Now how could you not trust a face like that?
Vito Corleone: Do you have faith in my judgement?
Clemenza: Yes.
Vito: Do I have your loyalty?
Clemenza: Yes, always, Godfather.
Vito: Then be a friend to Michael. Do as he says.
Clemenza: Yes.
Vito: Do I have your loyalty?
Clemenza: Yes, always, Godfather.
Vito: Then be a friend to Michael. Do as he says.
A Stock Phrase usually used by characters believing in the Power of Trust or The Power of Friendship to save the day.
This usually goes down one of two ways. In the first, Bob and Alice are in danger. Bob has a plan but needs Alice to trust him in order for it to work. Perhaps she needs to jump a ravine and trust that he will catch her. Or perhaps he needs her to act as a distraction for the Big Bad and trust that he will take the Big Bad down before she's in serious trouble. He will ask, "Do you trust me?" and if she says yes she will immediately need to prove her trust.
The second scenario is usually romantic with little to no real danger involved. Alice may be a little nervous about something, and Bob uses the question to reassure her. She may be wary of stepping out on a high balcony to look at the view or dancing in front of other people. The question may also be asked before Their First Time. Be careful though, if the wording is "Don't you trust me?", especially in a slightly pleading tone, it may be a sign that the person is at the best Not Himself and at the worst The Casanova or The Vamp. That little apostrophe can make a lot of difference.
Common subversions will often either have Bob miss or Alice say that, no, she doesn't trust him. Sometimes they'll do it anyway.
This trope is about the truster confirming their faith in the trusted. Compare Remember That You Trust Me where the trusted reaffirms the faith of the truster.
Examples:
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Comic Books
- Green Lantern: Rebirth: As the Green Lanterns rush towards Parallax, John Stewart is somewhat concerned about Hal Jordan's lack of a plan, prompting Hal to ask if John trusts him. He does.
John Stewart: We can't just rush in without a plan, Hal.
Hal Jordan: I'll have one by the time we get there.
John Stewart: But—
Hal Jordan: Do you trust me, John?
John Stewart: ...Yeah. Yeah, I do. - Death & the Family: When Gangbuster and Supergirl are being overwhelmed by a swarm of giant bugs, the former expresses doubt regarding the latter's plan. Kara asks him is he trusts her, and Gangbuster admits he does...but only because he trusts her cousin.
Gangbuster: I'm starting to think this was a bad idea!
Supergirl: You trust me, don't you?!
Gangbuster: Lady, the only reason I trust you is that "S" on your chest!
Fan Works
- Once Upon a Farmhouse. Even after Kirk rescues him from bullies, Spock is nervous about letting Kirk help him up and take him home. Kirk says, "Spock, you just gotta trust me."
- Loyalty: Sakura asks Hinata this while the latter hesitates with giving Sakura the exploding tags she needs while bandits attack their caravan in the Desert Arc. She does.
Film — Animated
- Used repeatedly in Disney's Aladdin, first in the face of danger, and later romantically. The latter is what tips Jasmine off that Prince Ali is really Aladdin.
- In the climax of Appleseed Alpha, crime boss Two Horns calls on the heroes to trust him, but can't help laughing because he knows perfectly well that he's not trustworthy.
- Done in Despicable Me with Gru and the orphan girls. Margo trusts him enough to have Edith and Agnes jump over the gap to Gru, but Vector catches her before she can jump herself.
Film — Live-Action
- Blade Runner: Deckard must help the replicant Rachel escape or she'll be killed.
Deckard: Do you love me?
Rachael: I love you.
Deckard: Do you trust me?
Rachael: I trust you. - Inverted in Casino where Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein asks his wife Ginger several times in one scene: "Can I trust you?" He can't.
- Ghost in the Shell (2017). Major discovers that everything she's been told about her origin is a lie.
- Briefly used in The Man. Derrick Vann tells Officer Santos that he needs the money so that he can fool the criminals in his operation. Santos reluctantly gives in. He gets more upset the second time when he needs the money for the captain to check on. Derrick then reminds Santos that he trusts Derrick and that Derrick has never given him a reason to distrust him. He trusts Derrick and gives him an extention. Derrick asks, "Where the love, dawg?"
- In Head Over Heels (2001), Freddie Prinze Jr.'s character doesn't ask the question, but simply says, "Trust me."
- Also inverted in Law Abiding Citizen when Nick Rice asks this of Clyde before revealing that he's already made a plea bargain with the murderer of his wife and child. The rest of the movie involves Clyde making Nick regret this bitterly.
- National Treasure includes Nicholas Cage saying this to his love interest. He is holding her from falling off an old lift. The trust comes from having to risk dropping her onto a lower platform to grab the Declaration of Independence from falling into a deep chasm. She understands perfectly.
