| abstract
| - This character is not your ordinary everyday lying jerk. This is the liar so good you never, ever want to play Poker with them because you'd go home without even your underwear and short next week's paycheck. This liar is so good, he or she can defeat the Living Lie Detector, much to the dismay of that exceptional individual. This also covers the lucky liar, someone who is not necessarily a great liar all the time, but who through luck (or possibly careful planning) is able to fool the Living Lie Detector at some critical moment. Obviously, this is a handy talent for a villain to have if the hero group has a Living Lie Detector, although it can also come in quite handy for a hero who needs to fool the villain for a change. For obvious reasons, it is particularly useful if the Living Lie Detector believes that his or her ability is working, when it fact it is not. Conversely, a more flamboyant and audacious Consummate Liar might make blatantly false or contradictory statements to the Living Lie Detector just to show off. Will also use Self-Serving Memory if it will suit his/her needs. Two common variations on Consummate Liar are:
* Just Too Alien: An entire race of people (usually aliens) just happen to be immune to whatever the Living Lie Detector's ability is. Often not quite as disastrous as the lone exceptional Consummate Liar, because once you figure out that the Ferengi are immune to your telepathy, you quit trying to use it on them to gather information. Note that being immune to one type of truth-telling might not make a race immune to ALL types (just because you can resist telepathy doesn't mean you can necessarily resist some kind of Applied Phlebotinum Truth Serum).
* Truth Twister: A group of beings with the unusual reputation of being "unable to tell a lie." This is usually interpreted by the group as "unable to tell a LITERAL lie" -- violating the spirit of the rule is just fine if you can get away with it. This usually renders them immune to most Living Lie Detector abilities, but it doesn't help them for long, as they quickly develop a reputation for being able to lie without lying, resulting in no one believing ANYTHING they say. Examples include the Aes Sedai from The Wheel of Time, and the ability of Earthsea dragons to lie in the True Speech (which is supposed to be impossible, but they manage.) Vulcans are often thought to fall into this category, but in fact they can lie; they just strongly prefer not to. When confronted with evidence of having told an untruth, the typical Vulcan response is, "I exaggerated." Liar! This trope does not apply to tricks such as the Memory Gambit or Note to Self: when they are used as a defense against lie detection. In those tropes, the would-be liar must convince him or herself that they are telling the truth. The Consummate Liar knows perfectly well that they are lying. May or may not actually admit, later, that I Lied. Any character who gives a Bastardly Speech has no business being anything else. Compare The Power of Acting. Contrast Bad Liar. Examples of Consummate Liar include:
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