Cobalt: Did you see me? Did you see me in that fight? They call me 'the Grim Reaper' for a reason!
Off-Screen: Nobody calls you that.
Cobalt: Shut up! Don't criticize me in front of them!
Off-Screen: Nobody calls you that.
Cobalt: Shut up! Don't criticize me in front of them!
The purpose of boasting is to make the boaster seem impressive in some way. Some boasting is meant to intimidate, others to inspire envy, and still others to inspire awe. However, one of the risks of boasting is the risk of someone dismissing it in some way that humiliates the boaster.
The nature of the dismissal is often based on the details of the boasting in question.
- If someone's boasting is based on lies, the dismisser may point out the lies and expose the boaster as a fraud.
- If the boasting involves Lying by Omission and/or being Metaphorically True, the dismisser will usually bring up facts that the boaster conveniently left out to counter their boasting.
- Sometimes the dismisser might challenge the boaster to prove their lies immediately, which will usually end up exposing the boaster as a fraud.
- If a person constantly brags about a quality that they (likely) don't have, one common rebuke is that someone who really has those qualities doesn't have to brag about it.
- If someone boasts about something that seems superficially impressive, the dismisser will often deconstruct the boast by showing why it's not as impressive as it sounds. For example, if someone boasts about being part of a powerful family, the dismisser will likely say that it means the boaster is an incompetent nepo-baby who needs their family to accomplish things they couldn’t have done by themselves.
- If someone boasts about past accomplishments and glories, then someone might dismiss it by pointing out that they did those things a long time ago and usually ask what they accomplished recently.
- A common variant is for someone who was cool in their school days to brag about their Glory Days, only to get called out as a loser who peaked in school.
- If said accomplishments were done by members of a group someone is part of (e.g. their family, their culture, their religion), a dismisser might be unimpressed because the boaster is essentially leeching credit from the individuals who actually accomplished stuff and doesn't have any accomplishments of their own.
- If someone boasts about accomplishments that required help, the dismisser will likely rebuke them for bragging as if they accomplished it all by themselves.
- A privileged person who boasts about their position might be dismissed by having it be pointed out that they only got where they were because they born with a silver spoon in their mouth rather than any work or competence on their end.
- If a character boasts about being unique or special in some way, the dismisser counter them by pointing out that they are the same as any other person or that there are tons of people like them, or even better.
Might involve an Armor-Piercing Question. See also Boast Backfire, for when someone's bragging gets them in trouble. Can overlap with Shut Up, Hannibal!. Can be used to counter a Badass Boast. Overlaps with Big Fish in a Bigger Ocean or Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond if the rebuke reveals someone's comparative inferiority. A Miles Gloriosus or someone with a Small Name, Big Ego might receive this response. Can be part of a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and/or Trash Talk. Can overlap with Worse with Context, when the person rebuking the boast does so by adding the context (and sometimes the boaster adds after forgetting to say it initially and turns the boast into something actually badass). Compare/contrast Insult Inaccuracy Rebuttal, for when someone dismisses an insult by pointing out why it's not true.
Contrast Great Accomplishment, Weak Credibility, where someone might dismiss a boast that's actually true. Also contrast Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?, which usually has the person who did the awesome accomplishment trying to do this trope when someone brings it up out of humility.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You: Himeka routinely engages in acts she considers "abnormal" in an attempt to stand out, and will always act smug whenever she does so; however, as several characters are quick to point out, most of these attempts either come across as mundane or make her look like an idiot.
- Bleach: Szayelapporo Granz is a Mad Scientist who considers himself a perfect being due to his ability to resurrect himself from death. Mayuri, a fellow Mad Scientist, calls out Szayelapporo, because in his mind, perfection is a terrible thing for scientists because it means something can't be improved on or grow, and to add insult to injury, finds a way around his "immortality".
- Dragon Ball:
- Dragon Ball Z: In the Saiyan Arc, when Vegeta boasts that being a Saiyan Elite means that he'll easily beat the low-class Saiyan Goku, Goku responds by saying that even a low-class person can become an elite with hard work, which he proceeds to prove by beating Vegeta so badly that he's forced to use his Great Ape form just to beat Goku.
- Dragon Ball Super: Like in the anime, Goku Black boasts to the heroes that he killed the Gods of Destruction by killing the Supreme Kais, whose death will kill the Gods of Destruction and vice-versa. While the anime treated it as a straightforward Badass Boast, in the manga, Goku points out that it's not much of an accomplishment because he killed the weaker Supreme Kais to do it rather than kill the Gods of Destruction directly, which Goku Black weakly claims still counts.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Envy of the Homunculi throughout the series has a superiority complex about humans, often boasting about their superiority as a Homunculus and looking down on humans for their flaws. Later in the series, Edward realizes that Envy's boasting was actually the result of an inferiority complex, as Envy is secretly envious of humans for their inner strength that allows them to continue in the face of adversity, and actually expresses pity for Envy. Envy feels so humiliated at being exposed that they take their own life.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency: During Stroheim's battle with Kars, it's revealed that the former has become a Cyborg designed to fight the Pillar Men. Stroheim boasts that his abilities were based on the data from Santana, the first Pillar Man. After defeating Stroheim, Kars tells him that Santana was actually the weakest of the Pillar Men, meaning his modifications were useless.
- Mob Psycho 100: Many villainous psychics throughout the series believe that their powers make them special or above the rest of humanity, and aren't hesitant to brag about. As part of their Humble Pie, the heroes are always quick to call them out about how their powers don't make them any better than anyone else.
- At one point, when facing a group of fellow Espers who are high on their own power, Mob verbally dismantles them by pointing out even with their powers they are, like any other person, dependent on society to do things like farm to have access to food, repair and create buildings for them to live in, and practice medicine to heal the sick.
- After Reigen helps take down the psychic supremacist organization Scar, he dismantles their claims of their psychic powers making them elite by pointing out that a "commoner" like him took them down and dismantles their delusions of grandeur by calling them out as a bunch of Manchildren who think they’re entitled to just because of their powers and don't have any other defining traits.
- My Hero Academia: All For One fancies himself as a "Demon Lord" who is utterly incomprehensible to "normal" humans, and tries to make himself out to be an inhuman monster. After Izuku Midoriya learns that part of All For One's motive for wanting to steal One For All is that it contains a vestige of his brother Yoichi, he begins to see All For One as an evil, but human figure. Right before Izuku deals the final blow, he declares that All For One is no Demon Lord, but just a sad, lonely man who misses his brother.