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Sherlock stops an attempt to murder Watson and his newlywed on a train. While Watson exchanges shots with the killers, Sherlock opens the carriage door and notes they're approaching a bridge. He asks Mary if she trusts him. Given that Sherlock is highly-eccentric and dressed as a woman at the time, Mary naturally replies, "No."
Sherlock: Well, then I shall have to...(checks to see Watson isn't looking) do something about that. (throws her off the train into the river)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022): After Knuckles manages to reach the police car they're using for their escape, Tails, seeing a way out, asks Sonic this question. Sonic has a surprisingly realistic, yet comical response that makes Tails forced to pull him out.
"Of course not! I literally just met you!"
- Jack asks this of Rose in Titanic (1997) in the scene on the bow of the ship.
- Death Note (2017): Mia asks Light to trust her when she has the Death Note hidden away somewhere to keep it from falling into the hands of the cops. It turns out he can't since she wrote Light's name in there to blackmail him because she wants the book for herself. In the climax, he asks the same of her if she truly loves him. She chooses not to, which results in her own death due to a very specifically worded demise that Light had written in anticipation.
Literature
- Deryni: In High Deryni, after Denis Arilan reveals his Deryni aura to his brother bishop Thomas Cardiel, Cardiel recalls looking for him in a chapel (and failing to find him) a few nights earlier and asks Arilan where he went. Arilan tells his friend he may not answer, and Cardiel probes, asking if there is some organized hierarchy of mages with authority over him. Arilan asks for patience and when Cardiel asks again, he replies, "Trust me, Thomas? I swear I'll not betray that trust."
- This is the skull in the jar's repeated inquiry to Lucy in The Empty Grave. While it takes her a while to get there, the answer is ultimately "yes," as Lucy smashes the jar, allowing the spirit within to go free, and he ultimately proves an aid in taking down the Big Bad, Marissa Fittes and her own pet Type Three ghost, Ezekiel.
- In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Hermione asks Harry, "Do you trust me?" before pulling off a risky escape from Death Eaters at the Lovegoods' house.
- An unspoken variation occurs in The Princess Bride when Buttercup is afraid to go into the Fire Swamp.
Buttercup was searching somewhere for a sufficiency of courage. Evidently, she found it in his eyes.
- The Unicorn Chronicles: A slightly darker version of the question is given in Into the Land of the Unicorns. Cara's grandmother asks, "Do you think I'm crazy?" before telling Cara she must jump from a church roof to escape a pursuer.
Live-Action TV
- Arrow
- The episode "Vertigo" has an inversion when Felicity Smoak asks Oliver Queen "Can I trust you?" Oliver has been dropping some Blatant Lies about why he's asking for her help for his secret vigilante activities. It's not this she's asking about, but whether Oliver can be trusted with a dark secret that she has uncovered about his own family.
- In "Unthinkable", Roy Harper gives the line straight when saying he's going to give up his vigilante activities and run off with Thea Queen. Unfortunately while packing Thea discovers the quiver that shows he's working with the Arrow, despite what he claimed. For Thea, it's one lie too many from both Roy and members of her family. She breaks up with him, accepting the tutelage of her biological father, supervillain Malcolm Merlyn, so she will never be weak and trusting again.
- Buffyverse:
- Angel asks Buffy in "Lie To Me", "Do you love me?" before agreeing to reveal the truth about how he turned Drusilla into a vampire. Buffy replies, "I love you. I don't know if I trust you." (Angel replies, "Maybe you shouldn't.") In Season 6 "Dead Things" Buffy is having a relationship with another vampire, Spike, but keeps insisting their relationship is purely sexual with no love involved. In response, Spike offers her a pair of handcuffs and asks, "Do you trust me?" Buffy replies "Never" but the next day is seen rubbing her wrists in a telling manner.
- In "Somnambulist", Angel asks potential Love Interest Detective Kate Lockley if she trusts him before handing over information on a Serial Killer without revealing the source. She says she does without hesitation, but later in the episode, Kate discovers Angel is a vampire and she never fully trusts him again.
- The Chuck episode "Chuck vs. the First Kill"
Chuck Bartowski: How do I know I can trust them? The government wants to keep the Intersect in my head. My father's the only one who can get it out. It's not rocket science.
Sarah Walker: Okay, I know that you don't trust them. But do you trust me?
Chuck: ...Yeah.
Sarah: Good. Then I promise you, we're going to find him. - Sara asks Grissom this before starting to shave him in CSI.
- Doctor Who:
- A frequent occurrence between the Doctor and his companions in the new series.
- "The Time of Angels": The Doctor and associates are surrounded by Weeping Angels, who are prevented from attacking only because someone can see them.
The Doctor: Do you trust me?
