No So Phony Wick Check / Sandbox

Not-So-Phony Psychic has a muddled definition, which leads to a variety of interpretations based on text and title. Despite being renamed in a previous TRS, not much else has been fixed, with the core issue remaining.

The goal is to check a majority of the wicks, aside from duplicated / near-duplicated examples ^note and WMG pages. Examples are in alphabetical order by medium, with Main/ at the top.

Wicks Checked: 143

Believed to be fake: 23/143 or ~16%
Acts/Believes themselves fake: 27/143, or ~18%
Gains Powers: 9/143, or ~6%
Intentional Ambiguity: 3/143, or ~2%
Other Use: 11/143, or ~8%
PCE: Powers Unclear: 18/143, or ~13%
PCE: Phony Unclear: 20/143, or ~14%
PCE: Other: 7/143, or ~5%
ZCE: 19/143, or ~13%
Misc: 6/143, or ~4%

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Believed to be fake, has real powers

Apocalypse Anarchy: Gyagu Manga Biyori: One episode takes place in the last hour before a giant meteor slams into Earth, and people are rioting in the streets. A variety show host tries to stage one final performance and invites several celebrity guests, but they don't feel like cooperating; a singer inexplicably streaks and goes on a rant about how he hates the music he's known for, a cutesy idol turns out to be a Gasshole who's older than she claimed, a ventriloquist beats up his dummy because it freaks him out, and a magician reveals he's a real sorcerer. The ventriloquist demands he prove it, and he does so by deflecting the meteor. When everyone realizes the danger is gone, they awkwardly try to go back to their old personas.
Comic Books Are Real: In Bleach, this happens, but just to Ichigo. He thinks that Don Kanonji's show is fake and that he can't really kill ghosts, but then it is revealed to him while fighting a Hollow that Don Kanonji actually does have powers... they just aren't very strong: he can see ghosts, but not clearly, and can fire one Painfully Slow Projectile made of spirit energy.
The Cassandra: Professor Trelawney is a bizarre version, in that she's her own Cassandra- she tends to dismiss the prophecies she makes that actually come true (like the tarot cards that tell her that a 'dark young man, possibly troubled, one who dislikes the questioner" is nearby when Harry's hiding near her, and not remembering her true prophecies at all), and seems to believe more fervently in the hogwash ones (although she may be pulling a Haruhi and unable to overcome her inner doubt no matter how much she wants to). It's also played straight, as Trelawney is widely considered a loony and no one actually puts much stock in her prophecies (although Dumbledore knows better, since he's been on the receiving end of one of her True Prophecies). Most of the predictions she makes are dismissed by the cast as rubbish, but a re-read of the books shows that her predictions do actually provide a lot of foreshadowing and almost always come true in some way or another (e.g. Trelawney sees a large black dog connected with Harry, which is really Sirius's Animagus form). Describes a scenario where she has real powers but isn't believed
The Cuckoolander Was Right: In Ghostbusters II, Venkman interviews 'fake' psychics on a little-watched cable show — but one of his two guests actually turns out to be a real psychic, and correctly predicts the events surrounding Vigo and his plans for the world. Pothole already emphasized
Characters.Bodies 2023: Hillinghead has seen his fair share of phony psychics and is naturally skeptical that Agatha's supposed fortunetelling seances are legitimate; he figures that the Harkers are just committing some other white collar crime. However, it is implied by how the spirit she claims to have channeled begins to identify their killer — they spell out "MA", when we learn later that Elias/Julian doesn't know Maplewood shot Defoe — that her seances are somehow the real deal.
Characters.Child Of The Storm Avengers And Associates: Following the Chitauri invasion in New York City, people started to think the guy calling himself a wizard just might be the real deal. Chicago actually grew to consider him their resident superhero.
Characters.Dandadan: She uses her psychic powers to guess that an idol is 27, is married with children, and that his favorite food is curry. He tells her that he's 20, single, and his favorite food is ramen and everyone in the studio laughs at her. Come the end of the chapter and the entire world sees she was right all along.
Characters.Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia VII To IX Fortune Teller: Just like in VII, he introduces himself as a fortune-telling machine. He gives fortunes on two separate occasions, first to the Warrior of Light and then to Edge. The first one is a standard, vague fortune that no one views as an answer, the second is also thought to be crock (but turns out to be Foreshadowing), and the third is an ominous warning that the Warrior will find what he seeks but lose something dear. Edge's fortune, however, reveals that his soulmate is "right around the corner" - and, coincidentally, Rydia's character event came out around that time. Lilisette wonders if the future is the business of Cait Siths in all worlds, like the Cait Sith she knows. He tries again in Act 4 to cheer up Aerith, only to tell her that her luck is 'middling' and that her fortune is basically "work hard if you want good stuff to happen", everyone rolls their eyes but Aerith at least appreciates the sentiment (even Cait seems unhappy with the fortune and offers to give her another one, which she declines).
