Most Definitely Not a Villain: Difference between revisions

[[File:notaliens.gif|link=El Goonish Shive|frame|[[Hugh Mann|Mr. Verres's "ingenious methods to cover up the presence of aliens"]]]]

 

 

A character is put into a position (for [[The Mole|whatever]] [[In Another Man's Shoes|reason]]) where they must impersonate someone or pretend to be a member of a particular group. The character, instead of simply acting like an X, attempts to do this by constantly announcing they are an X, that they're doing things because that's what an X does, and [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|there is not the slightest chance that they could ever not be an X]]. Did they mention they're an X?

Compare [[Paper-Thin Disguise]], [[Master of Delusion]], [[Clark Kenting]], [[Blatant Lies]], [[Hugh Mann]], and [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?]] If a zombie were to say they aren't a zombie, well then it would [[Not a Zombie|not be a zombie]], now would it? Kind of a subtrope of [[Bad Bad Acting]], although it isn't deliberate. Tends to fuse with [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]. Often happens during a case of [[Impersonating the Evil Twin]]. Contrast with [[Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?]]

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* In the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' episode, "Pokemon Scent-Sation", Ash reluctantly has Team Rocket disguise him as a girl so that he could sneak into the Celadon gym. Ash breaks character a lot while he's in the disguise but always does his best to recover from it, until eventually, Pikachu revealed Ash's identity by electrocuting him.

* Sousuke's attempts at passing himself off as a normal civilian in ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' occasionally segues into this, especially when one of his classmates ropes him into a [[Zany Scheme]] where he has to pretend being her boyfriend in front of her friends.

{{quote|'''Sousuke:''' I feel unimaginable happiness wasting time talking with women. I'm that type of human.}}

 

* In ''[[PS238]]'', some of the children mask their secret use of a launch pad into space by sending the launch pad operator a message that this launch is scheduled and completely normal; no need to panic. The operator dismisses this as the computer AI being needlessly polite.

* In ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'', Starfire and Raven, having temporarily lost their ability to fly, seek alternative transportation on a bus full of villains. They beat up two and take their clothing. Starfire then tries to fit in by acting like an over-the-top parody of a villain. Her overacting goes almost completely unnoticed by her audience; what gives her away is the use of an alien version of "God bless you."

* In one issue of ''[[Suicide Squad]]'', Captain Boomerang manages to do this while playing ''himself'' in an operation to lure in a local vigilante.

{{quote|Ahhh, Wipeout, me old mate. I, Captain Boomerang, am glad I've returned to Central City. With my old nemesis, the Flash, no longer here, I am free to use me trick boomerangs and amazing skills to knock over this bleedin' armored car! }}

 

* In ''[[An Entry With a Bang]]!'', no-one seems duly concerned with the Wolfnet agent named [[Harry Potter|Remus Lupin]], even though such a name should be more than a mite suspicious to the [[Genre Savvy]].

** The BT universe, by nature of being itself, is chock-full of pop cultural references. They've even run across [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario and Luigi, brother plumbers]] and a reporter named [[Superman|Lois Lane]]. None so far have exhibited anything special than just the odd coincidence in names, but there's just so many that GDI has decided to just ignore them all. It's just the universe screwing around with them again. This perhaps falls under the rationale ''it would be funny''. After receiving word about other operatives from Wolfnet, Remus Lupin (his name chosen beforehand as a random pseudonym and now having read ''Harry Potter'') mutters:

*** "[[The Venture Brothers|IGNORE ME!]]"

** "Attention duelist! My hair is definitely not leading you into a trap!"

{{quote|'''Joey:''' Yugi, do you notice anything weird about Tea?

'''Yugi:''' I haven't noticed anything. You feeling okay Tea?

'''Crump!Tea:''' FRIENDSHIP!

'''Yugi:''' Yep, she's fine. }}

{{quote|'''"PDF Corporal"''': Me, boss? I’z definnily a humie, ain’t that right, boyz? }}

 

* [[Mulan]]'s joining the Chinese army and posing as a man. And for that matter, Mushu posing as the Great Stone Dragon. "... Did I mention that I am the Great Stone Dragon?"

* The monsters in ''[[We Are the Strange]]'' are a rare creepy example of this trope. In the empty ice cream shoppe, there are rather odd-looking posters which try to pass both the shoppe and the townspeople off as normal.

* In ''[[This Island Earth]]'', a dinner conversation with Exeter quickly makes it clear he's not from Earth, as if his gigantic forehead with a huge dent in the middle wasn't enough of a clue. When it was chosen to be the experiment for ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]: [[The Movie]]'', Tom Servo repeatedly riffs on this part, concluding, "Then I ram my ovipositor down your throat and lay my eggs in your chest. But I'm not an alien!"

* From ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'':

* ''[[Die Hard]]'': Hans Gruber attempts to fool John McClane into thinking that he's an escaped hostage by trying to put on the worst possible American accent. Thankfully, unlike most of the cops in the film, McClane is ''not'' an idiot, and when he gives a gun to Gruber to protect himself with it turns out to not be loaded.

