Narcissist: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Basically, one who has an [[It's All About Me|abnormal fascination with oneself]]. A self-centered nature taken a bit too far. Often thinks of self as one of the [[The Beautiful Elite|Beautiful People]], and to others often comes across as a [[Jerkass]].

Because stress, anxiety, and depression bring productivity down small amounts of narcissism help in the business world but too much narcissism causes people to procrastinate, become lazy, refuse to admit they made a mistake, become incapable of putting themselves in other people's shoes, turn into a [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All]], or become a victim of [[Pride]].

 

 

 

Premodern concepts include the ancient Greek ''Hubris'' which meant excessive [[Pride]] [[Pride Before a Fall|leading to or simply occuring before a fall.]] The contemporary view of narcissists is they're annoyingly unable to see this dynamic repeating itself in their lives, causing disorder on their own personality and others.

More likely to be into [[Screw Yourself|Selfcest]] than most others.

 

 

 

{{examples}}

* Sesshomaru from [[Inuyasha]].

* Light Yagami of ''[[Death Note]]'' [[Broken Ace|is a genius, handsome, popular and knows it.]] [[Word of God]] says he thinks he's above most people. After gaining powers over life and death it takes him less than a week to develop [[A God Am I|a god complex]].

* [[Meaningful Name|Naru]] from ''[[Ghost Hunt]]''. He has a name besides Naru (which is a nickname), but nobody else in the cast uses it.

* Asuka Langley Sohryu from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Her personality could very well have been modeled after the symptoms of [[wikipedia:Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic personality disorder]].

* Jessie and James of ''[[Pokémon]]'' live for [[Evil Is Stylish|style]], which only makes them that much more [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|lovable]]. Jessie's [[Berserk Button]] is any injury done to her hair or her beautiful face; James carries around photos of himself to look at in his spare time. They dress up (stylishly) for no particular reason, silhouette themselves against the light, wave roses around and in general steal every scene they walk into. When they're about to die their priorities are clear:

'''James:''' So will I! }}

* Al Da Flaga of ''[[Gundam Seed]]'' is a narcissistic parent, who raised his son (Mu La Flaga) with the intent of making him nothing more than an extension of his own ego. When Mu insisted on being his own person, Al locked him away in a [[Big Fancy House]] and had himself ''cloned''. He then raised the clone to believe that it had no identity of its own, and existed only so that Al's legacy could live on; effectively trying to turn the clone child into a perfect duplicate of himself. He succeeded instead in creating a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] and [[Misanthrope Supreme]] who sought the [[Omnicidal Maniac|annihilation]] of the [[Kill All Humans|entire human race]] and {{spoiler|had to wear a mask in order to give himself a sense of identity.}}

* (The real) Madara Uchiha from ''[[Naruto]]''.

* [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]] of [[Code Geass]] has been frequently compared to the above-mentioned [[Death Note|Light Yagami]], and though he doesn't move into full [[A God Am I]] territory, he comes pretty close. He repeatedly states his intention to "destroy the world and make it anew" and that he is "the man who performs miracles". However, he [[Your Mileage May Vary|might]] not completely fall into this trope because his main motivation for everything he does is [[Big Brother Instinct|his little sister Nunnally]] rather than [[It's All About Me|himself]], and for all his extreme arrogance, he is very self-sacrificing whenever she is involved in a situation, and extends some of this protectiveness to a small number of close friends.

 

== Comic Books ==

* [[Depending on the Writer]], [[Batman|The Riddler]] can fit this trope.

* As mentioned below Tony Stark / ''[[Iron Man]]''.

* [[Lex Luthor]] hate [[Superman]] for [[Holding Out for a Hero|holding humanity back]]...from worshipping ''him'' instead.

** In the [[Silver Age]] Luthor's hatred for Superman began when the latter as Superboy saved his life from a chemical fire after Luthor's experiment to create life went awry. Luthor not only blamed him for intentionally sabotaging his experiment, he also blamed him for turning bald as well. Now if that's not vanity, I don't know what is.

* [[Depending on the Writer]], [[Spider-Man|Eddie Brock, the original Venom / Anti-Venom]] is sometimes referred to as a Narcissist when he's not being referred to as a [[The Sociopath|Socopath]]. [[Never Hurt an Innocent|He doesn't totally]] [[Lack of Empathy|lack Empathy]] like a Sociopath but it's certainly "[[Never My Fault|Never His Fault]]." ([[The Rival|It's Spider-man's!]])

** Brock probably better fit a Borderline Personality Disorder than either of those (albeit an extremly dangerous one).

 

== Film ==

* Waldo Lydecker from 1944's ''[[Laura]]'' is definitely in love with the main character but his love for her is eclipsed by the blinding rays of his own self-love.

* Daniel Plainview from ''[[There Will Be Blood]]''.

