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{{trope}}
[[File:
A specific type of itinerant [[Con Man]], somewhat similar to the [[Hustler]] in being both less financially stable and having a poorer group of victims as well, and also has some overlap with the [[Honest John's Dealership|Honest John]] as being a purveyor of shoddy goods, not always phony medicine.
The character is often played as a [[Loveable Rogue]] type, frequently being extremely attractive to local women, having "seen the world" (or at least is good at pretending to have done so). Somewhat inexplicably sympathetic, given the obvious result of a sick person being given medicine which doesn't actually work.
Definitely [[Truth in Television]], hearkening back to the late-19th/early-20th century, when there were no standards for practicing medicine or selling goods and "caveat emptor" was the rule. The rise of "alternative medicine" and other forms of [[All-Natural Snake Oil]] provides lots of modern examples as well. Snake Oil Salesmen are also known as "quacks," though the term "quack" also covers fraudulent doctors who are nowhere near as skilled as they claim to be, such as the worst [[Back
In an interesting subversion, actual snake oil contains plenty of Omega-3, so it can be beneficial to the health. However, in a [[Double Subversion]], the actual benefits of Omega-3 are so mysterious-to-laymen-but-vaguely-positive that the modern version of this could be the Fish Oil or Omega-3 Salesman. Also, [
Expect to find ''actual'' Snake Oil Salesmen at the local [[Medicine Show]]. The [[Beat Bag]] is his hat.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Dr. Doxey in the ''[[Lucky Luke]]'' comic series.
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Glengarry Glen Ross]]'' follows the lives of shady real estate salesmen.
* Professor Marvel in ''[[The Wizard of Oz (
* Doc Terminus from the original animated version of ''
* [[Danny Kaye]]'s character Georgi in ''The Inspector General'' (1949) starts the film as the assistant of
* Mr. Merriweather, in ''[[
* In ''[[The Kid Brother]]'', Harold Lloyd as the son of the sheriff is supposed to run off the [[Medicine Show]] but falls for the
* Lilah encounters a snake oil salesman on a stagecoach in a deleted scene from ''[[Jonah Hex (
* In ''[[Seraphim Falls]]'', the [[Liam Neeson|leading]] [[Pierce Brosnan|characters]] meet Madam [[Louis Cypher|Louise C. Fair]].
* ''[[Priest (
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie]]''; Ivan may be giving away his Ooze for free, but he does so in a way that looks like something straight out of an old-fashioned [[Medicine Show]].
== [[Literature]] ==
* In the children's Christmas book ''[[Emmet
** According to the [[Jim Henson]] adaptation "There just aren't enough people who want to oil a snake."
* The title character in ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' sells dogs; as the book describes, they're "ugly, mongrel monstrosities whose pedigrees he forged." He once talked a woman, who wanted to buy a parrot, into buying a bulldog.
* Sinclair Lewis' ''[[Elmer Gantry]]'' is a religious version, although his occasional moments of sincere belief in what he's preaching (especially in the film version) cross him over somewhat into more complicated [[Hypocrite]] territory.
* In [[
* In ''[[Heralds of Valdemar|Winds of Fury]]'' Firesong's cover when sneaking into Hardorn was as a stage magician/snake oil salesman. His magical cure-all was brandy mixed with some medicinal herbs, which made it theoretically healthy and of considerably higher quality than most things sold by such people.
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* "Miss Jeanette" from ''[[True Blood]]'' does exorcisms in the woods for people who are "demon possessed". She really works in a drugstore.
** There's a bit of evidence she may have had legitimate abilities as an exorcist, with the dress up just being for show. After all, {{spoiler|so far only the supernatural have had their hearts devoured by Maryann.}}
*** {{spoiler|This was confirmed in the episode "Frenzy". Maryann explains to Tara that "[[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|ritual is a powerful thing]]," and that Miss Jeanette was able to, unwittingly, tap into supernatural forces. In fact, was Tara's "fake" exorcism that summoned Maryann to Bon Temps in the first place.}}
** Bonus for that the lady was a trained pharmacist and knew what drugs would both induce a proper hallucinatory state ''and'' probably have beneficial effects to the problem at hand.
