Attention Whore: Difference between revisions

''Very'' much [[Truth in Television]]. When this occurs in [[Real Life]], it's called [[wikipedia:Histrionic Personality Disorder|Histrionic Personality Disorder]]. It's also a trait of [[wikipedia:Narcissistic personality disorder|Narcissistic Personality Disorder]].

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* Mt. Lady from ''[[My Hero Academia]]''. Straight from her first appearance in Chapter 1, it's obvious she's a "media glutton" in this line of work for the attention.

** Also true for her rival Midnight, a heroine who actually tried to start a trend of heroines who were self-confident enough to flaunt their looks with her own skimpy outfit. Didn't work - the government ended up legislating heroine-decency laws!

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

** Also, the Mimic, from earlier in the X-Men. This is about 90% of his motivation for screwing around with the X-Men, showing off.

** Emma Frost. She wears those [[Stripperific|skimpy, slutty outfits]] on purpose. Although it's also partially for psychological warfare against men, as she has claimed.

* [[The Avengers| Janet van Dyne, aka the Wasp]]. The reason she has the most [[Unlimited Wardrobe]] in comic books is not only to show off her beauty, but also her wealth and skill as a fashion designer.

* One of the reasons why the Riddler from ''[[Batman]]'' does what he does.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* The titular murder victim at center of James Ellroy's ''[[The Black Dahlia]]'' is characterized as the epitome of this trope (and pays the price for it).

* Carmelita Spats from ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]''. As well as Esmé Squalor and to some extent, Count Olaf. Naturally, Carmelita is adopted by Esme and Count Olaf in book eleven and thought of as "the daughter she never had".

* Gilderoy Lockhart from the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' series. Even after {{spoiler|he accidentally erased his own memory with Ron's broken wand}} he still thinks people want his autograph. Why? "I suspect it is simply my good looks!"

** The staff of the hospital seem to think Lockhart's penchant for autographs means he's recovering. That said, he's vaguely aware that some people think he's a big deal, he just has no idea why that might be. But he likes the attention (another good sign, according to the healers), so he doesn't really let it cost him any sleep.

* Joyce Reynolds from the [[Hercule Poirot]] novel ''Hallowe'en Party.''

** Mary as well, though she has more of an excuse. She's the least beautiful of the sisters, tries to be "accomplished" to make up for it, and thus never passes up an opportunity to show of her "accomplishments."

* ''[[The Idiot]]'': Ippolit Terentyev seems to be constantly seeking attention. Other characters think his main motivation is bitterness over the fact that other people can be happy while he's dying of tuberculosis. At one point, he interrupts a party in order to read aloud a letter he wrote—which turns out to be a suicide note. Upon finishing, he grabs a gun, points it as his head, and pulls the trigger. The gun doesn't fire and Ippolit is unhurt, which just leads more people to assume that he deliberately loaded the gun incorrectly, and that the entire incident was just a cry for attention.

* Misty Carpenter from ''[[The Identity Matrix]]'' is a ''literal'' attention whore: She's a prostitute who becomes a stripper to get more attention and an upgrade in her johns.

 

{{quote|'''Liz''': You're so insecure you get jealous of babies for their soft skin!

'''Jenna''': ''And'' how much attention they get. }}

{{quote|'''Jenna''': Oh, no. Someone's going to get more attention than me.}}

{{quote|'''Jenna''': Oh, don't be so dramatic. That's my thing and if you take it away from me, I will kill myself [[Logic Bomb|and then you]].}}

* Jane on ''[[Coupling]]''. When viewed through "subtext vision", all her speech registers as "Let's all talk about ''me!''" Oliver even reasons that Jane says weird things just to seem provocative, and probably isn't even really bisexual, if she were to be completely honest with herself.

* [[Sherlock]] also likes lots of attention, and in the first episode he clearly enjoys it when Watson tells him how fantastic his deduction are. Later he says of Moriarty that 'genius needs an audience', to which Watson gives a non-committal answer, because Sherlock likes an audience too.

