History Main / UnreliableVoiceOver

* In the 1978 adaptation of ''Film/DeathOnTheNile'', as Salome Otterbourne is saying "I was talking to one of the crew, who was showing me a most intriguing sight, a buffalo and a cow yoked together tilling the soil", a flashback is shown in which she is in fact secretly buying alcohol from said crew member.

It can also be used for humorous purposes, to show that the character is not as gifted as they claim they are — they relate the events in a way that makes them seem particularly clever or talented, while we see they are actually ridiculously incompetent. However this can lead to continuity errors — if the writer forgets that the audience knows the truth but the listeners do not, the audience can be left wondering how somebody knows something they weren't told.

Compare ContrastMontage. Related to RashomonStyle, except that instead of someone else's version of events clashing, it's the cold, unvarnished truth. Unlike UnreliableNarrator, we're led to believe that the visuals tell us what really happened. Unless there's a MindScrew going on.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' used this in an episode where he posed as a gangster. Jack describes (with some careful word choice to ensure that his story is true FromACertainPointOfView) how he set up a hit and blew up the target's house, while visuals show him quietly evacuating the inhabitants and giving them the money to find a new home in some other town.

* The ''ComicBook/TransformersTimelines'' comic ''Wings of Honor'''s framing device is local CoolOldGuy Kup telling stories about his youth. Naturally, he's very willing to embellish events. For instance, he claims he was able to defeat the hypnotist Hellbat because he kept a clear head and had everything planned out from the start to make his escape. He actually fell under Hellbat's sway almost immediately, and escaped because [[AlwaysABiggerFish a kaiju-sized member of the local wildlife emerged from the ground and tried to eat his captor]].

-->-- '''Kuzco''', "narrating" ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove''

* As indicated by the page quote, Kuzco in ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' tends to wander obnoxiously off the rails while narrating, to the point that the sadder-but-wiser Kuzco-on-screen finally tells Kuzco-as-narrator to shut up.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons''. When Bowler Hat Guy is [[MrExposition ranting to a captured Lewis]] about [[MotiveRant why he has a grudge against him]], he says several things that flatly contradicts what is seen on the screen. For instance, he claims that everybody at school hated him after we see a couple of kids being friendly to him and inviting him to hang out, and that he and the evil robotic hat Doris retreated to their "[[SupervillainLair villainous lair]]" to make their EvilPlan - while the actual footage shows them going to an [[SugarBowl adorable]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments kiddy restaurant]].

* ''ComicBook/BatmanBlackAndWhite'': In "Greetings from... Gotham City", a small-town boy who recently moved to Gotham sends a postcard back home describing how he got to see Batman take down a gang of jewel robbers. The text of the postcard appears as narration over the visuals of the fight scene, and at first it seems like the narration is basically reliable, if a bit short on detail due to the space restrictions of the postcard. Then it turns out the postcard writer left out some fairly significant details, such as [[spoiler:the fact that he was one of the jewel thieves, not an innocent onlooker]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "P.O.V." plays out this way. One of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Officers Willkes and Renee Montoya driving to meet Detective Harvey Bullock for a planned sting against a local crime lord. When they arrive at the location, however, Bullock is unconscious outside and the building is on fire. With most members of the gang escaping, along with the two million dollars that the police department had planted as part of the sting, InternalAffairs believes that the three cops were either grossly incompetent or [[DirtyCop in cahoots with the criminals]]. The three officers then each explain what they did during the lead-up to and aftermath of the botched sting. Officer Willkes is honest, but because he did not get a very good look at the action and never had seen Batman before due to [[NewMeat being new to the force]], he ended up misunderstanding many of the feats he saw Batman perform, ascribing him superhuman powers. Detective Bullock is perfectly aware of what happened, but [[CowboyCop deliberately alters his rendition and blames Batman to cover up his own mistakes]]. Of the three, only Renee Montoya [[ByTheBookCop gives an honest retelling of the night]] as to the best of her ability (with a few mistakes, such as thinking that Batman had been trapped under falling debris). During each of their stories, {{flashback}}s show what ''really'' happened, along with where the narration differs from the actual events.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': Waspinator explains how he left [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars the Earth]] for [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines Cybertron]], tearing himself away from his prehistoric worshippers. The video footage shows the contrary.
** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'': Starscream recounts how he "bravely faced" the Predacons chasing him, while we see [[ExitPursuedByABear him running for his life]] and accidentally tripping over some weapons.

