Anime and Manga
Kairi: I'm not sure if you play it by ear, or if you're just really perceptive, but the guys in 3rd Class have fallen spectacularly under your mind control, huh? How are you able to make everyone believe you like that?
Sae: It's simple. What you think if you saw a lion in front of you and next it was a wounded gazelle down on the ground?
Kairi: Well, I would think that it had been mauled by the lion and feel sorry for it.
Sae: Well, what if me and Momo-chan were together and I was crying? It's the same thing. The idea is that whoever cries first wins. People are such that everyone thinks whoever looks weaker is the victim. The truth is, when I said that Momo-chan was trying to steal my Toji away, nobody doubted me. On the contrary, they all said it seemed like something she would do. Everyone only sees what's on the surface. Even Toji.
Sae: It's simple. What you think if you saw a lion in front of you and next it was a wounded gazelle down on the ground?
Kairi: Well, I would think that it had been mauled by the lion and feel sorry for it.
Sae: Well, what if me and Momo-chan were together and I was crying? It's the same thing. The idea is that whoever cries first wins. People are such that everyone thinks whoever looks weaker is the victim. The truth is, when I said that Momo-chan was trying to steal my Toji away, nobody doubted me. On the contrary, they all said it seemed like something she would do. Everyone only sees what's on the surface. Even Toji.
— Peach Girl, the Trope Namer
Film
"Anakin, I told you it would come to this! The Jedi are taking over!"
— Darth Sidious, Revenge of the Sith
Thor: Hey, let's do "Get Help".
Loki: What?
Thor: "Get Help".
Loki: No.
Thor: Come on, you love it!
Loki: I hate it.
Thor: It's great, it works every time.
Loki: It's humiliating.
Thor: Do you have a better plan?
Loki: No.
Thor: We're doing it.
Loki: We are not doing "Get Help".
[elevator doors open, Thor is carrying a seemingly dying Loki]
Thor: GET HELP! Please, my brother is dying! Get help!
[guards run up to investigate]
Thor: HELP HIM!
[Thor throws Loki at them and knocks them out]
Thor: [smiling] Ah, classic...
Loki: [dusting himself off] Still hate it. It's humiliating.
Thor: Well, not for me, it's not.
Loki: What?
Thor: "Get Help".
Loki: No.
Thor: Come on, you love it!
Loki: I hate it.
Thor: It's great, it works every time.
Loki: It's humiliating.
Thor: Do you have a better plan?
Loki: No.
Thor: We're doing it.
Loki: We are not doing "Get Help".
[elevator doors open, Thor is carrying a seemingly dying Loki]
Thor: GET HELP! Please, my brother is dying! Get help!
[guards run up to investigate]
Thor: HELP HIM!
[Thor throws Loki at them and knocks them out]
Thor: [smiling] Ah, classic...
Loki: [dusting himself off] Still hate it. It's humiliating.
Thor: Well, not for me, it's not.
Live-Action TV
Klaus: I want it. Name, please. Now.
Lance: You're crazy!
Klaus: You got no idea. [picks up a snow-globe on Lance's desk] "Peace on Earth." That's so sweet. [rams it into his own face, leaving him bloody and dripping wet] ARGH! AAAAARRGH. GOD, that hurt!
Lance: [dialing his phone] I'm calling security- [Klaus yanks the phone out of his hands] What are you doing?
Klaus: [into the phone] There's been an assault in Mr Big's office, and we need security, now! SCHNELL! [hangs up] Now, here's what's gonna happen, Grant.
Lance: It's... Lance.
Klaus: In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood, and they're gonna wonder, "What the hell happened?" And we're gonna tell them that you... [sobbing dramatically] ...beat the shit out of us! You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I've been there. Little piece of chicken like you, oh, my God, you're gonna get passed around like a... You're just - you're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying.
Lance: You're crazy!
Klaus: You got no idea. [picks up a snow-globe on Lance's desk] "Peace on Earth." That's so sweet. [rams it into his own face, leaving him bloody and dripping wet] ARGH! AAAAARRGH. GOD, that hurt!
Lance: [dialing his phone] I'm calling security- [Klaus yanks the phone out of his hands] What are you doing?
Klaus: [into the phone] There's been an assault in Mr Big's office, and we need security, now! SCHNELL! [hangs up] Now, here's what's gonna happen, Grant.
Lance: It's... Lance.