Characters.Mob Psycho 100 Others: While Reigen initially assumes he's as much of a fraud as himself, it turns out he does have some ability in exorcism.
Characters.The Princess And The Frog: Not a literal psychic, but Lawrence initially assumes he's a con man using showmanship and stage magic to make a living scamming people. He is a scam artist, but his magic is very, very real.
Characters.Total Drama Do Over: She wasn't always taken seriously, but she sensed that Pahkitew Island was suspicious long before anybody else knew it was mechanical.
Film.Team America World Police: Sarah. Throughout the film she makes simple, obvious assumptions (or reasonable but incorrect guesses) in a Pstandard Psychic Pstance. At the climax, despite Joe admitting that the team was just humoring her claims of psychic abilities, she uses a genuine Jedi Mind Trick to turn Kim Jong Il's "deadly panthers" on their captors. And it is awesome.
GravityFalls.Tropes F To O: Double Subverted by Li'l Gideon. In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", Gideon is introduced as a child psychic running the Tent of Telepathy, a bitter competitor of the Mystery Shack. His telepathic abilities are clearly demonstrated to be the result of Cold Reading obvious traits. However, one trick of his is to get everyone to jump out of their seats, which is revealed to be the product of genuine telekinetic ability. The telekinesis, however, is generated by a magic brooch pinned to his suit that anyone can wear, rather than any innate power of Gideon's. Without the brooch, he's as powerless as anyone else.
HilariousInHindsight.Comedy: The French comedic duo Omar & Fred once did a sketch about an out of work person (played by Omar) going to see a scam Fortune Teller (played by Fred) to know when he will find a new job, and she(?) tells him that he will become an international movie star ("Mamadou Gibson"). Then several years later Omar received a César Award for his role in the critically acclaimed Intouchables (beating Jean Dujardin in The Artist), and then appeared in a Call of Duty: Black Ops II commercial before starring in X-Men: Days of Future Past as Bishop and in Jurassic World. It is some sort of meta-example of Not-So-Phony Psychic. Seems to be what the usage is going for
Recap.Farscape S 01 E 08 That Old Black Magic: When Igg knows his name, Crichton thinks it's a scam and he's just repeating what he overheard from his friends in the marketplace.
Igg: How could I have overhead this? Your mothers' maiden name was McDougall. You skipped third grade. And you lost your virginity to Karen Shaw in the back of a minivan!
John: (weirded out) No, it wasn't a minivan. It was a four-by.
Recap.Fillmore Cry The Beloved Mascot: Fillmore and Ingrid have Allistair Greystone, a self-proclaimed psychic, to help them find their school's mascot. Allistair admits that his more recent visions have been faked, but the end of the episode implies that he may be a Not-So-Phony Psychic.
Recap.Jackie Chan Adventures S 4 E 8 The Shadow Eaters: Uncle accuses Ms. Kimber of fraud "and money grubber". Her powers are the real deal as Uncle can't figure out the removal spell's ingredient. She also knows of Uncle's secret passion of oil painting.
Recap.Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries S 2 E 02 Death Comes Knocking: Most of the characters believe that Mrs Bolkonsky is just a standard Phony Psychic and shrewd cold-reader (e.g. picking up on Jack's love for Phryne), albeit perhaps one who believes her own lies. However, it is very strongly implied that her abilities are at least partially real - there is absolutely no other way she or anyone else could know the exact circumstances behind Basil Hamilton's death, even his brother.
Recap.Tales From The Crypt S 4 E 4 Seance: Madame Leona, Dorothy Chalmers' spiritual advisor, is dismissed by Allison as running a con, but it turns out that she and her operation are legit.
Recap.Xena S 03 E 19 Tsunami: The palm reader in the teaser. She warns of a tall, dark, handsome man and a voyage Gone Horribly Wrong. Xena is especially doubtful, but the prediction comes true.
Series.Amazing Stories 1985: "The Amazing Falsworth" is a play on this, where people believe he's an act but he really can read minds.
VideoGame.Paper Mario Color Splash: The Justice Toad at first is merely seen as a delusional super hero wannabe by Huey... before he is revealed to be a Chosen Toad and uses telekinesis to pull a Mini Paint Star from above a gap where Mario couldn't reach it. Even he didn't think he had any real super power.
Webcomic.Mieruko Chan:
- In chapter 6, Miko goes to Mitsue Takeda, the "Godmother of Downtown" for help with her ghost problem. Mitsue seems like an old fraud who's just looking to make money, but she does have enough genuine psychic ability to see the presence haunting Miko.
- In chapter 25, the mystery man from the end of the last chapter turns out to be Shindou Romm, a huckster who tries to sell "power stones" to Hana and Miko for 500 dollars each. Even though both girls are convinced Shindou is involved in some kind of pyramid scheme, the stones turn out to be very effective at warding off ghosts.

