History Main / AwfulTruth

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', when Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort wanted to kill him in the first place, Dumbledore's response is more or less that Harry is not yet ready to hear the Awful Truth, but at least makes clear that he has the intentions to tell him some day. Intentions being the key word here, as Dumbledore puts this off until [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the fifth book]] and only tells Harry then because [[spoiler:Dumbledore's keeping the truth from Harry backfired rather badly, leading to Sirius's death. Dumbledore, to his credit, does at least acknowledge that this was pretty dumb.]] This isn't the only instance, but probably the most significant as much of the plot revolves around adults trying to protect Harry from the awful truth.

Despite the similar names, [JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant this has nothing to do with]] the movie ''Film/TheAwfulTruth''.

Compare YouAreNotReady and ForbiddenFruit. Contrast YouDidntAsk and HonestyAesop. If they're being obnoxious about it, it's FigureItOutYourself. See also TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow for when you really shouldn't know. Can also be a case of YouDoNOTWantToKnow. May lead to a case of LyingToProtectYourFeelings. Compare HeelRealization, which is an awful truth, but not one anyone else kept from you. Often invokes SchmuckBait. If the truth is about the character's own nature (and doesn't involve EasyAmnesia) they may be a TomatoInTheMirror. If it's not so much hidden as an unyielding fact of life, see tropes such as HumansAreBastards, CrapsackWorld or its real life counterparts HobbesWasRight and {{Realpolitik}}, video games with branching plots whose best and/or canon ending is {{bittersweet|Ending}} or some types of YouAreTooLate or DownerEnding.

Despite the similar names, this has nothing to do with the movie ''Film/TheAwfulTruth''.

** In the manga, her stepmother Natsue unleashes another one on Himeno: Himeno's late mother died because [[IllGirl her frail body]] couldn't handle the strain of pregnancy and childbirth. [[DeathByChildbirth In other words, Himeno unknowingly killed her own mother.]]

* In the manga version of ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', part of what inspires Aion's EvilPlan is the Awful Truth he found out about his origins [[spoiler:(that is, that the demons are really aliens, and the current HiveQueen was a human woman pregnant with twins (Chrono and Aion) before she was turned into a demon)]]. He also goes to great lengths to hide the truth from Chrono, saying he "doesn't need to know"--but Chrono finds out in the end and takes it rather well, actually.

* Every episode of ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' starts with either [[AudienceSurrogate a recurring character, or a one shot character]] going about their business , and reciting known "truths." Suddenly Adam Connover uses his RealityWarper powers to pop into the scene and essentially explaining to this victim [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie why "everything you think you know about tonight's subject is completely wrong."]]

%%* ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'': The big reveal(s) at the end of the programme could qualify as The Awful Truth to the character(s) it applies to.

** The Tau's methods of FTLTravel are much slower than Imperials, leaving them blissfuly unaware of just how small their empire is, while the Imperium has trillions of people on billions of planets. They also have no knowledge of the Warp and so believe humans tales of daemons are just madness (to be fair, most Chaos followers are AxeCrazy) or that daemons are yet another hostile alien to be removed in the name of the Greater Good. Commander Farsight discovered the Ethereals are hiding the Tau's relative weakness from the general population, but instead of rebelling, went into self-imposed exile along with his followers.

** [[spoiler:And an unknown third-party [[note]][Johnny suspects they're AI[/note]] has perfected subtle brainwashing for government leaders.]] It's up to you to decide if the upcoming Mayor Peralez deserves to know his entire life is a lie, but he doesn't take it well.

** Jon learns perhaps the biggest one in Season 8. Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark were his parents. That means that a) Ned Stark, the father he looked up for all his life was actually his uncle, b) he dealt with his BastardAngst for all his life but he wasn't a bastard actually, c) his mother was DeadAllAlong and buried under his feet, d) the woman he loves is actually his ''aunt''. D'oh.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', as per usual, there's the fact that Bucky Barnes is the Winter Soldier, to Steve, and to the Soldier himself, the reverse. In Steve's case, his best friend is a lethal LivingLegend assassin, currently being controlled by HYDRA. In the Soldier's, he finds out that he's basically been living a lie. Unusually, in the both cases, after a brief HeroicBSOD, it just galvanises them to [[spoiler:keep fighting/undermine HYDRA from within. And for a while, it works]].
** In the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Maddie]] who everyone - including her - had assumed was an ArtificialHuman[=/=]Clone of [[spoiler:Jean Grey]] raised as a superpowered TykeBomb, that she had been created by [[spoiler:Sinister]]. Not so as chapter 9 reveals, with Fury explicitly noting that the Avengers theories about [[spoiler:Maddie]] being a cloned TykeBomb are wrong and that the truth is 'much worse': [[spoiler:Maddie is in fact Rachel Grey, Jean's twin sister, stolen and replaced the night she was born by Sinister, who was only narrowly thwarted by Strange from taking Jean as well]]. When she does find out in chapter 14, she's unable to stand, the shock leaving her in a HeroicBSOD which recurs periodically, to one extent or another, throughout the rest of the story.

