History Main / ThePresentsWereNeverFromSanta

Bob thinks he has someone really special helping him. A guardian angel, a fairy godmother, the president of the United States, a wise alien, something like that. This fake or imaginary benefactor (Faux Empowering Entity) gives Bob (Faux Empowered Person) something that makes him feel special and chosen. Consequentially, Bob may consider his own actions justified based on having the benefactor's blessing (or acting as per her advice or direct order).

* Done in spades to Nagato from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Blessed with the legendary Rinnegan eye power, he is first told by Jiraiya that his eyes are a sign that he is destined to do great things. Also, Jiraiya was given a prophecy that foretold that he would train a special kid who would change the world, and believing that the kid was Nagato he decided to train him. Sometime later Tobi outright tells Nagato that he is the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Paths. But much later, after getting his ideals shattered, Nagato strays from the right path and becomes Pain, [[AGodAmI calling himself a god]] and justifying all his atrocities by his beliefs. Turns out [[spoiler:that the reason he had the Rinnegan was because at some point Madara Uchiha had implanted his own eyes into him as part of a ThanatosGambit, so that Nagato could learn to use them for the purpose of reviving him when the time was right.]]

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[spoiler:Although [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity Kyubey]] does legitimately grant powers and [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor a wish]], he otherwise misleads his charges about everything else. For one, he is not a magical creature but an [[AliensAreBastards alien]] of the [[BlueAndOrangeMorality eldritch variety]], and the reason why he creates Magical Girls is not at all to defeat the [[EldritchAbomination Witches]], but to make more of them. More specifically he's '''solely''' interested in the energy released by the [[DeathByDespair despair-induced]] [[TheHeartless Witch transformation]], which his kind uses to [[WellIntentionedExtremist stave off the heat death of the universe]], and any collateral damage caused by a Witch is roughly irrelevant, near the end it is revealed he is mostly unconcerned about [[ApocalypseHow the Earth itself getting wiped out by a monstrously powerful Witch]] just as long as he can gather a massive amount of energy from it.]]

* In ''GreenLantern'' the False Guardians who empowered G'nort and others to intentionally discredit the Green Lantern Corps fill this role.

* In ''Film/TheExorcismOfEmilyRose'', an angel gives the titular character blessings and tactical updates in her war against the devil. While psychiatry (in the movie as well as in RealLife) is convinced that Emily was insane and that it was wrong of her priest to advise her to stop taking her medication, the movie makes it [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguous]] whether the battle was all a matter of insanity (making the angel a FauxEmpoweringEntity who helped Emily destroy herself) or a real battle between spiritual forces (making the angel a EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity who helped Emily defeat the devil and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth move on to a better place]]).
** Even if she was insane, the movie indicates that maybe her faith was more important anyway. Emily herself was positioned to play this role for people looking for some confirmation of spirituality in the modern world; the movie suggests that if her faith had this positive effect on the world, maybe that was more important and the sacrifice she made would still mean something even if she was actually crazy.

* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Don Quixote meets a rascally innkeeper who he thinks is a Castellan (a castle warden) and asks him for {{Knighting}}. Ironically, in real life, to be knighted as a joke would have disAbled Don Quixote to become a real Knight by the rules of the ''Siete Partidas'' of Alphonso X.

* Played for maximum tragedy & angst in the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Course Oblivion". The crew put their trust in a shape-shifting alien who they believe to be the Star Fleet Captain Kathryn Janeway until they discover that they are also shape-shifting aliens that have been removed from their home world, forgetting that they were copies of the original crew. This creature does believe itself to be Janeway, and it's trying to keep her crew safe and get them home, just like the real Janeway would. Too bad for the crew that she's not a real Star Fleet officer, and has a really flawed understanding of what is "safe" and what is "home".

* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'': The mayor gave her sister (the headmistress of the city's brothel) a coin when they were kids, saying that their mother sacrificed herself to save them and gave them an heirloom coin as a dying wish. It turns out that their mother was just another scavenger who was too afraid to protect her children and ran like hell. Said coin is not from Saint SmittyWarbenJaegarManJensen because there is no Saint SmittyWarben... yeah.

* The ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' ChristmasEpisode "A Lost Claus" has 8-year-old Mac having his belief in Santa shattered when a few hundred Santas show up at the home. He believes that if children imagined all these Santas then maybe he isn't real. The night before Christmas, Mac sends out a prayer to Santa (who is actually never himself shown apart from the ones the kids imagined) asking for a sign he's real. He doesn't want the usual swag kids ask for, he asks for something incredibly mundane: underwear.

* The ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' ChristmasEpisode "A Lost Claus" has 8-year-old Mac having his belief in Santa shattered when a few hundred Santa show up at the home. He believes that if children imagined all these Santas then maybe he isn't real. The night before Christmas, Mac sends out a prayer to Santa (who is actually never himself shown apart from the ones the kids imagined) asking for a sign he's real. He doesn't want the usual swag kids ask for, he asks for something incredibly mundane: underwear.

* [[spoiler:Gil Graham]] from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has provided Hayate with a home and allowance, even paying for hospital funds. [[spoiler:Turns out that this is him trying to ease his guilt over the fact that she's going to sacrificed as part of his plan to seal the Book of Darkness.]]

* [[spoiler:Gil Graham]] from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has provided Hayate with a home and allowance, even paying for hospital funds. [[spoiler:Turns out that this is his gambit to make Hayate the master of the Book of Darkness, [[WellIntentionedExtremist allowing him to seal the Book of Darkness away.]]]]

