History Main / ConsummateLiar

--->'''Sparrow:''' Me? I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, [[BewareTheHonestOnes it's the honest ones you want to watch out for]], because you can never predict [[GoodIsDumb when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid]].

** Some incarnations of the Doctor (the Seventh and Eleventh, and the First in the earlier episodes) fit this trope explicitly.

* Barney Stinson of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is a self-described "master of manipulation" who takes the art of lying to seduce women to whole new levels. At one point he got a woman into bed by dressing up as an old man, telling her he was from the future, and warning her that, if she didn't sleep with present-day Barney, the world would come to an end. And it ''worked''. This isn't even getting into all the {{Batman Gambit}}s he's pulled on his friends, in episodes like [[spoiler:"Game Night", "Little Boys", and "The Scuba Diver"]].

-->'''Dr. Paula Greenfield:''' He was a consummate liar. He was molested by his mother, or his mother was an angel. He moved around because his father was in the military, or he never knew his father.\\

* A general rule of thumb when dealing with ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'''s resident KnowledgeBroker, Izaya Orihara, is that any information he gives you for free is liable to be a big fat lie. He even lies about his background to his own personal secretary simply [[ItAmusedMe because he can]].

* ''LightNovel/KagerouDaze'': Kano, whose eye power is a form of shape-shifting, making lying much easier. [[spoiler:It stems from the fact that he used to hide and lie about the bruises and cuts on his body, to protect his mother's reputation]]. He lied superfluously for the ensuing decade and seems to have no intention of stopping any time soon.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Yajima, who was serving as TheMole as part of TheCaper by criminals to steal relics from the UndergroundCity ruins Akira is assigned to protect for [[OneNationUnderCopyright the Corporate Government]], has {{Cyborg}} enhancements that control his facial expressions to make them look like pre-recorded honest ones. This allows him to even fool the LivingLieDetector Alpha, resulting in him pulling a QuickDraw on Akira. He later uses this for a WoundedGazelleGambit.
* Xelloss of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' is a master Truth Twister. The closest he ever comes to telling a direct lie is to deliberately mispronounce the name Bibble.

** Depending on how the player wants to play, the main character can be this in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony''. In addition, Jerkass character of this game (Kokichi Oma) is also a huge liar himself. [[spoiler: To the point where his ThanatosGambit is referred to as his "last lie", and it's a big one: it deceives even the nigh-omniscient ''Monokuma'', and none of the students [[GoodAllAlong initially]] have any idea whether his FinalSpeech (that he hates the Killing Game and wants it to end at any cost) were truth or a lie either. The protagonist says he might as well be the AnthropomorphicPersonification of lying.]]
** Tsumugi herself is a dangerous example, she deceived everyone with Rantaro's murder (even Kokichi fell for her lies) and wrongfully convicted Kaede and manipuated her into thinking she killed Rantaro. Even more so since Tsumugi herself is the Mastermind and is the true host of Danganronpa. Hosting over 53 seasons and mass-murdering over 800 people all for good television.

** Depending on how the player wants to play, the main character can be this in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony''. In addition, TheRival character of this game (Kokichi Oma) is also a huge liar himself. [[spoiler: To the point where his ThanatosGambit is referred to as his "last lie", and it's a big one: it deceives even the nigh-omniscient ''Monokuma'', and none of the students [[GoodAllAlong initially]] have any idea whether his FinalSpeech (that he hates the Killing Game and wants it to end at any cost) were truth or a lie either. The protagonist says he might as well be the AnthropomorphicPersonification of lying.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'': Scar lies constantly to get what he wants. He successfully murders his own brother, tricks Simba into thinking that ''he'' is responsible, as well as leading the pride to believe that he is sad for having lost his brother. At the climax, Scar is cornered by his enraged nephew. Scar desperately [[NeverMyFault pins the blame on his own hyenas]], but Simba won't have any of it. Unfortunately for Scar, the hyenas are LIVID that he tricked them. Scar's treachery is what ultimately does him in.

-->'''Mr. Lie:''' Did you know I don't always know exactly what's going to come out of my mouth? Do I operate on some kind of universal truth rather than what I understand to be the right answer?\\

