Small Name, Big Ego: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A character with a comically over-inflated image of himself. He [[Know-Nothing Know-It-All|thinks he's smarter than everyone else]], [[Casanova Wannabe|thinks he's a real lady's man]], thinks he's cool, [[It's All About Me|it's all about him]], but both his fellow characters and the audience know that this coolness is all in his mind.

 

Contrast with the [[Jaded Washout]], who knows only too well how pathetic he is. [[I Thought It Meant|Not to be confused with]] [[The Kirk|the other kind of ego]].

 

{{examples|Here are but some people whose egos are vastly disproportionate to their accomplishments:}}

** A-ha-ha!

* Mr. Satan/Hercule, ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', though his efforts to take credit for other fighters' achievements mean that the general populace know him as their greatest hero. And, to be fair, he ''is'' arguably the strongest human being, going by pure muscle, on Earth. It's just that, unless they can focus their ki like Krillin, Yamcha and the others, [[Puny Earthlings|humans rank somewhat below anemic infants on the Dragonball power hierarchy]].

*** The Z fighters do acknowledge a few times that they think it's better Hercule take credit because they don't want the fame and also don't want people to realize just how crazy powerful some of these fights are getting because it'd freak them out.

*** He gets better in GT, usually keeping himself out of the major conflicts and leaving it to his now in-law Goku as he should, he still gets massive props for [[Action Survivor|surviving genocide on humanity at least twice, despite having no powers]].

** Then there's [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], Vegeta...

* Black☆Star from ''[[Soul Eater]]''. He ''is'' good at unarmed combat, but he'd have to be a deity before that ego would be even remotely equivalent to his personal power level. He specifically claims to be [[Blasphemous Boast|more powerful than God]].

** There's also the [[Equippable Ally]] Excalibur, who really is as powerful as he says he is. The trouble is, his ego matches his power level- he's so insufferable and downright ''annoying'' that no one can stand to be around him. Tellingly, when he shows up later on in the manga, the gang ends up trying to murder him.

* ''[[Excel Saga (manga)|Excel Saga]]'''s eponymous character Excel is extremely confident about her ability to accomplish ACROSS' goal of world domination (and win the heart of Il Palazzo), but fails to make any progress whatsoever in either of those two goals.

** In fact, she refuses to acknowledge that Il Palazzo actively dislikes her, sending her falling through the trap door every time.

* This is probably a driving point behind many of the characters in ''[[Gash Bell]]''. Gash himself somewhat fairly evaluates his own powers, but Kanchomé always brags about how strong he is although he almost never comes through. Most of the early antagonists that Gash faces are like this too, and end up being rudely awakened by Gash and Kiyomaro.

** Late manga spoilers: {{spoiler|This takes an interesting turn later on, when Kanchomé finally unlocks his true potential during a training arc. He gains several new spells and becomes one of the most powerful demons remaining in the battle, even surpassing Gash in one of their mock fights. This later leads him to a very near [[Face Heel Turn]] however, and soon afterward he's sniped down by the current [[Big Bad]] before he can become a real threat.}}

** By the end of the series he is actually a fairly skilled pilot, though still hopelessly outclassed by the Gundams. He also seems to have gained some humility in the meantime: he no longer boasts about being an awesome pilot, though he does jokingly call himself "invincible" due to his mocking nickname.

* Mashymar Cello of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ|Gundam ZZ]]'' started out in this trope, he would remember his awesomeness compared to the plebeians whom he fought and seemed to have multiple dinners with Haman Khan where she would teach him about how he must portray himself and Axis as he was something of a Vanguard, all the while getting his ass handed to him by Judau on a very frequent basis.

* The eponymous [[Nora]] is obsessed with defeating his leash-holder Kazuma via one of his "Ingenious Plans" (TM). Considering he's attempting this against the series' resident [[Manipulative Bastard]]... yeah.

** Nor does it help that Nora's attempts at strategy usually have flaws visible to [[Evil Overlord List|an average five-year-old child]]. One of his Ingenious Plans (TM) in its entirety: 1)Dig a big hole in the ground 2)Make Kazuma walk into it somehow 3)Drop a big rock on his head. Kazuma shows up while Nora's still digging and [[Lampshade Hanging|points out]] the plan's [[Didn't Think This Through|low probability of success]].

