History Main / BigEgoHiddenDepths

* Several episodes of the US version of ''TheOffice'' have been dedicated to the fact that Michael Scott is really a sympathetic, nice guy.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient; the realization makes him contemplate what his life could have been and feel like he hasn't deserved anything he got since he started med school. Putting distance between himself and anything that reminds him of his old life is his way of avoiding this realization.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient; the realization makes him contemplate what his life could have been and feel like he hasn't deserved anything he got since he started med school. Putting distance between himself and anything that reminds him of his old life keeps him from dwelling on this.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient; the realization makes him feel like he hasn't deserved anything he got since starting med school. Putting distance between himself and anything that reminds him of his old life keeps him from dwelling on this.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient. The lack of contrast between himself and the patient makes him feel like he didn't deserve anything he got since he started medical school, pushing him to overcompensate in everything he's done professionally since then and ignore any reminders of what his life could have been.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient and wants to push that fact out of mind as much as possible, since the lack of difference makes him feel like he doesn't deserve the fellowship with House.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", it's revealed that he acts like a jackass towards the poor or homeless because he knows he's NotSoDifferent from the patient and wants to push that fact out of mind as much as possible.

* Foreman on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. In "House Training", we learn that he acts like a jackass towards anyone who reminds him of his poor, urban upbringing because he knows how little distance there really is between him and the patient, and in "Lockdown" we learn that he doesn't feel like he deserved to attend Hopkins or get the fellowship with House.

* The title character on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. "Son of a Coma Guy" reveals that he got into medicine because being right was all that mattered, even if his boss or employees couldn't stand him. Any scene with Wilson post-"Body and Soul" also qualifies.

* The title character on ''Series/{{House}}'' has moments of this. "Son of a Coma Guy" reveals that he got into medicine because being right was all that mattered, even if his boss or employees couldn't stand him. Anything with Wilson post-"Body and Soul" qualifies.

* Charles on {{Series/Mash}} is usually the character that gets this treatment. Examples range from secretly giving candy to the orphanage on Christmas to sitting up with Hawkeye when his father is undergoing surgery back in the states to having an emotional meltdown when the Chinese POWs he was teaching Mozart to got killed.
** Although eventually plagued with Flanderization by the last few years of his run, Frank Burns (Charles' precedent) could occasionally undergo this. It's revealed that it took the man twice as long to pass medical school as most people, that he mainly became a doctor to satisfy his mother, and that he became a snitch because "it was the only way for people to notice me". In fact, even in the end, his reaction to Margaret's engagement shows the audience that he really feels hurt by the loss of her.

* A few fan animations starring Cirno from ''{{Touhou}}''. Chiruno Chiruno Chiruno...

The character with a SmallNameBigEgo is the focus of the episode, and in the end his pretensions and facades are broken down to reveal a ''usually'' insecure and hurt individual -- or in some cases, [[JerkassFacade a truly caring person who hides behind his behaviour]] because he is unable to express love/affection.

* This happened every once in a while with Alex on ''FamilyTies''.

* Whenever the Ferengi are featured in an episode of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. Usually, Quark is the SmallNameBigEgo of the episode.
* In ''{{Scrubs}}'', Dr. Kelso's "His Story" episode was used as an opportunity to explore some of the softer sides of the character, ending with his character deciding that he was meant to be hated, and was satisfied with his place in the world.

* Ted Baxter on ''The MaryTylerMoore Show''. Also a [[RenamedTropes former]] TropeNamer. (TedBaxterCloseUp)

* It is thought that superiority complexes often stem from inferiority complexes.

The character with a SmallNameBigEgo is the focus of the episode, and in the end his pretensions and facades are broken down to reveal a ''usually'' insecure and hurt individual -- or in some cases, a truly caring person who hides behind his behaviour because he is unable to express love/affection.

* Comics example: Behind his gruff, skinflint exterior, Marvel has established that J. Jonah Jameson's hatred of ''{{Spiderman}}'' stems from the fact that deep down, he knows Spidey '''is''' a selfless hero, and the fact that he can't compare makes him jealous.
** Notably, this Close Up first happened towards the end of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #1. I.e., he got his BigEgoHiddenDepths ''in the issue he was introduced.''
*** In the recent storyline ''SpiderIsland'', JJ (like most of New York) temporarily gained spider-powers; he used them to help Spidey out in one fight, and at the end of the storyline he lights the windows of the Empire State Building in red and blue as a grudging "thank you".
** In one of his animated appearances, he argued that if Spiderman was ''really'' a hero, he wouldn't need to hide his face with a mask - and backed this up by going out on the streets himself to track down a story.

** Lampshaded in the "Real Families" episode, where Herb signs his family up for the titular {{Show Within A Show}}, and completely fails to make them look good.

* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "In-a-Gadda-da-Leela" seems to be this for Zapp, when he's shown to be kind and caring towards Leela (in his own inept way) when she's stuck under a log and it appears that they're the last two humans alive. [[spoiler:Subverted near the end, when every last good thing he's done in the episode is peeled back to be part of a charade to get back into her pants, even going as far as to show that he trapped her under the log and also managed to make an elaborate hoax of Earth's destruction.]]

* It is thought that superiority complexes often stem from inferiority complexes.

* In ''XiaolinShowdown'', three of the four main characters undergo this trope: Omi, the truest SmallNameBigEgo of the show; Raimundo, the BrilliantButLazy JerkWithAHeartOfGold; and Kimiko, the {{Tsundere}} with the HairTriggerTemper.