History Main / InfallibleBabble

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/ShadowsInZamboula", ConanTheBarbarian is thoroughly warned about staying with Aram Baksh, where he hired a room.
** In ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', the rumors that Conan is NotQuiteDead spread over the entire kingdom without getting mangled.
** In "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword", Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian has heard the rumors on Epemitreus's ghost, down to his purpose being to aid Aquilonia; Epemitreus has only to explain that Conan's destiny is tied to the land.

When provided information in video games, you need not ever take it with a grain of salt. Given the limited amount of time and lines of text allotted to exposition, the law of ConservationOfDetail ensure that the information provided to the hero by casual bystanders is 1) Entirely accurate; and 2) Overwhelmingly plot relevant. This holds true even if the information is [[TheLegendOfChekhov a vaguely remembered myth]], [[PropheciesAreAlwaysRight a prophecy spouted by a raving preacher]], or simply a rumor that [[InevitableTournament somewhere, some or other event is taking place]].

For example, if someone tells you "I think King Samuel's apprentice maybe keeps an ingot of Asagron Mythril in the desk of his workshop", you can be absolutely certain that not only will you find it there if you ever need to forge the SwordOfPlotAdvancement, but also that you'll have to do it in the first place.

* Played straight in ''{{Drakengard}}''. The downside of this is that people, including members of your party, barely ever know anything about the important stuff, and it all comes in the form of speculation. The same beings can be referred to as either the Grotesqueries, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic the Watchers]], [[RageAgainstTheHeavens the gods]], as the characters don't know what they are and are just guessing. Anything people tell you that happens to be a concrete fact is almost completely unimportant or irrelevant.

* The infamous [[http://www.blindpanic.com/humor/vecna.htm Head of Vecna]].

* In most of Creator/HPLovecraft's stories, especially ''The Shadow Over Innsmouth'', in which, in the titular village, the insane ramblings of the town drunk all seem to be horrifically true.
* Tyrion in ''A Dance With Dragons'' treats [[spoiler: his father]]'s last words "wherever whores go" as this, considering them to be a crucial hint as to where his lost love Tysha disappeared to.
** There's also a small inversion of this in the first book, where Arya hears wildly different rumors in the crowd at [[spoiler: her father]]'s execution regarding the death of [[spoiler: the king]]. The reader knows most of the facts ([[UnreliableNarrator probably]]), but Arya doesn't.

*** Professer Trelawney's false predictions also have a tendency to come true. This is primarily because she plays on usual "fake psychic" methods (looking at [[TheKlutz the clumsiest, most nervous guy]] in the room and then telling him he'll drop his teacup soon) or simply makes [[CaptainObvious fairly self-evident predictions]] ([[WeirdnessMagnet Harry]] will be in GRAAAAVE DAAAANGER).

* Slightly inverted in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' for the NES. The manual warns you that what the villagers say may not be the truth. Indeed, while some things the {{NPC}}s say are true, some are only partially correct, and others are completely wrong.
** This was originally believed to be the result of bad translation, but recently, it was found that the Japanese Script for the game was just as incomprehensible.
** Some of the townsfolk tell you things like what Dracula's rib does or where you can find some of the thirteen "scriptures" which explain what to do at the unpassable cliffs and lakes etc. One villager tells you how to get through the poison marsh, another that it's necessary to get the cross at Laruba's Mansion...Not everything is useless or lies, and the manual does warn you that some of it is. Talking to some of the townspeople is also necessary in order to find out which ones sell you items. The dialogue sets the tone for the atmosphere and type of people you encounter in each town, deepening the game, and some of the utterances are quite funny, adding to the entertainment value. Also you know you're getting nearer the end when the townsfolk are more scared in the towns you come across, which is a useful clue and adds to the ambiance as well.

*** [[spoiler: Actually, it's implied that the Resurrection Stone has varied powers. For example, Dumbledore surmised that to Grindelwald would use it to create an army of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Inferi]]. Harry probably subconsciously used it to call the spirits of his loved ones to bolster his courage. He could have probably raised them from the dead "enough" so that others could see them, but likewise, they still wouldn't "belong" in the world of the living, and bad things would happen.]]

* In the 6th ''Literature/{{Harry Potter|and the Half Blood Prince}}'' book, Dumbledore openly states, that everything from this point on regarding Voldemort is unconfirmed theory and speculation. Despite this, nearly everything Dumbledore says is pretty much dead on. This isn't as farfetched as it sounds as they do have a decent amount of information to base these theories on (and hey, it's Dumbledore).

