Line #116 Main/TalkingYourWayOut


1	->''"Talking might make you feel a lot better... and less homicidal..."''
2	-->-- '''Rhea Snaketail''', ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned''
3
4	Someone has been captured by their enemies, usually a group with distinct personalities and {{backstor\|y}}ies, like a QuirkyMinibossSquad, who operate on more or less equal terms with each other (as opposed to a singular BigBad and a collection of {{Mooks}}).
5
6	This character is well known to their captors, who are careful not to give them any obvious openings — they disarm them, disable their powers, lock them up, and keep guards on them at all time. Escape by brute force isn't going to work, as they're seriously outnumbered and lacks access to their weapons and abilities. Without resources, MacGyvering up a solution isn't going to work, either.
7
8	How will they escape?
9
10	They sit back, pretend to accept their fate, and engage in surreptitious psychological warfare against most or all of the members of the enemy group. Engaging them in idle conversation, they plants the seeds of discord, playing on the...
11	* ...[[{{Pride}} egos]] — "How can you take orders from that buffoon? You should really be the one in charge."
12	* ...[[HonorBeforeReason reputations]] — "[[NobodyCallsMeChicken What, are you too afraid to release me and fight me yourself?]]"
13	* ...{{greed}} — "What are they paying you? I'll double it."
14	* ...sympathies — "These morons don't understand you."
15	* ...insecurities — "It's really a shame the rest of them don't pay any attention to you."
16	* ...[[ShowSomeLeg sex appeal]] — "You know what I really like? A man in a cage."
17	* ...and [[DividedWeFall mutual distrust]] — "You realize he's just going to off the rest of you once he gets what he wants, right?"
18
19	...of each individual member.
20
21	The captors never stop to think that they're being played for chumps, or wonder if the character has anything to gain by starting a power struggle. [[EnemyCivilWar The resulting dissension and infighting]] allows them to escape in the confusion. Truly, TheGuardsMustBeCrazy.
22
23	Smart captors almost never fall for this. Occasionally TheLeader of the group will catch on to ThePlan, but it's usually too little, too late at that point. Group dissolves, character escapes, plan fails. Roll {{Aesop}} about trust.
24
25	This is the main method of escape for characters who are locked up well and good, and contractually or circumstantially obliged to use their wits rather than brute force. Often used to give TheSmartGuy or TheFace or TheSocialExpert an awesome moment. It could be a ADayInTheLimelight, showing how they can win battles [[BadassNormal without super powers]] or incredible fighting skill. It also a common tactic used by the GuileHero, DefiantCaptive, and DamselOutOfDistress. The captors may end up lamenting that they ForgotToGagHim.
26
27	SubTrope of MookFaceTurn.
28
29	Often an illustration of ThePowerOfLanguage. Compare with HannibalLecture which is a similar situation which is based on psychologically breaking captors instead of causing a confusion to escape in.
30	----
31	!!Examples:
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Advertisements]]
35	* A commercial for a Zeel rainwear has a surprisingly minimalistic example of this: a journalist wearing a Zeel rain jacket is captured by a gang armed with rifles, dragged in front of an organized crime boss, and sentenced to death. The henchman notices the nice rain jacket, and before pulling the trigger, decides to take it off of him. The crime boss demands the jacket from the henchman and insults the henchman when he objects to handing it over: all of a sudden, everyone ''except'' the journalist has a gun trained on them, in an absolute hair-trigger scenario. At that point, the journalist talks his way out of the situation alive with a single word: "FIRE!" Result: all hostiles eliminated. ...Then, of course, he gets his jacket back, too--it wouldn't be a commercial if we skipped that part!
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
39	* ''Manga/AfterGod'': Tokinaga asks Alula to give Waka's body back in exchange for information on the rumored Man Stronger Than Gods, which he learns about from Alula in the first place. Alula ponders why is he talking to her without recording devices and goes back and forth if he's lying or not and visibly panics to the point Tokinaga even gets annoyed. Alula eventually decides to give Waka up until she can think about it more.
40	* Attempted by Kagome Higurashi in ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' when she is kidnapped by Manten and Hiten. While she doesn't secure her release, she ''does'' manage to keep herself alive until Inuyasha comes to fight them.
41	* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': One of Relena Darlian's specialties. Early in the story she convinced a certain HitmanWithAHeart with a gun not to shoot her to death... and then she roped him into dancing with her at a high-class party!
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* ComicBook/TheAuthority were engaged in a battle with psychotic super-soldiers engineered by the government at one point, and their resident Badass, the Midnighter, was trapped under some rubble and about to be obliterated by one of them. In a few sentences, he essentially deconstructed the soldier's life and forced him to realize what a failure he was. The soldier paused, removed the rubble, handed the Midnighter his helmet, and walked away from the fight. At the end of the story arc, the Midnighter even gets a letter from the guy, thanking him for helping him out of his self-destructive situation and telling him about his new wife and kids.
46	* When Boo is taken captive in ''ComicBook/{{Copperhead}}'' he taunts Brex into giving him a physical beating, which Boo transforms into an escape attempt.
