History Main / CharacterShilling

* [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Speaking of Robins]] Tim's new love interest Bernard Down has been getting plenty of this since he first got with Tim in Batman Urban Legends issue 6. Damian apparently likes him despite him disliking Tim and never caring about his personal life as well, stories tell us how he makes Tim happy, secure, or have Tim super into him without showing it or actually explaining why. It got so bad to the point that upon meeting him, Stephanie, Tim's long running love interest for over 20 years, declared it was the "best day ever". This is after Tim dumped her for no reason, ghosted her, reconnected by accident, and introduced her to Bernard without even asking...........

* [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Speaking of Robins]] Tim's new love interest Bernard Down has been getting plenty of this since he first got with Tim in Batman Urban Legends issue 6. Damian apparently likes him despite him disliking Tim and never caring about his personal life as well, stories tell us how he makes Tim happy, secure, or have Tim super into him without showing it or actually explaining why. It got so bad to the point that upon meeting him, Stephanie Tim's long running love interest [[OfficialCouple]] for over 20 years, declared it was the "best day ever". This is after Tim dumped her for no reason, ghosted her, reconnected by accident, and introduced her to Bernard without even asking...........

* [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Speaking of Robin's Tim's new love interest Bernard Down has been getting plenty of this since he first got with Tim in Batman Urban Legends issue 6. Damian apparently likes him despite him disliking Tim and never caring about his personal life as well, stories tell us how he makes Tim happy, secure, or have Tim super into him without showing it or actually explaining why. It got so bad to the point that upon meeting him, Stephanie Tim's long running love interest [[OfficialCouple]] for over 20 years, declared it was the "best day ever". This is after Tim dumped her for no reason, ghosted her, reconnected by accident, and introduced her to Bernard without even asking...........

* In the final book of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', Elayne is chosen to be in charge of the armies of light. She was the perfect choice, a wonderful leader, and did a great job. We know this not because we see any examples of her leadership, but because at least once a chapter someone comes up to her and tells her what a wonderful leader she is and how glad they are that she was chosen to be in charge.

* ComicBook/{{Bullseye|MarvelComics}}, a reasonably popular but firmly street-level baddie, was subject to an awkward period when Creator/MarvelComics tried to promote him as [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent their answer]] to ComicBook/TheJoker. In nearly every appearance, characters would shill Bullseye as an unstoppable murderous psychopath -- despite the fact that he's not particularly intelligent, nor is he much more dangerous than any guy with a gun. During his time as a member of the ComicBook/DarkAvengers, he's treated as TheDreaded (despite his teammates including a [[ILoveNuclearPower walking nuclear reactor]], a [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalistic]] alien parasite, and a deranged PhysicalGod). Marvel eventually gave up and turned off the PlotArmor, leaving Bullseye blind, disabled, and PutOnABus for the next few years.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' is another of the few characters whose shilling is deserved. He's ''the'' BigGood of the DCU, a NiceGuy, and [[FlyingBrick incredibly powerful]], so it's no wonder he's so successful and charismatic. He's also a HumbleHero and goes to great lengths to ensure that the general populace, who would otherwise be [[BewareTheSuperman inclined to mistrust someone so powerful]], can trust him.

* Early ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' shills Haqua as being amazing, but it's actually part of an obvious set-up to show that despite how talented she is the only one she's fooling is Elsie. She's been unable to get any results after graduating and is pretty depressed. Eventually, she does end up deserving her reputation[[note]]when you take into account that she's a low-level supervisor who has just graduated high school and is thus about the equivalent of 18[[/note]].

** He again becomes a recipient of this in the ''XY'' series. Lots of characters (from minor ones to the gym leaders, and two champions) have the utmost respect for him, and he gets HeroWorship from his band of friends[[note]]to the point that for Ash's fifth gym battle, it was Clemont the ''Gym Leader'' who takes a leave of absence from the group so he could train and meet Ash's [[WorthyOpponent expectations]][[/note]]. He is AlwaysSomeoneBetter to all his region rivals, and even the one [[spoiler:who Ash eventually loses to in the League Finals]] unquestionably follows Ash's lead throughout the entire Kalos Crisis afterwards, and in the end contemplates that, between the two of them, Ash is the better trainer. This all in spite of still being BookDumb (though now downplayed). Partly in that, the XY series was probably Ash's most successful bout as a trainer, and considering how much of a ButtMonkey he was in the ''Best Wishes'' era many fans consider this one a case of [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes Are Not Bad]].

