History Main / Chuunibyou

* ''Manga/HowHeavyAreTheDumbbellsYouLift'': Ibuki Sakura, main character Hibiki's older, brother, is a ''severe'' case, despite being far too old for it (he's at least in his mid-twenties and a very successful business man and restaurant owner). He wears black robes with a mounted ram's skull in public, speaks in ridiculously dramatic euphemisms, and gives himself overblown titles that he wants others to use when adressing him (they don't). His friends and family are largely used to it by now, and he's so handsome that the other girls still want him, despite his weirdness.

** Ella is a far more benevolent version of the "Evil Eye" type, as she [[PrincessPhase acts like a stereotypical Disney princess]] and treats life as one big musical fantasy-romance story. While she's unquestionably [[AllLovingHero one of the nicest contestants]], her overly sweet behavior and constant singing grate on Chris, Dave (whom she has a crush on), and Sugar (whom she wants to be friends with).

* ''WebOriginal/EdeValley'' has Gil Trenton, a student at St. Adelaide's who insists that he's a powerful warlock wielding the forces of darkness. [[spoiler:He might be right.]]

* One short story from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', "Day Off" had Harry encounter a group of dark wizard wannabees who want revenge on him for lifting a curse their leader put on a woman who had ''aroused [his] wrath." They all dress like rejects from ''Film/TheCraft'' and Harry notes that they might have some magical ability, but they're such weaklings that he doesn't think they'd be able to give him a nosebleed. He's also surprised said woman was actually cursed, telling them it was so weak that he'd just assumed the woman was having some "bad feng shui" and did the ritual more to give her peace of mind than anything else.

* Dr. Diabliere of ''Literature/DifferentlyMorphous'' is an adult version. A powerless "wizard" who studies Rune Magick because he lacks The Gift (a fact he desperately tries to hide). Diabliere is neither his real name (in fact, it's the name of the Unforgiveable Sin of eating a vampire's soul from ''Vampire: The Masquerade''), nor does he hold a PHD. [[spoiler: He actually ''does'' have magick, but he's a mole from a NebulousEvilOrganization, and uses it to transform, mind and body, into a number of alter-egoes. He also possesses a form of runic magick that every other authority on the topic is pretty sure is impossible and a 100% mission success record; nobody understands how.]]

* Kyōtarō Ichikawa from ''Manga/TheDangersInMyHeart'' is a downplayed example and an ''actual'' middle schooler. He secretly deems himself to be a disturbed individual who's "messed up in the head", sitting in the back of the classroom reading gory horror novels and fantasizing about murdering his classmates. It's clear he'd never actually act on these impulses though, as outside of his delusions he's a ShrinkingViolet who hates to see people upset. [[{{Prequel}} Episode Zero]] shows this trait to be [[spoiler: a coping mechanism built up throughout his first year in middle school to deal with his isolation, low self-esteem, and FreakinessShame towards his genuine interest in non-fiction books about murderers.]]
** While he drops the murderous fantasies early on, he's still not above the occasional make-believe. In one extra chapter, he shoots an eye beam at Yamada (To her confusion) in response to her shooting imaginary bullets at him at soccer practice. And in another, he switches waving hello with posing to greet her; putting his fingers in front of his face like he's summoning an aura (And she happily goes along with it thinking it's cool.)

* ''[[http://store.steampowered.com/app/501940/ Hikikomori No Chuunibyou]]'' is a UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'s Indie PlatformGame (with touches of Puzzle and BeatEmUp) made in 8-bit about a {{Hikikomori}} who [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin also is a Chuunibyou]] and has been obligated to go outside, passing stages using parkour-like abilities and martial-arts techniques.

* The TrueFinalBoss of the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' Pacifist Route, [[spoiler:Asriel Dreemurr]], comes off as the type. Though he does have genuine power -- [[StoryBreakerPower godlike, in fact]] -- he uses it in a way that makes it amply clear he's gunning for '''all''' the RuleOfCool stereotypes. AtrociousAlias (God of Hyperdeath)? Check. [[PowerLimiter Boasting about suppressing his true power]]? Check. Several {{Impossibly Cool Weapon}}s, such as [[DualWielding dual swords]] and a [[WaveMotionGun giant rainbow laser]]? Check. An over-the-top [[LimitBreak ultimate attack]], which he is [[ThisCannotBe shocked you withstand]]? Check. [[spoiler:This is appropriate, since Asriel is literally a child (probably even younger than teenage) and is literally playing with you. In good "[[GodModeSue kid with the 'undodgeable laser gun' on the playground]]" fashion, he is invincible, so to defeat him, you have to convince him to stop... but not without resorting to some [[StoryBreakerPower hax]] of your own.]]

* Despite being in his 40s, Ichiban Kasuga of ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'' visualizes himself as a hero on an epic quest due to his love of ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', particularly after he manages to get a bat that was stuck to the ground (which he sees as a sword). It heavily influences both his perception of the world (him seeing enemies in [[UndergroundMonkey various bizarre forms]]) as well as the JRPG combat (he believes in letting the enemies getting a hit in because he mentally processes fights as turn-based encounters).

