Basic Trope: A character will not break a promise to another character.
- Straight: Bob has a secret, and Alice has promised not to tell. She never does.
- Exaggerated: Bob is suspected for the attempted assassination of King Ken. Alice refuses to tell his Alibi, as it is footage of a humiliating defeat in a boxing match against continentally famous Welterweight Champion Eugene Thompson, which Bob made Alice PROMISE not to show under ANY circumstances. Bob completely agrees with Alice.Lawyer: Alice, this alibi could vindicate Bob completely.Alice: I gave my word.Bob: (in handcuffs) Atta girl, Alice!
- Downplayed: Alice is extremely reluctant to break her promise to Bob, but does so for his greater good. Bob is extremely reluctant as well, but would rather be a free, humiliated man than a jailed, honorable one.
- Justified:
- Alice's culture is extremely honor-bound, and feel that breaking their word is akin to crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
- Alice is a member of The Fair Folk and is pathologically incapable of breaking a promise.
- Inverted: I Lied
- Subverted: Alice gives her word...and is seen gossiping about Bob's secret to Carol about 5 seconds later.
- Double Subverted: Alice's gossip was a deliberate red herring so people would stop probing into Bob's secrets. Not even torture can bring Bob's real secret out of her.
- Parodied:
- Alice is required to swear an oath never to tell Bob's secrets:
- Bob makes Alice promise to not keep the promise she made him before. Alice promptly goes cross-eyed and faints.
- Zig Zagged: Alice is known as The Oath-Breaker, but she keeps her word whenever other characters make her promise something. It turns out she was cursed to to fulfill her oaths as punishment for her misdeeds. As soon as she's freed from the curse, Alice immediately betrays every promise she makes as revenge for being forced into keeping them.
- Averted: Promises are never implied to be binding.
- Enforced: The show presents an Aesop that you should always honor your promises.
- Lampshaded: "I swore an oath to never tell Bob's secrets, and you know how I feel about oaths. I am a woman of my word."
- Invoked: Alice wants to become a better person, and decides that honoring her promises is a good place to start.
- Exploited: Bob uses Exact Words to trick Alice into making a promise she would rather not honor, knowing she'll see it through anyway.
- Defied:
- Alice is bound by her word...and so she never speaks, leaving free to do as she wishes
- "To hell with honor! Do you really think I'd let you get the chair because of a stupid promise!? What kind of person do you think I am, Bob!?"
- "I am willing to give my word, Bob, but before I do, let us discuss the kind of circumstances that would require me to break it so I won't get the "you are a dishonorable woman!" spiel and you won't get killed."
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: CEO Bob is watching TV with his underling, Alice. He complains, "These characters and their 'I always keep my word' nonsense! When will they ever learn, that's not how you do business!"
- Implied: Bob pulls Alice aside for a private conversation, and she emerges looking solemn. Later, Carol asks Alice about what Bob is hiding and she refuses to answer.
- Deconstructed: Alice makes a promise to Bob to murder Carol. She goes through with the promise, because she is a woman of her word.
- Reconstructed: After she gets out of prison, Charlie, remembering how she always kept her promises to him, gets her a job and helps her get back on the straight and narrow.
- Played For Laughs: Alice's friends are constantly talking her into making absurd oaths, knowing that she'll go through with them.
I promised you a link back to the main page! I Gave My Word!