* Played with (and possibly parodied) in the ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'' OAV. Princess Fatora is highly praised by nearly every character who talks about her. [[spoiler: When we finally meet her, though, [[{{Jerkass}} one wonders why she was really missed at all]].]]

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' Heine Westenfluss is set up as an ace pilot like Athrun as well as charming and a really nice guy. Unfortunately, he doesn't get a chance to live up to his extreme reputation since [[spoiler:he dies too soon.]] The fact that he spends most of his screentime lecturing Athrun about how he should just ignore his doubts and do his job doesn't help.

** Ever since the truth of his actions was made known, ''many'' characters have been heaping praise on Itachi. Whether or not he deserves it is heavily debatable (he did ''horrible'' things [[spoiler: in the name of defending his home and maintaining peace]]). It usually isn't too bad, but it gets weird when even the freaking First Hokage says that he is a better shinobi than he is, and the Third Hokage says that he had Kage-level wisdom [[ImprobableAge at the age of seven]]. Even Sasuke and Naruto, whose lives have been made significantly worse by his actions, shill the guy like nobody's business. Ironically, one of the few people who don't shill him is [[spoiler:Itachi himself, thanks to being revived as an Edo Tensei Zombie and seeing the consequences of his actions firsthand.]]

* ''Literature/{{Gate}}'': The story gradually reveals more details about Itami by having other characters talk about his achievements, like going through a [[spoiler: Ranger training]]. Each time, Shino is shocked to hear this about someone [[BrilliantButLazy as lazy and inconspicious like him]]. In the first season of the anime, various characters spend about half of last episode (which is even titled "What would Itami do?") on praising the protagonist by repeatedly saying things like "Yeah, Itami definitely could do this" implying he's the only one who can help the newly introduced dark elf girl and save her people.

* The first few books of ''Fanfic/TheLastSon'' are infamous for this treatment of Superman and [[SickeninglySweethearts his love interest]] [[spoiler: Alison Blaire, ''a.k.a.'' Alia Ka-Lir]]. Superman, being the single most powerful entity on the planet, deserves people shilling his power -- but not his oratory, which is hailed as brilliant despite consisting mostly of [[HolierThanThou preachy moral lectures]]. His love interest, meanwhile, is given bucketloads of {{Informed Attribute}}s, and everyone (except the villains and the resident {{Alpha Bitch}}es) loves her despite not really having a reason to. This treatment is considered a black mark on an otherwise well-conceived story.

** This trope also applies to Parker: despite being only five, keeping vital information hidden, and generally knowing Chloe better than the other people only by comparison, the characters and story seem to treat this as a reason enough to act like he's better than the rest, despite not only being unhelpful all around, but [[spoiler: this ego-boosting being the main reason why he doesn't stop his Unown rampage and acts like everybody deserves everything he does to them.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheLastPrayer'' has several characters talk about how great Hinata is, at times to nonsensical levels. Naruto [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe can't believe that "a girl like Hinata" would be interested in him]], despite having multiple women of similar or greater status pursuing a relationship with him. Kurenai tries to insist that if it wasn't for Hinata, none of the other women would have fallen in love with Naruto[[note]]Kurenai's argument is that her need to help Hinata led to her teaching Naruto about sex, which is why all the other women love him, including Temari who hasn't had sex with him, Ino who had mind-blowing sex with him before Kurenai taught him anything, and Mabui who's attracted to Naruto's incredible skills at sealing[[/note]]. Lastly, Temari declares that if the Hokage insists Naruto can only have one wife from Konoha, it should be Hinata, even though her given reason for marrying Naruto[[note]]She asked and Naruto accepted[[/note]] sounds more like she's doing him a minor favor, especially compared to Ino's and Kurenai's passionate declarations of love for him.

