History Main / BecomingTheBoast

* In the ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' series, a ghost asks Septimus if he can perform a certain spell and he says "almost"--not because he knows anything about the spell, but because he knows the ghost will get horribly upset if the answer is "no". Of course, later on they need the spell to heal a dragon-boat and they scramble to make it work.

* Creator/GeorgeLazenby had zero acting experience before the hunt for a new Franchise/JamesBond began and was recommended by his modeling agent. Lazenby proceeded to bluff and lie throughout the entire audition process about having extensive past experience in acting and making himself look as Bond-like as possible (going so far as obtaining a suit Creator/SeanConnery had ordered but never collected). By the time Lazenby went through the process enough to meet face to face with director Peter Hunt, the pressure finally got to him and he confessed that he had never acted before. Hunt replied "What? And you say you can’t act? You’ve fooled [[HorribleHollywood two of the most ruthless men I've ever met in my life]]. Stick to your story, and I’ll make you the next James Bond". And the rest is history.

** Hiruma forced Sena into the identity of "Eyeshield 21", the ace running back from Notre Dame High School, so he wouldn't be scouted by other sports teams and Mamori wouldn't flip about him playing such a dangerous sport. As Sena later discovers, [[spoiler: the mythos that Hiruma had built around the identity is largely ''true'' concerning the ''real'' Eyeshield 21 -- the latest in a series of running backs to wear that number at Notre Dame. It's revealed in the final chapter that after the World Cup, Sena actually became the real Eyeshield 21 in the US.]]

-->'''Usopp:''' It's true, I've deteriorated. I used to lie a lot more...''[[BadassBoast now I can actually do these things!]]''

* Mr. Satan in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' is the World Martial Arts Champion and believed by all to be the most powerful man alive and Earth's greatest hero. While he ''is'' a formidable fighter by ordinary human standards, he pales in comparison to Saiyans like Goku, and even humans that are capable of harnessing ''ki'', such as Krillin, and would never have won the World Tournament if they'd bothered to compete against him. Nevertheless, he plays critical roles in helping defeat both Cell and Majin Buu even after he realizes he doesn't stand a chance against them one-on-one; in the former arc, he throws Android 16's severed head to Gohan so 16 can motivate Gohan to fight Cell, and in the latter, he not only becomes friends with Buu and convinces him to stop his rampage, but also leverages his reputation to persuade the people of Earth to give their energy to Goku's Spirit Bomb later on. The Z-Fighters have to admit that he may not be the strongest guy around, but he's certainly useful.
* ''Manga/FoodWars'': At the start of the story, just as he's been transferred to Totsuki Academy, Soma Yukihira delivers a speech that he's going to use the school as a stepping stone to become the number one. The speech quickly gains him the ire of pretty much the entire student body, though their opinion gradually changes as more people get to meet him and see how hard he works to live up to it. [[spoiler:He ultimately succeeds by becoming the First Seat of the [[AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil Council of Ten Masters]], composed of the top ten students in the school, before even finishing his ''first'' year]].
* ''Manga/CellsAtWorkBaby'': Killer T-Cell makes his first appearance as a braggart and a bully...yet he is lost and scared when the baby's first actual virus attack occurs. Although it takes a while -- and a few saves by White Blood Cell -- he eventually does get it together and defeats the virus in badass fashion. While the experience doesn't completely end his SmallNameBigEgo ways, he's less of a bully and more mindful of his place among his fellow cells.

