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Anime & Manga
Meta Knight: Me? A minifigure?
Tiff: Yeah, but they're planning to increase sales by only sticking a few of your figures in the snacks!
Meta Knight: Hmm. So, they think my minifigure will be... popular.
Tiff: Huh?
Meta Knight: Hmm... I like that.
Tiff: Yeah, but they're planning to increase sales by only sticking a few of your figures in the snacks!
Meta Knight: Hmm. So, they think my minifigure will be... popular.
Tiff: Huh?
Meta Knight: Hmm... I like that.
Jessie: I'll always remember what a wonderful dresser you were.
James: So will I!
James: So will I!
Comic Strips
Dilbert: Do you think maybe your ego is out of control, Dogbert?
Dogbert: I like it that way.
Dogbert: I like it that way.
— Dilbert
Fan Works
Chloe Torchwick: I mean, [Neo]'s always happy to see you. And I don't blame her.
Roman Torchwick: Well, of course, she's happy to see me. It's me.
Roman Torchwick: Well, of course, she's happy to see me. It's me.
Film — Animation
Right from the moment when I met her, saw her
I said she's gorgeous, and I fell
Here in town, there's only she
Who is beautiful as me
So I'm making plans to woo and marry Belle!
I said she's gorgeous, and I fell
Here in town, there's only she
Who is beautiful as me
So I'm making plans to woo and marry Belle!
— Gaston, Beauty and the Beast, "Belle"
"I could kiss me... but I'd fall in love."
— Sarousch, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II
Meticulous planning, tenacity spanning
Decades of denial is simply why I'll
Be king undisputed respected, saluted
And seen for the wonder I am!
Decades of denial is simply why I'll
Be king undisputed respected, saluted
And seen for the wonder I am!
— Scar, The Lion King (1994), "Be Prepared"
Magnifico's reflection: You're so brilliant.
King Magnifico: Ah, that's the least you could say. There's more, admit it.
Reflection 2: You're cute!
Reflection 3: And strong!
Reflection 4: And bold!
Reflection 5: And brave!
King Magnifico: Thanks!
King Magnifico: Ah, that's the least you could say. There's more, admit it.
Reflection 2: You're cute!
Reflection 3: And strong!
Reflection 4: And bold!
Reflection 5: And brave!
King Magnifico: Thanks!
—Wish (2023), "This is The Thanks I Get?!"
Film — Live-Action
"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? THAT'S what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."
"Mankind is made up of inferior creatures, spiritually and physically deformed, who would have corrupted the harmony of my perfect body."
— Travis Anderson, Bloody Pit of Horror
"Love! You don't love anybody! Me or anybody else! You want to be loved - that's all you want! 'I'm Charles Foster Kane. Whatever you want - just name it and it's yours! Only love me! Don't expect me to love you!'"
— Susan Alexander Kane, Citizen Kane
"He loves it. His power, the music, the little boys. It's his Heaven on Earth."
— Ursel on Paul Schafer, The Colony (2016)
Tony: [reading a report on himself] "Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior." In my own defense, that was a week ago. "Prone to self-destructive tendencies." I was dying, I mean please. And hey, aren't we all? "Textbook... narcissism"? [looks up at Fury]
Fury: [glares back]
Tony: [looks back down at folder] Agreed...
Fury: [glares back]
Tony: [looks back down at folder] Agreed...
John Kildare: Why would anybody be surprised? The world is full of men like you, Mr. Gissing.
George Gissing: I beg your pardon?
Kildare: Men who feign generosity when what they really seek is congratulation. Men who play God by saving lives. Is it really so different, I wonder, from playing God by taking them?
George Gissing: I beg your pardon?
Kildare: Men who feign generosity when what they really seek is congratulation. Men who play God by saving lives. Is it really so different, I wonder, from playing God by taking them?
"I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me... but I can't help it that I'm popular."
— Gretchen Wieners, Mean Girls
Regina George: You know Aaron really does like you. He's always talking about how unusual you are and it really pissed me off. Like this one time, I got this really expensive doll house from Germany, but I never played with it. So my mom wanted to give it to my cousin. But even though I didn't want it...
Cady Heron: You begged your mom to let you keep it?
Regina: No. I threw it down the stairs. I didn't want anyone else to have it. But that's just me.
Cady Heron: You begged your mom to let you keep it?
Regina: No. I threw it down the stairs. I didn't want anyone else to have it. But that's just me.
"A friend is a gift you give yourself."
— Lou Bloom, Nightcrawler
"Pavi's face will rule them all!"
— Pavi Largo, Repo! The Genetic Opera
"My destiny is to rule all others."
— Hela, Thor: Ragnarok
Rita: Not to give you a big head, but I kinda missed you.