Acts/Believes themselves to be fake, has real powers

Phony Psychic: See Fortune Teller for more "legitimate" psychics, and Not-So-Phony Psychic for legitimate psychics who think they're phony.
Wizarding School: Bedknobs and Broomsticks has a variant: the protagonist, Ms. Price, gets lessons in the mail from the "Correspondence College of Witchcraft." Also different is the fact that the college is supposed to be a scam, as its founder is a con artist who just copies things from an old book he didn't know was an authentic spellbook.
Characters.Atomic Betty Earthlings: She's even managed to predict the future, but claims that her predictions were merely coincidences. Given everything mysterious about her though, that is doubtful at best.
Characters.Bocchi The Rock: In chapter 74 right as she is describing her new OhTube hustle where she will exorcise spirits and the way for viewers to participate is by coming to a live show with SIDEROS, she gets a genuine premonition. She senses a ghost of a guitarist with a grudge against the world, with messy hair and a worn out pink track suit, and starts panicking how it will soon be near. Of course, this turns out to be just Bocchi who was emitting enough gloomy energy from outside the building.
Characters.Genshin Impact Liyue Harbor: Inverted. Hu Tao is a Vision holder and is knowledgeable in dealing with the dead, but she advocates using sleight-of-hand and phony ceremonies to keep the general populace ignorant to the true nature of death.
Characters.Haunted Mansion 2023: Played with. Harriet begins seemingly as a Phony Psychic, but it turns out she has mild skills she exaggerates. As the plot progresses, she becomes stronger and stronger as a medium, until she and Leota can team up. Phony Psychic implies intentional fakery
Characters.Mieruko Chan: She looks, acts, and even thinks like a typical scammer even though she possesses genuine powers.
Characters.Punch Line: She doesn't believe she has spiritual powers like her mother and grandmother, but the fact that Yuta can body surf within her proves otherwise, as only the spiritually aware of those with a similarity to the ghost can be possessed.
Characters.Team America World Police: She successfully sics a panther on two FAG members using her abilities, after a lot of hints that she was faking it
Characters.Twitch Plays Pokemon Heart Gold: Phony Psychic: This Xatu primarily relies on physical moves and has the ability Hustle, indicating that she might be a conwoman. "I see a lot of broken bones in your future!" However, she can also legitimately use Future Sight and Mist Ball.
Characters.Wayward Guide For The Untrained Eye Connor Creek: While she clearly embellishes, upsells, and overcharges for her services, the reading she does in Episode 3 turns out supernaturally accurate, much to her shock and horror. She also once accurately predicted the amount of snowfall in Connor Creek, which was memorable enough to make it into the newspaper.
Film.Ghost 1990: Oda Mae comes from a family of mediums, though she didn't believe in spirits and scammed her customers with fake seances. That is until she meets Sam and realizes she really can hear dead people. Word spreads and she is soon swamped by ghosts trying to contact their living relatives, even though Sam didn't actually tell any of them about it.
Film.Late Night With The Devil: Christou is a celebrity medium who very, very obviously relies on both hot and cold reading tactics to get results, but he actually does end up sensing the presence of both Jack's dead wife, Madeleine AKA "Minnie", and the approaching demon.
Film.Night Of The Ghouls: Dr. Acula believes his efforts to summon the dead are just part of his scam and have no real effects. The twist ending reveals that he does have genuine powers, when confronted by a small army of the undead. They explain that "you have brought us back from the grave", if only temporarily. And they want him to join them in their return to the grave.
Film.The Frighteners: Frank uses his very real abilities to perform fake exorcisms.
Funny.Ghost 1990: Compare Oda Mae's theatrics when she's faking Psychic Powers to her complete exasperated boredom once she's turned out to be a Not-So-Phony Psychic. Quote removed for length
Literature.Haunted 1988: Elsa Brotski, a previous fraudster exposed by David Ash who used her genuine telepathy to masquerade as a medium.
Literature.Tales Of The Jokka: Keshul, a fortune-teller, in Fire in the Void initially believes that he's just scribbling nonsense and telling his clients common sense. Then his fortunes start to become shockingly accurate. In Pearl in the Void he finds even more reasons to believe in his power.
RealitySubtext.Live Action Films: In Ghost (1990), Whoopi Goldberg plays a Phony Psychic who soon discovers she's actually a Not-So-Phony Psychic that actually can talk to the dead. But despite working closely with a recently-slain man, she still doubts her abilities throughout much of the movie. According to Goldberg, she was originally unsure whether she should take the part until Patrick Swayze convinced her and the producers that she'd be perfect. She ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Recap.Doctor Who S 11 E 5 Planet Of The Spiders: Professor Clegg is a real psychic who disguises his talent as a magic trick.
Recap.The Proud Family S 2 E 20 Penny Potter: While Sista Spice's a con-artist who's con people into thinking she can give them psychic powers, she is definitively a real psychic.
Recap.Unicorn Warriors Eternal S 1 E 3 A Fateful Encounter: Played with. Dervish is a con artist "psychic" who actually manages to connect Emma with Melinda, causing him to lament that he was more powerful than he thought, but it's implied it only worked because of the presence of Melinda's spirit.
Recap.Xena S 04 E 22 Deja Vu All Over Again: Mattie thought the whole clinic was nothing but a scam. Turns out she knows more about reincarnation than she thought.
Series.Sell Your Haunted House: In-bum scams people by pretending to be a parapsychologist who can rid their homes of hauntings (which he engineers himself). After encountering Ji-ah, it turns out he has very real psychic powers.
TheTwilightZone1985.Tropes I To P: In "The Trance", Leonard Randall is a con artist who claims to be able to channel the spirit of Delos, a warrior who lived in Atlantis 10,000 years ago, by placing himself into a trance. Delos is nothing more than the invention of Leonard and his business partner Don, who have made a small fortune by taking advantage of gullible people. It soon becomes clear that Leonard's powers are actually real as he manages to channel an extremely wise and benevolent being who speaks through him without his knowledge. This strange voice exposes Leonard's claims about Delos as fraudulent during his first TV appearance on Daphne Blake's talk show and later tells Leonard that it will spend the two or three decades teaching him the wisdom of the universe.
WebVideo.Drawtectives: Terry / Madame All / Madame Alm relies mostly on hoaxes, but does in fact have three legitimate visions which our heroes have to draw out with their eyes closed. Pretty much all of said visions seem to be Call Backs, though in the post season Q&A, Julia confirmed they were almost completely misinterpreted.
WesternAnimation.Magical Maestro: After being kicked out of the theater, the magician waves his wand around nonchalantly, which causes rabbits to appear. Even he seems surprised that its magic is real, and that's what gave him his idea for revenge.

