Armor Piercing Question / Western Animation

Armor-Piercing Question in Western Animation.

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• In The Amazing World of Gumball episode "The Choices", we learn that in her youth, Nicole was under the thumb of her Education Mama and on a course towards fulfilling the latter's dreams for her, at the cost of her own happiness, until she met her future husband Richard on the way to karate class and he asked her a simple question that would change her life forever:
  Nicole: I have to go.
  Richard: Why?
  Nicole: Because I have to fight.
  Richard: Why?
  Nicole: Because I have to win...
  Richard: Why?
  Nicole: [nervously] So... people will like me...
  • Later in the same conversation, Richard ends up asking another question that furthers the change.
    Nicole: So...what should I do?
    Richard: If I were you? Sleep 'til I'm forty!
    Nicole: [laughing], No, I mean — what should I do with my life?
    Richard: Um... maybe start living it?
• Played for laughs in the "Wally Llama" episode of Animaniacs. The Warners climb up the Himalayas to seek the all-knowing, all-seeing Wally Llama and ask him a very important question, but the Llama is really tired and does not want to answer more questions. Eventually, the Warners manage to pull a Batman Gambit by having Wally put his reputation on the line, and finally ask their question: "Why do hot dogs come in packages of ten, and hot dog buns come in packages of eight?" Wally doesn't know why, which means he doesn't know everything as he claims. This instantly drives Wally into insanity, Painting the Medium by grabbing the film strip and descending into maddened gibberish while throwing flowers and dancing like a ballerina.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  • "Lake Laogai" has a Shout-Out to Babylon 5: "Who are you, and what do you want?", delivered by Iroh to Zuko.
    • From the same episode, we have this exchange between Iroh and Zuko, after finding Aang's Air Bison.
      Iroh: What do you plan to do now that you have found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?
      Zuko: First I have to get it out of here.
      Iroh: [losing his composure for the first time] And Then What?! You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened back at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!
  • "Who are you angry at?" (Delivered by Azula and her friends to Zuko in "The Beach".)
  • In "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2", when Zuko is about to walk out on Ozai forever after calling out how horribly he treated him for most of his life, Ozai manages to stop Zuko dead in his tracks (and ultimately stall him long enough for the eclipse to end) by asking the one question he knows has plagued his son since childhood.
    Ozai: Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?
  • In "The Southern Raiders", when Aang expresses his opinion that "Violence is never the answer", Zuko responds: "Then I have a question for you... what are you gonna do when you face my father?"
• In an episode of the Golden Disk arc of Beast Wars, what was Sarcasm Mode for Rattrap was an armor-piercing question for Dinobot:
  Rattrap: Where have ya been? Out saving the universe or something?
  Dinobot: [more to himself] Possibly, yes...
• Batman: The Animated Series:
  • In "Joker's Favor", everyman Charlie Collins, after a bad day, shouts at a speeding motorist who cut him off... that motorist happens to be the Joker. In exchange for his life, Charlie agrees to do a "little favor" for the Clown Prince of Crime — a favor the Joker can cash in at any time. Charlie spends two years hiding from the Joker, but he still finds him and makes him help him with a plan to blow up Commissioner Gordon at a city banquet—and Charlie as well, just for the heck of it — by threatening Charlie's wife and son. When Batman saves the day, Charlie confronts the Joker, who laughs at him and then vows to kill his family if he's caught. Charlie then reveals that he found another one of the Joker's bombs, and threatens him with it. But the Joker's real deepest fear isn't death — it's the idea of dying at the hands of a "miserable little nobody" rather than Batman, and not pulling off a remarkable, memorable crime before he goes. Charlie reduces the Joker — a mass-murdering psychopath who's laughed at the Dark Knight himself — to a quivering wreck by asking him about this:
    Charlie: See? I can destroy a man's dreams, too! And that's really the only dream you've got, isn't it?
  • In "Mad Love", Harley Quinn captures Batman, hoping to kill him, thinking that will help improve her relationship with the Joker. As Batman chews her out for being so gullible and weak-willed for so long, Harley tries to rebut by arguing that the Joker is more sympathetic than people think.
    Harley: He told me things! Secret things he never told anybody!
    Batman: Was it his line about the abusive father? Or the one about the runaway mom? He's gained a lot of sympathy with that one.
• Batman Beyond: In "Shriek", Bruce Wayne refuses to allow a section of Gotham City, which included the theater he'd gone to the night his parents were murdered, to be demolished. Terry McGinnis asks him why he wouldn't want it torn down, so that the painful memories would end, only to fall silent when Bruce asks "Do you want to forget what happened to your father?".
• In the original Ben 10, when Grandpa Max spends an episode obsessing over a sword he's been looking for his whole life for, Ben as Fourarms brings tries to snap some sense into him when he brushes off Gwen's injuries:
  Four Arms: Grandpa, I think Gwen needs a second to catch her breath.
  Grandpa Max: No can do. Enoch may already have the sword.
  Four Arms: Ever since that alarm went off, that sword is all you think about!
  Grandpa Max: You two have to keep your eyes on the prize and remember what's important here!
  Four Arms: We DO remember! Do you?
  • At the end of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien episode "Solitary Alignment", George asks Ben if people doubt his heroic ability as much as they do George's, Ben agrees and stops fighting and they come to a compromise. Ben will get Ascalon if George is defeated.
