History Main / RashomonStyle

* In the ''Series/{{Hunter}}'' episode "Unfinished Business", Hunter and [=McCall=] visit the department psychologist to hash out the tension between them. It turns out the friction stems from an event several years ago when [=McCall=] returned from a training session. She recalls him as being completely uncaring that she was back, being too preoccupied with his replacement partner to even acknowledge her, while he recalls himself and the other woman as being perfectly polite while she was incredibly rude to them. Unusually, we never see what really happened. [[note]] It is eventually revealed that they slept together before she left for her trip and that she felt that the other woman had replaced her personally and professionally, indicating that Hunter's version may have been closer to the truth. [[/note]]

** In a later episode of ''SVU'', Elliot and Olivia are trying to solve a cold kidnapping case; they note that they have three witness statements describing the car, and all of them disagree on color and body type. Incredibly, this still manages to be helpful to them, as after they identify a potential person of interest, they realize that person did in fact have a car that matched one of the descriptions.

** In a later episode of ''SVU'', Elliot and Olivia are trying to solve a cold kidnapping case; they note that they have three witness statements describing the car, and all of them disagree on color and body type. Incredibly, they still get a lead from that when one of the descriptions matches the car of a possible suspect.

* There is a ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' story by Creator/PeterDavid, called ''Eye Witness'' (''Spectacular Spider-Man'' #121), where Mary Jane, Peter, and J. Jonah Jameson tell the story of a bank robbery where they were present. Mary Jane describes the robber as a menacing thug, Jameson acting bravely, and Spider-Man as a hero. Jameson describes the robber similarly, himself as the hero, and Spider-Man as a coward and a criminal. Peter tells the truth (apart from him being Spider-Man); the robber was an amateur with a BB gun, Jameson acted cowardly, and he (as Spider-Man) didn't have to do much.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' the viewfinder the Gromble uses to view the students' assignments breaks down so the ThreeAmigos tells the class how their scare went at the opera. Ickis recounts the story as a FilmNoir (with him as the hero) while Oblina recounts it by casting herself as an imperturbable superheroine. The Gromble, annoyed by their blatant fabrications, asks the less egotistical Krumm what happened, but he narrates a childish, simplistic set of events that only clearly indicates that Ickis and Oblina spent most of the assignment arguing. Finally the viewfinder is fixed and he forces all three of them on it to determine the true course of events -- [[spoiler:it turns out that the three kept screwing up the basic parts of the plan until they accidentally landed in the middle of the concert floor, at which point they panicked but fortunately so did the humans they landed in front of and soon the entire building was evacuated]]. Needless to say, the Gromble was [[SadistTeacher only too happy]] to punish them for lying.

* The television series ''Series/{{Fame}}'' has an episode involving a student being injured during a stage performance, and the teachers of the School of the Arts questioning different eye-witnesses. Toward the end of the episode, two of the teachers are standing near a movie theater, questioning if they would ever know the truth. [[LampshadeHanging The theater marquee clearly shows]], "Now Playing, ''Rashomon''".

* The history of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is filled to the brim with conflicting accounts of the same events thanks to [[GossipEvolution gossip]] and [[UnreliableNarrator biased historians]].

* ''Series/{{Boomtown}}'' was built entirely around this concept, although it was abandoned shortly before cancellation. The hook was you needed everyone's perspective to know what happened, but once you had that there was no argument over what really happened. ''Boomtown'' would be better described as objectively following various characters in overlapping timelines rather than showing their subjective perspectives on a single event, as in ''Film/{{Rashomon}}''.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' episode "A Hero, a Theif, a Store, and its Owner", a police officer happens upon a crime scene at a jewelry store, where [=WordGirl=], Captain Huggyface, Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy, and Reginald the jewelry store owner are trapped in mounds of condiments from Chuck's condiment gun. When asked what happened, they each give their version of events which led them all being trapped together, each one painting the storyteller in a flattering light while painting the other people involved unfavorably so; Reginald's version gives himself super powers, Chuck's version paints himself as kind and noble, and [=WordGirl=]'s version has Reginald being particularly prissy. [[spoiler:The Narrator, having seen what ''really'' happened, steps in and explains that [=WordGirl=]'s version of events was the most accurate.]]

* Invoked in WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQcnxTWGhwM Trainwreckords video]] on Mardi Gras, the album that [[CreatorKiller killed]] Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival. The members of the band have all given different accounts of what was going on behind the scenes, with front man John Fogerty claiming the other members felt overshadowed and demanded more artistic control, while the other guys insist that it was at Fogerty's request that they took a more active role. Todd specifically compares this discrepancy to ''Rashomon''.

* ''Series/ RuPaulsDragRace '', the challenge of the season 7 episode “Ru Hollywood Story” involves the queens re-enacting how former series judge Merle Ginsburg left the show following its second season, told from the perspective of Merle, her replacement Michelle and of course Ru.

* Invoked in WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQcnxTWGhwM Trainwreckords video]] on Mardi Gras, the album that [[CreatorKiller killed]] Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival. The members of the band have all given different accounts of what was going on behind the scenes, with [[TheFaceOfTheBand frontman]] John Fogerty claiming the other members felt overshadowed and demanded more artistic control, while the other guys insist that it was at Fogerty's request that they took a more active role. Todd specifically compares this discrepancy to ''Rashomon''.

