History Main / PhonyVeteran

* {{Subverted}} by the Soldier in ''Team Fortress 2''. On the one hand, contrary to his claims, he has never served a day in any regular army, and all those medals on his chest were actually self-awarded; on the other, he ''did'' (if he must say so himself) earn the aforementioned medals by flying himself out to war zones and fighting on his own initiative, and it is hard to argue with his prowess...

* In ''DadsArmy'', Captain Mainwaring sometimes goes on about his service in the Great War, although he actually served in 1919 after the war had ended. It's especially ironic as he leads a platoon full of genuine veterans, including a Military Medal winner.

* Captain Peacock of ''AreYouBeingServed?'' claims to have fought Rommel in WorldWarII and (of course) to have been a captain (in the Army, of course); however, he later admits he served in the Royal Army Service Corps--the logistics department.

Somewhat similar to the FakeUltimateHero, although differing in not being a public figure, the PhonyVeteran is a character who either lies about any military service or greatly exaggerates their rank. Often, they will at best act as a ColonelMakepeace type, but are liable to being more of TheNiedermeyer or a DrillSergeantNasty, ordering others around based upon their (fake) expertise and credentials. It's worth noting, that in the United States at least, laws have started to be passed making this behavior illegal.

--->'''Fowler''': 644 Squadron, Poultry Division - we were the mascots.\\

* [[FawltyTowers Basil Fawlty]], of all people, was apparently in Korea: when he threatens a guest with "I've killed men!" his wife adds "he was in the Catering Corps. He poisoned them."

* Basil Fawlty of ''FawltyTowers'', of all people, was apparently in Korea: when he threatens a guest with "I've killed men!" his wife adds "he was in the Catering Corps. He poisoned them."

* Movie critic Stephen Hunter has speculated that Travis Bickle lied about being a Viet Nam veteran in ''Taxi Driver''. Which [[UnreliableNarrator wouldn't be out of character]] for Bickle.

* The police chief in ''{{Kirby of the Stars}}'' spent one episode bragging about how he served in the army, but it's later revealed that he was talking about his ''brother'''s former career to try and get some respect. When PoliceAreUseless you can hardly blame him.

* In the ComicBook/{{Superman}} comics, Robert [=DuBois=] has a mental breakdown and becomes obsessed with the Vietnam War, after learning that his brother, Michael aka "Micky" had gone to fight in his place and became a quadruple amputee. Robert starts claiming that he actually fought in the war alongside his brother. Lex Luthor equips him as the supervillain Bloodsport and sends him up against ComicBook/{{Superman}}.
* In ''{{Vigilante}}'', Dave Winston (a.k.a. the Vigilante) was horrified when he ran across a man nicknamed 'Sarge' who fantasised about the Vietnam War (the same war Dave had served in) and falsely claimed to have served.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* Although he was generally being economical with the truth rather than outright lying, Fowler falls into this in ''ChickenRun'', leading the chickens to believe he was some sort of ace bomber pilot in WWII.
** Fowler from ''Chicken Run'' says he belonged to a Royal Air Force squadron. While he was indeed part of a ''human'' squadron, it isn't at all like the other chickens think, so when Ginger tells him to go pilot the airplane they built ...
--->'''Fowler''': 644 Squadron, Poultry Division - we were the mascots.\\
'''Ginger''': You mean you never actually *flew* the plane?\\
'''Fowler''': Good heavens, no! I'm a chicken! The Royal Air Force doesn't let chickens behind the controls of a complex aircraft.

* While he actually did serve in WorldWarOne, [[TheHumphrey Grimes]] in EvelynWaugh's novel ''Decline and Fall'' serves as an example. He is missing a leg, and while he received the injury after the war from being hit by a car, his pupils (he's a schoolmaster) assume that this was a war injury, a notion which he does nothing to disabuse them.

* In ''DadsArmy'', Captain Mainwaring would sometimes go on about his service in the Great War, although he actually served in 1919 after the war had ended. Especially ironic as he led a platoon full of genuine veterans, including a Military Medal winner.