- One Piece: When Demalo Black, who was pretending to be Luffy to recruit powerful pirates, runs into the Marine Sentomaru, Black tries to intimidate Sentomaru by boasting about Luffy's accomplishments such as being descended from Dragon the Revolutionary and being involved in the War of the Best. Sentomaru can tell right away that he's not the real Luffy, knocking him out with one hit and having the Pacifist PX-5 publicly confirm that Black is just an imposter.
- Gold from Pokémon Adventures has a habit of bragging about some accomplishment, but other characters will just call him liar.
- Pokémon the Series: A running gag throughout the original series is Ash Ketchum bragging about how strong he is due to earning gym badges, with his traveling companions (who are the gym leaders who gave him said badges) commenting that he only got them out of pity. This disappears later as Ash matures as a trainer and starts winning through skill.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!:
- As Nezbit duels the trio of Serenity, Tristan and Duke Delvin, he uses his machine deck to largely dominate the battle. Having always viewed machines as superior to people, Nezbit tends to act like one when in the virtual world and when he becomes Perfect Machine King, Nezbit began to refer to himself as a "superhuman machine". Noah, who is observing the duel, isn't all that impressed despite Nezbit performing better in his duel than the other members of the Big Five, mocking his claim of being a robot and correctly deducing that deep down, Nezbit is just a "sad little man".
- Leichter boasts that Seto was only able to pass the test that earned him the Kaiba name because of his assistance and business skills, and that he deserved to be KaibaCorp's next in line after Seto. Seto dismissed his claim with the fact that all Leichter did was follow orders and he would have made a terrible President because he didn't have a single idea of his own.
- Noah Kaiba boasts that he's a superior Duelist and businessman to his stepbrother Seto, and tries to prove it by defeating Seto in duel monsters. During the duel, Noah cheats by using Mokuba as a Human Shield so Seto can't attack, and when Mokuba turns against him he turns both into stone and sees this as "proof" of his superiority. Yugi is quick to call him out, saying that as far as he's concerned Seto won the duel because Noah had to cheat to win.
- Joey Wheeler finds himself at the receiving end of this trope. In the "Waking of Dragons" Arc, Joey is forced to have a rematch with Rex Raptor, the first time since their first duel back in Duelist Kingdom. Rex gains a strong start thanks to the rare cards he acquired from Dartz which Joey attempts to downplay as having a lucky hand which Rex finds ironic coming from Joey since he only won against Rex because he got lucky which angers Wheeler. Played for Laughs as Tristan states that Rex has a point, much to Joey's indignation.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: While Jaden Yuki rarely shoots down a boast, one notable example exists in the episode "Rah Rah Ra!" where he duels Franz, a rogue Industrial Illusions card designer, who had stolen a copy of The Winged Dragon of Ra. Franz had stolen the copy and partook in Duel Academy's tournament to test it and his Mound of The Bound Creator on Ra, so as to prove his "genius" to his boss, Pegasus. However, the more he duels with Ra under his enslavement, the more arrogant he becomes, even proclaiming himself the Egyptian God. Unimpressed, Jaden calls Franz out for what he really is: a poser who couldn't stand losing out to the new guy at Industrial Illusions, Chumley Huffington, which infuriates Franz.
Comic Books
- The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: In the finale of Century - Chapter 3: Let It Come Down The Antichrist AKA Harry Potter faces off against a mysterious woman AKA Mary Poppins. The Antichrist boasts that he's featured in a book of the Bible. Unimpressed, the mysterious woman remarks that featuring in only one book of the Bible isn't all that scary considering that she's on every page. There's a horrified pause, and then the suddenly horrified Antichrist Stress Vomits fire.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
- After some time of Sonic's evil Alternate Self, Scourge, boasting about his newly acquired "Super Scourge" transformation and how he can use it to kill anyone he wants, his good counterpart included, Sonic mockingly points out Scourge needed a Super Mode on par with Super Sonic just to have a chance of winning a fight against someone who couldn't use their own Super Mode at the time. Scourge tries to prove him wrong by powering down... and just as Sonic suspected, Scourge's transformation has completely drained his body’s energy, meaning he's literally brought to his knees.
- At one point, while Scourge and his girlfriend, Fiona, are locked up in Zone Jail, Scourge complains that unlike Sonic, he shouldn't need to rely on others because he conquered his entire world all by himself. Fiona gently reminds him that he basically just beat up a bunch of regional warlords and declared himself king.
Fan Works
- Aftermath: A Story of Blended Clichés
: During Ranma's fight with Cologne, she starts to go on a rant about how great the 3000 year old Chinese Amazons are, before Ranma cuts her and says that the Chinese Amazons are nothing, and reveals to Shampoo that while the village history and the elders claim the reason why they've lasted so long is because they are widely feared and respected in China, Ranma reveals that the real reason why no one messes with them is because they are a tiny backwater village barely anyone knows about, and the few people who do actually know about them consider them a group of backwater barbarians.
- In the Game of Thrones and Star Wars crossover Arise Maul: Reborn Son of the Dragon, Euron Greyjoy boasts that his house's motto is "We Do Not Sow", referring to House Greyjoy mainly being raiders rather than builders. Darth Maul is unimpressed because it essentially sounds like is an admission that House Greyjoy has to take from others because they're too stupid, lazy, and weak to earn things themselves.
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic Bad Leader, Steve boasts about being Captain America, the leader of the Howling Commandos and defeating the Nazis and Hydra. One of the speakers points out that Steve was never an actual Captain as he never received a military rank, the Howling Commandos were a small 10-man team who were only famous because Steve was on the team, World War II continued after Steve was frozen in ice and the Nazis were defeated by the Allies, and Hydra is still around.
- Codex Equus:
- Due to Ama-gi being an immortal being who was one of the first species to evolve on Equus, she often does this to villains who suffer from delusions of grandeur due to realizing that they aren't special in the grand scheme of things.
- In one confrontation between Ama-gi and Overmare in the second age, Ama-gi asks what makes Overmare so special, the latter is about to proclaim that she's a genius will conquer the world in order to save it before Ama-gi interrupts her and says she's not special. Ama-gi tells Overmare that she's encountered villains like her in every era she's been alive, who think that they're some kind of genius visionary who claim that only they can save the world from itself, and calls her the "evil f&^%ing genius with delusions of grandeur number like eighteen billion! And that might be lowballing it!"
- In a confrontation with a group of racists, Ama-gi responds to their boasts of being pure-blooded by revealing that she's had kids with at least one person of every species, and that many of those species evolved into other species, meaning there's a big possibility that she's their ancestor and thus unlikely to be pure-blooded, and for one she reveals that he's actually her great great grandson, so he's definitely not pure-blooded.
