...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Barnum

333 statements
63 feature instances
46 referencing feature instances

The Barnum	type	FeatureClass
The Barnum	label	The Barnum
The Barnum	page	TheBarnum
The Barnum	comment	A trickster-philosopher who lives by pandering to people's greed and/or gullibility. Not only does he never feel guilty about it, but he will be offended by suggestions that he stop. If people want to be tricked, who is he to say no? Furthermore, if he's exposed, he'll shrug while admitting it and use his backup pitch about the con with equal fervor. The true mark of the Barnum is how serene and happy he usually is, despite what he does every day. He's reached a cynic's nirvana. He may be a Slimeball, but at least he admits it. Sub-Trope of Con Man and The Trickster. Compare the (usually adolescent) High-School Hustler. Closely related to the Snake Oil Salesman and Honest John's Dealership. May have contributed to the emergence of Repulsive Ringmaster. In a musical, you can expect this character to get a particularly fun Villain Song.
The Barnum	fetched	2024-04-14T15:32:35Z
The Barnum	parsed	2024-04-14T15:32:35Z
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to BrickJoke: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to ConMan: Not an Item - CAT
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to EvelynEvelyn: Not an Item - IGNORE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to PhonyPsychic: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to PointyHairedBoss: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to ShootEmUp: Not an Item - IGNORE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to SnakeOilSalesman: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to SundayStrip: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to TheGhost: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	processingComment	Dropped link to WeirdnessCensor: Not an Item - FEATURE
The Barnum	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Barnum / int_1331990c	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_1331990c	comment	Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica follows shades of this. If people are willing to make a contract without reading the fine-print, as it were, why on earth would he say no? It's not his fault that the fine print You Didn't Ask about says that you'll turn into a Lich when the contract is made, and that you'll eventually turn into a witch.
The Barnum / int_1331990c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_1331990c	featureConfidence	1.0
Puella Magi Madoka Magica	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_1331990c
The Barnum / int_15bd4cf4	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_15bd4cf4	comment	The Amazing Maurice in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. After all he's a cat, and cats long ago worked out how to take advantage of humans. He just uses his intelligence to expand it a little.
The Barnum / int_15bd4cf4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_15bd4cf4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_15bd4cf4
The Barnum / int_1b386512	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_1b386512	comment	Ranma Â½: Nabiki TendÅ�. An excellent example of the unprincipled type, having actually been described by the author as having "no maidenly heart". This gets really extreme as the series progresses, culminating in her ruining her own little sister's wedding because she believes that inviting Ranma's other fiancÃ©es and his rivals will bring in more cash as wedding presents. Fanon often bumps her into a High-School Hustler, but this is arguable, as her schemes tend to mostly be limited to quickly taking advantage of situations, and her ongoing "business" is mostly limited to selling a large amount of soft-porn prints and images, some non-working merchandise or unreliable information, using blackmail or swindling opportunities, and investing in stocks. On occasion she has employed schemes with several stages of efficient outrageous planning to them however, and she is an expert actress. Mostly, in a series populated by Made of Iron Jerkasses with Super-Strength, she survives through a combination of knowing when to get when the getting's good, and sticking to taking advantage of people who would never actually attack her (Akane, Tatewaki, Ranma...), and not being so irritating to those who would that a cheated customer considers it worth their time to just kill her. This accidentally happened with Shampoo and Kodachi in the manga, and UkyÅ� at least initially attempted to threaten and beat her up, but Ranma came to her rescue, whereafter his paramours apparently decided to leave her alone.
The Barnum / int_1b386512	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_1b386512	featureConfidence	1.0
Ranma ½ (Manga)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_1b386512
The Barnum / int_1e9bf504	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_1e9bf504	comment	Kids Praise: Risky Rat is characterized as a Con Man, and even describes himself as one in his Villain Song. He fits this subtrope because in his first appearance, he was appealing to Charity Churchmouse's ambition to try to enslave her, with the implication that it's to make money off her singing.
The Barnum / int_1e9bf504	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_1e9bf504	featureConfidence	1.0
Kids Praise (Music)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_1e9bf504
The Barnum / int_22e860f4	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_22e860f4	comment	Psych's Shawn Spencer has no apparent respect for anyone or anything as he brazenly lies to the police. Considering that the lie started as a way to get out of jail time for solving half a dozen open cases from his armchair, it's little wonder. Shawn does respect the sanctity of life. When it comes down to it, he'll never let a violent criminal get away, although he's not above making light of their acts.
