History Main / TrialBalloonQuestion

** Also played with/subverted a bit with [[spoiler:Genis to a degree]]. In one of the skits, Lloyd is ranting about how much he hates Desians (Half-elves), and how much better the world would be without them. [[spoiler:Genis, also]] a half-elf (though posing as a full-blooded elf; (Half-elves... [[FantasticRacism aren't well-liked]] in Symphonia's world... it's complicated), asks him if he thinks the world would ''really'' be better that way. [[spoiler:Then comes TheReveal that Genis and his sister are in fact half elves aaaand...]] Lloyd doesn't care, they're still friends and all that jazz.

** In both of these cases, after they actually learn the truth, [[spoiler:[[ThePowerOfLove Starbuck and Helo decide they love them more and accept their partners]] for what they are. Kara violently defends Anders and Helo bandages up Athena ''after shooting her''. In his case, her being pregnant by him helped turn him around]].

** Anders says he'd still love Kara if she were a [[ArtificialHuman Cylon]], and she replies that if he were a Cylon she'd put a bullet between his eyes. Little does she know that [[spoiler: he ''is'' a Cylon, and that wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear]].
** It happens in season 1 with Caprica Boomer (later known as Athena) and Helo, after she decides to run away with him for real. She suggests Cylons can, y'know, love? And ''maybe'' they were misguided and indoctrinated into nuking the Colonies? Helo's 'No, they knew perfectly well what they were doing, they're just ''[[JustAMachine machines]]''' visibly upsets her before she hides it.
** In both of these cases, after they actually learn the truth, [[spoiler:[[ThePowerOfLove Starbuck and Helo decide they love them more and accept their partners]] for what they are. Kara violently defends Anders and Helo bandages up Boomer ''after shooting her''. In his case, her being pregnant by him helped turn him around]].

Compare IHaveThisFriend, ComicRolePlay, RhetoricalQuestionBlunder. Not to be confused with the ArmorPiercingQuestion, where the one posing the questions is trying to force a realization in another (hence "armor piercing").

* In ''ComicBook/SupermansGirlFriendLoisLane'' #106, Lois uses a transformation device to [[BlackLikeMe become African-American for a day]]. On the cover/inside, she directly asks Superman if he'd still love her if she wasn't white. Surprisingly progressive [[TheSeventies for the time]], anyway, just for raising the question.
* A variation in ''ComicBook/PowerPack'': Julie's mother tells her that she'd still love her "even if you sprouted wings and flew". Well, while Julie never grows wings...

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

''[{{beat}}]''\\
'''Andy:''' Uuuuuh..\\

* In ''Fanfic/SwingingPendulum'', Kaien tells Ichigo that he and the Shibas have Ichigo's back, Ichigo asks if they would stand by him if he was declared a traitor. Kaien answers seriously that he would help Ichigo because he believes that Ichigo would have a very good reason for being traitor or was framed.
* In ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/242343/shimmering-sunsets Shimmering Sunsets]]'', [=Evowizard25=]'s {{Crossover}} {{Recursive Fanfic|tion}} between ''Fanfic/TheShimmerverse'' and ''Fanfic/TheSunsetverse'', the Shimmerverse's Octavia asks the Sunsetverse's Twilight about her AU counterpart's stallionfriend:
-->''"Out of curiosity, what's the social standing on same sex couples in this Equestria? Just curious since we mentioned intertribal relationships and all that." Twilight asked, sweating a bit nervously.\\
".......I'm a lesbian over there, aren't I?" Octavia deadpanned.''
* ''Fanfic/NotTheIntendedUseZantetsukenReverse'': Done in a roundabout way in ''A Game of Cat and Cat''. [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Soma Cruz]] is Dracula's reincarnation, and when discussing reincarnation with [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Kazuya]], he asks if Kazuya considers Aoi's reincarnation to be the same person as her. Kazuya answers in the affirmative, which Soma takes as confirmation that he shouldn't tell Kazuya about his past life.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/816381/3/Deny-Thy-Father-And-Refuse-Thy-Name Deny Thy Father And Refuse Thy Name]]'':
-->'''Harry:''' If...if you found out that..err one of your friends were gay...let's say...umm...''me'' for example...what would you say?\\
'''Ron:''' Harry, I wouldn't have to say anything because I know you're as far from being gay as I am. Arrows couldn't be straighter then we are eh, mate? So why even worry about what I'd say.