* An episode of ''{{House}}'' (the episode after House has gone back to working at Princeton Plainsboro, after recovering from [[spoiler: going insane and then realizing that only diagnostics gives him the constant thrill he needs to keep the pain down, now that Vicodin is no longer an option]]) featured a very cranky man with one arm, living in the apartment below Wilson's. Allegedly he served in Vietnam, which is where he lost the arm. Subverted in that he actually did serve - just not in Vietnam. And not in the U.S. Army; he's actually [[spoiler: a Canadian citizen]] who lost the arm during [[spoiler: a peace-keeping mission, while trying to save a kid from a landmine in a country ''near'' Vietnam.]] He's irritable for much the same reasons House is: he's in constant pain, due to phantom limb pain; House [[spoiler: fixes this]] and the guy ''breaks down crying with relief'' because [[spoiler: for the first time in over thirty years, he isn't in agony.]] It's never made clear whether he stopped claiming he was in Nam - it's implied, when he's telling House what really happened to his arm, that he just finds it easier to let people think it was Nam rather than deal with the questions that the truth would spur.

-->'''Man''': Did he?
-->'''Eddie''': Oh yeah, he tripped over the coffee table trying to switch channels.

-->'''Eddie''': Ah, yes by 'war' I assume you mean Operation Desert Storm, by 'Burma', the Star of Burma kebab and peep show on the Uxbridge road in which you spent the entire conflict, and by 'desperate rearguard action' I take it you are referring to the time you accidentally went into the same cubicle as Mad Quentin Trousers-Down Pervy O'Blimey.
-->'''Richie''': I was doing my bit Eddie. I was doing my bit.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* RonaldReagan on two separate occasions stated that he himself had assisted personally at the liberation of the Nazi death camps. In reality, he never left the United States during WorldWarII, spending most of his time making training films.
* U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut on multiple occasions has claimed to have served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to Vietnam.
* Legendary gangster Al Capone liked to claim that he received his facial scars while serving in World War I. In reality, they were knife wounds from adolescent gang brawls.

* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'', Homer claims to be a Vietnam vet in order to get free admittance to the State Fair.

*** Grampa tells a lot of stories about WWII -- like the time he posed as a burlesque singer in Munich and accidentally drew Hitler's eye -- but one episode shows that one of his ramblings, that he was the leader of a platoon which included the fathers of several Springfield regulars as well as Mr. Burns himself, is in fact 100% true.
* [[LifeWithLouie Andy Anderson]] ''defines'' this trope -- he has over hundred of stories about his heroic acts during World War Two. When Louie actually writes them all down for a school project, other kids quickly points out how some of them are impossible, require him to be in two different countries at the same time, or be much older than he really is (he even had a story happening during the war in Spain, for heaven's sake!). In fact, [[spoiler: all of them are true, but have been done by other veterans and Andy appropriated them, because he was ashamed of his own act of heroism.]]
* Subverted with [[KingOfTheHill Cotton Hill]], who was eventually called on the fact that his stories place him in the European and Pacific theaters at the same time. It turns out that the European part was fake, but the Pacific part may well be true - it's kind of hard to argue with a man who doesn't have ''shins'' anymore.
** And, [[MemeticMutation he killed fitty men.]]

* Movie critic Stephen Hunter has speculated that Travis Bickle lied about being a Viet Nam veteran in ''Taxi Driver''. Which wouldn't be out of character for Bickle.

* Thenardier of ''LesMiserables'' spent the Napoleonic Wars robbing corpses but boasts about his war heroism, had an inn with a patriotic title, and at least in TheMusical, is introduced dressed as a Napoleonic soldier.

* Principal Longfellow from ''BetterDays'' claimed to be a Vietnam veteran who served with Sheila's husband Jim, who died there. In fact, he only briefly served in a supply unit. when his lie is exposed, he [[AttemptedRape attempts to rape her.]] [[spoiler: Later it turns out Jim wasn't in Vietnam either, for different reasons.]]

* The police chief in the ''{{Kirby}}'' anime spent one episode bragging about how he served in the army, but it's later revealed that he was talking about his ''brother'''s former career to try and get some respect. When PoliceAreUseless you can hardly blame him.

Somewhat similar to the FakeUltimateHero, although differing in not being a public figure, the PhonyVeteran is a character who either lies about any military service or greatly exaggerates their rank. Often, they will at best act as a ColonelMakepeace type, but are liable to being more of TheNiedermeyer or a DrillSergeantNasty, ordering others around based upon their (fake) expertise and credentials. It's worth noting, that in the United States at least, laws have started to be passed making this behavior illegal.

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