** Cedric Diggory receives some shilling in the Fourth book, though nothing he does seems particularly amazing and the stuff he does do only seems impressive because he is older than Harry and thus has more experience. Notably, Harry ends up bailing him out of the first and third trials, and he is then unceremoniously [[spoiler: killed off by ''Wormtail'']]. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This was somewhat necessary to give his character more impact]]. He's a very minor character in the third book as the captain of Hufflepuff's Quidditch team, then suddenly [[AscendedExtra becomes much more important]] and needs some rapid character development in the next book. Making it clear just how great and wonderful he is needed to happen for his role as [[spoiler: the SacrificialLion]].

* Pops up from time to time in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', especially in regards to Kelsier and Vin. While it's true that Kelsier is the leader of LaResistance, a skilled Mistborn, and great at sowing discord among the nobles and hope among the Skaa, people do tend to turn a blind eye towards his less than stellar traits at times. It's even lampshaded when Elend complains in his internal monologue that even Kelsier's ''handwriting'' is legendary. Likewise with Vin, while she is a naturally very strong Mistborn and [[spoiler: was the one who killed the Lord Ruler]], she herself admits she managed that by sheer luck and other characters tend to harp on about how talented/beautiful/capable she is a lot, without much basis for comparison since she's the ''only'' major Mistborn character after [[spoiler: Kelsier's death]], to the point that Lord Elend reacts in absolute terror when he discovers a teenaged girl is coming to kill him.

** Tyrion Lannister himself gets some shilling in later episodes when people constantly refer to his "brilliant mind", even though after he becomes [[spoiler: Dany's Hand]], his so-called "brilliance" ends up costing a lot of defeats thanks to his outdated information and positing himself as an excellent tactician and military strategist when he really isn't. He ''is'' smart, but not as smart as the show wants us to believe. Peter Dinklage even lampshaded this in an interview for "The Long Night" by pointing out [[spoiler: you'd think Tyrion of all people would have realised hiding all the non-combatants in the crypts of Winterfell was a ''terrible'' idea considering they're fighting an enemy who can raise the dead.]]

** Really, the whole series. Jayden's so great, Jayden's so important, Jayden is the best warrior ever, we love him so much, he's so bright and shiny and perfect... and just as surely as the heroes are the Jayden Cheerleading Squad, he's the only enemy the villains feel is important. Jayden's the only one who can seal them away again so he ''must'' be brought down, Jayden's the WorthyOpponent who is the only one the BloodKnight swordsman sees as worth fighting... SERIOUSLY, WE GET IT. You'd think it'd all lessen with the Lauren storyline [[spoiler: where we find that no, he CAN'T actually seal away the villains; he's been set up as a decoy for the one who can while she perfects the sealing technique]], but instead, it simply becomes 2-3 episodes of everyone whinging over how much they miss him and how nothing is the same without him and ONLY JAYDEN is the one TRUE Red Ranger and it's so horribly wrong that he isn't here and... you get the picture. While he's actually ''less'' annoying than most examples on this list (where all too often, the shilling is repeating the {{Informed Attribute}}s of characters who actually display none of the positive qualities everyone gushes over) it creates a bit of a problem where your enjoyment level of this season will largely depend on whether or not you can worship Jayden as much as [[CreatorsPet the writers]] are telling you to.

** Moriarity also gets this--he's described as being Sherlock's ArchEnemy, a ManipulativeBastard par none. As it turns out, his whole plan was [[spoiler: part of a larger BatmanGambit by the Holmes brothers and he ends up succumbing to a VillainousBSOD and committing suicide]].

** Captain Okona from "[[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Star_Trek/The_Next_Generation/The_Outrageous_Okona.aspx The Outrageous Okona]]", did nothing actually outrageous except taking advantage of his incredibly hyped reputation as a [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys wild maverick man of action]] to get laid (not exactly difficult in ''Trek'''s FreeLoveFuture). Popular with the ladies, but not with the fans, who largely consider him a joke.

* [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Lilith]] receives a heavy dose of this throughout ''VideoGame/Borderlands3''. The game even opens with Marcus hailing her as TheParagon that's "saved Pandora over and over", even though half the events of [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 2]] were directly ''her'' fault. ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' showed that [[BigBad Handsome Jack]] went off the deep end after [[CreateYourOwnVillain she disfigured him]], and she pulled a LeeroyJenkins in 2 that [[spoiler: rendered Angel's HeroicSacrifice [[SenselessSacrifice pointless]] and got Roland killed]], and ''Pre-Sequel'' all but spelled out that [[spoiler:her obsession with revenge against anyone she feels was even remotely connected to Jack and thus Roland's death was [[SanitySlippage leading her down a dark path]]]], but all of this goes ignored in-universe and all the characters treat her as the BigGood despite her incompetence.

