Did You Actually Believe? - Television Tropes & Idioms

"Broken promises don't upset me. I just think, why did they believe me?"
— Jack Handey

Mwahahaha! Oh, you poor foolish fool! Did you actually believe you'd get a straightforward trope description when you clicked on the link? Well, I Lied! You've played right into my Evil Plan, now you have no choice but to read through all of my Evil Gloating as I Breaking Lecture you into tears! Mwahaha!

What? You mean you actually believed me when I promised you'd get a trope description? Oh, that's rich! I didn't think you were such a Horrible Judge of Character! (I mean, I thought the glowing red eyes would be a huge tip off.)

Oh, don't feel too bad, you aren't the only one to become a willing Unwitting Pawn and errand boy with naught but a sweet story about "lofty goals". You should feel honored to be so used!

Mwahaha— What do you mean, "Shut up"? No! uh... You shut up! ... Well, yes, my whole plan did sort of hinge on you doing something I didn't think you'd do... What? No! That does not make my whole plan a Gambit Roulette! You take that back! Or I'll... uh... smoke bomb!

Anyway.

Stock phrase used by treacherous allies, mentors, and villains once they double cross the hero and have him at their mercy. This is often followed by declarations of sneering contempt for the hero's idealistic moral code and/or extended mockery of the hero for being gullible enough to trust the villain's promises, naive enough to think that the villain sincerely intended to cooperate toward a common goal, dumb enough to get manipulated into providing the villain with aid or equipment, etc.

Often used as part of Evil Gloating and Trash Talk. Expect the hero to respond with "Shut Up Hannibal!"

Examples:

Anime /Manga

In Liar Game, Fukunaga says this fairly often after tricking other players. Granted, this is the Liar Game, a 'game where you lie' so he's probably justified in questioning the other players sanity when they believe his lies again.
Ho from Tower Of God chews Baam out for actually thinking he could be friends with anybody who competes with him in an important drop-out test curriculum where death is an ever present risk.
- Koon's recruitment of Edin plays with this. He first tells him he shouldn't have believed what he told him when he said everybody present was hired by him and it was just a lie to make him act in a certain way. After that, Edin gets away from Koon and ambushed by the barkeeper. Koon shows up again and says that Edin trusted him too easily again.
In Bleach the Big Bad ~~often~~ once said: Since when were you under the impression that I wasn't using my Zanpakuto?
- Taking all of Aizen's monologues together, this comes close to being his Catch Phrase after a while, mostly reacting to the many, many, many attacks he pulls a No Sell on.
- Also done, in a less-Magnificent Bastard way, by Yammy with his meme-tastic line "Who said the Espada went from one to ten?.
- Then there's chapter 414, with Laser-Guided Karma delivered by Ichimaru Gin who out-chessed The Chess Master, while avoiding his "boss"'s Complexity Addiction with an simple watch-and-wait strategy for the better part of a century. Unfortunately, Gin promptly learns he was an Unwitting Pawn, as Aizen actually counted on being out-chessed by Gin to reach the next stage of his development...and somehow Aizen has become broken enough to survive being disintegrated from the inside out.
Rare heroic example from Pokémon Special. "Do you think I asked Rono to break Sharpedo's fangs in order to defend myself? I was actually planning to do something else! I grabbed the broken fangs while you weren't looking, and used them to make holes in the window!" In all its glory. This is why you never count out a Nature Heroine while she still has a pulse.
FAKE gives us the following hilarious exchange as Dee puts the moves on his partner Ryo:
Dee Laytner: You little fool! did you think I'd actually be satisfied with just one itty bitty kiss?
Used briliantly by Magnificent Bastard Askeladd in Vinland Saga, when his men turn against him to save their own hides against an army they could never defeat.
Askeladd: "You all and I have been together for a long time, up until this day. We laughed together, drank together, found our way out of many hellholes together. And I never told any of you about this, but for the last ten years we've been together I hated every single last one of you."
In the Digimon Adventure dub, Vamdemon asks Wizarmon and Tailmon if they really thought he'd leave the real Crest of Light lying around for thieves to take. (Actually creates a plot hole considering that he crushes the purportedly real Crest and it's not clear how Wizarmon got it off him; it would actually make more sense for Vamdemon to leave the Crest in his secret hideout rather than carry it around where the Chosen Children might take it)