The Barnum / int_22e860f4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_22e860f4	featureConfidence	1.0
Psych	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_22e860f4
The Barnum / int_2777c062	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_2777c062	comment	Mr. Humphries of Are You Being Served? knows how ridiculous his job is, and does it just as absurdly as he's supposed to. After all, he's never the one who had to face the consequences — that's the boss or the customers.
The Barnum / int_2777c062	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_2777c062	featureConfidence	1.0
Are You Being Served?	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_2777c062
The Barnum / int_2a8943c0	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_2a8943c0	comment	Miraculous Ladybug: Lila Rossi lies to and manipulates everyone and panders to them. She tells Marinette, one of the few people to actually know sheâ€™s a liar, that she just tells people whatever they want to hear regardless of whether or not it is true, which makes them like her.
The Barnum / int_2a8943c0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_2a8943c0	featureConfidence	1.0
Miraculous Ladybug	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_2a8943c0
The Barnum / int_32a01588	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_32a01588	comment	Honest John from Pinocchio — he swindles Pinocchio twice due to his gullibility and it had been suggested that he had been doing that for years.
The Barnum / int_32a01588	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_32a01588	featureConfidence	1.0
Pinocchio	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_32a01588
The Barnum / int_331e008	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_331e008	comment	Marcus in Borderlands and Borderlands 2. The second game has a sidequest that reveals he tricked an internet celebrity into thinking he was The Chosen One just so he could sell him a ludicrously overpriced gun. He then realizes he gave the guy too much change, and hires you to track the guy's corpse down and recover the money. He gives you the guy's gun as payment for the job.
The Barnum / int_331e008	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_331e008	featureConfidence	1.0
Borderlands (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_331e008
The Barnum / int_33fdae4d	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_33fdae4d	comment	Don Draper on Mad Men will happily sell any product, if there is money in it. In the first episode he comes up with a new ad campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes after promoting safer cigarettes is outlawed. Don Draper is based off of the character who invented the Marlboro Man His solution being, Lucky Strike: It's Toasted, Lucky Strikes' slogan in Real Life. While Don is non-judgmental to the point of apathy about the products his clients are selling, he still believes deeply in sincerity in advertising. Throughout the show, he has reacted poorly to any suggestion that advertising is a scam or easy to do. His response to people who suggest he's duping the public is to note that gullibility is part of human nature, and people will delude themselves no matter what you tell them.
The Barnum / int_33fdae4d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_33fdae4d	featureConfidence	1.0
Mad Men	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_33fdae4d
The Barnum / int_34fd3cf6	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_34fd3cf6	comment	Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, being the incredible Jerkass that he is. Although considering his success rate, it may be more accurate to call him a Barnum Wannabe.
The Barnum / int_34fd3cf6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_34fd3cf6	featureConfidence	1.0
Aqua Teen Hunger Force	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_34fd3cf6
The Barnum / int_3651bc0c	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_3651bc0c	comment	Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog is The Barnum mixed with actual, infernal magical power, thanks to his Friends on the Other Side. He wins people over with his incredible charisma, plays on their insecurities or desires, and then uses the power of a contract with them to manipulate them to his own ends.
The Barnum / int_3651bc0c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_3651bc0c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Princess and the Frog	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_3651bc0c
The Barnum / int_3f4a104b	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_3f4a104b	comment	Dogbert in Dilbert. "That's outrageous! Idiots shouldn't have money!" One Sunday Strip has him running an infomercial for his $4/minute "Dogbert Gullible Friends Hotline," advising people who "spend money on stupid stuff." His rationalization for his behavior is also amusing. As a consultant, Dogbert recommends to the Pointy-Haired Boss that the company reorganize around its core competency, which happens to be "giving money to consultants."
The Barnum / int_3f4a104b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_3f4a104b	featureConfidence	1.0
Dilbert (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_3f4a104b
The Barnum / int_3fbd173e	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_3fbd173e	comment	Sam Starfall in Freefall prides himself on being a trickster and at one point has to convince himself that there's nothing inherently wrong with taking a well-paying but completely legal job. He has claimed that his habits are because his race evolved from scavengers who stole food from under the noses of predators. He's also on the run from his own race.