- In a confrontation with the leader of an Ancient Conspiracy, said leader boasts that his conspiracy has been around for a hundred years, and "one mare" can't do anything to stop him. Ama-gi scoffs at a hundred year conspiracy being called "ancient" and states that to her, a hundred years is basically a week.
- In one confrontation between Ama-gi and Overmare
- In one drabble, an unnamed enemy of the Evening-Desire Clan, a group of infernal gods, boasts about being a "First One", a being who has started entire races and species. One of the Evening-Desires' servants points out that since they are older, King Fierce Desire and Queen Evening Spirit, the Patriarch and Matriarch of the clan, have started more races than said enemy possibly could.
- One Drabble has Planeswalker Mirthful Stone time-traveling to a forgotten civilization from before the Known Ages that believed in Might Makes Right. At one point when she insults their society, one of the rulers boasts that they will stand eternal, only for Mirthful to reveal she comes from millions of years in the future and literally no one remembers them and nothing from their civilization remains, and that the only reason she's there is so that future civilizations will learn from their mistakes.
- Due to Ama-gi being an immortal being who was one of the first species to evolve on Equus, she often does this to villains who suffer from delusions of grandeur due to realizing that they aren't special in the grand scheme of things.
- Danny Phantom: Stranded:
- Danny Phantom: Traveled: Heather St. Cloud is a former Alpha Bitch who maintains the same attitude she had as a teenager. When she learns that Johnathan Strong, who she saw as a loser in school, has become rich, she plots to seduce him and brags to her skeptical ex-husband Chip Franco that she will succeed, citing her various high school accomplishments such as winning a high school beauty pageant and being prom queen as to why she will succeed. Chip points out that those things happened years ago, and that she's lost her looks and is deep in debt, meaning that Johnathan is way out of her league.
- Danny Phantom: Blackmailed: Throughout the series, Colette Bevier, her father Jean-Luc, and the rest of the Bevier family believe themselves superior to others because of their Blue Blood status, with Colette acting like she's royalty. However, one of Jean-Luc's ex-wives reveals that the Beviers' Blue Blood status comes from their claims of being descended from a French baron, which is the lowest form of nobility. She also mentions that said baron isn't mentioned in any history book, and that the Beviers claim that they lost the records that would prove their connection, which means that they probably have no noble descent at all.
- The End of an Era: When Bakugo is captured by the League of Villains and offered the chance to join them, Bakugo rejects them, boasting that he's the future Number One Hero and that he will surpass All Might himself. All For One scoffs at his claim, saying that there are tons of people with Quirks just as strong as his who delusionally believe they will surpass All Might, and even shows a file containing information about his Quirk, weaknesses included, and says that his Quirk isn't really that impressive, and to add insult to injury, also reveals that Bakugo attended Aldera Middle School because he would stand out due to the other students having weaker Quirks.
- If Wishes Were Ponies...: Like in canon, Draco likes to tell tall tales at the Slytherin table of how he's an expert broom-rider who's been involved in numerous escapades, with Harry noting that many of these tales end with him barely escaping Muggles in helicopters. Unlike in canon, though, Ginny tells the Aurors about Draco's stories, noting that if they were true, it meant that Draco had broken the Statute of Secrecy dozens of times. The Aurors take her letter seriously, and personally visit Hogwarts to talk to Draco (before detouring to the Malfoy home because Draco had been suspended for the weekend). Draco's forced to rebuke his own boast in order to avoid being in huge trouble. Fred and George beam at their little sister with pride.
- So many Miraculous Ladybug fan fics have moments of this, nearly always aimed at Lila.
- Moving On: When Jagged Stone gives Alya the final clue she needs to prove to her class that Lila was lying about everything (something she herself only recently learned), Alya breaks the news to everyone. They're devastated that they treated Marinette so poorly, and as a group they call Lila out on her lies when she comes to class the next morning. While she tries to save face, each person tells her how they personally disproved one of her lies (i.e. Alya pointing out that Jagged Stone has admitted to never having a cat, Rose stating Prince Ali had never heard of her, etc.). In the end, Lila gets so flustered that she's akumatized.
- Karmic Backlash: Discussed—Marinette's life is falling apart because everyone found out that a year ago, she let Lila steal Adrien's fortune and their classmates' prized items because she was mad at them for not believing her about Lila. She claims she tried to tell everyone Lila was a liar, but Alix angrily points out that one of Lila's lies was about being best friends with Ladybug, and since Marinette is Ladybug, she could have gone to a reporter or a news station and proven that Lila was lying with one simple interview.
- Nymph and the Corrupted Miraculous: Like in canon, Marinette sees through Lila's lies almost instantly (namely because she claims that Nymph has made her a Champion several times, which Marinette knows isn't true). But here, it's Chloe and Alya who try to call Lila out, pointing out how many of her boasts aren't true. When Lila tries to turn this on them by pointing out that they look like they're bullying the new girl, Marinette is the one to keep a cool head and breaks it up.
- In Scarlet Lady, Lila lies about being best friends with Scarlet Lady on her first day of school — which already makes some people wary because Scarlet Lady is very much not the Ideal Heroine Lila thinks she is. Scarlet Lady herself shows up to Adrien's "date" with Lila to personally disprove her and shove her into a fountain... in the middle of winter. Not only does Lila get a cold due to getting soaked, but this happened in front of others. After a pep talk from Marinette, Lila decides to turn over a new leaf, apologizing to her classmates for her lies and making up for her deceit by becoming brutally honest.
- The Mountain and the Wolf: Happens repeatedly to Euron Greyjoy when facing the Wolf (whose entire schtick is to taunt his opponents into making mistakes by mocking them):
- When boasting that he just killed a dragon, the Wolf (who has killed dragons) points out that Euron shot down a dragon, by surprise and with an entire crew to help.
The Wolf: Oh yes. A dragon. Singular. And what a battle it must have been, a mere man pitting his strength against teeth the size of swords, steel against scale, wits against fire, truly a tale worthy of the sagas- oh, I'm sorry, I'm thinking of the way I fight dragons. But I'm sure your way counts for something, shooting it from ambush using a machine designed by a smarter man and paid for by a richer woman. Is there even a single achievement in your life that you and only you are responsible for?
- Euron's boasting of being The Kingslayer doesn't impress the Wolf (who has killed quite a few kings) either, who mentions that title is no indication of skill at arms given the people and animals who've achieved it.
