That Liar Lies

aka: You Lie

"Look, I don't wanna call you a liar, but ... I don't know how to finish that sentence."

— Bart Simpson, The Simpsons

This trope is when a character flatly accuses another of outright lying. This can be phrased in different ways: "You lie," "That's a lie," "You're lying", "You are telling a lie," "You're a lying liar that lies," etc.

This is usually the response to a trope from the Family Twists Index. This can happen either while the receiver is speaking or when he is not speaking. Occurs when a character speaks Blatant Lies and another character knows that he is lying. Often Played for Drama. Common in trial scenes when some witness has just attributed an incriminating remark to another person present. See also Suspiciously Specific Denial and Villains Never Lie. Contrast I Lied. See also Liar's Paradox.

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Examples:

Advertising

• This DirecTV ad starring Danny DeVito. Notable for how into it he gets.
• A GEICO spot had two guys from a competing insurance company making claims about what their policies offer, concluding with the two standing there with their pants on fire.

Anime & Manga

• In Aruosumente, Jasmin flat-out says that Lante is a good liar, giving the first hint that Lante may not be what he seems.
• Bleach: In chapter 397 Ichigo calls Aizen a "liar" after being told that he planned all of Ichigo's fights from the beginning. Aizen points out the flaw in Ichigo's logic that's a lie for contradicting what he said earlier when Ichigo himself pointed out how worthless Aizen's word is.
• Dragon Ball Z:
  • Burter (to Goku): "YOU LIE! HOW CAN SOME STUPID SAIYAN MONKEY EVER BE FASTER THAN ME?!"
  • Jeice (to Vegeta): "No, you...YOU LIE!"
  • Freeza (to Goku): "YOU LIE! I am NOT beaten! NOT YET!"
• Elfen Lied: When confronted by Lucy regarding the gender of the cousin Kouta hung out with, Kouta made a white lie. Lucy later found out and accused him as such. ^note Please ignore "Lied" in the title as it is a German heteronym, and is pronounced "leed".
• Gankutsuou: Albert screams this at the Count three times upon learning that the Count was merely using him the whole time.
• The Garden of Sinners: Lio to Shiki. "That's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie, that's a lie!"
• Used by Rena in Higurashi: When They Cry (originally as "USO DA!", translated as "LIAR!" in the dub) in a scene which would set the tone for the rest of the series. It has become her unofficial catchphrase (along with "Omochikaeri!") and is frequently referenced in fanworks, homages and canon ("Hirukowashi", in case you were wondering). Actually, as it's an ongoing theme of the series (The Power of Trust and They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason), a lot of characters accuse each other of this with varying degrees of hysteria and accuracy. In Umineko: When They Cry, just about everyone has accused everyone of lying at some point or another and started one of these. The siblings, especially.
• Thor screams this at Zagi four times in episode 7 of Jyu-Oh-Sei.
• In Kanon when Yuuichi breaks a promise with Nayuki, she often calls him a liar.
• In chapter 61 of Naruto Kabuto insists Sasuke is lying and that he's not that cold-hearted when the latter asks the former to fight saying that it's the only way to survive in the Forest of Death.
  • And in chapter 165 this is Naruto's response upon finding out that Kabuto is actually a sound village spy and Orochimaru's subordinate.
  • Sasuke practically goes catatonic when trying this in response to The Reveal about Itachi.
  • Naruto yells this at Madara in episode 203 of Shippuden after being informed about the truth of Itachi like Sasuke did previously.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion:
  • Shinji says this about Asuka, Rei, and Misato in the movie (End Of Evangelion) when they all declare to him "we are nice to you."
  • In the same movie, Ritsuko says this of Gendo at one point immediately before he shoots her dead and the exact words that prompted her to say this have only ever been revealed to the actress playing Ritsuko.
  • In the movie, Asuka accuses Shinji of lying when he says he likes her.
  • In episode 22 at the end of Asuka's Mind Rape sequence a Creepy Doll says this of Asuka.
• No. 6: Used when Sion kisses Nezumi and calls it a "good night kiss" leading to Nezumi to call Sion a "liar".
• Noir: It happens when Chloe reveals that Kirika killed Mirielle's parents prompting Mirielle to shout that she has to be lying. A track on the soundtrack is actually called "Liar You Lie."
• PandoraHearts: Oz says this of Break at one point. And this is said to Oz (by an Abyss-worshiping cult) in chapter 54. And in chapter 56 Philippe says this when Oz tells him that his father is dead.
• In Pani Poni Dash! episode 9, Becky's MIT professor tells Becky's students that on one occasion she accidentally fused herself with a cat. Becky (tied to a stalagmite) cries out, "YOU LIAR! Don't make stuff up!"
• Princess Princess: In episode 7, Sayaka screams this after Yuujirou kisses Tooru to drive home the idea that Tooru doesn't like girls.
• Ranma ½:
  • When Genma claims that the titular character said in his sleep that he loves Akane, Ranma tackles him, all the while repeatedly screaming, "That's a lie!"
  • In the very same episode, Ranma and Akane end up in a situation that makes it look like he raped her. He didn't, of course, but Ryoga doesn't know that. So, Ranma uses Ryoga's misinterpretations to egg him on, because he needs Ryoga to fight him with everything he's got, while Akane shouts, "It's not true! He's a liar! A liar!"
  • When Nabiki claims that Ranma and Akane are a married couple in order to get Ukyo out of the house, Ranma yells "Lies!" over and over again.