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/237978/how-trixie-somehow-saved-hearths-warming How Trixie (Somehow) Saves Hearth's Warming]]'', Trixie is MistakenForBadass by Vixen due to her typical boasting and dragged into [[SavingChristmas saving Heart's Warming]] from [[BigBad a villain named Leidr]] who's buried the North Pole in a blizzard. Trixie soon has to actually live up to her boasting when she has to fight and Amarok and [[Theatre/TheNutcracker the Rat King]]. [[spoiler:While she and Vixen get [[ForcedTransformation turned into wooden toys]] by the Rat King, Trixie ultimately [[LetsGetDangerous gets properly motivated enough]] to start a prison break and ultimately defeat the Rat King through trickery and quick thinking. She's quite surprised not only by the fact she beat him, but by the castle full of innocents she freed from him start celebrating her as a hero.]]
* This wonderful image: http://zombiecarter.deviantart.com/art/Futurama-Undead-Zapp-Brannigan-331944580

* Samson the lion from ''WesternAnimation/TheWild'' tells stories about being from the wild and defeating a herd of wildebeest with his MightyRoar [[spoiler:despite actually being [[RaisedInCaptivity from a circus]].]] Later on, however, [[spoiler:he does manage to defeat Kazar, a wildebeest, the same way he did in his stories]].

* In ''Film/MemphisBelle'' bombardier Val has not exactly gone out of his way to deny that he is almost qualified as a doctor, even if he never specifically claims so. When Danny is wounded during the mission and the others look to Val to save him, he finally fesses up, admitting he only took two weeks of medical school before enlisting. TheCaptain, Dennis, gives him a speech about how he's the [[ClosestThingWeGot closest thing they got]], and he goes off to save Danny's life...
* In ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', Troy claims to be able to fly a plane, and to have logged hundreds of flight hours. And then it turns out that [[IKnowMortalKombat he was actually talking about a PS2 game]], but he manages to land the plane anyway.
* ''Film/MysteryMen'': Mr. Furious supposedly has the superpower of rage-induced super-strength, but, when called on it near the end of the film, he reveals it's all an act. However, when rescuing the LoveInterest from the clutches of the BigBad, he becomes genuinely furious, genuinely gains rage-induced super-strength, and starts kicking ass.
* Bobby Dagen, one of the protagonists of ''Film/Saw3D'', is a motivational speaker who falsely claims to have survived one of the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw killer]]'s {{death trap}}s, in which he put two hooks through his pectoral muscles and climbed the chains attached to them in order to pull himself up to safety. Guess what his final test is when he's put through one of Jigsaw's trials for real, with his wife Joyce's life on the line? [[spoiler:It's cruelly subverted when a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, as the pectoral muscles simply aren't strong enough to support Bobby's full weight, and the hooks tear right out of his chest as he tries to climb the chains. Thanks to his lies, Bobby is ForcedToWatch as Joyce suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the entire series.]]

* A ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' novel once featured Sisko bragging about being able to hit a target with a phaser blast using a mirror. Later, that exact situation crops up on the station (with Odo becoming the mirror); Sisko pulls the stunt off but afterwards admits he had exaggerated his ability.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', George claimed to be a Marine Biologist to impress a woman. Later, he and that woman were walking along a beach when they came upon a crowd gathered around a beached whale who is having trouble breathing. George removes a golf ball from the whale's blow hole and saves its life.
-->'''George''': I don't know if it was divine intervention or the kinship of all living things, but I tell you Jerry, at that moment, I ''was'' a Marine Biologist.
* Played with in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. Elliott insists that her brief endocrinology fellowship has made her an expert on the subject, when in reality she's just very good at hiding textbook pages all over the hospital. When Dr. Cox tries to expose her by scheduling her to give a lecture about endocrinology, she panics until JD makes her realize that all her obsessive efforts to hide the fact that she was faking it has led to her becoming a genuine expert on the subject.
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', the Miller's Daughter, Cora, lies to her king (who is nearly bankrupt) that she can spin straw into gold. The bluff backfires on her, as the king promptly orders for her to be locked in a tower and to transform a roomful of straw. Luckily for Cora, though, [[Characters/OnceUponATimeRumplestiltskin Rumplestiltskin]] ''does'' know how to spin straw into gold, and he's willing to do it for her. Cora demands that he teach her how as well.

* [[TheBigGuy Brad Evans]] of ''VideoGame/WildARMS2'' [[spoiler: claims himself as the "Hero of Slayheim" in order to keep the heat off of his friend Billy, the real hero.]] He proves himself more than capable of carrying the mantle once he regains his confidence, however.