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', Naked Snake's mission is to kill The Boss, his EvilMentor who [[TurnCoat defected to Soviet Russia]] and instigated a nuclear incident in Russia (a good part of it, no less). [[spoiler:Then it's revealed by EVA that [[FakeDefector The Boss only defected to gain Volgin's trust]], steal [[MacGuffin the Philosopher's legacy]], and bring the whole can of bank worms back to America. The nukes were a bargaining chip to gain Volgin's trust, but [[DidntSeeThatComing "nobody could have predicted"]] [[AxCrazy that Volgin would fire a Davy Crockett on his own base.]] Because she was the main suspect of Volgin's insanity, to prevent World War III, [[TheScapegoat The Boss had to die]] - [[KlingonPromotion by the hand of her best student]]. [[SilentScapegoat She knew it,]] [[HeroicSacrifice and willingly went along with it.]]]] Then, in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Operation Snake Eater was just one ploy to get [[TheParagon The Boss]] [[UnusualEuphemism out of the equation]], since [[UngratefulBastard they (The CIA)]] feared [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels her charisma]] and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections the powerful connections/fame she made across all nations]]. Said ploys include denying her support while spying on Russian space-faring development, sending her into space with faulty equipment (and losing the space race in the process), denying her support during the Pig Bay mission, [[LetsYouAndHimFight forcing her and The Sorrow (her husband) to fight each other to the death...]]]] No wonder [[FutureBadass Big Boss]] goes off the deep end.

** The setting's Awful Truth won't be much of a surprise to anyone who played the previous game. [[spoiler:The ForeverWar between the Androids and Machines is entirely pointless; the Machines killed their alien creators long ago, while the humans the Androids are fighting for have been extinct since the time of ''[=NieR=]''. The Machines are perpetuating the conflict by intentionally handicapping themselves so they'll never quite win and thus have no purpose to their existence, and the Androids have been keeping up the charade that there's a human colony on the moon by faking broadcasts from a "Council of Humanity" to cheer on the war effort and maintain morale. And to keep themselves from winning the fight, the Androids' current generation of [=YoRHa=] units are intended to lose the latest Machine-Android War, and their security systems have been designed with back doors for the Machines to exploit. Oh, and the [=YoRHa=] Androids were created from components taken from the Machines, making them not that different from their mortal enemies. Learning this causes A2 to defect before the start of the game, and combined with 2B's death, causes 9S to go ''way'' off the deep end.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', we discover that [[spoiler: Expheres are people!]] It then gets worse when the truth of the Journey of Salvation is revealed [[spoiler: everything Colette went through? It was for ''nothing more'' than a mad man's desire to bring his sister BackFromTheDead and the whole see-saw between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla in regards to mana could have been avoided the entire time.]] The main party takes that surprisingly well ie it fuels them in their goal to ''fix'' things.

* Hirou, the, well, [[MeaningfulName hero]] of ''Literature/TheSwordOfGood'', does one of these to himself; namely, he comes to the realization that [[spoiler: his allies are [[VillainWithGoodPublicity actually enforcing an oppressive regime]] trapped in MedievalStasis, and that the person he thought was the BigBad is actually doing nothing more than [[HeroWithBadPublicity fighting for political liberty, equal rights, and free inquiry]]]]. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone He does not take it well.]]

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', Ai keeps insisting to Conan [[spoiler:that if Ran were to know the truth about the Black Organization and Shinichi being Conan, then she will not smile. She will be burdened by the truth.]]

* ''Series/HigherGround'': [[spoiler:Shelby]]'s mother at first denies her stepfather had molested her and Jess, but later admits it's true, but she simply didn't want to know that it was happening.

