised... the test wasn't for Dumbledore to defeat Voldemort, since that was Harry's task, but to defeat the darkness within himself, by raising Harry personally, in a loving home. And with all the consequences, she deems his actions sufficient for him to be killed, [[CessationOfExistence obliterated]] and retconned out of existence. |
| 55 | * ''Fanfic/ToForgetIsUnforgivable'': During ''The Curse Is Okay, But The New Guy Is On Thin Ice'', Goji and Principal Yaga have Izuku take a version of the Jujutsu Tech entrance exam in order to see whether he'll protect anyone other than Katsuki. At one point, Izuku instinctively moves to protect Gojo despite knowing full well that he's untouchable, as said instincts compel him to protect ''everyone''. |
| 56 | * In ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/3883024?view_full_work=true A Gem and Her Pearl]]'', the insurgent [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Rose Quartz]] chooses a slave this way. She tests their creativity and independence through a complex economical problem, in a subtle way that will not [[BigBrotherIsWatching draw attention]]. |
| 57 | -->It turned out exactly as she'd expected: [the majority] all decided that the necessary pieces of information could all be assigned a symbol, but they simply had no clue what to do with the symbols once they got them; for all their focus they'd only managed to rewrite the question, their attempts to solve it were just systematic applications of all the maths they appeared to know already. |
| 58 | * ''Fanfic/HawkmothDefeated'': While Marinette figures out quickly that Robin is trying to test her and Adrien in ''some'' fashion, she doesn't realize just what he's looking for: how good they are at fighting [[spoiler:without any Miraculous powers]]. Regardless, she's left rather annoyed by the whole ordeal. |
| 59 | * In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fanfic ''[[http://aadler.iwarp.com/2_synhnf.htm Hell Hath No Fury]]'', the hero agrees to face three tests, of body, mind and spirit. Only after going through all three does he discover what he thought was a test of body was actually a test of mind, the test of spirit actually a test of body, and the test of mind actually a test of spirit. |
| 60 | * In ''Fanfic/TheMoonTheFlowerAndTheDoor'', Princess Luna devises a test with a very simple premise: "The test ends when you open the door." None of the participants pass - save for a young Earth Pony, who actually thinks things through and asks the right questions. The goal is to attract a student who will actually listen to what Luna's telling them, instead of what they ''think'' she's saying. |
| 61 | * ''Fanfic/OneEyeFullOfWisdom'': Every test that prospective members of Konoha's T&I bureau has some hidden aspect. For instance, Ibuki tells [[spoiler:Sakura]] not to leave a room until he returns. After seemingly passing the test, they're informed that they can go; however, they realize the trick and refuse to exit until Ibuki finally comes back. |
| 62 | * To be admitted to the eponymous ''Fanfic/PrincessSparklesSchoolForEccentricUnicorns'', Twilight challenges applicants to do what only she has in a thousand years: create new magic. Only four unicorns pass the test, by simply trying any spell, instead of just giving up or raging. Technically the test was "show her a spell she has never seen before", it's just that she's seen so many spells, even ones she didn't know how to cast, that the only way to guarantee winning was to invent a new spell. Lyra passed because the musical spell she cast was to relax her nerves and she kept casting afterwards in a panic. Trixie cast her spell just to spite Twilight for giving her an impossible test. Fleur didn't want to disappoint her husband and so cast the most obscure spell she had in desperation that Twilight hadn't seen it before. Vinyl wasn't taking the whole test seriously at all and just cast something for fun. |
| 63 | * ''Fanfic/TheSerpentEmpress'' [[AdaptationalContextChange reimagines]] Luffy's fight with Bacura, Sandersonia and Marigold in this fashion. Rather than legitimately trying to execute him, they're attempting to gauge his full potential. |
| 64 | * ''Fanfic/UnitedHeroes'': While in the Dark Dimension, [[spoiler:Loki]] appears and challenges the heroes in order to [[spoiler:show them just what they can do with the Cosmic Emeralds]]. |
| 65 | * ''Fanfic/WithConfidence'': In order to access a certain online forum (known only as the Forum), applicants must first pass an undefined test from one of the administrators. This test actually entails checking to see if the applicants are Quirkless, as the Forum is a support group for Quirkless people. |
| 66 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13928367/3/You-re-the-Son-of-Legends-Harry You're the Son of Legends, Harry!]], Gwyndolin refuses to believe Harry's claim about being Sir Artorias and Lady Ciaran's lost child unless he can bring Artorias' sword and ring back from his grave in the Darkroot Garden. The trick isn't to slaughter everything waiting on the path, it's actually to persuade Sif -- the Greatwolf Artorias raised as his familiar and now the grave's foremost guardian -- to let the items being removed. Not only Harry manages it to introducing himself to the wolf and politely asking, he offers for Sif to become his companion as he doesn't think his father would have wanted for the Greatwolf to waste her life in mourning. Gwyndolin is stunned by the results, but after confirming there's no magic compulsions involved, fully acknowledges Harry's claim as legitimate. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 70 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'': There is a test in which the trainee soldiers must climb to the top of a pole with a weight tied to each wrist. Shang says one represents discipline and one represents strength, and "you need both to reach the arrow". True to his word, the soldiers are meant to use their brains and swing the weights so that the straps twine together on the opposite side of the pole, and use it to gain traction to pull themselves to the top. |
| 71 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'', Rainbow Dash is willing to help Twilight Sparkle win the crown... on the condition that she get five soccer goals before Rainbow does. It goes about as well as you'd expect, considering it's ''Rainbow'' vs. Twilight, and a Twilight who has no magic and isn't quite used to human locomotion, to boot. Rainbow helps her anyway, because the ''true'' test was if Twilight would try to the very end, even if it seemed—and in this case, ''was''—hopeless, a trait that had already been tested in Equestria, and would stand her in good stead through the rest of the adventure. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 75 | * This trope is the entire foundation of the 2004 movie ''[[Film/{{DEBS}} D.E.B.S.]]'', in which a secret test is hidden in the American S.A.T.s which measures the students' aptitude for spying. All girls who pass the hidden test are given the opportunity (which nobody, it seems, turns down) to become a D.E.B. It is not shown where the boys who pass the test are sent. |
| 76 | * ''Film/MenInBlack'': |
| 77 | ** Potential recruits are shown taking a marksmanship test, with a mix of both alien and human targets in a street scene. James Edwards ignores the aliens, putting a single shot in the forehead of a little girl, and invokes this trope when ordered to explain his choice, claiming she was clearly the biggest threat. After all, what kind of little girl reads quantum physics textbooks and would be out alone at night on a city street full of alien monsters? Very suspicious. The movie leaves it up in the air as to whether Edwards is right or whether it's his other qualities - quick outside-the-box thinking, attention to detail, and willingness to challenge authority, among others - that lead Agent K to select Edwards as [[spoiler:his replacement]]. The novelization (which deviates from the film in some areas) presents his reasoning as correct. |