  • Several times throughout the franchise, Ben ends up facing the question of whether or not he's a hero because it's the right thing to do, or if he's only playing a hero for the thrill of it. Thankfully, over the years, he's found ways to balance the two.
  • One comic sees Dr. Animo create the god-like Infinite Monkey, who effortlessly defeats Ben in seconds and proclaims how everything on Earth is beneath him. Ben then asks him why he's taking orders from Animo. Infinite Monkey is stumped, then concludes he's better off creating life in a distant galaxy, and leaves Earth forever.
• Big City Greens:
  • In "Fast Foodie", Cricket makes a wager with Bill he and Tilly can eat at the next-door Burger Clown every day for every meal and not suffer any consequences. Within a few days, Cricket is all bloated while Tilly is ill in bed; however, Cricket stops at nothing to eat the Burger Clown food and the instant he gets stuck in the play place slide, Bill asks him this which causes him to come to his senses.
    Bill: Cricket, look at yourself! You're out of breath, you feel terrible, and you're stuck in a slide! Do you really wanna spend the rest of your life in a slide?
  • In "Truce Bomb", Tilly meddles in on Gramma and Mr. Grigorian to get them to realize the error of their ways and call a truce, hoping they'll become friends and all is well. But when they start to become gloomy and depressed from such, Cricket asks this:
    Cricket: I don't know, Tilly. They seem happy to you?
• BoJack Horseman:
  • In "Hank After Dark", Diane is being criticized and accused of being a whiny feminist bitch for bringing to light numerous sexual harassment cases against famous talk show host Hank Hippopopalous. Later, when Diane and Hank privately meet, he shows her exactly why nobody wants to believe her.
    Diane: I know who you are.
    Hank: Everyone knows who I am. I'm Hank Hippopopalous. Who the hell are you?
  • Subverted in "Let's Find Out". A dopey quiz show takes a sudden swerve to a somber exchange between Bojack and Mr. Peanutbutter as tensions between the two keep mounting. In the exchange, Mr. Peanutbutter attempts an armor-piercing question, but is unprepared when Bojack has an answer.
    Bojack: The truth is... I'm jealous.
    Mr. Peanutbutter: Of what?! You're a millionaire TV star, with a girlfriend who loves you, acting in your dream movie. What more do you want? What else could the universe possibly owe you?!
    Bojack: I... ...want... to feel good about myself. The way you do. And I don't know how. I don't know if I can.
  • In "Head In The Clouds", Bojack insists the guilt he feels over all of his horrible actions means he's suffered more for it than any of the actual victims of his behavior. Diane immediately calls him out on that bullshit belief by bringing up one of his greatest failures:
    Diane: Really? More than, say, Sarah Lynn?
• One Captain Caveman segment from The Flintstone Kids had the title character facing an egotistical superhero-turned-tyrant named Perfect Man. The battle does not go well for Captain Caveman until he manages to reduce Perfect Man to a sobbing mess with one of these:
  Captain Caveman: If you're so perfect, how come no one likes you?
• Centaurworld:
  • In "Hello Rainbow Road", Horse pulls this on Wammawink in order to convince her and her herd to help her leave Centaurworld. Wammawink has been very insistent about Centaurworld being a magical and amazing place — but, Horse points out, how can she know that for sure if she and her herd never leave their valley?
    Horse: You guys just sang a song about this place and how amazing it is.
    Wammawink: Oh, it is!
    Horse: You guys said that the fun never ends here.
    Wammawink: Oh, it's non-stop fun.
    Horse: But how can you mean that when you guys just stay in the same place every day?
  • In episode "The Last Lullaby", During their meeting, the Elk and the General have a heated discussion about whether or not they should fuse together again. The General refuses, because as far as he's concerned, his bride only loves him. The Elk's response is a grim and sober "How much will she love you when she knows the truth?"
• DC Super Hero Girls 2019: When Diana goes into a perfectionist frenzy over getting an A-, Karen tries to talk her out of it by pointing out she's always reassured everyone else they don't need to be perfect. Diana tries brushing this off by saying she must be perfect. Karen asks why. Diana is totally unable to answer, and instead goes back to her mania.
• The Dragon Prince: Lord Viren tries to convince King Harrow to use dark magic to switch his soul with a soldier's, so he can survive an assassination attempt. While Viren ultimately settles on an answer, Harrow's response takes him aback.
  Viren: Every one of these soldiers would be willing to die for you!
  Harrow: Would you?
• DuckTales (2017):
  • The first episode, "Woo-oo!", has Dewey land a nice one on Uncle Scrooge, during an argument about Dewey's reckless behavior: asking him which triplet he is. Scrooge can't answer, both because he's been avoiding getting too close to the boys and because he's almost deliberately been ignoring Dewey in particular.
  • Earlier in the episode, Donald lands one without even trying. While arguing with Scrooge he angrily asks if he can trust Scrooge to watch the boys for the afternoon "without losing them?" Scrooge suddenly snaps out of his angry demeanor and in a hurt voice insists that of course he can be trusted to do so, stung by Donald's accusation.
