History MortonsFork / Literature

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct place.
%%

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''_

* A non-villainous example in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', when Harry asks Vernon if he can go to the Quidditch World Cup. Vernon is adamant that he can't, until Harry points out he's writing a letter to Sirius, his godfather (who the Dursleys still believe to be a murderous psychopath). Vernon realizes if he stops Harry going to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry will write and tell Sirius, who'll think he's being mistreated; if he stops Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius will notice and think Harry is being mistreated anyway. He's forced to TakeAThirdOption and allow Harry to go. The [[TakeAThirdOption Third Option]] also qualifies. As the book put it:

* The Creator/FranzKafka short story ''Literature/TheTrial'' involves this. The protagonist's denial of guilt is taken as a guilty plea, and spawned the related concept of a "Kafka trap-" [[AbominationAccusationAttack Only a traitor]] [[OnlyBadGuysCallTheirLawyers would plead innocent of treason]] (or whatever he was accused of, [[TheUnReveal we never find out]]).

* The Creator/FranzKafka short story ''Literature/TheTrial'' involves this. The protagonist denial of guilt is taken as a guilty plea, and spawned the related concept of a "Kafka trap-" [[AbominationAccusationAttack Only a traitor]] [[OnlyBadGuysCallTheirLawyers would plead innocent of treason]] (or whatever he was accused of, [[TheUnReveal we never find out]]).

* The Creator/FranzKafka short story ''Literature/TheTrial'' involves this. The protagonist denial of guilt is taken as a guilty plea, and spawned the related concept of a "Kafka trap-" only [[AbominationAccusationAttack a traitor]] [[OnlyBadGuysCallTheirLawyers would plead innocent of treason]].

* The Creator/FranzKafka short story ''Literature/TheTrial'' involves this. The protagonist denial of guilt is taken as a guilty plea, and spawned the related concept of a "Kafka trap."

* A non-villainous example in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', when Harry asks Vernon to go to the Quidditch World Cup. Vernon is adamant that he can't, until Harry points out he's writing a letter to Sirius, his godfather (who the Dursleys still believe to be a murderous psychopath). Vernon realizes if he stops Harry going to the Quidditch World Cup, Harry will write and tell Sirius, who'll think he's being mistreated; if he stops Harry writing to Sirius, Sirius will notice and think Harry is being mistreated anyway. He's forced to TakeAThirdOption and allow Harry to go. The [[TakeAThirdOption Third Option]] also qualifies. As the book put it:

** Likewise, in ''Pyramids'', the late Pharaoh's favorite handmaiden [[spoiler:and daughter]] Ptraci is imprisoned for refusing to take poison and accompany him in death. Taking the poison is, explicitly, not mandatory, but it is considered a great honor. And refusing such an honor is highly offensive and worthy of punishment. But it's not mandatory. This makes sense to everyone except [[OnlySaneMan the protagonist]].

* At the end of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', the Head Gamemaker (Seneca Crane) can either let two tributes win, or let them commit suicide and have no victor at all. Either way, he basically sealed his fate when he introduced that "two tributes can win if from the same district" rule change in the first place. And the rule in question itself was created as a BaitAndSwitch to set up another Morton's Fork. By tricking Katniss and Peeta into thinking they could both win, then [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem changing the rules back at the last minute]], each of them has to choose between dying or living with the guilt of murdering a friend for the entertainment of the bastard who put them up to it. Katniss figures out how to TakeAThirdOption.

** Ned Stark (and his whole family) was always going to get screwed by the start of a civil war, whatever move he made: too many other parties were wanting to spark one off, and he was a handy trigger on legs. Had he tried to turn Robert's offer down to stay North, Robert would have been faced with a rebellion in Court if he didn't try to take "the traitor in the North" down a few pegs. Yet, leaving the North to do the King's bidding ''still'' wound up making "traitors" out of the Starks. And, had Catelyn stayed behind with Bran and Rickon with convincing excuses, war would still have found her, with the others very likely dead, captured and/or married in unions disadvantageous to House Stark.

