Small Name, Big Ego: Difference between revisions

* ''[[X Wing Series]]''. A character who was never seen while alive, Captain Darillian. He was "a petty guy who reached his ultimate level of usefulness driving a minelaying barge for a warlord and then had to be scraped off the floor," but his [[Small Name, Big Ego|ego]] was big enough that he kept a [[Captain's Log]] in full holo and talked into it like he was always on dangerous missions that the fate of his sect of the Empire rode upon.

** His boss, Admiral Apwar Trigit, was also an example, albeit a much quieter one. He fell for every single trick the Wraiths set up. [[Aaron Allston]] [[Word of God|addressed why]] in his [http://www.aaronallston.com/faq.html FAQ].

*** 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.

* Berrynose, and his [[Expy]], Beetlenose in ''[[Warrior Cats]]''.

* ''[[Discworld]]'''s Lord Rust believes himself to be a fine military commander despite ignoring such factors as provisions, location, and the respective size and experience of forces. When justifying his tactical decisions he frequently cites battles when the people in that scenario ''lost'', or on a couple of occasions, were nursery stories.

'''Prince Cadram:''' And, knowing this, his men still follow him? }}

* High Lord Weiramon from Robert Jordan's ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' novels. He thinks he's charming, witty, the perfect general, and a clever enough liar to make the protagonist think he's totally loyal to the cause. He's actually [[Too Dumb to Live|so unbelievably suicidally stupid]] that some fans think he's actually [[The Mole]], sabotaging the goodies from within by "accidentally" screwing everything up.

** The latest book shows that {{spoiler|he is indeed a mole, just not for the Seanchan. And Rand was really disappointed about it too.}}

* Zaphod Beeblebrox from ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', who's actually a pretty big name (he became President of the Galaxy because he wanted to steal a ''ship'', created the most potent alcoholic drink in the universe(s), then saved the universe a few times. Mostly while drunk) with a ''truly colossal'' ego:

** One book introduces a device called the Total Perspective Vortex, a simulation that drives people insane by starting on an image of them, then pulling an [[Epic Tracking Shot]] that shows them how tiny and insignificant they are when compared to the totality of the universe. Zaphod becomes the only person to ever walk away unaffected, because as he saw it, it showed him as the center of the universe, [[It's All About Me|which only validated what he already believes]].

*** 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.

* Barney Stinson in ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' thinks his exploits are legen--wait for it--dary! However, this [[Handsome Lech|womanizing ladies' man]] has been repeatedly been shown as lame during several episodes in the series.

* ''[[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.]]

''sobs melodramatically before seeing Jen'' <br />

[[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:

'''Douglas''': "Look here, I think I know by now where to sign a sexual harassment settlement." }}

* Dick Solomon from ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]''. "I'M GORGEOUS!" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF__b9l5nDY Evidence here].

== Music ==

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

Or maybe let you watch too much TV }}

* 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.

* The lyrics to "O.M.G." by Jenna Rose give off this feel (the fact that she dons an "All About Me!" shirt around the 52-second mark in the music video does not help). Sample lyrics:

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

* Denis King on ''[[Hello Cheeky]]'', although subverted in that he was genuinely competent as a pianist. However, he gets the fewest acting parts and is the worst actor, yet keeps insisting that he's the real star of the show.

** In one episode, he complains about the others picking on him, and goes to see a psychiatrist. His philosophy is more or less summed up in their dialogue:

'''Denis:''' I can't, I'm a star! }}

** It is notable that the one time where it's mentioned that his charms worked, it ended up saving the entire party from the Empire's ambush.

** Also, the retranslated GBA versions seemed indicated that their version of Edgar was a bit more successful with the ladies.

* Subverted in ''[[Disgaea 2 Cursed Memories]]''. Against all odds, it turns out that talking frog and resident [[Butt Monkey]] Tink ''wasn't'' lying when he claimed his un-cursed form was a total [[Bishonen]]. Really, we swear!

** Also subverted in the [[Disgaea Hour of Darkness|first Disgaea]]: as it turns out, Vyers/Mid-Boss {{spoiler|has been playing at [[Stealth Mentor]] and feigning incompetence for pretty much the entire game. Of course, it's implied that while the buffoonery was faked, the ''[[Insufferable Genius|ego]]'' was genuine. Turns out Laharl really ''does'' [[Luke, I Am Your Father|take after his father]]}}.

** Mao from Disgaea 3 qualifies; he constantly boasts about his brilliance and 1.8 million "E.Q.", but as [[Only Sane Man|Almaz]] points out, his calculations are ''never'' correct. He also assumes he is far more respected and admired by the other students than is actually the case. And the game would be over in half the time if he could just ''admit'' that he needs the help of others, and that his friends are more than just servants he allows to tag along with him.

* 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.

* 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.

* [[The Nostalgia Chick]], Dr. Tease and The Makeover Fairy are all this, although the actresses - Lindsay and Elisa - are nice, down-to-earth women. Like Critic, the Chick's self-esteem is pitifully low and she abuses people to make herself feel better.

* In ''[[The Spoony Experiment]]'' review of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', this was Spoony's take on Tidus.

** Overall, its save to say that the majority of [[That Guy With The Glasses]] members have at least once played off that concept.

* Jimmy Brennan of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' is a mixture of this and [[Miles Gloriosus]]. He's [[Sarcasm Mode|definitely]] the most [[Badass]], [[Rated "M" for Manly|manly]], and awesome character on the island who can kick ANY ass!

* Matt in ''[[Two Best Friends Play]]'' during the ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'' video. He had played the game beforehand and thought he would kick Pat's ass. He did at first, but Pat eventually learned how to play the game and did much better than Matt, and showed that he actually knew who the characters were. And that's not taking into account the ''incredible'' level of humiliation they ''both'' suffered at the hands of an unnamed third guy, who was far more intimately familiar with the game than either of them.

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

** Some examples include her stating that "in her opinion, the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year", believing that being in a bunch of foot fetish videos was somehow advancing the cause of acceptance for big footed women like herself and claiming that her IQ is 170 (her own estimate which is 10 points below Einstein).

* Eddy from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''.

'''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.}}

** 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.

* Squidward from ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' aspires to be an artist, and thinks living next door to idiots like SpongeBob and Patrick while working as a cashier at [[Burger Fool|the Krusty Krab]] is beneath him. Of course, he's not a very good musician, and all his paintings and sculptures seem to be of himself.

** Subverted in one episode, where he takes credit for Spongebob's sculpture and fails miserably at getting him to make another, better one to show the art critic. He snaps and goes insane, randomly throwing and chiseling like a madman, and then storms by the critic and angrily tells him that the ''janitor'' is now the artist and storms off. The art critic sees the sculpture, which is ''a magnificent work of art'', and says:

** Mr. Krabs is turning into one of these

** Sandy plays with this. She is actually the most intelligent and talented member of Bikini Bottom by far. However this does lead her to overestimate her skills at times and sometimes gets rather overcompetitive and arrogant when someone implies she is isn't the best at something.

* Dr. Jacques von Hämsterviel in ''[[Lilo and Stitch]]''.

* [[Regular Show]]: Park Avenue, graffiti artist from "Under the hood".

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

* [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]] has [[Third Person Person|The Great and Powerful Trixie]] who boasts being capable of doing everything better than everyone. Rainbow Dash is a milder case, given that she can (usually) back up her claims.