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* ''Series/CSIMiami'': In the episode "Stoned Cold", high school Principal Lieber was building a case against Blaire Hawkins, who was the VictimOfTheWeek, but was also an AlphaBitch. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of her victims, he reveals that she found out that he was building a case against her, and that she threatened to tell the police that he touched her, and that he would have no way to prove that he didn't.
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* ''Series/CSIMiami'': In the episode "Stoned Cold", high school Principal Lieber was building a case against Blaire Hawkins, who was the VictimOfTheWeek, but was also an AlphaBitch. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of her victims, he reveals that she found out that he was building a case against her, and that she threatened sent fabricated explicit emails to herself from him that would have damaged his credibility, along with threatening to tell the police people that he touched her, and that he would have no way to prove that he didn't.
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* In one episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'', a school principal was building a case against the resident AlphaBitch, who was the VictimOfTheWeek. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of the {{AlphaBitch}}'s victims, he reveals that she threatened to send a fabricated message that he didn't send her to the police that would implicate him having a sexual relationship with the AlphaBitch.
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* ''Series/CSIMiami'': In one the episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'', a "Stoned Cold", high school principal Principal Lieber was building a case against the resident AlphaBitch, Blaire Hawkins, who was the VictimOfTheWeek. VictimOfTheWeek, but was also an AlphaBitch. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of the {{AlphaBitch}}'s her victims, he reveals that she found out that he was building a case against her, and that she threatened to send a fabricated message that he didn't send her to tell the police that he touched her, and that he would implicate him having a sexual relationship with the AlphaBitch.have no way to prove that he didn't.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', T.J. gets his sister to help him gather his friends from summer camp, threatening her by uploading copies of her diary unto the internet. At the end of the movie, when T.J. gives his sister her diary back, Spenelli asks him about the copies he threatened her with, only to reveal that he was bluffing about them.
to:
* In ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', T.J. gets his sister to help him gather his friends from summer camp, threatening her by uploading copies of her diary unto the internet.online. At the end of the movie, when T.J. gives his sister her diary back, Spenelli Spinelli asks him about the copies he threatened her with, only to reveal that he was bluffing about them.
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* Literature/FatherBrown: In "The Vampire of the Village", the titular vampire is [[spoiler:the village parson]], actually [[spoiler:an actor]] who's been mooching off a family member by threatening to reveal they'd killed someone in a fight years ago. Except the death was completely unrelated, and the first the victim does on learning this is punch the blackmailer, causing scandal at [[spoiler:a young man attacking his father and a clergyman]]. But as Father Brown points out, the victim is completely justified: [[spoiler:not only is the blackmailer not the victim's father at all, only posing as such, ''he'' was the murderer in the first place.]]
to:
* Literature/FatherBrown: ''Literature/FatherBrown'': In "The Vampire of the Village", the titular vampire is [[spoiler:the village parson]], actually [[spoiler:an actor]] who's been mooching off a family member by threatening to reveal they'd killed someone in a fight years ago. Except the death was completely unrelated, and the first thing the victim does on learning this is punch the blackmailer, causing scandal at [[spoiler:a young man attacking his father and a clergyman]]. But as Father Brown points out, the victim is completely justified: [[spoiler:not only is the blackmailer not the victim's father at all, only posing as such, ''he'' was the murderer in the first place.]]
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* ''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of a political official like her, or a janitor.
to:
* ''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of a political official like her, or a janitor.
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** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E4FearlessLeader Fearless Leader]]": Michael gets a Miami-Dade organized crime detective named Paxson off his back partly by [[FramingTheGuiltyParty pinning several bombings committed by Fiona in previous episodes on a gangster Paxson has been trying to put away for years]]. When questioned on this, Michael says she can either leave him alone, or have the case against the gangster unravel. {{Justified|Trope}} because Michael needed her off his back, but he didn't want to do it by getting a good cop in trouble, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil the gangster had it coming anyway]].
to:
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E4FearlessLeader Fearless Leader]]": Michael gets a Miami-Dade organized crime detective named Paxson off his back partly by [[FramingTheGuiltyParty pinning several bombings committed by Fiona in previous episodes on a gangster Paxson has been trying to put away for years]]. When questioned on this, Michael says she can either leave him alone, alone or have the case against the gangster unravel. {{Justified|Trope}} because Michael needed her off his back, but he didn't want to do it by getting a good cop in trouble, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil the gangster had it coming anyway]].