The Wolf: From what I hear the ranks of kingslayers in this world include a one-armed man, an old woman, and a pig.
The Wolf: [smiling]' Quite the exalted company you belong to.
The look of amused contempt the Wolf gave Euron was such that he lunged, axe held high, swinging it in a heartfelt attempt to silence the barbarian's taunting. - Much, much later, the Wolf updates the list once it's revealed to him that Arya killed the Night King.
The Wolf: A one-armed man, an old woman, a pig, and now a girl not a third your size! The title of kingslayer grows ever harder to obtain, it seems!
- When boasting that he just killed a dragon, the Wolf (who has killed dragons) points out that Euron shot down a dragon, by surprise and with an entire crew to help.
- Prerugrats: When it's time for Angelica to tell the story about how she was born, she boasts that she was a princess. Her friends point out that she's obviously lying, since her parents Drew and Charlotte clearly aren't royalty.
- Some Things Never Change: When Squilliam tries to get Squidward to admit that the latter lacked the talent to be more successful than the former, Squidward tries to argue that he did succeed in the Bubble Bowl and on House Fancy. Squilliam rebukes that by saying that people don't remember that and that it's more important to remain relevant in the long run than have a 15 Minutes of Fame.
- With This Ring (2013): Locked into a contest against Teth Adom for control of their shared body, Theodore Adam tries to assert his worthiness by declaring, "I have used the gods' power to fight the mightiest living beings on Earth!" But when he goes on to brag about challenging the Wisconsin National Guard, Paul cracks up.
"Pppfffffffffffhahahahahah!" He whips his head around to glare at me. "What, was Maine a bit of a trek? Hawaii too hot for you? Or are you just really lactose intolerant? You're seriously boasting about fighting Wisconsin?"
Film — Animated
- Aladdin (1992, Disney): At the climax of the film, Aladdin battles against Jafar, who had used his second wish to become "the most powerful sorcerer in the world", and while Aladdin is able to last longer than expected, the street rat becomes trapped after Jafar turned himself into a giant cobra. As the sorcerer constricts Aladdin, Jafar taunts Aladdin for thinking he could defeat "the most powerful being on Earth" and that without the Genie, Aladdin is nothing. This gives Aladdin an epiphany where he retorts that the Genie gave Jafar his power and can just as easily take it away, proclaiming that Jafar is still "second best". Jafar actually concedes that Aladdin is correct and decides to fix that by using his third wish to make himself an "all powerful genie". While this does make Jafar more powerful, it gives Aladdin the means to defeat Jafar as all genies are slaves to their lamp, thus Jafar is forced to be imprisoned in his own lamp.
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: In the beginning, a younger Flint is seen showing off his new "spray-on shoes" that don't have any laces to tie. Brent says, "How are you gonna get 'em off, nerd?!", prompting Flint to realise that he can't.
- Despicable Me: When the Minions are putting fake personal achievements on Gru's profile for Miss Hattie to read, one of them is that he has his own cooking show and can hold his breath for thirty seconds. She comments, "It's not that impressive".
- Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll: Boar is a rampaging brute tearing through all the kung fu masters like rice paper. He mistakes Tigress for Shifu and overpowers her, because she is using Shifu's kung fu style, which doesn't suit her. He triumphantly exclaims that he just defeated Shifu, but Tigress gets back up and reveals to him that he didn't defeat Shifu, because she's not Shifu—she is Tigress. She proceeds to kick his butt with her own tiger-style kung fu and the help of her new teammates.
Film — Live-Action
- Benoit Blanc Mysteries:
- Knives Out: Linda Thrombey, daughter of the acclaimed and wealthy author Harlan Thrombey, asserts that, unlike her siblings, she didn't merely rely on her father's name to get by in life but instead made a name for herself as a successful real estate businesswoman. Her son Ransom disputes this, saying Linda first needed a loan from Harlan to get her business started in the first place.
- Glass Onion:
- After the gathering at the pool, Miles Bron boasts at length of the belief in Disruption Theory that unites his "Disruptors", bragging about how all of his friends have followed his lead in ignoring societal norms and become hugely successful self-made men just like him. Andi Brand rebuts this by loudly revealing that the Disruptors owe their success entirely to Bron's "golden titties", while attempting to ignore accepted norms has cost Duke and Birdie almost everything, wrapping up the diatribe by pointing out that Bron himself stabbed her in the back to claim sole ownership of Alpha.
- In the finale, after spending the film being repeatedly exposed to the myth of Bron's genius — expressed either by Bron or the Disruptors — Benoit Blanc begins The Summation by comprehensively puncturing his host's braggadocio: almost every fact that Bron mentioned was incorrect, his speech is peppered with malapropisms, he commissioned the murder mystery plot instead of writing it himself, and all his achievements are due to seizing the credit from a friend or underling. Plus, the very real murders that Bron committed are spectacularly lazy and stupid.
Benoit: Miles Bron is an idiot!
- Gangs of New York: Officer "Happy Jack" Mulraney is tasked with taking the wealthy Schermerhorn family on an official tour of the Five Points, during which he puts on a big show of his authority by hanging his watch on a lamppost right in the middle of Paradise Square, demonstrating to them that nobody will dare steal Mulraney's property and therefore nobody will harm the Schermerhorns. And then Bill the Butcher arrives on the scene with his gang in force, greeting the Schermerhorns as equals, granting them his official permission to travel in safety, and cutting off Mulraney whenever he tries to speak — deliberately making it clear to the rich visitors that Mulraney owes his power entirely to Bill.
Bill: Happy Jack don't fill his lungs without I tell him he may do so.
- GoodFellas: After Tommy shoots Spider to death over a slight, he boasts that he's "a good shot". The others are unimpressed, with Anthony asking Tommy how he could've possibly missed when Spider was only a few feet away from him.
- James and the Giant Peach: The Centipede brags about traveling the world, but Grasshopper immediately notes the obvious mistakes in his boast. Centipede later admits that he never went anywhere, learning what little he knows from living between two issues of National Geographic.
Centipede: I've sailed all the five seas! From the sun-drenched reefs of Bora Bora to the icy shores of Tripoli! Commodore Centipede, they used to call me!
Grasshopper: Seven.
Centipede: Huh?