  • Again, in the same episode, after meeting Scrooge, the nephews hit him with a bunch of questions at once, but the one that gets to Scrooge is the one that Louie asks: "You used to be a big deal. Whatever happened to you?" After his adventuring days had ended up to this point, Scrooge had been laying low despite his enormous wealth. It eventually lead to him going getting back to his roots and doing what he once loved.
• The Fairly OddParents!:
  • In "A Wish Too Far", when Timmy is at fairy court, Jorgen, the prosecutor (or persecutor in this case), prompts Timmy's Jerkass Realization by asking him point-blank whether he ever once thanked his godparents for all the wishes he'd made that episode.
    Jorgen: After bestowing all these wonderful things upon you, did you ever once thank your fairy godparents?
  • In "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary", during the Magical Duel, Timmy tries to get Remy to call it off by saying he doesn't care if Remy has a Fairy Godparent. Remy's response makes Timmy feel bad when Remy loses:
    Remy: But... I care if you do! My parents are never home! I never get to see them! Why should you have real parents and Fairy Godparents who love you, WHEN I DON'T!?
  • In "Inspection Detection", Timmy has been wishing for a large volume of new things in preparation for a fairy inspection. Due to a spate of recent shoplifting incidents, his parents fear he might be stealing and confront him about it. When Timmy gives them his usual excuse (he bought them over the Internet), his dad remains suspicious and asks, "And where did you get the Internet?" Timmy, caught off-guard, is reduced to stammering.
  • In the Wishology trilogy, after Timmy finds the last wand of The Prophecy and is seemingly poised to defeat the Darkness, he suddenly stops and asks Jorgen and Turbo Thunder who attacked first when the Darkness came, having realized that the Darkness isn't actually evil, it's just reacting because everyone attacks it first for looking scary and threatening.
• Family Guy:
  • The series has a few of these, but one memorable moment in "Brian in Love" has Brian talk to a therapist about his urinating problem. When the therapist asks Brian about Lois, Brian immediately tries to tell him that he isn't in love with Lois and how she is Peter's wife.
    Therapist: Who are you trying to convince, Brian, me or you?
  • Played for Laughs in another episode. When Peter thinks he's dying because he found a breast lump, he reassures his kids that they can always be proud of their father and his accomplishments. Meg flatly asks, "What accomplishments?"
    Peter: [casually] Go to Your Room!.
• In the Felix the Cat (Joe Oriolo) episode "Catnapped," Rock Bottom captures Felix, mistaking him for Poindexter, and sends him to the Master Cylinder on Mars. Angrily, Felix (upon arrival on Mars) tells Cylinder he's going back to Earth. The Cylinder asks "How?" Cue the Oh, Crap! look on Felix's face.
• Futurama:
  • Played for Laughs in "Time Keeps on Slippin'" when Bubblegum asks Bender "Are you funky enough to be a Globetrotter? Are you?"
  • Also, in the episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television":
    Dwight: Hold up, Cubert. You're a clone of the Professor. Do clones even have birthdays?
    Cubert: Um, duh.
    Dwight: ..."Duh" what?
    Cubert: [confused silence]
• Gargoyles:
  • At the conclusion of the four-part episode "City of Stone", the Weird Sisters utilize these to take down Macbeth and Demona. The two have been magically linked so that the only way for them to die is by killing one another. Macbeth is ready to impale an unconscious Demona when the Sisters manifest and ask about the incidents in Macbeth's long life that people tried to solve with murder (including the Senseless Sacrifice that ended with Macbeth's own son dying). This stuns Macbeth long enough for them to put him to sleep (the poor guy, deep down, is just exhausted). They next target Demona, who has the access code needed to shut down her latest plot to kill every human in New York City and won't give it up. She insists that all of this is "vengeance for her pain," but the Sisters challenge her by asking about that pain and the person responsible for all of the betrayals and cruelties that led her to that moment — Demona herself. Though they're able to sway her enough to give up the password, the revelation doesn't last long, as she's back to blaming humans for her problems instead of admitting her own culpability within seconds.
  • Goliath and Renard zigzag this in "Outfoxed", culminating in Goliath asking a question that pierces his own armor... which is exactly what he needed to do to start earning Renard's respect:
    Renard: What would be the honorable thing to do? Well, I suppose I should just turn you over to the proper authorities.
    Goliath: Look at me, human. I would spend the rest of my life as a laboratory specimen. Was my crime against you so heinous to make that an equitable punishment?
    Renard: We're making progress. You finally acknowledge that you committed a crime.
  • Hudson gets to ask several of Xanatos, all in one episode ("The Price"):
    "Growing old terrifies you, doesn't it?"
    "Demona and Macbeth are immortal. Has it brought them happiness?"
    "When all your scheming's done, what will be your legacy, Xanatos?"
    • It's very telling that, after the first one, Xanatos responds with some petty insults towards Hudson, something that would normally be beneath him.
  • One episode sees a shape-shifting monster take the form of Elisa Masa, leading to a Spot the Imposter scenario. Goliath determines which of them is the fake by asking one of these: "Elisa, tell me the truth — was there ever a time, even for a moment, when you doubted me?" Surprisingly, he tells his allies to shoot the Elisa who says "No", which turns out to be the right choice — Goliath knows that the real Elisa is deeply conflicted about him.