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** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives at the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
to:
** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who was convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives at the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
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[[/folder]]
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----
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One of the most common ways to perform this type of blackmail is with fake material of someone doing something bad. This can be done by taking a video, recording, or pictures of someone out of context or using Photoshop and/or deekfakes of someone. Certain comedic variations of this trope will have the material being obviously faked, but having the blackmailed party still feeling threatened by it.
to:
One of the most common ways to perform this type of blackmail is with fake material of someone doing something bad. This can be done by taking a video, recording, or pictures of someone out of context or using Photoshop and/or deekfakes deepfakes of someone. Certain comedic variations of this trope will have the material being obviously faked, but having the blackmailed party still feeling threatened by it.
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SubTrope of {{Blackmail}} and MaliciousSlander. Overlaps with RevengePornBlackmail if someone uses Photoshop or deekfakes to blackmail someone with fake pornography. In a family that practices ParentalFavoritism, the favorite could easily do TheUnfavorite without any evidence, since their parents are likely to believe the former over the latter. Some humorous examples might overlap with AccidentalTruth if the blackmailer ''thinks'' they made their threat up. A BadReviewThreat can also be this if the reviewer threatens to spread lies about an establishment.
to:
SubTrope of {{Blackmail}} and MaliciousSlander. Overlaps with RevengePornBlackmail if someone uses Photoshop or deekfakes deepfakes to blackmail someone with fake pornography. In a family that practices ParentalFavoritism, the favorite could easily do TheUnfavorite without any evidence, since their parents are likely to believe the former over the latter. Some humorous examples might overlap with AccidentalTruth if the blackmailer ''thinks'' they made their threat up. A BadReviewThreat can also be this if the reviewer threatens to spread lies about an establishment.
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* ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'': [[ManipulativeBitch Shōko Inari]] tricks Shū into believing that he had sex with her by putting sleeping pills in his drink, undressing him in his sleep, then taking picture of them together in bed. When he wakes up in his underwear [[BedmateReveal next to her]] in lingerie, he believe that he had sex with her but don't remember it due to the [[WhatDidIDoLastNight effects of alcohol]]. She then spend the following chapters/episodes using the pictures to lead him around and manipulate him.
to:
* ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'': [[ManipulativeBitch Shōko Inari]] tricks Shū into believing that he had sex with her by putting sleeping pills in his drink, undressing him in his sleep, then taking picture of them together in bed. When he wakes up in his underwear [[BedmateReveal next to her]] in lingerie, he believe believes that he had sex with her but don't doesn't remember it due to the [[WhatDidIDoLastNight effects of alcohol]]. She then spend spends the following chapters/episodes using the pictures to lead him around and manipulate him.
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* ''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of an political official like her, or a janitor.
to:
* ''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of an a political official like her, or a janitor.
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* [[https://notalwaysright.com/this-kind-of-stupid-shouldnt-be-legal/118849/ This story]] from Website/NotAlwaysLegal has a woman try to extort one hundred thousand dollars from a man or she will post confidential information on him. He doesn't pay and she makes good on her threat, but the information she releases is all untrue. He sues her for libel.
to:
* [[https://notalwaysright.com/this-kind-of-stupid-shouldnt-be-legal/118849/ This story]] from Website/NotAlwaysLegal has a woman try trying to extort one hundred thousand dollars from a man or she will post confidential information on him. He doesn't pay and she makes good on her threat, but the information she releases is all untrue. He sues her for libel.
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** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives to the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
to:
** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives to at the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
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* There's a common email scam where the sender alleges to have hacked the recipient's computer and obtained webcam footage of them enjoying ADateWithRosiePalms, and threatens to send the footage to everyone they know unless they're sent a certain amount of Bitcoin. There's no hack, no webcam footage (it's entirely possible the recipient doesn't even ''have'' a webcam), and no actual consequences if you don't send the Bitcoin - the scam relies entirely on people panicking and sending the money without stopping to consider whether the blackmailer is actually telling the truth.
to:
* There's a common email scam where the sender alleges to have hacked the recipient's computer and obtained webcam footage of them enjoying ADateWithRosiePalms, CaughtWithYourPantsDown, and threatens to send the footage to everyone they know unless they're sent a certain amount of Bitcoin. There's no hack, no webcam footage (it's entirely possible the recipient doesn't even ''have'' a webcam), and no actual consequences if you don't send the Bitcoin - the scam relies entirely on people panicking and sending the money without stopping to consider whether the blackmailer is actually telling the truth.