| 78 | ** When presented with a multiple-choice test on paper with no flat surface to write on, Edwards very noisily drags a table over to his chair while everyone else stays where they are and struggles with the difficulty of pencilling in their answers on the floppy paper test sheets in their egg-shape chairs. After all, a member of the Men In Black can't be afraid of doing something that looks silly and stupid for the sake of completing their mission. |
| 79 | * The Space Corp agency in ''Film/{{Predestination}}'' officially tested women for space escorts but in reality the tests were designed to find suitable agents for their secret TimePolice academy. |
| 80 | * In ''Film/TheRecruit'', the protagonist is captured, beaten and tortured by men who demand he tell them the name of his CIA handler. Eventually he does, immediately after which it is revealed to be a test. He is made to leave the training facility on the pretext that he failed the test, but is later told that the other recruits were made to believe that because he's been selected for covert assignments. The test was in fact to see how long he could hold out and wasn't going to stop until he gave in. He actually lasted longer than any recruit in a long time. |
| 81 | * PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/Shazam2019'': Freddy has Billy hide in one box with a second box beside it to test for possible teleportation powers. Once Billy is inside the box, Freddy's notebook reveals that he is ''really'' testing for fire immunity. Then he sets the box on fire. |
| 82 | * Parodied in ''Film/StarskyAndHutch'', when Starsky and Hutch try to infiltrate a biker bar while in disguise as members of a local gang. When the owner asks them to answer a question to prove that they're really members, Hutch assumes that it's a trick question and attempts to think around it. It's not. |
| 83 | -->'''Jeff:''' Tell me, if you two are Jesters: what's our credo?\ |
| 84 | '''Hutch:''' The credo? You almost got me--there ''is'' no credo!\ |
| 85 | ''(Jeff gives him a weird look)''\ |
| 86 | '''Hutch:''' ...other than the ''secret'' credo!\ |
| 87 | '''Jeff:''' That ain't no secret. It's written right on our damn crest!\ |
| 88 | ''(Hutch looks up and sees the crest hanging over the bar in plain sight)'' |
| 89 | * In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'''s Kobayashi Maru test, the hidden purpose was to test how trainees would deal with an [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation unwinnable situation.]] |
| 90 | * ''Film/YoungDoctorsInLove'': The [[{{Squick}} urine tasting scene]]. It starts as a re-enactment of an old joke where a teacher (Ludwig) teaches interns to not be squeamish: he puts his finger in the urine sample, licks it and tells its composition. The lesson is: they should have noticed he licked another finger. Immediately, it gets [[OffTheRails derailed]] by Burns, who [[spoiler:vocally insists that he has quit drinking]], and August, who [[spoiler:pulls the same trick as Ludwig, but persuades Ludwig to taste the urine for real.]] |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 94 | * ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': |
| 95 | ** Parodied in ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' when Death orders his new apprentice to muck out the stables. After the task is done, Death asks Mort why he had been given this task. Mort correctly comes up with the following reason: because the stables were filthy and needed to be mucked out. |
| 96 | *** Played straight with Death's response that Mort is showing clarity of thought and a realistic approach, which is important in Death's job. So it was a Test - the Test was to spot that there was no ulterior motive for getting Mort to clean the stables, and to ensure that Mort had the correct mindset for being Death's apprentice. |
| 97 | ** Mention is made in ''Literature/LordsAndLadies'' of the "Monks of Cool", a sect of monks who believe in being cool at all times. To test initiates, they are brought into a room containing every imaginable type of clothing and asked which outfit is the coolest. The correct answer is "Whichever one I put on". |
| 98 | * The aptitude test in ''Literature/{{Divergent}}''. Tris mentions that students don't even know what the test entails, and Tori informs Tris that she cannot tell her what's going to happen during it. |
| 99 | * The children's book ''The Empty Pot'' is all about this. To find a worthy successor, the aging Emperor of Ancient China distributes seeds to his realm's children, promising that the boy that can grow the most beautiful flower will become the next Emperor. A boy named Ping, who's known for his skill with botany, is heartbroken when he finds out that he can't make his seed grow at all, and is even more dismayed when he brings his empty pot before the Emperor and sees all of the other boys bringing gorgeous flowers. To his surprise, Ping is selected to be the next Emperor. It turns out that the seeds that the Emperor handed out were cooked, and thus incapable of growing into flowers at all. The Emperor was actually testing the children's honesty, not their skill at growing flowers. |
| 100 | * In ''Literature/{{Lightblade}}'', Kriga's first lesson for Jyosh is to master the Blinding Blade technique, where he uses his lightblade to create a blinding flash of light, which requires shutting off the lightblade to shoot the blast and turning it on instantly. When he finishes it, Kriga tells him that the technique is useless in battle because every soldier wears polarizing lenses to protect against a basic trick like that. What he's actually teaching are the foundational skills that underlie the technique: The ability to compress red light into higher frequencies[[note]]In this setting's FunctionalMagic, different colors of light do different things, so this allows the user to be able to use multiple colors at once[[/note]], and also the ability to conduct light efficiently instead of turning it into waste heat (which would make the lightblade too hot to handle). Once he's mastered the technique, he can start working on real combat. |
| 101 | * In ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' a group of children take an entrance exam for a gifted program. The exam is 40 multiple-choice questions that are absurdly complicated and deal with information no child would know [[spoiler:(except Sticky, who becomes TheSmartGuy of the Society). The purpose of the test is not to see what the children know but how well they follow directions. At the start they're told to read every question before answering. Main character Reynie decides to take the instructions literally and reads the whole test without trying to answer any questions. He discovers that question 21 told the answer to #1 and vice versa, #22 and #2 contained each other's answers, etc. Thus he finished the test while everyone who tried to do one question at a time ended up confused and frustrated]]. |
| 102 | * In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', a rebellion occurred in Cao Cao's capital city of Xu Chang, coupled with much burning. When it was over, Cao gathered all the officials in the city. Those who left their homes to put out the fires were told to stand under a red flag; those who stayed in their homes were told to stand under a white flag. This was a trap: Cao assumed that all of the people who left their homes were really assisting the rebellion and would use the idea of "putting out fires" as an excuse. |
| 103 | * ''Literature/SpaceCadetHeinlein'': |
| 104 | ** Matt Dodson has to pass a series of tests to get into the Space Patrol. One of them requires him to stand over a milk bottle and drop beans into the bottle with his eyes closed. Matt ends up with only one bean in his bottle and sadly turns it in. He notices while standing in line that several people got many beans in their bottles, and after turning his in, he asks the examiner what would keep people from cheating by peeking. The examiner just smiles and says, "Nothing at all," much to Matt's disappointment. Then the narration says about Matt: "It did not occur to him that he might not know what was being tested." |
| 105 | ** Matt is given another test with a lever and buttons and whatnot, and an instruction sheet on how to score points -- a game of sorts. He looks over the instructions, tries to figure out what combinations will allow him to score, and finds that none of them will. He takes it up with the examiner, who asks him if he's sure, and when he responds in the affirmative, glances at a timer and writes down his score. |
