Most Definitely Not a Villain: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"You know, you got all these people with beautiful, beautiful blonde hair and stuff. And then there's this sort of hunched over, greasy guy with black hair. It's like, "Would it be...him?"''|'''Karl Urban''', actor of Eomer on Wormtongue}}

A character is put into a position (for [[The Mole|whatever]] [[In Another ~~Mans~~ 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?

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?

This sort of behavior almost always indicates that the [[Rule of Funny]] is in full effect, so its effectiveness as a disguise depends on whether it would be funnier for the impostor to get caught. If it's funnier for everyone around him [[Idiot Ball|to completely fail to see through the ruse]] -- even though the impersonate-ee is someone they've known for years -- then that's what's going to happen.

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 [[I Am He As You Are He]]. Contrast with [[Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today]]

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 [[I Am He As You Are He]]. Contrast with [[Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?]]

Named for a recurring line in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh ~~the~~ Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' spinoff ''Cr@psule Monsters''; "My name is Dr. Alex Brisbane. I'm definitely not a villain."

Named for a recurring line in the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' spinoff ''Cr@psule Monsters''; "My name is Dr. Alex Brisbane. I'm definitely not a villain."

If you're looking for a similarly named webcomic (which is not an example of this trope), see [[Not a Villain]].

== Anime & Manga ==

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== Comics ==

* A [http://www.airshipentertainment.com/buckcomic.php?date=20090409 scene] in a ''[[Buck Godot Zap Gun for Hire]]'' comic has Buck disguised as an alien Pog, sauntering down the street singing a song about how he's just a Pog, no, really. Mind you, in this instance [[Kansas City Shuffle|having the disguise fail is actually part of the plan]]. For context, Buck Godot is at least eight feet and probably a half ton of muscle, bio-engineered for life on heavy gravity planets. Your typical pog may, generously, top four feet.

* The [[Highly Visible Ninja]] of ''[[The Tick]]'' disguise themselves a hedge by declaring "We are a hedge. Please move along." While holding sticks. See the appropriate trope page for more (hilarious) details.

* The [[Highly-Visible Ninja]] of ''[[The Tick]]'' disguise themselves a hedge by declaring "We are a hedge. Please move along." While holding sticks. See the appropriate trope page for more (hilarious) details.

* In ''[[PS 238]]'', 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 ''[[Preacher]]'' [[Corrupt Hick]] Odin Quincannon tries to use the Ku Klux Klan to kill the protagonist. In an attempt to ingratiate himself with them, he keeps enthusiastically stating how much he hates black people, all the time, and keeps adding it to practically everything he says. The other Klan members eventually start talking about how forced this makes him sound.

* In ''[[Preacher (Comic Book)]]'' [[Corrupt Hick]] Odin Quincannon tries to use the Ku Klux Klan to kill the protagonist. In an attempt to ingratiate himself with them, he keeps enthusiastically stating how much he hates black people, all the time, and keeps adding it to practically everything he says. The other Klan members eventually start talking about how forced this makes him sound.

* 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.

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'''3d MiBSwSG:''' If anything, we are but ordinary Soviet citizens with no especial interest in politics! }}

* 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?]]"

* 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?]]"

* In the first episode of season 3 of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', O'Neill uses this to try and convince SG-1's captors that he was still implanted by Hathor's Goa'uld larva. Although in this case he knew it wouldn't work for very long, he just needed to buy time for [[The Cavalry]] to arrive.

{{quote| '''O'Neill:''' Jaffa! Cree!<br />

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== Video Games ==

* 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 (Video Game)|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]].

* This is the key mechanic for an entire ''level'' in ''[[Psychonauts (Video Game)|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]].

** The G-men tend to use the props in very interesting ways too. The gardeners do a sword-swallowing routine with their hedge clippers and the grieving widows play invisible golf with their flowers. Sample dialogue:

{{quote| "I am a Sewer Worker. The finest sewers are found in Paris, France. Although I often smell of excrement, I perform a valuable public service."<br />

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*** Keeping with the overall comedic dialogue, it is lampshaded multiple times, including Lord Crump himself to "[[Breaking the Fourth Wall|you kids in front of the screen.]]"