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[[/folder]]
'''Indices'''
* ThreateningTropes
* TruthAndLies
* DirtySocialTricks
* FameAndReputationTropes
'''Indices'''
* ThreateningTropes
* TruthAndLies
* DirtySocialTricks
* FameAndReputationTropes
to:
'''Indices'''
* ThreateningTropes
* TruthAndLies
* DirtySocialTricks
* FameAndReputationTropes
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!!Examples
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[[folder:Films - Animated]]
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[[folder:Films - -- Animated]]
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{{Blackmail}} is a criminal act in which someone threatens to reveal someone's secret(s) in exchange for some kind of favor(s). However, one of the issues with it is that it requires someone to have information and/or material on someone. One way to get around this limitation is to fabricate evidence that can be used to blackmail someone; after all, it doesn't matter if the information that's being "revealed" is actually true or not so long as it could potentially have repercussions for the person being threatened.
One of the most common ways to perform this type of blackmail is with fake material of someone doing something bad. This can be done by taking a video, recording, or pictures of someone out of context or using Photoshop and/or deekfakes of someone. Certain comedic variations of this trope will have the material being obviously faked, but having the blackmailed party still feeling threatened by it.
If the blackmailer is particularly liked and/or the blackmailed is disliked, the former could probably blackmail someone simply by threatening to tell a lie about the latter. Even if the lie is [[BlatantLies obviously shoddy]], some people won't question it because of the person telling it, the person the lie is being told about, or both.
SubTrope of {{Blackmail}} and MaliciousSlander. Overlaps with RevengePornBlackmail if someone uses Photoshop or deekfakes to blackmail someone with fake pornography. In a family that practices ParentalFavoritism, the favorite could easily do TheUnfavorite without any evidence, since their parents are likely to believe the former over the latter. Some humorous examples might overlap with AccidentalTruth if the blackmailer ''thinks'' they made their threat up. A BadReviewThreat can also be this if the reviewer threatens to spread lies about an establishment.
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'' begins when Kiritaka Nagare is told by a group of bullies that if he doesn't jump off of a cliff, then they'll post a video of his mother having sex on the internet. Unbeknownst to Kiritaka, the video was heavily edited, meaning that he jumped off the cliff and lost his life to a truck running him over a faked video, making his death AllForNothing.
* ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'': [[ManipulativeBitch Shōko Inari]] tricks Shū into believing that he had sex with her by putting sleeping pills in his drink, undressing him in his sleep, then taking picture of them together in bed. When he wakes up in his underwear [[BedmateReveal next to her]] in lingerie, he believe that he had sex with her but don't remember it due to the [[WhatDidIDoLastNight effects of alcohol]]. She then spend the following chapters/episodes using the pictures to lead him around and manipulate him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The origin of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the Pre-Crisis Huntress, Helena Wayne]], deals with this: the Golden Age Catwoman decides to retire from crime and settles down with the Golden Age Batman, both more than certain that she never killed a person in her life. Years later, an old associate of Catwoman's approaches her to force her into OneLastJob using photos claiming that she indeed killed someone. However, the robbery goes sideways and Catwoman is killed in the process. With Bruce retiring fully as Batman because of this, Helena creates the role of Huntress to hunt down the man and learns that the photos were doctored, that Catwoman truly never took a life.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', T.J. gets his sister to help him gather his friends from summer camp, threatening her by uploading copies of her diary unto the internet. At the end of the movie, when T.J. gives his sister her diary back, Spenelli asks him about the copies he threatened her with, only to reveal that he was bluffing about them.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/AndBeAVillain'', Nero Wolfe's arch-nemesis Arnold Zeck runs a blackmail ring where the victims are being blackmailed for something they didn't do - something entirely made up. The genius of the idea comes from the fact that no real secrets are being threatened, and the blackmail for each victim only lasts one year. Of course, since this is a Nero Wolfe novel, the blackmailer accidentally gets one piece of blackmail correct and a murder ensues.