** Note to anybody either defending or besieging Winterfell at any point: win, lose or draw... it's going to ''suck'' (almost all sieges are depicted as miserable to suffer through, but Winterfell adds "large to guard, solidly built, a tricky position and a ''horribly'' unforgiving climate" into the mix). Your plans won't work as planned. Almost everybody involved is doomed to suffer, no matter what moves you try to make. And, if you're not a Stark, the North ''won't'' take kindly to you trying to either rule from there or hold up in it, however nice or nasty you try to play it. To the North, Winterfell is of the Starks, and the Starks are of it -- and, nothing but the end of both will change that attitude. It's explicitly not your usual "take the capital; rule the region" scenario, however tempting it is to make that assumption.

* In ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'', Lief is challenged to make a single statement. If the guard judges it to be true, he throws Lief over a cliff. If it's false, the guard beheads him. [[spoiler:Thanks to some quick thinking, he's able to beat the question by saying "[[LogicBomb My head will be cut off]]."]] And in ''Deltora Quest 3'', the [[spoiler: Four Sisters are revealed to be this. If they're left alive, the lands would die slowly of famine. If they're destroyed, some thing even worse, the Grey Tide, poisons and covers the land, making it a dead plain. Fortunately, the dragons are able to destroy the Grey Tide]].

'''Michael Wenton-Weakes''': ''[...]'' Well, I am your son, but I don’t see...\\

* In Literature/Prey, this is how Jack defeats the Nano bots infecting his wife and colleagues. He spikes the sprinkler system with a phage that is fatal to to Nano bots. Realizing this, Nano-Ricky disables the plants safety system. However Jack anticipated this and had his friend Mae fill the assembly line with the phage where it rapidly reproduces, causing the line to overheat. If infected-Ricky and infected-Julia don't turn on the safety system the assembly line will burst, filling the lab with the phage. If they turn it on, the phage in the sprinklers will destroy them. The infected-team, who are now doomed either way, choose to re-activate the safety network and get drenched with the phage.

** Note to anybody either defending or besieging Winterfell at any point: win, lose or draw... it's going to ''suck'' (almost all sieges are depicted as miserable to suffer through, but Winterfell adds "large to guard, solidly built, a tricky possition and a ''horribly'' unforgiving climate" into the mix). Your plans won't work as planned. Almost everybody involved is doomed to suffer, no matter what moves you try to make. And, if you're not a Stark, the North ''won't'' take kindly to you trying to either rule from there or hold up in it, however nice or nasty you try to play it. To the North, Winterfell is of the Starks, and the Starks are of it -- and, nothing but the end of both will change that attitude. It's explicitly not your usual "take the capital; rule the region" scenario, however tempting it is to make that assumption.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', Khiron asks to be exposed to the sea serpents of their home world: if they eat him, he is acquitted and [[DueToTheDead will be mourned]], and if they refuse, his fellow Space Marines will know he is tainted and execute him. He wants to GetItOverWith, as the evidence against him is very strong. Fortunately, new evidence turns up in time to rescue him. This is only Morton's Fork due to ValuesDissonance. To the reader, the outcome is equally bad either way (death). The Adeptus Astartes, however, are ''extremely'' honor-conscious; a fatal acquittal is a FAR better fate in their eyes than being seen as tainted.

* ''Literature/Magic20'': In the third book, ''An Unwelcome Quest'', Martin's group encounters AI constructs that resemble Martin's girlfriend, Gwen, but made sexier and more flirtatious. After the encounter, Gwen asks if Martin found them attractive. He correctly points out that there's no correct answer. If he says no, then he's obviously lying, because they look like Gwen and he finds Gwen attractive, and thus she'll be mad at him for lying. If he says yes, he's being truthful, again, because he already finds Gwen attractive, but she'll be mad anyway for finding sexier versions of herself attractive. Even this third option doesn't make her happy, but she at least drops the topic.

** ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'': Several religions in Ankh-Morpork practice human sacrifice, although the laws of the city hold that they can only sacrifice volunteers or those guilty of crimes against the religion. Such as refusing to volunteer.

** Moist discovers that Vetinari has trapped him in one in ''Discworld/GoingPostal''. He is rescued from being hanged, and offered the job of refurbishing the city's post office. If he refuses the job, he dies (the door he's told to leave by has no floor beyond). If he flees, he will die as a [[ImplacableMan Golem]] is his parole officer, and will bring him back to face justice. If he reveals his identity he will die, as that man was supposed to be hanged. So just do the job, right? Well, the last few people assigned to it have all died under mysterious circumstances, and the reason Moist is given it is that he's expendable. Luckily he's also good at [[TakeAThirdOption finding all the angles]]...

* ''The Lady or the Tiger'', by Frank R. Stockton. A young man and a barbarian princess, the only daughter of the king, fall in love. Since this is StarCrossedLovers, specifically Forbidden Love, the young man is condemned to the possibility of gruesome death in the arena: He must choose between two doors. Behind one is a hungry tiger, and behind the other is a beautiful woman whom he must marry. When he looks to the barbarian princess (who knows which door holds which) for a hint, she faces a Morton's Fork, since whether her lover is killed or given to a hated rival, either way she will lose him. Although she chooses a door at the end of the story, [[TheUnreveal we never find out what was behind it]].

* At one point in ''Literature/WhatTheHellDidIJustReadANovelOfCosmicHorror'', (the third book in the ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'' series) [[ActionDad Ted Knoll]] storms a [[TheMenInBlack NON facility]] and gets the female NON Agent at gunpoint to get his daughter back. Then, [[UnreliableNarrator at least according to John's version of events]], Ted reveals that he was an interrogator during his time in [[SemperFi the Marines]], and tells the NON agent that he's going to ask her a series of questions, and he will shoot her immediately if she lies. Through a masterful combination of ExactWords and taking advantage of the fact that Ted has some big misconceptions about what is going on, the NON agent manages to answer them all truthfully, (sometimes only technically or through a generous helping of LoopholeAbuse) until they get to the very last question: will the agency keep coming after his daughter? If she says no, she'll be lying, and he'll shoot her. If she tells the truth and says yes, she'll be admitting that she's going to attempt to take away his daughter, (because the daughter is [[spoiler:actually a parasite from another dimension that has planted FakeMemories in Ted's head]]) and Ted will shoot her because she's a threat to his child. The agent is painfully aware of this, gathers herself and tries to say yes but quickly explain why to Ted. [[KilledMidSentence He shoots her before she can more than a few words out]]. [[spoiler:Fortunately for her, DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist for NON agents.]]

** He tries to refuse again when she asks for a favor in ''Small Favor'', and this time she doesn't even bother with the pretense: she explicitly says that if he declines, he will die. [[spoiler: She doesn't say that she'll be the one to kill him, however.]]

* ''Literature/AnnoDracula 1899: One Thousand Monsters'' features a version of Kuchisake-onna (see Folklore section). As with the original, she asks her victims if she's pretty, and then, regardless of the answer, gives them a GlasgowGrin like hers. However, in this case, the reason she attacks when you say "yes" is because she knows you're lying; the [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] turns out to be to say "yes" ''and mean it''.

* In ''LightNovel/CookingWithWildGame'', a (drunk) Ai Fa accuses Asuta of flirting with married women. When he protests that he didn't, she accuses him of flirting with unmarried women [[note]]also a bad thing, because they tacitly understand he's courting her, and her culture does not approve of womanizing[[/note]].

* Literature/{{Discworld}}
** In ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' several religions in Ankh-Morpork practice human sacrifice, although the laws of the city hold that they can only sacrifice volunteers or those guilty of crimes against the religion. Such as refusing to volunteer.