'''Mowgli:''' ''[giggles]'' Gee, I don't even know what you're talking about?\\

* Eli in ''Film/LetTheRightOneIn'' asks Oskar, "Would you still love me if I weren't a girl?" [[spoiler:The audience assume Eli means "I'm a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]", but actually Eli was given an [[{{squick}} involuntary, non-surgical]] penectomy]].

* In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS02E18Visitor Visitor]]", when a delusional [[MonsterOfTheWeek Freak of the Week]] claims to be an alien, Clark casually asks Chloe and Lana how they feel about the possibility that it's true. Chloe thinks it would be cool; Lana finds it scary. Unfortunately, it's Lana he's had a crush on forever, [[FanPreferredCouple not Chloe]], [[spoiler:the latter of whom later finds out in Season Four and ''accepts him completely'']].
* In the second to last episode of the J-Dorama, ''Series/AkaiIto'', Yuri lies to Natsu, telling him she's not 4-months pregnant. She then asks what he would do if she actually was, and he does not respond in the way she would like (he would have her abort).
* In ''Series/WillAndGrace'', Leo grows bored of living in New York and wants to go back to Doctors Without Borders in Cambodia, but he has to tell Grace first.
-->'''Leo:''' Grace, you'd want me to be happy, right?\\
'''Grace:''' Not if it affects me in any negative way. ''[smiles sweetly]''
* In ''Series/That70sShow'', Eric says that he and Donna should keep their engagement a secret. To demonstrate, he asks Donna's father what he'd do if they got engaged. The answer is "I'd kill you", prompting them to keep it a secret for a while.

* In ''Series/TheWestWing'', when President Bartlet considers announcing that he has multiple sclerosis, the staff decides that it would be a good idea to have Joey Lucas do a poll asking voters how they would react if a governor announced a comparable illness. They're briefly concerned that it might look like they're announcing the illness ''because'' of the poll, but C.J. points out that this would be ludicrous; the lies that Bartlet has told (mostly by omission) would eclipse any other political fallout. Joey Lucas does the poll, and the results are not encouraging, but they go ahead with the announcement anyway.

N' taste the blame if the flavor should remind you of greed,
* Chris [=LeDoux=]'s "Silence on the Line" is about a cowboy who calls his wife after his last rodeo. He says he's got this friend whose rodeo career left him unable to walk, and would like to bring him home with him, but the wife says no. The cowboy, crippled himself, goes to Mexico instead.

* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', Rod asks Christmas Eve what he can do to help his [[IHaveThisFriend "friend"]] who is struggling with his sexuality, and what might happen if this friend, hypothetically, were to come out. Christmas Eve assures him everything will be just fine. (At least until she finds out said "friend" is a Republican.)

** Colette later repays the favour by reminding Lloyd he's still him after he finds out [[spoiler: his dad is [[LukeIAmYourFather Kratos]]]].
** Also played with/subverted a bit with [[spoiler: Genis to a degree.]] In one of the skits, Lloyd is ranting about how much he hates Desians (Half-elves), and how much better the world would be without them. [[spoiler: Genis, also]] a half-elf (though posing as a full-blooded elf; (Half-elves... [[FantasticRacism aren't well-liked]] in Symphonia's world... it's complicated), asks him if he thinks the world would ''really'' be better that way. [[spoiler: Then comes TheReveal that Genis and his sister are in fact half elves aaaand...]] Lloyd doesn't care, they're still friends and all that jazz.
* Veronica in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' tells the player character she had a run-in with the Brotherhood of Steel and asks them to fill her in. There are a variety of possible answers, ranging from (paraphrased) "Don't they shoot lasers from their eyes?" to "I know enough to kill them when I see them." Once she's a companion, she reveals that she's a member of the Brotherhood herself; the player has another variety of reactions correspondingly.

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': In "Johnny Mint Chip", after Dukey gets sucked into a ice cream packaging tube, Johnny proceeds to ask the tour guide what would happen if someone fell in a giant vat of ice cream, to which the guide (completely oblivious to Dukey behind him) cheerfully responds that they would be swirled into ice cream, chopped up into three-gallon rolls, and placed into a super-cold freezer where life would become unsustainable after the three-minute timer for the final freezing process. Johnny makes a mad dash to save his dog after hearing all that.

