History Main / BribeBackfire

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bribing_principal_skinner.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation "Pathetic."]]]]

[[folder:Puppet Show]]
* At the end of one episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', while being chased by an angry Miss Piggy, Kermit takes shelter in Stanler and Waldorf's box, saying he'll give them free tickets to the next show if they hide him. Unfortunately, it's been well-established that Stanler and Waldorf don't like the show[[note]]despite always going[[/note]], and as a result, they throw Kermit over the balcony to his fate.
[[/folder]]

* Bribes in ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl'' have a 1 in 6 chance of doing nothing, meaning the coach just wasted good money and gets his player sent off anyway.

* ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'':
** In ''Stealing the Diamond'', at the final point of the aggressive route, Henry can attempt to bribe the police after him with a cut of the diamond. Unfortunately for him, they tell him that bribery is a federal offense and [[BoomHeadshot put a bullet in his head]].
** In the "Bounty/Dead" route of ''Completing the Mission'', during the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''-inspired "battle" sequence with Mr. Macbeth, Henry can attempt to bribe him with the money from the Toppat clan's loot car… [[TooDumbToLive The money he didn't even steal yet]]. It ends as well as you'd expect.
--->'''Mr. Macbeth''': …This money ain't even yours, kid. ''(fires unavoidable precision-laser attack, killing Henry)''\\
'''FAIL screen''': [[HaveANiceDeath Henry really bribes?]] [[Memes/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable No dignity.]]
* ''VideoGame/PizzaTycoon'': Being open about making a bribe to the police will get you arrested and fined.

* In ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', one of the early missions with ComicBook/TheJoker as your mentor has you going around trying to bribe cops into working with Roland Dagget. There's a fifty-fifty chance that they'll decide not to accept it and attack you, forcing you to strike them down.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheClassroomTrilogy The Classroom 2]]'', there is a level where a student [=NPC=] tries to bribe a teacher. It just makes her mad, and she threatens in front of the class to ''shoot him'' if any other student tries to do the same thing.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', Duke is told that he has roughly 5 years to live. After giving a $100 bill to the doctor to see what he now says: "I'd say 'Thank you Mister-5-Years-To-Live!'"

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' inverts this trope. A pair of men tasked with overseeing the bending matches relentlessly pursue Aang and Toph. In their travels, they reach a tavern and ask for information. The patron gives them a little but starts rubbing his fingers together and asks for a little incentive. The larger of the two responds "You suggesting I break your fingers?"
* This is parodied in the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/BugsBonnets''. Among the hats that fall on Bugs' and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd's heads are a mobster's fedora and a police cap, respectively, which alters their personalities accordingly. Elmer, acting as a policeman, tries to arrest Bugs as a mobster, but Bugs tries to bribe him with some money ("Hey, look, copper, we can settle this out of court. Moolah. Yeah, ten Gs. Yeah, buy somethin' for the kids."). Elmer tries to refuse the bribe, but then a JudicialWig lands on Bugs' head, which causes him to act as a judge. Upon seeing the billfolds in Elmer's hand, the rabbit accuses him of taking a bribe and sentences him to 45 years and hard labor.
* The result of Daffy Duck trying to read someone else's LoveLetter in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''.
-->'''Mailman:''' Uh... what're you doing?\\
'''Daffy:''' ''[[{{Beat}} (beat)]]'' Reading a letter.\\
'''Mailman:''' [[ReadingTheEnemysMail That's not addressed to you.]]\\
'''Daffy:''' Oh, is that a crime?\\
'''Mailman:''' [[BluntYes Yes!]] ''(grabs letter)'' This is ''your'' mail.\\
'''Daffy:''' Look. ''(hands the mailman a $20 bill)'' Here's a twenty spot if you give me back the letter.\\
'''Mailman:''' Bribing a government official is ''also'' a crime. ''("$20" bill is drawn in crayons on white paper)'' And is this ''[[CounterfeitCash counterfeit]]'' [[CounterfeitCash money]]?!\\
'''Daffy:''' What?! You're gonna tell me now ''that's'' a crime, too?! [[IResembleThatRemark Last I checked, I was living in America!]] ...Ooh! [[LookBehindYou Look over there!]] ''(grabs the letter and'' ''[[NonLethalWarfare gets pepper sprayed;]]'' ''cries out in pain as'' ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere the mailman drives away)]]'' See what happens... [[AnalogyBackfire when you people don't let me read your mail?!]]