Comics

Watchmen, of course:
Ozymandias: Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you honestly think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?
"The Death of Superman (the '60s Imaginary Story, not the '90s arc) has Luthor curing cancer and publicly announcing that he has renounced evil and will dedicate his life to doing good. Supes is delighted at this, and becomes Luthor's best friend. Then Luthor lures his new best friend into his lab and tortures him to death with Kryptonite, laughing uproariously at Supes's helpless expressions of betrayal, fury, and heartbreak and quoting this trope almost word for word. As for why Superman believed it, take a look at that decade again.
- Not that surprising Supes believed him. Throughout that story, Luthor sets things up again and again to look like something evil might be going down, only for it to turn out it's something else that will benefit humanity. Luthor even acts kindly to two would-be assassins Superman saves him from. Yes, Luthor paid the 'assassins'. It was another convoluted step in the setup, part of proving to Superman that Luthor needed a high-security lab no one could enter without permission -unless they were the superman who built it in the first place. You may groan now.
What Ever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow:
Mxyzptlk: Did you honestly believe a sorcerer from the 5th dimension would resemble a funny little man in a derby hat?

Fan Fiction

In The Cries Of Haruhi Suzumiya, Takano says this to Haruhi about the Hammer of Oyashiro-sama. What's worse, this is after Haruhi's bought into this completely, and with Haruhi being Haruhi...
Zachariah pulls this at the end of chapter 15 of The Obeisance of Memory, a Supernatural season-four AU where Dean clawed his way out of the grave with complete amnesia.
What, you didn't really believe you were Sam's brother, did you?

Film - Animated

In Disney's Beauty and the Beast, during Gaston's rant as he's tormenting the Beast on the castle rooftops, he sneers, "Were you in love with her, Beast?! Did you honestly think she'd want you, when she had someone like me?!"
In Monsters Inc:
Randall: [chuckles evilly] You still think this is about that stupid scare record?
Mike: Well... I did. Right up until you chuckled like that...

Film - Live-Action

The Bourne Ultimatum has Bourne chastise his enemies this way:
Jason Bourne: You didn't actually think I was coming to Tudor City did you?
The 1984 Dune has a heroic example, where Thufir Hawat (the Atreidies mentat) betrays the Emperor and Harkonens by refusing to kill Paul.
Thufir Hawat: [He turns to Feyd and the Emperor]... Did you actually believe, even for a moment, that I would fail my Duke TWICE? [He commits suicide]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has the following exchange, after Harry was tricked into retrieving a prophecy.
Lucius Malfoy: Did you actually believe, or are you truly na�ve enough to think that children stood a chance against us? I'll make this simple for you, Potter. Give me the prophecy now, or watch your friends die.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Beckett gloats over his perceived victory, assuming Jack's reappearance after the climactic battle is an attempt on his part to gain Beckett's clemency, as they'd negotiated. But Beckett's clearly had a double-cross planned for some time. ("He actually expects me to honor our agreement.")
- This probably counts as a subversion, since Jack never expected Beckett to honor their agreement; he's coming back to blow Beckett's ship to smithereens.
Averted in The Long Good Friday: After double-crossing and attempting to destroy the IRA gangster operation in London the London gangster Harold Shand is kidnapped by gunmen in the final scene of the film. Neither he nor his captors speak, but one gunman smirks at him.
In the 2002 film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond manages to make the police chief that wrongfully imprisoned him implicate himself, in a bathhouse where the steam obscured the constables waiting to make the arrest. Faced with the prospect of being locked in the same Alcatraz that Edmond had spent decades in, the police chief finds a pistol in the paddy wagon, and attempts suicide. It's empty.
Edmond: (through a window) You didn't think I'd make it that easy for you, did you?
- The real icing on the cake? Leaving the gun unloaded was an idea from the test audience.
Kill Bill:
O-Ren: You didn't actually think it would be that easy, did you?
Bride: You know, for a second there... yeah, I kinda did.
In the Disney version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the White Witch says this to Aslan when she is about to kill him at the Stone Table.
- Specifically she asks Aslan if he really thought sacrificing himself in Edmund's place would really save anyone, since she'd just kill the Pevensies anyhow, and now they were without Aslan's protection. It turns out though that the sacrifice does work, since Aslan knows (though the Witch doesn't) that an innocent trading their life for a guilty person is enough to even make death work backwards, and he comes back to life.
Wayne's World combines this with Breaking the Fourth Wall in the Downer Ending:
Benjamin (to camera): You didn't really think she'd end up with Wayne, did you?
Robocop: When Robocop tries to arrest Dick Jones, and suddenly discovers that he can't.
Dick Jones: It's a little insurance policy called "Directive 4", my little contribution to your psychological profile. Any attempt to arrest a senior officer of OCP results in shutdown. What did you think? That you were an ordinary police officer? You're our product and we can't very well have our products turning against us, can we?
Dark Helmet does this twice in Spaceballs, first stealing Lone Starr's Schwartz ring and again to toss it down a grate! And he still can't believe Lone Starr fell for it!
Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows: During the climactic confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty, the latter thinks, with a brilliant smug smile: "Come now, you really think you're the only one who can play this game?" and reveals that he can weaponize the Sherlock Scan too, and knows that he's going to win their fight.
Star Wars: A New Hope, when Leia gives the (false) location of the Rebel base, and Tarkin destroys Alderaan anyway.
Tarkin: You're far too trusting.
The Dark Knight: "You didn't really think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul in a fistfight with you, did you?"
- In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane says this to Catwoman, in regards to a device he'd promised her that would let her erase her criminal record and start with a clean slate. As it turns out, Bruce Wayne is able to get a hold of such a thing, and uses it so they both can go into hiding.