** There's also the parts of the final chapter in the third game where Merlon and Merlee both show up in Castle Bleck at different times, despite the fact that the last time you saw either of them, they were in a different dimension and had no apparent method or reason to go to where you found them. In this case, they were definitely not a shapeshifter.

* In ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball'', Ted E. Bear's [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Mafia-Free]] Playland and Casino is a Mob-themed [[Suck E ~~Cheeses~~|Chuck E. Cheese's-esque arcade/restaurant]] that doesn't seem to try very hard to convince the outside world that it's [[Legitimate Businessmens Social Club|not a front for the Toy Mafia]].

* In ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball'', Ted E. Bear's [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|Mafia-Free]] Playland and Casino is a Mob-themed [[Suck E. Cheese's|Chuck E. Cheese's-esque arcade/restaurant]] that doesn't seem to try very hard to convince the outside world that it's [[Legitimate Businessmens Social Club|not a front for the Toy Mafia]].

** Then there's the ''theme song'', which is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLVclnItahk catchy as hell]:

{{quote| ''Ted E. Bear's is oodles of fun<br />

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And look, no mobsters, nary a one,<br />

Just you and me and Ted E. Bear!'' }}

** Max's fake [[Final Speech]] from the same episode, which is so long, overblown and such a [[~~Cliche~~ Storm]] that it's painful. He even 'dies' several times only to wake up again and add more to it, to the (unsuspecting) villain's annoyance.

** Max's fake [[Final Speech]] from the same episode, which is so long, overblown and such a [[Cliché Storm]] that it's painful. He even 'dies' several times only to wake up again and add more to it, to the (unsuspecting) villain's annoyance.

** Also General Skun-ka'pe acts like this when you first meet him.

* Not a villain, in ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' the pilot Rastel Feinschmecker is Most Definitely Not Elzam Branstien or Rai's brother. May overlap with The [[Goggles Do Nothing]], as he tries to use them to [[Clark Kenting]]. No one is fooled.

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{{quote| '''Illusion of Belkar''': We are all here right now, and definitely not somewhere else.}}

* [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/index.php?date=060820 This] ''[[Bob and George]]'' comic.

* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', the Robots try to hide their presence from the humans by labeling their secret entrance and their spare part storage room "Boring Door" and "NO spare robot parts", respectively. Appropriately enough, Annie adopts the [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=211 same strategy] (in conjunction with a [[Paper Thin Disguise]]) to sneak past [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|Doorbot]]:

* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', the Robots try to hide their presence from the humans by labeling their secret entrance and their spare part storage room "Boring Door" and "NO spare robot parts", respectively. Appropriately enough, Annie adopts the [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=211 same strategy] (in conjunction with a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]) to sneak past [[The Guards Must Be Crazy|Doorbot]]:

{{quote| '''Antimony:''' We are looking for a particular robot. A... ''fellow'' robot. Because we are also robots.}}

::: Because clearly she's a robot...

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* In ''[[Terror Island]]'', [http://www.terrorisland.net/strips/183.html Theorem 183], Demon-Jame tries to pass himself off as Jame.

{{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] ''[[~~Eight~~ Bit Theater (Webcomic)|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 [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2008/05/31/episode-999-like-a-hobby/ these] ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|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.

* [http://amazoness.co.uk/10.htm This] ''[[Amazoness]]!'' strip. Ekphobippe is a master of disguise.

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|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.

** 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.

*** Sorry Mister Smith. We thought you were a different person who uses the same avatar.

* Jymre of ''[[Hitmen for Destiny]]'' is probably the worst shapeshifter of all time. He doesn't bother to try to act like the people he's impersonating, and when questioned, he panics severely.