* In ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', Jesse Custer's first meating, er, ''meeting'' with meat baron and SmallTownTyrant Odin Quincannon ends with Quincannon trying to bribe Custer (who's just been declared sheriff of the town) into looking the other way and letting his workers have free run of the town. Custer [[DisproportionateRetribution throws him out a window]].

* In ''Comicbook/ThePulse'', a Hydra agent tries to buy Jessica off. It doesn't work.
* In the graphic novel ''La Perdida'' by Jessica Abel, the protagonist (an American in Mexico on an expired visa) is visited by a police officer. Terrified that he's there to arrest and deport her, she decides to hand him her ID and a large bill. He simply hands back the bill, saying she must have "mistakenly" given it to him.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* Happens in the film version of ''Film/TheTwelveChairs'', where Fyodor attempts to bribe Ostap Bender. "Are you trying to ''bribe'' a Soviet official?" he thunders back. (Ostap, of course, is actually just impersonating a Soviet official and is solely trying to discourage Fyodor from pursuing his quest further.)
* In ''Film/TheUntouchables1987'', a corrupt alderman tries to bribe Eliot Ness on behalf of UsefulNotes/AlCapone. The alderman suffers no personal consequences, but he does incur a classic scolding from Ness (in front of Ness's team), including the splendid line "In Roman times, when a fellow was convicted of trying to bribe a public official, they would cut off his nose, and sew him in a bag with a wild animal, and throw him in a river," and has the bribe tossed back at him.
* In the ''Film/DickTracy'' movie, at one point [[BigBad Big Boy Caprice]] has his men abduct Tracy and tries to bribe him. Tracy briefly acts like he's going along with it, then essentially says that now they can add attempted bribery of a public official to Big Boy's list of crimes.

* Subverted in ''Film/TheLastBoyScout'', where a Senator rejects the villain's attempts to bribe him to vote for a bill legalizing sports gambling and threatens to go to the police... because the bribe wasn't big enough. The villain decides it'd be cheaper to just kill the senator.
* ''Film/BuffaloSoldiers'': Pvt. Elwood, a corrupt drug brewer on an American army base in Germany, tries to bribe his [[TyrantTakesTheHelm new hardass superior]] Sgt. Lee by offering him a brand new television set. Lee responds to his offer by kicking in the screen.

* ''Film/NothingButTrouble'': Thorne (and later on a bunch of asshole yuppies) try to bribe their way off being arrested in Valkenvania... the problem is that the J.P. is not only a HangingJudge, but also a man who hates (and that is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enUo-1TjdEs murderously]]'' [[HatesRichPeople loathes]]) rich people ("bankers!"). The only time a bribe works, it's because the deputy was already deciding to do a "ScrewThisImOuttaHere" and the implied job offer sounded interesting.
* In ''Film/{{Solo}}'', Han and his girlfriend Qi'ra try to escape Corellia ahead of the crime boss chasing them by bribing a customs official with a vial of hyperfuel. However, when she spots their pursuers, she closes the door after Han and calls security, leaving Qi'ra to get caught.
* ''Film/TheHighwaymen'': Invoked by Hamer and Gault in order to weed out potentially corrupt cops by pretending to be offering a Louisiana Sheriff a bribe. When the Sheriff tells him to get the hell out of his parish for attempting to corrupt an officer of the law, they know they can rely on him.
* ''Film/FourteenOhEight'': Mr. Olin offers Enslin a bottle of 1939 cognac (worth about 800 dollars), as well as upgrading his room and Lakers tickets in his attempt to keep Enslin out of the room. Enslin accept the cognac, [[{{Jerkass}} then says he's still staying]].
-->'''Mr. Olin:''' Goddammit to hell!
* ''Simpatico'': Vinnie and Lyle have a scam going where they swap horses in racetrack stalls so they can get good odds on horses that win races. When their con is discovered by Simms, the commissioner, they attempt to bribe him. Simms throws the money back at their faces and basically throws them out the door.
* ''Film/ThreeKings'': Averted. When Amir insists that Archie and the other American soldiers escort him and the other rebels to the Iraq-Iran border, in exchange for their help in getting the looted Kuwaiti gold back, Archie tries to dodge, saying they can use some of the gold to bribe their way past the checkpoints. Amir points out that ''"Saddam's soldiers will never take Saddam's gold, the only way we can survive is if we are with Americans."''
* ''Film/{{Hook}}'': When the now adult Peter first confronts Hook, he tries to write him a check to bribe him into letting him and his kids go. Hook, who has wanted to kill Peter for decades for cutting off his left hand and feeding it to a crocodile which proceeded to follow the pirate from that point on to try and eat the rest of Hook, obviously is not going to forsake his long awaited revenge and spare them just for some currency, so he pulls out a pistol and shoots the checkbook. The bullet goes right through it and kills one of Hook's own pirates.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation":
** When [[EvilChancellor Privy Secretary Brodrig]] interrogates the Foundation merchant Devers, he expects to be bribing the Privy Secretary into working against the Emperor. What he doesn't expect is Brodrig trying to bribe ''him'', but [[GuileHero he adapts]] and convinces Brodrig that General Riose is actually trying to overthow the emperor and take control of the Empire. This convinces Brodrig to support Riose instead of reporting it to Emperor Cleon II.
** When Devers goes to Trantor, capital of the Galactic Empire, he and Barr try to bribe their way up the ladder of bureaucrats so they can see the Emperor and get General Bel Riose recalled. They eventually run into one who's actually an Imperial Police lieutenant. He's under orders to arrest them [[spoiler:for conspiracy to overthrow the Emperor, not for bribing officials]]. Their effort was effectively pointless, because [[spoiler:the only reason Emperor Cleon II had survived as long as he had was to be suspicious of ''everything'' his subordinates did, and they had been using [[EvilChancellor Privy Secretary Brodrig]]'s funds]].