* Literature/FatherBrown: In "The Vampire of the Village", the titular vampire is [[spoiler:the village parson]], actually [[spoiler:an actor]] who's been mooching off a family member by threatening to reveal they'd killed someone in a fight years ago. Except the death was completely unrelated, and the first the victim does on learning this is punch the blackmailer, causing scandal at [[spoiler:a young man attacking his father and a clergyman]]. But as Father Brown points out, the victim is completely justified: [[spoiler:not only is the blackmailer not the victim's father at all, only posing as such, ''he'' was the murderer in the first place.]]
* The Exploits of Literature/SherlockHolmes (a series of stories by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's son and Creator/JohnDicksonCarr): "The Adventure of the Two Women" has a dead politician's family threatened (if certain state documents he kept aren't handed over) with the scandal of revealing he was in a bigamous marriage with a Frenchwoman, leaving the widow with a child. However, Holmes realizes the marriage certificate used as proof is a fraud since the type of ink used to write the man's name didn't exist at the time of the supposed signing.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
*''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of an political official like her, or a janitor.
* ''Series/BlackadderII'': In "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E4Money Money]]", Edmund drugs the LoanShark Bishop and poses him in a compromising position with Percy, and commissions an artist to paint it, forcing the Bishop to forgive the debt Edmund owes to the Bank of the Black Monks.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheBoysS01E05GoodForTheSoul Good for the Soul]]," Hughie is to {{Blackmail}} Ezekiel, [[HeteronormativeCrusader a conservative Christian preacher]], for information on [[SuperTeam The Seven]] by showing him footage of using his [[RubberMan stretch powers]] [[ArmouredClosetGay to have sex with two other men]]. However, Hughie's phone shorted out while being baptized by Homelander, so Hughie has to resort to lying, saying he has footage of the two of them having sex. When Ezekiel threatens him, Hughie responds that he gave a copy of the video to an accomplice, who will upload it to social media if said accomplice [[IfIDoNotReturn doesn't hear from him after a set amount of time]].
* ''Series/BurnNotice'':
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS1E7BrokenRules Broken Rules]]": Michael gets rid of Jason Bly, a government agent harassing him, by fabricating evidence that the two of them have secretly started a black market business together. He uses this to force Bly to hand over the full dossier behind his burn notice and then leave.
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E3TrustMe Trust Me]]": Michael steals some random files from the Pakistani consulate and holds them hostage to find out what Pakistani intelligence knows about his handler Carla, whom he believes was once stationed in Kurdistan. The security chief, Waseem, tells him the files are worth less than the information, so Michael returns them and has Sam photograph the handoff, then threatens to make it look like Waseem is accepting a bribe (which he admits is too flimsy to get him in serious trouble, but Waseem would probably lose his cushy assignment in Miami). Waseem folds, and Michael gives him the negatives in exchange for the file ISI has on Carla.
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E4FearlessLeader Fearless Leader]]": Michael gets a Miami-Dade organized crime detective named Paxson off his back partly by [[FramingTheGuiltyParty pinning several bombings committed by Fiona in previous episodes on a gangster Paxson has been trying to put away for years]]. When questioned on this, Michael says she can either leave him alone, or have the case against the gangster unravel. {{Justified|Trope}} because Michael needed her off his back, but he didn't want to do it by getting a good cop in trouble, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil the gangster had it coming anyway]].
* In one episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'', a school principal was building a case against the resident AlphaBitch, who was the VictimOfTheWeek. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of the {{AlphaBitch}}'s victims, he reveals that she threatened to send a fabricated message that he didn't send her to the police that would implicate him having a sexual relationship with the AlphaBitch.
* In the first season of ''Series/{{Fargo}}'', dimwitted criminal Don Chumph attempts to blackmail businessman Stavros, even though he doesn't have any blackmail material. Chumph 'reasons' that someone as rich as Stavros must have some skeletons in his closet. The scheme is hijacked by experienced criminal Lorne Malvo, who instead opts to psychologically torture Stavros, partially just for the hell of it.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': After being fired, Sue drugs Principal Figgins and takes pictures of the two of them in bed together. She uses this to get her job back. To drive home how staged the whole thing is, Sue pulls back the sheets to reveal she is fully clothed.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "The Fifteen Minutes Job", the VillainOfTheWeek has planted Xanax in the office of a local DA to make him drop out, because all he has to do is file a lawsuit, and the DA's aides will have to admit to finding the drugs in the office. Unfortunately for the Villain of the episode, the DA is a childhood friend of Nate's, and Nate eagerly signs on to take the guy down.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'': One of the steps to recruiting the follower Gar is to free him from his IndenturedServitude contract as a LivingMuseumExhibit at H.T. Parnell's MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual. One option is to falsely accuse Parnell of keeping Gar as a slave and beating him mercilessly, then when Parnell objects, tell him that the truth has never gotten in the way of a good newspaper headline - which convinces Parnell that keeping Gar around on his current terms could be hazardous for his reputation.