* While not visually depicted, William Makepeace Thackeray's novel ''Literature/TheLuckOfBarryLyndon'' contrasts the charming VillainProtagonist's high opinion of himself with the sardonic commentary of the [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis "editor"]].

[[folder:Films — Animated]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "P.O.V." plays out this way. One of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Officers Willkes and Renee Montoya driving to meet Detective Harvey Bullock for a planned sting against a local crime lord. When they arrive at the location, however, Bullock is unconscious outside and the building is on fire. With most members of the gang escaping, along with the two million dollars that the police department had planted as part of the sting, InternalAffairs believes that the three cops were either grossly incompetent or [[DirtyCop in cahoots with the criminals]]. The three officers then each explain what they did during the lead-up to and aftermath of the botched sting. Officer Willkes is honest, but [[NewMeat being new to the force]] he had never seen Batman before and as a result he misunderstood many of the feats he saw Batman perform, ascribing him superhuman powers. Detective Bullock is perfectly aware of what happened, but [[CowboyCop deliberately alters his rendition and blames Batman to cover up his own mistakes]]. Of the three, only Renee Montoya [[ByTheBookCop gives an honest retelling of the night]] as to the best of her ability (with a few mistakes, such as thinking that Batman had been trapped under falling debris). During each of their stories, {{flashback}}s show what ''really'' happened, along with where the narration differs from the actual events.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "P.O.V." plays out this way. One of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Officers Willkes and Renee Montoya driving to meet Detective Harvey Bullock for a planned sting against a local crime lord. When they arrive at the location, however, Bullock is unconscious outside and the building is on fire. With most members of the gang escaping, along with the two million dollars that the police department had planted as part of the sting, InternalAffairs believes that the three cops were either grossly incompetent or [[DirtyCop in cahoots with the criminals]]. The three officers then each explain what they did during the lead-up to and aftermath of the botched sting. Officer Willkes is honest, but [[NewMeat being new to the force]] he had never before seen Batman and he misunderstood many of the feats he saw Batman perform, ascribing him superhuman powers. Detective Bullock is perfectly aware of what happened, but [[CowboyCop deliberately alters his rendition and blames Batman to cover up his own mistakes]]. Of the three, only Renee Montoya [[ByTheBookCop gives an honest retelling of the night]] as to the best of her ability (with a few mistakes, such as thinking that Batman had been trapped under falling debris). During each of their stories, {{flashback}}s show what ''really'' happened, along with where the narration differs from the actual events.

** In "Log Date 7 15 2", Steven gets a hold of [[spoiler:Peridot]]'s voice log and listens to it. Each log entry is accompanied by a corresponding flashback; in entries detailing events Steven was present for, it's clear that [[spoiler:Peridot]]'s [[SmallNameBigEgo very high opinion of herself]] is tainting the storytelling:

** Inverted in "Buddy's Book"; the ''narration'' is considered accurate, but the events described are depicted with an ImagineSpot, since Steven and Connie have nothing else to work with. When Garnet and Pearl appear in the story, they look the same way they do in the present; Connie points out the FridgeLogic, and the scene is altered to put them in period-appropriate clothing. The duo also imagine Buddy as [[AndYouWereThere their friend Jamie]], but at the episode's end, they notice a portrait of the man and realize they were ''way'' off (however, they agree that they like their version better).

* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': When Kazai tells Kieri about how he was [[BalefulPolymorph cursed]] by Broxis[[note]] One of twelve demigods who protect Medius and one of the four who took a side in the [[DivineConflict great war]][[/note]], he tells her that after be [[BullyingADragon punched]] Broxis for being a "[[FantasticRacism demon sympathizer]]" the guardian was impressed with his conviction and challenged him to a duel and only won the epic, hours long battle by landing a lucky hit. However [[http://www.sdamned.com/comic/908 the flashback]] shows us the that Broxis was furious and it was Kazai who challenged him to which Broxis begrudgingly accepted and he [[SingleStrokeBattle immediately]] won the fight with a single swipe of his tail. Kieri seems sceptical so it's likely Kazai has a tendency to exaggerate or fabricate.