-->'''Harry:''' You're doing so well [professionally]. W-What... What if we were to accidently... you know... have a baby now?\\

* OlderThanFeudalism: In Literature/TheBible, King David slept with a married woman named Bathsheba, got her pregnant, [[UriahGambit sent her husband Uriah to die on the front lines]], and took her as his new wife. He is approached by a prophet named Nathan, who tells him a story about a poor man who had only one little lamb that he deeply cared for, that was taken and slaughtered by his wealthy neighbor who already owned a very large flock. David says the rich man deserves to be put to death, and Nathan tells him simply, "You are the [rich] man." Then David realizes OhCrap, MyGodWhatHaveIDone.[[labelnote:*]]2 Samuel ch. 11, 12:1-15[[/labelnote]]

* In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'', [[{{Dracula}} Soma]] asks Mina if she'll still like him if he's NotHimself. Confused, she tells him that no, she wouldn't if he changes too much. Unlike most examples, she immediately realizes that something is amiss for him to suddenly ask that but doesn't figure out what ''exactly'' prompted the question in the first place (since Soma tends to run off if she tries).

* In a ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strip:
-->'''Calvin:''' Do you love me, Dad?\\

* In ''Series/TheWestWing'', when President Bartlet considers announcing that he has multiple sclerosis, the staff decidsd that it would be a good idea to have Joey Lucas do a poll asking voters how they would react if a governor announced a comparable illness. They're briefly concerned that it might look like they're announcing the illness ''because'' of the poll, but C.J. points out that this would be ludicrous; the lies that Bartlet has told (mostly by omission) would eclipse any other political fallout. Joey Lucas does the poll, and the results are not encouraging, but they go ahead with the announcement anyway.

'''Starbuck:''' ...You are a better person than I am, Sam, because if ''I'' found out that ''you'' were a [[ArtificialHuman Cylon]], I would put a bullet between your eyes.
-->-- ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''

This trope is about the fact that she's now [[KeepingSecretsSucks keeping a huge secret from those around her]], and she wants to let it out rather than [[{{Masquerade}} live a lie.]] Complicating matters is that [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster mainstream society]] (or at least [[FallenPrincess her social circle]]) does ''not'' approve of the group to which Alice now belongs. To them, "those people" are acceptable targets for mockery, violence, or worse.

If the answer is "Of course I'd still love you," Bob's actual reaction when learning the truth could still go either way. He may have an unrealistic picture of his own prejudices.

The only safe answer is "Meh," really, as it would mean Bob couldn't care less, and this ''really'' wouldn't change anything at all.

[[folder:Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder:Comic Books ]]
* In an issue of ''Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan'', in a crowd scene with various different conversations running in the background, one is of a couple asking each other a series of "Would you still love me if I was..." questions, one of them being a reference to Spider-Man enemy Scorpion.
* There's an issue of a Bronze-Age ''ComicBook/LoisLane'' comic where Lois uses a transformation device to become African-American for a day, and on the cover/inside she directly asks Superman if he'd still love her if she wasn't white. Surprisingly progressive for the time, anyway, just for raising the question.
* A variation in ''ComicBook/PowerPack'': Julie's mother tells her she'd still love her "even if you sprouted wings and flew". Well, while Julie never grows wings...

[[folder:Fanfic ]]

--> '''Calvin:''' Andy, quick! If you got a {{chain letter}} mailed to you saying you were going die a horrible death if you didn't forward it, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?\\
({{beat}})\\

* In ''FanFic/SwingingPendulum'' Kaien tells Ichigo that he and the Shibas have Ichigo's back, Ichigo asks if they would stand by him if he was declared a traitor. Kaien answers seriously that he would help Ichigo because he believes that Ichigo would have a very good reason for being traitor or was framed.
* In @/Evowizard25's {{Crossover}} {{Recursive Fanfic|tion}} between his ''Fanfic/TheShimmerverse'' and the ''Fanfic/TheSunsetverse'', ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/242343/shimmering-sunsets Shimmering Sunsets]]'', Shimmerverse!Octavia asks Sunsetverse!Twilight about her AU counterpart's stallionfriend:
--> "Out of curiosity, what's the social standing on same sex couples in this Equestria? Just curious since we mentioned intertribal relationships and all that." Twilight asked, sweating a bit nervously.
--> “.......I”m a lesbian over there, aren’t I?” Octavia deadpanned.
* Done in a roundabout way in ''[[Fanfic/NotTheIntendedUseZantetsukenReverse A Game of Cat and Cat]]''. [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Soma Cruz]] is Dracula's reincarnation, and when discussing reincarnation with [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI Kazuya]], he asks if Kazuya considers Aoi's reincarnation to be the same person as her. Kazuya answers in the affirmative, which Soma takes as confirmation that he shouldn't tell Kazuya about his past life.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6786962/1/Ellie Ellie]]'' Harry unintentionally becomes pregnant.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12323359/1/She-Thought-She-Knew She Thought She Knew]]'' Hermione asks if Harry and Ron would have sex with a woman who was raped. Harry says he would if she were willing, but Ron never answers the question.