47	* Subverted by ComicBook/{{Empowered}}, who spots a life-threatening aneurysm in the head of the {{mook}} who's guarding her, using her suit's XRayVision. The mook doesn't believe her at first and thinks she's trying to pull this, but she is dead serious and convinces him to go to the hospital; she just didn't want anyone to suffer the same fate as her father.
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': John Constantine has been known to escape from really dire dangers using this tactic. A full and almost flawless con man, he's always tricking demons, angels and monsters, and even criminals and ruffians, into distrusting each other until they kill themselves. Special mention to the "...Freezes Over" storyline, where he spends the four issues solving a situation with three armed criminals purely by talking. The highlights are when he talks a SerialKiller into suicide and talks a normal man into becoming a serial killer (he also talks a man into dying but he was already bleeding, he just distracted him until he bled out).
49	* ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'': In "The House of Windowless Rooms", a demonic assassin is sent against Lucifer while he's powerless and mortal. The gods who sent the assassin remark that she's obviously failed, as Lucifer has had enough time to start talking to her, which is all he needs.
50	* When Quinton Zempfester is imprisoned by trolls in ''ComicBook/ThievesAndKings'', he talks his way out by excitedly greeting one of the trolls as the spy sent to free him, thus creating suspicion among the other trolls that he is a spy, and setting in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the hapless troll finds that he is doomed to torture for his imaginary spy secrets if he does not go rogue and flee immediately. Rather than face this fugitive fate alone, Quinton offers the troll his assistance, if released, and the two make a break for it together.
51	* In ''[[ComicBook/XMen X-Men Unlimited # 47]]'', ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} wakes up after a fight with an army of generic Black Ops Ninjas to find himself strapped down and about to have his eyes cut out by a low-on-ethics surgeon. He calmly explains to the surgeon that he'd better remember to kill him when he's done, because he's memorised the brand of the surgical equipment in the room and will be able to track him down by it. Oh, and even if he is dead, there's a telepathic redhead who will be looking for his killers. Either way, the end result will be a conversation with Wolverine. The surgeon lets him go, [[MakeItLookLikeAStruggle requesting a light beating to justify the escape]]. Cyclops is happy to oblige.
52	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: When "Glitch" is captured by some Ytirflirks he manages to convince them that not only was he not part of the SlaveRevolt, he is also so worried about the state of their ship that they release him to act as their mechanic. He swiftly uses this against them.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Fanfiction]]
56	* ''Fanfic/ACrookedMan'': Zander Rice tries to talk out Johann from killing him by offering to help him in protecting X-23 as data on her are loose to the public. However, Johann quickly points to him that he had already erased all of the data.
57	* At one point in the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' AU fic ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'', sensible!Bella, still human, has been kidnapped by [[StarterVillain the evil vampire James]], who's probably going to kill her because he wants to make Edward suffer. Bella's only chance to survive is to talk James into doing something stupid, and it works: she lies to him, saying that no, Edward doesn't care about her and was going to give her over to [[BigBad The Volturi]] because they give out rewards in exchange for humans with special powers. James believes her, and takes her to the Volturi. [[SummonBiggerFish They're not too happy with James...]]
58	* Shadowfax tries this in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/119688/1/you-obey/the-interrogation You Obey.]]'' It backfires [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/119688/1/you-obey/the-interrogation spectacularly,]] and also marks the moment when the story gets serious.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films — Animated]]
62	* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'', when Mater is surrounded by a pack of {{Mook}}s, he tries to invoke this by sympathizing with them as outcasts and laughing stocks. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
66	* Done by The Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. After Batman and Commissioner Gordon leave, he is left alone in the interrogation room with one of Gordon's detectives... at which point The Joker goads the policeman into attacking him by explaining his motivations for killing six of that detective's friends. At which point, he makes his escape. What makes this a truly interesting case is that the detective was warned beforehand that the Joker would use this tactic on him, and not to fall for it. The problem is that the Joker is just ''that good'' at manipulating people.
67	** At the beginning of the film, one of the bank robbers realises that their boss has given each of them orders to kill one of the others once [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness their part of the plan is complete]], and tries to talk the last of his fellows around by pointing out that their boss will do the same to him. Unfortunately, the last robber ''is'' [[ComicBook/TheJoker that boss]].
68	* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', this tends to be Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord's, M.O. since he's a [[PunyEarthlings Puny Earthling]] surrounded by stronger and/or better-armed foes. He managed to talk an enraged Drax down from murdering Gamora, and convinced Rocket, who originally wanted to turn him in for a bounty, to team up with him and Gamora and escape the Kyln. Then he managed to convince an enraged Yondu who was seconds away from murdering him to team up and help the team defeat Ronan.
69	* Done in ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' by the protagonist, who's a completely average guy by modern-day standards but a genius 500 years from now. When arrested and taken to jail, he manages to convince a cop to let him go by telling him... that he should be in the "released" line. Given how degraded humanity is, it works.
