Blatant Lies - Television Tropes & Idioms

So one of the characters has a secret, one that they do not want leaking out. Unfortunately, Clark Kenting doesn't always cut it, and some aspect of the secret is going to be glaringly obvious no matter what. So they come up with a unique (and often humorous) excuse.

Similar to A Wizard Did It, but instead of hand-waving some implausible aspect of the series, the character is the one doing the hand-waving to another character.

In the ideal version of the trope, most people accept this because of their built-in Weirdness Censor. When it fails, you get Implausible Deniability. May or may not involve hesitation.

Examples

Anime

In Inu Yasha, Kagome's long absences are explained by her Grandfather as being the result of various illnesses that are increasingly more and more serious, and which Kagome would not likely recover from so easily had she actually contracted them (such as diabetes, scoliosis and rheumatoid arthritis).
- Worse, the parents of the boy who has a crush on her own a pharmacy or some other such highly convenient vocation, and he frequently brings by treatments and cures. As a matter of fact, this is often how she learns of her grandfather's latest excuse for her absence.
  - Actually, it's an alternative medicines clinic, so he's always bringing her increasingly ridiculous herbal remedies and such.
Mahou Sensei Negima. The Mages constantly Hand Wave things like people flying, shooting fireballs, or giant demon mecha with "It's CGI." And it usually works.
- That was just in the festival arc, when a large number of Muggles were already fighting off giant robots. Usually the Mages keep things subtle enough to not need a coverup, enforced by turning any Mage whose secret is found out into an animal.
  - Though, it does show that it doesn't work on everyone. People who are dumb, not very tech-knowledgeable, or just normally accept things without much thought won't find out. Those who don't fit those categories (namely Chisame) get absorbed into the truth.
Mai-HiME: After the results of the Power Trio's first encounter with an Orphan, Reito comes to Mai the next day and tells her that they're reporting the collateral damage to the landscape as the result of "a (freak) lightning strike." Suuuure, Reito. Single lightning strikes that set the landscape ablaze in perfectly straight lines happen all the time.
The characters in Bleach use the injury and illness excuse for their long absences far too often. The fact that up to five of them are missing, all from the same high school class, at the same time makes the lies all the more blatant.
- One of them is Orihime. Everyone probably just thinks they're better off not knowing.
As seen in the picture, Onsokumaru of Ninin Ga Shinobuden is a floating yellow ball with arms, yet for some reason Shinobu believes him when he claims to be a hawk.

Film

First Charlies Angels movie: Alyx and her actor boyfriend are rehearsing a "bomb defusing" scene, and Alyx lets slip some technobabble. To cover it up she says, "Isn't it amazing what you can learn on the internet?
In the second X-Men movie, Bobby Drake presents Wolverine to his parents (who think he's been attending a normal prep school) as "Professor Logan." This in itself is borderline, but when the Drakes ask Wolverine what he teaches, he replies tersely, "Art." The trailers for the film played this to maximum effect by intercutting the question and the response with a shot of Logan, claws extended, screaming and leaping towards the camera.
Whole point of the Neuralizer in Men In Black
In Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, Captain Kirk claims that Spock's odd behavior is due to him doing a lot of "LDS" during the sixties.
"Nothing to worry about, just a training exercise."
The Dark Knight has a dramatic version of this. Batman takes the blame for crimes that he couldn't have commited to save the city.. Of course there's Batman's usual fear thing.

Literature

In the Harry Potter series, the Dursleys claim Harry has gone to "St Brutus' Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys" to their fellow Muggle neighbors to explain his long absences at Hogwarts. Marge approves, and asks whether they still use the cane.
In the classic novel Gladiator, when his Army superiors ask for an explanation of his superhuman powers, Hugo Danner does NOT speak of his father's medical experiments. Instead, he simply says, "I'm from Montana.".
Because most of the people in The Dresden Files are deeply in denial, large amounts of crap can be made up without anyone noticing. For example, a magical diagram to redirect a curse onto its originator is "feng shui," and Murphy once suggested calling in Homeland Security on the Denarians' demon-possessed asses by saying they're "terrorists with advanced biotechnology suits." However, this also gets double-subverted in Turn Coat when a security guard insists on taking Harry's staff, which he says is "traditional Ozark folk art": not because he knows that the staff covered in mystic runes has, in the past, been used to blast a rampaging hell-werewolf all the way through two buildings, but because he thinks Harry could smack someone with it.
In ''Making Money'' Moist asks why Mrs. Lavish keeps two loaded crossbows on her desk. The answer is "Family heirlooms". He notes that a lie so blatant is clearly meant to make a statement rather than be believed.
Subverted in Barbara Hambly's Dog Wizard. When a wizard from another world is exiled to San Francisco and joins a dojo to keep up his sword fighting skills, he explains that his technique may be a bit unique as he is a wizard in exile from another world.