The Barnum / int_3fbd173e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_3fbd173e	featureConfidence	1.0
Freefall (Webcomic)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_3fbd173e
The Barnum / int_468bebb0	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_468bebb0	comment	Discworld: Moist von Lipwig from Going Postal starts out as one of these, but when confronted by one of the innocent victims of his scams he decides to stick with government service. He still misses the excitement of the con in Making Money, but not the actual taking advantage of people. Also deconstructed — as much as he thinks he's a Lovable Rogue because he's only conned people and never stole from them by force, his parole officer calls him out on this, pointing out that the ripple-effect of his scams have disrupted thousands of lives, enough to indirectly kill "2.338 people". And Lipwig's antagonists, Reacher Gilt in Going Postal and Cribbins in Making Money. Unlike him, they never stopped. The Amazing Maurice in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. After all he's a cat, and cats long ago worked out how to take advantage of humans. He just uses his intelligence to expand it a little. Professor Monty Bladder, mentioned in A Hat Full of Sky, appears to be one, since the side-show for his Three Ring Circus had signs declaring "See The Egress!"... which turn out to lead to the exit. He had a man with a dictionary standing by to prove people had got exactly what they paid for. This is a shout-out to P.T. Barnum, who used the trick in real life.
The Barnum / int_468bebb0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_468bebb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Discworld	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_468bebb0
The Barnum / int_474c18c1	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_474c18c1	comment	His counterpart in Columbia has played EVERY Company Town card in the book, after his brother told him about these weird dimensional rifts that gave him a complete history of how corporations have scammed, betrayed, and outright enslaved the minority masses, and his reaction was "golly, I bet I could set a world record". He doesn't even get targeted by a working resistance movement until Elizabeth completely overwrites the fabric of spacetime.
The Barnum / int_474c18c1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_474c18c1	featureConfidence	1.0
BioShock Infinite (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_474c18c1
The Barnum / int_4c095a1f	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_4c095a1f	comment	The Transformers: Swindle of the Combaticons. In the episode "B.O.T.", his Combaticon comrades were blown to their component parts, and Swindle took the opportunity to sell them to both USSR and Middle Eastern stereotypes. When a predictably enraged Megatron made him get them back, it is generally assumed that he didn't return their money. In Transformers: Animated note where he was voiced by Fred Willard he conned humans into stealing things for him, engaged in sales banter with Megatron, and sold random objects out of a hammerspace drawer in his chest, including some helmets from various G1 characters.
The Barnum / int_4c095a1f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_4c095a1f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Transformers	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_4c095a1f
The Barnum / int_4c746380	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_4c746380	comment	Miroku in Inuyasha, in spite of being a Buddhist monk, is an adept and inveterate con artist whose favorite trick whenever he arrives in a town is to size up the largest and most wealthy-looking house, declare that he senses it's haunted by evil spirits, and offer to "exorcise" them in exchange for a meal and a bed for the night. If there's a pretty young girl in the household he's also been known to selflessly volunteer to stay with her all night to protect her. He's done it so often that when one house he's "exorcised" actually was haunted, his companions were nothing short of shocked.
The Barnum / int_4c746380	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_4c746380	featureConfidence	1.0
Inuyasha (Manga)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_4c746380
The Barnum / int_4fc1c922	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_4fc1c922	comment	The Wizard is portrayed as this in Wicked, although he tricks people into believing he's magical for political power rather than money.
The Barnum / int_4fc1c922	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_4fc1c922	featureConfidence	1.0
Wicked (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_4fc1c922
The Barnum / int_5018e5dd	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_5018e5dd	comment	The Music Man: "Professor" Harold Hill, at least until Marian. At one point he laments having to quit his Gas-powered car con now that they actually exist.
The Barnum / int_5018e5dd	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_5018e5dd	featureConfidence	1.0
The Music Man (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_5018e5dd
The Barnum / int_50bcf7a6	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_50bcf7a6	comment	Homestuck: Doc Scratch, although he sees it as a point of pride to manipulate everyone without ever telling a lie.
The Barnum / int_50bcf7a6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_50bcf7a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Homestuck (Webcomic)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_50bcf7a6
The Barnum / int_56afadff	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_56afadff	comment	"Professor" Emelius Browne from Bedknobs and Broomsticks plays up this image, but ultimately is a subversion. His introductory song (in the extended version) "With A Flair" has him singing to a crowd of people about how much he enjoys ripping them off, though he doesn't feel too bad about it because they know they're being ripped off, but they don't care because of how charming they think he is - which ends up backfiring, as the people he's singing to do not find him (or his bad magic tricks) endearing in any way and end up leaving.
The Barnum / int_56afadff	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_56afadff	featureConfidence	1.0
Bedknobs and Broomsticks	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_56afadff
The Barnum / int_59ea5b9b	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_59ea5b9b	comment	The narrator of the Confessions (Saint Augustine) takes great delight in describing how Cicero exposed all the vanities, lies, and hypocrisies of those who call themselves "philosophers" to swindle others out of their time and money.