Comic Books

• Swamp Thing: Jason Woodrue during his Villainous Breakdown:
  "Youre' lying! You're lying you're lying you're lying! Why are you lying?"
• The Mighty Thor: Ragnarok, an evil clone of Thor with a thinks-he's-the-real-one problem, yells "YOU LIE!" at Thor Girl when she calls him out on it.
• Superman:
  • In Death & the Family, Supergirl does not for one second believe Insect Queen when the villainess claims Lana Lang got close to Kara because she was subtly influencing her.
    Supergirl: "I don't care what you say you did to Lana. I don't care if you think you were controlling her. I know you weren't."
  • Girl Power: When Dark Supergirl states that Zor-El hated his brother and sent Kara to Earth to murder his nephew, Supergirl replies her duplicate is spewing out garbage lies, and why on Earth she should believe her Luthor-created evil clone anyway? Many issues later, when Supergirl meets her father in the Superman: Brainiac/New Krypton arcs, it becomes effectively proved that her dark duplicate was lying.
    Supergirl: "You're lying. Nothing like that ever happened."
    Dark Supergirl: ""Then, how do you explain— Me?"
    Supergirl: "Explain you? You're something that Lex Luthor made."

Fan Works

Crossover

• The Night Unfurls:
  • In Chapter 30, John Mandeville exclaims "Liar!" after being told by Kyril that the assets of his house is used to fund the reconstruction in the capital's Western District, and that the house itself is being disassembled.
  • In Chapter 11, remastered version, Maia screams this at Kyril upon hearing his accusation that Vault was a traitor.

Dragon Age

• I Must Be Going: Played for Laughs during the Story Within a Story. Varric has essentially rewritten The Princess Bride to be about his friends, and this is what the Buttercup Expy says when she confronts the Prince Humperdinck stand-in.
  Princess Evangeline: You're lying to me, you've probably been lying to me, you're nothing but a lying liar who lies.

Godzilla

• Abraxas (Hrodvitnon):
  • When Mariko first informs Vivienne of Dr. Serizawa's death in Chapter 4, Vivienne at first responds: "You're lying."
  • Later, Madison assumes San is lying when he says he doesn't remember Ghidorah trying to kill her in Boston, and she gets understandably pissed; unaware that San literally lacks a concept of lying, and he genuinely doesn't remember that because his consciousness only has memories from the left head that was decapitated and not the left head that Ghidorah regrew.

The Loud House

• The Nightmare House: Lori accuses one of her sisters of lying when she says Lori is not in charge anymore.

Naruto

• Naru-Hina Chronicles: When Naruto reveals to Sakura and Sasuke that he's the son of Minato Namikaze:
  Sakura: [having Blank White Eyes] Y-YOU'RE THE SON OF... OF... THE 4TH HOKAGE!!!???
  Sasuke: [with a skeptical look] Don't lie, you liar... You're just lieing a big lie, liar... You are joking... right?
• True Potential: Kiba calls Kakashi a liar when the latter tries to explain why he was late for the final part of the Konoha Chūnin Exams.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

• Episode 20 of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series has Rebecca Hawkins do this to Grandpa.

Films — Animation

• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad: When Winkie double-crossed Toad with a lie saying that Toad stole the motor car, Cyril shouts at him, "That's a deliberate lie, you monkey-faced little rumpot!"
• Aladdin:
  • The first verse of Jafar's Villain Song is essentially telling Jasmine "That Liar Lies" about Aladdin.
  • Earlier, Aladdin confronts Jafar for lying (saying that Prince Ali "left" when Jafar tried to kill him). And even before that, Jasmine confronts Aladdin for lying (about whether he's really a prince or a street rat). In those cases, though, they say "Tell them/me the truth," not "You lie."
• Lord Barkis does this to Victoria near the end of Corpse Bride, when she informs her new husband that the whole reason her parents wanted them to marry is so he can save them from the poorhouse. Since Lord Barkis is a Gold Digger, he doesn't take this well and starts shrieking at her that she's lying. Unlike most examples on this page, however, Victoria is telling the truth.
• In the Japanese dub of The Rescuers Down Under, Cody shouts "Uso da!" or "That's a lie!" after McLeach lies to Cody about Marahute, the giant golden eagle, being shot to death.
• Zootopia: Judy, after being tricked into supporting Nick's pawpsicle scheme, confronts him with "I stood up for you, and you lied to me, you liar!"