It can also be used for humorous purposes, to show that the character is not as gifted as they claim they are - they relate the events in a way that makes them seem particularly clever or talented, while we see they are actually ridiculously incompetent. However this can lead to continuity errors - if the writer forgets that the audience knows the truth but the listeners do not, the audience can be left wondering how somebody knows something they weren't told.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

--> '''Lina''': In the end, peace was restored to the village... ([[spoiler:transition from the scene of nuking a dragon to the crater where this village once stood]])
--> '''Lina''': After bidding farewell to the grateful villagers... Gourry and I continue our journey... ([[spoiler:villagers chasing them with pitchforks]])
--> '''Lina''': Yeah, I know. But it's [[HalfTruth not a total lie]], okay?

[[folder: Audio Play]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* As indicated by the page quote, Kuzco in ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' tends to wander obnoxiously off the rails while narrating, to the point that the sadder-but-wiser Kuzco-on-screen finally tells Kuzco-as-narrator to shut up.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Peter B. Parker's narration of how he handled his divorce with Mary Jane doesn't exactly match up with what's shown on screen. He claims he took the divorce "like a champ", but the scene immediately cuts to him sitting in a ShowerOfAngst, and he also claims that he did push-ups and half-crunches to stay strong when he's gotten a noticeable gut from eating too much pizza [[ComfortFood to numb the pain]].

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* George [=MacDonald=] Fraser would seem to have borrowed the above technique in the {{Literature/Flashman}} book ''Flashman's Lady''. The novel contains extracts from the diary of Flashman's wife, Elspeth, a BrainlessBeauty who he suspects is a serial adulteress throughout the series. These extracts, which are written in a melodromatic "female novelist" style (think a bad version of ''Jane Eyre'') are edited by Elspeth's sister who doesn't think Elspeth is quite as innocent as she presents herself.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

** Used extensively in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp The Unicorn and the Wasp]]", when the suspects are giving their alibis. A viewer can spot that [[spoiler:the culprit is the one person who ''isn't'' shown doing something shady in flashback.]]
** Also used in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2006CSTheRunawayBride The Runaway Bride]]", when the titular bride is describing how she and her fiance met and fell in love.

* Used in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' in the episode "The Usual Suspects" (ironically, not a trope from the film, ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'').

* Used for comedic effect in the TV series ''Series/PoliceSquad'', where the show would open with a Quinn Martin PoliceProcedural style title card: "Tonight's Episode," followed by the title, which always completely different from the one given by the narrator.
* Trivial and mildly amusing instance in ''Series/FlashForward2009'': Wedeck (the [=FBI=] boss) claims his vision of the future had him in a meeting (at 10pm?), while the visual was an overhead shot of him sitting in a restroom stall, pants down, reading the newspaper (apparently the sports section, from later dialogue). He later confessed the real story to Benford, adding that he'd emerged from his blackout to find another agent drowning in the urinal and in need of resuscitation (which Wedeck found embarrassing to admit having done).
* A favorite comic device on ''Series/TopGear'': Jeremy Clarkson's narration frequently contradicts events on screen, usually to deny responsibility for what he did or to claim responsibility for what he didn't do.

* ''Series/JonathanCreek'' uses a variation during TheSummation, which Jonathan is explicitly advancing as a hypothetical version of events. It usually turns out to be correct in BroadStrokes, but some details can be off. The [[StylisticSuck laughably implausible]] "dramatic reconstruction" of the case in an episode of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Eyes and Ears]]'' may also fall under this one.
* Spike's flashbacks and narration in a season five episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' are wildly different. Also any flashback narrated by Andrew is a chance for him to exercise his cloudcuckoolander tendencies to the fullest.

* In the series finale of ''Series/NipTuck,'' Matt convinces Christian to let him take back his daughter by saying he and his fiancee (who Matt dumped at the altar) talked and are getting back together. The audience sees the truth, which is the girl berating Matt to get out of her life and literally spitting on him.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]

* ''ComicStrip/TomTheDancingBug'' does this in one Billy Dare strip. The narration obviously does not match what we see in each comic panel. At the end, Billy Dare murders the narrator.

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* In ''Theatre/OnAClearDayYouCanSeeForever'', Daisy Gamble makes her past life in eighteenth-century England sound so very refined. When she says that her in-laws "ate as if food was a sin," for instance, what the audience sees is them rushing to the table and [[JabbaTableManners pigging out]].