Character gains powers

Humans Are Psychic in the Future: In "Planet of the Spiders", the Doctor identifies a mentalist stage performer who has started to develop genuine ESP yet represses it because he's afraid of going insane. The Doctor assures him that such power lies dormant in everyone. In "The Talons of Weng Chiang" a 19th-century stage magician, Li H'sen Chang, has been instructed in mindreading and hypnotism by Magnus Greel, a time traveler from the 51st century, implying that the knowledge has developed over time to exploit this dormant ability. Fake psychic develops real powers
Magical Romani: In Young Justice (2010), Madame Xanadu was a charlatan conning tourists out of their money with cheap tricks from her shop on Bourbon Street. An encounter with Kent Nelson made her develop her own mystical abilities, and she expanded her shop to an important occultist hub. Fake psychic develops real powers
Characters.Codex Equus Angel Vale: As it turned out however, he possessed actual psychic potential, which was awakened in the Abyssal Attack due to the psychic influence of the Abyssal Great Horror and its Lesser Horrors. Even though he only just got it, he already showed incredible talent in it such as foreseeing a remaining Lesser Horror's attack at Angel's Bounty and instinctively using telekinesis to restrain it when it try to pounce on him and Tasche. A mysterious elderly stallion who is King Virtus in disguise encourage him to use it as a real psychic and also for good. An apparently Phony Psychic gets real powers
Characters.Cultist Simulator: The Medium starts the game with a job as a Phony Psychic — theatrical and profitable. Until the dead decide to make them exactly what they pretended to be. Fakes it, gains powers
Characters.Mob Psycho 100 Main Characters: While he starts out as a Phony Psychic, he gains shades of this after Mob's Super-Empowering gives him the permanent ability to see (some) spirits. He still has no way of actually dealing with them on his own, but it still puts him above the level of normal humans. Gains powers
Characters.Young Justice 2010 Other Characters: Phony Psychic: Rather unlike her comics counterpart, she uses various props to scam people, which Kent Nelson says is a pity because she has "the perfect aura" for actual psychic work. She became a Not-So-Phony Psychic sometime between her first appearance and season 4, where she's become an ally of Zatanna's and a magical powerhouse in her own right. Gains powers, seemingly
MagnificentBastard.Film F To I: The Frighteners: Frank Bannister gained the ability to see spirits after the death of his beloved wife. Befriending local ghosts, Frank cons townsfolk into paying him for exorcisms to complete the dream home he promised his spouse. When the spirit of murderer Johnny Bartlett, his wife's true killer, resurfaces, Frank teams up with Dr. Lucy Lynskey to escape the skeptical police, even setting up one zealous agent to get killed by Bartlett's equally psychotic lover, saving Lucy and damning the killers to move on with his life happily with Lucy. Character gains powers, no mention of faking
PlayingWith.Mystical White Hair: Bob is a Not-So-Phony Psychic, and when his latent powers awaken his hair turns white after all. Powers awaken and make someone a legit psychic
WesternAnimation.The Karate Kid: A case where even the psychic himself is surprised: in one episode, a fake psychic begins to get flashes of real psychic abilities. The episode opens up with his partner off stage reading off information from a married couple's wallet, but the husband doesn't fall for it and demands information not in the wallet (the names of their children). The psychic tries to talk his way out of it, but then to his own shock say correctly, "Scott and Melissa!" Gains powers

Intentional ambiguity

Characters.Fable The Journey: Zig-Zagged. His predictions seem vague and silly, yet still hold some truth regarding Gabriel's future. He does predict his meeting with Theresa and some of the circumstances around it. Though Gabriel only continues hearing him out due to morbid curiosity, after dismissing his talents (or lack thereof) on their first encounter. Benny's final prediction before retiring from the psychic business is amusingly his most accurate, predicting Gabriel's quest and it's importance. Once they ride off Gabriel notes this to Theresa who dismisses it, claiming he's bound to fluke one good prediction now and again. Ambiguous in-universe. Slashed with Phony Psychic.'
Forgot About the Mind Reader: The X-Files: Subverted in the episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". After being shooed out of a room by a TV psychic for his "negative energy", Mulder meets the psychic in the hallway and shows him what negative energy really is with three words: "Read this thought." However, Mr. Yappi's status as a Phony Psychic is deliberately played to be ambiguous. He replies "So's your old man!" Therefore, it's possibly double subverted.
MaybeMagicMaybeMundane.Live Action TV: Murdoch Mysteries does this occasionally, most notably with the possibly-Not-So-Phony Psychic in "Elementary, My Dear Murdoch" and the Reincarnation Romance in "Lovers in a Murderous Time". Ambiguity in the work