Loveless: Well isn't that a coincidence. I kinda missed me too!
Literature
“The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one's narcissism. The narcissistic orientation is one in which one experiences as real only that which exists within oneself, while the phenomena in the outside world have no reality in themselves, but are experienced only from the viewpoint of their being useful or dangerous to one.”
— Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving
"You can call me what you like. Genius. Savant. Prodigy. Virtuoso. Once-in-a-lifetime intellect. I've always preferred that people look beyond who I am on the inside and really appreciate my gorgeous exterior."
— Eithan Arelius, Cradle Series book 9: Bloodline
"...I gave him a Mickey Finn," the robot explained. "He never looked at me once. I'm not exactly vain but a man so insensitive to beauty deserves a lesson. Now don't disturb me. I'm going into the kitchen and practice dancing, and you can get your own liquor out of the organ. You may come and watch me if you like."
— "Gallegher Plus", by Henry Kuttner
Snape: My Lord, you have performed extraordinary magic with that wand.
Lord Voldemort: No, I have performed my usual magic. I am extraordinary but this wand resists me.
"The silent killer of all great men and women of achievement - particularly men, I don't know why, maybe it's the testosterone - I think it's narcissism. Even more than hubris. And for women, too. Narcissism is the killer."
The Cat: You mean none of this is real? None of this actually exists?
Rimmer: Of course it doesn't! Fire-breathing yaks? Eight-foot-all Nordic goddesses? A castle surrounded by a moat of milk? Is any of it even remotely tinged with credibility? I don't understand how you could even believe it was! I mean, at least our fantasies were possible. Perhaps not likely, but possible. But yours is just totally preposterous. It's like a Gothic fairy-tale. How come you didn't suspect anything? Didn't you think it was a little bit odd the way you just acquired all this?
The Cat: I just thought I deserved it.
Lister: Deserved it?
The Cat: Because I'm so good-looking.
— Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
"For the most part people are not curious except about themselves."
— The Winter of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck
Live-Action TV
Lorne (to Angel): C'mon, Gorgeous, you can stare at yourself in my grandmother's glass eye.
— Angel
Britta: You're a textbook narcissist.
Jeff: Please. I'm an exceptional narcissist.
Cat: So I'm the object of my own desires?
Shapeshifter!Cat: Is there anyone more deserving?
Music
That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.
— The Narcissist's Prayer
I wish I wasn't such a narcissist
I wish I didn't really kiss
The mirror when I'm on my own
Oh God, I'm going to die alone
I wish I didn't really kiss
The mirror when I'm on my own
Oh God, I'm going to die alone
— Marina Diamandis, "Teen Idle"
You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf, it was apricot
You had one eye on the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf, it was apricot
You had one eye on the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte
— Carly Simon, "You're So Vain"
He falls in love with his reflection in the glass
He can't resist who's staring back
He makes a case
That all you've ever needed is a pretty face
But the bottom line about it is a 'never was' is all he'll ever be
He can't resist, the paranoid delusions of a Narcissist
It doesn't matter anyway 'cause he's a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Of make believe
He can't resist who's staring back
He makes a case
That all you've ever needed is a pretty face
But the bottom line about it is a 'never was' is all he'll ever be
He can't resist, the paranoid delusions of a Narcissist
It doesn't matter anyway 'cause he's a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Of make believe
— Hedley, "Narcissist"
"I look like Jesus, so they say
But Mr. Jesus is very far away
Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true
That you love me and I love me"
But Mr. Jesus is very far away
Now you're the only one here who can tell me if it's true
That you love me and I love me"
—They Might Be Giants, "Kiss Me, Son of God"
Professional Wrestling
"We wanted to give you something to play with after I take your title at Extreme Rules... But... I know how you are, I heard what you said earlier: (mocking Charlotte Flair) I don't need anyone, I don't need friends 'cause I'm the Queen." But... everyone deserves a friend. Even a narcissistic, self-absorbed bitch like you."
Thea Hail: Listen, blondie! All you care about is yourself, your things, your fancy hair, your fancy nails, your makeup, your cars, your everything about you! And all I care about is Chase U. We open our arms to anyone and everyone, we don't care about your background, your size, your shape, or anything! And if you're not down with that, I got two words for ya...
Tiffany Stratton: Let me guess...Chase U?
Thea Hail: (breathes) No. SUCK IT!
Tiffany Stratton: Let me guess...Chase U?
Thea Hail: (breathes) No. SUCK IT!
