It's All About Me: Difference between revisions

Line 46:

** The primary antagonist of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]] can be seen as an example as well. {{spoiler|Despite trying to pass herself off as a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], it is pretty obvious that Dante is only motivated by her own selfish desires. She has ruined countless lives for the sake of her own immortality and tries to justify it by saying that humans should accept that life isn't fair. Of course, once ''her'' plans backfire in her face, she throws a hissy fit.}}

*** The anime version of Envy is as bad or worse than its original counterpart. A [[Beta Test Baddie]] and textbook case of [[The Resenter]], he'll kill anyone he meets for daring to have it better than he does.

* Kirino from ''[[Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai]]'' seems to believe that the world revolve around her navel, and that's it's up to others to make it so she gets her way, and that they should be berated about it and thankful to her.

* Kirino from ''[[Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai!]]'' seems to believe that the world revolve around her navel, and that's it's up to others to make it so she gets her way, and that they should be berated about it and thankful to her.

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Why [[Big Bad]] Dr. Hell wants to [[Take Over the World]]? Because when HE was a child and young man everybody abused HIM and nobody respected HIM or acknowledged HIS genius, and HE considers the whole humanity must pay for it -even though most of the people tormented him when he was a child would be old or dead when the series began- and [[Kneel Before Zod|kneel before HIM]]. Also, when he attended college, he befriended a Japanese exchange student called Juzo Kabuto (who looooong aafter would create Mazinger-Z) and fell in love with another exchange student named Yumiko. When he found out they were engaged, he convinced himself they pretended to be his friends while planning to backstab him. He genuinely believed EVERYBODY was out to get him (long before they WERE).

* In ''[[Spirited Away]]'', after Chihiro has pried a job out of Yubaba, over relentless and vicious attempts to intimidate her out of asking, Yubaba laments her promise to employ anyone who asked for a job: it makes her have to be so nice all the time, and she really hates that.

Line 77:

* When May Wong walks into [[Kaleido Star|Kaleido Stage]] in the second season, she's amazed and pissed off that no one but her sees how wonderful and perfect she is and haven't handed her every lead roll over the current star who worked for everything she has. [[Break the Haughty|She gets better]], but she'll really make you want to jam your thumbs in your eyes for about a dozen episodes.

** Leon is the same, in a subtler and colder way. He believes his skill makes him so important he demands script changes and special treatment at the drop of a hat. {{spoiler|It turns out he even puts his costars out of commission when he decides they are not worthy of being his partner. If he deems them unworthy, there's no point in them ever continuing to perform. And he actually does that ''to May herself'', seriously injuring her shoulder... which is actually the first step to her [[Character Development]] and change of attitude. It'll take Leon WAY more time to defrost.}} [[Double Standard|But since he's a white haired pretty boy, fangirls aren't half as hard on him as they are on May.]]

* [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Miyu Greer]] and [[Enfante Terrible|Alyssa Searrs]] from ''[[~~Mai~~-HiME]]'' have a variation of this, in that they believe it's all about ''them'': they believe that no bond could possibly be stronger than the one they share with each other, and as a consequence of this, they have no problem with hurting other people for the sake of their syndicate's [[Utopia Justifies the Means]] plans. When ''they'' are the ones being wronged, though, they lament the injustice of it all.

* [[Ridiculously Human Robot|Miyu Greer]] and [[Enfante Terrible|Alyssa Searrs]] from ''[[My-HiME]]'' have a variation of this, in that they believe it's all about ''them'': they believe that no bond could possibly be stronger than the one they share with each other, and as a consequence of this, they have no problem with hurting other people for the sake of their syndicate's [[Utopia Justifies the Means]] plans. When ''they'' are the ones being wronged, though, they lament the injustice of it all.

** Nao is also purely motivated by self-interest in both the manga and anime. In the anime, she uses her powers to exact revenge on men for {{spoiler|the robbery that killed her father and left her mother comatose}}, and later, on those who she blames for {{spoiler|her [[Eye Scream|losing her eye]].}} In the manga, she mainly goes along with the fight against the Orphans so that she can break rules without being held accountable.