The Barnum / int_59ea5b9b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_59ea5b9b	featureConfidence	1.0
Confessions (Saint Augustine)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_59ea5b9b
The Barnum / int_695297c6	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_695297c6	comment	5th century BC comedy The Clouds by Aristophanes portrays Socrates and his students that way, accusing them of all sins of contemporary sophists (see RL section about sophists). While this was not true, the "facts" from the comedy were used as evidence in Socrates trial.
The Barnum / int_695297c6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_695297c6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Clouds (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_695297c6
The Barnum / int_6c1d09b4	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_6c1d09b4	comment	In Fallout 4, you can meet a man in the South Boston area not far from the Castle who sells "charge cards" for 110 caps each. He claims the cards are accepted in all the major shops in the Commonwealth and can be used as an alternative for caps. Of course, the cards were once valid before the Great War but are now absolutely worthless and no shop anywhere will accept them, and he won't accept returns if you go back to him. In other words, he's a con man. As if the con weren't fairly apparent from the start, he even calls you a "retard" under his breath regardless of whether or not you accept his offer, foolishly giving away his cover as a scammer. The only way to get your money back is to kill him, or better still if you have the Junk Jet on you, load the charge card into it and "forcibly return it" to him, inflicting a good Laser Guided Karmic Death. Brooks at Far Harbour, however, will accept charge cards.
The Barnum / int_6c1d09b4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_6c1d09b4	featureConfidence	1.0
Fallout 4 (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_6c1d09b4
The Barnum / int_73d7930f	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_73d7930f	comment	Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a borderline example of this. In the first Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Relaunch novel, Quark considers it a favor to only inflate the sale price of a shuttle by 20% for a close personal friend. Grand Nagus Zek is (usually) a much straighter example.
The Barnum / int_73d7930f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_73d7930f	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_73d7930f
The Barnum / int_73df50d0	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_73df50d0	comment	Joshy from The Adventure Zone: Ethersea is a proudly opportunistic con man, but his claims are so wild and ridiculous that one gets the distinct impression he's not even trying to be subtle about it. It's left murky whether he's just a shameless liar or buying into his own con, but he's weirdly charming in a slimy sort of way. He's willing to do favors for his friends and is the main proprietor of The City Narrows, but everyone who talks to him knows he's full of shit.
The Barnum / int_73df50d0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_73df50d0	featureConfidence	1.0
The Adventure Zone: Ethersea (Podcast)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_73df50d0
The Barnum / int_74365738	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_74365738	comment	And Lipwig's antagonists, Reacher Gilt in Going Postal and Cribbins in Making Money. Unlike him, they never stopped.
The Barnum / int_74365738	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_74365738	featureConfidence	1.0
Going Postal	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_74365738
The Barnum / int_75c31694	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_75c31694	comment	Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck from The A-Team genuinely and unrepentantly enjoys being a Con Man. He occasionally gushes and revels in explaining his latest scheme to the other members of the A-Team. For instance, he once starts telling Hannibal about how he started his career as a movie producer by taking a student film, dubbing it over in another language, and then adding subtitles so that he could market it as a foreign film. Another time, the A-Team has to live in a suburban house for a few days to protect a client, and as soon as they get there, Face goes on a tangent about how he bought the house with a certain type of mortgage specifically so he could make more money when he sold it. He also loves living the high life by scamming his way into hotel penthouses and fancy beach houses, mostly because he can. Face also enjoys seducing women by pretending to be a high-ranking film executive or director or even a neurologist and never, ever feels bad about it.
The Barnum / int_75c31694	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_75c31694	featureConfidence	1.0
The A-Team	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_75c31694
The Barnum / int_791fca44	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_791fca44	comment	Frank Fontaine in BioShock. A career criminal who immediately realized that Rapture had a serious flaw: even in a city populated solely by people who believed themselves to be "exceptional," someone would have to scrub the toilets. That nobody else seemed to figure this out convinced Frank that Rapture was full of suckers. At one point he even calls it a confidence man's playground. He quickly scammed his way into being one of Rapture's richest and most powerful figures. His counterpart in Columbia has played EVERY Company Town card in the book, after his brother told him about these weird dimensional rifts that gave him a complete history of how corporations have scammed, betrayed, and outright enslaved the minority masses, and his reaction was "golly, I bet I could set a world record". He doesn't even get targeted by a working resistance movement until Elizabeth completely overwrites the fabric of spacetime. BioShock 2 has a slightly-more heroic Foil to Frank Fontaine in Augustus Sinclair. Like Fontaine, Sinclair is an opportunistic scumbag who scams the poor and destitute that rose to the top of Rapture's society by taking advantage of the system's faults and dead-spots. For example, knowing that Rapture had no homeless shelters or charity halls, Sinclair bought cheap housing early to become a slumlord. Knowing that Andrew Ryan had no prison system (he was building a Utopia after all) he purchased buildings that could be converted into penal colonies and then charge Ryan for sending inevitable undesirables there. But despite all that, he's got some scruples and lines he won't cross, unlike Fontaine, who's a sociopathic thug at heart. Sinclair genuinely likes and tries to assist the player character through the game.