 

* Subject of a song by That Handsome Devil, ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbENj2pN_mQ Powderbomb]'';

{{quote|''Guilt don't stop you anymore; Attention whore, attention whore''}}

* Deconstructed in "Save Me", by [[Poets of the Fall]]: the singer is developing self-destructive tendencies in his quest for attention. Lampshaded in the chorus:

{{quote|''Save me

 

* Snoopy from ''[[Peanuts]]'' occasionally. Many jokes involve him over-dramatizing something - like putting on a top hat and cloak simply to come into the house when Charlie Brown invites him in - and Charlie Brown saying, "Why does he always make a big deal about everything?"

 

* In the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' setting, the Reigar are an entire race who always have to be the center of attention. Their bizarre, exotic clothing is designed in a way to accent - and often emphasize - their tattoos, body piercings, and hairstyles, and they're also surrounded by a magical aura of light, the color changing to match their emotions. (Like blue for depressed, red for angry, or yellow for happy.) When they have to fight, they use magical plate armor made of gleaming, colored metal, always use fancy weapons (often of the "Exotic" classification), and their fighting style can best be described as the most elaborate type of [[Dance Battler]]. Even their minions help make them stand out, their helots being golem-like constructs made of gem-like crystal with animal-themes, and [[Bodyguard Babes|the lakshu]] being [[Statuesque Stunner]] warrior-women who use lesser versions of the aforementioned plate armor and weapons. Such grandiose appearance and style is natural, given their reputation as a [[Mad Artist|race obsessed with achieving perfection in all forms of art.]]

 

{{quote|'''Lise''' ''(entering, to Ragueneau):'' Here they come, your mud-bespattered friends!

'''First Poet''' ''(entering, to Ragueneau):'' Brother in art!...

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The third ''[[Phoenix Wright]]'' game features a character named [[Meaningful Name|Luke Atmey]]. Even better, his [[Leitmotif|theme song]] is titled ''"I Just Want Love..."'', and his Japanese name is ''Aiga Hoshiidake'' which translates to ''"I just want love"''.

* The [[King of All Cosmos]] qualifies. Also, the in-game profiles for a few of the [[Katamari Damacy|Royal Cousins]] label them this; mainly [[The Ace|Ace]], [[Everything's Better with Sparkles|Dipp]], [[Kawaiiko|Ichigo]] and [[Idol Singer|Peso]]. And considering the profiles are provided by the King himself...

* Asagi of the [[Disgaea]] series is a sympathetic example. She was supposed to be the star of her own game, Makai Wars, a follow up to [[Makai Kingdom]]. When it fell into [[Development Hell]], she was so distraught that she started showing up in ''other'' characters' games in an attempt to [[Medium Awareness|seize main character status for herself]]. By the fourth game, her desire is so great that it turns her into a [[Reality Warper]], and after joining the party one of her quotes is admitting that the despair has made her somewhat Bi-Polar.

* ''YOU'' are this if you play a MMORPG, and don't deny it. If you manage to unlock some cool new weapon, vehicle, armor set, or whatever, you're going to take it to the game's [[Hub Level]] just to show it off to everyone. Everyone does it.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

'''Monica:''' Well?!

'''Shelly:''' Oh, I was waiting to hear what the difference was. }}

 

* Being inspired by [[Daffy Duck]], [[The Nostalgia Critic]] is like this at times, as are the rest of his [[Channel Awesome]] co-stars.

* Internet [[Troll]]s.

{{quote|"Can you believe him? I can't believe Tom is still doing his stupid little show with that... fat boy and that... ugly chick! Just thinking about it makes me wanna barf! Tom, why aren't you spending that time with ''me''?"}}

* The "Annoying Facebook Girl" meme takes this quite literally, and is often used to make fun of people who post attention whore comments on Facebook, among other things.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Eddy from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''. {{spoiler| He has a [[Freudian Excuse]] though, as explained in [[The Movie]]}}.