***

** A more overtone, however, is [[RivalTurnedEvil Seifer Almasy]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''. Unfortunately, he's more of a window of how dangerous this mindset can be with the wrong circumstances. Seifer's such an arrogant bully with delusions of grandeur, because of his obsession with the romantic dream of being a Sorceress' Knight, which, along with his OneHandedZweihander GangstaStyle of wielding his gunblade came from a movie he watched as a child. While mostly kept under control under Garden, even if his attitude wasn't, once he was given the chance to actually serve A Sorceress, [[BigBad regardless of whom]], it spiraled out of control, leading him to develop a TautologicalTemplar mindset, believing himself to be the heroic knight who must vanquish "the evil mercenary" and Balamb Garden "attacking like swarms", never mind that Seifer and Edea went after ''them'' first. While many have argued that he might just be BrainwashedAndCrazy, not only does he openly recognize this could be the case and doesn't ultimately care, so long as it lets him have a go at his rival, but given his character, [[MoreThanMindControl there probably wasn't that much that needed brainwashing to begin with]].
*** Squall is a more downplayed example, in that his disaffected stoicism doesn't immediately come across as childish, but anyone who has spent any time around him sees it for what it is; a teenager's desperate attempt to appear too cool for this.

** The titular GrimReaper of ''VisualNovel/ADateWithDeath'' is believed to be the Evil Eye variant of this trope by the player character when they first meet. [[spoiler:However, even as it becomes obvious that he’s the real deal, they still tease him for being an “edgelord”.]]

** Yoshiteru Zaimokuza has delusions about being a warlord in another life and even having a lifetime rivalry with Hachiman Hikigaya who also has a coincidence in his name just as Yoshiteru. He's recognized as a chuunibyou for all the other members of the Service Club (even being called by Yui and Komachi as "[[AffectionateNickname Chuuni-chan]]"), but Hachiman, who sees he has the "novelist syndrome".
** In the first chapters of the light novel and in an episode of the first season, Hachiman talks about he had the Chuunibyou syndrome when he was younger, even he made {{Cosplay}} in few ocasions (mostly for himself).

* Resident Roselia GenkiGirl Ako Udagawa of ''Anime/BangDream'' is one notable example of this trope. In both the anime and game, Ako is shown to display a lot of chuunibyou tendencies and has illusions of grandeur and magical powers. However, she seems to have taken on a more realistic variant of this trope than most, as instead of seeming to assume that she is the character, she takes great joy in basically roleplaying being a Demon King and the like. Her best friend and fellow bandmember Rinko suspects that her odd behavior is the result of her frequently playing online games.

** The series also contains a plenty of espers who are straight examples of the trope to serve as {{Foil}}s to Mob, including several [[SuperSupremacist Claw members]] (such as Ishiguro, who wears a [[GasMaskLongcoat gas mask]] and uses a voice changer for no reason but to make himself look cooler, Yuusuke, who wears a [[SharpDressedMan business suit]] at all times and specializes in turning literal toys into lethal weapons, and Muraki, who wears a cape with ShouldersOfDoom that probably make it hard to enter rooms). The fact that these people tend to be misguided at best and outright evil at worst serves to drive home the series' main {{Aesop}} that being stronger or cooler than other people doesn't necessarily make you '''better''' than they are.

* DemonComplex

* Daron Nefcy's original concept for Star Butterfly was a normal girl with the Evil Eye variant of this, but Disney executives convinced her to age up the character and let her have actual magic powers when they made ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil''.

* On the Internet, chuunibyou behavior is [[MemeticMutation heavily associated]] with the "mall ninja", a term for {{Gun Nut}}s who like to present themselves as badasses with mastery over firearms despite having no actual experience in combat, with a preference for CoolGuns. The term also refers to a specific subculture of OccidentalOtaku which ''Fedora: the Tipping'' parodies; overly-theatrical nerds who pose with {{katanas|AreJustBetter}} or some other [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon impractical, over-the-top weapon]] -- often wearing clothing such as a BadassLongcoat and FedoraOfAsskicking -- in an attempt to emulate a NinetiesAntiHero, usually those from anime and manga.

* Based on the BigInJapan UrExample ''Literature/DonQuixote'', there's ''Zukkoke Knight - Don De La Mancha'', a free adaptation of Don Quixote made in TheEighties, that follows the adventures of Don Quixote De la Mancha, a man that believes he's a knight and fights against monsters that there're on his imagination as well idolizes romantically to Dulcinea, who [[TheVamp takes advantage of him for her own purposes]].

** Cody is a "Subcultural" type who tries to act like one if "the cool kids" but is far too much of a nerd to pull it off.

** Cody is a "Subcultural" type who tries to act like a stereotypical "cool kid" but is far too much of a nerd to pull it off.

* Resident Roselia GenkiGirl Ako Udagawa of ''Anime/BanGDream!'' is one notable example of this trope. In both the anime and game, Ako is shown to display a lot of chuunibyou tendencies and has illusions of grandeur and magical powers. However, she seems to have taken on a more realistic variant of this trope than most, as instead of seeming to assume that she is the character, she takes great joy in basically roleplaying being a Demon King and the like. Her best friend and fellow bandmember Rinko suspect that her odd behavior as the result of her frequently playing online games.

** The three protagonists are seen as chuunibyous, in which in various scenes they played as they are part of a {{RPG}}.
** Motoharu [[InSeriesNickname the Delinquent]], despite his notoriety as a delinquent, [[InNameOnly he only really looks the part]], and is one of the main group's friends.

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': Uto Nakaji takes the KnowNothingKnowItAll route by pretending to be a [[ThePhilosopher philosophical]] WanderingMinstrel. She’s a DreadfulMusician, and her attempts at philosophy only confuse the people she talks to and amount to little more than {{Ice Cream Koan}}s. Nevertheless, she's completely committed to the part, spending all her time as a minstrel in public and private, even when not wearing the costume; the only time the persona drops is when she's surprised, revealing [[NotSoStoic she's rather less stoic than she seems]]. She temporarily dips into Evil Eye territory when PlayingDrunk.