 

* [[Winnie the Pooh]] pretends to be a little cloud when he tries to use a balloon to steal honey from a beehive. This includes having his friend Christopher Robin walking back and forth below him with an umbrella and loudly proclaim that it will be rain soon. While Pooh himself sings a little song about how he's just a raincloud:

{{quote|''How sweet to be a Cloud

** The Disney adaptation provides an even better example of the trope, as Pooh's song gets even more insistent that he's ''only'' a cloud and ''definitely'' not interested in honey:

{{quote|''Oh, I'm just a little black raincloud

** In the Russian adaptation, he first of all establishes to the bees that: "I'm a little rain cloud and definitely not a bear."

** The Wintersmith never denied he was the Wintersmith, though; he just wanted to be human so Tiffany would love him.

* In ''[[Animorphs]]'', Ax pretends to be a delinquent.

** He then proceeds to cause mayhem in the store by... [[Poke the Poodle|Rearranging store shelves.]]

* In ''The Birthday Ball'', Princess Patricia Priscilla, while in disguise as a commoner, repeatedly insists that she's just a humble peasant.

{{quote|'''Ix:''' I am confused. This is not a good thing, because when we humans are confused we are not happy.}}

 

* In ''Saul of the Molemen'', Saul skins a moleman and uses the skin as a disguise to infiltrate the moleman village. He spends the day shouting, "Grunt grunt! I'm a moleman, just like you!". No one catches on, but Saul gets beaten up anyway because the moleman whose skin he wore owed money to others.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''

** Subverted in a later episode when {{spoiler|Cassandra takes over Rose's body. Of course the Doctor knows something is wrong, but he jumps to the wrong conclusion.}}

** The teenage "son" from the Family of Blood spends two episodes walking around looking ''as suspicious as is (in)humanly possible.'' [[Refuge in Audacity|It only works because he pulls it off in such a magnificently creepy way.]]

{{quote|'''Simon:''' Yes? ''(playing up role)'' I mean, I make the decisions around here, uh-- employee... ''(to Foreman)'' I employ him. He is a person I employ. I'm the boss.}}

** It gets [[Lampshaded]] when Wash sarcastically asks when Simon became such a cunning master of disguise.

** Also from ''Monty Python'', in the Mr. Neutron Sketch: Captain Carpenter, from the top-secret agency FEEBLE must disguise himself to go on a mission to the Yukon. His disguise? A large sign which says "Nothing to do with FEEBLE".

** And from "The Cycling Tour":

'''1st Man in Black Suit with Sunglasses:''' Well, we're not secret police, anyway.

'''2d MiBSwSG:''' That's for sure!

* In several ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' sketches, Greg's co-host would like to make it very clear that Greg Is Not An Alien. Greg then proceeds to speak as if he's learned all his lines badly by rote, hiss and trill in obvious panic when splashed with water, and grow a frill around his neck, and is heavily implied to ''eat the guests'' on their sports talk show.

* Played with in one episode of ''[[That '70s Show]]'', when the guys try to smuggle Fez back across the Canadian border (because he misplaced his green card), Eric tells the others: "Remember, we've got nothing to hide", at which point two mounties come over and say "Well, around here, we don't say we've got nothing to hide, if we've actually got nothing to hide, [[Canada, Eh?|eh?]]"

* A clumsy case was Morgana from ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. When she returns to Camelot in series three, she spends most of her time smirking evilly to herself (in public) and interacting with her friends and family in a cloying, faux-sympathetic way (that was completely unlike the Morgana of the first two series). The audience isn't fooled for a second, but everyone else is completely taken in.

 

* In ''[[Star Control]] II'', one of the many [[Planet of Hats]] species in the game comes under the [[Brainwashed|mind control]] of a malevolent being, who stiltedly attempts to impersonate their particular Hat when encountered by the player. Naturally, the player is expected to not be stupid and investigate.

* This is the key mechanic for an entire ''level'' in ''[[Psychonauts]]'', "The Milkman Conspiracy", where the player must collect objects being used by a series of trenchcoat-clad <s>"government operatives"</s> plumbers, road crew workers, gardeners, ''housewives'', ''grieving widows'', and assassins, among other, increasingly unlikely roles, and use them as a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]].

* In ''[[Rift]]'', the inhabitants of Lakeshore in Freemarch are doing normal human things because they are normal humans (and most definitely not [[Fish People|Deep Ones]]).

 

* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]''

** Nale disguising himself as his twin brother Elan. Though his repeated statements of "I'm Elan" don't raise any eyebrows since that is deemed [[Cloudcuckoolander|in character]] for Elan. Nale's high bluff skill also helps. Example:

{{quote|'''Demon-Jame:''' Yes, I am your friend. I run a non-demon restaurant here in your space-time manifold, of which I am a native.}}

* In [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/05/31/episode-999-like-a-hobby/ these] ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/10/16/episode-1047-the-ol-180/ strips], [[Humongous Mecha|Warmech]] is Most Definitely Not a Robot. And Red Mage, for his part, is Most Definitely Not a Monster.

