Time where somebody decides that Honesty Is the Best Policy and that telling the truth won't ruin their plans in Literature.
- The Acts of Caine: The page quote comes at the end of the Xanatos Gambit the protagonist spent all of Caine Black Knife finagling into place. Caine has just royally screwed the Board's plans up. Their two choices are: reward him for sabotage and murder of one of their number by giving him a total pardon and more authority and free rein than they gave to the guys sent out to catch him, or permanently lose access to Overworld and possibly risk Overworld's most powerful empire marching over a portal with dragons and warmages to blast Earth into submission. Caine is happy to unveil all the details because he's not afraid to die and they have no alternatives.
- Moist von Lipwig of Discworld pulls this off in Making Money, utterly derailing a court case against him by publicly admitting that he is a former con man who was recruited by the Patrician. It throws off the otherwise unflappable 351-year-old zombie lawyer questioning him.
- In Dragon Bones, Ward does this several times. When forced to explain the presence of Oreg, who has a strong resemblance to the Hurog family, he tells people Oreg is a ... "cousin", the known euphemism for "bastard offspring". This is true; Oreg is indeed a bastard son ... of a long-dead ancestor, generations ago. Ward's strategy for lying is to always stay as close to the truth as possible. Another example: When he asks for the help of a nobleman, Ward mentions that he needs to be absolutely honest, as this particular noble hates liars, and wouldn't help him if he lied. He knows it is better to admit he had been Obfuscating Stupidity than to continue doing it, and risk being caught.
- Very dark example in No Country for Old Men with Anton Chigurh who prides himself on being 100% honest in all his dealings (as he puts it, he “models himself after God”). This extends to things like shooting a hotel clerk to get the registry because he refuses to lie about being a police officer, or murdering a dead man’s widow for no other reason than that he’d threatened to kill her earlier and not doing so would be going back on his word.
- This crops up in several ways in a A Song of Ice and Fire.
- Bronn makes his living (and keeps himself alive) basically by being Mr Honest — if, occasionally, Mr Blunt, too. He's totally upfront about his skills, about what he will do (it's a long list), what he won't do (quite short, but only if the money is good), what he has done (when it becomes relevant) and, only very occasionally, who he has worked for (only if they're in no position to care that he's outed them or if it's a matter of easily accessible record). He won't go into details, though, if he doesn't have to; and, says as much. Usually politely. He's also upfront about being Only in It for the Money and when/where/how he'll pull the contract on his end... And, as a result, no hard feelings -- which means he's unlikely to get a sword to the face from, say, a disappointed ex-employer with a disproportionate grudge.
- The Lannisters, as a group, tend towards owning what they do and who they are, so they use this tactic in preference to many others. Also, the truth is often a more potent weapon than outright lies or being Metaphorically True precisely because it can be verified. Jaime and Tyrion, in particular, are great advocates of saying exactly what they know and what they have done (well, most of the time) when it'll serve them to do so. Both boys learned from Dad, although Tywin can be rather more parsimonious with what he shares and with whom. Cersei... not quite so much: she can be a bit hampered by not always seeing why she should come totally clean (particularly as she has a lot of very dangerous dirty linen).
- The Golden Company has this as a basic strategy: because they're known to be exceedingly honest, the very rare occasions they do attack an ex-employer, or otherwise break a contract, everybody in both Westeros and Essos knows for absolutely certain that either A) said (stupid) employer tried to screw them over in some way (and thus had their inevitable, embarrassingly thorough curbstomp coming) or B) they are following a Blackfyre into a battle for the Iron Throne on very short notice (sorry, Boss: the discretionary clause is right there), so when they C) seemingly break their pattern by ditching Myr's standing contract for no discernible reason and then start hitting the Stormlands on behalf of an unknown quantity in a time without any significant Blackfyre inheritors/ pretenders around to speak of, it proves the rule thanks to throwing a lot of uncertainty into the mix for both bystanders and those in the middle of it.
- In Warrior Cats, often when a cat is caught doing something "wrong", they tell their leader the truth, since they typically were doing it for a good reason and the leader will understand (for instance, when Fireheart and Graystripe were caught bringing prey to a starving enemy Clan).
- Every last Aes Sedai in The Wheel of Time, no matter her individual personality or Ajah, can and will pounce with this... when she's absolutely certain it'll get the people she's being painfully honest at to do what she wants because they've otherwise been boxed in. However, beware some of them mixing Exact Words, or being Metaphorically True, for all those who are properly sworn to the Oath Rod Cannot Tell a Lie, not all Aes Sedai necessarily come all the way totally, 100% honestly honest all the time. Even if they think they are.
- In the Xanth, by Piers Anthony, demons are infamous, not for being liars, but for being 100% honest at all times. They may not tell you the whole truth, but they'll never just make something up, because a single truth will often be far more devastating than a thousand lies.