Live Action TV

In Sliders, whenever the team lands on a new world and has to explain why they don't know what's going on, they use the excuse "We're from Canada." We've hardly ever seen it fail.
- You'd think, given the horrible dystopian places they frequent, there'd be at least one where Canada was destroyed and the blatant lie didn't work. NOPE!
In the famed Harlan Ellison penned Star Trek episode "City on the Edge of Forever" where Kirk and Spock travel back to the Great Depression, Kirk tries to explain Spock's vaguely alien appearance by saying he's from China; then he has to justify his pointed ears by claiming he fell into a 'rice picker' as a child.
In an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation Data, having been transported back through time to 1893 San Francisco, explain his uniform and skin color with the excuse that he's French. The fact that he can speak French fluently helps.
- Another TNG ep had Data in the holodeck in a pastiche of the 1920s or thereabouts; he explained his skin tone with "I'm from South America".
- When stranded on another planet he said he was from the mountains. This is justified in that the villagers have never met anyone from the mountains but assume they are very different from themselves.
  - To be fair, Data had his version of amnesia, and was told by the villagers that he was from the mountains and was an "Iceman."
The classic Coneheads (a Saturday Night Live sketch) one: "We are from France". This was initially an explanation for why they hadn't paid taxes in years, but was later turned into a Beam Me Up Scotty for the sketches.
In Pushing Daisies, when Olive questions Chuck about why she and Ned don't touch each other (because Ned brought her Back From The Dead, and she would die again if he did):
Olive: Do you have some kind of deadly food allergy to Ned?
Chuck: I'm going to say yes.
- Interesting, because it's simpler, but actually quite near the truth.
In Stargate SG 1, the Stargate Program and the SGC is officially 'Deep Space Radar Telemetry.' Carter's father General Jacob Carter obviously didn't believe her in "Secrets."
In The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cameron can't get through the metal detectors in the school she attends. John explains this away off-handed by saying she's got a metal plate in her head. This is believed because of Cameron's odd behavior. Later on, when a guidance counselor calls Sarah to comment on Cameron's...odd behavior around the campus, she explains that a tornado did it.
- Strictly speaking Cameron does have a metal plate in her head, more than one in fact. It is just the lack of bone and brain tissue John glossed over....
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was full of this: "gangs on PCP" (group of vampires); "slipped and fell on a barbeque fork" (vampire bite resulting in loss of blood, consciousness, and memory); "office broken into by a pack of wild dogs" (students possessed by hyenas eating the principal); "neck rupture" (vampire bite); "gym full of asbestos" (full of vampires)... By the sixth season, it's gotten to the point where the official line is "Mayhem caused; monsters definitely not involved."
- It was on fullest display during Anya and Xander's wedding, where the various demons sitting on the bride's side were explained as being "circus people".
- To be fair, Sunnydale was founded by an immortal who created the town specifically for demons to feed on its inhabitants, so there's probably some mystical explanation. See Weirdness Censor and Sunnydale Syndrome.
On the new Doctor Who series, it's stated at the end of "World War Three" that Blatant Lies are used at first, along with people's natural Weirdness Censor, by the British government and UNIT to paper over the Doctor's various adventures. In a later subversion of the trope, it's ultimately shown that no one in London is buying what Downing Street is selling anymore, to the point where the city is nearly deserted on Christmas Eve in Voyage of the Damned.
Used for dramatic effect in the series finale of The Wire. Dukie hits up Prez for some money, saying he's going to take a GED. Prez points out that he's too young to take that test but acquiesces anyway, and they part on the unspoken agreement that Dukie is about to spend his life as a homeless drug addict and they will never see each other again.
Used often in Smallville during the earlier seasons, when any questions Clark Kent was asked about his interest in the caves or any Native American symbols that were related to his Kryptonian heritage were met with "It's for a term paper"-to the point where Lex Luthor himself actually lampshades it later.
- In fact, at one point Clark uses it as an offensive tool, saying he wanted to write a term paper on a project Lex was funding, which Lex had lied about earlier prior to Clark's finding and dismantling it.
In The Middleman, used to explain away both their identity and any of the situations they get into.
In Being Human, Mitchell and George's landlord wonders why their flat is almost entirely empty, the real reason being that George is a werewolf and accidentally destroyed most of the furniture when he transformed the night before. Eager to make up an excuse, George gives a long rambling explanation about minimalist living. The landlord says he would have just figured they were redecorating.
George: ...That would have made more sense.
This is supposed to be what sets Whacked Out Videos apart from other, similar shows. It doesn't work.
Commandant Klink gets so many Blatant Lies fed to him by Hogan that he should just put on a bib every time the colonel comes into his office.
Forever Knight's ~~Nick At Night~~ Nick Knight tells his coworkers he has an unfortunate combination of light sensitivity and food allergies to explain away why he's never seen during the day and doesn't eat... food
- One episode features the other characters finding wine bottles full of blood in Nick's refrigerator. He claims he uses the blood to thin paint.
Dead Like Me has George using every execuse she can to get out of work for her reaps. Plausible the first few times I am sure but it is a very consistent thing for years.
When asked what service Jayne, the ship's resident amoral mercenary, provided, Capt. Reynolds responds: "Public Relations."
- It gets worse. He was asked what Jayne did on the ship because he'd just shouted at him "I don't pay you to talk."
In one Primeval episode Jenny "explains" a prehistoric crocodile on a rampage in central London as a charity fun-run gone wrong. This is one of her more plausible explanations.
Lost's Benjamin Linus does this almost constantly. Perhaps most notably when he is asked how he was able to bring Locke's father to the Island, he responds that he summoned him using a magic box.