Films — Live-Action

• In Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, when Ramona claims she didn't steal anyone, Knives says, "You lie! You're a liar!"
• Mean Girls: Janis calls Cady a "dirty little liar" upon finding out she didn't invite her and Damian to her party and because she told them she was planning on sabotaging the Plastics when she was really just holding a party.
• Star Wars:
  • Revenge of the Sith:
    • When Padmé pleads with Anakin to turn away from The Dark Side, crying out that she loves him, he refuses to believe her. The fact that Obi-Wan stowed away on her ship to track him down is not helping her case.
      Padmé: Stop! Stop now, come back! I love you!
      Anakin: LIAR!
    • Shortly afterwards, he tells Obi-Wan that he "see[s] through the lies of the Jedi".
  • The Empire Strikes Back: Luke Skywalker says a variant of this to Darth Vader after the latter declares he is Luke's father.
    Luke: That's not true! That's impossible!
• Leonardo does this to Shredder near the end of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), when Shredder insinuates that he's killed Splinter. Shredder isn't lying, however, just incorrect; he doesn't know that Splinter was rescued by Casey and Danny as the Foot were carrying out their assault on the sewer den after Shredder ordered him killed.
• Kill Bill: O-Ren Ishii screams, "You lie!" in Japanese when the Bride reveals that Hattori Hanzo made her sword.
• Harry Potter:
  • In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort (possessing Quirrel) says this ("He lies...") about Harry when he lies about what he sees in the Mirror of Erised. Harry throws it right back at Voldemort ("You LIAR!") when the latter claims he can bring Harry's parents back (which is established to be impossible, even in the magical world).
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Harry tries to convince Snape that he hasn't been stealing potion ingredients from him. In response, Snape says "Don't. Lie. To. Me." Harry hasn't. The real thief is the villain of the story.
  • In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry says "That's a lie" to Aunt Marge.
  • In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, where, after Dolores Umbridge accuses a Muggle-born witch of stealing a wand from a "real" witch, Harry (disguised as a Ministry official) responds, "You're lying, Dolores. And one mustn't tell lies."
• In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan accuses Kirk of exiling him and his company to "this barren sand heap, with only the contents of this cargo bay to sustain us" (i.e. the uninhabitable planet where Terrell and Chekov have unexpectedly found him). Chekov interjects, "You lie! On Ceti Alpha 5 there was life! A fair chance!" To which Khan shouts, "THIS IS CETI ALPHA 5!"
• The 1985 film version of Bridge to Terabithia. "You're lying to me. You lie!"
• In Kicking & Screaming as Phil is being kicked out of the coffee shop:
  Phil: What is wrong with you, Derrick? I thought we were friends!
  Andy: My name is Andy!
  Phil: Your name is Liar because you're telling lies!
• The 1946 Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life has this twice when George Bailey sees what life is like if he was Ret-Gone. He mentions to his mother that he last saw her brother-in-law Uncle Billy "Today, over at his house." She replies, "IT'S A LIE! He's been in the insane asylum ever since he lost his business." George himself says this when Guardian Angel Clarence tells him that his brother Harry "broke through the ice and was drowned at the age of nine." George snaps, "THAT'S A LIE! Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!"
• Finding Neverland: "Stop lying to me! I'm sick of grownups lying to me!" Peter really hates it when adults downplay the severity of the situation.
• In Batman & Robin: "You Lie!" Mr. Freeze yells in response to Poison Ivy telling him that Batman killed his wife. In truth, she is the one who pulled the plug on his wife's cryo chamber in a bid to Murder the Hypotenuse.
• The Mystery Of Blue Harbor, a movie made by a local amateur film club featured the line "You are a lying liar from Liarton, New Hampliar, and I don't believe your lying lies!"
• Saw:
  • Lawrence in Saw, after being told by his wife that Adam is lying. "Stop the lies! You're a liar!"
  • In Saw VI:
    • In the Shotgun Carousel, a tirade of these rolls around between Josh and Shelby when Gena tries to convince William to save her by saying she's pregnant.
      Gena: Umm... I- I'm pregnant! I'm- I am pregnant!
      Josh: No, she's not! She's lying! She's fucking lying! Mr. Easton, she's lying!
      Shelby: Mr. Easton, she's lying!
      Gena: Fuck you!
      Josh: Mr. Easton, she's lying!
      Gena: I'm pregnant!
      Josh: She's lying!
      Gena: (as the carousel stops with her in front of the shotgun) No! No, fuck! I'm pregnant!
      Josh: No, she's lying! She's fucking lying!
      Shelby: Mr. Easton, it's not true!
      Gena: Please! Please! (the shotgun begins to arm) Fuck! Push the thing! PUSH THE THING!
      Josh: She's lying!
      Gena: No, Mr. Easton! Push it, push the thing!
    • Hoffman says this to Perez as he's stabbing her to death.
      Hoffman: Who else knows about me? Who else fucking knows about me?
      Perez: E-Everyone...
      Hoffman: You lie... You're fucking lying...
  • Ryan in Jigsaw, when Carly hesitates to tell the truth about what she did. "YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE LYING!"
• The Room (2003): Johnny's response when Lisa tries to get sympathy from other people by claiming that Johnny beats her: "Yawr lyin', I nevur hit joo. YU ARE TEARIN' ME A-PAHRT, LISA!!"
• In The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, an old bluesman tells the reporter (Eric Idle) that the Rutles stole his music, only to be interrupted by his wife with "He's lyin'! He's always lyin'!" She then says the everytime someone does a documentary about some white rock band he falsely claims to have been robbed by them.
• The Princess Bride with Miracle Max and his wife Valerie.
  Max: You're right, that is a noble cause. But what he really said was "to blaive" which obviously means "to bluff" which means you probably were playing cards and he cheated!
  Valerie: "LIAR! LIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIARLIAR LIIIIIAAAAARRR!
• Elf: "You sit on a throne of lies!"
• In Anatomy of a Murder, when The Stool Pigeon Duane Miller gives testimony that sounds highly incriminating, the defendant suddenly lunges forward and roars: "You're a liar! You're a lousy stinking liar!"
• Played for Laughs in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When King Arthur chops off the Black Knight's arm, he remarks that he's "had worse", to which Arthur responds, "You lie!"
• A heartbreaking example in Catching Fire: At the end, when Haymitch has failed in his promise to Katniss to get Peeta out of the arena safely, Katniss throws herself on him, screaming, "Liar!" and hitting him until they sedate her, when she collapses, still sobbing, "You're a liar."
• In The World Is Not Enough, Renard does his usual "You cannot kill me because I'm already dead" Badass Boast to James Bond near the end, and Bond retorts (referring to Renard's lover Elektra), "So is she." Renard goes berserk on Bond while screaming that he is a liar.
• Stargate: Continuum: After the Ba'al clone gloats about the plan which the original Ba'al has set in motion, Teal'c looks him in the eye and calmly states, "He lies." O'Neill's response: "He does that, you know."
• In Delusions of Grandeur, Don Salluste vehemently denies when the Queen accuses him of having fathered a child with one of her handmaidens. When said Bavarian servant confirms it is true, Salluste explodes:
  Salluste: Liar! She's a liar! She's lying in German! This child is a false witness!
• Glass Onion: In a flashback to the Alpha trial, Claire claims that Alpha was entirely Miles' idea. Andi stands up and dramatically calls her a liar.