Amy: Yeah.
River: Always.
The Doctor: You lot, do you trust me?
Bishop Octavian: We have faith, sir.
The Doctor: Then give me your gun. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do ... jump.
[He shoots out the only light source.] - And from "Flesh and Stone":
The Doctor: Amy, I need you to trust me. It's never been more important.
Amy: But you don't always tell me the truth.
The Doctor: If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me. - "Extremis" shows this doesn't always reassure his companions.
Bill: Does it give you the fear when [the Doctor] says trust me?
Nardole: If I worked here, I'd cross me-self. - In "Can You Hear Me?", the Doctor is wiring a telepathic gizmo up to Graham's head. Naturally this makes him a bit concerned.
Graham: Doc, I don't like it. You sure it's safe?The Doctor: You trust me, don't ya?Graham: Have I got to answer that? (The Doctor gives him a sour look.)
- Dollhouse. The dolls are conditioned to trust their handlers, but the relationship can become More than Mind Control whereupon this trope becomes something more than a Trigger Phrase.
- In the episode "The Target".
Boyd Langton: You can't go after this guy. You don't have the right imprint. You don't have the right training. [snip]
Jenny: Do you trust me? [snip]
Boyd: With my life.- And "Vows"
Paul Ballard: Do you trust me?
Echo: With my life.
- Pretty much the basis of the 1950s game show Do You Trust Your Wife? (later retitled Who Do You Trust?).
- Game of Thrones. In "The Laws of Gods and Men" Tyrion Lannister is on trial with his father Lord Tywin as judge. It's a Kangaroo Court with all the witnesses against him, so his brother Jaime makes a backroom deal with Tywin; if he pleads guilty and asks for mercy, Tyrion will be sent to the Wall instead of being executed. In exchange, Jaime will leave the Kingsguard (who are sworn not to take wives or inherit titles) and become Tywin's heir. Tyrion balks at this, as he knows his father hates him and the last person given such an offer had his head chopped off anyway. Rather than explain the bargain he's made Jaime says only, "Do you trust me?" Tyrion just has time to nod before the trial recommences.
- Jon Snow has to get the support of the wildling clans, hereditary enemies of the Nights Watch, so forms an Enemy Mine alliance with clan chief Tormund Giantsbane. Their alliance is put to its first test when the two disembark at Hardhome in the midst of thousands of hostile wildlings.
Tormund: (quietly) You trust me, Jon Snow?
Jon: Does that make me a fool, then?
Tormund: We're fools together now.
- Jon Snow has to get the support of the wildling clans, hereditary enemies of the Nights Watch, so forms an Enemy Mine alliance with clan chief Tormund Giantsbane. Their alliance is put to its first test when the two disembark at Hardhome in the midst of thousands of hostile wildlings.
- House of Cards (UK): Francis Urquhart is fond of the phrase "You do trust me, don't you?". If he ever asks you it, run.
- Repeatedly subverted in an episode of The IT Crowd:
Roy: Do you trust me?
Moss: *without any hesitation* No!
Roy: (frustrated) C'mon, Moss! Do you trust me?
Moss: No!
Roy: (angry) Moss!
Moss: I. Don't. Trust. You! - M*A*S*H: Inversion—Col. Flagg seeks someone he can trust whenever he shows up on one of his conspiracy theory missions.
- Person of Interest. In "Mors praematura", Root has kidnapped Sameen Shaw so she can help in a mission for the Machine. Shaw obviously doesn't trust Root, so Root asks her to trust the Machine, whom Shaw unknowingly worked for as a government assassin.
- A variation occurs in the BBC Mini Series The Sinking of the Laconia. Junior Officer Thomas Mortimer asks passenger Hilda Smith this, saying he only has four hours off-duty to do "whatever he likes". The set-up of the scene leads viewers to think he is making a sexual pass, but it turns out he's asking to be allowed to babysit her infant so he can remind himself of his own children.
- In the Smallville episode "Doomsday", Clark has just admitted to Jimmy that he's the Red-Blue Blur.
Clark Kent: Jimmy, do you trust me?
Jimmy Olsen: Always, C.K.- And the episode "Reckoning"
Clark: [places the key into the pedestal and they are both surrounded by beams of light] It's okay.
Lana: [looks around in amazement as Clark reaches out to her]
Clark: Do you trust me?
Lana: [grabs Clark's hand and they are instantly transported to the Fortress of Solitude] - The biggest one is probably in "Collateral" when Chloe returns and asks Clark to trust her to escape from a virtual reality. He hesitates and loses the first chance, but he knows he still trusts her deep inside. It takes a darker turn when a bad guy assumed her likeness in the virtual world...
- And the episode "Reckoning"
- Star Trek: Voyager.