TableTop Games

In the RPG Spycraft, a 10th level Faceman has the ability to tell one bald faced lie that can't immediately be proven false that must be believed. "The sky is purple" is legitimate as long as they aren't outside or near a window.
In In Nomine, Balseraphs (fallen Seraphim) have the power to make people believe any lie they speak. They suffer for it if they themselves actively disprove the lie (such as saying "I won't shave your head" and then doing just that) but other than that, they're consummate liesmiths. Their angelic counterparts, on the other hand, can recognize any lie spoken, so they don't get along too well...
- The other catch to the Balseraph's power of lying is that they have to believe their own lies.
In Nobilis, the same concept goes even further. An Excrucian Deceiver (a type of Cosmic Horror Mole) can tell one person one lie, and for the rest of the encounter, they will believe it. No. Matter. What. If the lie is "I won't hurt you" and then he starts smashing the victim in the face with a war mace? The victim will neither see nor feel it.
In Unknown Armies many different magic styles have ways of getting people to believe anything. An avatar of the Demagogue can convince anyone by talking to them for a while, a cliomancer (history mage) can make a person think they "heard it somewhere before", etc.
Epic level characters in D&D can gain enough ranks in certain skills that it's possible to mimic the effects of magical compulsion just by talking to someone. A rogue can theoretically make up anything and be believed.
- Even without epic levels, in D&D 3.5 a specialist can do things which seem impossible. A nineteenth-level Half-Elven diplomat using skill synergy, feats, and equipment can talk a person from fighting mad to best friend in the middle of a fight. And that's without using some of the prestige classes which are available. (The actual level required to pull this off is somewhat lower, but I don't have the math handy.)

Web Animation

The Homestar Runner Wiki has a PAGE about this.