[[folder:Film - Animation]]

-->'''Baloo:''' Now, how did old Baggy put it? Uh... Um, Mowgli... Hah! You wouldn't marry a panther, would you?
-->'''Mowgli:''' ''(giggles)'' Gee, I don't even know what you're talking about?
-->'''Baloo:''' Mowgli, don't you realize that you're a human?
-->'''Mowgli:''' I'm not anymore, Baloo. I'm a bear, like you!
* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', which goes well for the currently-disguised Megamind, with Roxanne saying it's what's on the inside that counts. [[spoiler:Of course, when the disguise fails, Roxanne immediately dumps him because inside, Megamind is a {{Supervillain}} through and through]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'': When Bart tries to tell the police that he skated nude through town because Homer dared him to.
-->'''Homer:''' And what happens to me if it's my fault?
-->'''Chief Wiggum:''' You'll have to attend a one-hour parenting class.
-->'''Homer:''' IT WAS ALL HIS IDEA! HE'S OUT OF CONTROL, I TELL YA! I'M AT MY WIT'S END! ''(sobs hysterically)''

[[folder:Film - Live Action ]]

[[folder:Folklore ]]
* A [[{{Glurge}} glurgy]] UrbanLegend has a mother and father getting a letter from their son in the service asking them what they'd do with a friend who had had his arm and leg amputated and had nowhere else to go. The parents said they wouldn't be able to take such a friend. The next letter they get is one stating that their son is dead from suicide. When they get to the morgue, they find their son...with an arm and a leg amputated. (There's a sci-fi short story with exactly that plot, [[RecycledINSPACE but in space, naturally]].)

[[folder:Literature ]]

* ''Literature/{{Friday}}'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein
** The story features a plot twist like this, where the eponymous character asks another member of her, um, "line marriage" (it's complicated) if she would still be accepted if she were a "Living Artifact" (the story's term for a person bio/gen-engineered from scratch). The revelation ends up breaking the family apart.
** Later on Friday puts the same question to a man she's planning to have casual sex with, only for him to do a runner -- it turns out that he's also an ArtificialHuman, and he assumes from the question that Friday would be prejudiced against him.

[[folder:Live Action TV ]]
* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'':

* In the Season 2 ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Visitor", when a delusional [[MonsterOfTheWeek Freak of the Week]] claims to be an alien, Clark casually asks Chloe and Lana how they feel about the possibility it's true. Chloe thinks it would be cool; Lana finds it scary. Unfortunately it's Lana he's had a crush on forever, [[FanPreferredCouple not Chloe.]] [[spoiler:The latter of whom later finds out in Season Four and ''accepts him completely''.]]
* In the second to last episode of the J-Dorama, ''Series/{{Akai Ito}}'', Yuri lies to Natsu, telling him she's not 4-months pregnant. She then asks what he would do if she actually was, and he does not respond in the way she would like (he would have her abort).
* On ''Series/WillAndGrace,'' Leo grows bored of living in New York and wants to go back to Doctors Without Borders in Cambodia, but he has to tell Grace first.
--> '''Leo:''' Grace, you'd want me to be happy, right?
--> '''Grace:''' Not if it affects me in any negative way. ''[smiles sweetly]''
* On ''Series/That70sShow'' Eric says he and Donna should keep their engagement a secret. To demonstrate, he asks Donna's father what he'd do if they got engaged. The answer is "I'd kill you", prompting them to keep it a secret for a while.

** In Episode 3, Sam ''immediately'' shoots down the idea of breaking Baron Zemo out of prison so he can help them track down the Flag-Smashers. Bucky, unfazed, proceeds to lay out a "hypothetical" plan that would allow Zemo to escape. His explanation is intercut with a series of flashbacks of the plan being put into action, and just as Sam realises that it's too well-thought-out for a hypothetical, Zemo walks in.

* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', when President Bartlet was considering announcing that he had multiple sclerosis, the staff decided that it would be a good idea to have Joey Lucas do a poll asking voters how they would react if a governor announced a comparable illness. They were briefly concerned that it might look like they were announcing the illness ''because'' of the poll, but C.J. pointed out that that was ludicrous; the lies Bartlet had (mostly by omission) told would eclipse any other political fallout. So Joey Lucas did the poll, and the results were not encouraging, but they went ahead with the announcement anyway.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': At the end of "[[Recap/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAirS1E06MistakenIdentity Mistaken Identity]]", Carlton, refusing to believe that the cops that arrested him and Will earlier were targeting them for being black, asks his father a hypothetical question and gets an ArmorPiercingResponse in return.
-->'''Carlton:''' Dad!...If you were a policeman, and you saw a car driving 2 miles an hour, wouldn't you stop him?
-->'''Phillip:''' I asked myself that question the first time ''I'' was stopped.

-->'''Calvin:''' Do you love me, Dad?
-->'''Dad:''' Of course I do Calvin.
-->'''Calvin:''' Would you still love me if I did something bad?
-->'''Dad:''' Well, of course... I... would...
-->'''Calvin:''' I mean something really, ''really''...
-->'''Dad:''' CALVIN, WHAT DID YOU DO?!

[[folder:Theatre ]]
* Used for comedy in Oscar Wilde's ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest''.

[[folder:Video Games ]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}: Aria of Sorrow'', [[{{Dracula}} Soma]] asked Mina if she'll still like him if he's NotHimself. Confused, she told him that no, she wouldn't if he changes too much. Unlike most examples, she immediately realizes that something is amiss for him to suddenly ask that, but doesn't figure out what ''exactly'' prompted the question in the first place (considering Soma tends to run off if she tries).

[[folder:Web Comic]]

[[folder:Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': In "Johnny Mint Chip", after Dukey falls through an ice-cream packaging tube, Johnny proceeds to ask the tour guide what would happen if someone fell in a giant vat of ice cream, to which the guide (completely oblivious to Dukey behind him) cheerfully responds that they would be swirled into ice cream, chopped up into three-gallon rolls, and placed into a super-cold freezer where life would become unsustainable after the three-minute timer for the final freezing process. Johnny makes a mad dash to save his dog after hearing all that.

* In Creator/CharlesChesnutt's ''Literature/TheHouseBehindTheCedars'', the main characters are a mixed-race brother and sister, John and Rena, who work their way up in society by passing for white. Rena tests the loyalty of her white fiance by asking if he would still love her if she were black. Unfortunately, he misunderstands the question, and when he eventually discovers her secret he rejects her.

* OlderThanFeudalism: In Literature/TheBible, King David slept with a married woman named Bathsheba, got her pregnant, [[UriahGambit sent her husband Uriah to die on the front lines]], and took her as his new wife. He is approached by a prophet named Nathan, who tells him a story about a poor man who had only one little lamb that he deeply cared for, that was taken and slaughtered by his wealthy neighbor who already owned a very large flock. David says the rich man deserves to be put to death, and Nathan tells him simply, "You are the [rich] man." Then David realizes OhCrap, MyGodWhatHaveIDone.[[labelnote:*]]2 Samuel ch. 11, 12:1-15[[/labelnote]]
* In ''[[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat The Stainless Steel Rat for President]]'', Jim diGriz asks a member of the local gentry who is helping him overthrow the local BananaRepublic regime how he would react if diGriz advocated redistributing estates to the peasants. He responds, "I would shoot you on the spot." Jim disclaims having any such intentions, while thinking to himself that it will ultimately happen, but at a pace that the local culture can handle.
* "Literature/FairestOfAll": Everyone needs to know their heart's desire in order to get through the portal to a different realm. Brogan asks Siofra what her desire was, and she answers "Freedom." This disappoints Brogan, whose answer would have been "You," and was hoping Siofra felt the same way about them.

** In both of these cases, after they actually learn the truth, [[spoiler:[[ThePowerOfLove Starbuck and Helo decide they love them more and accept their partners]] for what they are.]] Kara violently defends Anders and Helo bandages up Boomer ''after shooting her''. In his case, [[spoiler:her being pregnant by him]] helped turn him around.

** In both of these cases [[spoiler:[[ThePowerOfLove Starbuck and Helo decide they love them more and accept their partners]] for what they are.]] Kara violently defends Anders and Helo bandages up Boomer ''after shooting her''. In his case, [[spoiler:her being pregnant by him]] helped turn him around.