Literature

The Big Bad of Darkness Visible literally laughs in the face of the hero when he believes he has prevented the End of the World:
Lewis: �I am glad to hear that we thwarted your insane plan.�
Sir Michael: �Thwarted me? How very dramatic! You always did read too many sensational stories, Henry. You have stopped nothing.'

Live-Action TV

In Teen Wolf, Kate Argent loves doing this.
- In the episode Formality She is very happily Evil Gloating to Derek Hale about their past together, where she seduced him, and he fell in love with her; and how he was only a tool to get information on him and his family (a pack of Werewolves, but there were some humans, too) so she could kill them because she is a Werewolf Hunter. She taunts him, all but saying this trope, and in the last scene of them in that episode, it's probably safe to say she is also {{Post -Rape Taunt}}.
Doctor Who has used this trope in "The Sound of Drums", after the Master has taken Martha prisoner on the Valiant and is about to kill her, but she starts revealing her plans.
Martha: A gun in four parts, scattered across the world... I mean... come on. Did you really believe that?
Master: What?
Doctor: As if I would ask her to kill.
- The Doctor gets his turn to use it in Remembrance of The Daleks
The Doctor: Did you think I would let you have the Hand Of Omega?
In Power Rangers Jungle Fury:
Grizzaka: (after finally escaping the sand snakes) Think you're rid of me? Think again. (laughs evilly)
- Now, bad guys say stuff like that all the time, but on this occasion it's different: Grizzaka is one of the three Overlords, the Big Bads of this arc. Carnisoar the Sky Overlord went down last week, and Jellica the Sea Overlord and the Sixth Ranger had their climactic battle while Grizzaka the Land Overlord didn't even get past the Death Trap-laden path to the new Humongous Mecha this week. So, this arc's over and it's time for the Phantom Beasts, right? Yeah, Not so Fast, Bucko!.
Sherlock
- "The Reichenbach Fall" - Moriarty's "super-code" that works on absolutely anything and everyone is desperate to get their hands on? Yeah, he made the whole thing up.
"No, no, no, this is too easy, this is too easy! There is no key, DOOFUS!"
- In A Scandal In Belgravia, Irene uses this. Turns out she was bluffing.

Professional Wrestling

When Randy Orton shook Sheamus' hand at the conclusion of their May 18th match on Smackdown, Sheamus reluctantly accepted. As soon as he turned away, Randy planted Sheamus with an RKO. Randy is actually well known for doing things like this, so why Sheamus accepted the handshake at all is anyone's guess. Maybe it's because Good Is Dumb.

Music

The end of the ballad of the "Golden Vanity". The Golden Vanity is spotted by an enemy Man-o'-War. The Cabin-Boy offers to swim up to the man-o'-war and drill holes in it to sink it, in exchange for the captain's daughter to marry, and a dowry. The captain agrees, the boy sinks the ship, and then after having swum back, the captain...
But the captain would not heed him, for his promise he did rue, and he scorned his poor entreatings when loudly he did sue. And he left him in the Lowland, Lowland, Low. And he left him in the Lowland Sea.
"How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life?"
"I Was Only Kidding", an original song by "Weird Al" Yankovic, which lists the many emphatic ways he's told his girlfriend he loves her, and wondering why she didn't catch that he was kidding.
Rhapsody Of Fire: Halfway through the Emerald Sword Saga, Akron offers to the hero the life of Princess Airin and all the knights of Ancelot who were captured in exchange for the Emerald Sword. As soon as he holds the blade, he has the hero captured, the prisoners executed and Airin tortured to death.