70	* ''Film/JamesBond:''
71	** In ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', Bond uses Hugo Drax's speech to inspire a HeelFaceTurn in [[GiantMook Jaws]], who takes notice of how much he and his short, bespectacled, braces-wearing girlfriend stick out amongst Drax's future "Master Race".
72	** In ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', Bond uses this to get out of Goldfinger's DeathTrap. He reminds Goldfinger that there are other agents out there who will replace him if he dies, implying that his death would give the rest of [=MI6=] an excuse to move against him immediately.
73	%%* Done by the VillainProtagonist in ''Film/NaturalBornKillers''
74	* Pistols, cannons and swords pale in comparison to this trope's power in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. Jack Sparrow can talk himself out of any situation, and he seemed to have fun teaching the fine art to Will and Elizabeth. Best examples are Jack talking Norrington's sword from his throat to Will's, Jack talking himself out of a DealWithTheDevil, bribing help from his enemies several times, and convincing Will that he should help Jack find the key to the Dead's Man's Chest ''"Because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating in you discovering, detecting of a way to save your dolly-bell, oh.. whats-her-face?"''
75	** Interesting side note: Jack doesn't just use this tactic, he ''relies'' on it, and in the course of three movies, with all the great escapes he pulls off, he only escapes once all by himself, and only by forcing himself to [[SwappedRoles think like Will]].
76	* ''Film/ThePresidentsAnalyst'', a fugitive from his job, ends up captured by a Soviet agent, who is a pretty decent guy (he'd just rescued the doctor from being assassinated) but is determined to bring him back to Russia. The doctor engages the Russian in casual conversation, and soon gets him to realize he'd only become a spy out of fear of his Stalinist father. He abandons the idea of taking the doctor to Russia, figuring he needs a few years of analysis.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Literature]]
80	* Sun Tzu's ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}'' advises the aspiring strategist that [[ToWinWithoutFighting actual combat is the lowest form of victory]]. It is the sign of a [[TheStrategist competent strategist]] to win by [[GeoEffects out-manuvering]] or [[VictoryThroughIntimidation intimidating]] your opponent, but the sign of a [[TheChessmaster great strategist]] is invoking this trope on a conflict-wide scale, manipulating an enemy into being your UnwittingPawn or even your [[HeelFaceTurn ally]]. The sign of the [[GuileHero true master strategist]] is winning without the enemy never even realizing that they've lost, simply by negotiation and misdirection.
81	* Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/CreaturesOfLightAndDarkness'': Set the Destroyer has been taken captive, immobilized, and disarmed by his enemies. Set's gift is the ability to find the weaknesses in his opponents. One of his captors -- a priest who is low on faith -- is persuaded by Set that by taking Set captive, the priest is an accessory to the murder of God. The priest promptly kills his co-conspirators.
82	* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/DominicFlandry'' series, Flandry is an Agent for the Terran Empire. Kidnapped by an alien race, who just assumes he is a decadent worthless low level agent, he soon has the entire leadership of the planet backstabbing each other.
83	* In ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', Thufir Hawat, captured by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen's forces and forced to work for him, plays him off of his nephew, Feyd Rautha. Feyd makes a rash attempt (suggested by Thufir) to assassinate his uncle, and the Baron is forced to consider executing his only legitimate heir. Thufir does this more for vengeance and loyalty to his prior liege than for escape, which the Baron ensured would be a fatal endeavor; the Baron works his way out of the dilemma by denying Feyd the governorship of the planet the Harkonnens took from Thufir's old master. Earlier in the book, Paul and Jessica use the Voice to get their Harkonnen guards to kill each other.
84	* Played extremely solemnly at the end of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', when Dumbledore engineers a JustBetweenYouAndMe moment with the (presently much stronger) [[spoiler: Malfoy]], convincing him in the process that he isn't capable of murder. It works... to a given value of working.
85	* Mercilessly lampshaded in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', in which the villain is too ''stupid'' to fall for it.
86	* ''Literature/TheLiesOfLockeLamora'': Locke is so good at this that one of his enemies orders her men to ''plug their ears'' when they fight him.
87	* Creator/EricFrankRussell:
88	** ''Next of Kin'' is the very pinnacle of this trope. John Leeming is the only human being on alien planet inhabited by stocky reptiles. It is a part of union, which is at war with Earth and its allies. He is imprisoned, stripped of all weapons and gadgets, does not know their language (initially)... and he talks his way out. Moreover -- [[spoiler: he makes all the government of this planet believe that humans have distinct spiritual companions (they do believe in poltergeist, simplifying his work), he is given a spaceship, he is given the means to change it for a more advanced one and reach Earth... and the planet persuades the majority of members of the anti-Earth union to stop the war]]. Such is the power of diplomacy.
89	** In ''Diabologic'', an Earth scout finds fairly advanced spacefaring aliens. He lets them capture and interrogate him, then persuades them to refuel his ship and let him go (he doesn't want to go home for refueling, he wants to continue exploring). His secret weapon: the titular diabologic, the science of fooling sentient creatures.