- In "Counterpoint" Inspector Kashyk uses this trope to justify the anti-telepath policies of the Devore Imperium. note
Kashyk: Captain, do you trust me?
Janeway: (instantly) Not for a second.
Kashyk: Exactly, and why should you? Trust has to be earned. It's gradual, and yet it's the foundation of every relationship, professional and personal. It's also a concept alien to the telepathic races. Why take someone at their word when you can simply read their mind? - In "Scorpion" Captain Janeway comes into conflict with her Number One, Commander Chakotay, over an Enemy Mine alliance with the Borg that Chakotay thinks is both reckless and unethical.
Janeway: Do you trust me, Chakotay?
Chakotay: That isn't the issue.
Janeway: Oh, but it is. Only yesterday you were saying that we'd face this together, that you'd be at my side.
Chakotay: I still have to tell you what I believe. I'm no good to you if I don't do that.
Janeway: I appreciate your insights, but the time for debate is over. I've made my decision.
- In "Counterpoint" Inspector Kashyk uses this trope to justify the anti-telepath policies of the Devore Imperium. note
- Subverted in the Two and a Half Men episode "Walnuts and Demerol".
Evelyn: Do you trust me?
Alan Harper, Berta, Charlie Harper, Rose: No!
Evelyn: Okay, but you know I have your best interest at heart. Don't you?
Alan Harper, Berta, Charlie Harper, Rose: NO! - Scully and Mulder say that to each other regularly on The X-Files, though it became less and less frequent as the series progressed—not because they stopped trusting each other, but more like because their mutual trust reached almost telepathic levels.
- Blake's 7. Used between the Big Bad and The Dragon, who naturally don't trust each other at all (with good reason as Travis betrays Servalan shortly after this conversation when he gets hold of the secret they are referring to and so doesn't need Servalan anymore).
Travis: Don't you trust me?Servalan: No, of course not!Travis: Then trust my ambition. You will be the new keeper of the secret.
- The basis of the game show Who Do You Trust? (1957-63, initially as Do You Trust Your Wife?) had couples predicting whether or not each other could answer a question.
Professional Wrestling
- Jake Roberts infamously uttered this phrase in his heel phase entrance theme, taunting the audience to trust him note .
Video Games
- In League of Legends, if you pick Ahri as your champion, she'll open up with "Don't you trust me?". This goes both ways as she has a nasty reputation of a soul-sucking seductress and at the same time, she's trying to lure you, the player, into her thrall due to her charm. (Though she won't actually suck the player's soul, she's kind of like that.)
- Minecraft: Story Mode: During one of the chase segments in Boom Town, Axel asks Jesse to let him carry the Order's amulet. If you choose to keep holding onto it, he's visibly hurt that you don't trust him.
- Played With in Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. Early in the game, Raynor is the only one who believes the de-infested Kerrigan is trustworthy, even over her own objections. When he is captured by the Dominion, she goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to get him back. In order to gain the power she needs to defeat Arcturus and the Greater-Scope Villain, she is remade into a Primal Zerg form, similar to her infested state. Thus when she rescues Raynor, she appears to him to have gone back to her old, sociopathic self. (The truth is somewhere in the middle.) She asks him if he still trusts her, while putting his gun in his hand and pointing it at her own head. He weighs the decision carefully, and then fires — into the wall next to her, because he needs her alive.
Kerrigan:: (hesitantly) You were the only one who ever believed in me. Do you... still... believe in me?
Webcomics
- Subverted in Otherworld
:
Katlyn: Do you trust me?
Eden: Not at all.
Katlyn: Then this will be scary.
Western Animation
- Teen Titans: Terra says this to Beast Boy, complete with the Aladdin hand up right before she takes him out on a date and Titans Tower is attacked.
- The Zeta Project: In "Lost and Found", Zeta goes through flashbacks of his last mission. During this, the daughter of the accountant he impersonates wants to learn how to ride a bike. When she has trouble riding straight, Zeta tells her to stabilize by going faster and says this.
- Danger Mouse: Played for laughs in the episode "One Of Our Stately Homes Is Missing." The Duke of Bedbug's mansion has been stolen, so DM says he'll need help from BLEEP (the Building Location and Emergency Extradition Platoon).
Penfold: Eh?
Colonel K: Organization called BLEEP, Penfold.
Penfold: Oh, go on. You can tell me. I'm a trustee.
DM: Penfold, it's BLEEP.
Penfold: All right, then. I shan't tell you where I hid the cornflakes! - Star Wars Rebels. In "Out of Darkness", Hera refuses to reveal details about her rebel contact known only as Fulcrum; she just asks Sabine to trust her and have faith. Sabine is not impressed as that doesn't seem any different from the Blind Obedience that the Empire demanded of her.
