History Main / TalkingTheMonsterToDeath

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{He-Man and the Masters of the Universe}}'' episode "Daimar the Demon," the title character believes he is predestined to destroy Eternia. He-Man makes the giant monster realize that he has free will and doesn't have to be evil, and so Daimar chooses not to hurt anyone after all.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Bob does this very well, to the point that it can probably be considered his most effective weapon. It's how he stopped [[BigBad Fructose Riboflavin]] once, the [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot Army,]] and [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Galatea.]] Though the second time he tried it in Riboflavin, it [[BerserkButton backfired.]]

** A flashback to one of the main character's past selves has the most literal example in an academic debate. He argues that his opponent does not in fact exist. As much as the opponent would like to object to that, he cannot find any flaws in the argumentation, and thus vanishes from existence.

** In the sequel, you eventually meet an Observer (a non-evil Beholder) who is magically bound to guard a box containing an item you need. The most obvious solution is to kill him, but with a high enough Wisdom you can point out to him that [[spoiler:the wizard bound him to guard the box, not the ''contents'' of the box. . .]]

-->-- ''DuckDodgers''

* Happened to both of the Big Bads in ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Gakuto ends up dying in his collapsing castle (voluntary, to "right his wrongs") and Micheal accends to some kind of Angel-plane, along with the spirits of his fallen minions (who helped TalkingTheMonsterToDeath )

** The Optimus Prime of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' would often try to play this straight (mainly with Megatron, Starscream, Skyquake and he brother Dreadwing, and even [[spoiler: Unicron]]), results would often vary depending upon who he was speaking to at the moment. The brothers at least paused to listen due to their sense of honor, while Megatron and Starscream would have none of it. Prime was at least able to stall the latter by genuflecting before him.

* TheRealGhostbusters Halloween special, "The Halloween Door". A Halloween-hating MoralGuardian has created a machine that destroys all evidence of the holiday; Jack-O-Lanterns, costumes, candy, decorations, etc. Unbeknownst to him, doing so breaks an ancient contract with the spirits of the netherworld, who agreed to leave Earth if they would be remembered, which led to the holiday. The monsters return and cause havoc, and the Ghostbusters are powerless to stop them. Until a little girl offers to help them, revealing that she isn't afraid of the monsters. The Ghostbusters have her walk up to the lead {{kaiju}}, request candy, tell him he's funny, and demand a Halloween story. This reveals that the actual ''point'' of Halloween (teaching children not to be afraid) is still alive and well, and forces the monsters back into the netherworld.
* In the JusticeLeagueUnlimited ep "Patriot Act" a bunch of second-string BadassNormal heroes go up against a rogue general who shot himself up with SuperSerum to prove that superheroes/metahumans are a threat to normal people. When the heroes go down, the civilian population intervenes, informing the general that ''he's'' the only one in the battle who actually has super powers. "All right, I've become what I hate, I'll give you that," the villain says, putting down the car he was about to throw, and departs.

Done well, this can be a very moving finale. Done badly - which is, sadly, a [[SturgeonsTropes great deal easier]] - it comes across as a giant cop-out. Sometimes spoofed by having the monster giving up just to make the hero shut up.

** Amused by this, Flonne even joins in with her happy message of eternal love. The irony of the moment is that Laharl wouldn't have been impaired (as badly?) had Flonne NOT joined in. The monsters are just saying it, Flonne [[LoveFreak '''really''' believes it]].

** Amused by this, Flonne even joins in with her happy message of eternal love. The irony of the moment is that Laharl wouldn't have been impaired (as badly?) had Flonne NOT joined in.

* Happened to both of the Big Bads in ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch''. Gakuto ends up, dying in his collapsing castle (voluntary, to "right his wrongs") and Micheal accends to some kind of Angle-plane, along with the spirits of his fallen minions (who helped TalkingTheMonsterToDeath )

* In ''MassEffect'', you can talk your way out of a few fights using the Charm and Intimidate skills. You can even convince the BrainwashedAndCrazy Saren [[HeelRealization that siding with]] [[EldritchAbomination Sovereign]] will save nobody. [[spoiler:Though being convinced that Sovereign can regain control over his mind and body at any time, he pulls out his gun and shots himself in the head.]]

* In the VideoGame/NeverwinterNights community module The Bastard of Kosigan, your character gets to hold a conversation with your recently deceased father's ghost. Not forgiving him makes him take damage, but you can choose to forgive him completely and avoid the battle at the end.

* In ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', the final battle with Voldemort (you know, the one that was hyped up for the entire series?) consists of [[spoiler: about four or five pages of Harry and Voldemort talking to each other, then each throws one curse and the battle is over.]]

** This ended up getting subverted in the USA by the introduction of rules that remove the need to talk for hours to filibuster - a formal declaration of filibustering a bill is enough for it to count.

* Played for laughs in ''NarutoTheAbridgedSeries'' by the Third Hokage against his fight with Orochimaru. When confronted by reincarnated forms of the previous two Hokages, he performed one of his strongest techniques: "The Old Man Monologue Justu". No, seriously.

* In FlintTheTimeDetective, Flint or the historian-of-the-day does this to a Time Shifter, whenever they are transformed into their Con forms by Petrafina.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the canonical comics. Angel tries [[spoiler:telepathic spams of Happy Fred Memories to calm down Illyria, who had become depressed over trying to be like Fred and was squashing people. Doesn't quite work and things get much worse.]]

* Mocked in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', where Tea pretty much lobotomises an enemy with what she refers to as '[[ThePowerOfFriendship the mother of all friendship speeches]]'.
--> '''Johnny D''': (CreepyMonotone) Yes. Friendship is good. Must find friends.
--> '''Tea''': Brainwashing people is fun!
--> '''Yami''': Indeed Tea, it looks like we had more in common than I thought.
** Also parodied when Tea is dueling Mai Valentine and gives constant friendship speeches during nearly every sentence she says, which causes Mai to give up just to shut her up.

[[SubvertedTrope More cynically]], it moves the monster [[HoldingTheFloor just long enough for the hero's friends to open fire]], [[HeelFaceDoorSlam shuttering out]] that one chance of redemption...Or it doesn't work at all and just gives the monster some open spot to attack the hero.

[[SubvertedTrope More cynically]], it moves the monster [[HoldingTheFloor just long enough for the hero's friends to open fire.]]..Or it doesn't work at all and just gives the monster some open spot to attack the hero.

* Creator/AynRand has a knack for these in her novels, where the climax tends to involve a [[AuthorFilibuster lengthy philosophical rant]] against a corrupt society delivered by the protagonist. Howard Roark's comparatively short speech at his trial for the dynamiting of a housing project in ''TheFountainhead'' (around 8 pages) simply manages to nab him a verdict of not guilty. By contrast, John Galt's ''56 page'' radio address in ''AtlasShrugged'' ultimately leads to the collapse of human civilization.

** Dostoevsky is a tad more forgiving. The finale of ''TheBrothersKaramazov'' has two speeches, one by the prosecutor and the other by the defense attorney, which combined last only 54 pages. The author even [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on the length of the prosecutor's speech (31 of the 54 pages) by saying he was feeling particularly energetic that day.

* Mr. Satan (Hercule in the dub) does this to Majin Buu in ''Manga/DragonBall Z''. Unfortunately two hunters cause Buu to transform into a more evil form.

* Eddie literally does this to Blaine the Mono in Creator/StephenKing's ''[[DarkTower Wizard And Glass]]''.