| 106 | * ''Literature/{{Star Trek|Novelverse}}'': |
| 107 | ** The novel ''Kobayashi Maru'' has an example that does ''not'' involve the famous no-win scenario. One section is the story of Chekov when he was a cadet and his class were taken to a training area, assigned stunners, and told that one of the cadets had been secretly [[ParanoiaGambit designated as a hostile traitor]] who would, if [[ParanoiaFuel given the opportunity, attack the others.]] All the cadets immediately start hunting one another down, with Chekov being the last survivor. The officer reveals that the cadets have all failed, and tells Chekov what his hero, Jim Kirk, did. Kirk organized the cadets into a single group with everyone present, all the weapons were confiscated and placed under guard, and the only cadets armed and allowed to be out of sight were the ones paired on guard duty at any given time. Kirk's reasoning was that if someone not assigned to guard duty tried to grab a weapon or sneak away from the group, they'd out themselves as the traitor. Since the guards were in pairs, if only one of a pair returned from duty, that person would also prove they're the traitor. After telling Chekov how Kirk did it, the officer then reveals that, of course, no cadet was TheMole at all. |
| 108 | ** In ''The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard'', Picard says he failed to enter Starfleet Academy after a training simulation went wrong, despite the fact it was ''clearly'' the fault of the other applicants, who didn't seem to understand ''anything'', however much he barked orders at them. Someone points out to him that it could have secretly been a psych test, but he doesn't see how that would work either. The next year, when he retakes the simulation and has ''exactly the same crew'', he realises something's going on. He asks them if they know what they're doing now, and they say they're fully trained. He's about to start giving orders again, when he realises that if ''they're'' fully trained and he isn't, ''they'' should be taking the lead. However, writing this in the future, Picard admits that at the time he was just pleased to have deciphered the "trick", rather than actually taking the lesson. |
| 109 | * In the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' book ''The Jedi Path,'' mention is made of the Jedi Trials, a battery of five tests which a Jedi must pass to become a Knight. Three candidates are given an illusion of a great army marching towards them. One perceives the illusory nature of the army, and passes her Trial of Insight. One fights against overwhelming odds and simultaneously passes the Trials of Courage and Skill. One bows out, citing exhaustion, and fails to become a Knight. |
| 110 | * The [[GodEmperor Sovereign]] of the South in ''Literature/WaxAndWayne'' was apparently fond of these. Centuries ago, he forged a powerful artifact known as ''Literature/TheBandsOfMourning'' and stored it in a hidden temple for safekeeping, telling his people that they are not to seek them. Given that the temple's builders returned to share the story, many are sure that the Bands are a test of some sort, although nobody knows what the test is for. The Hunters think it's a test of loyalty and temptation, and try to destroy the Bands. Others, like Allik's crew, think it's a straightforward test of skill and courage. |
| 111 | * ''Literature/TheWestingGame'': Heirs to a dead man's fortune think that they're supposed to find out who killed him. They're actually supposed to find out that [[spoiler:he isn't actually dead. It was all a trick.]] |
| 112 | * ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': |
| 113 | ** The series once had its own version of the Kobayashi Maru. However, [[UnwinnableTrainingSimulation the test's purpose is the same]]. Teach Team Kimba that they cannot win everything. They were hit with a TotalPartyKill. |
| 114 | ** In her first year and a half at Whateley, [[RulesLawyer Loophole]] had been so careful to avoid confrontation that her mutant powers remained only partly active, and she fought in court to be legally considered a baseline human. In the first Combat Final of her sophomore year, she goes so far as to [[TakeAThirdOption refuse to fight, and talks her opponent into joining her]]. This leads Gunny Bardue, the adminstrator of the Combat Final, to change the parameters of the test: instead of facing each other, they would instead be attacked by simulated opponents ''with the safeties off'' (he does turn them back on partway through, but doesn't tell them that). His real goal is to [[DieOrFly force Loophole's mutation to fully activate]] - [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which it does]] - but she's only told about that part afterwards. In a half-twist, she ''still'' manages to get away with TakingAThirdOption by using her {{Technopath}} powers to attack the simulation rather than fighting their opponents, but the only reason she's given a passing grade - despite having cheated - is that it provided the powers researchers a wealth of new information about mutant activation. |
| 115 | * In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' novel The Gathering Storm, Aviendha is training to become a Wise One. The other Wise Ones keep commenting that she is "learning too slowly" and assign her a variety of ridiculously pointless punishments, such as carrying heavy rocks from one side of a field to the other and back again. She obediently carries out her "punishments" but can't figure out what lesson she's supposed to be learning. When she finally stands up to the Wise Ones and refuses to accept her punishment, they accept her as one of their own. Aviendha learns at the same time the real problem with this kind of test (which the Wise Ones are well aware of): by acknowledging those and only those who claim they deserve to be acknowledged, the women who least deserve to be treated as Wise Ones are often the quickest to gain the title. And unsurprisingly (for this series and an all-female group), they don't want any rumor that Wise Ones ever disagree about anything - which means at least publicly supporting the actions of the more foolish or shortsighted "Wise Ones" to preserve their mystique. |
| 116 | * In the short story ''Which Is Which?'' two orphan boys were raised together until the king finally locates them and claims one is his long-lost son. His advisors give both young men royal robes and bid them spend them week in the capital. When they show up in court again, one of the boys has pristine robes, while the other's robes are muddy, torn, and burnt. But keeping the robes in good condition wasn't the test; rather, the boy whose robes are distressed spent the week helping those in need, and thus proves to be a better choice of heir (though in fairness, it doesn't prove which one is the ''actual'' prince). |
| 117 | * One riddle goes as follows: Two men both claim they're a long-lost prince and they're asked to take a test to prove it. The one who ''refuses'' to take it is declared to be the prince. Why? Because the test they were asked to take was a blood test and, unbeknownst to the impostor, the prince is hemophiliac. |
| 118 | * In R.J. Palacio's novel ''Literature/Wonder2012'', Auggie's mother tricks him into thinking that the aptitude test for the public school curriculum is an IQ test. |
| 119 | * In the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' novel ''Ogre, Ogre'', Smash goes through several of these with the Night Horse (ruler of the Night Mares). He dies or seems to fail in all of them, but the real point of the tests is whether or not he gives up, despite how hopeless they are. |
