Zim: Get off my lawn, cookie beast!
Moofy: Noo! I'm going to be on TV forever!
- Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time is one. She even tries to crash a wedding of two people she barely knows solely to be the center of attention.
LSP: Everybody get ready to pay attention to me!
- Allen in Allen Gregory is this in full spades. Everything he does always has to draw attention to himself and everything has to be about him. (He is only 7 years old!) His father, Richard, is even worse; if the attention isn't focused on him, he will make it be on him, regardless of who it affects.
- Roger of American Dad! delves into this quite often.
Roger: You can't do this to me! You can't leave me here! Everyone's looking! EVERYONE'S LOOKING!
Man: Can you keep it down? No one's looking at you. We're trying to watch the skating here.
Roger: EVERYONE'S LOOKING!
- Master Shake in Aqua Teen Hunger Force seems to have a pathological need to always be at the center of attention, and will say or do all sorts of stupid things to try to get and keep it. Tellingly, in "The Super Hero", Shake set the city on fire with the intent of getting some publicity.
"I will never get the credit that I deserve for the attention-grabbing things that I do."
- Seems to be a family trait for the Griplings in As Told by Ginger.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender:
- Ty Lee, with a Freudian Excuse. She is from a very large family and will do anything to make herself stand out from her many look-alike sisters. Ty Lee actually plays with this trope a bit, as at the end of the series, she seems to have a bit of off-screen Character Development and joins the Kyoshi Warriors, and she doesn't care that they all dress identically.
- Aang too, sometimes. Though he really just naturally finds himself at the center of attention, being the Avatar and all, and likes it there. Especially when it comes to Katara.
"Hey Katara, look what I just learned to do with earthbending!"
- This has a Freudian Excuse as well. Before he ran away and got frozen, his friends were starting to alienate him for being the Avatar, and the other monks wanted to send him away from Monk Gyatso, the closest thing to family he had. Since almost all his friends from his former life are dead now, and he has an entire army of people trying to kill him, he has a niggling fear of being lonely and unloved, making him more possessive and clingy of the friends he does have.
- Batman: The Animated Series: Poison Ivy isn't shy about flaunting her sexiness and often does it simply to turn heads, such as in her debut episode "Pretty Poison" where her sultry exit from the Rose Cafe causes every nearby guy to look on as she slinks away.
- Bianca in Beverly Hills Teens does everything she can to be on top, and have her way. But always loses to Larke.
- Bob's Burgers has quite a few of them:
- Linda and Gene have this as Shared Family Quirks as the two most likely to jump in the spotlight the first chance they get. Gene in particular is rather bad, which can be chalked up to Middle Child Syndrome, but he at least is willing to put on a performance through music or acting to earn said attention instead of demanding it for no reason. Linda was really bad with this in the first season due to acting like It's All About Me, wherein she becomes obsessed with activities that will earn her praise (running a bed and breakfast, performing in a musical she created, or forcing Bob to cater a free spaghetti dinner at school for a fundraiser) and then becomes incredibly hostile and vindictive if her efforts aren't appreciated or something stops it from happening. She's mellowed out considerably to the point when this does happen, it's more innocent than before.
- Teddy is a special kind of Attention Whore, in that he only wants attention from two people and that's Bob and Linda (though mostly Bob). Throughout the series, Teddy becomes increasingly hostile and nasty whenever he believes someone is taking the Belchers' attention away from him. If he ever gets the idea that Bob and Linda have other friends, especially friends they made through the restaurant like him, he acts liked a Spoiled Brat. It's reached a point that the mere presence of Mort the mortician tends to set Teddy off as Bob and Linda's second most prominent adult friend.
- Tammy Larsen is very much this as the self-appointed Alpha Bitch of Wagstaff Junior High. She walks around acting like she's the queen bee of the school and believes herself to be loved by everyone. Truthfully, the majority of the student body doesn't care about her, and the minority that knows who she is don't really like her. Even her own parents are implied to not like Tammy. Which would also turn this into a Justified Trope, as she's desperate for attention to compensate for being hated by everyone around her (admittedly hated because she's obnoxious and horrible, but still).
- BoJack in BoJack Horseman combines this with Inferiority Superiority Complex. He'll do all sorts of crazy things in order to stay famous, and even as an actor, he's a Large Ham limelight hog (to the point where, when he tries to give another actor a punchline scripted for him in "That Went Well", it is a huge shock and an indication that he's really changed as a person). In reality, he hates himself and is desperately trying to find approval from anyone who'll give it to him. To give an idea, in "Hank After Dark", he advocates for child labor to be re-legalized in an effort to get the spotlight off of Diane's feud with Hank Hippopolous - whether he's doing this to take the heat off her or because he's that desperate for attention is never clarified.
