Basic Trope: The Protagonist of a work is portrayed as more insecure, while The Antagonist has more of an ego.
- Straight: Hiro — The Hero of Trope Wars — is rather insecure and engages in a lot of Heroic Self-Deprecation. Emperor Evulz, the Big Bad, believes in It's All About Me.
- Exaggerated: Hiro absolutely hates himself, and Evulz thinks he's the greatest person in the world.
- Downplayed:
- Both Hiro and Evulz have their insecurities, but Hiro expresses them a lot more.
- Hiro and Evulz can both have their moments of arrogance, but Evulz is far more of an egotist.
- Evulz has occasional moments of boasting, while Hiro is more of a Humble Hero.
- Justified: ???
- Inverted: Hiro is an arrogant protagonist, and Evulz is a Villainous Underdog.
- Subverted: ???
- Double Subverted: ???
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Both Hiro and Evulz are equally arrogant, or equally insecure.
- Enforced:
- The writers are trying to set up a hero/villain dynamic.
- The creators of the work want to make Hiro more likable and relatable to the audience, and they're aware that people can usually relate to having insecurities. Meanwhile, the creators want to set up Evulz as more of a Hate Sink, and feel that making him excessively arrogant is a good way to do so.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Lance deliberately has Hiro face off against Evulz because of how different their personalities are.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Have you ever noticed how villains in stories are usually really boastful, while the heroes tend to have more insecurities?"
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