*''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'': [[{{Pyromaniac}} Burner Man]] was ordered by King to burn down forests lest he die, though this "Spare nature and you die" threat is all a lie.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': When Makoto attempts to investigate an extortion ring targeting her schoolmates, she is kidnapped and brought to the mob boss Junya Kaneshiro, with the [[PlayerParty Phantom Thieves]] in hot pursuit. As soon as they arrive, however, Kaneshiro takes several pictures of them inside his den of vice and immediately threatens to release these to the public if they don't pay him an exorbitant sum. While the threat is a complete fabrication, a mere association with Kaneshiro would be ruinous to Makoto and [[PlayerCharacter Joker]] in particular, because the former's sister is a public prosecutor, and the latter is a juvenile delinquent on probation (on likewise fabricated charges).
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://notalwaysright.com/this-kind-of-stupid-shouldnt-be-legal/118849/ This story]] from Website/NotAlwaysLegal has a woman try to extort one hundred thousand dollars from a man or she will post confidential information on him. He doesn't pay and she makes good on her threat, but the information she releases is all untrue. He sues her for libel.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/AppleTexts'': [[https://youtu.be/E1EINMCe09I?feature=shared After Ellen receives]] inheritance money from her husband's death, Sharon, who [[spoiler:truthfully]] claims to be her late husband's [[TheMistress mistress]], attempts to extort money out of her via [[RevengePornBlackmail deepfaked pornography of Ellen]] [[spoiler:that was created by Sharon's boyfriend]].
* ''WebVideo/ITextPro'': [[https://youtu.be/uMWp-AFMv28?feature=shared After Chloe]] receives money from her mother to buy a new softball uniform, her brother Max, who their father [[ParentalFavoritism favors]], demands that Chloe give him some. When Chloe refuses, Max threatens to tell their father that Chloe stole the money from him, which causes Chloe to relent out of fear of what her father will do to her.
* ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony:'' In "Winning", Apple Bloom coerces Zecora into helping her by threatening to tell the police that Zecora sold her drugs. AB acknowledges this is a lie, but insists the police will believe her anyway because of [[FantasticRacism anti-zebra racism]]. (And how exactly does she need Zecora's help? Ironically, [[MortonsFork AB wants to buy drugs from Zecora for real]].)
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'':
** In "The Red Ball" [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ed Wuncler I]] tries to blackmail Huey (who's amazing at kickball) into playing in a kickball game [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame that will determine the ownership of Woodcrest]], by threatening to show a photoshopped picture of Huey in an embarrassing outfit. Huey doesn't budge. [[note]]Huey decides to play later on, but for unrelated reasons.[[/note]]
** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives to the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' In "The Switch Glitch," [[BabysitterFromHell Vicky]] blackmails Timmy into doing both her laundry and [[HomeworkSlave homework]] by using a (clearly fake) recording of Timmy admitting to cheating on his math test. Timmy later does the same to Vicky after wishing her into a child by blackmailing her with an equally false recording of her admitting to stealing from her mom's purse.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': At the climax of "[[Recap/SouthParkS3E14TheRedBadgeOfGayness The Red Badge of Gayness]]", Cartman leads his Confederate army onto Washington D.C. and sends UsefulNotes/BillClinton a message threatening to release the videotapes he has of Clinton with Creator/MarisaTomei unless he officially recognizes the Confederacy. Clinton agrees, but Cartman later reveals to Jimbo he was only bluffing about the videotapes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* There's a common email scam where the sender alleges to have hacked the recipient's computer and obtained webcam footage of them enjoying ADateWithRosiePalms, and threatens to send the footage to everyone they know unless they're sent a certain amount of Bitcoin. There's no hack, no webcam footage (it's entirely possible the recipient doesn't even ''have'' a webcam), and no actual consequences if you don't send the Bitcoin - the scam relies entirely on people panicking and sending the money without stopping to consider whether the blackmailer is actually telling the truth.