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' gives us [[Large Ham|THE AWESOME PRUSSIA]] to fill this role.

* [[Ranma ½]]:

* The Cut Man Brothers of [[Mega Man NT Warrior]].

 

* Cacofonix, the suggestively named bard from ''[[Asterix]]''. His bravado makes him the perfect unwitting weapon against the Romans, but usually he's just made to shut up with varying degrees of force.

** His moment to shine came when Vitalstatistix's nephew Justforkix was being held by Normans who wanted to learn the meaning of fear. Cacofonix's singing was so bad they became scared for the first times in their lives.

** Turned on its side, the [[Popularity Power|more popular one is with the Mundanes]], the easier it is to survive. Jack scams his way into making movies about his past adventures and literally makes his own ego come true. He loses all his cash and friends eventually, of course, but now is nearly (nearly) immortal.

* Crackerjack from ''[[Astro City]]'' is a variation. He is both highly skilled and truly heroic, but there is ''no'' amount of skill that can back up all that talk...

* Earl Slackmozer from ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]'', who thinks having had modules published by Hard 8 makes him the greatest gamemaster in Muncie. His condescension towards to BA is astounding.

 

 

== Film ==

** To the point where Ron Burgundy's dog in ''[[Anchorman]]'' is named Baxter.

*** Another co-star, [[Steve Carell]], would go on to play an ''Evan'' Baxter in ''[[Bruce Almighty]]'' and ''[[Evan Almighty]]''.

* Count [[Dracula]] gets a monologue like this in ''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]'': "They are fools to think they can match wits with me! Me who can control the forces of darkness! Me who has commanded the creatures of the night to do my bidding!" (says the guy who got knocked out of his hiding place by an old Englishman slamming a door)

** This is the same ancient evil who cannot rise from his coffin without banging his head on the chandelier.

* [[Peter Jackson]]'s version of ''[[King Kong]]'' features the appropriately named Bruce Baxter.

** He's a mild subversion, in fact. Although he does talk himself up incessantly, {{spoiler|he ''does'' lead a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|whilst swinging from a vine, shooting a machine gun]].}}

* [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant|Weebo]] from [[Flubber]].

* [[Gran Torino]]: As a lot of [[Racist Grandma|Racist Grandpas]] in [[Real Life]], Walt regards himself as a man who knows plenty about life and death, and who is abused by those (other races) surrounding him. Everyone else thinks he's a [[Grumpy Old Man]], a [[Jaded Washout]] and a [[Cranky Neighbor]]. The movie shows his [[Character Development]] from this to [[Be Yourself|a realistic assessment of his qualities and weakness]].

 

== Literature ==

** However, the one thing Lockhart ''is'' good at, [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|Memory Charms]], is something he is ''very'' good at. He's also pretty good at locating people with stories of interesting magical exploits. He's just not good at any of the things he actually ''claims'' to be good at.

** {{spoiler|[[Hoist by His Own Petard|And the one thing he's good at becomes his karmic retribution]].}}

** As his actor, [[Kenneth Branagh]], put it, Lockhart "feels himself to be terrifically important, thinks of himself also as being terrifically modest. He is neither of those things."

* Cersei Lannister in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is a rare female example. She believes herself to be, among other things, clever, ruthless, and irresistible to men. Of those qualities, only 1.5 are true. Unfortunately, she's the Queen of Westeros, leading to some problems in her reign.

{{quote|Because he's not as bright as he thinks he is. He's creative in certain intelligence-gathering functions, but that has led him to believe that he is brilliant at everything. It's this assumption of his own infallibility that leads him into several errors.}}

*** And then we have ''Trigit's'' boss, Warlord Zsinj - although with Zsinj, it's a form of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] which he knows a lot of people can see through. He's certainly got an ego, but it's not as unrestrained as it seems.

*** Remember that this was in a fake universe which was created specifically with him in mind, so in there he ''was'' the most important person in the universe.

* ''[[Diary of a Madman]]'''s Poprishchin, the eponymous madman, believes himself to be an important person, that his holding an unimportant position at age 40 is non-indicative of his career, and those trying to dissuade him from pursuing the director's daughter are just envious.