* Before the start of ''VideoGame/MediEvil'', [[FakeUltimateHero Dan was a lazy knight who became commander of the royal army due solely to his fake tales of adventure]]. When the BigBad showed up and threatened the kingdom, Dan ''did'' step up to lead an army to fight him [[ShaggyDogStory only to die to the first crossbow bolt fired by Zarok's forces]]. The king was so embarassed at Dan's poor showing that he ordered a fake legend of Dan's valiant death be written into the history. By the end, however, Dan truly becomes the hero he claimed to be. [[IronButtmonkey Being undead]] helped with that.

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', in the Miner class questline. [[spoiler:Wide Gulley learns that his mining records have been artificially inflated by his father, and his first response is to scramble to actually accomplish those records. The fact that he obviously can't do that doesn't stop him from trying, because he's just that peeved about being given credit he doesn't deserve.]]

* ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'': [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Noah "Spoony" Antwiler]] explained that this ended up happening to his iconic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' character [[QuirkyBard Tandem the Spoony]], who would always introduce himself as "The Greatest Swordsman in the World". Another player, whose character was a [[MasterSwordsman Swordmaster]], got offended and challenged Tandem to a duel...which Tandem won thanks in part to Noah's [[BornLucky incredible dice luck]]. The Swordmaster accepted the results of the duel, but then kept trying to get Tandem killed by [[LetsYouAndHimFight picking fights for him]]. He won every single one of them, including a gladiator battle against a large opponent whose weapon of choice was a ''tree'', stunning the Swordmaster and making Tandem start believing his own hype.

[[folder:Other]]

* Before the start of ''VideoGame/MediEvil'', [[FakeUltimateHero Dan boasts about being a great hero, and is remembered as one, but really isn't]]: he was made a knight when his boasts caught the ear of the king. When the BigBad showed up and threatened the kingdom, however, Dan ''did'' step up to lead an army to fight him. [[ShaggyDogStory And then got killed by the first crossbow bolt fired by Zarok's forces]]. Whoops! By the end, however, he's truly become the hero he claimed to be. [[IronButtmonkey Being undead]] helped with that.

* Kaladin of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' is sentenced to death by [[HostileWeather Highstorm]] and swears to his men that he'll see them again the next dawn, fully believing that he won't survive but hoping to be an InspirationalMartyr. Instead, his budding [[HealingFactor Radiant]] abilities keep him alive, and he gains the sobriquet [[TheMagnificent Stormblessed]] and a status as a LivingLegend. Throughout the series, Kaladin repeatedly gets into near impossible situations expecting to die and instead pulls it off, and his legend only grows even if Kaladin [[HeroicSelfDeprecation never believes it himself]].

TruthInTelevision in that "fake it until you make it" is a viable business and political strategy. Understandably though, in RealLife they do all they can to avoid the aforementioned million-to-one chances, preferring bluffing, intimidation, and disinformation to avoid actually showing what they're bragging about for as long as possible until they can afford to. Despite this, cases when a hastily-put-together fake manages to produce the required outcome (and even force them to imitate it in the final product as a result) are not unheard of.

* In ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', Troy claims to be able to fly a plane, and have logged hundreds of flight hours. And then it turns out that [[IKnowMortalKombat he was actually talking about a PS2 game]], but he manages to land the plane anyway.

TruthInTelevision in that "fake it until you make it" is a viable business and political strategy. Understandably though, in RealLife they do all they can to avoid the aforementioned million-to-one chances, preferring bluffing, intimidation and disinformation to avoid actually showing what they're bragging about for as long as possible until they can afford to. Despite this, cases when a hastily-put-together fake manages to produce the required outcome (and even force them to imitate it in the final product as a result) are not unheard of.