* The ''Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide to Travel'' has a section with suggestions of how to pass a bribe without this occurring.
* It's not seen attempted, but the guards of the Grey Fortress (the prison used for the most powerful political prisoners) in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series are considered absolutely immune to bribery. It's the law that if a guard is offered a bribe and reports it, TheEmpire will reward him with a bonus three times the size of the attempted bribe.
-->"In the past five hundred years, not one Grey Guardsman has taken a bribe, and only a handful of idiots have attempted to give them one."
* Sort of inverted in the ''Franchise/{{Star Wars|Legends}}'' novel ''I, Jedi''. Corran Horn is trying to sneak onto Corellia, where there's still a warrant out for his arrest, so he talks a pair of tourists into trying to bribe their way past the customs official. However, the tourists [[RedHerring bribe too heavily]] and attract every customs official in the place, who all want a piece of the action — [[BatmanGambit which is exactly what Corran was counting on]]. The customs officials are so distracted by the tourists that they wave Corran through without notice.
** Another sort of example in ''Shadows Of The Empire'': Dash bribes a guard, and although the guard takes the bribe, his boss is well aware that it occurred, and honestly did not care (they would have been let in anyways).
* There's an inversion in ''Literature/{{Memory}}'' by Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold. It is [[spoiler:General Haroche]]'s attempt to bribe Miles that gives him the clue he needs to figure out who sabotaged Illyan's memory chip. This later becomes a standard investigative technique for Miles, when he suspects that there is something underhanded going on, but doesn't know what, or by whom: start trolling for bribes, and see who offers one to him.
* A rather bleakly humorous version is mentioned in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''Literature/SmileysPeople''. A CIA station in Switzerland tried to bribe a local professor so that they could run wires through his property to bug the Soviet embassy. The professor took the money and [[LawfulNeutral promptly reported everything to the local police]], who were embarrassed no end. Turns out the CIA had already talked to them, and they were looking forward to their promised portion of the intelligence gathered.

