History Main / RashomonStyle

* A rather touching case in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Simon tells about the time they were trapped in a cave-in and says that he was only able to keep digging to get them out because Kamina was there to encourage him and kept his spirits up through the whole incident. Later the audience hears (via Yoko) Kamina's version of the same story, and Kamina says that he was only able to keep his cool because Simon kept digging and this gave ''him'' the courage he needed.

** And another episode has Marshall on the phone the entire time with different characters, learning how recent events transpired. Every scene is covered multiple times from different perspectives. At the end, he sets up a storyboard so he can go over everything with his mother and brother who, at different times, had been listening in.

** The time when James saved Snape's life crop up several times, from a few perspectives. In the first book, Dumbledore mentions to Harry in passing that James saved Snape's life and Snape never forgave him for it because it meant he had to repay the debt before he could go back to "hating [Harry's father's] memory in peace". In the third book, when Harry calls out Snape for not being grateful to his father for saving him, Snape replies that James was only saving his own skin because the cause of near death was a prank James was playing and, had it been successful, he would have been expelled. At the end of the third book, Lupin explains that Sirius convinced Snape to enter the Shrieking Shack while Lupin was transforming into a werewolf inside it. Snape only suspected the werewolf bit and James kept him from going all the way in. However, because Sirius and James frequently teamed up to bully him, Snape could never be convinced that James wasn't in on it this time, instead believing that James ''had'' been in on it but changed his mind at the last second.

* ''Series/RadioEnfer'': Budding journalist Vincent tries to figure out who stole a prize envelop during a gala. High-strung Camille, who was in charge of the whole night, sees everyone as moving in slow motion, while Maria's version is similar to a soap opera (complete with love and betrayal). [[BigEater Jean-Lou]]'s version (which nearly broke Vincent) was a children's TV show and focused on a cake instead of the prize.
** Also happens in its English-Canadian adaptation, ''Series/RadioActive'': One student tries to find out what happened to cause a CD to get damaged, and so asks the other students. Each one had a different report on what happened in the room, how everyone acted, and what happened to the CD (one student claims he caught it in his teeth after another threw it at him). The only constant in any of them is one of the students reading a comic book wearing a hat (which changes depending on who's telling it). That student's retelling consists entirely of a shot of a comic book while the voices of the other cast members can be heard babbling incoherently in the background.

* A subtle example in ''Film/PulpFiction,'' at the beginning of the film when Ringo and Yolanda rob the restaurant, Yolanda threatens to kill "every motherfucking last one of [them]." When said scene repeats at the end, it is told from Jules' point of view, and Yolanda's line is changed to "Every one of you motherfuckers," specifically to emphasize the change in perspective.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'':
** This game uses a {{downplayed|Trope}} version. It has [[AnotherSideAnotherStory six different main storylines which intersect every so often]], and at every intersection point, the dialogue is slightly different between the versions used in each character's story. In some cases, this reflects the point of view of the characters: for example, Dr. Eggman is a [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying]] LargeHam in [[StockShonenHero Sonic]]'s story, but in [[KidSidekick Tails]]'s story, he's significantly more threatening and subdued.
** Usually, the events and outcomes remain the same, but sometimes they'll play out slightly differently to reflect the character you're playing as. A good example is the battle against E-102 Gamma. In Sonic and Tails's storylines, the character you're playing as is about to beat Gamma, but Amy steps in to stop him. In Gamma's storyline, Gamma is about to beat Sonic, but Amy stops ''him'' instead. Amy's storyline goes with Sonic's interpretation of events, but with Gamma still holding ground beforehand.

* Played with in ''Series/DoctorWho'' stories featuring Omega, who blew up a star and gave the Time Lords the power source for time travel but was lost in the explosion. In the "Official" version Omega was lost accidentally. However other versions imply Rassilon, the founder of Time Lord society, was responsible. In AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio drama "Omega", it is claimed by Omega and others that Omega's assistant Vandekirian was responsible for the sabotage but unclear whether or not he was working for Rassilon. Omega himself is unsure of this. Another story is Omega claiming he murdered the Citellians due to his experiments. [[spoiler:The 5th Doctor reveals he accidentally murdered the entire Citellian race and due to Omega using his bio-data he attributes this to himself.]]

