Unreliable Expositor: Difference between revisions

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** One chronicle that is completely reliable would be an Elder Scroll itself. The Scrolls are completely irrefutable due to their close link to reality itself; their power transcends even the gods. The only problem is that it could also end up showing you what ''could'' have happened if you don't read them right (though that information could be of use too).
** One chronicle that is completely reliable would be an Elder Scroll itself. The Scrolls are completely irrefutable due to their close link to reality itself; their power transcends even the gods. The only problem is that it could also end up showing you what ''could'' have happened if you don't read them right (though that information could be of use too).
* ''[[Psychonauts]]'', being a game that takes place mostly inside people's minds, brings this up at times, though a little digging makes the real stories clear. Notable are Gloria's biographical "plays" (a bit warped by her own point of view of her childhood), Edgar's wife (a deliberate romanticization), and Coach Oleander's memories of the military ({{spoiler|completely fake}}).
* ''[[Psychonauts]]'', being a game that takes place mostly inside people's minds, brings this up at times, though a little digging makes the real stories clear. Notable are Gloria's biographical "plays" (a bit warped by her own point of view of her childhood), Edgar's wife (a deliberate romanticization), and Coach Oleander's memories of the military ({{spoiler|completely fake}}).
* ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]''. {{spoiler|[[G La DOS]] is basically lying most of the time. Or "enhancing the truth", as she puts it. There's not much more to be said. It really is the bona fide example of this trope.}}
* ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]''. {{spoiler|[[GLaDOS]] is basically lying most of the time. Or "enhancing the truth", as she puts it. There's not much more to be said. It really is the bona fide example of this trope.}}
* A bad case occurs in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' where often even the unreliable expositors don't realize what they're saying is nonsense, or it's completely irrelevant or even just misleading. After all, the characters are trying to work out what's going on at the same time as the reader. Apart from not knowing whether their conclusions are correct, a lot of the time characters are going crazy or getting paranoid.
* A bad case occurs in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'' where often even the unreliable expositors don't realize what they're saying is nonsense, or it's completely irrelevant or even just misleading. After all, the characters are trying to work out what's going on at the same time as the reader. Apart from not knowing whether their conclusions are correct, a lot of the time characters are going crazy or getting paranoid.
* This is par for the course in all ''[[Metal Gear]]'' games. The person who gives you your first bit of exposition is more than likely trying to manipulate you into doing something you'll regret by the end of the game. The {{spoiler|Colonel Campbell AI}} in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' is an example of an unreliable expositor where, in the end, you still don't know what the truth was.
* This is par for the course in all ''[[Metal Gear]]'' games. The person who gives you your first bit of exposition is more than likely trying to manipulate you into doing something you'll regret by the end of the game. The {{spoiler|Colonel Campbell AI}} in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' is an example of an unreliable expositor where, in the end, you still don't know what the truth was.
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* Somewhat similar to the above [[Elder Scrolls]] example is [[The Legend of Zelda]]. As it is, really, a legend, the events of each game have faded into myth by the time of chronologically later games, so in any given game the exposition about what happened previously is as heavily corrupted and confused as any real-world legend, and every game will inevitably delve heavily into the in-universe legends about what happened last time in the chronic [[Vicious Cycle]]. This can lead to massive player confusion when they make a prequel ''about'' those previous events, and they turn out to be not very much like what legend remembers them as at all.
* Somewhat similar to the above [[Elder Scrolls]] example is [[The Legend of Zelda]]. As it is, really, a legend, the events of each game have faded into myth by the time of chronologically later games, so in any given game the exposition about what happened previously is as heavily corrupted and confused as any real-world legend, and every game will inevitably delve heavily into the in-universe legends about what happened last time in the chronic [[Vicious Cycle]]. This can lead to massive player confusion when they make a prequel ''about'' those previous events, and they turn out to be not very much like what legend remembers them as at all.
** This is also why the fandom's attempts at creating a coherent timeline (or two, or three) out of the series have failed.
** This is also why the fandom's attempts at creating a coherent timeline (or two, or three) out of the series have failed.



== Western Animation ==
== Western Animation ==
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