[[/folder]]
'''Indices'''
* ThreateningTropes
* TruthAndLies
* DirtySocialTricks
* FameAndReputationTropes
One of the most common ways to perform this type of blackmail is with fake material of someone doing something bad. This can be done by taking a video, recording, or pictures of someone out of context or using Photoshop and/or deekfakes of someone. Certain comedic variations of this trope will have the material being obviously faked, but having the blackmailed party still feeling threatened by it.
If the blackmailer is particularly liked and/or the blackmailed is disliked, the former could probably blackmail someone simply by threatening to tell a lie about the latter. Even if the lie is [[BlatantLies obviously shoddy]], some people won't question it because of the person telling it, the person the lie is being told about, or both.
SubTrope of {{Blackmail}} and MaliciousSlander. Overlaps with RevengePornBlackmail if someone uses Photoshop or deekfakes to blackmail someone with fake pornography. In a family that practices ParentalFavoritism, the favorite could easily do TheUnfavorite without any evidence, since their parents are likely to believe the former over the latter. Some humorous examples might overlap with AccidentalTruth if the blackmailer ''thinks'' they made their threat up. A BadReviewThreat can also be this if the reviewer threatens to spread lies about an establishment.
!!Examples
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'' begins when Kiritaka Nagare is told by a group of bullies that if he doesn't jump off of a cliff, then they'll post a video of his mother having sex on the internet. Unbeknownst to Kiritaka, the video was heavily edited, meaning that he jumped off the cliff and lost his life to a truck running him over a faked video, making his death AllForNothing.
* ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'': [[ManipulativeBitch Shōko Inari]] tricks Shū into believing that he had sex with her by putting sleeping pills in his drink, undressing him in his sleep, then taking picture of them together in bed. When he wakes up in his underwear [[BedmateReveal next to her]] in lingerie, he believe that he had sex with her but don't remember it due to the [[WhatDidIDoLastNight effects of alcohol]]. She then spend the following chapters/episodes using the pictures to lead him around and manipulate him.
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The origin of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the Pre-Crisis Huntress, Helena Wayne]], deals with this: the Golden Age Catwoman decides to retire from crime and settles down with the Golden Age Batman, both more than certain that she never killed a person in her life. Years later, an old associate of Catwoman's approaches her to force her into OneLastJob using photos claiming that she indeed killed someone. However, the robbery goes sideways and Catwoman is killed in the process. With Bruce retiring fully as Batman because of this, Helena creates the role of Huntress to hunt down the man and learns that the photos were doctored, that Catwoman truly never took a life.
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[[folder:Films - Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'', T.J. gets his sister to help him gather his friends from summer camp, threatening her by uploading copies of her diary unto the internet. At the end of the movie, when T.J. gives his sister her diary back, Spenelli asks him about the copies he threatened her with, only to reveal that he was bluffing about them.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/AndBeAVillain'', Nero Wolfe's arch-nemesis Arnold Zeck runs a blackmail ring where the victims are being blackmailed for something they didn't do - something entirely made up. The genius of the idea comes from the fact that no real secrets are being threatened, and the blackmail for each victim only lasts one year. Of course, since this is a Nero Wolfe novel, the blackmailer accidentally gets one piece of blackmail correct and a murder ensues.
* Literature/FatherBrown: In "The Vampire of the Village", the titular vampire is [[spoiler:the village parson]], actually [[spoiler:an actor]] who's been mooching off a family member by threatening to reveal they'd killed someone in a fight years ago. Except the death was completely unrelated, and the first the victim does on learning this is punch the blackmailer, causing scandal at [[spoiler:a young man attacking his father and a clergyman]]. But as Father Brown points out, the victim is completely justified: [[spoiler:not only is the blackmailer not the victim's father at all, only posing as such, ''he'' was the murderer in the first place.]]
* The Exploits of Literature/SherlockHolmes (a series of stories by Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's son and Creator/JohnDicksonCarr): "The Adventure of the Two Women" has a dead politician's family threatened (if certain state documents he kept aren't handed over) with the scandal of revealing he was in a bigamous marriage with a Frenchwoman, leaving the widow with a child. However, Holmes realizes the marriage certificate used as proof is a fraud since the type of ink used to write the man's name didn't exist at the time of the supposed signing.
