History Main / TheBarnum

* Vincent Kennedy [=McMahon=] has been called the modern day PT Barnum, yet this probably applies better to all the wrestling promoters who preceded him for building the Kayfabe wall that he essentially tore down. Depending on who you talk to, the biggest wrestling fans always suspected that the game was staged and just didn't care, giving the promoters no reason to stop their charade of claiming it was completely authentic competition. Conversely, said "smart" fans despise Mcmahon for tearing down the wall and turning wrestling into "sports entertainment" - though in many cases the disdain comes from making WWE more about the theatrics than the in-ring action.

* Great Uncle Stan Pines from ''GravityFalls'', owner of the Myster Shack, museum for countless oddities- all fake. One of his 'attractions' is the Bag of Mystery, which causes any money put in to mysteriously vanish. He claims that all of the myths surrounding the town are just cooked up by guys like him to shill clueless tourists. [[spoiler: though considering he has a secret chamber behind the vending machine, there's a chance there really ''is'' a mystery about the shack...]]

* Phonciple P. ("Phoney") {{Bone}}.

* Phonciple P. ("Phoney") ''{{Bone}}''.

* Phonciple P. ("Phoney") ''ComicBooks/Bone''.

* Daisy Adair, from the TooGoodToLast TV series ''DeadLikeMe'', who has been shown to have no problems whatsoever to exploit and trick the dead people's mourning relatives to get cash.

Compare the (usually adolescent) HighSchoolHustler.

A trickster-philosopher who lives by pandering to people's greed and gullibility. Not only does he never feel guilty about it, he will be offended by suggestions that he stop. If people want to be tricked, who is he to say no?

The true mark of TheBarnum is how serene and happy he usually is, despite what he does every day. He's reached a cynic's nirvana.

* Nick Naylor from ''ThankYouForSmoking'' is a tobacco lobbyist fully aware of what he's doing, but quite happy to keep doing it with a smile. The rest of the M.O.D. fits as well.

* Oddly averted in ''Barnum! In Secret Service To The USA'': P.T. Barnum here may be a bit of a flim-flammer, but he gets most of his joy from entertaining the crowd rather than conning them

* Literature/{{Discworld}}:

* Sylvester McMonkey McBean from The Sneetches.
* Judith Merkle Riley's Margaret of Ashbury trilogy features one, a relic-seller in fourteenth-century England who sells people body parts that supposedly belonged to saints. However, he's a LovableRogue and generally sympathetic, and his scams are PlayedForLaughs.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Basi from the Nigerian TV show ''Basi And Company'' was a man whose goal in life was to become a millionaire without ever doing work. (His CatchPhrase was "To be a millionaire, think like a millionaire!") As a point of honor, he pulled all of his scams while unemployed and living in a crumbling boarding house, which didn't hurt his spirits at all.

* In a fourth season episode of ''SeaPatrol'', an old friend of TwoDads joins the crew. It turns out that not only is he using his position to send info to a gang of pirates, he's also scamming another crew members into an online romance. TwoDads eventually turns him in.

* The EvelynEvelyn song "A Campaign Of Shock And Awe".
--> "Behold, the eighth wonder of the natural world! Come one and come all, see the two-headed girl. Stupendous! Revolting! You’ll be shocked, you’ll be awed! A true freak of nature, a blunder of God! But possessing such talents, hear them sing, see them dance. As seen in the highest class parlors of France. Just ten bucks a photograph, get your seats while they last. We take Visa and Master Card, debit or cash."

* Bender from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' sometimes channels TheBarnum. Leela and Amy have both told him, "Bender, you should be more ashamed of yourself than usual!"

** In the episode "B.O.T." His Combaticon comrades were blown to their component parts, and Swindle took the opportunity to sell them to both USSR ''and'' Middle Eastern stereotypes. When a predictably enraged Megatron made him get them back, it is generally assumed that he didn't return their money.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pt_barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum]], an American showman, businessman, and entertainer famous for founding one of the circuses that merged to form the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, as well as putting forward various hoaxes. He [[BeamMeUpScotty did not]], however, say "There's a sucker born every minute." That was actually said by a [[http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html rival of Barnum's]] when they got into what could only be described as a "hoax war."
* Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon has been called the modern day PT Barnum, yet this probably applies better to all the wrestling promoters who preceded him for building the Kayfabe wall that he essentially tore down. Depending on who you talk to, the biggest wrestling fans always suspected that the game was staged and just didn't care, giving the promoters no reason to stop their charade of claiming it was completely authentic competition. Conversely, said "smart" fans despise Mcmahon for tearing down the wall and turning wrestling into "sports entertainment" - though in many cases the disdain comes from making WWE more about the theatrics than the in-ring action.
* 19th-century gambler & con artist "Canada Bill" Johnson was fond of saying "It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."

* The relic-seller above is probably an [[Expy expy]] of the Pardoner from ''TheCanterburyTales'', only with a SympatheticPOV.

** Correction: He's on the run from his own ''country''. What he says about his species' scavenger history is true, so for them, the hero is the guy who does something great for his own group by swindling another group. Which gets into why he's on the run: He caused a major accident involving a blimp, large quantities of pudding, and ''his own'' country's royal family.