* Angelica from ''[[Rugrats]]''.

* Bloo from ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', with many storylines resulting from Bloo getting jealous of the attention received by other characters, then doing something [[Jerkass]]-ish in response. Several parts of his dialogue imply that [[Freudian Excuse|his greatest fear is not being loved by anyone]], a fear which Mac is shown to share sometimes. He probably even created Bloo for the sole purpose of having that NOT happen to him. Of course, Bloo's tries to get the others to like him backfire more than just frequently.

* Most of the ''[[Drawn Together]]'' housemates fit this trope, but Toot Braunstein is far and away the worst of the bunch.

{{quote|'''Chris:''' (to the campers who are all staring dreamily at Justin) Hey! Stop looking at the gorgeous man-candy! Focus on more on ''[[It's All About Me|me]]!'' }}

* Stewie and Peter on ''[[Family Guy]]'', to hilarious extremes. Meg qualifies as a more desperate and lonely version of this, though she's always played as the [[Butt Monkey]].

* A possible tragic example of this trope is Clay Puppington, the self-centered father of ''[[Moral Orel]].'' This is especially apparent in the third season episode where we see his past. {{spoiler|He thought himself the center of his mother's world, and was distraught when he learned he had several older siblings who were miscarried due to his mother's blithe ignorance of proper activities to do while pregnant (knitting: yes. going on roller coasters and trampolines: no). This caused the accidental death of his mother when he pretended to have died and gave her a heart attack. When his father ignored him after this, he deliberately and repeatedly goaded the man into hitting him, and now with his own son associates beatings with affection.}}

{{quote|"Hey! Look at my head! Look at my head! Look at my head!"}}

* Kuzco from the ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperor's New Groove/School]]'' series. Even after his [[Character Development]] at the end of the movie, he still acts like a attention-loving jerk.

* This has become something of an [[Animal Stereotype]] for ducks.

** [[Donald Duck]] and his girlfriend, Daisy.

** Oddly enough, there's a level of [[Truth in Television]] to this, because this is how ducks actually behave. They're one of the few types of animals to walk right up to people without a hint of apprehension. They are noisy and always try to out-noise other ducks (and people). And when there are ducklings, the mother will parade them around everywhere.

** Aang too, sometimes. Though he really just naturally finds himself at the center of attention, being [[The Chosen One|the Avatar]] and all, and likes it there. Especially when it comes to [[Ship Tease|Katara.]]

{{quote|Hey Katara, look what I just learned to do with earthbending!}}

* Bill Dauterive in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' is this when wanting to have someone to interact with.

* Bianca in ''[[Beverly Hills Teens]]'' does everything she can to be on top, and have her way. But always loses to Larke.

{{quote|'''Dr. J. Loren Pryor:''' The way I see it, Bart, you crave attention. Am I right?

'''Bart:''' Hell, yes!

'''Pryor:''' The problem is, you don't care whether it's ''good'' attention, like getting good grades in school, or ''bad'' attention, like, oh say, turning your father into a jack-in-the-box.}}

* Allen in ''[[Allen Gregory]]'' is this in full spades. Everything he does always has to drawn attention to himself and everything has to be about him (he is only 7 years old!) His father, Richard, is even worse; if the attention isn't focused on him, he will ''make'' it be on him, regardless who it affects.

** Rarity spent pretty much all of the episode "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1/E16 Sonic Rainboom|Sonic Rainboom]]" attempting to [[Acquired Situational Narcissism|get more attention than her mystically-created butterfly wings already did]], culminating in her going too close to the Sun and doing an impression of an equine [[Icarus Allusion|Icarus]]. Pinkie Pie could also be accused of this, but she drifts closer to [[Genki Girl]].

* Quinn in ''[[Daria]]'' seems to enjoy being the center of attention a little too much.

* The Equalist promoter in ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' is said to be one, according to the official website.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Ego Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]