* [[Adrian Mole]] believes he is a gifted author and celebrity chef. In reality his unpublished work is terrible, his only published book was written in his name by his mother, and he was once the presenter of a low-budget cable show about how to cook offal. All of this goes right over his head as he tries to use his "celebrity" status to his advantage; and frequently writes to people who are ''actually'' famous to ask for favours (such as to speak for free at the Christmas dinner for his book club), ask for his own show on radio, or to offer insulting suggestions about their lifestyles.

* ''[[The Magic School Bus]] In The Ocean'' features a character named Lenny the Lifeguard, a good-natured but somewhat arrogant lifeguard at the beach, who is first seen showing other beach goers pictures from his 'daring rescues' (Which, judging from the pics, weren't that daring). He ends up [[The Drag Along]] when he sees Ms. Frizzle drive her bus into the ocean, getting swept up in the class' latest field trip. Throughout the story, he tries to maintain an air of authority, despite being pretty much redundant. Once the madness ends, he is elated to have 'saved a whole class'.

*** In Bluestar's prophecy Thistleclaw and Oakheart are both said to be arrogant pricks.

 

* Ted Baxter, a character on ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]''. Baxter was a newscaster who considered himself incredibly popular, while everyone else in the newsroom thought he was an incredible ''bore'' and something of a [[The Ditz|Ditz]] to boot, but were too polite to tell him to his face.

** Phyllis Lindstrom and Sue Ann Nivens have some of these characteristics, as well.

* Herb Tarlek, ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]''

* Bill Mc Neil, ''[[News Radio]]''

* Cliff Clavin, ''[[Cheers]]''

* Ralph Furley, ''[[Three's Company]]''

* Senator Strobe Smithers, ''[[Hearts Afire]]''

* Dan Fielding, ''[[Night Court]]'', especially as [[Flanderization|time went on]]. A slight divergence in that he actually ''was'' generally as successful with women as he [[Handsome Lech|expected to be]] when they were extras.

** He was also a pretty good attorney, and would generally behave with at least ''some'' amount of dignity and aplomb when presenting his side of the case. He was likely relegated to the night court because of his personality, not his skill.

* Quark, ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''. Quark, however, wasn't an egotist, he was simply an incredibly canny con-artist. Quark is, however, notably successful and an important aspect of the Small Name Big Ego is that they are disliked and don't believe the negative criticism they get. Quark [[Insult Backfire|takes being told that he is a conniving backstabber]] as a ''compliment'', since in Ferengi society, being called a "conniving backstabber" ''is'' a compliment. He also developed a good relationship with the Grand Nagus. While he may not be as good as he likes to think he is, he's still pretty good.

** Whenever Quark gets his [[A Day in the Limelight|own episode]], he routinely pulls off [[Zany Scheme|quite impressive cons]]. These often involved his own acknowledgment that he lacked traditional heroic traits. One of his most memorable was [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|winning a fight]] [[Batman Gambit|by throwing away his weapon]]. He has even gone into long boasts about his more successful (and generally shady) business negotiations.

*** If the Klingon Chancellor refers to you as "a brave Ferengi," you're doing something right.

* [[Spell My Name with a "The"|The Todd]], from ''[[Scrubs]]''. He's actually a very competent surgeon, with Turk even jealous when the Todd actually outdoes him. And to his credit, the Todd gave Turk his full support over being Chief Surgeon. His ego instead stems from his sex drive. He thinks he's a sex god, but he's more of an idiot and a pig.

* Several characters in the US adaptation of ''[[The Office]]'': Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, and possibly Andy Bernard (though the latter ''did'' apparently go to Cornell).

* Alan Brady of ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''.

* Jack and (in a different way) Dennis on ''[[Just Shoot Me]]''.

** Played with for his replacement, Charles Winchester. The man is indeed a hyper-qualified surgeon (unlike Frank), but his skills were best used in a regular hospital. He finds himself unprepared for the "meatball surgery" the camp has to utilize, which gives his ego some much-needed de-flating.

* Captain Peacock on ''[[Are You Being Served?|Are You Being Served]]''.

* Jackie Burkhart on ''[[That '70s Show]]''.

* ''[[Reaper]]'' gives us [[Meaningful Name|Ted]], the former manager of the Work Bench.

* ''[[The IT Crowd]]'' mercilessly mocks this in the person of Denholm Reynholm.