The Barnum / int_791fca44	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_791fca44	featureConfidence	1.0
BioShock (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_791fca44
The Barnum / int_791fca45	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_791fca45	comment	BioShock 2 has a slightly-more heroic Foil to Frank Fontaine in Augustus Sinclair. Like Fontaine, Sinclair is an opportunistic scumbag who scams the poor and destitute that rose to the top of Rapture's society by taking advantage of the system's faults and dead-spots. For example, knowing that Rapture had no homeless shelters or charity halls, Sinclair bought cheap housing early to become a slumlord. Knowing that Andrew Ryan had no prison system (he was building a Utopia after all) he purchased buildings that could be converted into penal colonies and then charge Ryan for sending inevitable undesirables there. But despite all that, he's got some scruples and lines he won't cross, unlike Fontaine, who's a sociopathic thug at heart. Sinclair genuinely likes and tries to assist the player character through the game.
The Barnum / int_791fca45	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_791fca45	featureConfidence	1.0
BioShock 2 (Video Game)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_791fca45
The Barnum / int_7ae78fc7	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_7ae78fc7	comment	Kaiki from Bakemonogatari waxes philosophical for entire episodes, in the shows trademark fashion, about why he tricks people, what it is like to be tricked, and what the capability to be trick says of the human condition.
The Barnum / int_7ae78fc7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_7ae78fc7	featureConfidence	1.0
Bakemonogatari	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_7ae78fc7
The Barnum / int_7d3b246c	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_7d3b246c	comment	Jungle Cruise: Frank's day job is running a cheesy, pun-filled Amazon tour for various tourists. His navigational skills and knowledge of the area are completely legitimate, but the hippos aren't, and the natives who "attack" the boat are Frank's friends playing up the stereotypes as part of the show.
The Barnum / int_7d3b246c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_7d3b246c	featureConfidence	1.0
Jungle Cruise	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_7d3b246c
The Barnum / int_816181cb	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_816181cb	comment	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Great and Terrible Oz, The Man Behind the Curtain, is not a great mage, but a humbug. However he did not do it willingly, but obliged by circumstances. He is very proud of being a humbug, and to give people things they know very well nobody can give.
The Barnum / int_816181cb	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_816181cb	featureConfidence	1.0
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_816181cb
The Barnum / int_81692f99	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_81692f99	comment	Star Trek: Harry Mudd from Star Trek: The Original Series is a bombastic con artist, thoroughly pleased with himself when his schemes are working and shamelessly spinning his past misadventures when he shows up for a second time in the original series and again in the animated series. His personality in prequel series Star Trek: Discovery suggests that by TOS, he had mellowed out! Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a borderline example of this. In the first Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Relaunch novel, Quark considers it a favor to only inflate the sale price of a shuttle by 20% for a close personal friend. Grand Nagus Zek is (usually) a much straighter example.
The Barnum / int_81692f99	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_81692f99	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek (Franchise)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_81692f99
The Barnum / int_8516bd41	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_8516bd41	comment	Chicago has the Amoral Attorney Billy Flynn. True to form, he gets a flashy song about it: "Razzle Dazzle".
The Barnum / int_8516bd41	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_8516bd41	featureConfidence	1.0
Chicago (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_8516bd41
The Barnum / int_863b7825	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_863b7825	comment	Sir Humphrey Appleby of Yes, Minister has a cynical motto for everything ("Gratitude is merely the lively expectation of future reward"; "The Official Secrets Act exists to protect officials, not secrets"), and is always cool — except when some honesty breaks into his perfect world. A more positive take on Sir Humphrey is that he and the Civil Service are providing effective (or at least stable) government, and performing damage control when elected politicians pander to their electorate without regards to their own political survival.
The Barnum / int_863b7825	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_863b7825	featureConfidence	1.0
Yes, Minister	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_863b7825
The Barnum / int_976efc02	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_976efc02	comment	Travelling space circus owner and master of ceremonies P.T. Mindslap from the 11th season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. He gets called out by Max and Kinga that his circus doesn't have any actual acts, only the description Mindslap gives the audience after turning off the lights.
