Small Name, Big Ego: Difference between revisions

 

 

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** 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]].

* Apone from "Cowa!" considers very highly of himself.

* A common trait among ''[[One Piece]]'' villains, though a few stand out.

** Wapol sees himself as a great king, when he's really just a spoiled brat.

** Bellamy's inability to recognize someone tougher than he is led to one of the more satisfying [[Curb Stomp Battle|moments]] in the series.

* Nora from ''[[Witchblade (Anime)|Witchblade]]'' is quite uppity, and stays that way until her demise at the hands of Reina. And she was actually winning that fight too, until she couldn't contain her gloating and trashtalking, then SAT DOWN upon a wounded Reina, completely forgetting that all blade users can make any part of their body a weapon.

* Ishizawa in [[Bakuman｡ (Manga)|Bakuman｡]] constantly criticizes manga professionals and thinks that he's a great manga artist, when in fact, he can only draw cutesy sketches of girls. When One Hundred Millionth fails to get a prize from the four chosen for finalists for the Tezuka award, Ishizawa claims that he's better than Mashiro and that Mashiro is dragging Takagi down, despite never having tried anything as ambitious as what Mashiro did, prompting Takagi to punch him. He later gets a series in Chara Kira Magazine, but it's clear that he's nowhere near the main characters' skill.

* Naoe Kanetsugu from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' loves to announce his arrival on the battlefield, with a loud declaration of his invincibility, and amazing battle prowess...and always gets swatted away like a common [[Mook]].

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

* [[Inspector Gadget (Film)|Inspector Gadget]]

* [[Man Child|Dr.]] [[The Ditz|Glickenstein]] from [[Igor]].

* [[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 ==

* Gilderoy Lockhart in ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets|Harry Potter]]''. Of course, it could just be an act designed to keep his fraudulent reputation afloat. His vanity about his physical appearance is almost certainly genuine, though. [[JK Rowling]] has admitted that Lockhart is one of the few characters in the series explicitly based on a real person. While refusing for obvious reasons to reveal that person's identity, Rowling has said he was actually even ''worse'' than his fictional counterpart and suggested that he's out there now claiming to be the inspiration for Dumbledore, or that he wrote the books himself and just let her take the credit out of the goodness of his heart.

** {{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.

** 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].

{{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.}}

* Zaphod Beeblebrox from ''[[The Hitchhikers 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:

{{quote| If there's anything more important than my ego on board this ship, I want it caught and shot!}}

*** 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 (Literature)|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'.

* Lorenzo Smythe, the main character of the [[Robert A. Heinlein]] novel ''[[Double Star]]''. While he is a very good actor (enough that the Emperor says that he's Smythe's biggest fan), he considers himself to be an artist ''par excellence'', and the standard by which all other actors should be judged. He prefers to refer to himself as "The Great Lorenzo." When he goes missing, not even his agent notices for a long time. His obituary only mentions that he hadn't had a job in months, and that he was likely [[Driven to Suicide]] by depression.

* Tigerstar from [[Warrior Cats]] claims he's greater then Starclan after changing the number of clans from 4 to 2.

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

** This is lampshaded in "Civil Defense". When Quark and Odo (who consider each other [[Worthy Opponent|Worthy Opponents]] at the best of times, and nuisances at all times) are trapped in Odo's office while the station is about to self-destruct, Odo (who later says he was just trying to be nice since he thought they were going to die) calls Quark "the most devious Ferengi I've ever met"- a compliment. After the danger has passed, Quark is outraged to find that Odo's ''real'' opinion of him is "a self-important con artist who's nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is."

* 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).

** Ryan Howard as well, especially after he's promoted to the executive level.

** 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 (TV)|Are You Being Served]]''.

** Tracy Jordan kind of fits this trope as well.

* Jackie Burkhart on ''[[That 70s Show (TV)|That 70s Show]]''.

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

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

* Ted McGriff on ''[[Hey Dude]]'' started this way, but slowly turned into [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]].

* 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]].