* ''[[
{{quote|
* Doctors [[John Barrowman|Dean]] and Dana Deville in ''[[Hustle]]'', who sell bottles and tins of garbage as cures for everthing from arthritis to swine flu, are decidedly ''un''sympathetic [[Smug Snake
* Parodied on ''[[The
== [[Music]] ==
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* In the [[Hurricane of Puns]] comic strip ''Sir Bagby'', there was a story arc where Sir Bagby encountered a snake oil salesman; his first reaction was a bemused "I hadn't realised so many people had squeaky snakes."
== [[Radio]] ==
* ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' had Professor Lute Bone, whose "Miracle Tonic's" active ingredient was opium. As a twist on the usual, he was firmly against alcohol abuse.
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** Parodied in an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' where a [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|nearly identical character]] selling defective monorails convinces Springfield to buy one, and it is revealed that these monorails have had accidents killing several people in the past. At the end, his flight out of town is forced to stop over in one of those towns, and he gets lynched by an angry mob.
** The most famous player of that character, Robert Preston, played an alien variant of the character as a shady military recruiter in ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''.
* Ali Hakim from the musical ''[[Oklahoma!]]!''.
* Pirelli in ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (
* Bill Starbuck from ''The Rainmaker'' and its musical adaptation ''[[One Hundred Ten In The Shade|110 in the Shade]]''.
* Eustace P. McGargle, from the 1923 musical comedy ''Poppy''. W.C. Fields originated the character on stage and later played him in two film adaptations, the silent ''Sally of the Sawdust'' (1925) and the "talkie" ''Poppy'' (1936).
* In ''[[Men in Hats]]'', Sam [http://www.meninhats.com/d/20030924.html goes into business] selling a miracle cure which is rebottled laundry detergent.
{{quote|
== Videogames ==
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*Funnily enough, in ''[[Fire Emblem|Path of Radiance]]'', a conversation between Shinon and Gatrie actually reveals the latter to have bought snake oil after being conned into thinking it was a speed potion.
* There's a [[Planet of Hats]] of these in ''[[Star Control]] 2''.
{{quote|
* ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' has one of these in the form of Nigel West Dickens, a major character, even mentioning the trope by name. He handily provides the page image.
** Subverted, however, in that snake oil is actually beneficial in this
*** While this upgrade does allow Marston to paint multiple targets with his Dead Eye ability, it does so by whoever and wherever you aim your crosshair, but '''this does not exclude innocents'''. Unless you're damned careful and know where you're going to aim, it's not unlikely that you will glance a civilian, or your own horse, in a heavy firefight. Until you get the upgrade that lets you choose what targets you want to hit, you can thank Dickens' lovely tonic for any "accidents".
*** According to Marston himself it also [[Bring My Brown Pants|gave him the runs]] mere hours after drinking it (thankfully the player is spared from having to actually watch that scene).
** Played straight as it is mentioned within the game's newspapers and showcased in the mission set in the area Plainview where an army of Dicken's "satisfied" customers try to gun the man down only for John to save him, that while West Dicken's elixir has certain benefits it also has severe side effects, much as you would expect from high powered medications we have today. Naturally these side effects leave a lot of Mr. Dickens' customers quite unhappy his business scandal eventually leads to him being arrested in Blackwater only to have John Marston come to the rescue.
** Even better, in the [[Zombie Apocalypse|Undead Nightmare]] [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] storyline, it turns out that his "vitality elixir" actually attracts the undead ("It's like catnip to them!", the protagonist observes). Of course, this becomes a good thing, since you can throw bottles of the stuff to lure the zombies away, and later you even "upgrade" it by stuffing a stick of dynamite into the bottle, making it a time bomb that actually attracts enemies before it explodes.