The Barnum / int_976efc02	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_976efc02	featureConfidence	1.0
Mystery Science Theater 3000	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_976efc02
The Barnum / int_9a7088bc	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_9a7088bc	comment	Harry Mudd from Star Trek: The Original Series is a bombastic con artist, thoroughly pleased with himself when his schemes are working and shamelessly spinning his past misadventures when he shows up for a second time in the original series and again in the animated series. His personality in prequel series Star Trek: Discovery suggests that by TOS, he had mellowed out!
The Barnum / int_9a7088bc	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_9a7088bc	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek: The Original Series	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_9a7088bc
The Barnum / int_9ab064e6	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_9ab064e6	comment	M. Thenardier from Les MisÃ©rables, following his persona from the book, though he's not entirely serene. (Depending on the actor) he is shown as delighting in tricking and scamming his guests, but hungry to move his predatory activities to more savory prey.
The Barnum / int_9ab064e6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_9ab064e6	featureConfidence	1.0
Les MisÃ©rables (Theatre)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_9ab064e6
The Barnum / int_9e7ed97a	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_9e7ed97a	comment	Daisy Adair from Dead Like Me has been shown to have no problems whatsoever to exploit and trick the dead people's mourning relatives to get cash.
The Barnum / int_9e7ed97a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_9e7ed97a	featureConfidence	1.0
Dead Like Me	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_9e7ed97a
The Barnum / int_9e876c22	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_9e876c22	comment	Crowley from Good Omens — a demon whose job it is to tempt people to sin, but can't force them to do anything they don't chose to, and often what people chose to do on their own is worse than anything he comes up with.
The Barnum / int_9e876c22	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_9e876c22	featureConfidence	1.0
Good Omens	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_9e876c22
The Barnum / int_9f89a5f0	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_9f89a5f0	comment	PokÃ©mon: The trade-o-sphere has its fair share of these, with their best-known trick involving the naming of a Com Mon after a Legendary and duping unsuspecting marks into trading for the deceptively-named Mon. Some smarter marks have been known to try this trick on others in turn, and have sometimes used their brains by deliberately seeking one such con to fall for so they can try it on others with the Mon they had just picked up.
The Barnum / int_9f89a5f0	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_9f89a5f0	featureConfidence	1.0
PokÃ©mon (Franchise)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_9f89a5f0
The Barnum / int_a147b545	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_a147b545	comment	In A Face in the Crowd, Lonesome Rhodes sees his audience as a bunch of gullible morons, and he's not afraid to say so to Marcia or to his cronies.
The Barnum / int_a147b545	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_a147b545	featureConfidence	1.0
A Face in the Crowd	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_a147b545
The Barnum / int_aae88dc3	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_aae88dc3	comment	Tom Poes: Joris Goedbloed, a cunning fox who also appears in Marten Toonder's other comic book series Panda.
The Barnum / int_aae88dc3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_aae88dc3	featureConfidence	1.0
Tom Poes (Comic Book)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_aae88dc3
The Barnum / int_aff0a3cd	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_aff0a3cd	comment	Hot Bikini Beans features a character named Hinkler with a loud fashion sense and buffoonish Get-Rich-Quick Scheme tendencies.
The Barnum / int_aff0a3cd	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_aff0a3cd	featureConfidence	1.0
Hot Bikini Beans (Web Video)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_aff0a3cd
The Barnum / int_b8b10e08	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_b8b10e08	comment	In Pogo, P. T. Bridgeport is an example of this, taking his moniker from the Trope Namer. His dialogue-font is even rendered in "old-timey circus poster" fashion. Seminole Sam also shades into this territory at times as well.
The Barnum / int_b8b10e08	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_b8b10e08	featureConfidence	1.0
Pogo (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_b8b10e08
The Barnum / int_bc1dc95a	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_bc1dc95a	comment	Captain Hector Barbossa of Pirates of the Caribbean definitely fits the bill, as a trickster who seemed nothing but content with his own cruel, selfish, and dishonorable schemes along with his more directly violent and murderous acts as a (sort of) crime boss of the seas. Jack Sparrow also qualifies, at one point tricking a man who saved him from hanging into joining the crew of the Flying Dutchman and subsequently trying to "harvest" another ninety-nine, though at least he has the excuse of doing it to save his own skin rather than out of greed.