- Sarah Lynn is incredibly similar to BoJack, possibly because he was her primary role model when she was younger and she really did take his advice. She stayed relevant for years past BoJack, a lot of it courtesy of her generosity (boy, has that changed), but when she turned 30 and was officially proclaimed "out", she stabbed herself with a rusty bayonet in the middle of a hardware store just to call attention to her breakup with Andrew Garfield. And that was the first time she debuted on the show at her current age. Given that she's literally always been in the spotlight, it's hardly surprising. Just take this:
Andrew Garfield: I wanted to [break up] in public so you wouldn't make a scene.
Sarah Lynn: You think I won't make a scene? Then you really don't know me at all!
- Edward from Camp Lazlo. One of the reasons they're rivals is because he's constantly trying to prove himself better than Lazlo.
- Daffy Duck. While the motivation of this trait has changed over the years, this has always been a consistent aspect of the character.
- Also his Expy Plucky Duck in Tiny Toon Adventures, who always tries to gain popularity over co-stars Buster and Babs.
- Bugs Bunny isn't above this, particularly under Robert McKimson. "Rebel Rabbit", for example, has him cause havoc throughout the USA just to prove "that a rabbit can be more obnoxious than anybody!"
- Evil Diva Ember McLain from Danny Phantom is obsessed with people knowing who she is and obsessing over her. Her Freudian Excuse is that in life she was an unpopular girl who died young and forgotten. As a ghost, she invokes this as a source of her power.
- Quinn in Daria seems to enjoy being the center of attention a little too much.
- Darkwing Duck. His very first scene has him exiting the police station after apprehending some criminals... and disappointed that there's no press waiting for him outside.
- Most of the Drawn Together housemates fit this trope, but Toot Braunstein is far and away the worst of the bunch.
- Eddy from Ed, Edd n Eddy. The root of his behavior is explained in the movie.
- Kuzco from the The Emperor's New School series, which seem to be parallel continuities. The movie features Character Development, so that at the end, he becomes a very nice, likable guy. In the series, however, he still acts like an attention-loving jerk, as though the events of the movie had never happened.
- Flanderization turned popular kid Trixie Tang from The Fairly OddParents! into one. This is best seen in an episode where Timmy wishes that he and Trixie were the only two people on Earth. It backfires when Trixie goes full-on Yandere to make up for the lack of attention she was receiving.
- Family Guy:
- Stewie and Peter, to hilarious extremes. Meg qualifies as a more desperate and lonely version of this, though she's always played as the Butt-Monkey.
- Later episodes have occasionally deconstructed Brian's left-wing ethics in such a manner, claiming he only supports the less popular vote because he wants to stand out and be a contrarian. He has been shown to get particularly frustrated when he isn't appreciated and has a large tendency to boast about every activity he takes part in an excessive manner, even when the family are ignoring him completely.
- The first episode of Fillmore! has a boy named Tommy who is an artist who heavily craves attention and recognition for his work. He even falsely accuses himself of a crime so he can be in the spotlight.
- Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, with many storylines resulting from Bloo getting jealous of the attention received by other characters, then doing something Jerkass-ish in response. Several parts of his dialogue imply that his greatest fear is not being loved by anyone, a fear which Mac is shown to share sometimes. He probably even created Bloo for the sole purpose of having that NOT happen to him. Of course, Bloo's attempts to get the others to like him backfire more than just frequently.
- Futurama:
- Get Ace: Tina DeVeer wants stardom and feels entitled to it. As a result, half of Ace's ill-fated attempts to gain her affections are helping her with whatever she wants to do in the pursuit of fame and attention. This attitude seems to be fostered by her father, a very camp Stage Dad.
- Brett Hand in Inside Job (2021) is a Ridiculously Average Guy and painfully aware of it, going to extreme lengths to stand out among his peers as well as having developed a pathological need to be liked. Early on he mentions having joined 38 fraternities in college, and when he meets former frat brothers that don't think highly of him he doesn't hesitate to let them humiliate him in order to win their approval. He gradually gets better through Reagan's influence as well as therapy that he claims reduced his panic attacks.
- In Jem, this is Pizzazz's primary motivation. She's a spoiled Rich Bitch who wants to be famous and adored. Her violent hatred of Jem stems from the fact the Jem and the Holograms are more popular than the Misfits. Pizzazz has a Freudian Excuse behind it though. Her mother left when she was young and her father was distant growing up. The attention of fans is a substitute for the lack of affection she had growing up.
- Kaeloo:
- Pretty. She once claimed to be Driven to Suicide because of having a sister like Eugly (while Eugly was standing next to her) simply to get attention from Mr. Cat. She also has no problem with utterly humiliating Kaeloo, Stumpy, Quack Quack, and Mr. Cat to get more likes on Facebook parody site "Fakebook".