—''WWE NXT, February 7, 2023
Tabletop Games
A narcissist is someone in love with himself; this goes beyond vanity and pride, and into the realm of solipsism and pronoia. A blood bather highlighting this theme believes the "little people" should be glad to die in order to prolong his life; the notion that he should die because all things die is, of course, utterly inimical to him. Not all blood bathers are quite this egocentric, but as mentioned earlier, it takes a special kind of mindset to see a Ritual involving exsanguination and immersion in blood as a good idea. A blood bather is often convinced that he, and only he in all of recorded history, has been clever and persistent enough to uncover the great secret of the Bathing Ritual. In fact, of course, he hasn't uncovered so much as mutated it, but even if the character knew that, he'd probably feel the same way ("Only I could have altered this ancient gobbledygook to make it useful!").
Video Games
"Heh, it's strange, but the thought of not being driven by external validation is unthinkable, like I actually cannot conceive of what that would be like!"
—Davey Wreden, The Beginner's Guide
"I am strong. I am wise. I am lovely. And most importantly, I am right! ...Me! No one else!"
— Narcian, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
"I noticed that... your eyes are like mirrors, which makes them doubly pleasing to me. It allows me to admire my reflection without need for a looking glass."
— Gann, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
"How was that? Perfect, like me?"
— Rouge the Bat when she gets an A-rank in Sonic Adventure 2
Web Animation
Striker: It’s a classic.
[A statue of Striker with a huge erection is shown. Striker scoffs and throws his hat on it]
Striker: Are you seriously judging me right now?
"God, I can't get over how amazing I am. Narcissus would be so jealous."
— Ouro Kronii, hololive
Webcomics
Zoé: Have you even considered some things are more important than your whims?
Domenico: No! That would be absurd! My whims are titanic in scope!
Domenico: No! That would be absurd! My whims are titanic in scope!
"I am terrified I will meet my clone and treat myself the way I treat other people."
Web Original
Rubber Soul: I'm Rubber Soul!
(Rubber Soul reveals himself.)
Rubber Soul: And this is my real identity, Rubber Soul, Mr. Damn Handsome.
Jotaro: (thinking) What's with this guy? He's annoying.
Rubber Soul: Huh? What was that? There's something on my face? What is it? Huh? Handsome? Hehaha! Handsome on my face. Huhuhuhu! Seriously?! Oh man! Hahaha, Handsome on it, oh man! Can wash that off. Nah, no way, it's Handsome after a...
Jotaro: ORA!
(Star Platinum decks Rubber Soul in the face.)
Jotaro: You're pretty damn irritating!
(Star Platinum pummels Rubber Soul some more.)
(Rubber Soul reveals himself.)
Rubber Soul: And this is my real identity, Rubber Soul, Mr. Damn Handsome.
Jotaro: (thinking) What's with this guy? He's annoying.
Rubber Soul: Huh? What was that? There's something on my face? What is it? Huh? Handsome? Hehaha! Handsome on my face. Huhuhuhu! Seriously?! Oh man! Hahaha, Handsome on it, oh man! Can wash that off. Nah, no way, it's Handsome after a...
Jotaro: ORA!
(Star Platinum decks Rubber Soul in the face.)
Jotaro: You're pretty damn irritating!
(Star Platinum pummels Rubber Soul some more.)
"HHH brought a casket to ringside. Inside the coffin was everyone’s favorite CPR dummy turned pro wrestling character, Katie Vick... He then brought her into the ring, and did the worst ventriliquist [sic] act in the history of man. Somewhere, Sherri Lewis was rolling over in her grave. As if this wasn’t horrendous enough, “Katie” had to compliment HHH on being a stud and talk about Kane’s genital ineptitude. You know, if you need to have a MANNEQUIN, voiced by YOURSELF, put over your bedroom prowess, you just MIGHT have an ego problem."
Western Animation
Megatron: ...yeeesss.
Blacharachnia: Why do you always talk to yourself?
Megatron: I simply have a penchant for intelligent conversation.
Captain Zapp Brannigan: [surprises Leela in bed] How about I help you finish that dream you were having about me?
Leela: Okay. I was just at this part. Yaaa! [punches Zapp in the face]
Captain Zapp Brannigan: Uh, let's try that a little lower and a lot softer.
— Futurama
"I did once try to kill the world's greatest lover - but then, I realized there are laws against suicide."
— Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons, "Brother from Another Series"
"Sometimes, it's really tiring to be such a large and splendid engine. One does have to keep up appearances so."
— Gordon the Big Engine, Thomas & Friends, "Off the Rails / Gordon Takes a Dip"
Real Life
"Know, O King, that I am King of Kings, and superior to all, who are under the sky. You are now permitted to greet me, on my arrival, and to receive me with magnificence, as befits my nobility."
— Hugh I, Count of Vermandois to Alexios I Komnenos, Eastern Roman Emperor