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* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'': In an ''[[A-Team]]'' spoof, Face attempts to infiltrate the criminal underworld by announcing "Greetings. Is this where the thugs and/or criminals hang out? Because I too am a thug and/or criminal." He is recognized immediately.

* In an episode of ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'', Heffer tries to sneak into a nightclub for elk by putting on a pair of fake antlers and telling the bouncer "I am an elk. I have antlers." The bouncer quips "You want a prize?" before letting him in.

* ''[[Earthworm Jim (Animation)|Earthworm Jim]]'': Whenever Evil the Cat made an appearance that required him to wear a [[Paper Thin Disguise]], he would always reassure whomever he needed reassuring that he wasn't a [[Cats Are Mean|cat]]... Since this was ''[[Earthworm Jim (Animation)|Earthworm Jim]]'', it did, of course, always work.

* ''[[Earthworm Jim (Animation)|Earthworm Jim]]'': Whenever Evil the Cat made an appearance that required him to wear a [[Paper-Thin Disguise]], he would always reassure whomever he needed reassuring that he wasn't a [[Cats Are Mean|cat]]... Since this was ''[[Earthworm Jim (Animation)|Earthworm Jim]]'', it did, of course, always work.

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Out of Jimmys Head]]''. When Sonny unveils his Jimbotron, a robot double of the protagonist Jimmy, it looks like a sub-B-grade science fiction movie robot with an unconvincing wig and one of Jimmy's shirts, which barely fits it. Sonny also has it say things like "If I'm not Jimmy, why would I steal one of his shirts?" It spectacularly fails to fool anyone except Jimmy's [[Bumbling Dad|idiot father]], and even ''he'' had to be [[Blind Without Em|missing his contacts.]]

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Out of Jimmys Head]]''. When Sonny unveils his Jimbotron, a robot double of the protagonist Jimmy, it looks like a sub-B-grade science fiction movie robot with an unconvincing wig and one of Jimmy's shirts, which barely fits it. Sonny also has it say things like "If I'm not Jimmy, why would I steal one of his shirts?" It spectacularly fails to fool anyone except Jimmy's [[Bumbling Dad|idiot father]], and even ''he'' had to be [[Blind Without'Em|missing his contacts.]]

* In one episode of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 (Animation)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987]]'' Splinter and Shredder's minds are accidentally swapped. Splinter manages to bluff his way through, after almost being found out when he doesn't sufficiently insult and belittle Shredder's two idiot minions Rock Steady and Be-Bop. Shredder, on the other hand, has far less success.

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': Danny does this when overshadowing his father in "Parental Bonding".

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{{quote| '''Bart:''' It's me, Bart Simpson. ''(confused looks)'' From Springfield!}}

** In a [[Halloween Episode]], Homer suffered an accident and Moe took advantage to trick Marge into thinking Homer left her. To further convince her, Moe gave her a letter saying it was written by Homer using his(Moe's) caligraphy. The letter was a forged (and exaggerated) confession of homosexuality.

* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' invokes this trope by necessity in order to maintain his [[Paper Thin Disguise]]. ("I'm human! Yep, human, human, human. Just look at my neck!") Only his nemesis Dib and Dib's sister Gaz ever notice. In the episode "Abducted" however, he encounters a pair of even ''stupider'' aliens who have even ''worse'' disguises and invoke the trope even ''harder'' - they abducted Zim ''because they actually thought he was a human!'' (And then abduct Dib because they think he's a weasel.)

* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' invokes this trope by necessity in order to maintain his [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]. ("I'm human! Yep, human, human, human. Just look at my neck!") Only his nemesis Dib and Dib's sister Gaz ever notice. In the episode "Abducted" however, he encounters a pair of even ''stupider'' aliens who have even ''worse'' disguises and invoke the trope even ''harder'' - they abducted Zim ''because they actually thought he was a human!'' (And then abduct Dib because they think he's a weasel.)

* One episode of ''[[The Tick]]'' involves a shoddy green clone of Arthur who says nothing but "I Arthur". Naturally, the Tick can't tell them apart.