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Unreliable Voiceover: Difference between revisions
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It can also be used for humorous purposes, to show how incompetant somebody is - they subtly alter the truth in their words and pretend they are very clever to the other, while we see they are ridiculously incompetant. However this can lead to continuity errors - if the writer forgets that the audience knows the truth but the listeners do not, the audience can be left wondering how somebody knows something they weren't told.
Related to [[Rashomon Style]], except that instead of someone else's version of events clashing, it's the cold, unvarnished truth. Unlike [[Unreliable Narrator]], we're led to believe that the visuals tell us what really happened. Unless there's a [[Mind Screw]] going on.
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* There's something of an example of this (and a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]]) in one of the late first season episodes of ''[[Darker
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]: Brotherhood'', when [[Butt Monkey|Yoki]] encounters the Elrics again, he gives this whole account of how things have went downhill for him ever since he met them, and it's all presented in silent movie style. While he tells of being a good leader who was unjustifiably tricked, and tells of his investments failing, we see him abusing his power and his "investments" are more along the lines of him conning people and gambling away the rest of his money. The funniest part is his narration about "borrowing money" from a noble family- it's actually a scene of him burglarizing the Armstrong home, and in a [[Mythology Gag]] referencing a manga omake and the first anime, he gets a piano dropped on him by the [[Moe]] and harmless-looking [[Cute Bruiser|Katherine Armstrong]].
* This is one of the major tricks of the anime version of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', where Kyon's on-screen actions often contradict his narration. So, for example, in the first chronological episode, Kyon tells us he's not interested in Haruhi, after having just spent several scenes very obviously checking her out.
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* Don's narrative on how he became a Hollywood star in ''[[Singin' in the Rain|Singin in The Rain]]''. His words paint his journey as a smooth, refined and comfortable one. The series of flashbacks that accompanies them show that it was actually an arduous and often undignified struggle to the top.
{{quote|"Dignity, always dignity!"}}
* The ''[[Mission Impossible (film)|Mission Impossible]]'' movie. Tom Cruise pretends to believe Jon Voight's story, but is imagining the way it really happened.
* This was used early in the movie ''[[Cube]] 2: Hypercube''. One of the characters said he was a plumber, but his flashbacks showed he was actually a secret agent.
* Agent Smecker does this the other direction during the scene that leads up to the Il Duce shootout in ''[[The Boondock Saints]]''- he's an investigator and not a suspect, and describes what he concludes happens as we watch what really happens such as the moment when he pegs Rocco as a "real sicko" who wanted his victim to suffer -- and he's on the floor getting choked out by the "victim" and begging for his life. He also gets wrong how many guys are present during the Il Duce shootout based on the [[Throw-Away Guns|number of guns]] at the scene, which it turns out were all used by one guy.
* ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'': "Fezzik took great care in reviving Inigo."
* In ''[[Superbad]]'', this is used when one of the lead characters describes their previous evening to their love interest. While they describe going to a elegant club, the audience sees them trying to gain admission to a seedy strip club. Similarly, their account of celebrating with a drink is matched by them vomiting violently from cheap booze.
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* ''[[Brokeback Mountain]]'' does this, but it isn't the narrator's fault. When {{spoiler|Ennis finds out Jack died}}, he calls his widow to know what happened. She tells him {{spoiler|Jack}} was fixing a flat tire when the hubcap blew off in his face and he choked to death on his own blood, but while she's talking, we see soundless clips of {{spoiler|Jack beaten to death with a crowbar by a man the couple met at a party, whom Jack presumably came onto later}}. [[Humans Are Bastards|What really makes it enraging is how any blind cop could have seen through the hubcap story, unless the police deliberately looked the other way.]]
** In the case of the short story the [[Adaptation Expansion|film was based on,]] the trope applies, as the majority of it was from Ennis' point of view. A reoccurring theme for Ennis is what his dad made him witness when he was young, and something in Lureen's voice makes him think "So it was the tire iron."
* In the Mexican comedy movie ''Matando Cabos'', the father of a girl narrates how he walked in on his daughter and her boyfriend holding hands and kissing (while we see them screwing like animals), asked the boyfriend to stop (gave him a swirly), saw the boyfriend get rude and belligerent (raise his hands in terror), and politely asked him to leave (beat him senseless and threw him out of the house).