** In ''Literature/GravePeril'', Thomas Raith, an incubus vampire, admits to Harry that he ''shouldn't'' be believed, because "[[SelfProclaimedLiar I'm a good liar. One of the best.]]" What he suggests Harry believe instead is the situation, as presented by Thomas, natch. [[spoiler:Turns out that despite Harry's doubts, Thomas is telling the truth. But he's not wrong about being a good liar; the only reason he managed to ''survive'' the [[DeadlyDecadentCourt White Court]] (and more importantly, [[AbusiveParents his father]] was to [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretend to be]] a [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob harmless rich idiot]] his entire life, despite being one of the smartest members of his family.]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''TabletopGame/Pathfinder'':
** The Bard class in DnD 3.5th Edition has access to the spell Glibness at level 7. The sheer degree to which it improves the user's ability to lie borders on mind control, considering that it grants a +30 bonus on such checks in a system where "By the way, your Majesty, I'm actually your trueborn son and heir, hidden from you at birth by your treacherous adviser" would be, at most (even if you are a female from a completely different non-cross-fertile species), a -20 penalty, for a net bonus of +10. Oh, and it can fool magical lie detection.
** The ''TabletopGame/{{Spycraft}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' games patch this bug in the system by shifting what the result of a successful bluff actually is-- in 3.0/3.5, a successful bluff means the target believes whatever you're telling them. In Pathfinder and most other more recent d20-system games, it simply means that the target accepts your statement as sincere, which is a different matter entirely (instead of believing that you're invisible because you bluffed them, they'll just think you're sincerely nuts). Like many Pathfinder rules, this change was pretty much something everyone in 3.5/3.0 was doing with house rules anyhow.
** This is the actual name of a mesmerist ability in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', which adds half your level to bluff checks and allows you to take the Improved Feint feat chain without the necessary prerequisites.
** In DnD 5e, two examples are present:
*** Glibness returns as a Bard and Warlock spell, though it’s been substantially nerfed: aside from requiring Level 15 to access, it allows you to replace rolls on Charisma checks less than 15 with a 15 (making you borderline unable to flub a social situation as opposed to allowing for impossible rolls), and magical lie detection always reads you as telling the truth.
*** The Mastermind Rogue’s Level 17 subclass feature, Soul of Deceit, prevents you from being magically compelled to tell the truth, causes lie detection magic to always suggest you’re telling the truth (if you choose to), and even lets you present false thoughts to mind readers if you roll a successful Deception check against their Insight.

* TabletopGame/Warhammer40000

* ''Anime/{{Bleach}}'' has Sosuke Aizen, a guy who's so much of a liar that his Zanpakuto (a sword shaped by your own traits) centers around illusion. He'll lie about what sort of person he is; he spent at least a century posing as a kind, mild-mannered Captain when he was pretty much the exact opposite. He'll lie about how much he knows; [[spoiler:he claims that he'd lost track of the Hogyoku because it was hidden in Rukia, but it was BECAUSE she had the Hogyoku that he arranged that whole Ichigo and Fishbone D with her.]] He'll lie about what he needs certain assets for; [[spoiler:he made it seem like he kidnapped Orihime for the sake of awakening the Hogyoku, when the significance of her power was really just bait to divide his enemy's forces AND lead Ichigo into some more leveling-up.]] He'll even lie [[spoiler:to his own dang self; when Ichigo showed up with super strength but no perceivable reiatsu, he deluded himself into thinking he'd somehow traded reiatsu for physical strength... even though this makes absolutely no sense, because reiatsu and physical strength are the SAME THING for spirits (and sadly, even many readers bought this one).]] It's when he starts this last type of lying that he reaches his downfall.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'': Scar lies constantly to get what he wants. He successfully murders his own brother, tricks Simba into thinking that ''he'' is responsible, as well as leading the pride to believe that he is sad for having lost his brother. At the climax, Scar is cornered by his enraged nephew. Scar desperately [[NeverMyFault pins the blame on his own hyenas]], but Simba won't have any of it. Unfortunately for Scar, the hyenas are LIVID that he tricked them. Needless to say, Scar's treachery is what ultimately does him in (both figuratively and literally).

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]][[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-2284 -2284]], aka Mr. Lie. A truth twister variant who's [[PowerIncontinence unable to tell]] ''the truth'' but can get around it through rhetorical questions and sarcasm. Anyone who [[spoiler: reads his writing or]] [[BrownNote hears him speak becomes convinced]] that everything he says is absolutely true, and he can use this to inflict [[LogicBomb Logic Bombs]] on people by continually feeding them contradictory information. [[spoiler: Despite having an easy-to-understand property, he manages to worm his way into the deepest levels of the Foundation and manipulate everyone in contact with him.]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** The Bard class in 3.5th Edition has access to the spell Glibness at level 7. The sheer degree to which it improves the user's ability to lie borders on mind control, considering that it grants a +30 bonus on such checks in a system where "By the way, your Majesty, I'm actually your trueborn son and heir, hidden from you at birth by your treacherous adviser" would be, at most (even if you are a female from a completely different non-cross-fertile species), a -20 penalty, for a net bonus of +10. Oh, and it can fool magical lie detection. The ''TabletopGame/{{Spycraft}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' games patch this bug in the system by shifting what the result of a successful bluff actually is-- in 3.0/3.5, a successful bluff means the target believes whatever you're telling them. In Pathfinder and most other more recent d20-system games, it simply means that the target accepts your statement as sincere, which is a different matter entirely (instead of believing that you're invisible because you bluffed them, they'll just think you're sincerely nuts). Like many Pathfinder rules, this change was pretty much something everyone in 3.5/3.0 was doing with house rules anyhow.