Other

In the Dirk Gently novels, Dirk is a fundamentally a conman, with the only justification he can offer being that none of his clients ever actually pay his exhorbitant expenses, and the fact he's right about everything is of considerably annoyance to him. He also has a desire to solve mysteries, but mostly for their own sake, and is not above flat-out lying to a potential client if it's the only way he'll be hired for one that looks interesting. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, he's a lot ditzier, but seems to be primarily motivated by a desire to help people. Possibly because he's more in tune with his powers; Book Dirk hates any suggestion that he's a Not-So-Phony Psychic, and if he thought the universe "wanted" him to be in the right place to sort things out, would probably refuse to do so out of spite. Character doesn't want to be a NSPP, doesn't describe what a NSPP may be
Characters.Ask Dr Rin: He has a show on TV, but he has a bad tendency to goof up the predictions, leaving an opening for Dr. Rin to eat into his business. Basically just describes a phony psychic
Characters.Gravity Falls Main Antagonists: Played with in that he's wielded genuine occult powers, but they come from artifacts and rituals he uses, not inborn abilities. The psychic powers he uses for business are entirely fake and he's exposed for such in the first season finale. Powers from objects; marked "played with".
Characters.Homestuck Trolls Two: While never phony, she never used her powers as a Seer of Mind because she thought that they were useless and that she was bad at them. Combined with John's reality warping powers, they prove to be quite powerful. Character ignores their powers
Film.Deathtrap: Helga does have genuine seer powers but she often misinterprets what she is seeing. Has powers, bad at using them
Literature.Bone Street Rumba: There's a tarot reader — Ol' Ginny — who has a tiny smidgen of ability, but is mostly fake. Slight ability
Literature.The Frugal Wizards Handbook For Surviving Medieval England: Sefawynn explains that the power of the skops was quite real and helped her people to survive by making deals with well-inclined wights and chasing off malevolent ones, but ever since Woden's wife was killed that power has been on the wane. Sefawynn herself has very little power and considers herself shamefully akin to a conwoman doing what she has to in order to survive by scamming people. Near the end of the book she defies Woden, which inspires the cowed wights around her to protect her and the city. Magic existed, though the character in question hardly has any.
Recap.Gravity Falls Rule 63 S 1 E 4 The Hand That Rocks The Marcus: Jennifer uses obvious tricks in her shows, but actually does have telekinetic powers. But it was all a trick thanks to invisible wires. Character is faking it for real
Recap.Gravity Falls S 1 E 4 The Hand That Rocks The Mabel: Li'l Gideon uses obvious tricks in his shows, but actually does have telekinetic powers thanks to his magic amulet, and more occult knowledge from the second journal. Powers from an amulet
Recap.The Loud House S 2 E 17 Arggh You For Real Garage Banned: Hunter has been staging his ghost encounters, until his ghost trap actually caught a real ghost. Fake ghost hunter finds real ghost
WesternAnimation.Bobs Burgers: Linda in "I Get Psychic Out Of You". After hitting her head and making a few coincidental predictions, she thinks she's gotten psychic powers, and Sergeant Bosco asks her to help him catch a burglar. Eventually, Linda discovers that she wasn't psychic after all when many of the people she made predictions to come back disappointed, but she does help in the capture of the burglar in a roundabout way; he's discovered by Bob when he goes to pick up the kids from the racetrack, where they were going to bet on a horse Linda predicted would win. Character has no powers

