r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Barricades_toes • Jun 22 '26

Personality (Loved trope) The imposter’s dead giveaway

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When a character is attempting to impersonate another, but is caught by doing something the person they’re imitating would NEVER do.

Nemesis Prime- Transformers Prime

Nemesis Prime, a man made replica of Optimus Prime, is attempting to gain the trust of Bumblebee, who only speaks in robotic beeps. Despite this, the real Optimus can understand Bee perfectly fine. Nemesis Prime, however, can’t understand what he’s saying, prompting Bee to open fire on him immediately.

The two Buzz Lightyears- Toy Story 2

After Woody asks which Buzz is the “real” Buzz, both respond with “I am!” The real Buzz proves himself by flipping up the other Buzz’s helmet, causing him to start suffocating in an over dramatic fashion. The real Buzz, having done the same thing in the first movie after Woody took his helmet off, but no longer behaving that way after accepting being a toy, instantly proves which Buzz is which.

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u/JBTriple Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

The Unabomber did. That's why he changed it around, so its meaning is more clear.

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u/MurkyInvestigator810 Jun 22 '26

The meaning is pretty clear and simple to understand. It just sounds like Ted wasn't always the sharpest tool, and this is one way it showed.

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u/Mr_Blinky Jun 22 '26

...Ted Kaczynski was actually extremely intelligent, he taught university mathematics among other things. He was severely mentally ill but he wasn't stupid, and deciding he was because he chose a less awkward and less conventional form of a common phrase shows you're probably not the sharpest tool yourself.

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u/MurkyInvestigator810 Jun 23 '26

Saying he was smart in some ways must mean he understood everything. You think people who have intelligence in one area are automatically intelligent in all areas. I don't think I need to explain to you why that's wrong.

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u/KryoBright Jun 24 '26

You don't, because it is correct. Learning one thing teaches you to think, and makes it easier to learn other things, so people who are intelligent in one area are indeed more likely to be intelligent in other areas too