 

== Literature ==

* Gilderoy Lockhart, from ''[[Harry Potter]]''. He's so ridiculously stuck-up, it's [[Played for Laughs]]. But then he {{spoiler|[[Break the Haughty|gets what he deserves]] when Harry and Ron pwn him and force him to accompany them to the Chamber of Secrets. Then, he accidentally loses his memory, which conveniently erases all his smug self-importance and turns him into a cheerful [[Adult Child]].}}

** [[Jerk Jock|Cormac McLaggen]].

** They're all overshadowed by Voldemort in this department!

* [[The Ghost|The mentioned-but-never-seen]] Professor of Applied Anthropics of the [[Discworld|Unseen University]] has put forth the Very Strong Anthropic Principle, which holds that the entire point of the universe is to give rise to the Unseen University so that it may house a Professor of Applied Anthropics (Footnotes comment that virtually everyone secretly believes this, with minor variations of a fill-in-name-here nature). Later in the book in which this is mentioned, one of the wizards mentions the principle, and comments that it's jolly decent of the Professor to share the universe with everyone else.

 

* [[Played for Laughs]] by Stephen Colbert on ''[[The Colbert Report]]''.

** Tracy Jordan on the same show also appears narcissistic at times, but this is just one of a whole host of psychological problems that render him more of a [[Cloudcuckoolander]].

* The title character of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' has shown narcissistic tendencies, which has not escaped the notice of any of the main cast.

* Cat from ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.

* Shawn from ''[[Psych]]''.

*** The two aren't mutually exclusive.

* Dr. Cox from ''[[Scrubs]]'' is the greatest doctor of them all, a diagnosing machine, this fabulous thing. Too bad his personal life is in shambles. The show has also delivered [[An Aesop]] when showing how a little bit of confidence is not necessarily a bad thing and goes a long way towards making their patients feeling at ease.

* Lex and Lionel Luthor from ''[[Smallville]]''. Lionel's an [[Archnemesis Dad]] and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who has trouble seeing his company and his son as anything more than extensions of himself, and is willing to break almost every law imaginable in order to stay on top. Possession by [[Big Good|Jor-El]] eventually rids him of the worst of these traits, though he remains manipulative and grandiose long after his [[Heel Face Turn]]. Lex starts out as a [["Well Done, Son" Guy]] who tends to bring up his own problems in almost every conversation he has. This problem only gets worse as time goes by, and his [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|delusions of heroism]] and need for adulation become more and more extreme; by the end of the show he's moved well past narcissism and into fullblown [[The Sociopath|psychopathy]] as his [[Control Freak|need for control]] and [[Never My Fault|someone to blame]] take over his life.

* ''[[Angel]]'': Angel has strong tendencies towards narcissim that crop up on a very regular basis. On the [[DVD Commentary]] for "Billy" the writers admit that scripting scenes for Angel's narcissism is one of their favourite things to do. Angel can become distracted in the middle of interrogations or other serious situations by his narcissism. It's particularly highlighted during the series 2 finale arc where he finds himself in an alternate dimension where he doesn't need to avoid sunlight and he has a reflection. In one scene, while the gang talk in the foreground, Angel can be seen in the background standing in front of a mirror utterly self-absorbed (it's also the scene where they all realise he can see his reflection). They keep having to fight to grab his attention and even have to block his access to the mirror. Eventually, Lorne has to drag him away.

** [[Evil Me Scares Me|Angelus]] on the other hand has an ego the size of a planet! He really cannot shut up, at all, ever, and is easily one of the cockiest bastards in the series.

 

== Religion and Mythology ==

* The [[Trope Namer]] [http://www.spiffy-entertainment.com/narcissus.html Narcissus], was a boyish (aka [[Bishonen]]) Greek Hunter who was punished by the gods to fall in love with his own reflection. Why that is depends on which version of the story you hear, the most famous being Ovid's version where he rejected Echo and didn't realize the reflection was his own. Another has Narcissus falling in love with his [[Twincest|twin sister]], and after her death, pretending his reflection is her. What happens after also varies, from a slow death due to starvation and thirst because he would not look away to drowning in an attempt to kiss his reflection, to [[Driven to Suicide|stabbing himself]] when he realizes that his reflection is just a reflection and will never love him back. Regardless of cause of death, or a sympathetic God transforming Narcissus so he could stare at his reflection forever, regardless a flower either grew in the place where he died or he was transformed into one: the Narcissus plant, more commonly known as the daffodil.

* [[Satan]] in the versions where he becomes jealous of God and rebels against him.

 

== Theatre ==

* Orsino in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', though he might snap out of it by the end.

 

== Video Games ==

 

== Web Comics ==

* [[Mega Man 3|Gemini Man]] in ''[[L's Empire|Ls Empire]]'' is so obsessed with his appearance, that he applies a new coat of paint every 4 hours and shines his armor every 6. [[Berserk Button|Calling him ugly]] is a good way to get [[Wave Motion Gun|a face-full of laser]].

 

* [[Meaningful Name|Narcissa Richmond]] of ''[[Grandmaster of Theft]]''.

* Rick from ''[[Superego]]''

* [[The Nostalgia Chick]].

* [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses]].

 

== Western Animation ==

* Simon from ''[[Captain N: The Game Master]]''.

* Zapp Brannigan from ''[[Futurama]]''

* Lucius on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''. His response to seeing an image of himself is "Hello, handsome."

* [[Johnny Bravo]] is obsessed with exactly two things: Himself, and using that first thing to mack on as many ladies as possible.

* [[Magnificent Bitch|Azula]] from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.

 

----

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]