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
*''Series/AlRawabiSchoolForGirls'': Layan wants to know who told the Principal Qadi she skipped school to see her boyfriend, so she asks the school caretaker Sumayyah to investigate for her. When Sumayyah refuses, Layan tells her she'll tell Principal Qadi that she was smoking in the bathrooms again. When Summayah says she never smoked, Layan asks if she thinks the Principal will believe the word of the daughter of an political official like her, or a janitor.
* ''Series/BlackadderII'': In "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E4Money Money]]", Edmund drugs the LoanShark Bishop and poses him in a compromising position with Percy, and commissions an artist to paint it, forcing the Bishop to forgive the debt Edmund owes to the Bank of the Black Monks.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheBoysS01E05GoodForTheSoul Good for the Soul]]," Hughie is to {{Blackmail}} Ezekiel, [[HeteronormativeCrusader a conservative Christian preacher]], for information on [[SuperTeam The Seven]] by showing him footage of using his [[RubberMan stretch powers]] [[ArmouredClosetGay to have sex with two other men]]. However, Hughie's phone shorted out while being baptized by Homelander, so Hughie has to resort to lying, saying he has footage of the two of them having sex. When Ezekiel threatens him, Hughie responds that he gave a copy of the video to an accomplice, who will upload it to social media if said accomplice [[IfIDoNotReturn doesn't hear from him after a set amount of time]].
* ''Series/BurnNotice'':
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS1E7BrokenRules Broken Rules]]": Michael gets rid of Jason Bly, a government agent harassing him, by fabricating evidence that the two of them have secretly started a black market business together. He uses this to force Bly to hand over the full dossier behind his burn notice and then leave.
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS2E3TrustMe Trust Me]]": Michael steals some random files from the Pakistani consulate and holds them hostage to find out what Pakistani intelligence knows about his handler Carla, whom he believes was once stationed in Kurdistan. The security chief, Waseem, tells him the files are worth less than the information, so Michael returns them and has Sam photograph the handoff, then threatens to make it look like Waseem is accepting a bribe (which he admits is too flimsy to get him in serious trouble, but Waseem would probably lose his cushy assignment in Miami). Waseem folds, and Michael gives him the negatives in exchange for the file ISI has on Carla.
** "[[Recap/BurnNoticeS3E4FearlessLeader Fearless Leader]]": Michael gets a Miami-Dade organized crime detective named Paxson off his back partly by [[FramingTheGuiltyParty pinning several bombings committed by Fiona in previous episodes on a gangster Paxson has been trying to put away for years]]. When questioned on this, Michael says she can either leave him alone, or have the case against the gangster unravel. {{Justified|Trope}} because Michael needed her off his back, but he didn't want to do it by getting a good cop in trouble, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil the gangster had it coming anyway]].
* In one episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'', a school principal was building a case against the resident AlphaBitch, who was the VictimOfTheWeek. When the team learns about it, they ask why he didn't release the recordings he took of the {{AlphaBitch}}'s victims, he reveals that she threatened to send a fabricated message that he didn't send her to the police that would implicate him having a sexual relationship with the AlphaBitch.
* In the first season of ''Series/{{Fargo}}'', dimwitted criminal Don Chumph attempts to blackmail businessman Stavros, even though he doesn't have any blackmail material. Chumph 'reasons' that someone as rich as Stavros must have some skeletons in his closet. The scheme is hijacked by experienced criminal Lorne Malvo, who instead opts to psychologically torture Stavros, partially just for the hell of it.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': After being fired, Sue drugs Principal Figgins and takes pictures of the two of them in bed together. She uses this to get her job back. To drive home how staged the whole thing is, Sue pulls back the sheets to reveal she is fully clothed.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': In "The Fifteen Minutes Job", the VillainOfTheWeek has planted Xanax in the office of a local DA to make him drop out, because all he has to do is file a lawsuit, and the DA's aides will have to admit to finding the drugs in the office. Unfortunately for the Villain of the episode, the DA is a childhood friend of Nate's, and Nate eagerly signs on to take the guy down.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'': One of the steps to recruiting the follower Gar is to free him from his IndenturedServitude contract as a LivingMuseumExhibit at H.T. Parnell's MuseumOfTheStrangeAndUnusual. One option is to falsely accuse Parnell of keeping Gar as a slave and beating him mercilessly, then when Parnell objects, tell him that the truth has never gotten in the way of a good newspaper headline - which convinces Parnell that keeping Gar around on his current terms could be hazardous for his reputation.