** His son Douglas is ''even worse'', as demonstrated at [[The Fun in Funeral|his father's funeral.]]

[[Distracted by the Sexy|Well who's this?]] Hi, I'm Douglas, what are you doing after the funeral?" }}

*** Douglas is at least slightly aware of his failures, though. He's just too rich and dumb to stop himself. He is shown to be occasionally successful, which doesn't help, but then stuff like this happens:

** The sheriff Vaisey also has moments of this, though not to the audience but to other characters, in fact his ridiculous dickery and [[Jerkass]] personality was what made him so endearing. But he seems to think he could run the entire kingdom better than the king even though all he's shown us is he's [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|exceptionally good at backstabbing people]] and inventing creatively fun tortures. The show's full of them!

* ''[[Waiting for God]]'': The idiot Baines.

* [[All the Tropes Wiki Drinking Game|Take a shot]] every time you see one of these in a [[Disney Channel]] show. Oh look, now you have alcohol poisoning.

* Rick and Mike in ''[[The Young Ones]]''.

** Rick repeatedly claims to be extremely popular and intelligent, even when people tell him to his face that he isn't. In one episode he actually bets money with the housemates that they like him, ''because they've just told him that they hate him.'' Subverted in that Rick seems to know he's an unpopular loser, but buries it under several layers of self-aware denial and bravado. Hell, he can’t even say ''his own name'' without sounding like a complete idiot due to his [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome]].

** Played straighter with Mike, who repeatedly insists he is a suave and sophisticated ladies man, even though everyone outside of the main cast seem to hate him as much as they hate the others and he is later revealed to be a virgin. The other housemates swing between actually treating him like "the boss" and treating him as if they're just playing along with his delusion.

* Jeremy on ''[[Peep Show]]''. He thinks he's a talented musician and sponges off his [[Heterosexual Life Partner]] Mark because he won't settle for anything less than a job in the music industry (which no sane person would give him). Despite him being an [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]], it's easy to see that this actually comes from his insecurity as much as anything else.

** Super Hans also counts though he is far more self-confident than Jez. He is equally untalented and pathetic but is often able to get Jeremy to follow Him out of sheer confidence though Jeremy is also able to outthink him quite easily.

* Nathan from ''[[Misfits]]'' is a young offender on community service who remains cheerfully obnoxious and arrogant despite being financially destitute, unemployed, homeless, and loathed by everyone he meets. His friends can't stand him and his parents don't want him around, his sexual conquests almost always end in abject humiliation, and once his power is revealed to be {{spoiler|immortality - or rather "resurrection" - he starts dying in increasingly ghastly ways at least once an episode, but always bounces back with a smile on his face}}. He is utterly ''convinced'' that everyone loves and admires him and that women find him irresistible, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

* In later seasons the producers of ''[[Survivor]]'' have edited Ben "Coach" Wade and "Special Agent?" Philip Sheppard season-long arcs as a Small Name Big Ego. Part of the strategy is a sarcastic edition of the [[Fake Ultimate Hero]], complete with heroic music, but we are ultimately lead to sympathize with the eye-rolling contestants as he goes on more than one [[Character Filibuster]] believing himself to be a sage and [[Warrior Poet]], but really proving to be an irritating version of [[The Philosopher]].

* C.C. Babcock on ''[[The Nanny]]''.

* Ruby on ''[[Supernatural]]'' crosses into this after she {{spoiler|[[Sixth Ranger Traitor|trains Sam to use his demon-killing powers to unleash Lucifer]]}}. She even says "I am ''awesome''!"

* In ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', Theon Greyjoy (more of a [[Smug Snake]] in the novels) is a definite example of this, often for comic effect. Theon is an arrogant jerk who likes to boast about his skill as a warrior and irresistibly to women as well as the greatness of his family (whose rebellion was recently easily crushed, which is why Theon is Eddard Stark's ward/prisoner in a [[Gilded Cage]]). The end result is that Theon is often the target of mockery from people of all classes in the feudal system.

* Batley from ''[[Eureeka's Castle|Eureekas Castle]]''. He had such a big ego, one episode saw him singing a heartfelt ballad entitled "I Love Me".

* Many customers on ''[[Pawn Stars]]'', particularly guys trying to sell cars, often think they did a great job restoring it, but really destroyed the item. One guy removed the air filter so he could fit a large engine than the car could fit, thinking the Pawn Star's were real "real car guys". Rick and the Old Man were horrified at the result.