* Mystia Lorelei of the ''[[Touhou]]'' series. As revealed in ''[[All There in the Manual|Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red]]'', [http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Article_and_Interview:_Mystia she's started a business of selling grilled lamprey], which is rumored to cure night-blindness. Business is booming since her area has an inexplicably high amount of people suffering from night-blindness, and when people eat the food she serves, they find themselves miraculously cured! Of course, the fact that Mystia has the ability to induce night-blindness on others and can cancel it at anytime she wants may have something to do with it as well.
* In [[Skyrim]], the Thieves Guild has fallen on such hard times that their recruiter, Brynjolf, is forced to run a sideline of business selling 'Falmerblood Elixir' to the citizens of Riften.
* A few in the ''[[Paper Mario]]'' franchise, all of whom have [[Meaningful Name]]s:
** Rip Cheato in the first game is a salesman you should be wary of. You can buy a Life Shroom from him and a few Star Pieces, but before you can buy any of his good stuff, you have to buy a lot of junk. And his prices are incredibly inflated.
** Also, Chet Rippo, who appears in the first and second. For 39 coins, he will upgrade one of Mario or his partners' stats by two levels, but downgrade all the others one level. In the second game, he's [[Loveable Rogue| more honest about the side effect]]; in fact, it's possible that it's two different people, as they look different in each game.
** Charlieton in the second game, but only when you meet him in Rogueport; when you meet him in the Pit of 100 Trials, he's an [[Intrepid Merchant]] who probably [[Adam Smith Hates Your Guts| took lessons from Adam Smith.]] But in both cases, he's a sleazy merchant. ''However'', if you're ''very'' lucky when you talk to him in Rogueport, he might be selling Jammin' Jellies or Ultra Shrooms, very useful items, for only 120 coins, which is the cheapest they sell for in the game.
** An early task in ''Origami King'' revolves around collecting five ancient stones to unlock a shrine for a nature spirt. An entrepreneurial Monty Mole finds one of these and tries to auction it off for ''ten thousand'' coins while trying to sell it off as a blender and gradually begs the bidders to buy it so he can pay his rent. If the NPCs buys it at the final bid of 300 coins, they state that they have no idea what it is and that one of them gets to keep it on every day that ends with "y" before charging Mario 1,500 coins to take it off their hands.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' examples:
** The Magikarp Salesman first appears in the original [[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' and Blue (and [[Pokémon Fire Red|Pokémon Fire Red and LeafGreen]]''). First seen in the Pokémon Center on Route 4, he offers you a Magikarp for 500 PokeDollars. This is, of course, a ripoff, because you can get a Magikarp anywhere. While he doesn't actually appear in the sequel a boy in Pewter City (which is adjacent to Route 4) will show his Gyrados to anyone who asks, and a girl in the same city claims he bought a Magikarp from a "weird old man" three years prior, and trained it.
** Zigzagged in ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver]]'', where a Team Rocket member offers to sell you a Slowpoketail for ''a million'' PokéDollars. This is a ripoff, of course, but you couldn't buy one even if you wanted, as there's a 999,999 limit to the amount of money you can carry.
** Inverted in [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]], where the Meister offers to trade you his Magikarp for a Finneon. It's no better than any other Magikarp, but accepting the trade does [[Cosmetic Award]] enable the German language entry of Magikarp in your PokéDex.
** Zigzagged in ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'' (and [[Pokémon Black 2 and White 2| its sequel]]), where the Magikarp Salesman appears again on the Marvelous Bridge. He offers the same deal here, but it might actually be worth it now, as Magikarp are not native to Unova, and can only be found in the Nature Reserve in the second game.