*''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'': [[{{Pyromaniac}} Burner Man]] was ordered by King to burn down forests lest he die, though this "Spare nature and you die" threat is all a lie.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': When Makoto attempts to investigate an extortion ring targeting her schoolmates, she is kidnapped and brought to the mob boss Junya Kaneshiro, with the [[PlayerParty Phantom Thieves]] in hot pursuit. As soon as they arrive, however, Kaneshiro takes several pictures of them inside his den of vice and immediately threatens to release these to the public if they don't pay him an exorbitant sum. While the threat is a complete fabrication, a mere association with Kaneshiro would be ruinous to Makoto and [[PlayerCharacter Joker]] in particular, because the former's sister is a public prosecutor, and the latter is a juvenile delinquent on probation (on likewise fabricated charges).
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[https://notalwaysright.com/this-kind-of-stupid-shouldnt-be-legal/118849/ This story]] from Website/NotAlwaysLegal has a woman try to extort one hundred thousand dollars from a man or she will post confidential information on him. He doesn't pay and she makes good on her threat, but the information she releases is all untrue. He sues her for libel.
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[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/AppleTexts'': [[https://youtu.be/E1EINMCe09I?feature=shared After Ellen receives]] inheritance money from her husband's death, Sharon, who [[spoiler:truthfully]] claims to be her late husband's [[TheMistress mistress]], attempts to extort money out of her via [[RevengePornBlackmail deepfaked pornography of Ellen]] [[spoiler:that was created by Sharon's boyfriend]].
* ''WebVideo/ITextPro'': [[https://youtu.be/uMWp-AFMv28?feature=shared After Chloe]] receives money from her mother to buy a new softball uniform, her brother Max, who their father [[ParentalFavoritism favors]], demands that Chloe give him some. When Chloe refuses, Max threatens to tell their father that Chloe stole the money from him, which causes Chloe to relent out of fear of what her father will do to her.
* ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony:'' In "Winning", Apple Bloom coerces Zecora into helping her by threatening to tell the police that Zecora sold her drugs. AB acknowledges this is a lie, but insists the police will believe her anyway because of [[FantasticRacism anti-zebra racism]]. (And how exactly does she need Zecora's help? Ironically, [[MortonsFork AB wants to buy drugs from Zecora for real]].)
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'':
** In "The Red Ball" [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Ed Wuncler I]] tries to blackmail Huey (who's amazing at kickball) into playing in a kickball game [[AbsurdlyHighStakesGame that will determine the ownership of Woodcrest]], by threatening to show a photoshopped picture of Huey in an embarrassing outfit. Huey doesn't budge. [[note]]Huey decides to play later on, but for unrelated reasons.[[/note]]
** An example that overlaps with AccidentalTruth in "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus". In order to prevent the execution of Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther who convicted of a murder he didn't commit, one of Huey's plans involves sending a letter to the Governor claiming that he knows about his gay lover. Huey thinks that he made it up, but when the letter arrives to the Governor's office, it turns out he really does have a gay lover, and so the Governor calls off Shabazz' execution.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' In "The Switch Glitch," [[BabysitterFromHell Vicky]] blackmails Timmy into doing both her laundry and [[HomeworkSlave homework]] by using a (clearly fake) recording of Timmy admitting to cheating on his math test. Timmy later does the same to Vicky after wishing her into a child by blackmailing her with an equally false recording of her admitting to stealing from her mom's purse.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': At the climax of "[[Recap/SouthParkS3E14TheRedBadgeOfGayness The Red Badge of Gayness]]", Cartman leads his Confederate army onto Washington D.C. and sends UsefulNotes/BillClinton a message threatening to release the videotapes he has of Clinton with Creator/MarisaTomei unless he officially recognizes the Confederacy. Clinton agrees, but Cartman later reveals to Jimbo he was only bluffing about the videotapes.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* There's a common email scam where the sender alleges to have hacked the recipient's computer and obtained webcam footage of them enjoying ADateWithRosiePalms, and threatens to send the footage to everyone they know unless they're sent a certain amount of Bitcoin. There's no hack, no webcam footage (it's entirely possible the recipient doesn't even ''have'' a webcam), and no actual consequences if you don't send the Bitcoin - the scam relies entirely on people panicking and sending the money without stopping to consider whether the blackmailer is actually telling the truth.
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'''Indices'''
* ThreateningTropes
* TruthAndLies
* DirtySocialTricks
* FameAndReputationTropes