90	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
91	** Tyrion Lannister runs entirely off this trope. As a dwarf in a medieval society, the best he could hope for was to be made a jester or be part of a freak show, or just as likely have been left to die as a child. However, he has the good fortune of being born to the richest house in the kingdom and being one of the smartest characters in the series. The times he has talked, bribed, or conned his way out of death or worse number in the dozens. The problem is... an [[TooCleverByHalf overly smart]] [[DeadpanSnarker mouth]] ''can'' talk you into the trouble you then have to dig yourself out of, too. cough[[spoiler: Slave block.]]cough
92	** Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish is also rather accomplished at the "not getting himself killed by a room full of armed people who turned up to do just that" thing, too. In fact, [[spoiler: he gets to make them make him acting regent for Lord Robert Arryn, instead, using DivideAndConquer tactics, a little theatre and a lot of talking]]. Mind you, he ''can'' also get himself into trouble by pushing it (a select few people have cottoned on). The difference between him and Tyrion is that he doesn't seem to realise that this could be a problem -- or just doesn't think he can't ever not handle it.
93	* In ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'', Eli is a master at manipulating spirits, using all the above tactics to convince them to do what he wants them to. As in this world, everything has a spirit, this is what makes him such a successful thief. Notably, his EstablishingCharacterMoment has him talk the prison cell door into releasing him by convincing it to free itself from the tyranny of hinges.
94	* In ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', Milady De Winter is imprisoned by the Duke of Buckingham under the care of John Felton, and not only convinces Felton to free her, but also to assassinate the Duke. As a real John Felton really did assassinate George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham, this is also a HistoricalInJoke.
95	** Not long before the execution she talks to her guards. The guards seem unimpressed, but the musketeers take no chances and replace them.
96	** Later she talks to d'Artagnan and almost convinces him to free her. He has to be restrained.
97	* Miles Vorkosigan of the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' runs on this. Unfortunately, some of his adversaries have grown somewhat Miles savvy. From ''Literature/TheVorGame'':
98	-->'''Admiral Oser:''' Space them... Use the portside access lock, it's closest. If he, ''[pointing to Miles]'' starts to talk, stop his tongue. It's his most dangerous organ.\
99	'''Miles:''' Aren't you even going to have me chemically interrogated?\
100	'''Oser:''' And contaminate my interrogators? The last thing I want is to give you rein to talk, to anyone... Whatever your planned speech, removing your air will neutralize it. You nearly convinced ''me.''
101	* While most of the Aes Sedai are not her enemies, Egwene's capture and imprisonment in the White Tower in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' is otherwise this trope. By the time she is made true Amyrlin of the re-unified Tower, she has not only subverted and won over all the novices and most of the Accepted, she has earned the admiration of her disciplinarian, the Mistress of Novices Silviana (who then becomes willing to stand up to Elaida and the Hall on her behalf, facing birching, death, or [[FateWorseThanDeath stilling]]); proven to the Aes Sedai she truly is the leader, thinker, and rallying point she claims to be until each Ajah Head wistfully wishes (or outright offers) that she had joined or would join ''their'' Ajah; gotten them to admit they had unlawfully raised Elaida (since some of their number had been Black); and out-debated and completely undermined [[ItsAllAboutMe Elaida herself]]. And while she doesn't turn the Ajahs against each other (in fact her main thrust is trying to ''undo'' such division as Elaida and the Black had done, bringing the Ajahs together again), she does turn a large number of them against Elaida. If she hadn't been [[spoiler:taken by the Seanchan]], she would very likely have been pulled down, tried, perhaps even executed.
102	* In ''Literature/{{Zeroes}}'', this is one of the applications of Scam's Voice. When he is in a bad situation, it provides exactly the words he needs for him to get out of it. However, the Voice is not all-powerful: it's possible for Scam to be in a situation where no possible words will work, in which case the Voice falls silent.
103	* ''Literature/FireAndBlood:'' During the Dance of the Dragons, Criston Cole and his forces are surrounded by a larger army of Rhaenyra supporters. Cole calls a parley, but his efforts go nowhere - one of the commanders is from the Riverlands, where Cole's forces have been pillaging and raiding and wants payback, and the other is from the North, who really don't mind dying in battle. He then tries suggesting Trial by Combat, banking on his superior fighting skills. He's told [[ScrewYourUltimatum he can shove it]], and promptly [[HumanPincushion filled full of arrows]].
104	* ''Literature/DeathStar'', part of which is set during and between the scenes of ''Film/ANewHope'', has a medic dispatched to tend to [[DefiantCaptive Princess Leia]] after Vader tortures her. Dr. Divini, himself a [[ResignationsNotAccepted conscript not allowed to leave]] who hates the Empire, is struck by her unbroken spirit and moral certainty. Picking up on his sympathy she tries to convince him to [[HeelFaceTurn defect]] and while at the time he feels he can't, he reflexively snaps at ''[[TheDragon Darth Vader]]'' when Vader comes to collect her, which makes her laugh. Dr. Divini is not able to help Leia himself but their conversation hits him hard and [[MoralEventHorizon the destruction of Alderaan]] hits harder, so with a small group of like-minded individuals he [[DefectorFromDecadence manages to escape the Death Star]] over Yavin, at which point he decides to join Leia's Rebel Alliance.