PCE: Unclear if they have powers

Magical Native American: 'Young Justice (2010)'' includes Tye Longshadow, who is loosely based on the above-mentioned Apache Chief and his various expies. Here he can create a giant Hard Light projection of himself, but the power actually came from being abducted by aliens. We also meet Tye's grandfather, who is this trope Played for Laughs — he says a bunch of mystical stuff that sounds meaningless, but in retrospect pretty much describes what happens. Also, when he says something about Jaime having an inner struggle the Scarab declares that he "knows too much" and must be destroyed. Not described if the powers are real or not
Stealth Insult: In the sixth book, Harry drops a quick one on his Divination teacher, the notorious Not-So-Phony Psychic Sybill Trelawney. Doesn't describe if she has powers. I know she does from context, but that's not in the example. Quote removed for length.
Went to the Great X in the Sky: In The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, Dirk Gently, attempting a Phony Psychic scam, tells a woman her husband must be "flighty", only to be told that he's a fighter pilot who disappeared over the North Sea two weeks earlier. In a panic, he babbles that the man has gone to "the great something-or-other in the sky". (As usual, he turns out to be exactly right.) Again, unclear if the powers actually exist
Angel.Tropes K To O: Parodied with Lorne's "psychic friend", who works a day job as a psychic hotline operator.
Characters.Die Anstalt: Potentially, since it's not made clear if his reality-altering visions are clear or not.
Characters.Hercule Poirot Kenneth Branagh: Mayyybe. As Poirot is busy breaking her trick down to pieces, Joyce suddenly enters in a trance state, speaking with Alicia's voice and flinging distressing details about the way she died. Her assistant Nicholas also claims she was gifted with genuine power, but would rely on fraud as the gift was unreliable.
Literature.Dirk Gently / Literature.Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency: When he was in university, Dirk posed as a psychic, was uncannily right, and got arrested for it. He now spends a lot of time insisting to people who were there that he's not psychic. Usually they don't believe him and his reputation often precedes him. Played with, as Dirk built his reputation for being a psychic at university by repeatedly and publicly insisting he was not, in any way, shape, or form, a psychic. Which nobody had ever actually suspected him of being until he started denying it. Combined the examples from both work pages since one was the same but slightly longer. Neither actually clarifies if the powers are real.
Literature.Riding The Rap: Possibly the case with Dawn Navarro. She could simply be a master of cold reading, but the conclusions she comes to are scarily accurate.
Literature.The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul: Dirk's attempt to make some easy money as a gypsy fortune teller (in drag) goes wrong when the random mystical nonsense he spouts turns out to be uncomfortably accurate.
MassiveNumberedSiblings.Literature: Discussed and Played for Laughs: at one point, Trelawney predicts that Harry will have twelve children. By the end of the series, he has three (four if you count his godson). Never mentions powers
Recap.Angel S 02 E 20 Over The Rainbow: Spoofed when Lorne consults a psychic for the location of the next portal; she's earning money working a psychic hotline.
Recap.Sliders S 02 E 01 Into The Mystic: The group takes refuge in a psychic's shop. Arturo pegs her as this—saying everything she said was just generic cold readings meant to fit any situation. However, she knows Arturo has a son that he didn't tell the others about.
Recap.The Interns S 13 E 11: The "mage" whom Lyuba hires to cure Kupitman of alcoholism (and Kisegach to "cure" Bykov of video games) is obviously yet another con artist, one of the hundreds. He gets quickly revealed by Bykov and Kupitman and bullied into working for them to teach their women not to trust the likes of him. But in the end, he somehow "programs" Lyuba into losing interest to sweets, and Kisegach to working until late, implying that maybe he knows something after all. Kupitman also confirms that he did feel a brief aversion to booze, he just chose to ignore it.
Recap.The Sopranos S 2 E 9 From Where To Eternity: The psychic Paulie visits has some uncanny details about some of the men Paulie has killed.
Sandbox.Mefodiy Buslaev Characters: Phony Psychic: Zig-Zagged Trope. Two-Thumbelina's predictions related to the magic world are perfectly reliable, but the ones related to the mortal world makes absolutely no sense (especially given the small timeframe for them to happen), like the one about "new world currency"... called "homosap" (short for "homo sapience"); considering that she gets surprised at the mention that dollars are still in use (that's when aforementioned "homosaps" comes up), it's possible that she messed up all those "prophecies" due to paying little attention to the mortal world (which is extremely common amongst mages). Unclear if the powers are real, or she just has good predictions
ScrewThisImOuttaHere.Webcomics: Mieruko-chan: In chapter 6, Miko's predicament attracts the attention of a Not-So-Phony Psychic, the "Godmother of Downtown". She tries to help Miko with her habit of attracting powerful monsters, but when her strongest ward is overwhelmed by the presence currently haunting Miko and her friend Hana, the Godmother decides it's time to get out of fortune-telling and accept her son's offer to come back to the family farm. Never mentions powers, just fortune-telling
Series.The Invisible Man: Benjamin Scarborough from "Tiresias" initially appears to be invoking cold readings and simply offering vague statements. However, he quickly demonstrates specific details about Hobbes and Darien's pasts.
VideoGame.Persona 2: Sumaru Genie is infamous for her bogus readings. A rumor will fix that. Actually, we learn she was originally just an intersex clubgoer before rumors transmogrified her into some sort of Prince of Persia character. Powers not mentioned

PCE: Unclear if they're "phony"