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', all you have to do to convince everyone that you're a normal, everyday human being is to wear a T-shirt that says so on it. In fact, Tedd's father makes a ''living'' covering up supernatural or alien entities in such a manner, as seen, for example, [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-02-15 here].

** This is parodied in a fan-made comic centered around the fans who are represented as avatars with nametags over their heads. One strip involves two characters chasing after Dan. Note that Dan represents himself as an anthropomorphic squirrel. A guy who looks suspiciously like Dan in real life shows up holding a "NotDan" tag over his head and points them in the right direction. In an earlier strip, the comic's [[Card-Carrying Villain]] manages to deceive two detectives with a fake name tag.

* [http://threepanelsoul.com/2007/10/20/on-subterfuge/ This] ''[[Three Panel Soul]]'' strip, which inspired the ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' example.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'': When Equius tries to get Gamzee to indulge in the caste privileges the latter's [[Blue and Orange Morality|blood superiority]] affords him, it... [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004121 doesn't really work.]

* [http://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/09/10/falling-into-the-role/ This] ''[[Housepets]]'' strip.

* In ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' Tiffany is most definitely not a slayer. She's just a ghost in a school for monsters! [http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/not_suspicious Not suspicious at all!]

* ''[[Servants of the Imperium]]'' has Krin [http://www.servantsoftheimperium.com/comic.php?comicid=55 accompanied] by a completely normal servo-skull that certainly isn't a piece of tech-heresy.

 

{{quote|'''Billy:''' We're meeting now for the first time.}}

** Also, it doesn't actually fool Hammer, who just waits until Penny's out of earshot to make it clear [[I Know You Know I Know|he knows]].

* In ''I Don't Need Your Civil War'', Hulkling infiltrates as a SHIELD agent a super-human prison to kidnap Hank Pym, and while there he salutes SHIELD commander Maria Hill with "Hello. Not a spy."

* ''[[MSF High Forum]]'': While Xadan doesn't quite fall under this trope, he uses pretty much the same use pretty thoroughly. He's [[Obviously Evil]], but trying to act as a mentor.

* [http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/692321-bait-this-is-bait There's a reaction image] for this.

 

* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' shows us just how stupid the world's worst villain, the Toilinator is, by having an [[Noodle Incident|off panel story]] about how he was fooled by Numbuh 1 whose disguise was just a t-shirt that said "I'm not Numbuh 1."

** When the KND operatives played a game of tag to decide who'd be their leader, (Numbuh 13 was the only one who wanted the mantle but the others wouldn't let him have it) Numbuh 4 hid himself in a box that had a written message stating he wasn't there.

* An episode of [[Taz-Mania]] featured two spies who dressed themselves as tourists from Cleveland. Practically every conversation they had included some mention about the place.

* In ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Not Phineas & Ferb", Irwin tricked his brother Albert by having Baljeet and Buford dressed as Phineas and Ferb. Buford, who was dressed as Ferb, mentioned being a Britton that doesn't talk a lot.

* In the [[Captain Caveman]] and Son segment of ''[[The Flintstone Kids]]'', Captain Caveman "hides" his home's location by posting a sign stating "This is NOT Captain Caveman's Secret Hideout".

 

** Lampshaded in ''[[CSI: NY]]''. When they find a victim wearing such a shirt, they immediately assume it's a tourist. They are right (although he was actually wearing it because he spilt coffee down his shirt and was there to {{spoiler|rescue his daughter from a brothel}} rather than sightseeing). In a subversion, Danny mentions he wanted one as a kid (when he got one, it got him beaten up at school).

*** And even if you don't hear them speak, you'll know them anyway, because they'll be the ones constantly staring up at the "really tall buildings". Most residents and even frequent visitors have long since ceased to be impressed.

*** Most of the rainy Pacific Northwest has this; the natives either have raincoats which they never take off, or no raincoat at all, depending on the day's weather.

*** Another way to tell if someone is a tourist in Seattle is to ask them if they've been to the Space Needle. Most of us haven't.

*** Another tip for spotting a tourist in Montreal: during the winter, they are the ones who show horror at snowstorms that pile up anything ''less'' than a full foot of snow on the ground. True Montrealers have a word for a 12 inch snowfall: ''[[But for Me It Was Tuesday|Tuesday.]]''

* [http://failblog.org/2009/07/22/telemarketing-fail/ This] picture. Definitely, absolutely not a telemarketer.

** Instead Canadians wear [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|American flags]] [[Wearing a Flag on Your Head|on their head]]. [[Memetic Mutation|IN AMERICA!]]

** The old joke (told even in Canada) goes like this:

* Lots of "Japanese" restaurants ''outside of Japan'' (well, at least in Europe) are teppan-yaki and involve ridiculous kimonos and food-dropping games with a chef playing with food while cooking it. The kind of restaurant you can't find anywhere in Japan.

** Teppan-yaki restaurants did originate in Japan. They're just [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|far more popular in the west]] than they are in their home country.

* In an inversion a spy in England, when asked what his profession was by friends and neighbors would answer [[Sarcastic Confession|"I'm a spy."]] Because nobody believed him, the ruse worked.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]