History AttentionWhore / Literature

** During ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' Harry's father James Potter has been revealed to have been this in his school years. This was exactly the reason why he allowed Peter Pettigrew to be his "friend" as Pettigrew admired James to the point of worshiping the ground he walked on.

** Downplayed for Angela herself, who doesn’t fight for attention that much, but likes being the center of attention and the idea of being famous appeals to her.

* The titular murder victim at center of James Ellroy's ''Film/TheBlackDahlia'' is characterized as the epitome of this trope (and pays the price for it).

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' played with this in the book ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', where two performers at the opera were competing for attention in the middle of a crisis. One is a major side character, who's looking to replace the other, older performer. At the first sign of trouble, she emits a little sigh, does that movie-swoon that ensures a pain free landing. Upon revival, she looks around baffled and asks, "Where am I?". The other also fainted, but because everyone was paying attention to the other singer was forced to revive herself and faint again several times before eventually resorting to hysterics.

* Marona from ''Literature/EarthsChildren'' loves to be the center of attention, including wearing provocative clothing, stirring up trouble and hanging around with high-ranking men; she also revels in being considered 'the Beauty of the Bunch'. She gets very irritated and jealous when she feels the equally beautiful Ayla and Joplaya are upstaging her, especially seeing as the former is marrying her ex.

** Draco Malfoy shows tendencies for this as well. He doesn't care so much about coming up on top as much as merely receiving attention, even if it's at the risk of losing, getting beat up or humiliated.

** The Ministry of Magic also forces the newspapers to portray Harry and Dumbledore as this after the events of ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]''. The reason behind this, is because the Minister refuses to believe Voldemort is back and by portraying Harry and Dumbledore as attention seeking troublemakers, he removed all of their credibility.

* Misty Carpenter from ''Literature/TheIdentityMatrix'' is a ''literal'' attention whore: She's a prostitute who becomes a stripper to get more attention, better tips and an upgrade in her johns. She was programmed to be this way by a GovernmentConspiracy, who "thoughtfully" threw in nymphomania as well on the theory that [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization it's not really a punishment if she enjoys it.]]
* ''Literature/TheIdiot'': Ippolit Terentyev seems to be constantly seeking attention. Other characters think his main motivation is bitterness over the fact that other people can be happy while he's dying of tuberculosis. At one point, he interrupts a party in order to read aloud a letter he wrote--which turns out to be a suicide note. Upon finishing, he grabs a gun, points it as his head, and pulls the trigger. The gun doesn't fire and Ippolit is unhurt, which just leads more people to assume that he deliberately loaded the gun incorrectly, and that the entire incident was just a cry for attention.

* Alexandria of ''Literature/MagicForLiars'' demands the focus of every room she walks into by appearance-enhancing spells, AlphaBitch behavior, and unchecked aggression with theoretical magic.
* Mary from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', though she has more of an excuse. She's the least beautiful of the sisters, tries to be "accomplished" to make up for it, and thus never passes up an opportunity to show of her "accomplishments."

* The culture of the city that's the focus of ''[[Literature/{{Uglies}} Extras]]'' emphasizes this. Resource allocation is based on reputation, so being a non-famous person, or "Extra", means that one can't requisition much more than necessities. Doing community service or actual jobs will get you "merits", which can also be used for requesitioning, but unlike reputation, merits can be used up.

-->"If you want to do this, Nico, I'm behind you, but only if you really want to. Don't let Eli make this about him."

* ''Literature/TheTravelersGate'': Deep down, all Alin really wants is attention and adoration. All his [[LargeHam bombastic speeches]] and heroic actions are based more on ''looking'' like a hero than actually being one. Everything gets worse when it turns out that he really is TheChosenOne of prophecy, but for the most part he's able to keep himself under control. Turns out that thinking "what would a real hero do in this situation?" leads to someone being actually heroic most of the time. Simon, Leah, and his sisters are the only ones who can see through his act, and none of them are shy about telling him so. It's probably no coincidence that these are the people that Alin feels he is closest to.
* ''Literature/AWillEternal'': Bai Xiaochun practices epic poses, talks to people just to hear them calling him by his title (to the point that mamy start to actively avoid him), and takes even the slightiest opportunities he sees to make people compliment him.

* ''LightNovel/BleachCantFearYourOwnWorld'': A lot of [[BigBad Tokinada]]'s actions don't really have any purpose beyond ensuring the spotlight is on him, such as asking for a special edition of the Seireitei Bulletin exclusively about his ascension to head of his clan. He does that half because of this trope, and half to [[{{Troll}} piss people off]].

* ''Literature/AWillEternal'': Bai Xiaochun practices epic poses, talks to people just to hear them calling him by his title (to the point that mamy start to actively avoid him), and takes even the slightiest opportunities he sees to make people compliment him.
* Literature/{{Discworld}} played with this in the book ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'', where two performers at the opera were competing for attention in the middle of a crisis. One is a major side character, who's looking to replace the other, older performer. At the first sign of trouble, she emits a little sigh, does that movie-swoon that ensures a pain free landing. Upon revival, she looks around baffled and asks, "Where am I?". The other also fainted, but because everyone was paying attention to the other singer was forced to revive herself and faint again several times before eventually resorting to hysterics.