* All the characters on ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia|Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'' with the possible exception of Charlie, fit this description but Dennis really stands out. He believes himself to be an immensely charming, likeable person who is skilled at everything and liked by everyone. In reality, he is sociopathic, vulgar, rude, idiotic, runs a failing business and has really only gotten as far as He did due to his family's wealth. Most episodes have Him attempt a new venture and become completely confused and aggressively annoyed when others don't view Him as being talented.

* Blanche Devereaux on [[Golden Girls]]. She considers herself devastatingly beautiful and a "mankiller," but the rest of the women dismiss it as a bunch of fluff, rarely taking her stories seriously.

 

== Music ==

* The theme of [[Ben Folds]] song "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You":

* There's a song called "I'm Awesome" by Spose. It's completely counterpoint to the title because the guy is describing how much of a loser he is and yet still thinks he's the greatest human being alive.

* "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" by [[The Offspring]] describes a classic example of this phenomenon.

''But you can't be like this'' }}

 

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

* During the late 1980s, [[WWE/Characters/Rock N Wrestling|the Honky Tonk Man]] became the longest-reigning WWF Intercontinental Champion to that point, holding the title for nearly 15 months in 1987-1988. During promos, Honky bragged that he was the "greatest Intercontinental Champion" in history, but his claim had little to do with his actual skills; rather, he would frequently get himself disqualified or have his manager, Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart, sneak-attack his opponents to set up an easy win. When the [[Ultimate Warrior]] finally caught up with Honky at the inaugural Summer Slam in 1988, [[Squash Match|it took 30 seconds to dethrone the braggart Honky.]] Honky never did regain the title, and his bragging soon became ignored by the fans as just hot air. (In reality, the WWF was trying to play up the Ultimate Warrior (Jim Hellwig) as the [[Next Big Star]], and used his WWF Intercontinental title run as a test run for bigger and better things, but Warrior was never truly successful.)

* Mr. Kennedy (Kennedy!) appeared to embody this trope when he exploded onto the scene in the late spring of 2006, claiming to be WWE's newest sensation and harboring such a high opinion of himself that he performed his own ring entrances in authentic ring-announcer style. He would often say that he was "the man who is single-handedly changing Friday nights!" The twist was that Kennedy actually ''could'' back up his braggadocio, defeating the likes of [[Batista]] and [[The Undertaker]] (albeit by cheating, getting his opponent counted out, or by goading the other guy into dishing out [[Disproportionate Retribution]] to him and gaining a disqualification victory). In fact, the only occasions when Kennedy seemed to come up short were when actual titles were on the line.

* A meta-example: [[WWE/Characters/Brand Extension|Drew McIntyre]] was pumped up by [[Vince McMahon]] as a future World Champion upon his debut and proceeded to let it go to his head. Since then, Drew hasn't caught on with the fans (in real life) but still thinks he deserves A-list treatment (in kayfabe), becoming this trope.

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* A surprising number of player characters.

** Another example would be the stunningly inept Lunar known as Ten Stripes, whose total lack of talent in social manipulation is matched only by her pride in the social manipulation skills she does not in fact have.

 

* Another ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' example would be Edge, [[Final Fantasy IV]]'s [[Badass]] ninja. He flirts with the ladies quite often and likes to flaunt his over-inflated ego in a regular basis. Unfortunately for Edge, his crush {{spoiler|Rydia}} seems to be disgusted by his attitude.

* One recurring NPC in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics A2]]'', the editor of the Bonga Bugle magazine (suggested to be more of a tabloid, really, but who's counting) ''lives and breathes'' this trope. It's surprising the localization team didn't name him some variation of the name.

* ''[[Persona 4]]'' has Teddie, who, despite being an empty bear suit, thinks that he's the world's most suave ladies man. {{spoiler|He gets a [[Bishonen]] human form later on, and sadly for the other characters, his charms ''work'' on most non-story-related ladies.}}

* ''[[Persona 3]]'''s [[Idiot Hero|Junpei Iori]], who thinks of himself as [[Heroic Wannabe|an action hero]] and [[Kidanova|ladies' man]], and flaunts himself as such to anyone who will listen (or anyone who doesn't immediately berate him for it, that is.) Most infamously during the [[Beach Episode]], where his success with women is taken down a peg or ten, and he ''quickly'' becomes [[The Resenter]] when the much more efficient, and [[The Stoic|unassuming]] Main Character proves himself the real hero.