* Dogbert in ''{{Dilbert}}''.

* ''RanmaOneHalf'': Nabiki Tendo. An excellent example of the unprincipled type, having actually been [[WordofGod described by the author]] as having "no maidenly heart". This gets [[{{Flanderization}} really extreme]] as the series progresses, culminating in her [[spoiler: ruining her own little sister's wedding because she believes that inviting Ranma's other fiancees and his rivals will bring in more cash as wedding presents]]. {{Fanon}} often bumps her into a HighSchoolHustler, but this is arguable, as her schemes tend to mostly be limited to quickly taking advantage of situations, and her ongoing "business" is mostly limited to selling a large amount of soft-porn prints and images, some non-working merchandise or unreliable information, using blackmail or swindling opportunities, and investing in stocks. On occasion she has employed schemes with [[ManipulativeBastard several stages of efficient outrageous planning to them however, and she is an expert actress]]. Mostly, in a series populated by {{Made of Iron}} {{Jerkass}}es with SuperStrength, she survives through a combination of knowing when to get when the getting's good, and sticking to taking advantage of people who would never actually attack her (Akane, Tatewaki, Ranma..), and not being so irritating to those who would that a cheated customer considers it worth their time to just kill her. This accidentally happened with Shampoo and Kodachi in the manga, and Ukyo at least initially attempted to threaten and beat her up, but Ranma came to her rescue, whereafter his paramours apparently decided to leave her alone.
* [[spoiler: Kyubey]] from ''PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' follows shades of this. If people are willing to [[spoiler: make a contract without reading the fine-print, as it were]], why on earth would he say no? It's not his fault that [[spoiler: the fine print YouDidntAsk about says that you'll turn into a [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] when the contract is made, and that you'll [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie eventually turn into]] [[EldritchAbomination a witch]].]]

* Ethan Rayne from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' could be considered TheBarnum. He's a trickster who worships chaos and shows no remorse for what he does. [[hottip:*:Later, a stint in military changed his outlook.]]

* Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon has been called the modern day PT Barnum, yet this probably applies better to all the wrestling promoters who preceded him for building the Kayfabe wall that he essentially tore down. Depending on who you talk to, the biggest wrestling fans always suspected that the game was staged and just didn't care, giving the promoters no reason to stop their charade of claiming it was completely authentic competition. Conversely, said "smart" fans despise Mcmahon for tearing down the wall and turning wrestling into "sports entertainment" - thought in many cases the disdain comes from making WWE more about the theatrics than the in-ring action.

* Subverted by an actual character named Barnum in the second ''{{Fable}}'' game. Going along with his moneymaking ventures usually ends up with the object of his venture becoming much more lucrative, such as fixing a broken-down bridge, which restores a failing inn to prosperity, or building up a tent-town into a thriving village.

* ''TheWestWing:'' Bruno Gianelli. Worked as the campaign manager for Democratic President Bartlet's reelection campaign, and four years later became a consultant for the Republican candidate Arnold Vinick. He was quite fond of citing various stories about P. T. Barnum to explain why he would do things.

An excellent example of the unprincipled type, having actually been [[WordofGod described by the author]] as having "no maidenly heart". This gets [[{{Flanderization}} really extreme]] as the series progresses, culminating in her [[spoiler: ruining her own little sister's wedding because she believes that inviting Ranma's other fiancees and his rivals will bring in more cash as wedding presents]]. {{Fanon}} often bumps her into a HighSchoolHustler, but this is arguable, as her schemes tend to mostly be limited to quickly taking advantage of situations, and her ongoing "business" is mostly limited to selling a large amount of soft-porn prints and images, some non-working merchandise or unreliable information, using blackmail or swindling opportunities, and investing in stocks. On occasion she has employed schemes with [[ManipulativeBastard several stages of efficient outrageous planning to them however, and she is an expert actress]]. Mostly, in a series populated by {{Made of Iron}} {{Jerkass}}es with SuperStrength, she survives through a combination of knowing when to get when the getting's good, and sticking to taking advantage of people who would never actually attack her (Akane, Tatewaki, Ranma..), and not being so irritating to those who would that a cheated customer considers it worth their time to just kill her. This accidentally happened with Shampoo and Kodachi in the manga, and Ukyo at least initially attempted to threaten and beat her up, but Ranma came to her rescue, whereafter his paramours apparently decided to leave her alone.

* Nabiki Tendo from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' survives by taking advantage of people who would never actually attack her and being a [[ManipulativeBastard expert actress]]. Her ticks include selling non-working merchandise and unreliable information, using blackmail where needed. On occasion she has engaged in more complex schemes. She is not above using family members.

* Honest John from ''{{Pinocchio}}'' -- he swindles Pinocchio twice due to his gullibility and it had been suggested that he had been doing that for years.

* Lazarus Long of RobertAHeinlein's ''Future History'' is often described this way. And being the unrepentant MartyStu that he is, he always [[JerkSue gets away with it, too]].

* TheWizardOfOz is portrayed as this in {{Theatre/Wicked}}, although he tricks people into believing he's magical for political power rather than money.

* Swindle of the [[{{Transformers Generation 1}} Combaticons]]