* In ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'', Hiruma likes to brag that he has a kicker on his team who can score a field goal at 60 yards, over half the field away from the goalpost, calling it the 60 Yard Magnum. [[spoiler: Musashi, the kicker, repeatedly refutes the point, saying it's just an intimidation factor (later he says he's never made one from further than 55 yards...which is still an impressively long kick). Then it comes down to the last second in the Christmas Bowl, with Deimon trailing 42 points to 44 and possession on the 50 yard line (for those who don't know, that puts them 60 yards from the goal post because of the 10 yard long end zone).]][[note]]That puts the line of scrimmage 60 yards away from the goalposts. The spot of the kick is seven yards behind that, because the kicking team likes some space from the defending team. So a kick from possession at midfield would be 67 yards officially. The NFL record is 66 yards, as of 2022. A 60 yard kick would be snapped from the defending team's 43 yard line.[[/note]] What follows is [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome one of the most beautiful and kick ass scenes in the entire series]].

* ''WebVideo/CounterMonkey'': [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Noah "Spoony" Antwiler]] explained that this ended up happening to his iconic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' character [[QuirkyBard Tandem the Spoony]], who would always introduce himself as "The Greatest Swordsman in the World". Another player, whose character was a [[MasterSwordsman Swordmaster]], got offended and challenged Tandem to a duel...which Tandem won thanks in part to Noah's [[BornLucky incredible dice luck]]. The Swordmaster accepted the results of the duel, but then kept trying to get Tandem killed by [[LetsYouAndHimFight picking fights for him]]. He won every single one of them, including a gladiator battle against a large opponent whose WeaponOfChoice was a ''tree'', stunning the Swordmaster and making Tandem start believing his own hype.

* In ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'', Hiruma likes to brag that he has a kicker on his team who can score a field goal at 60 yards, over half the field away from the goalpost, calling it the 60 Yard Magnum. [[spoiler: Musashi, the kicker, repeatedly refutes the point, saying it's just an intimidation factor (later he says he's never made one from further than 55 yards...which is still an impressively long kick). Then it comes down to the last second in the Christmas Bowl, with Deimon trailing 42 points to 44 and possession on the 50 yard line (for those who don't know, that puts them 60 yards from the goal post because of the 10 yard long end zone).]] What follows is [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome one of the most beautiful and kick ass scenes in the entire series]].

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/237978/how-trixie-somehow-saved-hearths-warming How Trixie (Somehow) Saves Hearth's Warming]]'', Trixie is MistakenForBadass by Vixen due to her typical boasting and dragged into [[SavingChristmas saving Heart's Warming]] from [[BigBad a villain named Leidr]] who's buried the North Pole in a blizzard. Trixie soon has to actually live up to her boasting when she has to fight and Amarok and [[Theatre/TheNutcracker the Rat King]]. [[spoiler:While she and Vixen get [[BalefulPolymorph turned into wooden toys]] by the Rat King, Trixie ultimately [[LetsGetDangerous gets properly motivated enough]] to start a prison break and ultimately defeat the Rat King through trickery and quick thinking. She's quite surprised not only by the fact she beat him, but by the castle full of innocents she freed from him start celebrating her as a hero.]]

* Creator/GeorgeLazenby had zero acting experience before the hunt for a new Franchise/JamesBond began and was recommended by his modeling agent. Lazenby proceeded to bluff and lie throughout the entire audition process about having extensive past experience in acting and making himself look as Bond-like as possible (going so far as obtaining a suit Creator/SeanConnery had ordered but never collected). By the time Lazenby went through the process enough to meet face to face with director Peter Hunt, the pressure finally got to him and he confessed that he had never acted before. Hunt replied "If you fooled the producers, [[HorribleHollywood two of the most ruthless men I've ever met in my life]], you can act. Stick to your story and I'll make you the next James Bond". And the rest is history.

