History Main / ButHeSoundsHandsome

* In ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'', when discussing TheMole, Spy described him as a "master at the art of [[TheInfiltration infiltrating]]" and a "skilled master of spies". This immediately caused Sgt. Ronald Army to suspect that Spy was really talking about himself. [[spoiler:[[RedHerringMole He]] [[SubvertedTrope wasn't]].]]

* In ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', Orsino claims that no woman could possibly love as truly as he does. Viola, [[SweetPollyOliver disguised as a man]] and also hopelessly in love with him, begs to differ.

* In ''Theatre/HenryIVPart1'', Falstaff, playing the role of Hal's father the King, tells Hal about this wonderful fellow he's heard of called Falstaff. Hal, playing his father, says he's heard this Falstaff guy is a drunken knave. It's in this scene that it finally sinks it for Hal that he's going to need to stop hanging around with Falstaff.
* And again in ''Theatre/MeasureForMeasure'', where Lucio starts badmouthing the absent Duke to a monk, not realizing that the monk [[KingIncognito is the Duke in disguise]]. The monk replies to Lucio with a surprisingly minor version of this trope: he always heard the Duke pretty highly spoken-of. Becomes hilarious in the final scene, when Lucio tells the returned Duke about meeting a monk who said the most awful, slanderous things about him.
* In ''Theatre/CactusFlower'', Stephanie, playing the part of Mrs. Julian Winston in her first meeting with Toni, stoops to complimenting herself in the third person, if only because Toni has heard so much about her already:

* In ''Theatre/SomethingRotten'', Bea, dressed as a lawyer to defend her husband, declares, "The defendant's wife, who is surely a loving, kind, compassionate, patient woman--''(turns to the court reporter)'' Hey, make sure you write all that down!"

* In ''Alias the Magpie'' GentlemanThief Sir Rodney Playfair, aka the Magpie, is pretending to be famous psychiatrist Doctor Cornelius Drake [[ItMakesSenseInContext pretending to be famous Belgian detective]] [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Hermes Perroquet]]. During his wanderings, Lady Hamcester leads him to the Bunkham Hall collection room and asks him to investigate the disappearance of the jewelled scarab he came to steal.

** On the road back from completing your first major quest in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', the player has the option to do this:
-->'''Traveler:''' You been down south recently? You see them heroes everyone is talking about?\\

** Also, in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', Edwin accidentally transforms himself into a woman while trying to unlock the secrets of a magical scroll. While this is initially upsetting for him, it turns out to be advantageous later on when a wizard tasked with hunting him down and killing him doesn't realize who he is and lets him go. However, the other wizard soon figures out that something's not right, tracks the party down again, and accuses the female wizard of being Edwin in disguise. The response?
-->'''Edwin:''' Er...I am no Edwin, as you claim. I know him not. He sounds like a worthy mage of distinction, and I am probably weaker having not made his acquaintance. My name is...Celisa of Waterdeep. Yes, daughter of...Kur..Kurdall Al....Ale...Kurdall Aleconnor, a wealthy mead-maker and owner of a chain of festhalls. No Edwin in our midst I'm most sorry to say. Only Celisa Aleconnor. You'd best be off to capture this Edwin. He sounds like a formidable foe.
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'', Bruce Wayne is asked what he thinks about Batman. You can either play this trope straight by calling him a great hero, or invert it by calling him a lunatic that should be locked up.

* In the "Claptastic Journey" DLC from ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', [[spoiler:when you beat 5H4D0W-TP for the first time, Handsome Jack says "Shame he had to die, he was an impressive piece of code." You soon learn that it was 5H4D0W-TP imitating Jack in order to trick you into handing over the H-Source]].
* A variation occurs in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. The entire storyline is presented as [[FramingDevice Varric telling Hawke's tale after the fact]]. At one point in the game, Varric mows down wave after wave of surprisingly easy enemies, and then his brother Bartrand starts going on about how jealous he is of Varric for being "strong and handsome, and so very smart". During this speech, the scene shifts to Varric telling the story, making it clear that he's started making things up [[spoiler:because he doesn't want to think about what actually happened]].
* In ''[[https://fablesoft.itch.io/ellaria-cotton-cream Ellaria: Cotton & Cream]]'', the main characters get plot-relevant information from either an "oddly attractive bard" or a "sketchy yet oddly attractive man", both of whom are clear self-inserts of the narrator who's revealed in the good endings to be a GameMaster of a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''-like game.