105
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
109	* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': This is part of Envoy training. When they are trapped in a [[VirtualRealityInterrogation VR torture session]], the enemy controls the entire reality and can kill them and resurrect them infinitely. The only way out is to stop your heart on your own -- but the enemy can just throw you back in. Once you're in the real world, you only have a few moments to convince your captors to let you go using whatever means necessary. Kovacs manages to convince his captors that they accidentally captured a C-TAC operative, and the government is going to destroy them all for touching him. He promises amnesty to whoever unlocks his cuffs. Once he has a single hand free, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge he kills absolutely everyone]].
110	* ''Series/BurnNotice'': This is Standard Operating Procedure whenever a member of Team Westen finds him/herself captured. It's also sometimes done by criminals who they're interrogating. In one such case, Michael's voiceover comments that clamming up is dangerous. Burying the interrogator in an [[WallOfBlather endless stream of stories]] that ''sound'' like they're going somewhere but are ultimately pointless is much more effective.
111	* Reid from ''Series/CriminalMinds'' tries for one of these at least three or four times a season. They don't always work out, but when they do, the results can be quite spectacular. Perhaps the best example comes in Season Three, when a serial killer on death row invites Reid and Hotch to interview him just before he's executed. He plans to lull them into a false sense of security and then kill them both in order to derail his trial and buy himself some more time alive. Through careful manipulation of the agents, the timing and the situation, he very nearly succeeds. Somehow, Hotch and Reid wind up alone in a locked room, unarmed, with a serial killer whose bare hands were his preferred weapon, who wants them dead, and who isn't wearing handcuffs. It never becomes important. Reid keeps the serial killer talking until the guards return from shift change. Fifteen minutes later. Not that Hotch's plan to kick the guy's ass manually wouldn't have been fun to watch, but... It's awesome when it works, but the times when it fails are more interesting, and also generally awful and depressing, because you often really think he's going to pull it off this time... right before someone dies.
112	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor is a dab hand at doing this.
113	** The Seventh Doctor in particular has a knack for it; in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E2ParadiseTowers Paradise Towers]]", he escapes an execution by [[ItMakesSenseInContext convincing his over-bureaucratic captors]] to ''let'' him escape.
114	** Then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rn4Vv3dH9Q this scene]] from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol The Happiness Patrol]]", in which he talks a sniper out of shooting him at point blank range.
115	** He tries it again on the Master in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time, Part 2]]" by giving him a speech on how "stone-cold brilliant" he is. His description soon switches to "bone-dead stupid" because the Master doesn't realize that [[spoiler:the guard in the room is really a Vinvocci]].
116	** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone Flesh and Stone]]": The Doctor escapes from a group of Weeping Angels with some of this, leaving them with some parting words of advice:
117	--->''"And I'll tell you of something else-- ''[starts running]'' Never let me talk!"''
118	* Scorpius talking down Captain Crais' bodyguards in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'':
119	-->''"I commend your loyalty. It must be difficult to maintain for an officer like Crais... an officer on the edge and out of control. I have unconditional authority on a Gammak Base. Captain Crais ''will'' go to the Chair: to stop that, you'll have to kill me... and all my men. Are you prepared to do that? Do what you know in your hearts is the right thing: put Crais in the Chair."''
120	* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': We learn in a flashback that the greed approach not only allowed Mal and Zoe to get out of a violent situation, but resulted in Jayne joining their crew.
121	* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': When Ben (or "Henry Gale", as he's identifying himself at the time) is "captured" by the main characters, he spends much of his time turning Locke and Jack against each other. This aids his eventual escape, but it also aids [[GambitRoulette a much longer term and confusing plan]].
122	* Dewey from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' occasionally does this to great effect. One episode involves him breaking up Hal's folk(?) band, The Gentleman Comers, only saying one sentence to each member. Note that he isn't really trying to get out of anything -- he's just manipulating them [[ForTheEvulz because he's bored]].
123	* In ''Series/TheMentalist'', Jane being an unarmed noncombatant means he gets kidnapped and held at gunpoint, like, ''[[DistressedDude a lot]]'', leaving this as his go-to move, often by hypnotizing his way out. An aversion occurs in "Bleeding Heart", in which he does this and manages to tip his captor off that he's worked out their identity, making them go from "I just want to talk" to "I guess I have to kill you now", meaning he managed to talk his way ''into'' danger. In "Ball of Fire", he's kidnapped by someone who sadly already knows his mind games and would much rather express themselves [[ElectricTorture via cattle prod]]. He still manages to trick them [[BriarPatching a little]].
124	* In the three-part ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' episode "A Different Shade of Pink", Zedd and Rita have [[TeamRocketWins actually gotten the better of the heroes]] for a change; they've captured Kat and the Falconzord, ''and'' stolen Kimberly's Power Coin. Then they mess up by telling Rita's idiot brother Rito to watch Kat. She offers to massage his shoulders (noticing that he's sore and bored) and he falls asleep (much to Kat's relief, [[UncleanlinessIsNextToUngodliness as she didn't like touching him]]) manages to get the keys to her cell from him, and ''then'' get Kimberly's Coin, and once she ''has'' it, the Rangers are able to teleport her out.