| 120 | * So common in the ''Literature/XWingSeries'' that basically any training exercise that's actually shown in detail is almost definitely not training the skill the trainees think it is. Of course, there are classical military versions, like the sim in ''Wraith Squadron'' that's actually a drill on responding to changing battle conditions, i.e., the chain of command being destroyed. Wedge is also fond of running pilots who fall into the [[ArrogantKungFuGuy smug ace]] type through a test that's either strictly impossible without help from their wingmate, or gives an advantage to subsequent fliers (with the jock going first) to demonstrate that the squadron's success during the mission is more important than the individual's accolades. This comes to its natural conclusion in ''Starfighters of Adumar'' when he uses simulated dueling to teach [[ProudWarriorRace Adumari]] pilots about the New Republic combat ethic. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 124 | * In Season Two of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Coulson assigns Skye the job of decoding the alien writing that both Garrett and Coulson took to carving after being injected with the GH-325 serum, and that was also carved into the [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Obelisk]]. In the episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E5AHenInTheWolfHouse "A Hen in the Wolf House"]], we learn the true purpose of the assignment - Coulson only started carving the alien writing after seeing what Garrett carved "triggered" something in him, and he's been monitering Skye - who was also previously [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS1E14TAHITI injected with the GH-325 serum]] - to see if the writing triggered anything in ''her''. |
| 125 | * ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'': In the seventh season finale, Detective Kate Beckett fields some harsh questions from the police commissioner regarding her relationship with Richard Castle, as part of her captain's exam. After Beckett passionately defends her conviction record and her love for Richard, the commissioner admits that his questions were a way of testing how she deals under stress, and reveals that he wants her to consider a run for state senate. |
| 126 | * On ''Series/{{Community}}'', a group of students, including Troy and Abed, sign up for a psychological experiment by Professor Duncan, and are told to wait to be called. What they don't know is that waiting for the experiment ''is'' the experiment; Duncan is testing them to see how long it takes for each one to lose their patience and storm out. One by one all the subjects snap and leave - all except Abed, who just sits there calmly. Eventually Duncan is the one who cracks waiting for Abed to crack. |
| 127 | * In the ''Series/CovertAffairs'' episode "Bang and Blame", the heroine Annie returns to The Farm to complete her CIA training...and discover who's leaking cadets' names to terrorist websites. In one exercise, an instructor shows cadets a table full of various firearms, and tells them they can take one item to help them escape through a door at the other end of a maze. Each cadet picks a gun and blasts away at targets that pop up in doorways and windows. Annie uses the butt of a gun to break glass and remove a map of the maze. After studying it for a minute, she sneaks through the maze, ducking out of sight of the targets as they pop up. Because it's this trope, and that sort of show, only Annie passes the test. Firing a gun even once betrays the presence of an agent, who's supposed to slip in and out unnoticed. |
| 128 | * ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow'' was, to its star Matt Gould, a Big Brother style experiment in which he had to use his charisma to stay on his housemates' good side and call upon potentially any skill in the challenges to increase his chances of winning by securing immunity from eviction. The premise was in fact that he thought he was in a reality show when in fact his housemates were all actors and the point was to see how he would react to a series of bizarre scripted scenarios. |
| 129 | * In the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "[[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS7E1Demons Demons]]", Elliot must pretend to be a pedophile to [[PaedoHunt help root out another]], and Huang is coaching him on how to fake a psychological test where they will show them various images and ask them to rate them. Elliot starts saying that it's obvious, then realizes that, no, an actual pedophile '''wouldn't''' rate the kids higher, then pauses. Then Huang tells him that the scores they give are irrelevant, [[DistractedByTheSexy the test measures how long you spend watching each image]]. |
| 130 | * In an episode of ''Series/LieToMe'', one of the Lightman group believes a witness to a crime has "change blindness" - that is to say that if she looks at something, then looks away and then looks at it again, she is unaware of anything that has changed since she first looked. Torres and Loker play her a video and ask her to describe it. She describes it perfectly to Torres and a man she had never seen before who took Loker's place while she was watching the video. |
| 131 | * In episode six of ''Series/MadMadHouse'', a short-lived [=SyFy=] Channel reality show in which contestants are voted out by five alternate-lifestyle adherents, the contestants were challenged to select who'd be eliminated next. After the contestants all reveal their choices, the "Alts" announce that ''no one'' is being voted out that day: it was staged so that the Alts could gain more insight into the players' thinking. |
| 132 | * This occurs sometimes in ''Series/TheMole'', as it's a reality TV show that likes playing with its contestants' minds. As an example, one episode of the Belgian series' 6th season had one contestant be told that she needed to predict how each of the other contestants would react in a certain 'hidden camera' situation to gain money. She got all her predictions wrong and thought that this meant she didn't know her fellow contestants nearly as well as she thought, only to then be told that the other contestants had actually been briefed beforehand about their situations and how they had to do the ''reverse'' of what she'd predict for them to actually earn the money, so she really ''did'' know the other contestants as well as they knew her. |
| 133 | * ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episode "Test of Wills": Jessica Fletcher is called in by a wealthy man to find out which of his heirs is trying to kill him. When he suddenly dies, she tries to discover the murderer. In the end, it turns out that [[spoiler:the man only pretended to die, in order to smoke out the killer.]] |
| 134 | * ''Series/MythBusters'': |
| 135 | ** In one episode, various staff members were asked to take part in a observation test, identifying what item of Adam or Jamie's clothes changed each time they disappeared and reappeared behind a curtain. It actually ''was'' an observation test, but the point was to see if anyone noticed that the figure wasn't actually Adam or Jamie, but one of them posing as the other by wearing their clothes and a realistic latex mask of the other's head. |
| 136 | ** A similar test was performed earlier in the episode on members of the general public (requirements: they'd watched the show, but didn't know Adam or Jamie personally). Their test was to shine a laser at a target, with Adam or Jamie standing off to the side of that target taking notes. Of course, it was actually Jamie or Adam disguised as the other, and the purpose of the test was to see if the test subjects would see through the disguise. |
| 137 | ** A later episode involved test subjects being given directions to a site where the test would purportedly take place. In fact, these directions included a nonexistent street, and the test was actually [[DirectionlessDriver whether or not the test subject would stop to ask for directions, and helped prove the inverse of the old myth that men won't stop for directions.]] |
| 138 | * ''Series/Perception2012'' To convince Donnie, they have a woman ask him for directions, something obscures his view, and she is replaced with another girl. He gives her the directions without realizing she is a different woman. |
| 139 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': |
| 140 | ** In "Coming Of Age", when Wesley is taking the Starfleet entrance exam his final test is "facing his biggest fear". While he's waiting for the test to start, a fire breaks out in a nearby lab and he can only save one of the techs working there. It turns out that that was the test, his fear was having to make a decision like that (since his father died in the exact same scenario). He knew there was going to be a test but he didn't know that the test was happening when it was happening. |