* Carmelita Spats from ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. As well as Esmé Squalor and to some extent, Count Olaf. Naturally, Carmelita is adopted by Esme and Count Olaf in book eleven and thought of as "the daughter she never had".

* Joyce Reynolds from the Literature/HerculePoirot novel ''Hallowe'en Party.''
* Lydia from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''.
** Mary as well, though she has more of an excuse. She's the least beautiful of the sisters, tries to be "accomplished" to make up for it, and thus never passes up an opportunity to show of her "accomplishments."
* ''Literature/TheIdiot'': Ippolit Terentyev seems to be constantly seeking attention. Other characters think his main motivation is bitterness over the fact that other people can be happy while he's dying of tuberculosis. At one point, he interrupts a party in order to read aloud a letter he wrote--which turns out to be a suicide note. Upon finishing, he grabs a gun, points it as his head, and pulls the trigger. The gun doesn't fire and Ippolit is unhurt, which just leads more people to assume that he deliberately loaded the gun incorrectly, and that the entire incident was just a cry for attention.

* In Creator/PGWodehouse's ''[[Literature/{{Psmith}} Mike and Psmith]]'', Psmith makes a false confession to save his friend Mike, who is under suspicion. When it's proved that neither of them did it, one of the housemasters asks Psmith why he confessed, and Psmith claims that he was out for "notoriety." The housemaster proceeds to grill Psmith on whether [[ItRunsInTheFamily this is a problem for anyone else in his family]].
* The culture of the city that's the focus of ''[[Literature/{{Uglies}} Extras]]'' emphasizes this. Resource allocation is based on reputation, so being a non-famous person, or "Extra", means that one can't requisition much more than necessities. Doing community service or actual jobs will get you "merits", which can also be used for requesitioning, but unlike reputation, merits can be used up.

* In ''Literature/TheHitchHikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Hard Drinking Party Frood]] Zaphod Beeblebrox managed to become President of the Galaxy because of how extreme and outrageous his constant attention-seeking is, a position that involves almost no actual politics (although he is [[spoiler: eventually revealed to have been the one to have ordered the destruction of the Earth]]) and a great deal of GargleBlaster-drinking and socialising, and serves only to distract the population of the Galaxy from asking who really is in charge. He reveals some HiddenDepths, though, not least a NeuroVault.

* Old Shapoklyak from ''Literature/{{Cheburashka}}'' has only one goal - becoming famous. Unfortunately she also holds the belief that the easiest way of becoming famous [[CardCarryingVillain is being a massive douche to everybody to become infamous]].
* The Red Knight of ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'' has an almost compulsive need for adoration, and feels anxious when he's not the smartest and most important person in the room, to the point of almost endangering a vital mission because he was unwilling to let a more skilled warrior take the central stage.

* Renly Baratheon in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. He has loved being in the spotlight since he was a child, and one of the reasons he wants to be king is because being the king means people will have to pay attention to him.
* In ''Literature/CaptainFreedom'', the titular superhero will do almost anything to remain the center of attention, sometimes even resorting to outright supervillainy.
* Felix Harrowgate from ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'' is an odd case - he flaunts his beauty shamelessly and wears the most outlandish outfits possible, sometimes even deliberately sporting hideous things just to grab attention, but he gets painfully embarrassed when praised for his actual achievements. When he saves a train full of people from an evil automaton and the other passengers try to shower him with thanks, he goes and hides in his cabin with [[DontLookAtMe his face buried in his hands]] and refuses to speak to anyone.
** According to Mehitabel, her [[ThePrimaDonna rival actress]] Susan Dravanya is a particularly vapid version of this. Clara Hume, who is always fainting dramatically and causing ridiculous public disturbances appears to be this too.
* ''Literature/SavingMax'': [[spoiler:Marianne, who has MunchausenSyndrome by proxy, relishes the sympathetic looks she gets at her family members' funerals.]]
* Alexandria of ''Literature/MagicForLiars'' demands the focus of every room she walks into by appearance-enhancing spells, AlphaBitch behavior, and unchecked aggression with theoretical magic.
* ''Literature/DungeonCrawlerCarl'': Donut, being a prize-winning show cat, is ''far'' too addicted to the idea of being adored by legions of fans.
* ''Literature/BewareOfChicken'': The Lord Magistrate of Verdant Hill is practically addicted to getting praise from his subjects. Fortunately for all concerned, he's also smart enough to have realized that the most reliable way of ensuring that his subjects are constantly praising him is to administer true justice, sponsor public works, keep his hands off of the beautiful maidens, and generally do a spectacularly good job as their Lord Magistrate.