Webcomics

In El Goonish Shive, when the girls (plus Justin) have a sleepover at Susan's:
Susan: What's to explain? My hair changed color. It happens!
Nanase: Hair doesn't just spontaneously change color!
Susan: I stand by my ridiculous claim.
In Misfile Rumisiel's presence is explained as being Ash's Canadian exchange student live-in boyfriend. Since the story takes place in Massachusets, this is regarded as being a little implausible to say the least.
In Sluggy Freelance, after a 50-foot-tall Aylee runs through the suburbs causing mass destruction, she retreats into her shell and tries to pass herself off as a volcano. When the mob chasing her wonder how a volcano wound up in New Jersey, Aylee tells them global warming did it. Everyone finds this perfectly plausible and never question the fact that a volcano just answered their question.
Red Mage and Thief use this in Eight Bit Theater when Ranger asks why they betrayed his group:
Thief: Ghosts.
Red Mage: Aliens.
Thief: Ghosts Aliens.
Red Mage: Who possessed us.
Thief: From space!
Gabe: You told me this book a) wasn't fantasy, and b) contained no dragons.
- Ironically enough, as any Dragaera-obsessed troper like me will tell you, he chose completely the wrong issue to argue about dragons. Dragaerans are elves. What he should have been yelling about is House Dragon. Presumably he decided Aliera and Morrolan didn't have enough scales and wings to qualify. (Now I'm trying to picture the look on Aliera's face if she heard that Gabe thought Loiosh was a dragon and she was not...)
Buck Godot engages in a bit of this toward the end of the PSmIth storyline (warning: spoilers!) toward the end, when he alternates between telling PSmIth one thing and Der Rock the precise opposite, in front of them both.
DM Of The Rings: Walking sticks.
In Questionable Content, comic #499, Jeph writes in his little blurb at the bottom of the page "Comic number 500 is Monday. I don't have anything particularly special planned, but who knows." Bullshit.

Western Animation

In earlier episodes of The Fairly Odd Parents, whenever Timmy would wish for something he would be completely unable to obtain under non-magical circumstances, he claims he purchased it off the Internet. In one episode, while trying to explain why he was suddenly rich, he tried both an inheritance claim, and the usual claim, before settling on "I inherited the Internet!"
- That particular example eventually becomes a subversion as in later episode that follows the friends he told this to has them not buying it.
- "And just where did you get the Internet, young man?"
- "Uh... the Internet!
- Another version, with singer Chip Skylark: "What? Dude, how'd we get here so fast?" "Um... the power of music?" "Rock on!"
- The peak, however, has to be Superman-esque HEAT VISION being accepted as coming from the Internet...
In Invader Zim, Zim claims his green skin and lack of ears is due to a skin condition. This is to assist in his Clark Kenting more than anything else.
In Lilo and Stitch: The Series, both big-boned grey-skinned aliens Gantu and Jumba (the latter of which has four eyes, and the former has the head of a shark) claimed to be from Samoa, thus explaining their height. People believed it.
- Stitch knows Car Fu, is smarter than everyone on the island combined, can walk on walls AND IS BLUE!...he's totally a dog. A weird dog, granted, but a dog nonetheless.
In Johnny Test, Dukey the talking dog is explained as being "a kid with a weird hair disorder".
In The Simpsons, Principal Skinner constantly uses these against Superintendant Chalmers, which Chalmers somehow always buys. Perhaps the greatest example, in which Skinner claims light from his burning kitchen is "Aurora Borealis":
Chalmers: Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, at this time of the day, in this part of the country, LOCALIZED ENTIRELY WITHIN YOUR KITCHEN?
Skinner: Yes.
Chalmers: May I see it?
Skinner: No.
Chalmers: Oh well.
- On the DVD commentary for 22 Short Films About Springfield, the writers acknowledged that this was pretty much Superindendant Chalmers only joke, and they just repeated it over and over again for comedic effect.
Word Girl, being a superhero Affectionate Parody, uses this in practically every episode through the titular character's alibis alluding to her heroic identity.

Real Life

Politics. "Great masses of people fall to a great lie much easier than to a small one"... OK, the source of this quotation is not the best, but this doesn't reduce its truth.
- Well, unfortunately, it worked for him...
Advertising. Most countries have some sort of governmental organisation which is nominally on the consumer's side and normally take gleeful pleasure in getting stuck into various organisations that stray too far into this trope.

Apathetic Citizens

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Apathy Killed The Cat

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By The Eyes Of The Blind