* Griffith from [[Berserk]] did initially seem to care at least a bit about his group of mercenaries, particularly Caska and Guts, and generally treats the other members kindly enough, but eventually, achieving his dream is the only thing he cares about, so much so that {{spoiler|he sacrifices the entire Band of the Hawk to a group of demons, in order to become one himself. The first thing he does with his newfound power and body is rape Casca in front of Guts, presumably just to spite him for daring to leave him. Never mind that Guts had fairly good reasons for doing so, Griffith just didn't understand, or if he did, didn't care.}}

Line 150:

** The villain of ''Duty Calls'' turns out to be like this. He actually complains that, in the face of a [[Horde of Alien Locusts|tyranid]] attack, when he ''shot'' some civilians for ''trying to get their children onto his escape vessel'', the others "got quite abusive". Cain observes that this must have been distressing for him, and he [[Sarcasm Failure|appreciates the sympathy]].

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] novel ''First Only'', {{spoiler|Flense}} attacks Gaunt for killing his father, but his complaints are that he, personally, lost his estate and family name, and had to rise up in the world like any common trooper.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer ~~40000~~]] [[Ultramarines (novel)|Ultramarines]] novel ''Nightbringer'', Taloun complains to the [[Space Marine]] Uriel that he has lost thousands of man-hours of production owing to bombs. Uriel wonders how many men he had lost, and whether he cared.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer 40,000]] [[Ultramarines (novel)|Ultramarines]] novel ''Nightbringer'', Taloun complains to the [[Space Marine]] Uriel that he has lost thousands of man-hours of production owing to bombs. Uriel wonders how many men he had lost, and whether he cared.

** This is 40k. Those men only mattered to the Imperium inasmuch as they work for its defense; the loss of a million men is considered a good trade if it will keep a manufacturing planet for one more day. The loss of 20 men at one factory is irrelevant next to the loss of the thousands of man-hours of munitions they would have built.

* Objectivist hero [[Sword of Truth|Richard Rahl]] becomes like this about mid-way through the series, all while apparently wearing a massive set of irony blinders.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer ~~40000~~]] [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Fulgrim'', Braxton is enraged that the primarch keeps him waiting, because keeping people waiting is what he does to other people, to demonstrate his superior status.

* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer 40,000]] [[Horus Heresy]] novel ''Fulgrim'', Braxton is enraged that the primarch keeps him waiting, because keeping people waiting is what he does to other people, to demonstrate his superior status.

* This is basically [[Twilight (novel)|Bella Swan]]'s mindset. Something to effect of justified since [[Black Hole Sue|everything really does revolve around her]]. It's only not all about her when it's about her and Edward together. And [[Stalking Is Love|Edward]] acts just the same.

** A particularly bad example is in ''Breaking Dawn''. Throughout the series, Bella is terrified of vampires who drink human blood and thinks that the Cullens are great because they don't. When human-killing vampires show up to do favors for her though, she's just peachy with them. (Yes, there's one scene where she's mildly bothered that her guests are ''committing murder'', but that's it).

Line 164:

* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld/Making Money|Making Money]]'', Pucci Lavish. It would be inaccurate to say that she confesses {{spoiler|at the climax}} -- "confessing" implies admitting to doing ''wrong''. She's considerably closer to bragging.

** Tiffany Aching of ''[[Discworld/The Wee Free Men|The Wee Free Men]]'' is a heroic example. [[The Fair Folk]] kidnapped ''her'' obnoxious baby brother and are invading ''her'' country, and now [[It's Personal]]. It's hinted that "turning selfishness into a weapon" like this is a major source of power for witches.

* The Gentleman with the thistle-down hair in Susanna Clarke's ''[[Jonathan Strange ~~and~~ Mr. Norrell]]''. He is convinced he is a great friend of Stephan Black despite his complete obliviousness to Black's feelings, and as a [[Fisher King]], he has turned his land into a sad and dismal place, a derelict manor on a windswept moor surrounded by a dark leafless wood, with the remains of ancient battles rotting outside. [[The Fair Folk|The fairy inhabitants]] spend their time in endless balls, they have "idled away their days in pointless pleasures and in celebrations of past cruelties." {{spoiler|[[Karmic Death|Fittingly enough]], he ends up dying at Stephan Black's hands, for what he thought was a favor.}}

* The Gentleman with the thistle-down hair in Susanna Clarke's ''[[Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell]]''. He is convinced he is a great friend of Stephan Black despite his complete obliviousness to Black's feelings, and as a [[Fisher King]], he has turned his land into a sad and dismal place, a derelict manor on a windswept moor surrounded by a dark leafless wood, with the remains of ancient battles rotting outside. [[The Fair Folk|The fairy inhabitants]] spend their time in endless balls, they have "idled away their days in pointless pleasures and in celebrations of past cruelties." {{spoiler|[[Karmic Death|Fittingly enough]], he ends up dying at Stephan Black's hands, for what he thought was a favor.}}