Grasshopper: There are seven seas. And Tripoli is in the subtropics, "Commodore". - Quigley Down Under: Marston spends the entire film waxing about the Wild West and styling himself as the quick-draw gunslinger, something that he's shown practicing quite often. In the final confrontation, Quigley gives him a Death Glare and declares what he thinks about Marston's boasts:
This ain't Dodge City. And you ain't Bill Hickok
- Solo: Self-admitted by the bounty hunter Tobias Beckett. When Lando Calrissian compliments him for killing the notorious Aurra Sing, Beckett humbly replies that he just pushed her, it was the fall that killed her.
- Mystery Men: Mr. Furious, who has the power of Hulking Out, once moved a bus with his bare hands as proof of his power. Or so he says. When he is fully in the doldrums in the prelude to the final act, when the Shoveler reminds him of this as an attempt to cheer him up, Mr. Furious mentions a lot of details left unsaid about the event that make it look more like “he once put his hands to the back of a bus to push at the very moment the bus drove away". The Hulking Out powers are real, though. Just more cool under pressure.
Jokes
- There are multiple variants of a joke where a (usually) Texan boasts of how long it takes to drive across or around his ranch in his truck, and the punchline response is "I once had a truck like that, too."
Literature
- Aesop's Fables:
- In "The Boasting Traveller," a man boasts to his friends that he went to Rhodes and did a great jump that no one else could beat. His friend says, "If you really can jump that far, we don't need to go to Rhodes to prove it. Pretend this is Rhodes, now jump!"
- In "The Quack Frog," a frog proclaims that he is a great doctor who can cure all diseases. A fox asks him how he can call himself a doctor when he can't cure his own lame legs and wrinkled skin.
- The Christmas Appeal: Celia Halliday's Christmas round robin is full of boasts about her and her family's achievements throughout the year. This includes her daughter taking a break from her studies at Oxford, claiming that her daughter is close friends with two members of The Saturdays, and David Mamet sending his congratulations to their production of Glengarry Glen Ross. Carol rebukes these claims in an email to her daughter, along with several other complaints about the Hallidays: Beth actually dropped out of college, specifically from the much less prestigious Oxford Brookes, Beth isn't friends with the Saturdays, Celia just hired them to perform at her birthday party, and the letter from Mamet was threatening legal action after they changed the script to his play.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid:
- When Greg boasts that his family is getting a maid, his classmate Chirag says that his own family doesn't need a maid because they can do their own chores. Greg isn't phased, though, and says that's just what all the "non-maid people" say to make themselves feel better.
- When Greg is made the "shag" in soccer class, he doesn't know what that means but he thinks it sounds cool, so he boasts to his brother Rodrick, "I'm the shag!" Rodrick explains that a shag is just someone who retrieves lost soccer balls.
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Veelas are magical beings that look like human women so entrancingly beautiful, it makes guys do dumb things to try and impress them. Harry and his friends pass by some wizards trying to impress a trio of veela, and one boasts that he makes thousands of Galleons a year as a professional dragon hunter. His friend shoots that down by revealing he's a dishwasher at the Leaky Cauldron, and then claims to be a vampire hunter with a kill count of 90.
- The Little Vampire: In The Little Vampire in Love, Anna and Olga are having a spat, and Anna calls Olga a little weakling. Olga retorts that she flew all the way to Tony's hometown from Transylvania while carrying her heavy coffin, and Anna points out that it's a folding coffin she wore like a backpack.
- The Midnight Gang: When Amber brags that she broke all of her limbs mountain climbing (since she's a wannabe Action Girl), the boys tell her that's not true. She says that she was doing "mountain climbing training", but then the boys reveal that they wouldn't call it mountain climbing training, but rather falling out of the top bunk.
- The Old Nurses Stocking Basket: In "The Proud Infanta", the eponymous Spoiled Brat girl meets a peasant woman who's bragging about having baked "the best loaf" and given birth to "the best baby that was ever born". The infanta says that the woman is delusional, since she's the Infanta of Spain, which is a unique position, but anyone can bake a loaf or have a baby. The peasant woman just responds, "Yes, but not the best loaf, and not the best baby".
- The Wheel of Time: In the first book, Rand defeats a figure calling himself the Dark One during the climax that reveals Rand to be The Chosen One. Early in the second book, he tells his childhood friend Nynaeve that the Dark One is dead and she promptly tells him not to be an idiot. Sure enough, he'd only beaten the Dark One's servant — a powerful human with a rampaging Devil Complex — but the Dark One himself heard his boast.
Live-Action TV
- Farscape: While being held for ransom by the Tavleks in "Throne For A Loss," Rygel makes the acquaintance of another royal hostage, Jotheb of the Consortium of Trao... and decides to continue boasting of his empire despite having gotten kidnapped because of it in the first place, this time bragging of its dominion over six hundred billion subjects. Jotheb calmly retorts that that the Consortium consists of ten thousand planets, each of them averaging four billion Trao note , making it abundantly clear that Rygel's empire is ultimately small potatoes compared to the empires ruling the Uncharted Territories. For good measure, this is before Rygel confesses that he was deposed over a century ago.
- Fawlty Towers:
- In "The Wedding Party", when Sybil interferes in Basil's attempt to stop an unmarried couple having a double room, Basil snarls "I fought in the Korean War, I killed four men". Sybil then adds "He was in the catering corps, he used to poison them".
- In "The Psychiatrist", Basil tries to impress Doctor and Mrs Abbott by telling them that he was thinking of becoming a surgeon. Sybil adds cheerfully "A tree surgeon", and goes on to say that he had to give it up, because he couldn't stand the sight of sap.
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: In "The High School Reunion" parts one and two, Dennis at the reunion acts like he was the coolest kid in school and expects everyone else to worship him. When he gets disrespected, he accuses Adriano of sabotaging him out of jealousy, only for him to give Dennis a reality check: Dennis was a loser in school who delusionally thought he was the Big Man on Campus, with everyone else making fun of him.
- Power Rangers in Space: In the opening scene of the episode "The Craterite Invasion", the young boy Patrick claims to have survived an encounter with a large bear and shows scars to prove it to impress the other kids. His own mother disputes his boast and shows the scars were faked.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "Menage e Troi", Ambassador Troi brags that she's the "holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx". Her daughter Deanna says that the Sacred Chalice of Rixx is just a mouldy clay pot.
Music
- This is an essential part of Battle Rapping where two rappers take turns to up themselves and diss their opponents.
Mythology & Religion
- The Qur'an: The second Surah has a passage about Abraham rebuking the boasts of a unnamed king (often identified with Nimrod) with a god complex by claiming that only Allah gives and takes life. When the king kills one prisoner and spares the other to show that he too can "take and give life", Abraham challenges the king to prove his godhood by making the sun rise from the west instead of the east, which he's unable to do.