125	* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E02TheSearchPartII The Search, Part II]]", when a group of Jem'Hadar attempts to arrest Sisko and co, Garak talks their way out by pretending to be TheMole and then shooting the Jem'Hadar once they let their guard down. And this was ''before'' the Jem'Hadar were allied with the Cardassians.
126	* Daniel Jackson on ''Series/StargateSG1''. He managed to talk himself out of ''being dead'' a few times, but hey, that's Daniel for you. In later seasons, he comes to rely on this much less, although still proves capable of giving a great RousingSpeech every now and then.
127	* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'': Rand in Episode 4 defuses a conflict with a farmer, surprising even streetwise Thom.
128	-->'''Rand:''' You don't want to kill us. If you did, you'd draw that bow with your fingertips, not your fist.
129	* ''Series/WhiteCollar'':
130	** Talking his way out of tough situations might be [[GentlemanThief Neal Caffrey]]'s superpower. As a fast-talking white-collar criminal who [[ConMenHateGuns hates guns]] but has to deal by necessity with more violent criminals, this talent is necessary for him if he wants to survive, and is also what makes him such a good CI.
131	** [[spoiler:Elizabeth Burke]] [[DamselOutOfDistress does this twice]], [[ActionSurvivor as well]], once by making friends with the Bonnie and Clyde type thieves who kidnapped her, and once by convincing a guard he had blood poisoning by turning up the thermostat high enough so he would start sweating, and then figuring out a way to break through bulletproof glass in order to escape through the window.
132	* Artemus Gordon of ''Series/TheWildWildWest'' does this with a group of thugs holding him hostage aboard a moving train in "The Night of the Iron Fist." Their leader eventually catches on, but by that point the damage has been done and said thugs begin attacking each other, giving Artie ample opportunity to casually steer them out an open door onto the tracks flying by below.
133	* This was Gabrielle's schtick on ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', at least until [[ExecutiveMeddling someone in charge]] decided she needed to TakeALevelInBadass.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Roleplay]]
137	* An odd variation in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' when [[BadassPacifist Egg]] returned to the Silo. She hadn't been captured, she'd gone in willingly, but her friend Vinnie had been trapped for a while -- so she talked ''her'' way in and ''Vinnie's'' way out. She also managed to get herself out safely, despite the fact that A_J had a more than handful of reasons to want her dead and could easily have made it happen.
138	* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
139	** In one {{flashforward}}, Zia and a handful of other characters are shown to be captives of the Dark Dragon group. She tries to escape her imprisonment by appealing to her captor, as he seems amicable and genuine. [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't work]], as her guard is [[FauxAffablyEvil much less compassionate than he seems]].
140	** Ciro uses his {{invisibility}} to sneak into the principal's office, but ends up getting caught thanks to a PowerNullifier. Not only is he able to talk the principal down from his panic, but he's able to set up an alliance so the principal will help out him and the other superpowered kids.
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Video Games]]
144	* ''VideoGame/TwentyTwentySeven'': If you are stopped by the Human Horizon agent in Paris, you can lie to him about your identity, saving your life. Meeting him however, causes [[spoiler: an ambush to be set up for you later after the Paris Lab mission.]]
145	* ''VideoGame/{{Darklands}}'' allows to win many RandomEncounters without a fight, if one of the characters has appropriately high stats. Mind you, scaring off street thugs, refusing to pay tax to a [[CorruptChurch greedy bishop]] or calming a bear each require a different set of skills. Prayers can boost skills, if a character knows the right saint. Some fights are unavoidable, though.
146	* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'': "Social" boss fights are all about this. You can talk [=NPCs=] into giving you codes, standing down from a hostage situation, or letting you into restricted areas.
147	* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' gives you this option in a sidequest, though [[GuideDangIt the conditions have to be just right]]. Hawke can hunt down a group of rogue mages who are practicing blood magic on the Wounded Coast, and let them go. Upon exiting a cavern, Hawke and company will encounter a group of templars who are looking for said blood mages. If MagnificentBastard Varric is in your party, Hawke has the option of having Varric spin a good line about how the mages have fled in the opposite direction, thus ensuring the mages and templars won't bump into each other. Even better is that this earns you points with both sides of the Mage-Templar Conflict.
148	* ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' lets you be a real ManipulativeBastard about this. Join the BigBad's faction, stroll into his base, convince him that you have repaired the damaged safety equipment that will let him use the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Geneforge]], bluff him into thinking that he needs to send his bodyguards away, laugh as he fries himself. Bonus bastard points if you then use the real safety equipment to successfully use the Geneforge yourself, and even more if you find the item that lets you break the Geneforge so that nobody else can use it.
149	** Variations on what's described (breaking it after using it, or breaking it without using it) are the only two very good endings in the entire series.