* In ''[[Honor Harrington]]'', a subordinate muses on [[Aristocrats Are Evil]] poster-boy Pavel Young as she betrays him:

{{quote|''No one else was quite real to Pavel Young. That was especially true for women, but it applied to everyone else around him, as well. He lived in a universe of cardboard cutouts, of human-shaped ''things'' provided solely for his use. He had no sense of them as people who might resent him -- or, indeed, who had any ''right'' to resent him -- and he was too busy doing things to them to even consider what they might do to him if they got the chance.''}}

Line 184:

** Heck, this trope is pretty much the entire ''theme'' of ''[[The Great Gatsby]]''. During {{spoiler|Gatsby's funeral}}, Nick is disgusted to see that only one person shows up. Keep in mind that Gatsby spent a lot of money throwing lavish parties, which a lot of people attended and enjoyed, yet only one cared enough to show up. A particularly nasty bit had one of Gatsby's regular guests call up the mansion. Upon hearing about {{spoiler|the funeral}} and being asked if he would attend, the guest casually states that he ''might'', but he wasn't even aware that {{spoiler|Gatsby had died}} and just wanted to ask if he could get a pair of shoes that he'd left over there.

* In the [[Novelization]] of ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'', part of the reason Anakin killed [[Morality Pet|his wife]] was because he refused to see her actions, and Obi-Wan stowing away in her ship, as anything but an attack on him. Waking up in the suit, he realizes that he was thinking with this trope. But it's far too late to turn back; even ''he'' knows he's crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]].

{{quote|You killed her because, finally, when you ''could'' have saved her, when you could have gone ''away'' with her, when you could have been thinking about ''her'', you were thinking about ''yourself''...

It is in this blazing moment that you finally understand the trap of [[The Dark Side]], [[Being Evil Sucks|the final cruelty of the Sith]] --

Because [[We Can Rebuild Him|now]] your ''self'' [[Fate Worse Than Death|is all you will ever have]]. }}

* Heather Babcock from [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''The Mirror Crack'd'' is a non-villainous example of this. She isn't mean, and actually goes out of her way to do nice things for other people, like rescuing [[Miss Marple]] after a nasty fall or taking in a homeless family. However, she is incapable of recognizing that her actions affect other people or that what something means to her might not be the same for other people involved. {{spoiler|The primary example of this was that when she got sick, she didn't recognize that the doctor's instructions to "Stay in bed and don't go out to meet people" might not have been just for her benefit...}}

Line 301:

* [[Andy Capp]] is about as bad in this respect, as if it isn't bad enough he leeches off everyone else. There's a [[Meaningful Name|reason]] why [[Punny Name|his name sounds like "handicap"]].

* [[Garfield]]. Just Garfield.

{{quote|'''[[Butt Monkey|Jon]]''': Do you have ANY idea what I have to put up with because of you!?

'''[[Cats Are Mean|Garfield]]''': *[[Beat Panel|thinks]]* No, I've never thought of that before. }}

* Lucy van Pelt from ''[[Peanuts]]'', who like Calvin has the excuse that she's a child. She's nothing but cruel to the other kids, yet expect them to treat her like a queen at all times. If she does something wrong, than it's [[Never My Fault]]. If there's a grievance against her, either real or perceived and usually perceived, she responds with a [[Megaton Punch]].

Line 321:

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* The entire Beholder race from ''[[Dungeons ~~and~~ Dragons]]'', combined with a heaping helping of [[Fantastic Racism]]. A typical Beholder's world view: It is the pinnacle of creation and the perfect reflection of the Great Mother that spawned their race. Other Beholders of the same breed are tolerable inferiors who have their uses. Beholders of other breeds are disgusting abominations against nature that must be destroyed on sight. Anything that's not an Beholder is barely worth considering—either flies to be swatted when they become a nuisance, or potential slaves. For added fun, although the difference between Beholder breeds is sometimes quite large, other times it can be things so minuscule that nothing that's not a Beholder would even notice. The Beholder with slightly bumpier skin or a different number of teeth is as much a hated inferior as the one who has flame-based powers instead of the standard Beholder suite or has a differing number of eyestalks.