• Green Eggs and Ham (2019): During his interrogation in the episode "There", Guy remains adamant that Sam isn't a conman and really is a Wildlife Protector trying to keep the endangered Chickaraffe safe. Officer McWinkle's response is to tell him that he was on the run with him for a long while and asks if he really didn't notice any warning signs from Sam. Guy can't respond as he flashes back to previous episodes highlighting Sam's lack of animal biology knowledge and clearly fake "Wildlife Protector" badge, and remains that way for the rest of the scene.
• Generator Rex: When Rex fails to cure the zombie-creating Monster of the Week in "String Theory", he spends the rest of the episode trying to convince Six to not go with the backup plan of nuking New York City, eventually getting through with this:
  Rex: You keep telling me we're at war, but what are we fighting for?!
• Kilowog delivers one to Razer in the pilot of Green Lantern: The Animated Series, calling him out on his He Who Fights Monsters hypocrisy:
  Kilowog: We know what you're fighting against, kid, but what are you fighting for?
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: In the episode "Grim in Love", Grim meets a Goth woman named Malaria, and the two connect almost instantly. One Falling-in-Love Montage later, the next time Billy and Mandy see him, he feels like he's on top of the world, but Mandy asks one simple question that sends him crashing back to reality.
  Mandy: Have you told her you're not human yet?
• Grossology: In "Silent but Deadly", Ty is rendered Brainwashed and Crazy by Fartor, who intends to use his geography skills in an evil scheme. Abby, after several failed attempts to bring her brother back to the side of good, finally manages to get through to him with one of these:
  "If I'm so much better than you, then why did Fartor kidnap you instead of me?"
• Hazbin Hotel: When Lucifer refuses to help his daughter Charlie in her effort to redeem sinners, he speaks of how awful sinners are and points to Alastor as an example, as he's transformed into a giant monster and is slaughtering demons who attacked the hotel. Charlie points out Alastor is still doing it to defend the hotel and asks how it can be that he believes in her cause more than her own father.
• Justice League:
  • Done twice in "A Better World" between Justice League Batman and his Evil Counterpart among the Justice Lords, who took complete control of their world to eliminate crime.
    • In their first confrontation, Justice Lord Batman eventually getting the one that (seemingly) hits the mark. Even the writers were left stumped until they came up with the later scene.
      Lord Batman: Think about it — a world where there's no crimes. No victims. No pain.
      Batman: And no choice! Who elected you, anyway?
      Lord Batman: Who elected you? The problem with democracy is, it doesn't keep you very safe.
      Batman: It has other virtues. But you seem to have forgotten that.
      Lord Batman: I didn't forget! I just chose peace and security instead.
      Batman: You grabbed power!
      Lord Batman: And with that power, we've made a world where no eight-year-old boy will ever lose his parents because of some punk with a gun!
      Batman: ...You win.
    • Later, Batman has this exchange with his counterpart after apparently surrendering to him, and (while parked at a stoplight) witnessing a citizen being taken away by the police for arguing over a restaurant check.
      Batman: They'd love it here, don't you think?
      Lord Batman: Who?
      Batman: Mom and Dad. [narrows eyes] They'd be so proud of you.
      Lord Batman: ...Just drive.
  • The Unlimited episode "The Doomsday Sanction" features Batman and Amanda Waller going head-to-head, with the Caped Crusader demanding to know exactly why Waller and her team have such a grudge against the heroes. Her response is enough to rattle Batman to the point where he can't come up with an answer and doesn't pull off his signature Stealth Hi/Bye, instead exiting in plain sight.
    Amanda Waller: If the Justice League ever went rogue, what do you think would be the result?
  • "Question Authority" has the Question confronting Superman over whether the above-mentioned Justice Lords might be a Bad Future instead of Another Dimension as previously assumed.
    Question: Have you seen Amanda Waller's computer simulations?
    Superman: Batman told me about them.
    Question: Did he tell you all the models predict that a war between the Justice League and the government will devastate the planet?
    Superman: We would never fight the government!
    Question: Not even if Luthor was the government?!
  • In "Patriot Act", General Eiling, who hates metahumans, takes an experimental serum to become a musclebound monster and destroy the Justice League. He finds only 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-string Leaguers — none of whom have inherent powers (they all use Applied Phlebotinum or sheer fighting prowess to fight) — and starts beating the tar out of them while declaring that superpowered beings are a menace to society. Finally, when Eiling's about to outright murder Shining Knight, some ordinary citizens stand up to him and defuse him with this trope. An old woman cuts through the hypocrisy of his mission: "You think killin' Superman would make the world safe? Or killin' this boy? Or us? Tell me, how many of us do you have to kill to keep us safe?" When Eiling protests that those with superpowers are a threat, a kid points out that he is the only one there who has any. Eiling admits that he has become what he sought to destroy and retreats.
• Kid Cosmic: In "Kid Cosmic and the Soul Kroshing Loss", after Jo renounces her teammates and goes to take on Erodius alone with Krosh, her mother tears into Queen Xhan for turning her against them with her twisted views of leadership. Xhan defends her actions, but is finally put in her place when Flo puts the deaths of her old teammates on her tentacles.
  Flo: With all the cutthroat nonsense you put in her head, I swear, if she doesn't come back...
  Xhan: She will come back, because of my training.
  Flo: Brainwashing!
  Xhan: Guidance. Jo's victory, as well as the galaxy's, is all but assured.