Literature

• In Bridge in the Menagerie, the Rueful Rabbit basically gives this as his reasoning as to why he makes unorthodox plays on defense based on what Papa the Greek plays as declarer. He might not know what Papa has and thus what would be the right card to play to set a contract, but the fact that Papa lies so much that everyone knows he's going to lie if possible gives Rabbit an indication of what not to play to a trick. While Papa calls it madness, it's probably the most logical and intelligent play that Rabbit, otherwise The Fool, has in his "arsenal".
• The Chronicles of Narnia: King Tirian in The Last Battle. "Ape, you lie damnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like an ape." There would have been more, but he got smacked down before he could finish.
• The Dresden Files: In Skin Game, when Harry is asked why he doesn't trust Nicodemus, he says it's because he's a "lying liar who lies".
• Harry Potter:
  • In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort (possessing Quirrel) says this about Harry when Harry lies about what he sees in the Mirror of Erised. He lies... Later, when he claims that Harry's parents died begging for mercy, Harry responds by shouting "LIAR!"
  • In Deathly Hallows, Harry shouts "LIES!" to no one in particular when first reading some of the media references to Dumbledore's Feet of Clay. The melodrama of this is lampshaded in that a Muggle neighbor is shown to overhear and glance around nervously.
  • I must not tell lies. The real kicker about this is that while people throughout the course of the book accuse Harry of being unhinged, a prima donna, and/or a Glory Hound, and Fudge makes reference to his "cock and bull stories," Umbridge is the only one to outright call Harry a liar to his face.
• Al Franken's book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right accuses the entire George W. Bush administration of this trope as relates to the Iraq invasion.
• The Lord of the Rings: Said by Gríma Wormtongue. Repeatedly. To the point where Gandalf calls him out on it at one point.
  "That word comes too oft and easy from your lips," said Gandalf. "I do not lie."
  • In The Film of the Book, it's the first thing he says, and Éomer is banished because of this. Of course, Éomer is the one telling the truth.
• The Princess Bride: Valerie calls out Miracle Max on his lies to the heroes.
• Shadow of the Conqueror: When Ahrek finds out that Daylen is Dayless, he takes the opportunity to tell him and everyone else that he's a chronic liar who tells millions of lies.
• Tortall Universe: From Trickster's Choice, regarding Prince Bronau Jimajen:
  Aly: He's lying!
  Sarai: I know that. His mouth is moving, isn't it?
• Saving Max: Every time Marianne accuses Max of being violent or psychotic, Max jumps up and accuses her of lying. He eventually has to be escorted from the courtroom.
• The Golden Hamster Saga: In Freddy to the Rescue, Freddy tries to tell the field hamsters that if they stay in their field, they'll all be crushed to death by bulldozers, and that they need to find a new home. Fronso yells, "He's lying! The Hamster Killer will disappear! That's certain, because the Jar of Hope has heard your prayer," and accuses Freddy of wanting to steal the field hamsters' stores.