** The Marauder quest line in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has an instance, where the guildmaster tasks you, with the assistance of his conjurer sister, to take out a nest of beasts, only to be accosted by other marauders - clearly the guildmaster and other unnamed members of the guild [[PaperThinDisguise with face-concealing helmets]]. The conjurer notes after beating them that he clearly couldn't have expected you to fall for such a simple disguise, but asks you to play dumb for the guildmaster's sake; when you return, almost [[INeverSaidItWasPoison without provocation]], he brings up that you did well to defeat "opponents of such formidable skill" and congratulates you for surpassing such "overwhelming odds".
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', when you do the Angel of the Slums quest, you encounter a village gossip in Sector 5 named Mireille who provides you information to help you on the quest, though she wouldn't give a Shinra reporter the time of day before. After you complete the quest, if you talk with her again, she comments that "You know, there's a rumor that the Angel of the Slums is as radiant and beautiful as she is daring. Personally, I think that one is true." The game drops several hints that Mireille is in fact the Angel of the Slums and outright confirms it if you complete another quest much later in the game.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', Xander tells Laslow in their supports that he's gotten complaints about "a certain royal retainer" hitting on the local women. Laslow's response?

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', BadLiar Flayn is secretly [[spoiler:the ancient Saint Cethleann. Whenever the subject of said saint comes up, she eagerly corrects the history books' "misconceptions" and discusses her virtues]].
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', Holst wonders about Claude's goal to improve Leicester's relationship with Almyra in their A Support. He asks if Claude wants Hilda (Holst's younger sister, and their family guards the border) to marry into the Almyran royal family. Claude attempts to dodge the question, and at one point refers to an Almyran prince whom Hilda would potentially marry as "that hypothetical heartthrob." [[spoiler:Claude himself is an Almyran prince, making it sound like he just called ''himself'' a heartthrob.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'' "Naxxramas" solo challenge, FinalBoss Kel'Thuzad taunts the player about each boss that they are about the face. When they finally reach Kel'Thuzad himself, he tells the player: "I hear the next boss is all-powerful... and very handsome."
* It's not shown in any of the games, but [[AdiposeRex King Dedede]] from the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' franchise speaks very highly of his alter ego, [[CoolMask Masked Dedede]], in [[https://twitter.com/Kirby_JP/status/1473488630794829825 a Tweet]] that's [[CharacterBlog in character as him]].

* A first-time player of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' may wonder why the hostage Donald Anderson is so quick to praise the intelligence and cunning of FOXHOUND, his captors. [[spoiler:He was really Decoy Octopus in disguise.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', [[spoiler:it turns out that the ADAM that Samus has been communicating with for possibly the entire game was really the BigBad intercepting the signal and impersonating the AI. While Raven Beak drops the act when giving a JoinOrDie speech just before the final boss fight, the twist is foreshadowed by "ADAM" starting to speak more and more highly of the Chozo warlord as the game progresses]].
* In the adventure game ''VideoGame/NellyCootalot: [[http://www.bigbluecup.com/games.php?action=detail&id=860 Spoonbeaks Ahoy]]'', the titular heroine at one point tells a society of Dignified Ladies that the pilot they'd hired to fly their poorly-built aircraft around the world wasn't coming. Later, she must disguise herself as the pilot; when the ladies tell Nelly-as-the-pilot what Nelly had said earlier, she replies "Damn that gorgeous liar!"
* Prime Minister Baldi, a "former" pirate himself, suggests the masked pirate that saves one of your exploration fleets early on in ''Neo Atlas 1469'' was "dependable" and "probably good with the ladies."
* In ''VideoGame/NightRipper'', you hear a DJ defending the titular SerialKiller for cleaning up the streets of the city. Later on, you find an unattended radio station in the serial killer's hideout. Do the math.
* Used in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', when the identity of the Phantom is revealed.
-->'''[[spoiler:Jasper:]]''' What? Why, I never! How dare you accuse me of being the rugged and romantic scoundrel that has thrilled and terrified audiences for years?
* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts 2}}'', Razputin can come across a memory of [[BigBadFriend Lucrecia Mux]], personified as a paper doll, in Cassie O'Pia's mind and ask her about the good old days of the Psychic Seven. While Cassie's good memories aren't fully tainted by Lucrecia's descent into evil and Paper Lucrecia is nothing but friendly towards Raz, Cassie can't help speak some of her resentment through the paper doll anyways.