* ''{{Series/Coupling}}'': In one episode Patrick recalls his first meeting with Sally, in which they had a conversation that didn't entirely seem to make sense. Sally's recollection is that Patrick was staggeringly rude to her overweight friend, who didn't even appear in his version; the implication is that he's such a {{Jerkass}} KavorkaMan that the existence of unattractive women doesn't even register. Likewise, Sally's recounting has her and Patrick making out to something from ''Madame Butterfly'', whereas Patrick's account - somewhat more accurate - has them making out to [[spoiler: the Spider-Man theme]].

A Film/{{Rashomon}}-Style story is where the same event is recounted by several characters, and the stories differ in ways that are impossible to reconcile. It shows that two or more people can view the same event quite differently. The author invites the audience to hear them all out and then compare and contrast these divergent points of view. Sometimes the work provides no definitive answer as to what actually happened. Basically, it's a cast full of {{Unreliable Narrator}}s. Other times, the audience might get the definitive true version of the story at the beginning or end of the episode; and usually both sides will be truthful about some things and exaggerate/outright lie about others.

A Rashomon-Style story is where the same event is recounted by several characters, and the stories differ in ways that are impossible to reconcile. It shows that two or more people can view the same event quite differently. The author invites the audience to hear them all out and then compare and contrast these divergent points of view. Sometimes the work provides no definitive answer as to what actually happened. Basically, it's a cast full of {{Unreliable Narrator}}s. Other times, the audience might get the definitive true version of the story at the beginning or end of the episode; and usually both sides will be truthful about some things and exaggerate/outright lie about others.

** One hint that Plague Knight might not be telling the whole truth about what happened lies in his fight against Shovel Knight--who's using relics he could not have had at that point in the course of normal gameplay (but would have had during the rematch, which is where Plague Knight might have remembered them from). WordOfGod is tht Plague Knight is an UnreliableNarrator during the events of ''Plague of Shadows''.

* There is no real "canon" plotline to ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', although [[{{Fanon}} many fans simply assume]] the [[FirstInstallmentWins first]] [[MultipleEndings ending]] must be the "canon" one.
** This is particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight Imperishable Night]]'', where, presumably, nearly the same events have to happen at least twice in a row for the BigBad to be truly defeated (since you have to play one game being diverted first).
** ''[[VideoGame/TouhouHisoutenScarletWeatherRhapsody Scarlet Weather Rhapsody]]'' is built around this, where playing different characters is not mutually exclusive plotlines, but apparently sequential plots that merely repeat similar battles over and over. It is because Tenshi seemingly goes out of her way to repeatedly get defeated in {{No Holds Barred Beatdown}}s that she is often called a [[TooKinkyToTorture masochist]]. The [[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Scarlet_Weather_Rhapsody/Timeline timeline]] for ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'' shows that ''all'' routes, fights and endings happen together. And in the end, ''Tenshi'' beat everyone.

** Homestar... [[CloudCuckoolander forgets what everyone else was talking about]], and talks about spitting Teddy Grahams on the ceiling. (He thought the subject of the email was "Teddy Graham Memories".)

* ABC AfterschoolSpecial: ''Teenage Confidential''; Two parents are concerned about their kid's rebellion. The dad (Sam McMurray) finds incense in the daughter's drawer, and sees himself as the noble, concerned parent who thinks it might indicate marijuana use. The mom (Morgan Fairchild) remembers him as a paranoid lunatic one step short of screeching "Reefer madness!" who took the incense as ironclad proof.

* There are three important factions interested in Haruhi from the beginning in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. Those are the espers, time travelers, and aliens. All of them offer different explanations for what exactly Haruhi is and what she did three years ago, as well as giving different explanations of their origins. The esper ([[spoiler:Itsuki]]) says Haruhi created all three groups, is possibly a god, and remade the world three years ago. The time traveler ([[spoiler:Mikuru]]) says time travelers came to investigate a problem Haruhi caused, that she's just a normal person with an odd ability and that she broke the time plane three years ago rather than remaking the universe. The alien ([[spoiler:Yuki]]) spews a lot of big words that Kyon can't really understand, then later says she's not going to offer any more explanations because Kyon has no way of knowing if she's telling the truth while pointing out all three groups have good reason to lie to him. The implication is that ''all three are partially correct'', but also either withholding information, mistaken or outright lying. It only gets more complicated from there.

* The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' CourtroomEpisode "Judgement" features this with Archer in a Klingon KangarooCourt. The Klingon captain, Duras, claims that Archer formed an alliance with anti-imperial rebels and launched an unprovoked attack on his battlecruiser. Archer, on the other hand, says that the "rebels" had been exploited and abandoned and were starving when he found them and that Duras attacked him when he tried to settle things peacefully. As convincing as Archer sounds, he's still found guilty.

** "Operation P.R.O.M." features the revelation that Dr. Venture's nickname is actually [[ComicSutra a horribly disgusting sex act]]. Despite this, pretty much everybody has a different, lengthy definition of what constitutes a "Rusty Venture", but the descriptions have enough common elements (pretty much all of them involve some variety of scat) that it seems like they could have come from a single source. The creators have suggested that there isn't a "real answer"; the important part is that [[ShowWithinAShow a show about a little boy having adventures]] somehow originated a sex move so gross and so legendary that its details are lost to myth. For their part, the fanbase seems to have decided that Brock's definition ("the name for when [[ADateWithRosiePalms you jerk off so much]], your dick gets all red and sore") sounds like the most fitting for [[CasanovaWannabe Doc.]]