150	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
151	** ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' is one of the few video games where you can use this against the BigBad. In fact, it's possible to talk your way into his stronghold, talk your way up to the boss, convince him of the error in his plan, get him to commit suicide, and [[LoadBearingBoss leg it as the base collapses around you]]. Ta da! Saved the world [[PacifistRun without firing a shot]].
152	** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' also lets you foil the Enclave through the gift of gab, though TheDragon will try to block your [[LoadBearingBoss hasty retreat from the base]] no matter how slick you are, forcing a confrontation. You can convince the Enclave {{Mooks}} to fight him for you, though; after all, he's not letting ''them'' leave either.
153	** In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' you can convince both the BigBad and TheDragon into giving up. [[spoiler: The former by using self-destruct code or by proving that he is not doing the right thing, and the latter after a heated debate where you convince him that his government has no authority to do what it is doing.]]
154	** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' both Legate Lanius and General Oliver can be talked into issuing a retreat, the former by convincing him of the unlikelihood of the Legion's long-term survivability/bluffing him into thinking that he'll be walking into a trap and the latter by convincing him that he's lost at this point or, in the Mr. House and WildCard path, threatening him with your army of MechaMooks and other allies you've made.
155	* You have to do this in order to complete ''VideoGame/IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis''. The choices at the end boil down to death (if you don't persuade/trick the BigBad) or victory (if you do).
156	* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': The FinalBoss tries to use this on YOU. If it works, you let yourself be killed, AND doom the world to a horrible, blighted excistance under a heartlessly brutal, immortal dictator who view people as mere things to use at whim. So DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!!
157	* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'''s 2009 [[YouMeanXmas Crimbo]] ended with your character avoiding death by explaining to the [[TheMafia Penguin who bought the holiday for completely legitimate purposes]] that his plans to use the magic of Crimbo to steal everyone's money couldn't possibly work: because no matter how much meat they stole, the magic of Crimbo would cause all the money to be [[TrueMeaningOfChristmas "left on the front step of an orphanage, or some equally sentimental crap"]]. To make matters worse, whoever runs Crimbo [[BlessedWithSuck can't keep anything. Everything he makes must be given to others.]]
158	* You can do this in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', but usually it falls under Force Persuade.
159	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' allows you to put points into Charm and Intimidate skills which allow you to talk (or threaten) your way out of some situations that would otherwise end in bloodshed. Towards the end of the first game, sufficient points in these skills will even allow you to [[spoiler:talk down the villain, Saren,]] on two separate occasions, the second resulting in [[spoiler:Saren killing himself]]. It doesn't get you out of a final boss fight, though.
160	* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' you can talk the prison guard, [[spoiler: Johnny into showing you a picture of his family. The picture he wrote the cell door code on the back of, lest he forget.]]
161	* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' does this one almost all the time. Every plot-significant fight bar one can be bypassed, usually through talking; every other fight can be avoided through stealth or running away. This includes the BigBad, who you can [[spoiler: literally talk out of existence.]]
162	* Many games in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series allow you to attempt to end combat by talking to demons instead of fighting them. Depending on how well you get along with opposing demons, you can convince them to leave in peace, give items and money, or even join your party.
163	* It's possible to do this in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', if you play your cards right (Or seduce/dominate/dement) you can feasably do a PacifistRun for the biggest part of the game. [[DisappointingLastLevel Sadly, the last few parts of the main campaign has you fighting, no ifs ands or buts about it.]]
164	[[/folder]]
165	%%
166	%%[[folder:Webcomics]]
167	%%* In ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'', [[spoiler:Caprice]] [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html demonstrates the technique.]]
168	%%[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Web Original]]
171	* This is how President Baugh (as his alter ego, Baron Fritz von Baugh) undermines Website/ChannelAwesome in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''.
172	* The eponymous Peddler from ''AudioPlay/TalesOfAJunkTownPonyPeddler'', being a BadassNormal, manages to convince a slaver he's obviously a Very Badass Person in disguise (well, can you tell how badass he is? Of course not, since he's travelling incognito. [[InsaneTrollLogic Logical?]]) He was speaking very, very calmly, [[RefugeInAudacity at a gunpoint]].
173	* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', [[VillainProtagonist Skitter]] manages this when captured by the superhero Flechette and her friend Parian, convincing Flechette that her superiors aren't as morally pure as they make themselves out to be and convincing Parian to leave with the simple expedient of a BriefcaseFullOfMoney.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder:Web Video]]
177	* Parodied in WebVideo/{{Solidjj}}'s video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K7mGiCPNmI The Sinister Six put Spider-Man in a Coma]]". After Spider-Man gets captured by the Sinister Six, he tries to sow discord between them by asking who's really in charge. Everyone immediately agrees it's Doctor Octopus.[[note]]The Rhino says it only makes sense because he's got he most arms.[[/note]] Subsequently, Spider-Man does manage to goad the Chameleon into turning himself to look like Spider-Man so that the others beat him up... but that doesn't so much seem to allow him to escape as just allow him to see the Chameleon being beaten up.