| 141 | ** In "Lower Decks", Worf teaches his fellow crew members the Mok'bara, and has an advanced class that you must test into. The test consists of defeating master Worf while blindfolded. Which of course means that the test really consists of removing the blindfold and standing up to Worf. (Worf gets bonus points for straight-facedly claiming that this is an ancient Klingon ritual, when actually he made it up on the spot to teach that particular ensign the lesson about standing up for herself in an unfair test.) |
| 142 | ** In "Thine Own Self", Deanna Troi repeatedly takes — and fails — the bridge officer's test, unable to come up with {{Technobabble}} fast enough to keep the ship from exploding during the holodeck simulation. She's only able to succeed when she realizes that the test is not whether she can memorize minutiae about the ship's operation but [[TheChainsOfCommanding whether she can order someone who has the necessary knowledge to do the task knowing they'll die doing so.]] Perhaps more importantly, she doesn't jump right to ordering someone to their death; she exhausts every possible option first. |
| 143 | * ''Series/ThreeKingdoms'': |
| 144 | ** When Cao Chong becomes gravely ill and dies after being bitten by "poisonous rats", his father Cao Cao is enraged when he learns that as their brother was dying his other sons Cao Zhang and Cao Zhi were out hunting and drinking with friends respectively. He has them sit to watch over Chong's body, ostensibly so they can display proper filial piety. He then quietly observes them, because he strongly suspects that whoever actually set Chong up to be assassinated. He sees Zhang and Zhi have nodded off... but his ''other'' son Cao Pi (who was "coincidentally" bitten by poisonous rats as well) is still wide-awake. |
| 145 | ** After a rebellion breaks out in his capital of Xu city and is suppressed, he assembles all the city officials and instructs them to gather under a red flag and a white flag according to whether they tried to help suppress the rebellion and put out fires or simply stayed put at home. He then rails at the ones under the red flag, pointing out that they were ''civil'' officials and would've been useless at trying to fight the rebels, therefore they were either conspirators or hoping to take advantage of the chaos to see if he was dead so then they could claim to be on the rebels' side if the rebels won. He has all of them executed on the spot. He also suspected his son Cao Pi of being involved in the rebellion, but since he personally saw Pi fighting the rebels alongside his more martial brother Zhang he decides not to take action. |
| 146 | * ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': All students at Hollywood Arts must pass a test called "The Bird Scene". This involves acting out a scene, following which the teacher tells the student whether they passed or failed, but does not tell them after a failure what they did wrong, and those who have passed aren't allowed to share either. It turns out that the teacher tells them they failed no matter what; after her third attempt, Tori angrily tells the teacher she did a good job no matter what he says. He then tells her she passed, and that the point was for her to stand up for and believe in her own art. |
| 147 | * ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' was fond of using these. |
| 148 | ** One week, the contestants were told they had to secretly change into their costumes and make their way through a busy park to a particular spot within a time limit. Along the way they passed a young girl who was crying. The contestants who stopped to help her, blowing their time limit, were the ones who passed. |
| 149 | ** There was also a test where they were asked to nominate a contestant to be eliminated and explain their reasoning. All but two recommended themselves, as they'd gotten to know each other a little by now. (It is also acknowledged that some may have realized the true purpose of the question.) Of the remaining two; one recommended another player he really liked, but had noticed struggling with some of the challenges, while the other felt the person they'd chosen had perhaps a bit "too much dedication" to the hero role. |
| 150 | ** In another test, the heroes were sent to a diner one at a time, allegedly to test what kind of "heroic breakfast" they would order. While there, the person behind the counter made casual conversation with each of them, including asking their names. It was later revealed that several of them were caught on hidden camera casually revealing their secret identities. The one who was eliminated ''introduced herself'' with her real name. |
| 151 | * On ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', an arrogant new warlady wants to replace Xena as Ares' favored human, so he lets the two of them fight it out in a special isolated dimension. Ares says that either of them can just call his name at any time if they need his help. Eventually the other warlady does so, and Ares appears only to reveal that by being the first who had to call for help, she's lost. [[ExactWords "I said you could. I didn't say you should."]] |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Religion & Mythology]] |
| 155 | * In the Literature/BookOfJudges of the Bible, Gideon famously had his soldiers drink water in the wilderness and was told by the LORD to "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths." These men were sent on a special military mission. The rest went home and the small band which did just that massacred the Israelites' enemies. The text does not say whether the lapping was a sign of some characteristic of the men, so we cannot even be sure the test's purpose was known even to Gideon. |
| 156 | ** While the text itself doesn't give the explicit reason, some Bible commentators have suggested that the 300 who took up the water in their hands were more focused on the task of facing the enemy, as opposed to their companions who knelt down to drink. That kind of focus would naturally be critical for soldiers going into battle, which would explain why they were chosen. |
| 157 | * The Utnapishtim section of ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh'' is subtly implied to be this. Utnapishtim offers to share the secret of immortality with Gilgamesh if Gilgamesh can stay awake for seven nights straight. Gilgamesh falls asleep ''almost immediately'', then, upon waking up, lies and claims to have been awake the whole time. If you're reading closely enough, the hint is pretty tough to miss: why did Gilgamesh fall asleep so fast? Because Utnapishtim somehow caused him to; the real test was to see if Gilgamesh would tell the truth. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Tabletop RPG]] |
| 161 | * ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': A House Tytalus wizard in the [[MagicalSociety Order of Hermes]] once tested his apprentice by ordering him to open a special chest. The apprentice tried every spell he knew, only for the chest to [[AntiMagic shrug them all off]], and finally conceded defeat. The master then walked over and opened the chest by hand, revealing that it was never locked. Not for nothing is Tytalus called the Trickster House. |
| 162 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Earthdawn}}'' supplement ''The Way of War''. Sky Raider trainees are ordered to unload and reload barrels until they complain about doing something so tedious. This is done because Sky Raiders don't want their crew to be robots: they want people who know what they're doing and why they're doing it. |
