Believing Their Own Lies: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"I reject your reality and substitute my own!"''|'''[[Myth Busters|Adam Savage]]''', [[Older Than They Think|quoting]] ''[[The Dungeonmaster]]''}}

{{quote|''"It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else."''|'''[[~~U 2~~]]''', ''The Fly''. }}

{{quote|''"It's no secret that a liar won't believe anyone else."''|'''[[U2]]''', ''The Fly''. }}

A character, typically an antagonist, is known for for making some outrageous claims. Either [[Malicious Slander|vicious attacks against their foes]], [[A God Am I|claims of divinity]], or [[Miles Gloriosus|consistently twisting events so they look better]].

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== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==

* God Eneru in ''[[~~One Piece (Manga)|~~One Piece]]'' had serious [[A God Am I]] issues. While knowing that, in the Sky Islands, "God" is merely a title for an island's leader, Eneru's [[Shock and Awe|Lightning-based Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers]] combined with the near-omnipotence granted by his enhanced mind-reading Mantra ability convinced him that he truly ''was'' divine.

* God Eneru in ''[[One Piece]]'' had serious [[A God Am I]] issues. While knowing that, in the Sky Islands, "God" is merely a title for an island's leader, Eneru's [[Shock and Awe|Lightning-based Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers]] combined with the near-omnipotence granted by his enhanced mind-reading Mantra ability convinced him that he truly ''was'' divine.

** Buggy the Clown; breaking a bunch of prisoners out of their cells in order to facilitate his escape from [[The Alcatraz|Impel Down]] caused him to start being referred to as "The Great Buggy-sama". This hit a critical mass when it emerged {{spoiler|that he once served on the Pirate King's ship, alongside one of the current Four Emperors.}} As a result, he started thinking he had a chance of taking Whitebeard's head. To put that in perspective, Buggy is on the low end of ''One Piece's'' [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]], and Whitebeard is called [[World's Strongest Man]] with zero exaggeration.

* A villain of the week from the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' manga was a fake psychic (who physically made his prophecies of doom come true.) At the end, he's in a tight spot where only manifesting actual psychokinesis can save him, and he believes so hard he actually hallucinates that it's working.

* A villain of the week from the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' manga was a fake psychic (who physically made his prophecies of doom come true.) At the end, he's in a tight spot where only manifesting actual psychokinesis can save him, and he believes so hard he actually hallucinates that it's working.

* The manga-only arc Onisarashi-hen from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'' has Natsumi {{spoiler|stating to the police that her mother killed her grandmother, then, after hiding the body, stabbed her father in the back of the neck for being incompetent and useless, then killing herself by slashing her throat open with a knife that she tried to kill Natsumi with.}} In chapter 7, {{spoiler|we find out that Natsumi commited all of the murders; she killed her grandmother, then got her parents to help hide her, stabbed her father in the front of his neck, and then killed her mother after she called for help when Akira called the house.}} Didn't you think {{spoiler|that Natsumi being the only one getting covered in blood, even though she wasn't killing anyone, kind of wierd?}}

* The manga-only arc Onisarashi-hen from ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' has Natsumi {{spoiler|stating to the police that her mother killed her grandmother, then, after hiding the body, stabbed her father in the back of the neck for being incompetent and useless, then killing herself by slashing her throat open with a knife that she tried to kill Natsumi with.}} In chapter 7, {{spoiler|we find out that Natsumi commited all of the murders; she killed her grandmother, then got her parents to help hide her, stabbed her father in the front of his neck, and then killed her mother after she called for help when Akira called the house.}} Didn't you think {{spoiler|that Natsumi being the only one getting covered in blood, even though she wasn't killing anyone, kind of wierd?}}

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* In an [[Archie Comics]] story, Veronica tells Archie and Reggie that whoever scores the most baskets in the next school game gets to take her out that weekend. Reggie attempts to sabotage Archie by telling him that the best way to improve his basket-shooting is to criticize himself constantly and harshly while practicing. This goes Reggie's way until Coach Clayton sets Archie straight, telling him that he should do the opposite while practicing and build up his confidence. Archie indeed goes on to score the most baskets, leading Reggie to wonder whether there was something to his "advice" after all. The story ends with Reggie practicing while berating himself and surrounding himself with demotivational posters.

* [[Depending On the Writer]], sometimes Lex Luthor ''actually believes'' that he is fighting to protect humanity from [[Superman]]. Other more minor villains, like (the most recent version of) Sam Lane, may believe the same.

* [[Depending on the Writer]], sometimes Lex Luthor ''actually believes'' that he is fighting to protect humanity from [[Superman]]. Other more minor villains, like (the most recent version of) Sam Lane, may believe the same.

* ''Unknown Soldier'' from DC Comics, one of the versions. He is there when America liberates a Nazi concentration camp. He kind of snaps. Now he believes that whatever America does is right, no matter how horrible, because they once fought against the horrible Nazis.

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== [[Literature]] ==

* David Weber has done this in two of his series:

** Cordelia Ransom, from ''[[~~Honor Harrington (Literature)|~~Honor Harrington]]'', is the head of the Office of Public Information for the People's Republic of Haven. She is the one who manages the PRH's propaganda, and in ''In Enemy Hands'' Citizen Admiral Thomas Theisman is horrified to realize that she seems to genuinely believe every word she broadcasts, and we see that her fellow heads of state are very concerned that Ransom believes her own propaganda.