Live-Action TV

• In the 7 Yüz episode "Büyük Günahlar", Nihal doubles down as Mete grows increasingly evasive in his answers, before directly calling him out for lying and revealing the untold truth behind his tale.
  Nihal: You think that you're sure. But I think you're lying.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine: In episode "The Night Shift", Amy finds out Rosa is sneaking out and lying about it to boot, so she gives Rosa a piece of her mind.
  Amy: Cool, maybe we can mill around and small talk about how some of us are big lying liars who lie all the time like a bunch of liars, Rosa.
• Doctor Who:
  • "Dalek" sees the title character respond to the Doctor's claim to have wiped out the Dalek race with "YOU LIE!" Unfortunately for the Dalek, the Doctor was telling the truth. As far as he knew.
  • "The Long Game": When the Editor goes through Suki MacRae Cantrell's video biography, he calls it out as being the work of a liar.
  • According to River Song: "Rule number one: The Doctor lies."
  • And the Doctor might just have found his match in Clara, a self-proclaimed "incredible liar". They're a perfect match in terms of ego, too.
• Everybody Loves Raymond:
  • In the episode "Blabbermouths", Frank blabs to Ray and Robert that Marie has, on occasion, used store-bought sauce instead of homemade as she has always claimed. When Marie finds out about her husband's loose lips, she has only this to say on the subject:
    Marie: A lot of things have been said, and I have no problem facing the truth, however painful it might be. Now about my sauce...Frank, tell them you're a liar.
    Frank: What?
    Marie: You ever want to eat again?
    Frank: (toneless) I lied. I'm a crazy old man who lies.
  • In "The Disciplinarian", Robert spills the beans to Frank and Marie about how Ray had used to sneak out after curfew as a teenager. The two of them happily reminisce about it for a bit, and then Ray casually drops that not only did Robert sneak out too, he once stole a bottle of Frank's liquor to take to a concert, and Robert freaks out. "HE'S LYYYYYYYIIING!"
    Ray: Then after the concert, Robert was so schnockered, he wanted to fight anybody who didn't agree that "Bungle in the Jungle" was the best song ever written!
    Robert: It's a great song! But this is LIES!
• In Hannibal Will's lawyer has this as his entire strategy against Freddie Lounds' testimony.
  Lawyer: Miss Lounds, could you please remind me how many times you've been sued for libel?
  Freddie: Six.
  Lawyer: I'm sorry?
  Freddie: Six.
  Lawyer: And how many times did you settle?
  Freddie: Six.
  Lawyer: Six... Thank you, nothing further.
• iCarly:
  • Freddie says this to Sam during one certain insult, and again when Spencer accuses Freddie of lying when he proves that his Galaxy Wars prop is fake.
  • Also in "iStart a Fan War", when Carly says nobody is dating, after a brief moment of silence, out of nowhere a congressman-like person shouts, "YOU lie!" and the fan war continues. The scene was a Shout-Out to Joe Wilson saying the same thing to Barack Obama.
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): In "Like Angels Put in Hell by God", after Claudia and Louis de Pointe du Lac discover that Lestat de Lioncourt is still bedding Antoinette Brown after he had promised them that he would kill his mistress, Claudia says to Louis, "He's the father of lies."
• Legion: After dethroning the king, Amahl Farouk claims to have ushered in an "age of prosperity, praised by all." David Haller then appears briefly next to Charles Xavier and tells him not to believe anything Farouk says.
  David: Lies. Behold, the king of lies.
• The 1969 game show Liar's Club (revived in 1976 and again in the 80s) is all about this. A celebrity panel describes an unusual item and only one celebrity is telling the truth about it. Four contestants make wagers on who is right.
• Maury: Maury Povich's "That's a lie" during any of his shows concerning the results of a lie detector test.
• Mimpi Metropolitan: Juna plainly accuses Bambang of lying when he says that Melani asked him to be her boyfriend rather than the other way around. As those who followed the show know, that's the truth.
  Juna: You lie!
  Bambang: Why would I lie, mas? Do you think I'm like Mas Junaedi, who even lied to himself by changing his own name?
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: Repeatedly in "I Accuse My Parents":
  Joel, Crow, and Tom: Liar! Liar! Liar!
• The Rookie: Lucy comically says Jackson is a "Lying liar... who lies", in "Brave Heart" during an argument.
• Can occur on the Panel Show Would I Lie to You? if a panelist has been particularly bad at selling a story. This is likely to result in a hilarious reaction if it then turns out that the story is actually true.