** In the ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' campaign, aasimar are descendants of [[HalfHumanHybrid half-celestials]], children born from unions of celestial beings and mortals. Most are benign, but those that aren't tend to be excellent liars and con artists. Their Upper Planner ancestry leads most other people to trust them over other people, so they can get away with a lot. (In other words, many aasimar use the reputation of their family to manipulate them. The best way to describe this sort of aasimar is a SpoiledBrat, but one who takes far more initiative on his or her own than most.)

* One that may not be immediately obvious: [[spoiler:Joshua]] from ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' can be scanned [[spoiler:as he's playing from the RealGround (living world), but you're always somehow blocked out of his memory of what really happened until TheReveal.]]

** This is the hat of the Chaos god Tzeentch, the literal god of manipulation who exists purely to string along his felow gods as part of his schemes and prolong "the great game" between them. This also extends to the daemons under his command, most of which not even being aware of what their creator is using them for.

** The Emperor of Mankind himself is one of the biggest liars in the setting. He always chooses his words and actions carefully so that whoever he's talking to only knows or believes what he wants them to. Nobody has any idea what his real thoughts or goals are on anything thanks to this. Not even his closest confidants like the also deceitful Malchador could be said to really understand him.

* [[BigBad Megatron]] of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' is adept at manipulating enemy and "ally" by telling them exactly what they want to hear while keeping his true plans and motives hidden until the last moment. All but the most simple-minded of his underlings are aware of his deceptive nature, but no one is able to completely guess what goes on in his mind.

* A weird case is from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' -- [[TheStarscream Starscream]] [[CloningGambit clones himself]], and all the clones end up embodying elements of his personality; naturally, this means one ([[MythologyGag later named Ramjet]]) ends up constantly spewing BlatantLies, although it verges into BadLiar territory because of the frequent denials he'll start saying instead.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has a couple of variants. Clint, Natasha, Loki, Odin, and Bucky are also examples of the classic Consummate Liar version. Additionally, the Fae, being physically unable to lie, are masters of [[MetaphoricallyTrue the Truth Twister variant]] - but [[MagnificentBastard Doctor Strange]], also famous for never lying, leaves them all in the dust. As is repeatedly pointed out, being truthful is not, by any means, the same as being honest.
** Harry becomes one in the sequel, primarily thanks to exposure to Natasha, Loki, and Strange. He's a mixture of the classic version, being capable of coming up with entirely plausible lies on reflex (which unnerves him when a surprised Hermione points it out, indicating he's not totally aware of it), with increasing elements of the Truth Twister variant thanks to exposure to Doctor Strange. The latter is best shown chapter 45, where he effortlessly runs verbal rings around [[spoiler: Ron]], deftly leading him away from the truth he'd confronted Harry with [[spoiler: (the Winter Soldier, who'd pulled a MercyKill on Arthur Weasley, was still alive)]] without one word of a lie... ''and while outright stating that he is "the best liar you'll ever meet."''

* The teachings of the one god YISUN in ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' names this trope in its first scripture.

* In ''Series/RoboCopTheSeries'', Robocop comes equipped with an almost foolproof lie detector that can analyzes facial tics that occur in less than a second, among other things. In one episode, they try to get a statement out of a career politician who is so good at his job that an identical lie detector says his odds of being truthful are 50%, even when the politician says he's ''Abraham Lincoln''.

* In ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'', demons lie like they breathe, and no mundane or magical means can detect whether or not they're telling the truth. This is because Truth is a virtue that, as beings of pure evil, they don't possess and can't understand -- which also makes it quite easy to lie ''to'' them.

** [[spoiler:Matt Engarde]] from ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Justice For All]]''. Phoenix asks him if he committed murder. He didn't, so the Magatama didn't show any Psyche-Locks. [[spoiler:However, he is guilty of hiring an assassin to do the job]].

** All of TheFairFolk are unable to tell a direct lie, but are nonetheless famous for their duplicity because they will only honor the ExactWords and more than willing to entertain MetaphoricallyTrue with their answers. Pretty much every sane character in the series advises against making deals with them, especially Harry Dresden himself, who, in his youth, managed to get saddled with a Fairy Godmother. (And no, this is ''not'' a good thing.)
** In ''Literature/GravePeril'', Thomas Raith, an incubus vampire, admits to Harry that he ''shouldn't'' be believed, because "[[SelfProclaimedLiar I'm a good liar. One of the best.]]" What he suggests Harry believe instead is the situation, as presented by Thomas, natch. [[spoiler:Turns out that despite Harry's doubts, Thomas is telling the truth.]]

** All Contractors seem good at this. It is taken UpToEleven in the finale by [[spoiler:Hei once more, when it is implied that ''he has had normal human emotions the whole time, and the "contractor" persona was the lie''.]]