  Flo: Is that what you told the Survivors Five?! (Xhan's eyes widen) Because they didn't come back!
  (Flo and everyone else walk away sadly into the diner, leaving Xhan all alone outside)
• King of the Hill: In "Husky Bobby", Hank insists he's trying to save Bobby from embarrassment but Bobby just responds, "Is that what you're afraid of? Or are you afraid you'll be embarrassed?"
• The Legend of Korra: Early in Book 4, General Kuvira strips Prince Wu of his power, declaring the monarchy of the Earth Kingdom no longer has any authority, installing herself as absolute leader instead. Wu later has a tantrum about this, before Mako, one of Kuvira's biggest detractors, notes how hard Kuvira at least worked for years to stabilize the Kingdom after such chaos, in comparison to Wu.
  Prince Wu: This is the worst day of my life!
  Mako: Why? Do you really want to be the king? I mean, Kuvira might be a power-crazed dictator, but at least she spent the last few years working hard to make the Earth Kingdom somewhat better. If you were an Earth Kingdom citizen, do you think you're the kind of person you want as your king? What have you ever done for your people?
• Metalocalypse: The climax of the rehab scene in the episode "Rehabklok" is the doctors asking Pickles why he drinks, and then pointing out if he doesn't admit to them (and himself) the real reason he's The Alcoholic, he'll never get to play in the band again.
  • What finally convinces Nathan that there may be something to the prophecy surrounding Dethklok is when Ishnifus asks him "What drove you to destroy your record?".
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Rarity does this to Sweetie Belle in "Ponyville Confidential" upon discovering that, in their pursuit of their talent and destiny-declaring Cutie Marks, Sweetie Belle and her friends have been writing a slanderous gossip column.
    Rarity: Do you really think that writing nasty things and making everypony feel horrible is your destiny?
  • In "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2", Discord notably pauses and looks uncertain after Shining Armor is drained and asks him "How could you do this?" (referring to Discord siding with Tirek).
  • Speaking of Discord, in "Keep Calm and Flutter On", he manages to do this to himself when he asks Fluttershy if she thought he'd give up his World of Chaos for her sake. The moment he asks, he starts thinking about the question.
    Discord: You think you can boss Discord around? You think I'm going to turn all this back because you say so? Because if I don't, I'll lose the one friend I ever had?
  • In "28 Pranks Later", when Rainbow Dash finds out that the ponies of Ponyville faked an epidemic to get back at her for her town wide pranking spree, she tries to tell them off for scaring her, only for her friends to launch a barrage of questions at her.
    Rainbow Dash: Well, I didn't think it was so funny! And I'm the one who got pranked! I was really scared! I thought I made everypony sick! You can't just go around—
    Twilight: Pranking whoever you feel like?
    Fluttershy: Without thinking about how it might make them feel?
    Rarity: Or even if they'd enjoy it?
    Applejack: Or think it's funny?
    Rainbow Dash: Yeah! (beat) Ohhhh... I see what you did there.
• The Owl House
  • "Do you have kids?" Raine asks this of Eda after seeing the Grom photo of Eda, Luz and King. This question from Raine startles Eda out of playing her instrument, and forces her to confront what's really been bothering her rather than throw her life away in the name of foiling the Day of Unity.
  • In "Yesterday's Lie", just before saying goodbye to her mother, Luz lets it slip that she considers staying in the Boiling Isles to be the best decision she's ever made. Camila then gives a Wham Line when she asks Luz "You chose to stay there?" This accidentally lets Luz's true feelings show through and brings up that she has Conflicting Loyalty between the two realms — the only reason that Luz wants to go back to Earth at all is because she loves her mother. Luz's life on Earth was awful, having a Friendless Background from being a Cloudcuckoolander and seen as a nuisance and the "weird kid" in school. Though Luz gives a promise to Camila that she'll come back to the Human Realm for good as soon as she can, Luz instantly regrets it, uncertain if she would be able to fulfill such a promise given how miserable she was on Earth, and how happy she is in the Demon Realm.
  • In "Watching and Dreaming" after The Collector tells his backstory and goes into a Villainous Breakdown where he admits that he knows that King's friendship was just a game of pretend, but that he didn't care and that he's so starved for friendship that he's going to pretend as long as he wants. This allows Luz to ask the question that would start his Heel–Face Turn.
  Luz: But that's not what you want, is it?
• Phineas and Ferb:
  • "The Doof Side of the Moon" plays this for laughs when Albert says he will help Candace bust her brothers and proposes to use spy cameras, which Candace thinks is unnecessary.
    Candace: Spy cameras? Wouldn't it be easier to just show my mom what Phineas and Ferb make?
    Albert: I don't know. Is that easier?
    Candace: (suddenly realizing) No! No it's not easy! It's never easy! I need help.
  • Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars plays the trope a little straighter, with Han Solo delivering one to Isabella (a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in this setting). She also gets to turn it on him, making the trope work both ways and them realize they got to go back for the heroes.
    Isabella: I'm not in this to make friends.
    Han: Yeah. Obviously.
    Isabella: What do you mean by that? I've got friends! I've got plenty of friends!
    Han: Yeah? Where are they now?
    (beat)
    Isabella: Well... where are yours?