Music

• "Liar" by Emilie Autumn is about a former lover(s) that lied to her.
• "Liar" by Sex Pistols
• "Liar" by Megadeth is the tale of a liar with an extremely dysfunctional family. Supposedly inspired by former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland.
• "Liar, Liar" by The Castaways
• And this super obvious one by The Band Perry called "You Lie"
• "He's A Liar" by The Bee Gees, which also falls under I Lied once, and the music video suggests he's a Unreliable Narrator anyway.
• Liar by Henry Rollins, though, unusually, told from the perspective of malignant narcissist who self-admits to being a serial liar.
• "That's a Lie" by LL Cool J
• "Lies," by 60s group the Knickerbockers.

Theatre

• In The Consul, at the climax of the second act, Magda is pushed to her Rage Breaking Point by the Secretary's repeated denial of any immediate help and starts Suddenly Shouting at her: "Liar! Liar!"
• Emilia to Iago in Othello, after she finds out that he told Othello that Desdemona was unfaithful:
  You told a lie, an odious damned lie,
  Upon my soul, a lie, a wicked lie!
• In Tosca, when Scarpia tells Tosca how her lover is being subjected to Cold-Blooded Torture in the next room, her voice hits high C on an outburst of "Non è ver, non è ver!" ("It's not true, it's not true!")
• In Götterdämmerung, when Siegfried tells Brünnhilde that Gunther is now her husband, she exclaims in shock: "I? Gunther? Thou liest!"
• Lampshaded in The Moon is Blue, when Don is denying that anything happened between him and Cynthia when she spent the night in his apartment:
  David: She claims that...
  Don: She lies. I never touched her. Moreover, I don't believe you. She'd never say...
  David: She told me, definitely, that you...
  Don: She lies.
  David: Quit yapping "she lies" in that dramatic fashion before I can even finish a sentence. Let me try to recall exactly what she did say.
• William Shakespeare, in Much Ado About Nothing, has Dogberry list a whole pile of variations on "They lie" after he uncovers the plot against Hero.
• Peer Gynt: "Peer, you're lying!" is the opening (and probably best-known) line of the entire play, and Peer's first line (an immediate denial) leads to an Establishing Character Moment of the protagonist as an Unreliable Narrator who is also a habitual liar and a gladhandling sleaze.
• In The Rose Tattoo, when Flora and Bessie tell Serafina that her late husband was having an affair with Estelle Hohengarten, she flies into a rage and attacks the two clowns with a broom, howling at them: "Liar!—Lie-arrrrr!" When she recalls this with Alvaro, she doesn't want to say what lie they told about her husband, only how terrible the thought made her feel:
  "I don't want to talk about it! I just want to forget it; it wasn't true, it was false, false, false!—as the hearts of the bitches who told it..."
• In West Side Story, when Chino tells Maria that Tony killed her brother, her first reaction is to say to Chino that he's lying and then say it again louder. Her disbelief in this horrible truth doesn't last very long, however.