Fake Faith Healer: In Sunglasses After Dark, primary antagonist Catherine Wheele is a rich and powerful evangelist and faith healer. She is actually an extremely powerful psychic with Mind Control powers, but she doesn't have a bit of healing power — that part is pure con. Unclear if they're intentionally hiding their powers
Characters.Banal Fantasy: Kel Shite pretends he can see the future when he first meet with the group, and actually has some real foresight about the characters they will have in their team (though it is more cases of Breaking the Fourth Wall), as well as a scary "overclock". Never says they're hiding it
Characters.Good Omens: She has a few moments of genuine prophecy when Aziraphale is around. And apparently is a suitable vessel for possession. Never said she's faking/isn't believed
Characters.Good Omens 2019: Apparently she is a suitable vessel for possession. Same as above, with less
Characters.Happy: Her fortunes turn out to be quite accurate. Is she faking it?
Characters.Harry Potter Hogwarts Staff: The only real prophecies Trelawney has ever made (both of them) happen when she goes into a trance, and thus she can't remember them afterwards. Every prophecy she actually makes on purpose is made up... possibly. However, if you squint while you think, they do come true, it's just that her general underlying interpretation is all wrong. Implies she's fake otherwise, never says it. I know the context but the example is missing it.
Characters.Immortal Guardians: Dana uses her abilities to work as a psychic. She receives premonitions of both past and future events. Never alludes to faking/disbelief
Characters.Paper Mario Color Splash: The revelation than the red Toad is actually a Chosen One comes after several scenes where he ridiculed himself. Never says if they were phony of a sort, just that they had low self esteem
Fanfic.Where The Dandylions Play: While Bruno actually can see the future, he avoids actually using his gift and uses more "conventional" forms of divination (Tarot Cards, Crystal Balls, etc.) to make his living. Doesn't explain if he's actually hiding his powers or just avoiding them
Film.Malevolent 2018: It seems that Angela ( and Jackson) inherited her mother's powers, and is starting to see the ghosts they've been claiming to exorcise. No indication of being a "phony"
Funny.Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The scene where Willow and the ghost of a local boy the Big Bad killed visit Not-So-Phony Psychic Derek Traynor. They walk in on Traynor while he's asleep and naked, and he calls Willow a peeping tom who hangs out with dead people. She protests both labels, then recalls her friendships with Spike and Angel and acknowledges that, but insists she's still not a peeping tom. Traynor rants about how ghosts keep making odd requests of him, and one told him to tell his wife there was an insurance policy hidden in their house, only to later confide in Traynor that he lied because his wife killed him (without leaving behind any evidence) and he wanted to get her stressed out looking for the nonexistent policy. Never explains if he's hiding his powers or something. Removed indents for convenience.
Podcast.Tales Of The Extraordinary: Vesper Kingsley: Psychic to the Stars who is the real deal. No mention of faking or being unbelieved
Recap.Derry Girls S 3 E 4: Carlos Santini (AKA Kevin) unwittingly summons someone Sarah recognises, then gets a vision of "...something under water. A box. A red box." Joe later finds his long-lost razor in a red biscuit tin under the sink.
Recap.Fazbear Frights Felix The Shark: Foreshadowing: Agnes, who says that she can just "tell things," mentions that she had nightmares about being trapped in Felix's tank, being dragged around over and over, and unable to scream because of the mask. This exact thing happens to Dirk a few days later.
Recap.Supernatural S 07 E 07 The Mentalists:
- The murderer is a real psychic, angry over how the more flamboyant fakes are taking all his business.
- The owner of the psychic museum grabs Dean's arm and delivers a message from Ellen.
Recap.The X Files S 01 E 13 Beyond The Sea: Was Boggs only pretending his channeling? Some of his visions seemed to come true.
Recap.The X Files S 03 E 04 Clyde Bruckmans Final Repose:
- The Stupendous Yappi is so over the top that not even Mulder believes in his abilities. On the other hand, other agents and detectives do, and they in fact follow his super vague leads. Importantly, some of his visions bore similarities with Bruckman's, who we know is a real deal psychic, which makes Yappi fit the trope.
- The last victim gives a reading that genuinely impresses the killer with its accuracy.
Series.Charmed 2018: Madam Roz, a Haitian Yoruba priestess. She does readings and uses her sight to pay the bills. No mention of being a phony
Series.Magnum PI: Laura Bennett in "Fragments" is a Not-So-Phony Psychic who hires Magnum, having apparently seen her own murder. She later realizes she was only half-right: The killer is actually trying to kill Magnum.
Series.The Mentalist: It is never explained how Red John knew some of the things he knew about Jane. In "Red John's Rules", Sean Barlow claims Red John really is psychic.

PCE: Other missing context

Psychic Index: Well, would you look at that; that Phony Psychic actually was psychic after all. Doesn't describe who is making the mistake
Sherlock Can Read: On Gravity Falls, the (mostly) Phony Psychic Gideon does this.
Characters.Fillmore: Phony Psychic: The episode 'Cry The Beloved Mascot' states that he is in fact a phony and all of his most recent predictions have been because Harrison Post, the true culprit, has been sending him emails forecasting future events in order to blackmail him into framing Vern Natoma for Lobstee's kidnapping via the 'foot-in-the-door' technique. How Harrison knew of these things is anyone's guess, however. But the ending of the episode implies he may be a Not-So-Phony Psychic, after all. How so?
Characters.Less Is Morgue: In his second appearance he points out that several of his prophecies were actually kinda-sorta right, and he can actually see ghosts this time due to Lasik. Except it’s not really him. Unclear if he's faking it, or if he even has powers
Characters.Wicked Lawless Love: Definitely takes advantage of this aesthetic and demeanor but her powers are very much real. What aesthetic? What demeanor?
Fanfic.Just An Unorthodox Thief: Pycal turns out to actually be from a magus family, and while he's only learned a few minor tricks, he does have the capacity for magecraft Doesn't explain if they're hiding it or something
VideoGame.Choice Of Magics: Seer Marie if you teach her magic.