* The entire Beholder race from ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', combined with a heaping helping of [[Fantastic Racism]]. A typical Beholder's world view: It is the pinnacle of creation and the perfect reflection of the Great Mother that spawned their race. Other Beholders of the same breed are tolerable inferiors who have their uses. Beholders of other breeds are disgusting abominations against nature that must be destroyed on sight. Anything that's not an Beholder is barely worth considering—either flies to be swatted when they become a nuisance, or potential slaves. For added fun, although the difference between Beholder breeds is sometimes quite large, other times it can be things so minuscule that nothing that's not a Beholder would even notice. The Beholder with slightly bumpier skin or a different number of teeth is as much a hated inferior as the one who has flame-based powers instead of the standard Beholder suite or has a differing number of eyestalks.

** In fact, at least one splat claims that ''every single Beholder'' is technically its own breed, and even siblings will soon attempt to kill each other over, say, a particular spot or mole.

* This is the primary characteristic of the [[Magic: The Gathering|colour Black]]. Mind you, [[Dark Is Not Evil|not every Black character is evil]], but all are selfish.

** [[Significant Anagram|Liliana Vess]] is the most extreme of this. Even Sorin Markov feels repsonsibility to the people of Zendikar.

* The Eldar of ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~]]'' will go to ''any'' lengths to preserve their dwindling race. To them, the lives of billions of other races aren't nearly as valuable as a single Eldar. Their situation is so dire (they are the favorite prey of the Slaanesh, the Chaos God of Squick that ''they created'') and their numbers so few that this extremely ruthless attitude is the only way they can delay their extinction.

* The Eldar of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' will go to ''any'' lengths to preserve their dwindling race. To them, the lives of billions of other races aren't nearly as valuable as a single Eldar. Their situation is so dire (they are the favorite prey of the Slaanesh, the Chaos God of Squick that ''they created'') and their numbers so few that this extremely ruthless attitude is the only way they can delay their extinction.

* Malfeas in ''[[Exalted]]'' is a particularly impressive example. The Demon City has to suffer a psychic fracture to comprehend that other people might exist independent of His goals and desires.

{{quote|''Only in the grip of true madness can Malfeas consider the terrible possibility that the universe might contain more perspectives than his own.''}}

Line 372:

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' Garrosh demonstrates this sometimes. Baine Bloodhoof calls him out on the fact that his chief concern over {{spoiler|killing Baine's father}} appears to be that he ''lost honor'' by killing him an unknowingly poisoned weapon.

* The [[Villain Protagonist|Boss]] (player character) after he stops being a mute from ''[[Saints Row]]'' ''2'' onwards is so much full of himself(or herself) that he immediately starts a full-scale war against basically anyone who offers him a small share.

* [[Troll|Terumi]] [[Ax Crazy|Yuuki]]/[[Faux Affably Evil|Hazama]] from ''[[~~Blaz Blue~~]]'' shows great case in this. So what if he has to be hated in order to exist? [[Complete Monster|He enjoys the suffering he has to inflict on people]] in order to ensure that they hate him, and he often goes out of his way to [[Break the Cutie]] with [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|The Reason You Suck Speeches]], [[Hannibal Lecture]]s and general [[Mind Rape]] [[For the Evulz|for the simple sadistic enjoyment of doing it]]. His belief is that [[Nietzsche Wannabe|the whole world is a lie, the only truth is despair]] and he's going to show it to the world, whether they like it or not. The problem: Nobody else thinks like that except him. The non-problem: He may be powerful and cunning enough to show it, anyway.

* [[Troll|Terumi]] [[Ax Crazy|Yuuki]]/[[Faux Affably Evil|Hazama]] from ''[[BlazBlue]]'' shows great case in this. So what if he has to be hated in order to exist? [[Complete Monster|He enjoys the suffering he has to inflict on people]] in order to ensure that they hate him, and he often goes out of his way to [[Break the Cutie]] with [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|The Reason You Suck Speeches]], [[Hannibal Lecture]]s and general [[Mind Rape]] [[For the Evulz|for the simple sadistic enjoyment of doing it]]. His belief is that [[Nietzsche Wannabe|the whole world is a lie, the only truth is despair]] and he's going to show it to the world, whether they like it or not. The problem: Nobody else thinks like that except him. The non-problem: He may be powerful and cunning enough to show it, anyway.

* In [[Dwarf Fortress]], the two most popular topics for necromancers to write about seem to be themselves and [[Beyond the Impossible|literary criticism of the books they wrote about themselves]].