Video Games

• Used at least once by Phoenix and Apollo in the Ace Attorney games.
  • "You're lying, dammit, and I can prove it!"
  • This is ultimately the entire point of the series: to take what people say and point out the inconsistencies, which typically includes them hiding something, or telling Seamless Spontaneous Lies. As Mia points out,
  "If your client's innocent, then [that witness] must be lying."
• At the beginning of God of War Ragnarök, Mimir's first words to Odin are "If he says snow is white, he's lying!". The implication is that Odin is such a manipulative Compulsive Liar that it's more likely for snow to have absurdly changed color than for Odin to say something truthful with no strings attached. It serves as a warning that any of Odin's deals and offers will never be as simple as they appear.
• You can accuse Kreia of this several times in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords; she freely admits it and you even gain approval for doing so.
• In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Muzu, the elderly adviser to the Zora royal family with a prejudice against Hylians, bluntly accuses Prince Sidon of lying when informed that his beloved protege, Mipha, was in love with Link, the Hylian Champion.
• Seen a few times in Dragon Age II when Cassandra, who is interrogating Varric, calls him out on his fabrications. Varric himself admits that he embellishes or sometimes outright lies, but the large majority of what he tells Cassandra is the truth, and she realizes that. She shuts him down a few times when she knows he's not telling the truth; on the other hand, she also tries to shut him down once or twice when he's actually being honest. The difference is that when he really is lying, he admits it when she calls him out.
  • Their interactions in Dragon Age: Inquisition sometimes have this element as well, although this time around they're much closer to being equals. They eventually become Vitriolic Best Buds, and Cassandra comes to realize that she can trust him. Amusingly, it turns out that the one actual important lie from the previous game (that he doesn't know where Hawke is now) was the one she didn't catch at all.

Webcomics

• Penny and Aggie: "Stop lying, you liar!"
• The Order of the Stick zigzags this trope several times... in only one strip. Here it is.
• In Far Out, the main character's protests are dismissed as this.

Web Original

• A large amount of the customers featured on Not Always Right assume that if their demands are not met to the letter, then the employee is obviously just lying in order to weasel out of having to do any work. This usually results in accusing the person to their face or running off to tell a manager. Usually both.

Web Videos

• From Atop the Fourth Wall, "You are... confusing me. You are attempting a deception!"
• H.Bomberguy, on the subject of the claim that soy raises oestrogen levels:
  Harris: How do I... put this in a way that makes it not sound rude? The studies didn't say anything like what this... lying liar... lied about.