%% HYPE

* In season two of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', Shiro repeatedly talks about how much he wants Keith to take over the Black Lion and lead Voltron if anything were to happen to him. While Keith isn't a bad pilot, he's very HotBlooded and hadn't shown many good leadership qualities up to that point. Then in season three, despite the Black Lion accepting him, Keith still gets the team in trouble several times, quickly making him a BaseBreakingCharacter. It's ultimately {{deconstructed|trope}} a bit in season four when the other paladins start getting frustrated with him.

** While Eleven is selfless and caring, she has her flaws and can make bad choices, but is often talked up by the cast as though she's uniquely amazing and can do no wrong, with Max deciding she "sounds awesome" before she's even met her.

* In Season 4 of ''Series/StrangerThings'', Will gives Mike a big speech about how he's TheHeart of the party. A statement that might actually describe him in Season 1, but he [[TookALevelInJerkass took a huge level in Jerkass]] between then and Season 2, where he's hostile to Max for simply being another girl who might replace Eleven, shuts Will out repeatedly and mocks him for not having an interest in girls, regularly ditches his friends to make out with El when they become a couple, and then shuts ''her'' out when Hopper threatens him. And he makes it obvious he's only hanging out with his friends because El dumped him. It's arguably Will himself who is TheHeart (but of course his self-esteem might not see it that way).

** Once it became clear that Ginny was the other half of the series's OfficialCouple, the narrative seemingly couldn't stop telling us how clever, skilled, kind, and funny she was. The issue with this is that Ginny remains relatively OutOfFocus throughout the series, meaning that most of these things are rarely ever conveyed to the audience or actually come to any real circumstance (for example, her skill as a Quidditch player only took second stage after the sport became TheArtifact), and some seem to be cases of outright InformedAbility--to the point that some fans theorize it to be a case of [[UnreliableNarrator Harry's affections giving him an unusually rose-tinted view of her]]. The films fix this somewhat by actually showing her in action - such as being the only character to join Harry in a fight when the Death Eaters sneak attack the Burrow.

** Once it became clear that Ginny was the other half of the series's OfficialCouple, the narrative seemingly couldn't stop telling us how clever, skilled, kind, and funny she was. The issue with this is that Ginny remains relatively OutOfFocus throughout the series, meaning that most of these things are rarely ever conveyed to the audience or actually come to any real circumstance, and some seem to be cases of outright InformedAbility--to the point that some fans theorize it to be a case of [[UnreliableNarrator Harry's affections giving him an unusually rose-tinted view of her]]. The films fix this somewhat by actually showing her in action - such as being the only character to join Harry in a fight when the Death Eaters sneak attack the Burrow.

** Once it became clear that Ginny was the other half of the series's OfficialCouple, the narrative seemingly couldn't stop telling us how [[InformedAbility clever]], [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome skilled]], [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic kind]], and [[HumorDissonance funny]] she was. However, many fans argue that it can be justified particularly due to Harry's rose-tinted perspective. The films fix this somewhat by actually showing her in action - such as being the only character to join Harry in a fight when the Death Eaters sneak attack the Burrow.

** Ash received this in the Kanto saga. Despite his status as an IdiotHero with a SmallNameBigEgo, many episodes ended with him getting disproportionally praised for some minor accomplishment. An egregious example was in ''The Ultimate Test'' when the head instructor praised Ash for fending off [[TerribleTrio the ineffectual Team Rocket trio]] and declared with confidence that he would pass the League entrance exam if he were to re-take it, ignoring the fact that Ash had just failed it with ''one of the lowest scores''.