* Quite darkly inverted in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'' in the case of [[spoiler: Grovyle]], who everyone including the hero and partner believes is a wicked criminal intent on [[spoiler: stealing the Time Gears and [[TimeCrash cause the planet's paralysis]]]] but later turns out to be [[spoiler: the hero's friend, and they traveled together from the future where the planet is paralyzed, to steal the Time Gears and bring them to Temporal Tower, which would stop the planet's paralysis and prevent the bad future from happening.]] It also turns out that [[spoiler: Dusknoir]], who is made up to be the good guy, is actually [[spoiler: a henchman of the {{BigBad}} sent back in time as well, with the intent of killing the hero and Grovyle.]] Thing is, the protagonist would have known all of it if he didn't have a case of {{LaserGuidedAmnesia}} for the entire game. Pretty dark indeed.

* Quite darkly inverted in ''VideoGame/{{PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers}}'' in the case of [[spoiler: Grovyle]], who everyone including the hero and partner believes is a wicked criminal intent on [[spoiler: stealing the Time Gears and [[TimeCrash cause the planet's paralysis]]]] but later turns out to be [[spoiler: the hero's friend, and they traveled together from the future where the planet is paralyzed, to steal the Time Gears and bring them to Temporal Tower, which would stop the planet's paralysis and prevent the bad future from happening.]] It also turns out that [[spoiler: Dusknoir]], who is made up to be the good guy, is actually [[spoiler: a henchman of the {{BigBad}} sent back in time as well, with the intent of killing the hero and Grovyle.]] Thing is, the protagonist would have known all of it if he didn't have a case of {{LaserGuidedAmnesia}} for the entire game. Pretty dark indeed.

** In most of Creator/HPLovecraft's stories, especially ''The Shadow Over Innsmouth'', in which, in the titular village, the insane ramblings of the town drunk all seem to be horrifically true.

* PanicAtTheDisco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" implies that the protagonist is going to leave his fiancee at the altar ("technically our marriage is saved") because he heard a waiter call her a whore.

Commonplace in other media. Indeed, one reason why we are often presented with the true facts before the MaliciousSlander is because [[ViewersAreMorons the audience will often take the slander as true otherwise]], relying on this. As a result, any aversions show the characters actively pointing out to the audience how they were being misled.

-->-- '''Law of Productive Gullibility ([[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue Ruby]] Rule)''', [[ConsoleRPGCliches97To120 The Grand List of Console RPG Clichés, #101]].

-->-- '''''Law of Productive Gullibility ([[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue Ruby]] Rule)''', [[ConsoleRPGCliches97To120 The Grand List of Console RPG Clichés, #101]].

->'''''Law of Productive Gullibility ([[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue Ruby]] Rule)''': Whenever anybody comes up to you with a patently ludicrous claim (such as, "I'm not a cat, I'm really an ancient Red Dragon") there's an at least two-thirds chance they're telling the truth. Therefore, it pays to humor everyone you meet; odds are you'll be glad you did later on.''
-->-- [[ConsoleRPGCliches97To120 The Grand List of Console RPG Clichés, #101]].

Nor do you ever need to consider the source; the delirious town drunk is just as trustworthy as a respected high-ranking government official ([[EvilChancellor often more so]], [[WisdomFromTheGutter in fact]]). The only exception seems to be gossip about your own adventures, and even then they usually get it right.

* The ubiquity of this trope may be why, when ''VideoGame/Dishonored'' playtesters were told by a guard that they weren't allowed to go upstairs, accepted this completely at face value and did not even ''attempt'' to go upstairs, leaving them wandering around aimlessly and unable to complete the mission.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/EarthBound,'' where a woman in the FirstTown says she would love to tell you a story, and it's not relevant to your quest, but she decides not to tell you because it wouldn't be relevant and hearing strange stories like that from NPCs would make you more likely to ignore then when they're telling the truth.

For example, if someone tells you "I think King Samuel's apprentice maybe keeps an ingot of Asagron Mythril in the desk of his workshop", you can be absolutely certain not only where do you need to look should you ever need to forge the SwordOfPlotAdvancement, but also that you'll have to do it in the first place.

* In Series/PowerRangersRPM a guard remarks that a Venjix hardware detector has been giving him false positives all day when it goes off on [[TheDragon Tenaya 7]]. In the two-part finale it turns out [[spoiler:they weren't]].

* In ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', the Jolly Swagman's [=ECHO=] recording describes [[spoiler: an ancient temple in a great, glowing, purple rift that echoes with the deafening silent prayers of its long dead worshipers]]. If you've played either of the earlier games, this sounds an awful lot like [[spoiler: the Eridian ruins surrounding the Vaults]].