History Main / PolitenessJudo

* In ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'''s first book, ''The Aeronaut's Windlass'', this ends up saving Captain Grimm's life twice, in his interactions with AxCrazy etherialist Madame Cavendish: her particular compulsion makes it very hard for her to harm anyone that practices it... while making it very hard for her ''not'' to harm anyone that doesn't.

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* This exchange from ''WebComic/{{Nukees}}'', as Gav, who prides himself on being entirely amoral, turns to leave a church after a conversation with the GoodShepherd:

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/DeduceYouSay", Daffy Duck (as "brilliant detective" [[SherlockHolmes Doorlock Homes]]) is unable to subdue the Shropshire Slasher with brute force. Porky Pig (as his assistant, Dr. Watkins) simply asks the Slasher to please give himself up, and the Slasher agrees instantly. When his mother (who apparently had the foresight to ''[[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep name]]'' him "Shropshire Slasher") comes in and scolds him, [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas he escorts her home,]] saying, "I promised the nice man I'd turn myself in, muvver." "You always wuz a good boy, Slasher."

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10623866/1/ Sekirei? Is that some new species of little sister?]]'' , Naruto and Xanna decide to screw with the various major religions. When Naruto goes to the Dalai Lama and uses [[GenderBender Sexy Jutsu]] then "puts on a show", the Dalai Lama very politely asks him not to do that, which gets Naruto to leave. Naruto later confesses to Takami that it's no fun messing with people who legitimately don't get upset.

** Another comic on the same page shows a Canadian finding his wife [[YourCheatingHeart with another man]]. All three immediately start apologizing to each other.

* There's a story about a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII British (or American) spy who infiltrated the Nazis by going deep undercover, learning to speak perfect, unaccented German (and claiming not to know English). His fake back story worked, and the Germans were sending him off by plane when one of the officers tested him by calling out "Good luck!" in English-to which he instinctively responded, "Thanks!"

* Discussed in ''{{Film/Equilibrium}}''. What is the most effective way to get a weapon away from a [[EliteMooks Grammaton Cleric]]? You ask him for it.
* Averted in ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' when Walter Peck asks to see the "storage facilities". Peter refuses, on the grounds that Peck "didn't say the magic word", "Please". When Peck amends his request by saying"Please", Peter asks why he wants to see them, and Peck basically and loudly accuses the 'Busters of being frauds, so Peter throws him out and tells him to get a warrant.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Sansa Stark is skilled in this... mainly out of necessity, and care of having most other means of attack and defence stripped from her in the hostile DeadlyDecadentCourt settings she finds herself plunked in. As a result, she's getting better at it, as well as some of the other skills in the PassiveAggressiveKombat set. Throwing almost ''painfully'' correct manners and exceedingly polite phrases into the ring to box her opponent into semi-socially acceptable behavior remains her number one, go-to weapon of choice, however: no matter how many other skills she gains. She even manages to trip the invariably rude Joffrey up with this a time or two... when he's stuck with an audience.

* In ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle'', Kvothe spins this into a respected position when he visits the Vintish court. As an outsider enjoying the Maer's hospitality, courtly etiquette suggests that the nobles treat him as an equal until they can determine how his pedigree compares to the Vintish ranking system. He draws this out until his assumed rank settles somewhere in the middle of the noble hierarchy, and the court remains none the wiser that he's a penniless commoner in his homeland.
* In ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'''s first book, ''The Aeronaut's Windlass'', this ends up saving Captain Grimm's life twice, in his interactions with AxCrazy etherialist Madame Cavendish: her particular compulsion makes it very hard for her to harm anyone that practises it... while making it very hard for her ''not'' to harm anyone that doesn't.

* When Henry tries to invade the Toppats' base in the Stickmin Space Resort path from [[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries The Henry Stickmin Series: Completing the Mission]] he gets past the first guard by simply stopping and asking for permission. The guard realizes a few seconds too late what happened.

Now could you please go see other tropes? Thank you.

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[[caption-width-right:213:(from WebComic/GirlGenius)]]

-->'''Phoenix:''' [[FlatWhat ...What?]]

* Subverted in ''Film/AntMan''. Scott tries this when [[spoiler:Falcon catches him at Avengers headquarters]], introducing himself and explaining he needs to borrow a device for a few days. However, since Scott is trespassing on a restricted facility, [[spoiler:Falcon]] doesn't listen and immediately tries to take him into custody, which leads to a battle between the two.

** The kuchisake-onna, or slit-mouthed woman, is a strange woman in a surgical mask. She'll approach you and ask if she's beautiful. Saying no will enrage her and she'll kill you with her scissors because her ego is fragile. Saying yes will prompt her to reveal her mutilated face and ask again. Saying no at this point will also get you killed, but saying yes again will make her slash you to match her because the Japanese word for "pretty" (kirei) pretty much sounds like a word meaning "to cut" (kire) and she is also apparently fueled by puns. However, in addition to giving a vague in-between answer or scattering objects for her to pick up, you can escape her by saying [[INeedToGoIronMyDog you're sorry, but you to be somewhere else right now]]. [[JapanesePoliteness In response, she will bow and apologize for delaying you and let you be on your way]].

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* This is the Polite Spy's power in the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' Machinima ''[[http://tf2freakshow.wikia.com/wiki/Polite_Spy_Saga The Polite Spy Saga]]''. He's so polite that most other freaks don't harm him, and even the AxCrazy [[ImAHumanitarian cannaballistic]] Machinima/PainisCupcake finds him too nice to eat.
* In one of the first episodes of Machinima/RedVsBlue, Donut being sent on a wild goose chase ends with him [[CaptureTheFlag sucessfully taking the Blue Team's flag]] from [[TheDitz Caboose.]]
-->'''Grif:''' How did you get the flag?
-->'''Donut:''' I don't know; I just asked for it.
-->'''Grif:''' Wait, that worked?
-->'''Donut:''' I guess. Is it not suppose to?
-->'''Grif:''' I don't know. We've never even thought to try that.
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* In ''Discworld/IShallWearMidnight'', Tiffany follows up a [[StealthHiBye sudden appearance]] in Letitia's room with a few remarks on her guard's unprofessional attitude, goes on to note that people are much less likely to scream for help [[TalkingIsAFreeAction if someone is talking to them]], then speculates that it may be due to this trope.

Human beings are social creatures and conditioned to respond in certain ways to social niceties. Oftentimes, these pre-programmed responses can slip by our conscious attention, resulting in us agreeing to something we hadn't intended to. Politeness judo is the art of taking advantage of simple courtesy exchanges to get one's way.

--->"There! ''That's'' how you get rid of a monster, '''''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments YOU BIG, FAT, DOODOO-HEADED NINNIES!]]'''''"\\