History Main / AcquiredSituationalNarcissism

-> '''Lisa''': I became the most popular girl in school, but blew it by being conceited.
-->--''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Eight Misbehavin'", explaining this trope.

** [[YourMileageMayVary Debatable,]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation It could also be argued that]] [[ThrowTheDogABone Peter taking any enjoyment in Spidey's popularity]] [[ItsAllAboutMe is a personal attack against her.]]

See also InWithTheInCrowd, LonelyAtTheTop, DrunkWithPower. DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery and {{Bridezilla}} are {{Sub Trope}}s.

-> '''Homer''': Man, the last nine months sure were crazy.
-> '''Bart''': I'll say. I learned the true meaning of Columbus Day.
-> '''Marge''': I enjoyed a brief but memorable stint as Sideshow Marge.

* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' where Spongebob acts like this after barely appearing in a commercial, oblivious to the fact that he ''isn't'' famous.

* In one of the StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers stories, Mor glasch Tev serves as "captain" on a holographic training voyage for a group of cadets. The power certainly goes to his head a bit. Its actually SerialEscalation seeing how puffed-up and full of himself Tev is in the first place. To the horror of Fabian Stevens, he ends up even worse after getting a short taste of command.

* Speedy in the ''SamuraiPizzaCats'' episode "A Little Bit O' Luck". When he got rich, he ditched his job at the Pizza Parlour, harshly insulted Polly and Guido and generally acted like a jerk. At the end of the episode, Speedy reconciled with his friends who stuck him with some pretty mean chores to make it up to them.
* Abyo from ''{{Pucca}}'' is ''always'' a bit arrogant and self-absorbed, but in the episode "Fab Abyo", it's cranked to 11 when he's selected as the Chosen One for the House of Sha-Lo and essentially turned into a Korean pop star.

* 2 episodes of ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'' centered around this trope:
** "Monster Gumbo": Blanche's gumbo recipe becomes popular enough for her classmates to sell it and raise money, which, of course, inflates her ego and makes her bossy towards her friends.
** "Night Of The Living Dad": Embarrassed by the idea of having his dad attend the school talent show, Frankentyke makes a fake father, and uses a brain in a jar labeled "Agent" (talent agent, not secret agent). The fake dad makes changes to Vinnie's band, which Frankentyke was a part of, and makes the little guy the face of the band, which makes Frankentyke narcissistic in the process.

* Subverted in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. Various characters, in particular The Daily Prophet accuse Harry of exhibiting this though in actuality he doesn't at all, and [[IJustWantToBeNormal he just wants to be normal]]. Ron actually thinks Harry's developing this in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'' though he ultimately relents.

* One is bound to find this typical plot in just about any show on Nickelodeon, which prides itself on ThisLoserIsYou protagonists.
** Used in the ''SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Driven to Tears".
* Butch Hartman did this so many times on ''TheFairlyOddparents'', Timmy soon became an out and out {{Jerkass}}. Though not used nearly as incessantly, the plot [[RecycledScript found its way]] into ''DannyPhantom,'' in "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" and "Lucky in Love".

* ''NeverBeenKissed'' - Josie, once she is with the popular kids.
** Although she doesn't want to do it, [[ExecutiveMeddling the editors force her]].

** In "A Shot In The Dark" Richie made a last-second lucky shot winning a basketball game. He was hailed as a hero and it went to his head. Later, in the championship game he by misses a free throw and comes back down to earth. [[hottip:*:His father gives him some Life Savers to make him feel better, referring to an over-shown Life Savers commercial which was running at that time.]]

* Latka turning into "Vic Ferrari" on ''{{Taxi}}''

* When Larry Sanders' sidekick, Hank Kingsley, is allowed to guest host ''TheLarrySandersShow'', his ever-large ego takes over.

* Michaels did it again in January 2010, when he and TripleH were in the D-Generation X faction for the final time in their careers. DX were in the ring, boasting about how they were going to be the last two men left in the upcoming Royal Rumble Match - and Michaels swore that he would win the match and go on to defeat TheUndertaker at ''[=WrestleMania=] XXVI'' for the World Heavyweight Championship. [[ReyMysterioJr Rey Mysterio]] came down to the ring to rebut this, pointing out that he was challenging 'Taker for the title at the ''Royal Rumble'' and acting insulted that Michaels assumed that 'Taker would still be champion afterward. Michaels responded by telling Mysterio that he had no business being in the ring because ''Hornswoggle wasn't there''! This insult was not only cruel but very stupid, since the one time Rey Mysterio and Shawn Michaels had wrestled one-on-one (at a tribute show for EddieGuerrero), ''Mysterio had won''!
* A really gratuitous female example just before ''[=WrestleMania=] XX''. ''[=SmackDown!=]'' Divas Rena Mero (better known as "{{Sable}}") and Torrie Wilson were appearing as cover girls for ''Playboy'' for the second time in each of their careers; ''[=Raw=]'' Divas Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie became jealous of the attention that Sable and Torrie were getting, and claimed that they were the sexier Divas. (It was all very strange because not only was this out-of-character behavior for Stacy and Jackie, but in Stacy's case it was downright hypocritical because ''Playboy'' had asked her to pose for them several times and ''she'd repeatedly turned them down''!) The matter was finally settled with a ''Playboy'' Evening Gown Match at ''[=WrestleMania=]'' - in which, instead of trying to strip each others' gowns off, the girls voluntarily stripped off their gowns ''before'' the match and wrestled under regular rules in their underwear. Jackie showed the most apparent heelish tendencies and arrogantly tried to leave the ring with her gown still on, so Sable and Torrie grabbed her and stripped her themselves, forcing her to join the match after all. Stacy and Jackie ended up losing the match when Torrie pinned Jackie in a humiliating fashion, giving her panties a wedgie for good measure. The next night on ''Monday Night Raw'', Jackie appeared to turn heel when she attacked Stacy before their match for the evening - but the match was interrupted and then cancelled by Vince [=McMahon=], who came down to the ring to make an announcement about the upcoming WWE Draft. Stacy and Jackie's storyline was never brought up again, and both girls remained faces for the remainder of their WWE careers.

* Subverted in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. Various characters, in particular The Daily Prophet accuse Harry of exhibiting this though in actuality he doesn't at all, and [[IJustWantToBeNormal he just wants to be normal]]. Ron actually thinks Harry's developing this in ''GobletOfFire'' though he ultimately relents.

* In the movie ''ThePrincessDiaries'' the main character gets a makeover and instantly heads straight for the local JerkJock, ignoring the nice guy entirely until the inevitable fallout.

* Parodied in an episode of ''SpongeBobSquarePants'' where Spongebob acts like this after barely appearing in a commercial, oblivious to the fact that he ''isn't'' famous.
* In TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003, Michelangelo wins the prestigious title of Battle Nexus Champion, and lords it over his brothers (''especially'' Raphael, whom he defeated in the process). But he won one match by forfeit, and the final by ''pure luck''. That doesn't stop him from bringing it up constantly for the entire next ''season''. Of course, he gets his comeuppance when his final opponent challenges him to a rematch -- and [[FailsafeFailure breaks the safety spell on the ring]]. Mikey finally has to admit he wasn't quite as confident as he pretended, and begs them for help training. [[spoiler: Of course, then Michelangelo wins fairly -- and lords it over everyone for the rest of the ''series.'']]