** One complaint about the new series is that the Doctor ''themself'' is often subjected to character shilling. [=YouTube=] critic WebVideo/{{Hbomberguy}} observed in one of his videos that the Eleventh Doctor's first appearance involves him scaring off the MonsterOfTheWeek by simply telling it how cool he is, and other characters speak of him reverently as if he is a god, whereas in the older series, and even in the earlier revival series, the Doctor was just someone who went on adventures and was only one piece of the puzzle to each episode's plot, rather than the axis around which the entire Universe spins. [[ Administrivia/TropesAreTools However Series Cix does go on to deconstruct this,]] by showing how the Doctor's legend has grown out of control with his enemies going to extreme lengths to destroy him, including kidnaping the child of his companions to raise as a weapon against him. This prompts him to fake his death and destroy the records on him so he can fade back into the shadows.

* Gilmore Girls: If the entire town of Stars Hollow is to be believed (especially her mother Lorelai and grandparents Richard and Emily), Rory Gilmore walks on water, is a genius, and is the embodiment of all things good and pure. Practically every episode features characters going on and on about what a great young lady Rory is, how she’s destined for success, how she has no trouble attracting men, how any drama she has with them is in no way, shape or form her fault, and how people who don’t like her are just jealous.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' by the end of the "The Island And the Idol" arc, Bob himself is [[[[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/962/ complaining about being shilled,]] saying he's being given credit for what were clearly team efforts and that it's starting to creep him out.

** ComicBook/{{Thanos}} has been hyped up long before his appearance in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. Thanos is the universe's GreaterScopeVillain, the UltimateEvil dreaded across the universe, so when he's mentioned, it's basically to illustrate how the threat that the heroes just struggled to stop is nothing compared to Thanos. For seven years, all we saw of him was [[OrcusOnHisThrone a purple guy sitting on his throne talking smack]]. But when he finally showed up for real, he absolutely lived up to the hype -- in the first ten minutes of ''Infinity War'', he [[spoiler:beats Hulk so easily, the green guy ''refuses'' to come out for the rest of the movie, and of course in the end ''[[TheBadGuyWins he wins]]'']].

** Writer Creator/GeoffJohns did this to Barry Allen in several directions when he came BackFromTheDead. Jay Garrick, the original Flash, shilled his replacement Barry by saying that "Barry made him the Flash", despite fighting crime decades before Barry started. The explanation was [[VoodooShark pretty weird and just raised more questions]] -- he meant that seeing Barry as the Flash convinced him to come out of retirement, but this contradicts the events of the story where that happened. Barry's successor ComicBook/WallyWest also shilled him as an inspiration to him when he was a kid (which contradicts scenes where young Wally considered the Flash ''much much'' cooler than Barry Allen and couldn't understand why Iris was dating Barry and not the Flash). Johns defended the shilling by saying it was necessary to avoid Barry being seen as a ReplacementScrappy for Wally (even though he was the Flash before Wally, and even readers who didn't remember that would probably know that).

* ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' and [[Film/SpiderManFarFromHome its sequel]] does this with both his love interests, Liz and Michelle, respectively. Peter repeatedly talks about how perfect and amazing Liz is, and gushes about her intelligence, but then we never actually ''see'' her demonstrate this intelligence, and their interactions have her mostly be vaguely friendly but unamused by his ditching. Michelle, likewise, is gushed by Peter for being really smart and funny, but her intelligence is never demonstrated outside of her answering a single science question and figuring out Peter's identity, which itself is less down to her own intellect and more Peter being very bad at hiding it (in fact, that she's the only person to figure this out is more due to the rest of the cast just not being very smart). As for her being funny, this is very much subjective. To some extent, this is partially explainable as Peter is just a kid with a schoolboy crush on the two, so his reasons for liking them are likely actually quite shallow.

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' goes to great lengths to show how much of a hero Mystique is, particularly how she saved the President and showed the public that mutants aren't evil in [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast the previous film]]. Schools teach about her, and many other mutants consider her an inspiration -- Storm idolizes her, and Quicksilver claims she changed his life (although apparently with a ten-year delay, during which he mooched off his mother like he did before). The main problem with this is that all she really did was be in the right place at the right time -- she only saved the President because she was trying to kill one of his advisors, most of the events of the previous film were her fault to some degree, and she's generally not a pleasant or trustworthy person.