* Several of the girls of ''[[Touhou]]'' are legends in their own minds:

** Cirno, Touhou's [[The Ditz|resident ditz]], proclaims herself to be the strongest and the smartest in Gensokyo. In reality, she's probably just the strongest and smartest ''fairy'', and unfortunately for her, fairies in the Touhouverse are essentially [[Mooks]]. Her name and number are practically synonymous with [[Baka]].

* The Scout from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', at least in the Meet The Scout video. He considers it "kind of a big deal" that there's someone who hasn't heard of him.

* Murray from the ''[[Monkey Island]]'' series. In his own mind, he is a powerful demonic force, the harbinger of your doom, and the forces of darkness will applaud him as he strides through the gates of Hell, carrying your head on a pike!

'''[[Oracular Head|Murray:]]''' ...All right then, 'roll'! ''Roll'' through the gates of Hell!... Must you take the fun out of ''everything''? }}

* Lurbuk, an Orc bard from [[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]], is so convinced of his own greatness that he doesn't realize you're there to kill him, even as you draw your blade and tell him he's about to die. And as testament to just how bad he is, a lottery was held to determine who could hire you to kill him.

* Bang's ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' prototype, Chipp Zanuff, the [[Eagle Land|American]] Ninja also fits this trope.

* ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'''s Aperture Science, judging from a slideshow of theirs. The far better-known [[Half-Life (series)|Black Mesa]] proposes modest budgets for its projects and is usually given as much. Aperture requests ridiculously large sums of money and usually gets the exact opposite.

** This may be more a case of [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] or [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]]. Aperture's inventions - all of them - pretty much snap the laws of physics in half and would be unbelievably useful anywhere besides in a pointlessly massive underground deathtrap. The company and Cave Johnson have every right to be insanely proud of their inventions, and Aperture's fiscal problems are most likely excused by [[Rule of Funny]].

* Almost all incarnations of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' are depicted as somewhat boastful and overconfident of their skills. The current video games version is shown to be extremely cocky, however he is somewhat playful and far less jerkish about it than most standard examples of the trope.

* Subverted in Kefka in [[Final Fantasy VI]], who at first seems like an egotistical [[Harmless Villain]] who fits this trope. He would subvert it when he becomes a [[Monster Clown]] by poisoning an entire castle. For much of the first leg of the game, he seems to be a [[Complete Monster]] who still fits this trope as the half-mad ego-maniacal supporter of the supposed [[Big Bad]]. Players were itching to really dish out a good bit of karmic justice to him in the [[Disc One Final Dungeon]]. Then he subverts it again when he goes [[From Nobody to Nightmare]], prompting the second half of the game where he is the ultimate adversary.

* Qara in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' is a vain, arrogant human sorceress who [[Pyromaniac|loves fire]].

== Web Animation ==

* While Strong Bad from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' is actually one of the more rational and intelligent ones in the cast, this doesn't say much - he falls squarely into this trope. He is convinced he is cool, handsome and painfully seductive, although his actual track record makes it fairly clear he is somewhat chubby and not very attractive.

 

 

* Guy from ''[[Two Guys and Guy]]''.

* Eridan Ampora from ''[[Homestuck]]'' is an [[Jerkass|arrogant snob]] who feels entitled to [[Casanova Wannabe|love]] and [[It's All About Me|reverence]], yet most of his peers view him with opinions ranging from pity (platonic, of course) to outright loathing.

 

== Web Original ==

* Draco Malfoy in ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]'' is this trope through [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] (although this particular trait is mainly through Flanderization of his original character and he's surprisingly more canon than [[Draco in Leather Pants]]). He's a bullying coward who believes the only thing keeping him from being the coolest kid in school is Harry and is constantly trying pose and failing ''spectacularly''. He does shape up and join the good guys later on in the show but he's still a Ted.

* [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara]] the character is this, berating his fans for asking his opinions on comics. Of course, out-of-character, an "I love you guys" is very quickly added.

* [[The Nostalgia Critic]] also has shades of this (again, the character is an ass but his actor is lovely), and his is of the "big ego but easily - [[Break the Haughty|and often]] - shattered self-esteem" variety.

* [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend|Shannon]] from ''[[Echo Chamber]]''.