The Barnum / int_bc1dc95a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_bc1dc95a	featureConfidence	1.0
Pirates of the Caribbean (Franchise)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_bc1dc95a
The Barnum / int_bc848d30	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_bc848d30	comment	SpongeBob SquarePants: Eugene Krabs is a surprisingly mild example, considering his EXTREME Money Fetish. It helps that SpongeBob is quite possibly the best frycook under the sea (to the point that he once outperformed King Neptune with his cooking skills), if not the entire planet Earth, and the Krusty Krab has a loyal clientele that Krabs would be stupid to cheat...at least, blatantly cheat. Doesn't stop him from charging customers a dollar a tomato to throw at Squidward's ill-fated interpretive dance show. Although, in that last case, they said "It's worth every penny." Squidward's dancing was that bad.
The Barnum / int_bc848d30	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_bc848d30	featureConfidence	1.0
SpongeBob SquarePants	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_bc848d30
The Barnum / int_bcdcf629	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_bcdcf629	comment	In Transformers: Animated note where he was voiced by Fred Willard he conned humans into stealing things for him, engaged in sales banter with Megatron, and sold random objects out of a hammerspace drawer in his chest, including some helmets from various G1 characters.
The Barnum / int_bcdcf629	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_bcdcf629	featureConfidence	1.0
Transformers: Animated	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_bcdcf629
The Barnum / int_bd75ce34	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_bd75ce34	comment	In a fourth-season episode of Sea Patrol, an old friend of 2Dads joins the crew. It turns out that not only is he using his position to send info to a gang of pirates, he's also scamming another crew members into an online romance. 2Dads eventually turns him in.
The Barnum / int_bd75ce34	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_bd75ce34	featureConfidence	1.0
Sea Patrol	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_bd75ce34
The Barnum / int_cb55536d	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_cb55536d	comment	The Greatest Showman depicts the Trope Namer as a non-malicious version, though he sometimes forgets how his schemes impact others. Barnum cheerfully acknowledges that much of what he shows in his famous Circus is faked or exaggerated - but adds that the smiles of the audience are very much real.
The Barnum / int_cb55536d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_cb55536d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Greatest Showman	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_cb55536d
The Barnum / int_ccf0819f	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_ccf0819f	comment	Vincent Kennedy McMahon has been called the modern day PT Barnum, yet this probably applies better to all the wrestling promoters who preceded him for building the Kayfabe wall that he essentially tore down. Depending on who you talk to, the biggest wrestling fans always suspected that the game was staged and just didn't care, giving the promoters no reason to stop their charade of claiming it was completely authentic competition. Conversely, said "smart" fans despise McMahon for tearing down the wall and turning wrestling into "sports entertainment" - though in many cases the disdain comes from making WWE more about the theatrics than the in-ring action. By today's business standards, McMahon is probably the ultimate example of this trope considering that WWE still inflates attendance figures, manipulates merchandise sales, and has skillfully deflected declining television ratings.
The Barnum / int_ccf0819f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_ccf0819f	featureConfidence	1.0
Vince McMahon (Wrestling)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_ccf0819f
The Barnum / int_cf3e7a82	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_cf3e7a82	comment	Superman: J. Wilbur Wolfingham was a con-man who cheated many good people out of their money, only to be thwarted by Superman. He eventually reformed, but only because experience had shown him that Superman would always foil his plans. His schemes would often wind up inadvertently profiting the people he was trying to swindle.
The Barnum / int_cf3e7a82	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_cf3e7a82	featureConfidence	1.0
Superman (Franchise)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_cf3e7a82
The Barnum / int_d46cc708	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_d46cc708	comment	Eddy from Ed, Edd n Eddy, when his scams are actually working.
The Barnum / int_d46cc708	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_d46cc708	featureConfidence	1.0
Ed, Edd n Eddy	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_d46cc708
The Barnum / int_e293455a	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_e293455a	comment	Ethan Rayne from Buffy the Vampire Slayer could be considered The Barnum. He's a trickster who worships chaos and shows no remorse for what he does.
The Barnum / int_e293455a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_e293455a	featureConfidence	1.0
Buffy the Vampire Slayer	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_e293455a
The Barnum / int_e45a08d4	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_e45a08d4	comment	Urbanus: The scoundrel Jef Patat tricks Urbanus and other villagers often. By the time they understand what has happened it's usually too late.
The Barnum / int_e45a08d4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_e45a08d4	featureConfidence	1.0
Urbanus (Comic Book)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_e45a08d4
The Barnum / int_e579908a	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_e579908a	comment	Relative Disasters has Philip Arnold and John Slack, the perpetrators of the 1872 Great Diamond Hoax, who salted some ground with diamonds and used Obfuscating Stupidity to dupe many of the highest echelon of American society out of millions of dollars.
