Unreliable Expositor: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"How amusing. [snip] You say that what I'm saying now is a lie -- yet what I said in the past is not?"''|'''[[Mr. Exposition|Sosuke Aizen]]''', ''[[Bleach]]''}}

 

 

Examples should be confined to exposition that is later proved to be flat out wrong, exposition from somebody later proven to be a lying liar who lies or [[Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance|much much less knowledgeable]] than they claim to be, or [[Did Not Do the Research]]-level science in the mouth of somebody who either is willfully simplifying or is a liar, fanatic, or otherwise fundamentally unreliable.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Darker than Black]]'' provides a healthy dose of [[Expospeak]] early on, from a scientist who studies things that are under [[The Masquerade]], no less. The next thing we see? Our expo-speaker did not even knew {{spoiler|who and what she ''herself'' is}} and presumably was not allowed to have any really sensitive information at all. So, have a happy dish of common oversimplifications and [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|tampered memories]]. You're on your own. Hell, 90% of everything ''anyone'' says in the first two episodes is misleading at best, and [[Blatant Lies]] at worst. We're looking at you, [[Obfuscating Stupidity|Hei]].

* As seen in the page quote, half the things [[Big Bad|Sosuke Aizen]] of ''[[Bleach]]'' says are lies. The other half are half-truths and [[A God Am I]] BS. Everything he ''doesn't'' say is a lie. His power [[Master of Illusion|even has the ability to alter all of your perceptions]], or, ''lie''. This is a problem, considering that almost everything we learn about the plot [[Mr. Exposition|comes from that guy.]]

* In ''[[FLCL]]'' pretty much all of the exposition that Amarao says is false, its unknown if he made it up trying to look cool or if actually believes the things he says. He was right about the robot replacing Kamon. For all we know, everything he says is true, or at least was true the last time he met Haruko. He can't be faulted for having information that's a decade or more out of date.

* In the [[Ace Attorney]] manga, Robin Wolfe invites Phoenix to his house, saying that he's a suspect in killing his employee Eddie Johnson because he had a talk with him about his disrespectful attitude before he committed suicide, and was the last person to speak with him before his death. It then comes to light that he had taken Eddie to the Den of Spiders add restrained him in a chair for three hours, but while Robin claims that he was unaware of Eddie's arachnophobia, his wife Theridia testifies to his knowing about it. Robin's other lies include the claim that Eddie tried to get into a relationship with his daughter Lira but failed (Lira loved Eddie and hates her father for driving him to his death), and that his brother Bobby is "a servant" (not only do the Wolfes not have servants, but Robin keeps Bobby out of sight of guests, thinking him an embarrassment to thefamily name).

 

== Comic Books ==

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Star Wars]]'':

** Obi Wan Kenobi's original statement to Luke about the fate of his father is extremely misleading, and was the former [[Trope Namer]] for [[Half Truth]]. This makes Obi-Wan very much one of these.

 

== Fan Works ==

* In the ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' fan webcomic ''[[The Cobra Days]]'', the Fear lies about pretty much everything, including his [[Backstory|back story]]. Considering he starts out as the main expositor for [[The Woobie|the Sorrow]], he really messes with the Sorrow's perception of the unit.

* In another ''[[Metal Gear]]'' example, the main expositor, {{spoiler|Mark Astrus}}, in the MGS3 [[Fanfic]] ''[[The Joy of Battle]]'' lies to the Cobra Unit from the beginning in order to turn a mission from the American Philosophers into his own mission. He's not the only one. Actually, any exposition or explanation given by ANY character has a 90% chance of being a lie.

 

== Literature ==

* Practically every book by [[Tom Holt]] has at least one of these, often several, outrageously contradicting each other.

** ''Falling Sideways'' is probably the worst about this: fortunately it's all sorted out when one character points at the sky causing giant fiery words to appear: ''Yes, this is the real world, it's all true. Regards, God.''

** Complicated by the fact that predicting the future for her was "like seeing through a straw", so she didn't get the full picture on things.

* In ''[[The Roman Mysteries]]'', a number of characters state scientific, medical or geographic facts that are inaccurate but correspond to what character in the 1st century AD Rome actually believed.

* Done by various people in ''[[Warbreaker]]'' to the point where it's difficult, even in the end, to tell who's been telling the truth about the origins of the God Kings, the nature of the religious turmoil between Idris and Hallendren, or much concerning biochromatic breath.

* An entire prologue in the one of ''[[Belgariad]]'' books is written by Torak, who plays up his role in creating the world, and tries to paint Aldur and the Orb as evil and his theft of the Orb as a noble sacrifice to try to save his brother.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Anytime we get any exposition on ''[[Lost]]'' about anything related to the Island and its various mysteries, it turns out to be a case of this. Thi is mostly because Ben, one of the people who knows the most about the island, is a [[Consummate Liar|lying liar]].

 

* [[Forgotten Realms]] has a lot of this.

** The "best" case, of course, is Volothamp Geddarm and his "[[Fictional Document|guides]]" that canonically combine dangerously clever investigations and silly hearsay.

** The history of [http://www.candlekeep.com/fr_faq.htm#_Toc16090515 High Moor]. One pissed-off druid in Elminster's Ecology assumes it to be the result of typical human deforestation. It's the result of a [[Fantastic Nuke|Killing Storm]]. [[Entertainingly Wrong|He just assumed based on what he saw and knows,]] and probably never saw a single elf capable ''or'' willing to do this, nor would know, since elves aren't eager to tell anyone else about [[Horrible Histories|less glamorous moments of their past]].

 

* Mrs. Lovett from ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' is definitely one of these. The news about his wife's rape and his daughter's adoption by Judge Turpin were most definitely true, but the same cannot be said about {{spoiler|Lucy's ultimate fate -- Mrs. Lovett only mentioned that she poisoned herself after what went down at the ball, but the way she tells him this implies strongly that she died as a result of it. In truth, Lucy was left half-mad as a result of the trauma and the poisoning and wound up in [[Bedlam House]], and would ultimately wind up as the crazy Beggar Woman. Mrs. Lovett didn't want Sweeney to know this because she wanted Sweeney for herself}}. Sweeney only learns the truth after he {{spoiler|takes vengeance upon Judge Turpin immediately after killing the Beggar Woman}}, and needless to say, he is ''not happy''.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'' gives us [[Trickster Mentor|Kreia]], [[That Liar Lies|who lies]]. She lies a lot. Considering she is your [[Manipulative Bastard|main source of exposition]], this poses [[Batman Gambit|something of a problem]].

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' has a much smaller example. On the unknown planet near the end of the game, one can find two tribes of Rakata who have retained the history of their race to some extent. But while one of these tribes kept their history stored in databases, the other is essentially a primitive tribe with only vague and legendary stories about their history, handed down orally over the course of ''25,000+ years''. Needless to say, the history they keep is ''somewhat'' less than reliable.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' has an interesting, possibly unintentional, case: One character claims that psychic powers are a result of being able to use the remaining [[90% of Your Brain]]; but that character is an avowed Psychic Supremacist criminal foot soldier (in other words, exactly the wrong person to be giving scientific exposition).

* Likewise in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', when Amanda Waller claims Cadmus was made purely in response to the [[Alternate Universe]] where the Justice Lords conquered the Earth. At least two creations of Cadmus, Doomsday and the metahumans who would become the Royal Flush Gang, predate contact with the Justice Lords' universe which indicates either a continuity error or Waller lying about how old the organization was. It's later implied that it was actually in response to Superman being brainwashed by Darkseid [[Superman: The Animated Series|two series earlier]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Index of Exact Trope Titles]]

[[Category:Universal Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth and Lies]]