Basic Trope: An insane person believes they are a famous historical figure.
- Straight: Bob goes insane and becomes convinced he's Napoléon Bonaparte.
- Exaggerated:
- The entire Troperville Mental Asylum is filled with nothing but people who think they're Napoleon.
- Bob goes insane and thinks he is god.
- The rest of Bob's family also go insane and believe they would be someone historical person around Napoleon: his wife Alice thinks that she is Joséphine de Beauharnais, his two stepchildren think that they are Eugene and Hortense de Beauharnais, his mother thinks that she is Letitia Bonaparte, his wife's greyhound thinks that he would be a little pug named Fortúne...
- Downplayed: Bob goes insane and becomes convinced he's the son of Napoléon Bonaparte.
- Justified:
- Bob was a student of French history and really interested in Napoleon, so when he snaps...
- Bob was turned into a Soul Jar for Napoleon, who is an Evil Sorcerer in the setting and plotting his return from the afterlife.
- Inverted: In an Alternate History, Napoleon goes crazy and becomes convinced he's a humble citizen named Bob.
- Subverted:
- Bob is seen wearing military uniforms, trying on various Napoleon hats, imitating a French accent...Turns out, he's just going as Napoleon for Halloween.
- Bob thinks he's Lodewijk Napoleon, Konijn van 'Olland.
- It turns out that Bob really is Napoleon, or the reincarnation of him.
- Double Subverted: Then Bob slips and hits his head, and deduces from his clothing that he must be Napoleon.
- Parodied: Bob goes to France, tries to declare himself Emperor... And succeeds!
- Bob has this delusion before Napoleon existed. People recognize him as insane but have no idea who he thinks he is.
- Zig Zagged: Bob slips in and out of the delusion depending on how much stress he's under, and if he's taken his meds.
- Averted: No insane character claims the identity of any historical figure.
- Enforced: "How do we make this character easily identifiable as crazy?" "Have him claim to be Napoleon?" "Brilliant!"
- Lampshaded: "Hey look, the town crazy's claiming to be Napoleon. They do that a lot."
- Invoked: A villainous psychiatrist uses hypnosis and psychological manipulation to drive Bob into the delusion that he's Napoleon.
- Exploited: Bob is a spy tasked with infiltrating an asylum, so he pretends to be a crazy person who thinks he's Napoleon.
- Defied: Bob works out that he cannot possibly be Napoleon—therefore, the thoughts that are telling him he's Napoleon must be being beamed into his brain by CIA satellites.
- Discussed: "A lot of crazies think they're Napoleon, don't they?"
- Conversed: "Hey, you ever notice that most crazies on TV claim to be Napoleon?"
- Implied: After Bob goes insane, he starts wearing formal military clothing and the famous hat, but never declares himself Napoleon.
- Deconstructed:
- When hearing that Napoleon is dead for quite a long time, Bob starts thinking he is only a ghost, and finally starves since he thinks he wouldn't have to eat anymore.
- Bob lives in the Napoleonic Age and is believed to plot a coup against the real Napoleon, gets caught, imprisoned and executed for treason against the Emperor.
- Reconstructed:
- Devastated by Bob's death, his friend Charlie also snaps and believes to be Napoleon since his delusion came out of the loss of his friend who believed this.
- The execution of Bob leads to other rebels trying deposing Napoleon this way and one of them succeeds, creating an Alternate History.
- Played For Laughs:
- In order to convince Bob to stop resisting their attempts to take him to a mental hospital, Bob's two friends dress up as The Duke of Wellington and Horatio Nelson and challenge him to "battle", then when he accepts they tackle him and tie him up. Bob rationalizes that he just lost the battle of Waterloo and agrees to go to his "exile in St. Helena" (the psychiatric ward).
- Despite not being the real Napoleon, and not even being French, Bob moves to Paris and becomes so popular that he is actually crowned Emperor.
- Played For Drama:
- Bob lives in France in the Napoleonic era. The news of him walking around freely, wearing the emperor's usual clothing and telling everyone he would be Napoleon get to the real Napoleon who believes him to be an impostor plotting to replace him. Bob gets on the radar of Napoleon's police and has to flee without getting caught now.
- Bob thinks the president of France would be an usurper of his rightful position. He becomes a terrorist with the goal to depose the democratic government of France.
- Plotted a Good Waste: Bob is treated like a perfectly normal guy anyway.
I, Emperor Napoleon, command you to go back to Napoleon Delusion! And no, my name is not Bob!