The Barnum / int_e579908a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_e579908a	featureConfidence	1.0
Relative Disasters (Podcast)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_e579908a
The Barnum / int_edabe912	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_edabe912	comment	Nick Naylor from Thank You for Smoking is a tobacco lobbyist fully aware of what he's doing, but quite happy to keep doing it with a smile. The rest of the M.O.D. fits as well.
The Barnum / int_edabe912	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_edabe912	featureConfidence	1.0
Thank You for Smoking	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_edabe912
The Barnum / int_ef305472	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_ef305472	comment	Clinton Stark in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao is a bit of an inversion; he doesn't feel remorse for exploiting peoples greed and short sightedness, but as he told his henchmen, he always hopes that his cynical assumptions will be proven wrong on each scheme. When his scheme fails thanks to Dr. Lao's inspiration of the townspeople, he is genuinely happy about the failure.
The Barnum / int_ef305472	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_ef305472	featureConfidence	1.0
7 Faces of Dr. Lao	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_ef305472
The Barnum / int_f35f2f0b	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_f35f2f0b	comment	MSF High: Fenris. She runs quite a bit of businesses, and hates any class where she can't sell things. As for what she sells, well Donovan discovered some interesting characteristics about his sword.
The Barnum / int_f35f2f0b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_f35f2f0b	featureConfidence	1.0
MSF High (Webcomic)	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_f35f2f0b
The Barnum / int_f7c1b2d3	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_f7c1b2d3	comment	Del Trotter from Only Fools and Horses is one of this, to the point that similar characters in other shows and real life have been referred to as "a bit of a Del Boy" by the media. He's pretty unscrupulous about what he sells to people and even short-changes his own brother on occasion.
The Barnum / int_f7c1b2d3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_f7c1b2d3	featureConfidence	1.0
Only Fools and Horses	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_f7c1b2d3
The Barnum / int_fdbace96	type	The Barnum
The Barnum / int_fdbace96	comment	Gravity Falls: Great Uncle Stan Pines, owner of the Mystery Shack, museum for countless oddities- all fake. One of his 'attractions' is the Bag of Mystery, which causes any money put in to mysteriously vanish. He claims that all of the myths surrounding the town are just cooked up by guys like him to shill clueless tourists. Though the ending of season one and the season two premiere reveal that he does know about the journals and the strange things that happen in Gravity Falls. He knows better than to use anything truly paranormal for the Shack, though, because A) that stuff tends to be dangerous, and B) as shown in Boss Mabel, people are fooled by his cheap tricks but refuse to believe their eyes when confronted with a real monster. Gideon Gleeful is similar, though instead of fake exhibits he specializes in displaying fake psychic abilities while playing up his cute appearance for all it's worth. With just a little help from genuine paranormal artifacts and spy cameras all over town. However, he is far more malevolent than Stan is.
The Barnum / int_fdbace96	featureApplicability	1.0
The Barnum / int_fdbace96	featureConfidence	1.0
Gravity Falls	hasFeature	The Barnum / int_fdbace96

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Barnum	processingCategory2	Cynicism Tropes
The Barnum	processingCategory2	The Jerk Index
Bone (Comic Book) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Tom Poes (Comic Book) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Pogo (Comic Strip) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Princess and the Frog / Disney / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
A Face in the Crowd / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Big Eyes / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Breaker! Breaker! / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Jungle Cruise / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
7 Faces of Dr. Lao / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Thank You for Smoking / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Greatest Showman / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Star Maker / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Wag the Dog / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Confessions (Saint Augustine) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Decades of Darkness / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Florence of Arabia / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Gods Are Bastards / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Thief of Always / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
PandoraA-G	seeAlso	The Barnum
Kids Praise (Music) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Relative Disasters (Podcast) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Adventure Zone: Ethersea (Podcast) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Absolute Power (BBC) (Radio) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Are You Being Served? / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Mad Men / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Only Fools and Horses / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Peaky Blinders / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The A-Team / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Paradise / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Wiseguy / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Yes, Minister / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Beetlejuice (Theatre) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Music Man (Theatre) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Winter's Tale (Theatre) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Atom RPG (Video Game) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Spore (Video Game) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Urbz (Video Game) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Hot Bikini Beans (Web Video) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Jimquisition (Web Video) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye (Web Video) / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum
The Fungies! / int_4fa3a61f	type	The Barnum

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.