* In the short story "Immune To Murder" by Rex Stout, a foreign diplomat gives Literature/NeroWolfe an emerald, ostensibly not as a bribe, but... Wolfe carefully inspects it, notes a small flaw, and decides to be offended.
* ''Literature/WaterMargin'':
** Ximen Qing's bribes backfire fatally on two fronts: both the ones that aren't accepted and the ones that are. He was an accomplice in the poisoning of his lover's husband. First, he bribes the coroner to overlook any indication of foul play. The coroner takes the money, not wanting to be on the powerful Qing's bad side, but he sets it aside along with some forensic evidence. When the deceased's brother, the famous badass Wu Song, returns home and starts investigating the murder, the coroner hands both over to him. At the same time, Qing spreads money around the courts so that when Wu Song tries to have him and his lover prosecuted no one will pursue it. The end result is that Wu Song avenges his brother the old-fashioned way.
** A more unusual form of Bribe Backfire happens to Wang Lun, the original chief of the Liangshan Marsh bandits. When his stronghold's reputation starts attracting gallant men on the wrong side of the law to join up with him, he realizes that his gang is about to start filling out with guys who are [[UnfitForGreatness better leaders than he]]. His solution is to offer them a heap of cash and polite excuses that his poor fortress is much too humble for one so great, encouraging them to be on their way. Essentially, rather than bribing his way around the laws of government, he's bribing around the code of ''jianghu'' chivalrous brotherhood. When he tries it with Lin Chong, his comrades persuade him to change his mind. When he tries it again with the famous Chao Gai, Lin Chong is so offended that he does Wang Lun in.
* In ''Literature/TheCityWithoutMemory'', [[Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture Alice]] and her friend Iria offer several sacks of gold to [[spoiler:the spy who has discovered their hiding place]] for his silence. As [[spoiler:he is the richest man in the land and stands to gain much more than a few sacks of money if he does give them away]], it proves to be useless.
* ''On Wings of Eagles'' by Ken Follett. Ross Perot and his executives are approached by a shady character who offers to get their colleagues out of an Iranian prison in exchange for a considerable amount of money to be paid into an escrow account (meaning the money isn't handed over till after the deal). After debating the matter, they decide to refuse because they suspect they're being set up for a bribery charge.
* Because Literature/NeroWolfe has expensive tastes and charges high fees for his services, many ne'er-do-wells throughout the series have gotten it into their heads that they can get him to back off from investigating their wrongdoing if they offer him a bribe, often disguised as an offer for employment. What they fail to realise is that Wolfe, despite his mercenary reputation, actually has an iron-rigid code of honor coupled with a massive ego that means that he's not just going to accept a bribe in order to get out of a commitment he's made to someone. He does acknowledge that, like practically everyone, he does in fact have a price — however, the aforementioned "massive ego" means that it's a price that's out of reach to almost everyone.
-->'''Nero Wolfe:''' The emerald was not a token of gratitude for anything I had done; it was a bribe to keep my mouth shut. Had it measured up to my conceit — had it been the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor Kohinoor]] or the Zabara — it might have served its purpose; but it is merely a rather large emerald with a noticeable flaw. So naturally I was piqued.

* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': "The Pawn": Phelps offers an indirect bribe to the KGB officer who is guarding the nuclear scientist Phelps has been assigned to extract. He is threatened with deportation by the KGB officer who sees through his ObfuscatingStupidity and orders more surveillance. However, Phelps knew the KGB officer could not be bribed and used the conversation to manipulate the officer’s emotions.
** Later Phelps uses fake evidence to convince the [[ThePoliticalOfficer commissar]] that the KGB officer is about to defect. This evidence includes UsefulNotes/UnitedStates currency. The commissar believes this evidence since the KGB officer resembled Patton in their behavior and personality. In addition, at the beginning of the episode, Phelps says that if they are successful the KGB officer will be sent to a prison camp for failure. Therefore, it can be assumed that the officer was already under suspicion, the fake evidence simply proved the disloyalty.
* Happens in the ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'' episode "Bomber's Moon". A German businessman tries to bribe Sgt. Bachus. Bachus accepts the bribe so he will have the evidence to arrest him.

* A particularly amusing instance occurs on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. When Ilana is forcing Ben to dig his own grave because she intends to kill him herself, he tries to weasel his way out of it by buying off Miles's help. Miles asks him why on earth he would need three million dollars from him when there are "a couple of jabronis named Nikki and Paulo" (whom Miles knows about because of his ability to "talk to the dead") "buried alive right over there with eight million dollars worth of diamonds sitting right on top of them".
* ''Series/{{Shameless|US}}'' in one episode a cop is [[CorruptCop accusing Lip of assault]], so they try to bribe him. He takes the bribe to drop the charge [[spoiler: of bribing a police officer.]]
* In ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' Hal gets caught using his genius, underage son to count cards in a Vegas casino[[note]]which is not technically illegal but a casino can still throw you out if they catch you, though having Malcolm in the casino at all ''was''[[/note]]. He tries to bribe his way out, the chief security officer thanks him for the money but still bans him. When Hal asks for the money back, the guard is confused as to what he is talking about.
* In an episode of ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'', Larry David tries to bribe a pharmacist to cut in line to get medicine for his wife. The pharmacist takes extreme offense at this.
* ''Series/TheNanny'': C. C. Babcock once gave a gift basket to a critic who sent it back with a note stating he couldn't be bribed and, even if he could, a gift basket wouldn't be enough.

* ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'' loved this, because Joe Friday was notoriously non-bribeable. Once, a DirtyCop tried to bribe him to protect his bookmaking... Joe went to the captain and worked with him to get evidence for an arrest. Another involved Gypsy fortune-tellers who tried it... Joe went along long enough to get evidence, then busted them.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' an overeager public relations officer is at the 4077th trying to convince an injured North Korean pilot to defect to the United States in the hopes that it would boost the war's popularity back home. The pilot doesn't want anything to do with the scheme so Hawkeye and BJ constantly try to run interference. At one point the PR officer bribes a nurse with a pair of nylons so that he can be alone with the prisoner; she takes them and leaves, only to come back with Hawkeye and BJ in tow. She gives the nylons back claiming that they didn't fit her conscience.
** In another episode, Klinger becomes desperate enough to try and buy his way out of the army by bribing Col. Potter for his discharge. All Potter has to do is remind him that, since this would be an official bribe, he'd be going home to Leavenworth[[note]]That is to say, ''prison''.[[/note]] instead of Toledo to make him abandon this train of thought.

* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In "Moving Violation", Sheriff Metzger stops a driver for speeding and running a stop sign. The driver doesn't have a licence and attempts to bribe Metzger $100. At this point, Metzger arrests him.
* ''Series/{{Medici}}'': This happens to the Medici a few times, notably when buying votes for the papal election.
* ''Series/BarbariansRising'': Spartacus tries to pay Sicilian pirates and merchants to ship his troops to Sicily so he can occupy it, but General Marcus Crassus anticipates this and buys them off first. Spartacus arrives in southern Italy to find his emissaries hanged and Crassus's troops coming up behind him.
* ''Series/TheWire'':
** A Bribe Backfire is engineered towards the end of the series. Lester Freamon deduces that Gary [=DePasquale=] in the state's attorney's office has been taking bribes to leak non-public court documents to the infamous Maurice Levy, who in turn sold them to his clients, drug kingpins. He persuades the leak to make one more offer to Levy, and he gets it on tape. This leverage ends up being the only reason the show ends with a PyrrhicVictory instead of a straight DownerEnding.
** Another way a bribe can backfire is when you think you're paying a bribe, but it's actually just a con. Stringer Bell learned this one the hard way, thanks to the slick-talking Clay Davis when he tried to transition from drug dealing to real estate development and government grants.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the fallout of Karen Page leaking information on the criminal activities at Union Allied Construction, Wilson Fisk has everyone associated with the scheme killed, except for Karen, whom he tries to have bribed into silence with the equivalent of six month's salary from her old job. When given the offer, Karen quickly sees it for what it really is, and instead of backing off, is further motivated to go after Fisk and everyone else involved.

* On ''Series/AnimalKingdom'', J's college girlfriend finds out that his family are criminals and (correctly) suspects that they robbed a charity event her mother helped run. She tries to blackmail J into doing all of her class assignments for the rest of the semester. J realizes that she has no real evidence, so he simply turns her in to his professor and she is punished for academic honor code violation. When she confronts him about this, he points out that he was actually being nice to her and if she persists, he will have to take actions that are not nice.

** Mocked when Homer probably would have wanted to bribe Officer Wiggum, but is too dumb to see the obvious clues that Wiggum ''wants'' to be bribed.
--->'''Chief Wiggum''': Gee, I'd hate to close you down. Maybe we can reach a little, uh, understanding here.\\
'''Homer''': I understand.\\
'''Bart''': Um, hey, Dad, I-- I think he wants--\\
'''Homer''': [[NotNowKiddo Not right now, son.]] Daddy's talking to a policeman.\\
'''Chief Wiggum''': Uh, let me put it this way. I'm looking for my friend ''Bill''. Have you seen any ''Bills'' around here?\\
'''Homer''': No. ''(pause)'' He's Bart.\\
'''Chief Wiggum''': ''(groans and {{Face Palm}}s)'' I-- Listen carefully, and watch me wink as I speak, okay? The guy I'm really looking for--wink--is Mr. Bribe--wink, wink.\\
'''Homer''': ''({{Beat}})'' It's a ring toss game!\\
'''Chief Wiggum''': All right, that's it, I'm shutting this game down.
** In another episode:

** In yet ''another'' episode (when Marge becomes a police officer):

* In ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'', Jesse Custer's first meating, er, ''meeting'' with meat baron and CorruptHick Odin Quincannon ends with Quincannon trying to bribe Custer (who's just been declared sheriff of the town) into looking the other way and letting his workers have free run of the town. Custer [[DisproportionateRetribution throws him out a window]].