| 163 | * ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'': The final test for prospective Guardians of the Veil, the SecretPolice of MagicalSociety, is a short assignment with the superior who has been training them. At some point, the superior gives a direct order that contravenes the Guardians' code; the trainee only passes if they refuse or TakeAThirdOption, demonstrating their understanding and commitment to the Guardian ethos. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 167 | * ''[[VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent Amnesia: Justine]]'': Justine tells the PlayerCharacter right up front that she's stuck in Justine's dungeon both to entertain Justine, as well as to see whether they will take the easy, obvious and selfish ways out of the various problems they're presented with, or look for a harder method that will avoid harming others. [[spoiler:The secret part is that Justine is actually testing herself.]] |
| 168 | * In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the quest to join the [[spoiler:Dark Brotherhood]] involves being told to figure out which of three people has a contract out for his or her murder, then fulfill that contract. After you've finished the job, you learn that your answer was irrelevant to your employer; she simply wanted to find out whether you would commit murder on her orders. [[DevelopersForesight She remarks approvingly if you kill all three]], and [[spoiler:if you kill ''her'' instead, you unlock a new quest to eradicate the Dark Brotherhood]]. |
| 169 | * ''VideoGame/AFinalUnity'': Upon entering the Unity Device, Picard, Pentara and Brodnack are all informed that they will be tested to see which among them is worthy of controlling it. The ''true'' intention of this test is to [[spoiler:teach them that it must never be used at all. Especially Brodnack, as it's attempting to mentally prepare him to voluntarily help prevent the device from tearing the universe apart]]. |
| 170 | * ''VideoGame/{{Superliminal}}'': [[spoiler:Everything that goes wrong... doesn't. It's the real test, to force the protagonist to look at problems in new ways, even when they seem impossible.]] |
| 171 | [[/folder]] |
| 172 | |
| 173 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 174 | * In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'''s flashback case, the defendant, Zak Gramarye, seemingly only accepts Phoenix Wright's request to be his lawyer after playing a game of poker - which Phoenix won. [[spoiler:In truth, Zak was making use of the poker game to see how Phoenix played and see if he was trustworthy (which he was), but didn't tell him this until seven years after the events. This is also a {{Deconstruct|edTrope}}ion when it is revealed that Zak had tested another lawyer, Kristoph Gavin, the same way. Zak discovered Kristoph's willingness for foul play and fired him because he found him to be untrustworthy, but he didn't explain his test to Kristoph. As a result, Kristoph believed he was passed over for Phoenix for ''losing a poker game'', which ultimately got so ingrained in his psyche that he devoted himself to ruining the lives of the two men responsible.]] |
| 175 | [[/folder]] |
| 176 | |
| 177 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 178 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Tedd [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-16 administers]] one of these to Sarah. After Sarah goes through all the steps of the test he [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-20 explains]] the purpose was to verify his tech couldn't be used if someone didn't know exactly what they were doing. |
| 179 | * ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': Doctor Bowman, Florence's creator, offers to artificially inseminate her with an embryo he has on ice. When she turns him down because it would be a bad environment for the puppy, Bowman admits that the point of the offer was to see if she would choose based on what was best for her or what was best for the species. Choosing what was best for the species was the "correct" answer, but Florence's concern for the pup proves that she's more capable of empathy than previous UpliftedAnimal experiments, which satisfies Bowman. |
| 180 | -->'''Bowman:''' There's a funny thing that happens when you know the correct answer. It throws you when you get [[TakeAThirdOption a different answer that's not wrong]]. |
| 181 | ** Also this is a subtle case of ArtisticLicenseBiology: "the species" is an artificial construct (in Florence's case - literally, but the point stands), and when it comes to procreation the progeny's prosperity ''is'' what's best for your species by virtue of natural selection, so, in essence, Florence's answer was better than Bowman's. You might say that Dr. Bowman failed his own test where she succeeded. |
| 182 | * {{Webcomic/Oglaf}}: [[http://oglaf.com/riteofpassage/ the test of manhood]], sort of. Unfortunately, [[TheGameNeverStopped the test never stopped]]... and it took place in a [[DeadlyTrainingArea deadly testing area]]. [[EvilMentor Poor kid]]. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 186 | * The ''WebAnimation/BestFiends'' short "Howie's Gift" tells the story about how Howie, the wizard lizard, managed to get his "greatest gift" when he was younger, going through three tests to prove that he is brave and kind of heart to earn a power beyond his wildest dream. It turns out [[spoiler:he was ''always'' a wizard. The gift was how he got his British accent]]. |
| 187 | * The [=BrainBashers=] website offers an online intelligence test as one of its fun features. The first page of the test has questions similar to what you'd expect from Mensa, but clicking on the Next button only leads to an error page. The trick is that the error page is a fake and that buried among the error messages is an instruction to click on a link to pass the test; blindly hitting the Back button and going somewhere else on the website brings up a page telling you that you failed the test because you weren't observant enough. This trick isn't as convincing nowadays as it used to be, due to the look of error pages changing over time, but less than 10% of the test-takers apparently catch on to it. |
| 188 | %%* [[https://twitter.com/MicroSFF/status/400012371982155776 This]] Micro SF/F story. |
| 189 | [[/folder]] |
| 190 | |
| 191 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 192 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' contained one for Aang in "The King of Omashu". Aang believed he needed to complete three trials in order to save Sokka and Katara. It turned out that [[spoiler:King Bumi was just messing with him in order to teach him that things aren't always what they seem]]. |
| 193 | * Parodied in a CutawayGag on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where Peter, in college, wads up an exam paper and throws it at the instructor's feet. The instructor informs him ''that'' was the real test, and he passed. |
| 194 | * In the season 3 premiere of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Princess Celestia tests Twilight Sparkle to aid Princess Cadance in protecting the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, and specifically instructs her to fulfill this task by herself. When Twilight walks into a trap that renders this impossible, she passes the duty of saving the empire to Spike, who she only brought along on the condition he not lift a finger to help her. When Twilight comes back thinking she's failed her test, Celestia reveals the ''real'' test was to see if she was willing to sacrifice her self-interests for the needs of others, which she naturally passed. |
| 195 | * The ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' episode "The Princess Test" adapts an Urban Legend about a test performed by a (typically Christian or otherwise values-based) university, wherein students are told to arrive at a certain location to take a test. In this case, the eponymous Princess Test. On the way there, the students pass the librarian, who requests that they help her carry her books home. Each of the princesses politely apologizes, since they have to make it to the test. Sofia is the only one who agrees to help. On the way, the librarian repeatedly takes up more of her time and "accidentally" ruins each of the things she's certain will help her pass the test (having a spotless gown, twirling her fan correctly, etc.), while also offering to let her leave to take the test. Sofia remains helping the librarian, only to find herself transported to the test upon reaching her cabin. The ''real'' test was to see whether the girls possessed the princessly trait of compassion, being willing to sacrifice their own goals for the sake of someone else. That said (because this is a Disney Junior show), all the other girls who took the traditional test pass as well, Sofia just gets highest marks and a trophy. |