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* ''[[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Might and Magic 7]]'': the game's intro shows remains of a goblin detachment reporting to their supreme commander Archibald Ironfist about their skirmish with an elven war party. We see how the encounter actually went, with the goblin leader providing the voicover. He blatantly lies in order to cast himself and other goblins in a heroic light. Archibald isn't fooled, though, and can't even suppress his laughter at times.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* Early in ''Webcomic/AbstractGender'', [[http://rayneshikama.deviantart.com/gallery/26497595?offset=96#/d2yifld Brian recounts how he woke up as a girl]].

* [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2010-05-09/comic/team-scramble/suddenly-words-thousands-of-them/ Wildfire's letter]] in ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow''.
** Subverted, in that Rogue knows ''exactly'' how full of crap she is.

* ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'': In the Tourist arc, Svana [[http://latchkeykingdom.smackjeeves.com/comics/2181964/tourist-25/ explains]] to Bridget how she "chanced" upon her ██████████, but the images reveal she was actually stalking her and she actively sought the item as soon as she learned it was dropped.
* Whenever the campers of ''Webcomic/CampWeedonwantcha'' relate how they wound up at there, they ''always'' leave out the fact that they were [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned]] by their [[AbusiveParents abusive]] and [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] families. It's not clear how much of this is due to SelfServingMemory or due to simply not wanting to truthfully talk about it.
* ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' has some (inverted) elements of this: The voiceover is usually sound advice, but the illustrations often show said advice [[ComicallyMissingThePoint misapplied as badly as possible]].

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

** In "Log Date 7 15 2," Steven gets a hold of [[spoiler:Peridot]]'s voice log and listens to it. Each log entry is accompanied by a corresponding flashback; in entries detailing events Steven was present for, it's clear that [[spoiler:Peridot]]'s [[SmallNameBigEgo very high opinion of herself]] is tainting the storytelling:

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Lucky tells Hank and co. about how his grandfather found "the perfect walnut stump". He says that his grandfather was a pastor found the stump while on a church picnic and "went on to be with the Lord" before he could recover it, but the flashbacks show that his grandfather was actually a criminal who stumbled across the stump while escaping from WorkingOnTheChainGang and was executed in the electric chair. Unlike many examples, the implication is that Lucky isn't consciously lying, but that this is the version of the story he was told himself.
* Waspinator explains how he left [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars the Earth]] for [[WesternAnimation/BeastMachines Cybertron]], tearing himself away from his prehistoric worshippers. The video footage shows the contrary.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' has a bizarre example, where [[PyroManiac Ash]] says he's gotten a fear of all movies because his father left him waiting at a movie theater, neglecting to mention how his father's negligence ''set the room he was waiting in on fire.''
* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' had Creator/AdamWest tell the story of Miles Musket, the settler who allegedly founded Quahog with the help of a magic talking clam. West states that Musket was thrown overboard for "speaking his mind", while the flashback shows that Musket was an incredibly grating [[MotorMouth blabbermouth]] who the other settlers threw overboard just to preserve their own sanity.
* The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS6E16JoshuaAndMargaretInvestigations Joshua and Margaret Investigations]]" has Jake telling a story about the day he was born. This starts a WholeEpisodeFlashback. At the end of the flashback, Jake's parents [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain say that they won't ever tell Jake how he was born.]] And indeed, when the show returns to the present, Jake says that his parents never told him - [[MindScrew which suggests he wasn't actually talking about the contents of the flashback.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' episode "Vendettas", Vinnie tells [[ICallItVera his gun]] the stories of his three previous encounters with the gargoyles. He frequently reiterates that he was unfazed, valiant, and did everything he could to prevent the disasters that occurred, while the flashbacks shown suggest otherwise.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "P.O.V." plays out this way. One of the best episodes of the series, it starts with Officers Willkes and Renee Montoya driving to meet Detective Harvey Bullock for a planned sting against a local crime lord. When they arrive at the location, however, Bullock is unconscious outside and the building is on fire. With most members of the gang escaping, along with the two million dollars that the police department had planted as part of the sting, InternalAffairs believes that the three cops were either grossly incompetent or [[DirtyCop in cahoots with the criminals]]. The three officers then each explain what they did during the lead-up to and aftermath of the botched sting. Officer Willkes is honest, but [[NewMeat being new to the force]] he had never before seen Batman and he misunderstood many of the feats he saw Batman perform, ascribing him superhuman powers. Detective Bullock is perfectly aware of what happened, but [[CowboyCop deliberately alters his rendition to cover up his own mistakes]]. Of the three, only Renee Montoya [[ByTheBookCop gives an honest retelling of the night]] as to the best of her ability (with a few mistakes, such as thinking that Batman had been trapped under falling debris). During each of their stories, {{flashback}}s show what ''really'' happened, along with where the narration differs from the actual events.