* Early on during ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'', [[spoiler:the old lady that Ethan Winters encounters a few times comes across as a crazy, yet devout follower of Miranda, who happens to be the BigBad. Like the few remaining villagers Ethan meets, the old lady recites a prayer to give glory to Miranda. Much later on, it's revealed that the old lady was Miranda all along, thanks to her ability of VoluntaryShapeshifting. As if the cutscene shortly after Heisenberg's death didn't cement her as self-centered, her prior statements in her old lady disguise makes her come across as even ''more'' arrogant, giving herself praise and being her own hype woman. She is also a MadScientist that secretly subjugated her entire village to numerous horrific experiments for decades, all to revive her daughter Eva. As the old lady, the fact that Miranda states the following part of her own prayer could mean that whether her test subjects lived or died, they should be grateful for her getting closer to her ultimate goal]]:

* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'', a petitioner visits the main character's castle and asks for the great hero, not knowing that that's exactly who he's speaking to. The main character can admit to their identity, mention that "he's so unbelievably cool" or in the [[HeroicSelfDeprecation inverse of this trope]] declare that "he's nothing special".

* A meta example occurs in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' if the player enters "[[Creator/TobyFox TOBY]]" during Mettaton's essay prompts.

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** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': James Bond impersonates Francisco Scaramanga and talks with Scaramanga's employer. During the talk, Bond warns the man about James Bond and plays up his skills, although Scaramanga would [[WorthyOpponent likely agree with everything Bond says g himself]].

** [[https://dilbert.com/strip/2011-08-07 In another strip]], the Pointed Haired Boss hires Dogbert's firm to persuade the media to write negative stories about their competitor. When Dilbert asks about if this is ethical, Dogbert assures him that their competitor is already doing it, since they already have hired a firm to do just that. When Dilbert then asks who did they hire, Dogbert just says is probably someone awesome.

* A common [[MemeticMutation joke]] in Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s fandoms is for people to photoshop {{Paper Thin Disguise}}s of [[LyingCreator Todd Howard]] to hype up whatever game (''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', ''VideoGame/Fallout76'', etc.) they're planning on rereleasing for whatever platform ([[UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch Switch]], UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, [[UsefulNotes/Commodore64 Commodore]] [[{{Retraux}} 64]], etc).

** [[spoiler: Vicki Vale plays it straight. After her article on the Children of Arkham comes out, she tells Bruce that the Children were fighting for the noble cause of rooting out corruption in Gotham. She turns out to not only be a member of the group, but its leader — which leads to FridgeBrilliance when the truth is revealed, since when she interviewed the leader, she was actually interviewing herself.]]

* Inverted in ''Literature/TheYoungDiana'', the titular middle-aged spinster drinks an elixir that turns her into a beautiful young woman. When a friend of her father's asks if she's any relation to his friend's daughter, Diana says, "Women over forty who have failed to get married shouldn't live! Don't you agree?"

* ''ComicBook/{{Robin}} In ''ComicBook/Robin1993'', [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]] mentions the former Robin looking more "graceful" and built like an athlete in comparison to [[Characters/SupermanConnerKent Conner]] dressed as Robin when trying to convince Darla Aquista that said Robin (himself) is dead, so she doesn't need to keep trying to kill him.

* This was used pretty frequently in ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', with him out of disguise saying something along the lines of "Now now, we can't all be the Flash".
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' occasionally plays this trope straight (especially in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}) but more often plays it in reverse, sometimes even using Clark to voice his regrets in the form of criticism. In the novelization of ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' in fact, having just learned Superman's secret, journalists everywhere are amazed at how balanced a presentation the Daily Planet gave of Superman given that most of the articles about him were written by him or his wife.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In ''ComicBook/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' #245, the Chameleon plays it straight in one panel and inverts it in the next when he comes after Mary Jane, disguised as Spider-Man: starting off with "He's one of the toughest foes I've ever faced" and then calling himself a "strait-jacketed loser".
** In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeAndDitko'', Peter would [[InvertedTrope bash Spider-Man]] anytime he was asked for his opinion on him.
** Similarly, Spider-Man will occasionally claim that he hates the guy who keeps selling pictures of him to the Daily Bugle.
** A few times during ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan2013'', Spider-Man (really Otto Octavius playing GrandTheftMe with Spider-Man's body) would defend [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] as "the greatest enemy [he] ever faced" whenever someone else put Ock down.