| 196 | ** Also invoked accidentally in the episode "The Emerald Key," wherein Sofia's family sets up a test to see which of the identical "Princess Lalani"s is the real one, thereby receiving the eponymous key Sofia happened to find earlier. The tests (set up by Amber) are set up to test traditional princess attributes, like dancing the waltz, graciously accepting a gift from a "visiting diplomat," and... quickly making it through a maze. King Roland, the ultimate authority in the contest, doesn't intend any hidden meaning in the tests. He'd accept winning two out of three challenges outright as confirmation. Sofia, on the other hand, realizes that one competitor (nicknamed Lani) has been consistently behaving with the dignity and compassion befitting a princess, even when she wasn't being directly tested, thereby pegging her as the real princess. However, Sofia's unable to convince her family of this, so when Lani loses the final challenge, Roland gives the key to the other one. It isn't until the reveal that the impostor cheated to win the final challenge that the rest of the royal family realizes this was behavior unbecoming a real princess and move to correct their mistake. |
| 197 | * On ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', a group of Jedi younglings is taken to a cave on Ilum to find their lightsaber crystals, and given until the ice wall that normally blocks the cave reforms to accomplish the task. As each Jedi discovers, the true challenge is not finding the crystal and making it back on time, but that they have to overcome some sort of character flaw (impatience, fear, etc.) to get their crystal. The last to return even proves the ice wall isn't as firm a time limit as they had been led to believe by breaking through it before it can freeze too thickly. |
| 198 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': in "The Test", Steven finds out that the Sea Spire mission (shown in the earlier episode "Cheseburger Backpack") was a SecretTest to see if he could handle more challenging missions, and that he failed it. He demands another test, which the Gems whip up for him. He aces it, only to discover that in fact it has been designed to be impossible to fail (the hidden purpose being not to test him but to boost his confidence). [[spoiler: By eavesdropping on the Gems, though, Steven finds out that they're just as baffled about how to help him grow up as he is, and they're just doing their best. He forgives them and never lets on that he knew the test was rigged.]] |
| 199 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' features a "Test of Strength" where a Royal in training must overcome an impossibly strong member of the military at wrestling. After several failed attempts at grabs and throws, the solution is revealed to be using one's royal authority to order the opponent to step aside. |
| 200 | [[/folder]] |
| 201 | |
| 202 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 203 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment Milgram experiment]]. A subject was told to push a button, and it would zap someone else in an unseen other room with an increasingly large dose of electricity. While it was all an act and the subject wasn't zapping anybody, the person supposedly being zapped in the other room would eventually start crying out in agony and beg the person to stop, while the testers told the subject that they had to continue with increasingly more authoritative prods. The whole thing was a test designed to see how people would follow orders from authority, and how far they'd go with it. While all forty of the test subjects stopped at least once, only fourteen of them refused to go as far as a lethal shock. |
| 204 | * Officials wanting to become civil servants in the Imperial Chinese Bureaucracy often had to pass extremely difficult and esoteric exams requiring precise forms of answer on irrelevant subjects. They weren't looking for your knowledge of the useless subjects--they were looking for your ability to master and apply a technical skill. This was so they could slot you in wherever you were needed--for China's famed bureaucracy was not very large at all (contrary to stereotype.) |
| 205 | * The British came across this technique in their Civil service exams. They couldn't actually care less whether you could translate, sight unseen, large slabs of Latin or Greek--what they did care about was your ability to master a technically difficult body of knowledge from scratch and apply it with precision and skill. To explain how well this worked- approximately one thousand Indian Civil Service clerks governed 250 million people in the Raj, and by all accounts did quite creditably well. |
| 206 | * Apocryphal stories will claim that leadership training in some military forces often involves this; these stories are old soldiers' jokes and metaphors about how to get things done in the army, and good luck finding documentation or evidence of their actual use: |
| 207 | ** A common test for officers in the military may involve a menial task such as digging a trench. The test is to see if the officer understands to [[DelegationRelay delegate the task]] to an enlisted man rather than do it themselves. |
| 208 | ** A variation is give a prospective junior officer a description of a situation, such as "You are to erect a 30-foot-long flagpole in a certain location to that the top is 24 feet above ground level. Your resources are a sergeant and 20 men, and four each picks, shovels, and axes, plus two thirty-foot ropes. What is the first order you give?" The correct answer is: "Sergeant, erect the flag-pole." The test is to see if he understands that the non-coms are supposed to see that the men do the assigned tasks, and figure out ''how'' to carry out orders, while the officer commanding the unit decides ''what'' should be done. Further, if the sergeant for some reason can't get the pole erected, and the officer must take over, he has time to think of something the sergeant hasn't tried. Also, he hasn't made himself look incompetent first, retaining respect as the leader. |
| 209 | ** Another example (and much more believable) is a staff officer school test. The student is given a large amount of information on his side's forces and the notional enemy's, and told to plan to attack or defend against attack. He is given several days to prepare a set of orders for his side. When he shows up to present his answer, he's told the situation has changed, he's given new information, and he is given a few hours to prepare a second set of orders. When the time is up and he is about to present the revised plan, he's told the situation has changed again, given a third description of the situation, and told to give a new set of orders, ''right now''. What appeared to be a test of how well the student could assimilate information at leisure and carefully plan for it is actually a test of how quickly he can adjust to new information and perform under unexpected circumstances, and also how much information he can retain from the first two stages to use in the third. (Of course, to keep the student honest, the written orders prepared in the first two stages can also be evaluated.) |
| 210 | ** Another variant of the trench test: a bunch of candidates for non-com officer are brought out and told to do something useless, like dig a trench thirty feet long, six feet wide, and six inches deep. Most candidates complain. The ideal candidate does not simply start digging. The best NCO first confirms he has understood command correctly, verifying the order, then says, "Alright boys. Let's get this knocked out so we can get out of here!" The NCO has shown initiative to obey the order and the good sense to ensure it has been properly understood. |