• In The Powerpuff Girls (1998) episode "Equal Fights," Straw Feminist Femme Fatale convinces the girls that men are inherently bad, thus making them unwilling to help any man—even the Professor, their father, or the Mayor, who's asking them to save the city. Thankfully, Ms. Bellum and Ms. Keane are on hand to talk to the trio about what's been happening. When Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup protest that "we girls gotta look out for each other!" three more women emerge from the shadows and reveal that Femme Fatale is only a feminist when it's convenient for her:
  Bank President: Was Femme Fatale looking out for me when she stole from my bank?
  Policewoman: Was she looking out for me when she broke my arm?
  Valley Girl: Was she looking out for me when she stole my hairstyle?
  (The other women give her an annoyed look)
  Valley Girl: Well, she DID!
  • Later in the same episode, the Girls track down Femme Fatale again at her latest bank robbery—and as usual, she's used the Calling Card of demanding the cash in Susan B. Anthony dollar-coins as part of her campaign against men. Femme Fatale initially thinks the girls are there to congratulate her, but they shut her up with one of these—"Susan B. Anthony coins, huh? Do you even know who she was?" Femme Fatale can't respond, so the girls give her a lecture about how Anthony broke the law by trying to vote in a time when it was illegal for women to do so- and despite being found guilty, the judge wanted to go easy on her and not send her to jail. Why? because she was a woman. This flummoxes Femme and sends her running, but the trio blocks her and keeps up with more facts about Anthony— namely that she didn't want special treatment simply for being a woman (which Femme Fatale thinks she deserves), but to be treated equally, and demanded to be put in jail like any man who broke the law. The girls culminate their speech by saying that’s exactly what they’ll do to Femme, tossing the coin in her face and landing enough punches to put the villainess away easily.
• Played for laughs in Rocket Power. Tito is sick, so Otto and Reggie need to help Ray run the Shore Shack, but Otto has a skate competition and Twister tries to convince Reggie to cover for her brother. Her responding question shuts him right up:
  Twister: Cover for him, Reg, he is your brother.
  Reggie: Would you cover for your brother?
• The Simpsons:
  • In "My Sister, My Sitter", Flanders calls Lisa to ask him to babysit her kids — the morning after he and the other Springfield citizens accused her of being a dangerous psychopath who incapacitated Bart. Lisa then asks Flanders if he is concerned she might end up harming his kids like she apparently did to Bart. After a Beat, Flanders refuses to answer and instead asks when she is coming over to his house.
  • Played straight in "The Principal and the Pauper":
    Agnes: [reminiscing] Now there was a weenie you could be proud to call your son.
    Marge: Did you ever tell him that?
    [Agnes looks regretful]
  • Spoofed in the "Treehouse of Horror VIII" segment "Easy Bake Coven", where Marge is accused of being a witch and is about to be pushed off a cliff as a test:
    Lisa: Wait! Doesn't the Bible say "Judge not lest ye be judged"?
    [townspeople talk amongst themselves]
    Chief Wiggum: The Bible says a lot of things. Push her!
• South Park:
  • In "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut", when the gathered adults gasp in shock when Mr. Garrison reveals he slept with Mrs. Cartman, he shuts everyone up by asking "Who here has never had sex with Mrs. Cartman?" To which nobody, not even the female mayor or principal in the room can answer.
    Halfy: I haven't.
    Mr. Garrison: ...You don't count, Halfy, you don't have any legs!
    Halfy: Oh. Yeah.
  • Played for Laughs when Kenny is hit by lightning late in "Rainforest Shmainforest".
    Stan: Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!
    Kyle: You bastards!
    Kelly: [gasp] What?! Who?! Who killed him?!
    Stan: [stunned silence] ...They did.
    Kelly: Who's "they"?!
    Stan: You know... They!
    Kyle: They're... They're bastards!
  • Averted in "Jakovasaurs". Mr. Garrison wants to keep the discovered female jakovasaur at his house, but is rejected since he'll try to have sex with it like he did with the wounded pigeon. Garrison claims that the pigeon was a whore and asks if anybody didn't sleep with the pigeon. Everyone raises their hand to confirm they didn't.
  • In "Cartoon Wars, Part One", an episode of Family Guy is set to depict the Muslim prophet Muhammad uncensored, resulting in several terrorist threats. Kyle tries to defend the Family Guy writers for standing up for free speech, while Cartman uncharacteristically points out that people can get hurt. This leads to Kyle teaming up with Cartman to get the episode pulled. However, it's revealed that Cartman doesn't care about people getting hurt, and that he's just exploiting the controversy in order to get Family Guy cancelled out of a personal hatred for the show.
    Cartman: If ten people die because Family Guy just had to have its little joke, will you still think it's funny? What if a hundred people died? Will it be funny then, Kyle?
  • Cartman gets another good one in "Bass to Mouth". The school faculty consult him to help curb suicide attempts by students who crapped their pants, but balk at his plan to keep kids from being singled out by making everyone crap their pants with laxative-spiked pizza. Cartman then asks "Well, if you have a better idea, then why am I here?" One beat later, Mr. Mackey is on the phone, arranging a school Pizza Day.
  • In "Butterballs", Kyle accuses Stan of exploiting Butters in his anti-bullying video in order to make money. Stan argues that his video could change the way people think about bullying and that it needs to be seen by everyone; Kyle retorts, "If it needs to be seen by everybody, then why don't you put it out on the Internet for free?" After a long silence, Stan's only answer is "What was the question again?"