ZCE / Unexplained Potholes and Wicks

Designated Girl Fight: In Team America: World Police, Sarah and Helen Hunt have a sword fight in the climax.
Eat Brain for Memories: * The "Medium?" legacy in Cultist Simulator eventually gains the ability to consume the bodies of the dead to receive their memories. They can use the strongest such memories on their path to ascension, while lesser memories make them money in their Not-So-Phony Psychic routine. This also feeds their Horror Hunger; going too long without doing so has unpleasant consequences.
Everyone Hates Mimes: In "The Carnival Curse", Garfield got even with a Not-So-Phony Psychic who turned him into a werewolf by using her spell-book to turn her into the most horrifying creature of them all: a mime.
Mistaken for Pedophile: 'Mob Psycho 100 during the Urban Legends'' Arc, Banshomaru Shinra questions two little girls at a playground site about a perverted flasher in the area. He gets too carried away with his questioning, even admitting that he was getting "excited", that he ends up scaring the girls. One of whom even activates a stranger-danger whistle that alerts the local adults.
Mrs. Robinson: Persona 5 has achieved a degree of infamy for featuring four Mrs. Robinsons for the 16-year-old protagonist to potentially romance: an alcoholic journalist, a licensed physician, a fortune-teller based out of Tokyo's red-light district, and his homeroom teacher. In fact, Chihaya (the aforementioned fortune-teller) outright asks Joker if he Likes Older Women (to which the player can respond "Hell yeah I am") while Royal edited a dialogue choice about his age preference for romantic partners in Shadow Negotiations with Mokoi from "I like younger women" to "No preference" but left the other option ("I like older women") unaltered.
Out of Continues: One of Kemmler's apprentices, the Corpsetaker, kept up with this. She could switch her conscious to another living person's body, possibly in a similar technique. After her death, her ghost wandered Chicago and amassed a small army of spirits and lesser shades as she sought out a new, appropriate host body that she could take over, though in a manner similar to possession rather than her typical body switch. She eventually settled on Mortimer Lindquist, a local medium and ectomancer (a school of magic that makes him able to communicate and cooperate with the spirits of the dead, a "good" and accepted adjacent to necromancy), up until Mortimer bested her and sent her away on the "Southbound" Express.^note
Rage Against the Heavens: When Dirk Gently's status as a Not-So-Phony Psychic kicks in once again in The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, he nearly gets arrested for standing on his roof in the middle of the night shaking his fist at the sky and yelling "Stop it!"
Snake Oil Salesman: Persona 5: The Wheel of Fortune Confidant, Chihaya Mifune, is a Not-So-Phony Psychic who comes to Joker's attention when she sells him a "Holy Stone" that turns out to be made of ordinary rock salt.
Maiden Name Debate: Harry Potter: Pottermore reveals that Professor Trelawney's marriage ended "when she refused to adopt the surname 'Higglebottom.'" Aside from the silliness, she's also very proud of her descent from a famous Seer with the "Trelawney" name.
The Meddling Kids Are Useless: Despite having the most screen-time in Good Omens, Noble Demon Crowley and the pragmatic angel Aziraphale have no effect on the main events of the story, though not for a lack of trying. Arguably though, having Armageddon be averted by humans only, without angelic or diabolical help was the whole point. Really, most of the rather large cast is like this—the final battle pretty much comes down to the Them vs. the Horsepeople. Shadwell, Madame Tracy, Anathema, Newton, and Ligur all turn out to be pretty pointless, not even counting other characters who had died/disappeared from the plot by this point. (Admittedly Newt's presence might have contributed, it's kind of unclear if the Horsepeople's defeat stopped the nukes or just made it possible for him to.)
Awesome.Team America World Police: When Sarah and Joe are cornered by "panthers," Sarah proves that she's a Not-So-Phony Psychic when she convinces the panthers to turn on and eat their captors.
Characters.The Frighteners: Wrong Genre Savvy: Dammers' past traumas in investigating other "supernatural" cases has left him thinking he's an Occult Detective who's tracked down a serial-killing psychic, not realizing that he's actually caught up in a battle between a Not-So-Phony Psychic and a serial-killing ghost.
ContinuityNod.Live Action TV: In "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose," a Phony Psychic or Not-So-Phony Psychic called Stupendous Yappi is introduced. His photo is occasionally seen in the newspapers later on, e.g. in 'Pusher' or 'Small Potatoes.'
MamaBear.Literature: Even Professor Trelawney gets a moment of this: the last we see of her in the books is when she fights off Fenrir Greyback to defend Lavender Brown, one of her favorite students.
Pantheon.Heroic Achievements And Losses: Wicked next to a character's name, no other context
Recap.Trifle MMBC: Sloe Cyanide oscillates between these, depending on the day.
Recap.Young Justice S 4 E 9 Odnu: Madame Xanadu returns after three entire seasons, now a Not-So-Phony Psychic and a powerful ally to Zatanna.
Series.Evasive Inquiry Agency: Hee Kyung, who goes by the name Aransha Slashed with Phony Psychic
YMMV.Harry Potter: Half-goblin badass Flitwick and Not-So-Phony Psychic Trelawney tend to be favorites among the secondary Hogwarts professors.

Misc/Unsortable

Adverbly Adjective Noun: Index, No Context
Paranormal Tropes: Index, No Context
Phony Phony Psychic: Redirect
Seers: Index, No Context
Speculative Fiction Tropes: Index, No Context
RenamedTropes.L To P: Not-So-Phony Psychic used to be "Phony Phony Psychic". It was renamed for being rather ambiguous (do the "phonies" cancel each other out, or do they double?).

Sandbox / No So Phony Wick Check

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