Tabletop Games
- The Extraordinary Adventures Of Baron Munchausen is about players telling first-person stories recounting their extraordinary (and highly improbable) adventures. Other players may remind the storyteller of (often equally improbable) facts they may have omitted that call into question the storyteller's claims, forcing the storyteller to improvise a (usually even more improbable) explanation accounting for such facts.
- Pathfinder: This happened in the Archdevil Baalzebul's backstory. After Asmodeus and his servants conquered Hell, Asmodeus gave each of the Archdevils one layer to rule over, which enraged Baalzebul and caused him to demand a better realm than the others. When Asmodeus asks why, Baalzebul reminds Asmodeus of the various victories he accomplished for his lord. Asmodeus responds by reminding Baalzebul that he created Baalzebul and everything he accomplished was because Asmodeus ordered him to, and punishes Baalzebul by transforming him from a beautiful angel to a swarm of flies because Baalzebul desired to rule over "multitudes".
Video Games
- Dawn of War: When the squad realize they're up against the Tyranids, Avitus boasts that the space marines are fear incarnate when the others talk about how dangerous they are. In response, Cyrus, who has prior experience with the Tyranids from his time on Deathwatch, states that this is worthless against an opponent that knows no fear.
- GTA Radio: In VCPR's debate on positivity, motivational speaker Jeremy Robard spends most of the show shamelessly plugging his various tapes and programs as the ultimate path to success, despite the best efforts of host Maurice Chavez to keep order. When the debate invariably breaks down into squabbling among the participants, Robard upgrades to bragging about how successful he is, proclaiming that he wakes up every day in a waterbed with mirrors on the ceiling surrounded by girls, and can drive any car he likes to work when he doesn't make use of his five chauffeurs. At this, a thoroughly fed-up Maurice reveals to all and sundry that Robard is barely keeping his head above water by ripping people off with useless motivational programs, resulting in a confrontation that ends when Maurice breaks Robard's nose with a paperweight.
Maurice: Look, I hate to burst your bubble here, but I know you live in a very small apartment overlooking the gasworks. You ain't a big shot. You ain't even a medium shot. You're an asshole.
- Mass Effect 3:
- When Commander Shepard finally faces off against Kai Leng, Cerberus' top agent and murderer of a close comrade, Shepard trades some barbed words with him. Kai Leng talks tough, sure of his superiority over the Commander but Shepard reminds him that for all his skills he ran away in each of their previous engagements on the Citadel and on Thessia which the assassin can only respond with a weak "Shut up!".
- In the Citadel DLC, Shepard and his squad have a final face off with Shepard's clone and Maya Brooks. The first adversary constantly rants about being a "better version" of Shepard, calling them a "tired old man/woman covered in scars", to which Shepard states they got their scars as they protected the galaxy, while the clone got his/hers from a petri dish. Likewise, the second adversary cites about how easy it was to manipulate the Normandy crew before ranting about how "perfect" their plan was, but a squad mate of Shepard's quips "except for the part where you're losing".
- Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time: During the final battle, Le Paradox boasts about how his plot to steal the Cooper's canes and alongside the various treasures of the world is proof of his family being superior to the Cooper clan. Sly shuts him down by reminding him that Le Paradox did none of the actual stealing himself, instead having his henchmen do the real work.
Visual Novels
- Class of '09: One route has a case of this being done to an entire ideology. Mr. White is a white nationalist who views the idea of White Pride being wrong but non-white people being allowed to have Pride as a Double Standard. Nicole and Jecka can point out that being white isn't something to be proud about because non-whites have faced numerous struggles and persecution and their Pride is to celebrate perseverance in hardship. By contrast, whites have had it much easier overall, and White Pride as an ideal isn't worth bragging about because white people have been at the top for most of history and is essentially a victory lap for people who were born at the finish line.
Web Animation
- Dorkly Originals: In "Dorkly Bits - Dorkly Bits: TMNT Argue Over Pizza", the Ninja Turtles are arguing over who should get the pizza to restore their health. One of Donatello's arguments is that he has the most points, with Raphael responding with "who gives a s***" about points!?", and Leonardo snarking that "this guy thinks he's Billy f***ing Mitchel."
- MoniRobo: "Bully from high school becomes my coworker": Kakeru is a was a Jerk Jock in high school who hasn't changed much since becoming an adult, and looks down on Naoya, who was his errand boy in high school, despite Naoya being his boss at the IT company they work at, and brags that he would make a better manager because he was the ace in his high school soccer club while Naoya was just an errand boy. Nozumi tells him to stop talking about the past, and later mocks him for thinking being cool in high school means anything in the real world.
- RWBY: Exaggerated in "Jaunedice, Part 1". Nora begins bragging in the cafeteria about an encounter she and Ren apparently had with a horde of Grimm, with Ren wearily correcting her at every turn and then revealing she's actually recounting a dream.
Nora: There we were...in the middle of the night...
Ren: It was day.
Nora: We were surrounded by Ursae.
Ren: They were Beowolves.
Nora: [shoots to her feet] DOZENS OF THEM!
Ren: Two of 'em.
Nora: But they were no match. And in the end Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of lien selling ursae skin rugs!
Ren: [sighs] She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now... - SparkTales:
- "Sister Always Steals My BF! Not This Time...": Laverne is a Serial Homewrecker who liked to steal her sister Lisa's boyfriends. One day, when she tries to seduce Lisa's current boyfriend Noah and gets rejected, she boasts that she's more popular with guys than Lisa, has multiple boyfriends, and that she's superior for being able to steal Lisa's boyfriends. Lisa, her other sister Emma, and Noah take time to dismantle her boasting.
- Emma tells Laverne that anyone who has to say how popular they are with men isn't really popular.
- When it comes to her stealing men, Noah thinks it's not impressive because only a low-level man would cheat, meaning that stealing an unfaithful man isn't praiseworthy.
- When Laverne brags about men constantly complimenting her as proof of her popularity, Noah points out that it's because they want to sleep with her and will say anything to flatter her.
- Emma points out that while Laverne is able to steal men, she doesn't have a boyfriend of her own and points out that unlike her and Lisa, Laverne has never had a long-term relationship. When Laverne claims to have multiple boyfriends, Emma points out that she always comes straight home after work and has never been seen dating anyone. When Emma asks Laverne to bring her so-called "boyfriends", Laverne isn't able to call them because she's only had flings and one-night stands.