** In one episode, Ted is dating a woman who he introduces to his friends. At first we see it from Ted's point of view - Said woman says a sentence, then one of his friends seems to interrupt her with a thinly veiled 'Shut up!'. Then, the other characters reveal that she talks a lot (something an enamoured Ted hadn't noticed), and we cut back to her talking and talking and talking...
** The St Patrick's Day episode had a subtler version: we see Ted go out with Barney and have a fun, carefree night, but the following day Marshall calls him out and shows that Ted spent the entire night acting like a selfish jackass.

* The ''[[VisualNovel Sound Novel]]'' games ''[[http://www.giantbomb.com/machi/3030-17132/ Machi]]'' (1998) and ''VisualNovel/FourTwoEightShibuyaScramble'' (2008) do something similar, but with larger casts of characters.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E21LivingWitness Living Witness]]", we see an alien race's holographic simulation of their contact with ''Voyager'' seven hundred years ago. A combination of cultural bias and [[FutureImperfect historical distortion]] results in [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade the crew being portrayed as violent, immoral thugs responsible for slaughtering innocents, including a heroic leader]]. When they find and reactivate a backup module for The Doctor's program, he is able to add a new perspective and set parts of the story straight. Even his account doesn't answer all of their questions, though. He knows that the crew wasn't a bunch of mass-murdering thugs, and that the leaders of the two species weren't as [[BlackAndWhiteMorality black and white]] as history claims, but ''Voyager'' wasn't involved enough to understand the nuances of conflict or pass judgment on those involved.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS4E21LivingWitness Living Witness]]", we see an alien race's holographic simulation of their contact with ''Voyager'' seven hundred years ago. A combination of cultural bias and [[FutureImperfect historical distortion]] results in [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade the crew being portrayed as violent, immoral thugs responsible for slaughtering innocents, including a heroic leader]]. It falls to a copy of the Doctor to set things straight.

* ''WebVideo/JackRackam'''s Halloween special on Elizabeth Bathory is done in this style, and takes place in a court room with Elizabeth on trial for her alleged crimes. The story is first recounted by the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, who characterises Elizabeth as a sadistic, bloodthirsty witch who intentionally lured virgin women to their dooms at her castle and bathed in their blood to restore her youth. Elizabeth then takes the stand in her own defense, presenting herself as a good and noble woman who was a victim of unfortunate circumstance and slander and tried desperately to provide for her family and servants in the wake of her husband's death. Finally, the story is retold from the perspective of Elizabeth's friend George Thurzo, who is tormented by the circumstances of the crimes, his decision to send four of Elizabeth's servants to the fire to protect his friend's reputation, and Elizabeth's suspicious refusal to deny the rumours about her.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 11, the transport the protagonists are riding in mysteriously crash lands on a remote planet, and one of the subplots is figuring out what exactly happened. In a series of flashbacks, it shows that ''all'' of the protagonists had done something that could have possibly crashed the ship, from distracting the pilot to accidentally shutting down the engines. This throws up the question of which one of them caused the crash, or if it was all of their combined efforts that did it. Finally, it's revealed later that an alien tractor beam forcibly pulled the ship to the planet.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' used this one in "The Bare Facts", where the three girls tell The Mayor their versions of what happened while he was blindfolded and kidnapped by Mojo Jojo. Blossom tells a version that focuses entirely on her with a pink tint over everything, Bubbles tells a cutesy version depicted with crayon drawings, and Buttercup tells an action-packed ''film noir'' version. None of their versions explain [[spoiler:that [[TomatoSurprise The Mayor is naked]] because Mojo stole his clothes when he kidnapped him]].