* A variation in ''[[Her Alibi]]'', when Tom Selleck's character, a writer, voices over his ongoing spy novel inspired by the on-screen reality.
* ''[[Beowulf (film)|Beowulf]]'': Beowulf claims a bunch of sea monsters attacked him during the race with Breca. We ''do'' see him fighting said sea monsters, but when he claims another sea monster dragged him down under the water, it's actually a beautiful mermaid that he ends up "plunging his blade into."
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* In the film ''Walker'', which details the 1856 conquest of Nicaragua by an American soldier sponsored by a cadre of [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|industrialists]] (most prominent of whom is Cornelius Vanderbilt), the protagonist's narrations--which sound a lot like quotes from an official log or report--are blatantly contradicted by the action of the scenes they introduce.
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]''. When Bowler Hat Guy is [[Mr. Exposition|ranting to a captured Lewis]] about [[Motive Rant|why he has a grudge against him]], he says several things that flatly contradicts what is seen on the screen. For instance, he claims that everybody at school hated him after we see a couple of kids being friendly to him and inviting him to hang out, and that he and the evil robotic hat Doris retreated to their "[[Supervillain Lair|villainous lair]]" to make their [[Evil Plan]] - while the actual footage shows them going to an [[Sugar Bowl|adorable]] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|kiddy restaurant]].
* In the film ''[[One True Thing]]'' the main character, Ellen, is shown discussing her mother's death with a detective. Her voice-over narration seems at first to match up with what is shown on the screen, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that she is not giving the detective the full story, and has glossed over her family's problems.
* Happens throughout ''[[Surf's Up]]'', as Cody is being interviewed for a surfing documentary, including descriptions by him of how he was a natural surfer, only for the actual shots to show him constantly falling off his board. Slightly justified, as he wants to look his best on film.
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== Web Comics ==
* Used in [http://thewotch.com/index.php?epDate=2003-09-10 this strip] of ''[[The Wotch]]''.
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0083.html This strip] of ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' has Hilgya's description of her [[Jerkass]] husband contradicted by the pictures of him being pretty much the nicest guy in the universe.
** That or she had considerably different standards on what constituted niceness.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' episode "P.O.V." plays out this way. One of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Officers Willkes and Renee Montoya driving to meet Detective Harvey Bullock for a planned sting against a local crime lord. When they arrive at the location, however, Bullock is unconscious outside and the building is on fire. With most members of the gang escaping, along with the two million dollars that the police department had planted as part of the sting, [[Internal Affairs]] believes that the three cops were either grossly incompetent or [[Dirty Cop|in cahoots with the criminals]]. The three officers then each explain what they did during the lead-up to and aftermath of the botched sting. Officer Willkes is honest, but [[New Meat|being new to the force]] he had never before seen Batman and he misunderstood many of the feats he saw Batman perform, ascribing him superhuman powers. Detective Bullock is perfectly aware of what happened, but [[Cowboy Cop|deliberately alters his rendition to cover up his own mistakes]]. Of the three, only Renee Montoya [[By-The-Book Cop|gives an accurate and honest retelling of the night]]. During each of their stories, [[Flash Back|flashbacks]] show what ''really'' happened, along with where the narration differs from the actual events.
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'' used this in the episode where he posed as a gangster. Jack describes how he set up the hit and blew up the target's house, while visuals show him quietly evacuating the inhabitants.
** Made even better by the fact that the words he chose actually were true [[From a Certain Point of View]].
* The Monarch of ''[[The Venture Bros]].'' once had to narrate his first use of his super villain persona because it turned out his tribunal didn't have "[[Surveillance as the Plot Demands|a magic window to the past]]" and didn't have [[Sinister Surveillance|videos of everything]]. The Monarch says he was defeated only because Venture hired a squad of [[Ninja Zombie Pirate Robot|ex-Navy SEAL ninja gorilla witches]] and had a tank, while he was really taken out quite brutally by his one female guard with minor help from his lame robot.
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