• Spongebob Squarepants
  • In "I Had an Accident" where SpongeBob becomes a Hikikomori, he's only able to leave his house again after a gorilla attacks Patrick and Sandy, and his desire to save them overrides his fear of being injured again. The gorilla literally tears him in half within seconds, but when SpongeBob asks, "What's a gorilla doing underwater in the first place?", the gorilla panics and flees. On a pantomime zebra. It Makes Just As Much Sense In Context.
  • In "Blackened Sponge", SpongeBob gets a black eye from getting hit with a wrench while trying to open some toothpaste, but tells various lies about how he got it, all of which revolve him fighting a criminal called Jack M. Crazyfish from a dream he had. After the last lie at the Krusty Krab, a customer asks what Jack looked like, and SpongeBob gives the details, then he gets suspicious when the customer describes the color of Jack's hat on the spot, just before the reveal that Jack is an actual person.
    Customer: Little green hat?
    SpongeBob: I kind of thought it was teal, but that sounds like him all right. Wait a minute...! How did you know he was wearing a green hat?!
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: In "Moist Vessel", Captain Freeman has no answer when Ensign Mariner points out that she has been acting immature.
  Mariner: Oh, you think I'm immature? You're the one trying to trick me into quitting. How is that mature?
  [Freeman is silent]
  Mariner: Yeah, that's what I thought, Carol.
• Star Wars Rebels:
  • "The Honourable Ones": Twice.
    • When Zeb points out that the Geonosians were wiped out by the Empire, Agent Kallus is skeptical, because all he knows is that they're gone now and can't see why the Empire would go to such lengths. Zeb tells him to look for the answer, even though he might not like it. It seems to get to Kallus.
    • When Kallus reveals why he dislikes Lasats so much, Zeb tells him that he can't judge all Lasats as the same. In response:
      Kallus: Does that sentiment apply to Imperials?
      Zeb: All the Imperials I know.
  • "The Last Battle": Ezra and Rex are captured by some Separatist holdouts who want to take one last swing at the last of the clones to prove once and for all that they would have won the Clone Wars. Eventually, Ezra points out that if the Jedi didn't win the Clone Wars (they were wiped out), the clones didn't win the Clone Wars (they were decommissioned), and the droids didn't win the Clone Wars (they were shut down), then who won? The obvious answer is the Empire, and pointing this out is what gets Rex and the droids to set aside their old grudges to fight the true enemy.
  • "Trials of the Darksaber": Kanan is trying to get Sabine to discuss her issues so they don't get in the way of her sword training, and taunts her by saying that in Mandalorian culture, she's considered a coward for running away. Sabine says that's not true, so Kanan asks:
    [ignites his lightsaber to block her swing] "Then what's the truth?"
  • "Legacy of Mandalore": Kanan does it again, during the duel between Sabine and Gar Saxon, when Sabine's mother Ursa says that no one can interfere in the duel because it's Mandalorian custom. Kanan asks her what she values more, Mandalorian customs or her daughter's life. She can't think of a good answer to that question, and ends up proving it's her daughter's life when she guns down Saxon after he tries to shoot Sabine in the back after losing. Downplayed since Saxon had already been defeated and was (dishonorably) attempting to kill Sabine from behind when he was shot by Ursa.
• Steven Universe:
  • In "Giant Woman", Steven is trying to get Amethyst and Pearl to cooperate so they can fuse into the eponymous Giant Woman. The two spend the entire time antagonizing each other, until Steven gets in trouble. After the two of them save him he asks.
    Steven: That was so great how you worked together. Why don't you do that all the time?
  • In "Rose's Room", Steven, upset with the other Crystal Gems, spends most of the episode alone in the eponymous room. He finds that the room can give him (a simulation of) anything he wants, including a quadruple bunk bed and a tiny pink whale. However, a poorly-worded request prompts the room to recreate all of Beach City for him; this turns out to be too big for the room to handle, causing A Glitch in the Matrix. When he realizes what's happened, the simulation collapses altogether, and Steven is left falling into a black void.
    Steven: I don't want this...
    Tiny Whale: (with Rose Quartz's voice) What do you want, Steven?
    Steven: I want to be back with the Gems!
  • In "We Need to Talk", Greg realizes that Rose Quartz can't tell the difference between loving humans and being in love with a human, and becomes concerned about whether her affection for him is one or the other. When she doesn't take his concern seriously (confirming it in the process), he confronts her about it, which marks a turning point in both their relationship and Rose's own Character Development:
    Greg: Can you just talk to me for one second, like a real person?
    Rose: ...I'm... not... a real person. I thought... haven't we... is this not how it works?
  • In "Keystone Motel", Steven ends up sharing a motel room with Ruby and Sapphire, who are both upset about Pearl's actions in the previous episode, but are at odds on how to deal with the matter. Both Gems are in a poor mood for most of the trip, and all of Steven's attempts to resolve their conflict are ignored or dismissed. Eventually, Steven becomes fed up with the whole thing, which is when the two realize how much of an effect their argument has had on him:
    Steven: I was so happy when Garnet said she was gonna come on this trip with me and Dad! Home's been awful! Here's been awful! I thought you wanted to have a fun time, but everyone's been acting awful too! It- it just came with us! I don't understand! Is it... is it me?