** Cordelia Ransom, from ''[[Honor Harrington]]'', is the head of the Office of Public Information for the People's Republic of Haven. She is the one who manages the PRH's propaganda, and in ''In Enemy Hands'' Citizen Admiral Thomas Theisman is horrified to realize that she seems to genuinely believe every word she broadcasts, and we see that her fellow heads of state are very concerned that Ransom believes her own propaganda.

*** The Masadans also believe things happened in a way that can't possible be true, all so that they can hold their women in less than slavery and continue to pursue their goal of destroying Grayson.

** Also from [[David Weber]] are the "Archangels" of the ''[[~~Safehold (Literature)|~~Safehold]]'' series, especially Langhorne and Bedard. They set up a [[Path of Inspiration]] specifically to keep humanity from developing technology again, in violation of the original plans for their mission, in part to satisfy their own megalomania. Pei Kau-Yung grew concerned that they had actually come to believe they were angels.

** Also from [[David Weber]] are the "Archangels" of the ''[[Safehold]]'' series, especially Langhorne and Bedard. They set up a [[Path of Inspiration]] specifically to keep humanity from developing technology again, in violation of the original plans for their mission, in part to satisfy their own megalomania. Pei Kau-Yung grew concerned that they had actually come to believe they were angels.

** And also from ''Safehold'', this is, and is lampshaded as, the single creepiest attribute of church leader [[Complete Monster|Zhaspahr Clyntahn]]--no matter what he does, he can come up with a justification for why it's the best course of action for everyone (and not just for him personally), often one that requires blatant disregard of facts he knows and doesn't know everyone else knows, and he seems to have compartmentalized his mind to such a degree that he can think himself innocent even as he knows he's guilty. {{spoiler|There's a scene in the third book where he and his fellows debate the proper course of action in response to a murder apparently committed by an enemy of the church. The others realize one by one that ''he'' paid the assassins, just so the enemy of the church would be blamed, but at any intimation the others make of this he's as indignant as if his conscience was spotless.}}

* In the [[Kurt Vonnegut]] novel ''[[Cats Cradle|Cat's Cradle]]'', Bokonon and Earl McCabe, rulers of the fictional West Indian country San Lorenzo, create a new religion, Bokononism, in order to improve their subjects' lives. To increase the new religion's appeal to the masses, McCabe [[Forbidden Fruit|outlaws its practice upon pain of death]] (while practicing it in secret), whereupon Bokonon "flees" into the jungle, a "wanted" man. Over time, however, the two men become so habituated to their respective roles in the charade that they go insane and become enemies for real.

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* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': Gollum really believes that the ring was supposed to be his birthday gift.

** Of course given that the ring {{spoiler|corrupts every being who wears it, given long enough}}, it's possible he can be excused.

* A minor character in the [[~~Agatha Christie (Creator)|~~Agatha Christie]] novel ''Cards On The Table''. This led to an acquaintance of hers being part of Mr Shaitana's collection of uncaught murderers, because she'd convinced herself he'd killed for her.

* A minor character in the [[Agatha Christie]] novel ''Cards On The Table''. This led to an acquaintance of hers being part of Mr Shaitana's collection of uncaught murderers, because she'd convinced herself he'd killed for her.

* Must be the case with Nozdryov in ''[[Dead Souls]]'', who tells a lot of bullshit, even in court. You'll have to read it to see how much he BSs.

* Because of their tendency to lose their old memories to [[The Fog of Ages]], the Marra of ''[[~~The Madness Season (Literature)|~~The Madness Season]]'' who live for too long under a particular cover story eventually wind up believing it, to the point that they actually think that they are mortal and can die.

* Because of their tendency to lose their old memories to [[The Fog of Ages]], the Marra of ''[[The Madness Season]]'' who live for too long under a particular cover story eventually wind up believing it, to the point that they actually think that they are mortal and can die.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The Balseraph demons from ''[[~~In Nomine (Tabletop Game)|~~In Nomine]]'' essentially have this as the core aspect of their character. As fallen Angels of Truth, they become Demons of Deception, capable of weaving lies that others end up believing without question. But to do this, a Balseraph must first convince ''himself'' of the lie, warping his own personal truth to reflect the lie. For example, a Balseraph trying to convince a bar bouncer that he's a VIP must first convince himself that, "Yes, I'm a VIP, and I've been at this club dozens of times. Why isn't that bouncer letting me in already?"

* The Balseraph demons from ''[[In Nomine]]'' essentially have this as the core aspect of their character. As fallen Angels of Truth, they become Demons of Deception, capable of weaving lies that others end up believing without question. But to do this, a Balseraph must first convince ''himself'' of the lie, warping his own personal truth to reflect the lie. For example, a Balseraph trying to convince a bar bouncer that he's a VIP must first convince himself that, "Yes, I'm a VIP, and I've been at this club dozens of times. Why isn't that bouncer letting me in already?"

== [[Video Games]] ==

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== [[Web Comics]] ==

* This was one of the critical flaws of ''[[Order of the Stick ~~(Webcomic)~~|Order of the Stick]]'s'' Miko Miyazaki. She was fundamentally incapable of seeing herself in the wrong, and would frequently convince herself of whatever she had to in order to keep it that way.

* This was one of the critical flaws of ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'s'' Miko Miyazaki. She was fundamentally incapable of seeing herself in the wrong, and would frequently convince herself of whatever she had to in order to keep it that way.

** Additionally, Ian Starshine (Haley's father) raised his little girl in a [[Wretched Hive]] and taught her to lie at ''every opportunity'' whenever asked about herself. He's so paranoid he's incapable of taking people at their word and will invent elaborate scenarios which justify his ridiculous position and seems to totally believe them.