[[folder:Web Video]]

* Bobby Dagen, one of the protagonists of ''Film/Saw3D'', is a motivational speaker who falsely claims to have survived one of the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw killer]]'s {{death trap}}s, in which he put two hooks through his pectoral muscles and climbed the chains attached to them in order to pull himself up to safety. Guess what his final test is when he's put through one of Jigsaw's trials for real, with his wife Joyce's life on the line? [[spoiler:It's cruelly subverted when a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, as the pectoral muscles simply aren't strong enough to support Bobby's full weight, and the hooks tear right out of his chest as he tries to climb the chains. Thanks to his lie, Bobby is ForcedToWatch as Joyce suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the entire series.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Bobby Dagen, one of the protagonists of ''Film/Saw3D'', is a motivational speaker who falsely claims to have survived one of the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw killer]]'s {{death trap}}s, in which he put two hooks through his pectoral muscles and climbed the chains attached to them in order to pull himself up to safety. Guess what his final "test" is when Jigsaw puts him through one of his trials for real, with his wife Joyce's life on the line? [[spoiler:It's cruelly subverted when a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, as the pectoral muscles simply aren't strong enough to support Bobby's full weight, and the hooks tear right out of his chest as he tries to climb the chains. Thanks to his lie, Bobby is ForcedToWatch as Joyce suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the entire series.]]

!!Examples

[[folder:FanWorks]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* Bobby Dagen, the protagonist of ''Film/Saw3D'', is a motivational speaker who falsely claims to have survived one of the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw killer]]'s {{death trap}}s, in which he put two hooks through his pectoral muscles and climbed the chains attached to them in order to pull himself up to safety. Guess what his final "test" is when Jigsaw puts him through one of his trials for real, with his wife Joyce's life on the line? [[spoiler:It's cruelly subverted when SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs, as the pectoral muscles simply aren't strong enough to support Bobby's full weight, and the hooks tear right out of his chest as he tries to climb the chains. Thanks to his lie, Bobby is ForcedToWatch as Joyce suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the entire series.]]

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Wulfrik was once a tribal chieftain who got drunk at a feast and proclaimed himself the greatest warrior that ever lived and that he'd killed every type of beast in the Chaos Wastes twice, among other things. The Chaos Gods took him at his word, and he soon discovered that he could now speak in all the tongues of men and beasts (and elves, and dwarves, and beastmen, and...) in order to challenge them to prove his boast true. At first he thought this was a curse, before realizing his life was now an unending challenge that could only bring him ever-greater glory.

* Creator/GeorgeTakei's famous "shirtless fencer" scene from the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Naked Time" was originally meant to be done with a Japanese sword, but Takei (in addition to wanting to avoid Asian stereotypes) was a big fan of old swashbuckling films of the Errol Flynn type, so he told them he was a skilled fencer to get to use a fencing sword instead. After it was agreed, he immediately took up a fencing class to pull off a good showing.

* ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'': Fowler talks constantly about the time he spent in the Royal Air Force. At the end, the chickens expect him to pilot their homemade aircraft to freedom, and he admits that he was in the Air Force as a mascot, not a pilot. He ends up flying anyway. Interestingly, he's not the least bit ashamed at being a mascot, and seems surprised that the others actually expected him to be able to fly a plane. I mean, he IS a chicken. Fortunately, Fowler was ''observant''.

* Bobby Dagen, the protagonist of ''Film/Saw3D'', is a motivational speaker who falsely claims to have survived one of the [[PoeticSerialKiller Jigsaw killer]]'s {{death trap}}s, in which he put two hooks through his pectoral muscles and climbed the chains attached to them in order to pull himself up to safety. Guess what his final "test" is when Jigsaw puts him through one of his trials for real, with his wife Joyce's life on the line? [[spoiler:It's cruelly subverted when RealityEnsues, as the pectoral muscles simply aren't strong enough to support Bobby's full weight, and the hooks tear right out of his chest as he tries to climb the chains. Thanks to his lie, Bobby is ForcedToWatch as Joyce suffers one of the most brutal deaths in the entire series.]]

* In ''Film/SnakesOnAPlane'', Troy claims to be able to fly a plane, and have logged hundreds of flight hours. And then it turns out that actually, [[IKnowMortalKombat he was talking about a PS2 game]], but he manages to land the plane anyway.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]