* Alex Mercer spends the majority of the game ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' trying to figure out who was responsible for the viral outbreak which destroyed his memory. [[spoiler:The culprit is [[MadScientist Doctor Alex Mercer]], who did it as a final screw you. The worse truth is that the player character thinks they're Mercer because it's viral biomass that consumed Mercer's body and absorbed his memories and identity]].

* Your parents had sex!

** The setting's Awful Truth won't be much of a surprise to anyone who played the previous game. [[spoiler:The ForeverWar between the Androids and Machines is entirely pointless; the Machines killed their alien creators long ago, while the humans the Androids are fighting for have been extinct since the time of ''[=NieR=]''. The Machines are perpetuating the conflict by intentionally handicapping themselves so they'll never quite win and thus have no purpose to their existence, and the Androids have been keeping up the charade that there's a human colony on the moon by faking broadcasts from a "Council of Humanity" to cheer on the war effort and maintain morale. And to keep themselves from winning the fight, the Androids' current generation of [=YoRHa=] units are intended to lose the latest Machine-Android War, and their security systems have been designed with back doors for the Machines to exploit. Oh, and the [=YoRHa=] Androids were created from components taken from the Machines, making them NotSoDifferent from their mortal enemies. Learning this causes A2 to defect before the start of the game, and combined with 2B's death, causes 9S to go ''way'' off the deep end.]]

* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'': Hell's Highway: You remember [[ChekhovsGun that scene in the first game,]] where a distraught Leggett essentially killed himself by firing at an enemy tank with a pistol until he got blown up? Turns out that Baker accidentally caused that by ordering Leggett to keep the true nature of [[ThoseTwoGuys Allen's and Garnett's]] deaths a secret, for fear of reprisals from the rest of the squad. Said secret is that Leggett ''indirectly caused'' their deaths by starting a loud argument and brawl with them, the noise of which attracted a German squad. However, as a result, Leggett was alienated by the rest of the squad, as his refusal to speak of the incident made them believe he was a coward who had hidden and allowed Allen and Garnett to die, which was only compounded by [[ILetGwenStacyDie Leggett's own guilt]] over the incident. The burden of keeping the secret, coupled with the inability to talk to anyone about his side of the story, was too much for the poor guy, [[DrivenToSuicide which is why he charged the tank in the first place.]]

* After Finn leaves Prismo's time room in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13753015/14/Something-More Something More]]'' after learning about reincarnation from him, the Cosmic Owl states that Prismo should have told Finn an important secret, but Prismo cuts him off by saying Finn's not ready. It's implied that the secret is that [spoiler:Finn and the Lich are [[CainAndAbel brothers]]]].

* After Finn leaves Prismo's time room in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13753015/14/Something-More Something More]]'' after learning about reincarnation from him, the Cosmic Owl states that Prismo should have told Finn an important secret between him and the Lich, but Prismo cuts him off by saying Finn's not ready. It's implied that the secret is that the two of them are [[spoiler:[[CainAndAbel brothers]]]].

* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'': Hell's Highway: You remember [[ChekhovsGun that scene in the first game,]] where a distraught Leggett essentially killed himself by firing at an enemy tank with a pistol until he got blown up? Turns out that Baker accidentally caused that by ordering Leggett to keep the true nature of [[ThoseTwoGuys Allen's and Garnett's]] deaths a secret, for fear of reprisals from the rest of the squad. Said secret is that Leggett ''indirectly caused'' their deaths by starting a loud argument and brawl with them, the noise of which attracted a German squad. However, as a result, Leggett was alienated by the rest of the squad, as his refusal to speak of the incident made them believe he was a coward who had hidden and allowed them to die, and he had [[ILetGwenStacyDie his own guilt]] over the incident to deal with as well. The burden of keeping the secret, coupled with the inability to talk to anyone about his side of the story, was too much for the poor guy, [[DrivenToSuicide which is why he charged the tank in the first place.]]

* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'': Hell's Highway: You remember [[ChekhovsGun that scene in the first game,]] where a distraught Leggett essentially killed himself by firing at an enemy tank with a pistol until he got blown up? Turns out that Baker indirectly caused that by ordering Leggett to keep the true nature of [[ThoseTwoGuys Allen's and Garnett's]] deaths a secret, for fear of reprisals from the rest of the squad. Said secret is that Leggett ''indirectly caused'' their deaths by starting a loud argument and brawl with them, the noise of which attracted a German squad. However, as a result, Leggett was alienated by the rest of the squad, as his refusal to speak of the incident made them believe he was a coward who had hidden and allowed them to die, and he had [[ILetGwenStacyDie his own guilt]] over the incident to deal with as well. The burden of keeping the secret, coupled with the inability to talk to anyone about his side of the story, was too much for the poor guy, [[DrivenToSuicide which is why he charged the tank in the first place.]]