Klaus: In about 60 seconds, two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood, and they're gonna wonder, "What the hell happened?" And we're gonna tell them that you... [sobbing dramatically] ...beat the shit out of us! You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I've been there. Little piece of chicken like you, oh, my God, you're gonna get passed around like a... You're just - you're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying.
— The Umbrella Academy (2019), "Run Boy Run"
Don't fall for the cries of the frost bitten specter.
— Lumi's quote, Dave.EXE
Webcomics
Lys: [sobbing] Come on, man, I'm a nobody, you don't have to do this! No no no— oh god, oh god... please don't come any closer—
Carmine: You know, all scared and beggin' like that? You're sorta cute.
Lys: You— you—
Carmine: You— you— What is it?
Lys: You dumb piece of shit.
Carmine: You know, all scared and beggin' like that? You're sorta cute.
Lys: You— you—
Carmine: You— you— What is it?
Lys: You dumb piece of shit.
— Lies Within, p.190
Web Original
The petroleum industry is making $200 billion a year in profits. If you want to portray them as the gritty, oppressed underdog, just A) talk about how these poor guys are constantly getting bullied by the vicious and hugely powerful environmental lobby, and, seriously, don't be afraid of using words like "bullied," even when talking about what is literally one of the most wealthy and powerful groups in all of human history.
Folks, do not judge Ray Rice until you've walked a mile in his shoes, presumably while dragging your wife behind you.
— "The 25 Biggest Sleazebags in Sports" by Drew Magary
by Drew MagaryTay Tay writes a song with clues in it, hos write entire blog posts about who that song is about, the song goes to #1 and she makes millions from it. Rinse and repeat. Ta Tay, don’t hate the player, hate the game, which you started.
Imagine a sporting team that believes itself the best at its sport, but refuses to play any other team, and not only that but bars any other team from attempting to enter the stadium they either are attending or even might attend in the future and not only that but tries to make illegal for any other team to play the game at all. Now imagine that same sports team waking up one day and realizing that no one is cheering for them anymore and decrying anyone who calls that team a bunch of losers as 'anti-sports team'.
— Urban Dictionary on white supremacists
Western Animation
"You act like prey, but you're a predator!"
— Rick to Jerry, Rick and Morty, "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy"
Cricket: DAAAAD! HELP! I'M HURT REAL BAD! I NEED YOOOOU!
Bill: What is it, boy?! Are ya okay?!
Cricket: Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to get your attention, but didn't wanna go lookin' for ya.
Bill: What is it, boy?! Are ya okay?!
Cricket: Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I wanted to get your attention, but didn't wanna go lookin' for ya.
— Big City Greens, "Dinner Party"
Stan: (standing in line to audition for Cash Wheel) Ugh, this line is taking forever. Time to use my old man powers. [...] AHH! I'M HAVING A HEART ATTACK! And the only cure is to be a contestant on... on Cash Wheel! Someone give me a part! I'm old!
Worker: Should we escort him off the lot?
Manager: That man is a self-centered attention hog with no regard for human decency. [...] Get him on TV!
Worker: Should we escort him off the lot?
Manager: That man is a self-centered attention hog with no regard for human decency. [...] Get him on TV!
— Gravity Falls, "Boss Mabel"
Real Life
The most striking aspect of the test results is the patient's total denial of responsibility for everything that has happened to him. He can produce an 'alibi' for everything. He presents himself as a victim of circumstances and blames other people who are out to get him ... the patient attempts to assure a sympathetic response by depicting himself as being at the mercy of a hostile environment.
— Psychiatric evaluation of John Wayne Gacy, 1968
"The press is so powerful in its image-making role, it can make the criminal look like he's the victim and make the victim look like he's the criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press. It will make the criminal look like he's the victim and make the victim look like he's the criminal. If you aren't careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing."
“After listening for almost twenty-five years to the stories my patients tell me about sociopaths who have invaded and injured their lives, when I am asked, “How can I tell whom not to trust?” the answer I give usually surprises people. The natural expectation is that I will describe some sinister-sounding detail of behavior or snippet of body language or threatening use of language that is the subtle giveaway. Instead, I take people aback by assuring them that the tip-off is none of these things, for none of these things is reliably present. Rather, the best clue is, of all things, the pity play. The most reliable sign, the most universal behavior of unscrupulous people is not directed, as one might imagine, at our fearfulness. It is, perversely, an appeal to our sympathy.”
— Martha Stout, The Sociopath Next Door