* ''Film/NothingButTrouble'': Thorne (and later on a bunch of asshole yuppies) try to bribe their way off being arrested in Valkenvania... the problem is that the J.P. is not only a HangingJudge, but also a man who hates (and that is ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enUo-1TjdEs murderously]]'' loathes) rich people ("bankers!"). The only time a bribe works, it's because the deputy was already deciding to do a "ScrewThisImOuttaHere" and the implied job offer sounded interesting.

* In ''Film/TheUntouchables1987'', a corrupt alderman tries to bribe Eliot Ness on behalf of UsefulNotes/AlCapone. [[DontShootTheMessenger The alderman suffers no personal consequences]], but he does incur a classic scolding from Ness (in front of Ness's team), including the splendid line "In Roman times, when a fellow was convicted of trying to bribe a public official, they would cut off his nose, and sew him in a bag with a wild animal, and throw him in a river," and has the bribe tossed back at him.

* ''Series/MediciMastersOfFlorence'': This happens to the Medici a few times, notably when buying votes for the papal election.

* ''Film/Simpatico'': Vinnie and Lyle have a scam going where they swap horses in racetrack stalls so they can get good odds on horses that win races. When their con is discovered by Simms, the commissioner, they attempt to bribe him. Simms throws the money back at their faces and basically throws them out the door.

* One plotline in ''Literature/LifesLottery'' features you uncovering evidence of [[MorallyBankruptBanker Sean Rye]]'s white collar crimes and having the opportunity to confront him with it; if you play your cards right, you can use it to claim a promotion and eventually become his successor... but if you try to demand regular fees from him, Sean will resolve the situation by having you quietly bumped off.

** In the Season Two episode "Truth and Reconciliation", Michael says that backfire is a built-in risk to any bribe: ---->There's no way to shop around, so you usually overpay for whatever information you're after. There's no money-back guarantee if the information's bad. And, of course, the only thing that you know for sure is that you're handing your money to a thief and a liar.

* In one episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'', Michael tries to get important information from a Polish military intelligence officer. Since the officer has Russian ancestry and Michael has had to do infiltration missions in Russia, he poses as a Russian businessman offering to buy a few harmless facts. The Pole goes along with it... until they're alone when he suddenly pulls a gun on Michael. Turns out the guy is both a patriot and has a grudge against Russia. Whoops. Fortunately for Michael, [[ActionGirl Fiona]] is around to save him from answering uncomfortable questions before a summary execution.

* In ''Film/TheUntouchables'', a corrupt alderman tries to bribe Eliot Ness on behalf of Al Capone. [[DontShootTheMessenger The alderman suffers no personal consequences]], but he does incur a classic scolding from Ness (in front of Ness's team), including the splendid line "In Roman times, when a fellow was convicted of trying to bribe a public official, they would cut off his nose, and sew him in a bag with a wild animal, and throw him in a river," and has the bribe tossed back at him.

'''FAIL screen''': [[HaveANiceDeath Henry really bribes? No dignity.]]

* The Courier can do this to Pacer in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' by accepting the bribe and then informing him that it still won't stop you from telling The King what he's been up to.

* This is parodied in the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/BugsBonnets''. Among the hats that fall on Bugs' and WesternAnimation/ElmerFudd's heads are a mobster's fedora and a police cap, respectively, which alters their personalities accordingly. Elmer, acting as a policeman, tries to arrest Bugs as a mobster, Bugs tries to bribe him with some money ("Hey, look, copper, we can settle this out of court. Moolah. Yeah, ten Gs. Yeah, buy somethin' for the kids."). Elmer tries to refuse the bribe, but then a JudicialWig lands on Bugs' head, which causes him to act as a judge. Upon seeing the billfolds in Elmer's hand, the rabbit accuses him of taking a bribe and sentences him to 45 years and hard labor.