{{quote|"When will they see that their crappy little show would be so much better if I were acting in it? And writing it? And directing it?"}}

 

== Western Animation ==

* Zapp Brannigan, ''[[Futurama]]'' (combined with a parody of [[The Ace]]). He is also a [[Miles Gloriosus]].

* Peggy Hill from ''[[King of the Hill]]''. She's a loving mother and wife, but she thinks she's much smarter and more attractive than she is.

** Not to mention her, erm, ''unique'' take on the Spanish language.

'''Edd:''' Unfortunately, yes. }}

** In [[The Movie]], it's revealed that {{spoiler|his behavior is all a [[Jerkass Facade]] due to him believing that if he acted more like his brother (who is an even bigger [[Jerkass]]), he'd be more popular.}}

* Finn from ''[[Storm Hawks]]'', whilst a talented sniper, is nowhere near the ladies man he thinks he is.

* Cartman from ''[[South Park]]'', though he displays a number of tropes at a number of different times.

* Kent Powers from ''[[Quack Pack]]'' was presumably based on the original Ted Baxter.

** In the episode where Marge stars in ''"[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]"'' musical, the director, while competent, sees himself as this supreme director even though the only play he ever mentions directing was a school play.

*** He prides himself on it though, by carrying the review around and quoting it.

** Also Plucky Duck, the ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' character based on Daffy.

*** Plucky actually seems like half of it is just Plucky being a kid, hopefully he'll grow out of it and not become his mentor. He's been competent when he's wanted to be (except, unfortunately, in asking girls out.)

* Disney's ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' brings another main (and title) character example. He does have [[Let's Get Dangerous|genuine competence lurking beneath surface]], though.

* Gaston from Disney's ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]''. His [[Villain Song]] suggests he might even be [[Compensating for Something]], [[If You Know What I Mean]].

* Brian Griffin from ''[[Family Guy]]'', despite he is very intelligent and have a good number of talents, usually thinks of himself as a great writer, but when he finally got his novel published, he didn't sell a single copy. Worth of mention that, the Literary Award he won at the beginning of "Play it Again, Brian" was because he plagiarized another guy's work.

* In ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'', Captain K'nuckles would be a good example of this combined with [[The Woobie]].

* The late 80s series ''[[Captain N: The Game Master]]'' featured several characters from Nintendo games, like Kid Icarus and Megaman. Simon Belmont from ''[[Castlevania]]'' was depicted as a vain and arrogant "Ted Baxter"-like vampire hunter and rival to the main hero, Captain N.

** Hilariously, he even had the look down, [[You Don't Look Like You|looking NOTHING AT ALL like the two canon versions of Simon.]] He dresses and prepares more like a jet-setting hiker than a vampire hunter.

* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' episode ''Hot Ice'' gives us Cecil, a burglar who believes himself to be a criminal genius, to the point '''that he leaves handwritten signed notes declaring himself to be a criminal mastermind at the scenes of his crime'''.

* [[The Eeyore]] of [[Johnny Test]], Hubert "Dad" Test.

* Kyle and Salty Mike from [[Squirrel Boy]].

* Principal Pixiefrog from [[My Gym Partner's a Monkey]].

* Dean from [[The Goode Family]].

* [[Inspector Gadget]], far more so than in the film version. This actually is a major element which [[Status Quo Is God|preserves the status quo]]. Most notably, he is convinced that Dr. Claw is so terrified of him that MAD packs up and leaves as soon as Gadget is assigned to a case. This may be the main reason he canonically can't catch Dr. Claw, despite the number of times they've been physically close: Gadget ''cannot believe'' Dr. Claw would dare go near him, and thus cannot recognize him. To some extent, this is also why Inspector Gadget tends to not notice MAD agents trying to kill him or recognize the MAD logo.

* Control Freak on ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' He’s actually fairly competent as villains go, but the Titans still don’t take him seriously. He wasn’t even mentioned on the list of “Villains to watch out for” the Titans East got when they were housesitting the tower!

{{quote|'''Park Avenue:''' ''Yes, I am the one who did it! I am the graffiti artist! I fill the world with knowledge! I paint the truth! I paint rebellion! I.."

'''Benson''' ''[[Crowning Moment of Indifference|I am calling the cops]]'' }}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:Ego Tropes]]