Western Animation

• The early season Adventure Time episode "The Witch's Garden" features Finn and Jake pissing a witch off by Jake eating one of her doughnuts and lying about it... as he's eating it. After stealing Jake's shapeshifting powers, she turns to caress one of her doughnut plants and makes a shocking discovery.
  Doughnut Witch: Wait a second. You're a bagel! LIAR! LIARS EVERYWHERE!!!!
• American Dad!: Stan cannot handle Hayley's denial that she was carrying a flask:
  Stan: Lies! It's like you have to lie to live! You're a liabetic! You have LIE-abetes! Twice a day you have to take a shot of insu-LIE-in!
• Arthur gets this from the Tough Customers when coming clean about not being a habitual thief.
  Rattles: You big liar! You lied! You're just a... lie-y liar! You big... lying... lie-face!
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: What's Zuko's Survival Mantra for dealing with his evil sister?
  Zuko: Azula always lies, Azula always lies, Azula always lies....
  • Even when Zuko manages to accept this fact, Azula gleefully embraces it.
    Zuko: You lied to me!
    Azula: Oh, like I've never done that before.
• Family Guy:
  • Meg claims that she has a boyfriend named Darren Mitchelstork who's the "chairman of the soccer ball team". Lois doesn't buy it, but humors her for a moment before laughing and calling Meg a "little liar".
  • When Meg tells Lois she could be having a life on Saturday night:
    Lois: Meg, if you don't want to babysit anymore, that's fine, but don't you stand there and lie to me.
• Futurama: Bender responds with the accusation that he is being used as a beer distiller with "Lies! Lies and slander!"... right before he burps up a bit of yeast.
• Harley Quinn: Bane yells "You are a lying liar!" at Joshua after the latter denies trying to get Harley killed.
• Invader Zim. As in the above quote.
  • No! You lie! YOU LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!
  • YOU'RE MAKING IT UP!
  • An entire video of LIES!
• Looney Tunes short "Beanstalk Bunny", with Daffy Duck as Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, Elmer Fudd as the giant, and Bugs Bunny along for the ride.
  Elmer: I smell the bwood of an English wabbit!
  Bugs: Look, mac. You're the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, right?
  Elmer: Wight.
  Bugs: And the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk wasn't after no rabbit, he was after Jack. Right?
  Elmer: Well, I guess maybe that is wight.
  Bugs: Well, then... [points at Daffy] He is Jack.
  Daffy: It's a lie! It's a lie! My name is... Aloysius! His name is Jack! Jack Rabbit!
  Bugs: Oh, no. You're Jack.
  Daffy: I am not! You're Jack!
  Bugs: You are Jack, and you know it because it is a fact.
  Elmer: I guess I'll just have to open with a pair of Jacks!
• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: "You LIED! If you were a treasure chest, you would LIE at the bottom of the ocean! You would LIE in a LIEGHTHOUSE full of LIEONS and LIEMA BEANS!"
  • "Boy, that guy sure sounds like a really big liar."
• In the two-part season 2 premiere of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Twilight must deal with her broken and mindraped friends. Two of which, Rarity and Applejack, become a hoarder and a compulsive liar respectively. Her patience finally breaks while she's trying to get the reference guide to the Elements of Harmony from Rarity.
  Twilight: Where is she? Where's Rarity?
  Applejack: Beats me.
  Twilight: LIES!
  (Big Ball of Violence ensues)
  • Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy regarding why she can't trust Discord in "Keep Calm and Flutter On" after Discord claims that he never thought of trying to drive a wedge between the ponies so that they wouldn't use the Elements of Harmony against him.
• In the The Powerpuff Girls episode "A Very Special Blossom", the Professor is put in jail when found with the Pro Excellence 2000 golf clubs stolen from the golf store. Blossom was the one who stole them but claimed Mojo Jojo sold them to her; she had previously told her sisters that she found them.
  Buttercup: Come on, tell the truth!
  Bubbles: Yeah, you big fat liar!
• The Simpsons:
  • "Lies make baby Jesus cry."
  • "Last Exit to Springfield":
    Dentist: How often do you brush, Ralph?
    Ralph Wiggum: Three times a day, sir.
    Dentist: Why must you turn my office into a house of LIES?!
    Ralph Wiggum: *in tears* You're right, I don't brush! I don't brush!
  • And also:
    Marge Simpson: Ned, I hate to say this, but I think God has packed up and left Springfield.
    Ned Flanders: No! You're lying, you're lying! What makes you lie?! *breaks down crying*
  • Homer's reaction to Flanders saying he has a home business in "Das Bus":
    Homer: You liar! You don't have a home business! Why would you make up a lie like that?
• In one episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Space Ghost cheerfully asks Moltar to come over after telling an obvious lie. When he does, Space Ghost begins slapping him.
  Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! (Beat) Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: In "A Distant Echo", an extremely angry Captain Rex keeps things simple when Wat Tambor claims that Echo, the captured Republic soldier the Separatists have gotten a stolen strategy algorithm from, is dead.
  Tambor: Your friend is dead. His mind is ours.
  Rex: Liar.
• Teen Titans: In the episode "The Beast Within" Beast Boy screams this when everybody claims that he attacked Raven.
  Beast Boy: THAT'S A LIE!
• During the Grand Finale of Transformers: Animated, Lugnut and Shockwave have a Cat Fight - ahem, row over which of them is the most loyal to Megatron. As Megatron facepalms at two of his soldiers acting like protoforms, you can hear Shockwave yelling "Liar, lying liar!"
• On The Venture Brothers, The Monarch cross-examines Hank:
  "Well, Hank... what's it like to be... a LIAR?! YOU LIKE BEING A LIAR, WITH PANTS CONSTANTLY ON FIRE?"
• Watership Down (1999): Vervain often accuses Campion of lying (with good reason), particularly in the third season.
• Woody Woodpecker accuses Buzz Buzzard of stealing his quarter in "Drooler's Delight," to which Buzz responds in his defense with hundred-dollar words like "having the temerity" and "besmerching my integrity." He tops it with "And besides...It's a doity lie!!!"

Real Life

• United States Representative Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson (R-SC) interrupted an address to a joint session of Congress by shouting "YOU LIE!" at President Barack Obama. This quickly became a huge deal.
• Jeremy Paxman, a journalist famous for his tenacious and often confrontational interviewing style, once said that when interviewing politicians the question he always had in the back of his mind was "why is this lying bastard lying to me?"
• Donald Trump accused the media of lying about the size of the crowds at his inauguration, despite multiple photos and videos (as well as Metro ridership data) showing that the number of attendees at Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration was significantly higher. Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer repeated the claim at his first official press conference, claiming that "Some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting," and that "this was the largest audience to ever witness the inauguration—period. Both in person and around the globe." This ultimately led to Kellyanne Conway's infamous "alternative facts" statement:
  Conway: Don't be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. What you're saying, it's a falsehood. And they’re giving Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that. But the point remains—
  NBC's Chuck Todd: (incredulous) Wait a minute. "Alternative facts"?
  Conway: That there's—
  Todd: Alternative facts? Four of the five facts he uttered, the one thing he got right—
  Conway: Hey, Chuck, why, hey Chuck—
  Todd: —was Zeke Miller. Four of the five facts he uttered were just not true. Look, "alternative facts" are not facts. They're falsehoods.
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), who can best be described as a congressional Karen for her lack of decorum and bile-laden conspiracy theories, called President Biden a "liar" during the 2023 State of the Union address when he brought up G.O.P. legislation to raid social security. Biden countered saying the legislation was on his desk and she was more than welcome to see it. She calls just about anyone with a differing view a liar and was excused from a congressional hearing for continually doing so.

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