- Stumpy, especially in the later seasons. In one of the episodes, he is put on trial in court. To help him not face punishment, Mr. Cat (who is his lawyer) stages an incident so Quack Quack goes to prison instead of Stumpy; instead of being happy, Stumpy complains that Quack Quack stole the attention that he was supposed to get.
- Nombril is an interesting variant. She will do anything to get attention, including endangering herself. In most episodes she's depicted as only wanting the attention of one specific person, her older brother Stumpy, to the point where her catchphrase is "Stumpy, do you see me?" However it is suggested that she'll take attention from anyone, and she does things like standing first in line when her sisters line up at the train station so everyone on the train will see her entering first and she'll grab their attention.
- Bill Dauterive in King of the Hill is this whenever he does something successful or is liked and adored by others and continues to put time and effort on whatever he is doing until it eventually ruins him.
- The Equalist promoter in The Legend of Korra is said to be one, according to the official website.
- A possible tragic example of this trope is Clay Puppington, the self-centered father of Moral Orel This is especially apparent in the third season episode where we see his past. He thought himself the center of his mother's world, and was distraught when he learned he had several older siblings who were miscarried due to his mother's blithe ignorance of proper activities to do while pregnant (knitting: yes. going on roller coasters and trampolines: no). This caused the accidental death of his mother when he pretended to have died and gave her a heart attack. When his father ignored him after this, he deliberately and repeatedly goaded the man into hitting him, and now with his own son associates beatings with affection.
- Jake Spidermonkey from My Gym Partner's a Monkey.
"I NEED ATTENTION TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY!!!!!"
- The Owl House:
King: With my love of mayhem and Hooty’s desperate need for attention, this’ll be a cakewalk.
- Emperor Belos seems very much so. It's not enough for Belos to delude himself into thinking he's the hero, but he desperately wants everyone else to believe it too and shower him with admiration for it. He presents himself as a messianic figure to the Boiling Isles so he can get the worship he desires, but he longs even more to be admired by his fellow humans for what he sees as a noble crusade. While he's perfectly willing to murder Luz, he also frequently tries to convince her that he's the hero so he can finally have the admiration he craves - and lashes out when she refuses to buy into his bigotry and wounds his ego by calling him out on his crimes.
- Otto Rocket from Rocket Power certainly qualifies for this trope. As if being a competitive, arrogant jerk wasn't enough, he's a complete show-off who always wants everyone to notice him for his skate moves. He's at his worst with this in "Reggie's Big (Beach) Break''.
- Angelica from Rugrats is a Spoiled Brat of the first order, frequently pushing away the rest of the babies when she thinks the spotlight is being taken off of her. While the babies are the most frequent targets of her wrath, Angelica's craving for attention can even extend to being mean to adults, such as screaming at the host of a talent show when she thinks she hasn't been given enough time. This is often shown to be the result of her pushover parents giving Angelica everything she wants without ever disciplining her for anything.
- Vana in Sidekick likes to be the center of attention and won't accept that someone else is getting more attention than her.
- Bart from The Simpsons is very much this.
- Epitomized in "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", where his suggestions for (unflattering) names for Lisa's doll made to compete against Malibu Stacy fall on deaf ears, he drops all pretenses, leaving him desperately crying out for attention and demanding everyone to look at him.
- It's also emphasized heavily in the non-canon story in "Treehouse of Horror II":
Dr. J. Loren Pryor: The way I see it, Bart, you crave attention. Am I right?
Bart: Hell, yes!
Pryor: The problem is, you don't care whether it's good attention, like getting good grades in school, or bad attention, like, oh say, turning your father into a jack-in-the-box.
- Lisa also has shades of this. Lisa has an almost pathological need for approval, and resents Bart's status as firstborn, the son of the family, and how even his minor accomplishments are given more attention than anything she does, because as a Child Prodigy, she's expected to excel at everything. As a consequence there are quite a handful of episodes where Bart is succeeding at life, but Lisa will grow jealous/resentful and the episode will end with Bart giving up what he loves to make her happy.
- In "Treehouse of Horror VI", specifically "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", the ad company executive claims this is true of the giant advertising mascots and advertisements in general, and that they need attention to live; if people stop paying attention to them, they lose their power. (And indeed, isn't that how advertising works?) Of course, it's hard for the townsfolk not to give attention to a group of monsters destroying the city, but Lisa and Paul Anka are able to convince everyone to ignore them.
