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An '''Invented Individual''' is a persona or imaginary person created by the protagonists who assumes a life of his own. Mr. Invisible soon becomes respected and popular and everybody's best friend. As pressure mounts his creators are forced to "kill" him, to the grief of all his admirers.
TropeThe trope was previously named for [[Oscar Wilde]]'s play, ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'', whose plot revolves around two of these: Algernon Moncrieff pretends he has a sickly friend in the country called Bunbury, in order to have an excuse to dash off at a moment's notice. His best friend Jack Worthing, meanwhile, has been pretending to be his own (nonexistent) rakehell younger brother Ernest (no "a," but still pronounced as "earnest") to allow him to indulge in the fleshpots of London whenever he visits the city. As Ernest he courts Algy's cousin Gwendolen, who claims to have always dreamt of marrying a man named "Ernest". Meanwhile, Algy pretends to be Ernest in order to woo Jack's nubile ward Cecily, who also is enraptured with the name. [[Hilarity Ensues]]. Just to top things off, the 2002 film adaptation ends with a funeral for the late but nonexistent Mr. Bunbury under the closing credits.
See also [[Snowball Lie]], which is a superset of this trope. Supertrope of [[Fake Twin Gambit]]. CompareIf somebody assumes the role of an existing Invented Individual, he's [[The Real Remington Steele]]. A [[Pen Name]] is a real life type of '''Invented Individual'''. Contrast [[Unperson]]. Compare [[Girlfriend in Canada]].
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