* The naive Forrest in ''Film/ForrestGump'' plays this trope straight. Played for humor (and sometimes for drama), you'll see Forrest describing the upstart Apple Computers as a fruit company; Charlie, the codename for the Vietcong, as some guy the Army was looking for; and in one scene, he describes Jenny's father as a "loving man, always kissing and touching his daughters." The line pretty much sums up the real truth of Jenny's situation.
* Don's narrative on how he became a Hollywood star in ''Film/SinginInTheRain''. His words paint his journey as a smooth, refined and comfortable one. The series of flashbacks that accompanies them show that it was actually an arduous and often undignified struggle to the top.
-->"Dignity, always dignity!"
* The ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie. Tom Cruise's character knows that [[spoiler:Jon Voight]]'s character is a traitor, and pretends to believe [[spoiler:his]] story, but is imagining the way it really happened.
* ''Film/Cube2Hypercube'': One of the characters said he was a management consultant, but his flashbacks showed he was actually a private detective. The other ones don't so much directly lie as leave out the fact that they're all connected to the hypercube's creators or know more than they let on. For instance, one of them is actually [[spoiler:a freelance superhacker who designed the thing]] and another [[spoiler:is an operative working for the organization behind it.]]

* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': "Fezzik took great care in reviving Inigo." Said over a scene of Fezzik repeatedly dunking the drunken Inigo into buckets of water.
* In ''Film/{{Superbad}}'', this is used when one of the lead characters describes their previous evening to their love interest. While they describe going to an elegant club, the audience sees them trying to gain admission to a seedy strip club. Similarly, their account of celebrating with a drink is matched by them vomiting violently from cheap booze.
* The obscure comedy ''Film/SororityBoys'' used this when one of the characters is describing how he discovered a plot-important hidden camera, leading to a VCR in a lockbox. He fudges the details of the discovery to cover his invasion of his roommate's privacy as if everything was already in the open, while it shows him actually stumbling drunkenly into the hidden camera, yanking on cables, and finally shooting open the lockbox with a revolver.

* In the Mexican comedy movie ''Matando Cabos'', the father of a girl narrates how he walked in on his daughter and her boyfriend holding hands and kissing (while we see them screwing like animals), asked the boyfriend to stop (gave him a swirly), saw the boyfriend get rude and belligerent (raise his hands in terror), and politely asked him to leave (beat him senseless and threw him out of the house).

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beowulf 2007}}'': Beowulf claims a bunch of sea monsters attacked him during the race with Breca. We ''do'' see him fighting said sea monsters, but when he claims another sea monster dragged him down under the water, it's actually a beautiful mermaid that he ends up "plunging his blade into."
* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' primarily uses UnreliableNarrator, but the flashbacks are ''slightly'' closer to reality than the narration. Eg, his story involves a man named "Kobayashi", but the flashbacks show an obviously non-Japanese man in that role.
* ''Film/{{Walker}}'', details the 1856 conquest of Nicaragua by an American soldier sponsored by a cadre of [[CorruptCorporateExecutive industrialists]] (most prominent of whom is Cornelius Vanderbilt), and the protagonist's narrations--which sound a lot like quotes from an official log or report--are blatantly contradicted by the action of the scenes they introduce.

* In the 1978 adaptation of ''Film/DeathOnTheNile'', as Salome Otterbourne is saying "I was talking to one of the crew, who was showing me a most intriguing sight, a buffalo and a cow yoked together tilling the soil", a flashback is shown in which she is in fact secretly buying alcohol from said crew member.
* In the movie ''Eat and Run,'' [=McSorely=] is constantly NarratingThePresent. When he finds a locked door he needs to open in a hurry, he describes shooting it with his gun, the locks flying off. In reality his gun was empty and he had to unlock the door using a set of keys.
* Sara tells Aiden in ''[[Film/TheForest2016 The Forest]]'' about her parents' death in a car accident right in front of their house while we see that the actual cause of death was murder/suicide.