- She Tried to Humiliate Me With Our Parents -- It Backfired: Kyoko acts like she's better than her family because she lives in the big city while they live in the countryside. When she gets engaged to the wealthy Fuma and quits her job, she still keeps up her attitude. When she's being criticized for her attitude, Noah and Lisa point out that she's bragging about Fuma's wealth and status and not hers.
- "Sister Always Steals My BF! Not This Time...
- Transformers Comic Dub: Political Science: When Shockwave is explaining a scientific topic to the rest of the Decepticons, Starscream tries to butt in and give his opinion, boasting about having graduated from Nova Point Academy of Science as a valedictorian to make his opinion seem credible. Shockwave then asks what he studied at the academy. When Starscream answers political science, Shockwave tells him to get out of his lab because he's clearly not qualified to give his opinion.
- Trouble Busters: In "Wife dumps me after I help her lose a lot of weight, so I help her rebound before dumping her" Riley is a Formerly Fat woman who later regained her weight. She initially inverts this trope after becoming skinny, as when her husband Tom, who she cheated on after becoming skinny, points out he helped her, she acts like she lost her weight all by herself. When she tries to get together with Tom after she got dumped by her affair partner for regaining her weight, she claims that if she lost her weight before she can do it again. Tom plays it straight by reminding her that her previous weight loss was because he worked hard by doing research and hiding and sealing the snacks so she could stick to her diet, and says that someone whose easy on herself like she is could never lose weight by themselves.
- Wolf Song: The Movie: Cobalt celebrates his victory by claiming that everyone calls him The Grim Reaper for this very reason. One of his underlings however says to him “nobody calls you that”. Cue Cobalt yelling at him to shut up about it.
Webcomics
- 8-Bit Theatre: Thief is an elf who considers all non-elves to be a bunch of primitive savages by comparison. In this comic, the other Light Warriors point out how elves aren't really that great aside from starting civilization first, such as having the same technology as everyone else despite getting a 9000 year head start in terms of civilization, the fact that they have an outcast clan, and the fact that said outcast clan would have destroyed elven civilization if it weren't for the intervention of non-elves. Thief forbids them from asking anymore questions with the excuse that answers would baffle their non-elven minds.
Web Original
- "That's not the flex you think it is" and "weird flex but OK" are two oft-seen responses to this kind of online bragging (or in the latter case, interpreting a statement as a brag, usually Inappropriate Pride).
- Not Always Right: In "Hey Mr DJ, Put My Record On", a belligerent patron at a club gets called white trash by someone else and starts yelling that she owns the mall down the street and "works for the state finding people like you places in [local trailer park] because you’re fucking poor!" The second patron is laughing and reveals that the first woman works at the mall and lives in that same trailer park.
Web Videos
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged:
- This happens to Vegeta a lot.
- During his fight with Recoome, Recoome dismisses how Vegeta loves to boast about being the Prince of all Saiyans, his Saiyan heritage, and their legends, saying that it doesn't mean anything to Recoome because the Saiyans are practically extinct.
- In his fight with Frieza, Vegeta brags about being a Super Saiyan, knowing that Frieza was secretly scared of the possibility of one existing. Frieza scoffs at Vegeta's claim by calling the idea of Super Saiyans a stupid legend that Saiyans passed along, and says he doesn't deal in legends, but facts.
- While on Earth, Bulma dismisses his bragging about being the Prince of all Saiyans by calling him the "Prince of all two Saiyans (Goku and Vegeta himself)". Vegeta's only response is "three and a half!", referring to Tarble and Gohan.
- Vegeta pulls one on Gohan while on Namek. After Gohan gets a power boost from Guru, he boasts to Vegeta that he is now as strong as he was back on Earth. Vegeta simply shuts this down by telling him that he's still weaker than Cui, Dodoria, and Zarbon whom he had managed to all kill recently, leaving Gohan to lament.
- When Piccolo takes off his weighted clothing in his fight against Frieza, Frieza asks how much it weighs. Piccolo boasts that it weights 100 kilo, which causes Frieza to snark "that's so cute", as that level of weight is meaningless to someone whose power level is in the millions. Piccolo realizes the problem and lampshades that those weights have basically lost all meaning now.
- This happens to Vegeta a lot.
- Epic Rap Battles of History: Che Guevara boasts about how his face appears on lots of merchandise. Guy Fawkes is quick to point out that buying such merchandise is supporting capitalism, despite Guevara being a communist.
- Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Abridged: When Shirou is captured by Caster and learns that she was the one responsible for the serial murders happening across Fuyuki City for the past several days, he boasts that he'll call up all his strength to destroy her for her crimes. Caster just smiles and replies that she's observed Shirou's capabilities and knows he's too weak to even break the magic threads she has him bound in, much less actually hurt her, and his whole "hero of justice" speech is little more than a child playing pretend.
- New Father Chronicles: In one video, La Guardia cleans up the house for his wife Leah, with their two daughters Amalah and Nayely helping. When he claims that he did it all by himself, Nayely says, "Lie!", and Amalah says, "He's lying!".
- Nostalgia Critic: In the review of The Cat in the Hat (2003), Peter Soulless, who is responsible for making Dr. Seuss film adaptations, boasts that adding mature jokes makes the film more adult, modernizing the dialogue make the film more timeless, and changing the source material improves it. The Critic responds that he has it backwards; adding dirty jokes makes the film more childish, adding modernized dialogue makes the film more dated, and changing the source material shows how they don't respect what's already good.
- The Rap Critic: In "The Top Worst Lyrics of 2012", Rap Critic points out that rappers boasting about paying for strippers isn't impressive because it's their job to strip for money, and it would be more impressive if they bragged about non-strippers or groupies stripping for them.
Western Animation
- Arthur: In the Very Special Episode "April 9th", the school suffers from a fire. Buster was the only one in his class who missed the event, as he'd overslept that day and was late to school. When many students are temporarily transferred over to Mighty Mountain Elementary while their school is repaired, Buster entertains a group of Mighty Mountain students by saying how he saw walls of flames and smoke... only for Arthur to call him out and reveal that Buster wasn't there.
- Ben 10:
- Ben 10 Original Series: In the episode "Grudge Match", Kevin, while fighting Ben boasts that he's "Kevin 11" because he has all the powers of Ben's first ten aliens plus his own. Ben points out that it's not the case because his powers are only a tenth as good as the actual aliens', which he proves by easily breaking one of Kevin's Diamondhead projectiles.
- Ben 10: Omniverse: In "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Ben World", the evil Chronosapien, Maltruant, hires Dr. Psychobos to repair his body. Psychobos bemoans that he’s "the greatest mind in the universe" and being used as tech support is beneath him. Maltruant retorts that Azmuth is the greatest mind in the universe, but Azmuth is too smart to be evil, so Maltruant had to settle for second-best.
