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The Barnum: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''There's a sucker born every minute.''|[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|Erroneously attributed to]] '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum P.T. Barnum]'''}}
A trickster-philosopher who lives by pandering to people's greed and gullibility. Not only does he never feel guilty about it, he will be offended by suggestions that he stop. If people want to be tricked, who is he to say no?
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Compare the (usually adolescent) [[High School Hustler]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* Nabiki Tendo from ''[[Ranma
* {{spoiler|Kyubey}} from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' follows shades of this. If people are willing to {{spoiler|make a contract without reading the fine-print, as it were}}, why on earth would he say no? It's not his fault that {{spoiler|the fine print [[You Didn't Ask]] about says that you'll turn into a [[Our Liches Are Different|Lich]] when the contract is made, and that you'll [[And Then John Was a Zombie|eventually turn into]] [[Eldritch Abomination|a witch]].}}
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* Sir Humphrey Appleby of ''[[Yes Minister]]'', Sir Humphrey had 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 was always cool -- except when some honesty broke 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.
* Mr. Humphries of ''[[Are You Being Served (TV)|Are You Being Served]]''. Mr. Humphries knew how ridiculous his job was, and did it just as absurdly as he was supposed to. After all, he was never the one who had to face the consequences -- that was the boss or the customers.
* 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. [[Based
** While Don is non-judgmental to the point of apathy about the products his clients are selling, he 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.
* Kingfish from ''Amos N Andy'' sold tickets to fake raffles and fake tickets to a real ballet. When said tickets were revealed to be fake, he refunded the money... in counterfeit bills. He also took Andy for a grand tour of the entire United States, which is rather impressive since they never left Central Park. He briefly dabbled in selling shares in a uranium mine, and sold overpriced rabbits as chinchillas. Finally he sold a ring found in a box of crackerjacks for quite a sum, {{spoiler|only to find out it was actually worth quite a bit more.}}
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== Real Life ==
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pt_barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum], an American showman, businessman, and entertainer famous for founding one of the circuses that merged to form the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, as well as putting forward various hoaxes. He [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|did not]], however, say "There's a sucker born every minute." That was actually said by a [http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbarnum.html rival of Barnum's] when they got into what could only be described as a "hoax war."
* 19th-century gambler & con artist "Canada Bill" Johnson was fond of saying "It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money."
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