Video Games

World of Warcraft: Did you honestly believe I would trust the future to some blind, half-night elf mongrel?
- It was merely a setback.
- In the 5-man "Trial of the Champion" dungeon, the Black Knight — whom the player has most likely slain in a previous quest — appears out of nowhere at the end and booms, "Did you honestly think an agent of the Lich King could be bested on the field of your pathetic, little tournament?"
  - And then you kill him again. And again. And once more. That's counting up to three Back from the Dead.
  - That fight in and of itself is more likely an example of Only a Flesh Wound, given that the character is called "Black Knight" and he constantly disregards damage to himself and is assured of his victory.
- Also a bit unusual that The Reveal is not their evilness, but the fact that they are alive (sort of).
NetHack: "A voice booms out... 'So thou thought thou couldst kill me, fool.'"
Great one in Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons Of Liberty:
Raiden: You're changing sides now?
Snake: Change sides? I don't recall saying I was on yours.
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni does this a few times. The most notable ones include:
- EP3's ending, did you actually believe that Beatrice is going Tsundere for you? Actually subverted, since it turned out to be true anyway.
- EP7's ending, did you actually believe that Bernkastel will give everyone a happy ending?
In Batman Doom, there is a level where you have to search a hospital for a switch to prevent the release of poison gas. A few minutes in, you do find a switch labelled "GAS SWITCH", but pressing it just reveals the words "DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY?" and releases some Penguin Bombs.
Rosenkreuzstilette: "It seems that I cannot change your mind. Such a shame... Do you honestly think you can stand against the entirety of RKS on your own?"
- Another example in Rosenkreuzstilette:
Iris: You think a run-of-the-mill Magus like yourself can stand a chance against me, Rosenkreuz reborn? This is why I can't stand commoners... I have transcended humanity. I, Iris Zeppelin, have become a god! A worthless insect like yourself can't hope to stop me.
Mega Man X 7:
Splash Warfly: Idiot! This is all according to plan!
Zero: What?
Adventure Quest Worlds:
Sek-Duat: FOOLS! Did YOU really believe I would lead you here and just hand over the power of a Djinn?! I simply needed you both in the same place!
- Cue that rather violent The Bad Guy Wins moment where he supposedly "kills off" both Zhoom and the hero, takes the lamp, causes a cave-in, and holds up the lamp in triumph... only for it to suddenly be replaced with a simple rock. He doesn't know that Zhoom and the hero are still alive and now have the lamp because they secretly slipped him the Dreamdust, but he doesn't care.
- Being the Smug Snake he is, Vath, after luring the hero into a trap with a fake Vath and trapping him/her in a cage, jumps down and says "Did you really think it would be that easy? I have known for weeks that you would be coming for me."

Western Animation

In BIONICLE : Mask of Light, the Seventh Toa, Takanuva, is followed to Makuta's lair by the island's inhabitants. Makuta seals off the entrance.
Makuta: Did you actually believe I would let them return?
Justice League Unlimited had this, but then subverts it beautifully:
Luthor: (To Amanda Waller) "Insolent cow! Did you really think you could take ME down?"
Waller: "To tell the truth, well, yeah. But, on the off chance I might have been wrong..." (looks past Luthor, who turns to see the big 7 standing behind him!)
Flash: "Ta-da."
In Robot Chicken, they parody the Kill Bill exchange when (The Easter) Bunny/Bill says O-Ren's line, and Jesus/The Bride says The Bride's.
From the Hey Arnold! movie:
Scheck: Did you think could get away with this? There are cameras everywhere. I record everything that goes on day and night. Did you think I'd let you win, let you save your little neighborhood?
- Of course the camera strategy backfires on him, and how.
In the Kim Possible episode "Go Team Go", when Shego sees an opportune moment to break her temporary alliance with Kim:
Kim: Shego, I thought we were in this together!
Shego: Oh, come on. Don't you know me better by now? I mean, seriously....
In an episode of Superman: The Animated Series, Lois calls Lex Luthor to the carpet about a mysterious red fog that has enveloped the Metropolis sky and drained Superman of his powers. Lex maintain his innocence:
Lex: Oh, come now, Miss Lane, it shouldn't matter to you that I'm losing millions in revenue. Do you really think I'd endanger the whole of Metropolis just to settle a grudge with Superman?
An Al Brodax Popeye cartoon had Popeye and Brutus as farmers in a contest with the final task to eat spinach and prove its strength. Brutus tells Popeye to make the task fair to which he agrees, only for Brutus to knock Popeye out. Brutus breaks the fourth wall:
Brutus: (to us) You didn't think I was gonna play fair with that runt and take a chance against his spinach!