** Indeed, Haley is [[GenreSavvy immediately suspicious]] of this verdict because the logic of the closing statements pointed towards "Guilty, sentenced to community service." Unfortunately for the rest of the Order, she's TheUnintelligible at the time and thus cannot explain this without resorting to charades.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' subverts this with Sybill Trelawney, Hogwarts's Divination professor. She initially appears to be either a fraud or a self-deluded example of this trope, but she turns out to be a NotSoPhonyPsychic.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' subverts this with Sybill Trelawney, Hogwarts's Divination professor, who turns out to be a NotSoPhonyPsychic.

* In ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', the Wizard is ultimately proven to be a fraud, giving out {{Magic Feather}}s as if they were real gifts (however, the gifts are symbolic. Thus they can be considered valid in [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the film version]], which was AllJustADream.) In [[Literature/LandOfOz the novels]], the Wizard later learns real magic that nonetheless never has as big an effect on characters or the story as those three symbolic gifts he gave in the first book.

** The subsequent episode plays with this more [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguously]] regarding a FortuneTeller whose prophecies come true but are {{self fulfilling|Prophecy}} in nature.

* The Blue Spirit from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' initially appears to be a powerful, mysterious entity come to rescue Aang from Zhao's clutches. Turns out [[spoiler:it's Zuko trying to capture Aang and get the glory for himself]]. The next subsequent episode plays with this more [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane ambiguously]] regarding a FortuneTeller who provides guidance to her village, whose prophecies only come true by being {{self fulfilling|Prophecy}}.

* The Blue Spirit from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' initially appears to be a powerful, mysterious entity come to rescue Aang from Zhao's clutches. Turns out [[spoiler:it's Zuko trying to capture Aang and get the glory for himself]].

* Done in spades to Nagato from ''{{Naruto}}''. Blessed with the legendary Rinnegan eye power, he is first told by Jiraiya that his eyes are a sign that he is destined to do great things. Also, Jiraiya was given a prophecy that foretold that he would train a special kid who would change the world, and believing that the kid was Nagato he decided to train him. Sometime later Tobi outright tells Nagato that he is the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Paths. But much later, after getting his ideals shattered, Nagato strays from the right path and becomes Pain, [[AGodAmI calling himself a god]] and justifying all his atrocities by his beliefs. Turns out [[spoiler:that the reason he had the Rinnegan was because at some point Madara Uchiha had implanted his own eyes into him as part of a ThanatosGambit, so that Nagato could learn to use them for the purpose of reviving him when the time was right.]]

** Arguably, "The Guardians of the Universe" have a hint of this as well, acting as an Empowering Entity to the Corps but with their qualifications sometimes called into question. Unlike most, it's not out of manipulation, misunderstanding, or madness, but arrogance; consider for a moment that they gave ''themselves'' their title. While they mean well, they generally refuse to show any hint of humility or [[TheSpock emotion]]. They also have a tendency to cover up things they feel ManWasNotMeantToKnow (Parallax, the massacre of sector 666, Agent Orange, the Blackest Night prophecy, the White Entity), and those coverups have an equal tendency to come back and bite them in the rear.
* In ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'', false gods and other devils often fill the [[FauxEmpoweringEntity FEE role]], offering people what the victims already have or what the devils can't provide. Especially God-as-worshipped-by-catholics-and-muslims gets portrayed this way a lot. However, humans are fully capable of being [[FauxEmpoweredPerson FEP]] without any help from demons. There's a tract where a kid goes JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and becomes a serial killer from ''finding out Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny aren't real''.

* In the ''{{Nightside}}'' series, the Removal Man believes his power was granted to him by God, and that he is using it to do God's work. He is DrivenToSuicide when John Taylor reveals who has actually been backing his power, and for what reason.

* Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''. Fortune's believes that she has been 'cursed' with luck, allowing her to deflect any sort of attack away from her, but it is in fact the result of electromagnetic fields generated by a device controlled by Ocelot. He later disables it so she can be killed, but as she lays dying, she somehow manages to deflect several missiles away from Raiden, Snake, and Solidus.

* Pip from ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' believes his sudden endowment to be from Mrs. Havisham to groom him into a proper husband for her ward, Estella. He's quite shocked to find otherwise.

* Literature/DonQuixote: Don Quixote meets a rascally innkeeper who he thinks is a Castellan (a castle warden) and asks him for {{Knighting}}. Ironically, in real life, to be knighted as a joke would have disAbled Don Quixote to become a real Knight by the rules of the ''Siete Partidas'' of Alphonso X.

* In ''Comicbook/CinderellasSister'', the "fairy godmother" is all about hurting young womens' self esteem so that they will desire more expensive clothes, cosmetic surgery etc. And she's not a real person either, merely an advertisement mascot.

* An issue of Comicbook/{{Madman}} had a powerful being claim to be God and empower an IRA agent who sought redemption. This was all a ruse in order to create an avatar to kill the title character. Once the agent realized Madman was innocent and that he was trying to kill an innocent man [[spoiler: he [[DrivenToSuicide killed himself]]]].

* ''KeroroGunsou'': In one story Tamama pretends to be a god (angel in the Funimation English dub) after being caught by a boy practising soccer. While he did help the boy become more confident he gave some rather strange advice, especially in the manga and English dub, not to mention teaching the boy a soccer kick fueled by resentment.