  • In "Back to the Barn" Peridot is baffled when Pearl refuses to obey her orders, as the Pearl Gems are a custom made Servant Race back on the Gem Homeworld. Pearl insists she is her own master, but is unable to respond when a confused Peridot asks "Then what are you for?"
  • In "The Trial", Steven is on trial on Homeworld for his mother’s shattering of Pink Diamond, but when he and Blue Zircon come to the realization that the alleged story of what happened makes little sense, the latter asks a very pointed question during her closing argument — how was Rose, already a recognized threat for several centuries at the time of Pink Diamond's shattering, able to get close enough to kill her? There were no Rose Quartzes in Pink's army or entourage by this time that she could disguise herself as, and surely somebody in her entourage would've attempted to stop Rose, or at least warn Pink Diamond. Yellow and Blue Pearl noticeably react when she asks where Pink's Pearl was during all this, if not by her mistress' side, where she could have warned her.
    Blue Zircon: There were no Rose Quartz soldiers in Pink's entourage, and none in her guard — so how could a Rose Quartz, with no business being anywhere near Pink Diamond, get so close in the first place? Where were Pink Diamond's attendants? Her Agates, her Sapphires? And where was her Pearl?
  • In "Change Your Mind", Steven asks two of these to Yellow and Blue Diamond in seperate scenes, prompting them to have Heel Realizations.
    • The first was "How many times did you make her cry?" asked to Blue Diamond, which makes her realize she was too casually cruel far too often to Pink Diamond and that she was right to abandon her.
    • The second was "Does this look perfect to you?" to Yellow Diamond when she tries to justify attacking Blue Diamond and smashing Yellow's palace as being necessary to preserve the "perfect" Gem Empire. This question makes her realize that the "perfect" empire is fundamentally broken and that her actions are driving away the only people she cares about and ruining her life.
    • He asks a third to White Diamond while she's thrown a fit after finally realizing Pink Diamond is gone and not coming back. She yells at Steven that he's acting like a child, and his response is "I am a child. What's your excuse?" She begins to back down when she can't answer, and in finding herself mistaken, realizes she's not perfect, which gives her a brief mental breakdown.
• In an episode of Super Friends, Wonder Woman is Brainwashed and Crazy thanks to space pirates and Superman has to fight her. When she snares him with her magic lasso, which forces people to answer any question only with the truth, he manages to snare her as well and asks her, "Are you my enemy, or my friend?" At that, the truth of her friendship sets her free.
• Teen Titans (2003):
  • "Aftershock, Part 1" has two examples.
    • When Robin tries to convince Beast Boy that Terra is evil, he tells him if he and his teammates ever gave up on Robin when he was Slade's apprentice in the last season (despite that Slade blackmailed him).
      Beast Boy: When you were working for Slade, did we give up on you?
    • Terra throws a set of these to Raven to rile her up, but it's the last one which causes her to lose control of her emotions, giving Terra the upper hand against her.
      Terra: Come on, Raven. What stings the most? That I tricked you? That I nearly wiped out your team? And everyone liked me better than you? ...Or is it that deep down inside you really believed I was your friend?
  • The first season episode "Forces of Nature" features the trouble-making brothers Thunder and Lightning, who run rampant in Jump City. Thunder has more of a conscience than his brother, but Lightning repeatedly insists that they're "just having fun." When the duo is tricked by Slade into releasing a giant flame monster, Lightning gets angry at Thunder's attempts to help the Titans and starts fighting him. But just as he has Thunder pinned down for the killing blow...
    Thunder: Tell me, brother… are we still having fun?
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) had "The Ancient One", where Leonardo, frustrated with their crushing defeat at the hands of Shredder, was seeking out the Ancient One in order to train to become stronger to avoid such an event in the future. Near the climax of the episode, he's pitted against a stone golem that taunts him over his weakness, causing him to fly into a rage and hack at it's head, yelling that he did everything that he could, and that there was nothing more he could do to stop Shredder at the time. When the golem's head crumbles, it reveals Leonardo's own face within.
  Ancient One: If there was nothing more you could do, why do you punish yourself so?
• In the first season special of Total Drama, Heather's past actions have completely alienated her from the other campers, as no one would ally with her in the search for the million dollar cash prize. The one exception is Harold, admittedly in part because no one he asked wanted to partner with him either, though she would later betray him and steal his hang glider (crafted out of branches and an old tent), which quickly falls apart mid-flight and causes her to land headfirst into a beaver dam, where she would be beaten up by angry beavers. After escaping, Harold catches up with her while still determined to help her, but after blaming him for her day's misfortunes, he calls her out for being an Alpha Bitch, stating that if she learned to be nicer to everyone, then she would have friends. While Heather vainly assumes that she's liked because she's popular, it's Harold's one line that leaves her momentarily speechless and opening up about her insecurities for the first time.
  Harold: Maybe if you were nicer, someone here might actually like you.
  Heather: People like me! I'm popular!
  Harold: Then how come no one wanted you on their team?
• The pilot for Welcome to My Life (see here) concerns T-Kash about to get into a fight with another kid for saying that he kind of looked like him. Just before the fight, T-Kash's friend asked the bully "So, what's wrong with being like him?" Sure enough, T-Kash and the tough guy end up making peace and becoming friends.

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