* Sylvia Noble from ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' is an inversion. She really doesn't seem to have an over-inflated opinion of herself; she just has a really low one of everyone else. Sylvia has no understanding of the concept of tact, often insulting and belittling Donna and Wilf, her own daughter and father, respectively. She dismisses her daughter's [[Doctor Who (TV)/2006 CS the Runaway Bride/Recap|disappearance in a flash of light while walking up the wedding aisle]] as Donna tricking everyone to demand attention. She has absolutely no respect or faith in her daughter, and isn't afraid to tell her so. She refuses to acknowledge her daughter's choices and actions, ignores the Doctor when he tells her there's danger. Fortunately, after {{spoiler|Donna's actions in [[Doctor Who (TV)/NS/Recap/S4 E12 The Stolen Earth|the]] [[Doctor Who (TV)/NS/Recap/S4 E13 Journeys End|finale]],}} she seems to have realized her mistakes, and by ''[[Doctor Who (TV)/NS/Recap/S4 E17 E18 The End of Time|End of Time]]'', she's almost pleasant to be around.

* 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.

* 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.

 

* 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 (Wrestling)/Brand Extension/Characters|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.

* Announcer [[Michael Cole]], since his [[Face Heel Turn]] in late 2010. He frequently declares himself the "Voice of the WWE", takes pride in his past as a broadcast journalist, and likes to brag about his [[Wrestlemania]] "victory" over fellow announcer [[Jerry Lawler]].<ref>Though in reality, it wasn't really an "earned" victory, per se, the Anonymous Raw GM overturned Lawler's victory in favour of Cole.</ref>, as well as his "superior" wrestling skills due to the aforementioned fact.

 

{{quote| '''Locke''': ...And watch out for a certain lecherous young king who shall remain nameless. The guy moves in like a hawk!}}

* Subverted in ''[[Disgaea 2]]''. 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!

{{quote| '''Vyers:''' Why am I so awesome?}}

** 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.

** Also, the fictional Barry Bonds. But he admits that he has a huge ego.

** Don't forget [[Large Ham|Tony.]] He goes to town with this trope.

** He at one point literally tells Shepard to "sit back and watch how it's done." Shepard was pretty much giving him/herself an implied [[Face Palm]] for that entire conversation.

* The Scout from ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|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.

** Damnable thing is that he ''does'' know what to do in an actual fight as long as he's the one fighting, and earned his way from mook Stabber grunt to Chief Warlord on those merits. [[The Peter Principle|It's just that those merits weren't strategy, diplomacy, or logistics.]]

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

 

 

** 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 (Disney)|Beauty and The Beast]]''. His [[Villain Song]] suggests he might even be [[Compensating for Something]], [[Lampshaded Double Entendre|If You Know What I Mean]].

* Johnny Bravo of ''[[Johnny Bravo]]''

* Lucius on ''[[Jimmy Two Shoes]]''.

* Brainy Smurf, on ''[[The Smurfs]]''. Often, he will brag and moralize to his fellow Smurfs in invariably any situation, only for his advice to be dubious at best and completely wrong at worst. (In the animated series, when one of the Smurfs tires of him, he will be thrown out of the village ... literally.) He believes his quotations, compiled in volumes usually titled "Quotations From Brainy Smurf" will get other Smurfs to see him as a great orator and with insightful wisdom, although the quotes are little more than nonsensical ramblings, or copied wisdom from one of his fellow Smurfs. He thinks of himself as a ''de facto'' second-in-command whenever Papa Smurf is gone or needs someone to reinforce his authority, but this authority is often better handled by other Smurfs.

* [[Occidental Otaku|Birch Small]] of ''[[My Life Me]]'', especially when it comes to her artworks. She shows off her own "manga art" to her manga idol Miyazaki [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign|Lee]], which the idol exclaimed to like only to insult a different "local" comic with little knowing that Birch made it as well, which prompts her to bitch him out and start insulting some of the very work of his she was praising earlier.

[[Category:Ego Tropes]]

[[Category:Small Name Big Ego]]