** Once it became clear that Ginny was the other half of the series's OfficialCouple, the narrative seemingly couldn't stop telling us how [[InformedAbility clever]], [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome skilled]], [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic kind]], and [[HumorDissonance funny]] she was. However, many fans argue that it can be justified particularly due to Harry's rose-tinted perspective.

* Wrestling/TripleH, [[RedBaron "The Cerebral Assassin"]], is considered to have decent to great {{wrestling psychology}} by even his harshest critics (and they're pretty harsh). However, announcers would constantly talk about what a great technical wrestler he was, even though he was clearly a brawler with few on the mat moves. This was especially noticeable when he first readdedd the modified Indian deathlock that he'd used as a finisher during his Terra Ryzing days in Wrestling/{{WCW}} to his moveset as a resthold - the rest gave the commentators time to gush over his supposed technical mastery.

** A slightly more modest example was Dr. Pulaski. Characters often stated to each other (and the audience) how comforting her bedside manner was, and how she was a kind, loving physician. In reality, the character was abrasive, and her attempts at gentle teasing came off as bullying and mean. Definitely the last person you'd want by your bedside if you were sick.

** "Peak Performance", the episode described above, actually manages to {{invert|edtrope}} this for guest star from the race of Zakdorn, named Kolrami; the episode consists of the entire cast attempting to hammer into the viewer how "smug" he is supposed to be, but in reality, every crewmember of the Enterprise spent the entire episode being ''far'' more obnoxious and smug than he ever acts.

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' has an InUniverse example. In "Wacky Delly", all of The Cheese's dialogue is just Filburt praising his own character.
-->'''The Cheese:''' I am the cheese! I am the best character on this show! I am better than both the salami and the bologna combined!

* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' has an InUniverse example. In "Wacky Delly", All of The Cheese's dialogue is just Filburt praising his own character.

* By the time of ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Extend'', [[EnsembleDarkhorse Makoto Nanaya]] has been enjoying quite a bit shilling for someone who's just minding her own business rather than taking part in the plot actively. Hazama considers her a SpannerInTheWorks, Relius Clover becomes obsessed with her apparent "strong soul", and resident snobby bitch Rachel has only had nice things to say to her. The sequel ends up dropping this completely, instead treating her as a normal character instead of some godly being. Relius doesn't even acknowledge her when they meet up again.

* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': Guan Yu is praised as "the God of War"... even well before he's done ''anything'' to deserve such a lofty title. Worse, his children are introduced into the series as time goes by (his oldest son Guan Ping is introduced in the fifth game), but generally they don't seem to do much except to talk about how amazing their father is. For people who dislike Shu (and Guan Yu in particular), the worst examples were the introduction of Guan Suo and Zhou Cang... '''who historically never existed''' and seemed to be introduced solely because of their connection to Guan Yu.

** What makes the Zhou Cang example particularly galling was that he was introduced in a crossover game as Dynasty Warriors' representative alongside series poster boy Zhao Yun. The director defended the decision by claiming Zhou Cang was "wildly popular" and "long requested", a claim that enraged fans by suggesting that fans would be more interested in the interactions between crossover characters and a character who only existed to be Guan Yu's servant rather than, say, a leader character like Liu Bei or Cao Cao. And this is before taking into account people angry that someone who didn't exist was introduced before people who actually ''did''.

* The eponymous Heroes of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' tend to be humble, or at least hesitant to accept the title of "hero." During several Forging Bonds events, the summoned characters, each legendary in their own right, deny that they are really heroic, instead deferring to the characters native to the game as the true heroes, frequently because the summoned heroes are [[DarkAndTroubledPast still burdened by what motivated them in their home games.]]

* ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'': A common criticism is Samus' shilling of her former commanding officer and mentor Adam Malkovitch, who was TheGhost in Samus' few {{Inner Monologue}}s in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' and mentioned nowhere else in the series. In ''Fusion'', she called him "the perfect military mind" -- which is portrayed in ''Other M'' as making such questionable decisions as [[LetsSplitUpGang sending each of his men to different locations]] (they [[spoiler:all die except Anthony]]); [[SkewedPriorities ignoring the increasingly-obvious evidence]] of a traitor among the squadron; forcing Samus not to use any of her gear [[ArbitraryMissionRestriction until he gives his permission]]; and inexplicably shooting Samus in the back instead of the Metroid she was facing down. Samus nonetheless idolizes him as a father figure, while he's pretty indifferent to her. The one good thing he does is [[spoiler:blow up a secret Metroid hatchery to save the universe, and [[HeroicSacrifice himself with it]]... but on the other hand, some players felt he was effectively stealing a Tourian-like last level from them, no matter the story's justification for it.)]]
* {{Inverted|trope}} in the ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'' series: Guybrush wants to be recognized by everybody for his "success" in defeating Le Chuck and constantly boasts about how heroic he is for it, but nobody else gives a damn (perhaps because he just won't shut up about it). He eventually gets so accustomed to this that in ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'', he's ''stunned'' that Morgan [=LeFlay=] actually ''has'' heard of him and his exploits.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' seemingly has the Handler claiming how ''she'' and the Hunter did all the work hunting the monsters and the narrative & other characters agreed with her and regard her as and the Hunter as equal contributions to the hunt. This is in spite of the fact that the player is the one who did the hunt with the Hunter themselves constantly having to save her due to recklessly run through a path full of dangerous monsters and within the camp and hub, all she did is eat all day or sit around and do nothing. And somehow the game expects us to believe that she did as much part of the work as we did.
* ''VideoGame/NBA2K 2016'': Vic Van Lier is the main characters best friend and later revealed to be his foster brother. Throughout the game, he is shown to be a toxic influence on the main character who adamantly defends his friend. When Vic is eventually killed in a car chase he was involved in, the game treats it like its a tragedy, with him being talked about like he was this great guy, despite literally everything beforehand showing him to to be anything but. If that wasn't enough, the game ends with Vic's ghost addressing the audience with a '''''[[AuthorFilibuster nine minute long monologue]]''''' about his life, making him out to be this sympathetic character with these deep issues, that ultimately falls flat with everything beforehand.
* Leon and his Charizard in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' are often shilled by other characters as an absolutely invincible duo. Even when you are the one to defeat the BigBad [[spoiler:and Eternatus, when Leon admits he could merely soften it]], everyone will still root for Leon. [[JustifiedTrope He does have a good reason for being shilled]], however, as his team is 10 levels higher than that of the previous major trainer you've faced, which is no more than 10 minutes before you can challenge him, and when you finally defeat Leon, you're the [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable first one]] ''ever'' to do so.

* Karin Kanzuki in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' got shilled quite a lot in the Cinematic Story Mode, where she wins all of her fights and becomes the BigGood. Meanwhile, experienced characters like Guile or Chun-Li kept getting hit by TheWorfEffect until the plot allows them to win with the latter only getting one win in the entire story mode.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' has this problem when it comes to Estelle, whom everyone around her (barring maybe [[DeadpanSnarker Rita]] and Repede) constantly refer to how selfless and stubborn about saving people she is, even when her [[ChronicHeroSyndrome insistence on stopping and healing every person she sees]] and her [[WideEyedIdealist utter naivety]] often ends up dragging the group into bad situations and you'd think ''one'' person would scold her about this, but they don't and continue indulging her. Even the mildest of calling outs tend to get Estelle defended by Yuri or Karol.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'': Milla is often lavished with praise by the others, Jude most of all. In many scenes, they remark on her courageousness, her strength, and her beauty. In the latter half of the game, Rowen and the others each remark about how she inspires them and say they feel motivated whenever she's with them. The gamer, however, [[InformedAttribute may not see those qualities]], making much of it seem undeserved.

* Lady Elisabeth Ashbury of ''VideoGame/{{Vampyr}}'' is constantly shilled by everyone around her (even people she hardly knows, such as in the case of Old Bridget) as being just great in every way, whether they're bragging on how wise, beautiful, moral, or inspiring she is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but she never really demonstrates any of her supposed positive character traits in action, all the buildup around her and her past falling flat. It's hard not to wonder why any of the historical figures who were supposedly interested in her cared about such a bland person. The fact she's also part of what's largely regarded as a RomanticPlotTumor, [[spoiler: to the point numerous players have found the bad endings, wherein she and Jonathan don't remain in a relationship, to be better than the good endings where they do]], only makes it worse.