* Both ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules and [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] (though mostly Hercules) do a bit of this at each other's expense right before the [[CostumeCopycat Hercuthor vs. Thorcules]] fight.

* ''ComicBook/BillyBatsonAndTheMagicOfShazam'' has an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion of the usual way this plays out: Billy (an orphan) uses his OlderAlterEgo for any situation that requires a parent's involvement, including enrolling himself and his AnnoyingYoungerSibling in school:

* In ''ComicBook/Robin1993'', Tim Drake mentions the former Robin looking more "graceful" and built like an athlete in comparison to [[Characters/SupermanConnerKent Conner]] dressed as Robin when trying to convince Darla Aquista that said Robin (himself) is dead, so she doesn't need to keep trying to kill him.
* ''ComicBook/ScoobyDooTeamUp'': El Kabong describes Quick Draw [=McGraw=] as "that world-famous and staggeringly handsome lawman".

* The LemonyNarrator of ''ComicBook/VenomTheEnd'' makes a joke about "God forbid the world ever had to do without [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]]]], eh?" as they narrate how his {{Artificial Intelligence}}s were among the many to survive into the twilight days of biological life. At first this sounds like SelfDeprecation on Creator/{{Marvel}}'s part... until the end of the story, when it is revealed that [[spoiler:the narrator is an A.I. descended from Stark, and thus they were actually describing themselves]].
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': During the Golden Age ([[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]], ''ComicBook/SensationComics'', ''ComicBook/ComicCavalcade'' and ''ComicBook/AllStarComics''), Di talked up Diana Prince as Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman as Di to Steve in order to try and figure out if he knew her secret identity, and if he loved her as both. His answers, which always had him claiming to love Wonder Woman, and conveniently timed distractions preventing his answers are a large part of why a subset of the fandom believes he always knew but didn't want to admit it at the time for a slew of reasons.

* In ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' (chapter 42), Sun Wukong takes the appearance of the father of Hong Hai'er, a monster who kidnapped his master. Under this disguise, he tells the monster that Sun Wukong is an unrivaled fighter.

* In Roman mythology (as described by Creator/{{Ovid}} in his ''Literature/{{Metamorphoses}}'') Vertumnus, the god of season, plant growth, and change, used this trick to praise himself disguised as an old woman and win the heart of Pomona, a wood nymph and a goddess of fruits and gardening. This makes the trope OlderThanPrint.
* OlderThanDirt, even. [[Literature/TheBible Numbers 12:3]] says, "Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth." Guess who wrote Numbers. (Assuming he, and not Joshua or someone else, wrote that bit.)
** Famously, in the [[Literature/TheFourGospels Gospel of John]], John never refers to himself by name but only as "the disciple whom Jesus loved". (Although some see this as a form of humility rather than boastfulness.) There's also an amusing bit in chapter 20, where the otherwise highly-theological book takes a moment to point out that "the other disciple" beat Peter in a footrace.

* Uncle Negi from ''Literature/{{Anpanman}}'' will happily comment on how handsome and amazing his Zorro-esque alter ego Naganegiman is. Whenever Naganegiman leaves the scene, Uncle Negi pops up nearby, commenting on him. When people talk about Naganegiman's awesomeness around Uncle Negi, he has a tendency to just melt...and everyone else wonders what the heck he's doing.

* An odd version comes up in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''. A running gag in the second season is someone (usually Krillan) references another character with the other person saying something along the lines of "I do not know what this is, but it sounds awful". The trope comes into play with the Bardock film when Bardock points out how Lord Chill is a lot like Freeza (Chill's distant descendant) to which Chill responds "I don't know what this Freeza is but it sounds like a classy lady!"

** A few times during ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', Spider-Man (really Otto Octavius playing GrandTheftMe with Spider-Man's body) would defend [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] as "the greatest enemy [he] ever faced" whenever someone else put Ock down.