- South Park:
- Eric Cartman is depicted as a Spoiled Brat who wants attention focused on him at all times. Unfortunately for everyone else, he doesn't care if this attention is bad attention, so he frequently acts like a Jerkass to keep the focus on him.
- He has a habit of interrupting class just to say outrageous or ridiculous things, simply because it puts the spotlight on him. He'll insult Kenny and his family for being poor, call Stan's sister a slut, and insult Kyle for being Jewish, all while his teachers rarely punish him.
- He ends up Playing the Victim Card when he gets into a relationship with a girl named Heidi, threatening to kill himself if she breaks up with him. When she breaks up with him anyway, Cartman does nothing. It's shown that he only wanted Heidi around not because he particularly cared about her, but because it kept the focus just on him.
- In South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid, Butters says that Cartman's life as a miserable hobo in the new future is karma for all the heinous things he's done in his childhood. However, Cartman's marriage to Yentl really brought out the best in him, because she convinced Cartman to help Stan and Kyle despite the risk of losing his life's happiness. This is further evident by Cartman's depiction in the new timeline, where he becomes an alcoholic hobo spending his days yelling profanities at anyone that's slightly better off than him. Without Yentl's influence, Cartman never grew past being a hateful attention-grabbing bigot who blamed everyone but himself for his own misery, all so that he could keep Playing the Victim Card forever, all because it got him any kind of attention.
- "The F Word" deals with a bunch of attention-grabbing Harley-riding bikers so loud and obnoxious that Cartman was the first to call them out.
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- When Squidward's not keeping himself to himself, he's going around demanding people's attention by displaying interpretive dancing or playing his clarinet really loudly.
- Spongebob is a more indirect example. Often he is not so much narcissistic as he is demanding of other people's company and enthusiasm, making him very clingy and completely refusing to believe anyone could not want to hang around him.
- James the Red Engine from Thomas & Friends. He always wants to show that he's the best, and his accidents just seem to be a bit... more ridiculous than those that the other engines got into.
- Michelangelo from the 2K3 TMNT cartoon is a friendly version of this.
- Total Drama:
- The theme song lampshades it quite well.
"You asked me what I wanted to be, now I think the answer is plain to see: I wanna be famous."
- TripTank has a recurring sketch called Suicidal Attention Whore Chicken which is...well about a chicken who nearly kills himself just to be the center of attention.
- This is a big plot point of an episode of Wander over Yonder. A race of Viking-expy anthropomorphic sheep-men are being besieged by a Troll, an actual troll with all the behaviors of a dreaded Internet troll. The troll attacks their great hall and feeds off of the anger he incites with his insults, making him grow to enormous size. Wander doesn't even attack him, and completely blows off his insults, weakening him. Soon Sylvia and the sheep-men realize what Wander is doing, i.e., "don't feed the troll", and ignore the troll as well. He shrinks back down to the small-rodent-size he originally was and Wander simply covers him with a teacup to drown out his cries for attention.
- Winx Club:
- Stella is one. While she is a good person at heart, she always wants her friends to say how good she is. At one point she makes fake emergency calls to her friends so that they can attend her make-shift fashion show.
- Lorelei in World of Winx was hired to replace Bloom as co-host. Unfortunately for the other Winx, Lorelei is a pushy Genki Girl who sees herself as a star.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- Rainbow Dash can slip into becoming a real attention horse at times, up to the point that in the episode "The Mysterious Mare Do Well", she puts everypony in danger by insisting on shouting her new catchphrase instead of saving them from accidents. It's later shown that her personality stems from having two overly supportive parents who always cheer her on and call her the best at everything she does, no matter how mundane.
- Rarity spent all of the episode "Sonic Rainboom" attempting to get more attention than her mystically-created butterfly wings already did, culminating in her going too close to the Sun and doing an impression of Icarus.
- Even Pinkie Pie will slip into this if anyone dares to ignore her or reject her friendship. There are two episodes dedicated to this, where Pinkie uses copious amounts of Cartoon Physics and borderline reality warping to mercilessly chase them all over Ponyville.
- Trixie Lulamoon has turned this kind of behavior into an income source.
- In Equestria Games; Ms. Harshwhinny assumes Spike is one for wanting to do "something really worthy of the Crystal Empire's admiration," when he's just attempting to make up for what he sees as a failure in the torch lighting ceremony.
- Bradley Nicholson from Milo Murphy's Law is envious of all the attention the main character gets, notwithstanding the fact that he gets that attention by being The Jinx.
- Ready Jet Go!: Due to his implied competitive upbringing and bully of a younger brother, Face 9000 gets jealous easily and is desperate for attention. He always wants his owners to like him. In one episode, he takes up comedy just so that they would pay attention to him for once. Made depressingly ironic by the fact that he got less focus over the course of the show.