* ''VideoGame/BrothersInArms'': Hell's Highway: You remember [[ChekhovsGun that scene in the first game,]] where a distraught Leggett essentially killed himself by firing at an enemy tank with a pistol while screaming "TAKE ME!!!" until he got blown up? Turns out that Baker indirectly caused that when he attempted to ''protect'' Leggett from the others by telling him to keep the secret that Leggett was responsible for [[ThoseTwoGuys Allen's and Garnett's]] deaths when he caused that fight that alerted the enemy patrol, since the other squad members may have tried to kill Leggett for causing the deaths. The burden of keeping the secret, coupled with the fact that Leggett's telling no one about it made the other squad members think that he hid in the bushes like a coward while Allen and Garnett died, therefore making them hate him anyways, was too much for the poor guy, [[DrivenToSuicide which is why he charged the tank in the first place.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Remnant is a DeathWorld where humanity clings to survival through well-protected kingdoms and highly trained Huntsmen protecting them from the [[AnimalisticAbomination Creatures of Grimm]]. The [[ExtranormalInstitute Huntsmen Academies]] are led by the enigmatic [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]], who also runs a [[BenevolentConspiracy secret cabal]] dedicated to opposing the [[SecretWar true enemy]]: the [[AncientEvil secret queen]] of the [[KillAllHumans Grimm]], [[BigBad Salem]]. However, even they don't know the full truth until [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] discovers that learning it is [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor more than the heroes can bear]]. [[spoiler:[[CompleteImmortality Salem]] was [[BarredFromTheAfterlife punished]] to [[CompleteImmortality never die]] for pursuing [[LoveMakesYouEvil her lover's resurrection]] and turning humanity [[RageAgainstTheHeavens against the gods]] when they refused; they finally [[ResurrectiveImmortality resurrect him]] to guide humanity to redemption; an impossible task while Salem seeks the world's destruction. Ozpin hides the fact he's [[ForeverWar fighting a war]] he cannot win against an enemy [[InvincibleVillain he cannot kill]] to protect people [[DespairEventHorizon from despair]], but he is [[HeroicBSOD left shattered]] by the way the heroes [[BrokenPedestal turn on him]]. They only reconcile once Ozpin's recovered enough to [[TheAtoner apologise]] and the heroes have [[TaughtByExperience experienced his burden]] long enough to [[AnAesop understand his plight]].]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Remnant is a DeathWorld where humanity clings to survival through well-protected kingdoms and highly trained Huntsmen protecting them from the [[AnimalisticAbomination Creatures of Grimm]]. The [[ExtranormalInstitute Huntsmen Academies]] are led by the enigmatic [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]], who also runs a [[BenevolentConspiracy secret cabal]] dedicated to opposing the [[SecretWar true enemy]]: the [[AncientEvil secret queen]] of the [[KillAllHumans Grimm]], [[BigBad Salem]]. However, even they don't know the full truth until [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] discovers that learning it is [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor more than the heroes can bear]]. [[spoiler:[[CompleteImmortality Salem]] was [[BarredFromTheAfterlife punished]] to [[CompleteImmortality never die]] by the gods for trying to trick them into resurrecting [[LoveMakesYouEvil her dead lover]], Oz, and then turning humanity [[RageAgainstTheHeavens against them]]; Ozpin was [[ResurrectiveImmortality resurrected]] with the mission to guide humanity to redemption by uniting them in harmony, but his task is impossible while Salem seeks the world's destruction. Although he holds the fate of the world in his hands, Ozpin is [[ForeverWar fighting a war]] he cannot win against an enemy [[InvincibleVillain he cannot kill]]. Although he [[{{Determinator}} hasn't given up]], the way the heroes [[BrokenPedestal turn on him]] when they learn the truth, [[HeroicBSOD completely shatters him]]. They only reconcile once Ozpin's recovered enough to [[TheAtoner apologise]] and the heroes have had time to [[TaughtByExperience shoulder his burden]] long enough to [[AnAesop understand his plight]].]]