** In ''[[Pokémon X and Y]]'', a Magikarp Salesman appears, and ''he's even more crooked than any others''. {{spoiler|After you talk to a hiker that you meet in the hotels enough times, he offers you a "Super Special" Magikarp in exchange for a Gyarados. It's nothing but a plain old Magikarp, and only Lvl 5, lower than one you could catch yourself. (If you knew that the guy's name was "Caveat" and that the Magikarp's name was "Carpe Diem", it might tip you off, but you only learn that if you trade it.) The only compensation is that the Magikarp has an Adamant nature (which lowers Special Attack to boost its Attack) and has a perfect IV in Attack.}}
** There's a guy like this in ''[[Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]''. He doesn't offer a Magikarp, and if you're clever, you can benefit from dealing with him. {{spoiler| After dealing with Groudon/Kyogre, an old man who claims to sell stones appears on Route 114. He speaks highly of one he offers for 40,000 PokéDollars, even higher of one for 80,000, and highest of one for 150,000. But all three are Hard Stones. Two items he sells, which he claims are "for beginners" and tries to steer you away from, only cost 1,500; these are the Mega Evolution stones for the two Starters you ''did not'' choose.}}
* Zigzagged with Tuki in ''[[Shantae|Shantae: Half Genie Hero]]''. She seems a very blatant example, being as actual snake-lady (the "sneaky, snakey seller of magical secrets!" she boasts) and much of her inventory is overpriced compared to merchants in Scuttle Town (seeing as she can be accessed within the actual levels, [[Adam Smith Hates Your Guts|she has clearly taken inspiration from Adam Smith]]). However, she is also the only way to get certain transformative dances that are very useful to the heroine, so it's definitely worth dealing with her.
== Webcomics ==
* ''Redpanels'' presents: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170622120537/http://redpanels.com/141/ now and then].
* ''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]]'' has someone selling [http://nonadventures.com/2009/11/07/fan-friction/ wonder fans].
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Skrufy the Hobo from [http://www.youtube.com/normantweeter Norman Tweeter] qualifies, as he once sold a copy of [[Manos:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The aptly named Flim Flam from ''[[The 13 Ghosts of Scooby
** Though, to be fair, his "Lotsa Luck Joy Juice" ''does'' work as a cure for [[Our Werewolves Are Different|lycanthropy]], making him a tidy profit in the pilot episode.
* Whoever made and sold to [[Futurama|Dr. Zoidberg]] "Dr. Flimflam's Miracle Cream" probably qualifies, though they're never seen.
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* A huckster sells weakling [[Daffy Duck]] a bottle of muscle tonic (ingredients: 10% tap water, 90% hot mustard).
* Dr. Charlatan, whom [[The Smurfs]] dealt with in "The Miracle Smurfer".
* In ''[[
{{quote|
* They're actually honest about how good their cider-making invention is is, but everything else? [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* An episode of [[An American Tail|Fievel's American Tails]] features Dr. Travis T. Hippocrates, who commissions an unknowing Fievel to pass out candy to everyone in town that gives them hiccups so that the doctor can sell them a placebo cure.
* An unscrupulous fruit vendor in ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]]'' suckered Billy into buying all his tangelos by claiming tangelos kept clowns away; Billy is terrified of clowns, and not very bright.
* In ''[[The Owl House]]'', Eda is the [[Lovable Rogue]] type; she ''literally'' sells snake oil ("nobody wants an unoiled snake") and has her pet owls steal cheap toys and junk from the human world, then selling them to the residents of the Boiling Isles as "human collectibles" for far more than they're worth. Naturally, she's made a lot of enemies; [[Wanted Poster]]s with her picture are common even in her home town.
* Grunkle Stan from ''[[Gravity Falls]]'' has had a long, mostly unsuccessful career as this, mostly doing so running his Mystery Shack, a museum of oddities where ''most'' of them are fakes.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Con Man]]
[[Category:Western Characters]]
[[Category:Occupation Tropes]]
[[Category:The Trickster]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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