- The Boondocks: In "The Garden Party", Robert tells Huey and Riley that black men in his generation were attacked by dogs and fire hoses in the Civil Rights Era. When Huey asks if Robert experienced it for himself, Robert asks why it's important. Huey says it's because an entire generation shouldn't get credit for what some people did, causing Robert to give a Lame Comeback that it's not important if it directly happened to him.
- Donkey Kong Country: In "The Big Chill Out", Bluster Kong boasts that unlike Donkey Kong who has to wait for the Crystal Coconut's prophecy to become leader, he's successful now because of he's a successful businessman. Diddy Kong reminds Bluster that he inherited his business from his mom who actually built it in the first place.
- Family Guy: In "April in Quahog", Peter, after being selected for Jury Duty, brags to his family because he thinks it makes him exceptional. Brian has to explain to him that everyone on the voter registration list can receive jury duty, and that he's had it before.
- Franklin: In "Franklin Fibs", Bear boasts about how high he can climb a tree, but Beaver dismisses him, saying that's easy for a bear. She then shows off how she can chew down a tree and build a dam with it and Rabbit shows off how high he can jump. Beaver asks Franklin what he can do, and he says he can count by twos and tie his shoes, but Rabbit says that they can all count by twos, and Bear points out that Franklin doesn't wear shoes. Franklin says he can eat flies, but Beaver says that eating flies is just gross, not special, so Franklin lies that he can eat 76 of them in "the blink of an eye".
- Gravity Falls: In the episode "Irrational Treasure", Dipper and Mabel (after Pacifica humiliates the latter in front of a crowd) grow sick of the Northwests' arrogant attitude, which they have partially because they're descendants of the town's founder. Upon consulting the Journal, Dipper discovers that the founder, Nathaniel Northwest, may have actually been a fraud. After an investigation that takes them all over town, the twins learn that Northwest was not actually the founder of the town: the real founder was one of America's most embarrassing secrets: the 8 1/2 President, Sir Quentin Trembley the Third, Esq. His term was one of the shortest on record because he was America's silliest president (he declared war on pancakes, appointed a bunch of babies to the Supreme Court, walked around without pants, married a woodpecker, rode horses backwards, believed you could live indefinitely by entombing yourself in peanut brittle, and responded to being impeached by eating a live salamander and jumping out the window). When Dipper reveals to Pacifica the truth at the end, she's devastated and embarrassed.
Dipper: Wow... Revenge is underrated, that felt awesome.
- Hazbin Hotel:
- In "Radio Killed the Video Star", Vox's half of "Stayed Gone" has him spending time disparaging Alastor, calling him an old fossil who's past his prime, while boasting about himself. Alastor's half of the song has him firing back by suggesting that Vox would be nothing without his alliance with the other Vees and reveals that Vox hates him because he's pissed about how Alastor refused an alliance with him.
- In "Weapon of Mass Distraction", Vox has just blasted a giant ray of angelic power at Heaven and is planning to start his takeover of the place. Alastor, despite being his captive, mouths off to him and points out that he's still relying on others to get where he is, and isn't as strong individually as he thinks.
Vox: I was strong enough to beat you, wasn't I?
Alastor: Only with the help of your little friends.
Vox: I captured Lucifer!
Alastor: Using information you got from a borrowed spy.
Vox: I punched a hole in Heaven!
Alastor: With a device invented and developed by Carmilla Carmine. I must say, the way you've been begging for help all around Hell, it's pathetic. You couldn't even get Charlie to admit you bested her.
- Invincible (2021): In "Don't Do Anything Rash", during the Viltrumite War, Mark sees Thragg severely wound his younger brother, Oliver, and goes on the attack. After Thragg insults Oliver, Mark boosts that he'll kill him like he did Conquest. This piques Thragg's interest.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: In "Applebuck Season", Applejack makes a reckless promise to harvest the entirety of Sweet Apple Acres' fields on her own and keeps turning down Twilight's offers to help. When she thinks she's finished the entire thing, she exclaims to Twilight, "How do you like them apples?" Big Mac appears, says, "Uh, how do you like them apples?" and gestures to the fields, revealing that she's only harvested half of the farm's apples. Applejack promptly passes out from a combination of shock and exhaustion. When she comes to, she's finally willing to accept her friends' help.
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- In "Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm", the Alaskan Bull Worm is destroying Bikini Bottom and Sandy bravely heads out to defeat it, despite SpongeBob SquarePants trying to warn her how dangerous it is. She beats it up and ties it in a knot, only for SpongeBob to point out that what she thought was the Alaskan Bull Worm was actually its tongue. Sandy realizes it's way bigger than she thought and decides to run.
- In "No Weenies Allowed", SpongeBob wants to be in a club called the "Salty Spittoon", and Reg the guard asks him how tough he is. SpongeBob comments that he once "only" cried for twenty minutes after stubbing his toe. Reg bluntly says that this isn't tough at all, and SpongeBob is a "weenie" and may not join the club.
- The episode "Plankton's Army" has a case of someone's helpers rebuking them. After Plankton's plan to have his family help him steal the Krabby Patty formula succeeds, he gloats about how he finally succeeded as if he did it himself. All it takes is a single "Ahem" and a Collective Death Glare from his family for him to add, "Of course, with a little help from the family" to the end of his boast.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): In "Pulverizer Returns", Timothy, who's joined the Foot Clan, thinks that his rank of "Ashogaru-sha" makes him some kind of elite badass, mainly because he doesn't speak Japanese and couldn't be bothered the look it up. When he brags about it to the turtles, Donatello explains to him that the Ashogaru-sha were actually Cannon Fodder whose job was to waste the enemies' ammo and traps so the real soldiers would be safe from harm.
- Tomorrow We Diet: Goofy was once a skinny athlete who became extremely overweight, and boasts how how his various sports accomplishments made him an "all-around athlete." His reflection tells him now he's "all-round."
- Totally Spies!: Stacy, the villain of "Evil Roommate", plots to use a machine to drain the intelligence of other people to make herself smarter. At one point she accuses Clover of being jealous of her natural smarts. Clover reminds her smarts are anything but natural due to how she got them.
- Transformers: Prime: After Miko has donned the Apex Armor and is about to fight Starscream, the latter smugly comments once again that he killed Cliffjumper as an intimidation attempt. Miko merely goes "Big whoop. I snuffed Hardshell."