A SubTrope of both SeparateSceneStorytelling and UnreliableNarrator. See also: POVSequel, SelfServingMemory, SimultaneousArcs, PerspectiveFlip, and RevengeViaStorytelling.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE7POV P.O.V.]]" While the actual events play out "straight" for the audience, each of the three officers narrating the events gives a different take. Bullock's account is filtered heavily through SelfServingMemory, as he tries to paint himself as the competent hero and Batman as the one who screwed everything up (we know who really messed up). Wilkes, [[NaiveNewcomer the rookie cop]], is being honest in his account, but due to a combination of never having encountered Batman before and not getting a very good look at the events, he misunderstood quite a bit of what happened, resulting in him describing Batman as a supernatural being rather than a costumed crimefighter. Montoya more or less tells what really happened, but she also mistakenly believes Batman was killed in the fire.

** Also happens in its English-Canadian adaptation ''Series/RadioActive'': One student tries to find out what happened to cause a CD to get damaged, and so asks the other students. Each one had a different report on what happened in the room, how everyone acted, and what happened to the CD (one student claims he caught it in his teeth after another threw it at him). The only constant in any of them is one of the students reading a comic book wearing a hat (which changes depending on who's telling it). That student's retelling consists entirely of a shot of a comic book while the voices of the other cast members can be heard babbling incoherently in the background.

* The YTV program ''Series/RadioActive'' does this in one episode -- one student tries to find out what happened to cause a CD to get damaged, and so asks the other students. Each one had a different report on what happened in the room, how everyone acted, and what happened to the CD (one student claims he caught it in his teeth after another threw it at him). The only constant in any of them is one of the students reading a comic book wearing a hat (which changes depending on who's telling it). That student's retelling consists entirely of a shot of a comic book while the voices of the other cast members can be heard babbling incoherently in the background.
** Also happened in Radio Active's French Canadian precursor, Radio Enfer (Hell Radio). Budding journalist Vincent tries to figure out who stole a prize envelop during a gala. High-strung Camille who was in charge of the whole night sees everyone as moving in slow motion, while Maria's version is similar to a soap opera (complete with love and betrayal). Jean-Lou's version (which nearly broke Vincent) was a children's TV show and focused on a cake instead of the prize.

** In Suzy's story, she's busy having a tea party with her dolls when Johnny tries to flirt with a hot girl, who rebuffs him. Johnny, in a huff, decides to hold his breath at the bottom of the lake until the girl agrees to date him, only to emerge shortly later, covered in pond scum and gasping for air. Carl sends his toy [[=RC=]] robot Sparkly to help, which results in Johnny tripping into a tree and disturbing a beehive. A unicorn appears to try and save Suzy, when Johnny comes to try and steal its horn to sell on the black market, only to get trampled for his trouble.

** Judging from all three stories, what presumably happened was [[spoiler: Johnny tried flirting with a hot girl as always, then going into the lake for some reason (Suzy and Johnny's stories say that he went in on purpose). After emerging from the lake covered in pond scum, Carl mistook him for a lake monster and sends Sparkly to attack him. Their conflict setting off a beehive, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and seeing how even Johnny's story includes it,]] [[RuleOfFunny he ends up getting trampled by a hoofed animal]].]] At the end, [[spoiler: the unicorn and toy!Sparkly make an appearance, implying that Suzy's story was the closest.]]

** In season 3 episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E20JoseChungsFromOuterSpace Jose Chung's ''From Outer Space'']]", a famous author attempts to find out the truth behind an alien abduction by interviewing the abductees, witnesses, and FBI agents on the scene. Notable in that the story somehow gets ''[[MindScrew more confusing]]'' with each successive version of the story, and every detail added not only fails to clarify anything but ''actually manages to make things even less clear'', and by the end of it all that's been established is that absolutely nobody involved has even the faintest idea what actually happened, up to and including the audience... [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and it's beautiful]].

** In season 3 episode "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E20JoseChungsFromOuterSpace Jose Chung's From Outer Space]]", a famous author attempts to find out the truth behind an alien abduction by interviewing the abductees, witnesses, and FBI agents on the scene. Notable in that the story somehow gets ''[[MindScrew more confusing]]'' with each successive version of the story, and every detail added not only fails to clarify anything but ''actually manages to make things even less clear'', and by the end of it all that's been established is that absolutely nobody involved has even the faintest idea what actually happened, up to and including the audience... [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and it's beautiful]].