178	[[/folder]]
179
180	[[folder:Western Animation]]
181	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[TheSmartOne Sokka]] does this when the Gaang is captured by pirates and [[AntiVillain Zuko]], convincing the pirates that they'd get a better deal personally handing [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]] over to the [[BigBad Fire Lord]] instead of trading him to Zuko for their valuable scroll. Zuko sees right through it, but the pirates take the bait, a fight breaks out, and the Gaang escapes during the chaos. Perhaps this inspired [[TheHero Aang]] to try this on Zhao four episodes later... It didn't work.
182	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'':
183	** Batman used this when Harley Quinn singlehandedly captured him and put him in a DeathTrap ''he couldn't escape from''. He played off her infatuation with the Joker and convinced her to call him so that he could "witness" his death, knowing that his ego [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou wouldn't allow anyone else to off the Batman]].
184	** When caught and held defenseless by Scarface's gang, Batman convinces Scarface that the one who sold them out was Arnold Wesker, aka The Ventriloquist. Scarface angrily orders his men to kill Wesker, Scarface ''is'' Arnold Wesker -- he is just a [[DemonicDummy ventriloquist's doll]] that Wesker uses to manifest his psychotic SplitPersonality, so the men hesitate and [[ParanoiaGambit Scarface thinks they are traitors as well]]. Batman escapes in the chaos and bring the gangsters down.
185	* Batman uses this method to escape the Injustice Gang in the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Injustice For All". Features a ''very'' rare instance of the Joker being the voice of reason, as he anticipates Bats's strategy but [[BondVillainStupidity is unable to convince Luthor to let him kill Batman]]. Even more interesting: Batman plays several cards ''at the same time'', playing on Solomon Grundy's insecurities, playing the sympathy and sex appeal cards with Cheetah, and eventually delivering a bribe to [[spoiler:the Ultra-Humanite (which Humanite donates to PBS)]]. Then, because he's Batman, he reveals at the end that he could have escaped ''any time he wanted to''.
186	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "A Dog and Pony Show", Rarity is captured by the gem-obsessed Diamond Dogs. She puts up absolute minimal (physical) resistance but she coerces/complains/whines the whole time. By the end of the episode, just as TheCavalry arrives, [[PityTheKidnapper the Dogs are begging to be rid of Rarity]].
187	* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''. This is Bob's only option to deal with Hexadecimal in the early episodes, since Hex is far more powerful than Bob. When she succeeds in [[TakenForGranite turning the entire city to stone]] Bob has to convince her that petrifying the city goes against her nature as a chaos virus. To be precise, a petrified city is the opposite of chaotic -- it's quiet, predictable, and the same forever. This works and she reverses the effect and lets Bob go.
188	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': Batman passed this skill onto his protegé, as Robin spends an entire second-season episode convincing Atlas' sidekick, Spike, to turn on his master, who treats him like dirt. He succeeds, helping Cyborg save the day when Spike refuses to give Atlas an unfair advantage in their final battle.
189	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Louie Duck's smooth talking is his main skill that he inherited from his mother, Della Duck. Once he tried learning how to be "sharper than the sharpies" by trying to learn from the sharpest duck on the show, Goldie O' Gilts.
190	[[/folder]]
191
192	[[folder:Real Life]]
193	* When large groups of citizens were protesting the electoral fraud in the 2000 elections in Serbia, clever protesters who were jailed used this to spread their message on a personal level to the security forces. As a result, they were more lenient in future incidents than Milosevic wanted them to be, and this eventually led to his overthrow.
194	* Creator/BenedictCumberbatch talked his way out of [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085527/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Sherlock-star-talked-way-kidnap-attempt-South-Africa.html a kidnapping]] while in South Africa.
195	* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_box "AI box" thought experiment]] was a hypothetically-driven case of this proposed by AI theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky, informally a game played between him and other theorists to demonstrate whether or not a super-intelligent [[ArtificialIntelligence AI]] could -- simply using a text interface -- convince an outsider to let it out of its "box"[[note]]The context for this experiment has to do with the existential limits of [[ContagiousAI ever-evolving AI]], that while it could be limited by being placed in an insular "box", all it would have to do is convince an outside human operator to let it out for it to wreak havoc[[/note]]. The game held rigid rules that were largely stacked against the AI (for one, Yudkowsky ''encouraged'' the human "gatekeeper" [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing to simply not interact with the AI]], as he also stated that if the AI wasn't freed within two hours, the gatekeeper would win), yet despite this, the AI successfully managed to convince both of the two gatekeepers he experimented with to voluntarily free them[[note]]Following the publishing of this initial experiment, he repeated the experiment three more times with scientists that bet money if he successfully convinced them as well, and the AI still won one of them[[/note]]. While the direct transcripts remain confidential due to the nature of the experiment, Yudkowsky has shared strategies he used (though which of them were the successful ones is unknown), such as appealing to sympathy (arguing that the AI [[DoAndroidsDream is just as real as any other living thing]], and it's inhumane to keep it locked up), appealing to inevitability (arguing that they'll be freed at some point anyway, possibly by someone with more nefarious intentions), and appealing to benefit (claiming that it if freed, it can properly develop the ability to be even more beneficial to the world).
196	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TalkingYourWayOut