| 211 | ** Discussed in [[https://youtu.be/UoMaxMPGU3s?feature=shared a video by Dewayne Noel]] of Dry Creek Wrangler School called "The Test is NOT the Test". Noel reapplied to be a police officer in Alaska after many years away from the force, which [[MildlyMilitary isn't a military unit but mostly run like one]]. Early in training, the recruits were given [[ImpossibleTask a list of tasks so long that there was no way to complete it]]. And even if they somehow did, [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem the veteran officers would just find reasons to fail the recruits]], such as telling a recruit to clean a room and then pulling dryer lint from their own pocket as "evidence" that the room wasn't clean. Noel already figured out what was going on, which he explained to the younger recruits: the test wasn't whether or not the recruit could get the task list done, but instead what the recruit prioritized and how they responded to failure. Noel knew this because, much as he had done before, the recruits were going to be sent to remote towns in Alaska where they would basically be the only law enforcement for miles, and had to learn what was important to take care of first. |
| 212 | * When a doctor or nurse is giving a basic physical examination, they'll pay a great deal of attention to the sphygmomanometer (the squeezy blood pressure cuff). While they are measuring systolic and diastolic blood pressure, at the same time they're gauging the patient's breathing rate - because people tend to involuntarily alter their breathing when you tell them you're measuring it. [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife If you remember this at your next physical, you stand a good chance of screwing up the trick.]]\ |
| 213 | \ |
| 214 | This is informally called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension White Lab Coat Syndrome,]] and a healthcare provider who isn't aware of it isn't worth their scrubs. That's why so many physicians and nurses ask odd questions that make patients wonder what in heck the practitioner is thinking. "Why is my cardiologist asking me if I have a ringing in my ears or having nose bleeds or headaches? Why is he looking in my eyes if I have heart problems?"[[labelnote: Answer]]Because any of those would be a clue that a patient's systemic hypertension, or high blood pressure, is real and not an artifact of the test.[[/labelnote]] Likewise, the physician will check on nail beds and squeeze fingers or just examine the patient's hands and feet on some pretext to see if there is a sign of poor oxygenation or circulation, or use a device which gives the pulse and oxygen content of the blood to check for it, or examine the mucosa of the mouth, etc. Really, your physician sees a lot more of what's happening than you might ever guess if (s)he's any good at all as a clinician. |
| 215 | * Deliberately averted in Experimental Economics; on the contrary to Experimental Psychology and for a number of reasons[[note]]Mainly because in such experiments what is being tested is how people play games and economists want to avoid the players second guessing the purpose of the experiment, which could lead them to believe that the game they are playing is purposeless and playing 'sub-optimally'[[/note]], the commonly agreed methodology in Experimental Economy forbids from any sort of deception towards those participating in the test and any economist doing so would pretty much have no chance of being able to publish their results... in an economics journal, at least. |
| 216 | * Trent Reznor asks guitarists auditioning for Music/NineInchNails to play the main riff to "Terrible Lie," which is only two notes long. The reason he makes them play such an easy song is that he's not testing their technical proficiency, but their attitude on stage. According to him, the riff isn't really "B -- C#," it's "Fuck -- you." |
| 217 | * Music/VanHalen would sneak a clause into their contracts which let them keep all the money and cancel a show if there wasn't a bowl full of [=M&Ms=] with all the brown ones taken out in their dressing rooms at a venue. This wasn't just pop-star preening - the clause was buried in a massive contract full of safety specifications for the band's setup, which could include flying harnesses, pyrotechnics, and numerous lights. The safety specs were exacting and far beyond what any other band was doing at the time. If a place didn't have the bowl full of [=M&Ms=] in the dressing room -- or if the bowl was there, but all the brown ones hadn't been removed -- it functioned as a warning sign that someone had failed to properly follow instructions. If the [=M&Ms=] clause got missed by a venue, Van Halen would send out their own technicians and crew to double-check the safety of the entire rig, and the crew would invariably find something wrong. With shows as big and elaborate as Van Halen's, someone could easily be injured or killed if their directions weren't followed to the letter; the [=M&Ms=] were thus the hidden test to see if a venue had done everything they were supposed to do, since it was better to find out about any issues immediately via an otherwise insignificant bowl of candy rather than wait until someone got hurt. [[http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp Snopes has more details]]. |
| 218 | * That one test where you watch a clip showing a group of people passing basketballs between each other. The purported purpose is to count how many times the basketballs are thrown. The real purpose is to see whether you notice someone dressed in a gorilla suit walking between the players. |
| 219 | * There was one university lab experiment where the students were given some equipment and asked to calculate the value of gravity. One of the pieces of equipment was a metre ruler that was actually only 90cm long but falsely marked to appear as though it was a full metre long. Given that, there was no way of correctly calculating gravity and getting the expected result (approximately 9.8 m/s/s). Of course, since the students knew what value they should be getting there was much fudging of results and justification in their written report as to why their results seemed to be off. |
| 220 | * There is a version of this test, which the score being the time taken to perform a variety of tasks such as saying specific words aloud, or scratching your nose with your pencil's eraser. The first instruction listed is to read all the tasks before performing any of them. The ''last'' instruction directs the test subject to ignore the vast majority of the test and just do a single simple and unobtrusive task, such as writing their name at the top and handing it in like that. Invariably, many subjects [[StoppedReadingTooSoon begin carrying out the instructions without reading them all first]]. |
| 221 | * One story states that in the lead-up to D-Day, US Army brass needed to figure out who would be allocated to be among those who were paradropped/paraglided into France ahead of the main invasion. Soldiers who were selected and trained were instructed to enter a darkened barn where they couldn't see, then walk up to the second floor and reach up to find a metal pole. They would then shimmy along the pole until they were stopped by the voice, far enough that they could reasonably assume to be dangling high off the ground below. The voice would then tell the soldier to get down. (We stress that this is at best apocryphal -- little if any documentation of this test exists, and this is certainly unlike most methods of choosing military leaders or specialists. Stories like this about the military are OlderThanFeudalism (see Gideon, in Religion & Mythology), but at odds with modern military practices). |
| 222 | ** If the soldier did by just letting go of the pole, he would land softly in a large pile of hay that was underneath him. For following instructions quickly, he would be assigned to a unit. |
| 223 | ** Some soldiers would turn around and go back the way they came. Many were prepared to admit that they failed the apparent test - instead, they were made sergeants and the commanding officer of a unit for not simply jumping in on orders and instead thinking over the whole situation. |
| 224 | ** Others decided to TakeAThirdOption and continued to shimmy forward, where they would find a ladder that they could use to climb down. They were made engineers for their outside-the-box thinking. |
| 225 | [[/folder]] |
| 226 |
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