Hypocrisy Callout - TV Tropes

There are many people who always find Hypocrites to be really infuriating, especially a Straw Hypocrite for how when they don't practice what they believe to be actually insulting. This is when people call them out for it when they lie about being two-faced.

Frequently, they will be found out, be it in an Engineered Public Confession or through investigation. The Hero may use this to either expose them as a fraud or discredit them before their followers. If the villain does this it's more likely Even Evil Has Standards for how some villains are disgusted by hypocrisy. Either way, it can be an effort to invoke Share the Blame.

This is where terms like "The pot calling the kettle black" or "practice what you preach" happen.

Compare Hypocrisy Nod, At Least I Admit It for when the person acknowledges their own hypocrisy. This could be a part of "The Reason You Suck" Speech directed to someone. If this leads to a physical fight, then it's Fisticuff-Provoking Comment.

This trope doesn't apply if the person being called a hypocrite, is not a hypocrite and it's just a misunderstanding or different ideological beliefs.

Contrast Hypocrite Has a Point for when the hypocrite makes a valid point.

See also Cowardice Callout for when it's cowardice, Laziness Callout for when it's laziness.

Given the controversial nature about hypocrisy in Real Life, No Real Life Examples, Please!

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You: Hahari is prone to being subjected to this trope when she tries to draw a moral boundary in the presence of Rentarou’s other girlfriends, as she’s a perverted cuteness fetishist who is dating the same boy as her daughter.
Chained Soldier: Played for Laughs, When Shushu attacks Shikoku for trying to kidnap Yuuki. Tenka also attacks and calls Shikoku an invader, with Shushu calling her out for Hypocritical Humor.
Code Geass: Mixed with Hypocrisy Nod, Lelouch Lamperouge calls out Suzaku for using tyranny, while trying to achieve freedom and what he’s done to achieve that goal. Lelouch acknowledges his own hypocrisy and calls out Suzaku for being in denial.
The Daichis - Earth's Defense Family: In episode 12, the alien Hoshi calls out Ellen's hypocrisy for breaking Galactic Regulations for getting close to Dai, who is a local inhabitant of earth when previously Ellen called him out in episode 7 when he's breaking immigration laws by being on earth which is a closed planet. Ellen when called out for her hypocrisy believes that he has no right to say that because he's an illegal alien.
Fullmetal Alchemist: This is the reaction Solf J. Kimblee gives when his Berserk Button of Hypocrisy is pushed. When Pride tried to possess Edward's body, Kimblee called him out for abandoning his namesake as a homunculus.
In The Isekai Doctor, Yuito emphasizes the importance of good sleep for physical and mental health, especially when a patient comes in who found herself unable to fly after gaining weight from overeating and not sleeping enough. Fia points out that he should take his own advice given his tendency to stay up all night working, something he doesn't have retort for except promising to be more careful.
Is It My Fault That I Got Bullied?: It’s lampshaded twice, curtesy of the main character, Yuuichi Aizawa.
- Back in middle school, Shinji Suzuki made Aizawa’s life a living hell because he enjoyed being a bully. Years later, Shinji still acts like an asshole and tells his daughter, Shiori, that the one’s at fault are the ones being bullied. Little did he realize, Shiori is targeted by a Gang of Bullies, and by the time he find out, Shinji goes into Papa Wolf mode. But his daughter calls him out in his Blaming the Victim philosophy, but Shinji decides to change his past choice of words by blaming the aggressors instead. When confronted by Aizawa, he tells Shinji off for his hypocrisy, pointing out that the way his daughter’s bullies treated her was no different than how he treated his favorite punching bag.
- Reina Himekawa is a part of a Gang of Bullies and had no qualms with mocking their main target, Shiori, over her mother’s attempted suicide. The whole reason the bullying began is because the resident Alpha Bitch, Nagumo, felt pissed over her basketball coach favoring Shiori because she was having an affair with Shinji. The second the general public turns on the bullies, Reina gets enraged over her classmates mocking her parents and insinuate she turned out the way she did because said parents used to be delinquents. The second Aizawa walks in, he gives Reina "The Reason You Suck" Speech over her hypocrisy and cruelty.
  Aizawa: You got angry hearing someone else talk badmouth your mother? You? You had a lot of fun back when you were bullying (Shiori), didn’t you? Stoking her feelings of inferiority and insecurity, all while you stood over her, basking in your superiority. You created this whole situation just for that smug sense of superiority. You probably never expected this to happen, right? At least, you never thought it could happen to you.
My Hero Academia:
- This is what happens with Rei Todoroki, when Rei attempts to give her son Toya advice to convince him to stop training for his father Enji/Endeavor's approval but Toya lashes out at Rei, calling out her hypocrisy in her advice and that she also has a hand in his ordeal, mostly because she enabled it by choosing to do nothing, even though she could.
- Overhaul wants to eradicate the existence of Quirks using Quirk-destroying bullets, but continues to rely on his own Quirk, particularly when it comes to creating those bullets. Tomura Shigaraki calls him out on this, before mutilating him to rob him of his powers.
  Shigaraki: Listen, Overhaul. A guy spouting off about getting rid of all Quirks… Shouldn’t be relying on Quirks, right?
Revolutionary Girl Utena: Played for Laughs in "Cowbell of Happiness". Utena tries to tell Nanami it's weird for her to wear a cowbell around her neck since it's a thing meant for cows. Nanami retorts that it's no different than Utena's own habit of wearing a boy's school uniform; Utena does not appreciate this comparison.
The Secret Garden (NHK): Dickon and Martha are all too happy to call out Mary for being a Spoiled Brat and having an irritable temper, but they both assume the worst of Camila just for being Romani, with Martha warning Mary to stay away from her and Dickon repeatedly calling her an "evil, evil woman". Mary finally bursts at the latter, calling him out for his hypocrisy, and runs away in tears because she's disgusted with his behaviour. They both realize their wrongs later and regret what they did.
Whisper Me a Love Song: During the School Festival, Himari, on Aki's request, arranges a meeting between Aki and her former friend and bandmate Shiho during the School Festival. Shiho accuses Aki of being a coward for using Himari in such a manner, but she asks if Shiho is one to talk; an earlier scene had shown Shiho asking Himari to tell Aki that she wanted nothing more to do with the latter.

Comic Books

Justice League: Generation Lost: Gavril Ivanovich was a member of the Rocket Red Brigade until he went on a crusade against what he felt was Western influence on his country, leading the other Rocket Reds to hunt him. He's saved by the former members of the JLI and gets excited to join them, something Fire tries pointing out. (Turns out while he does hate American culture, he loves the Justice League).
Gavril: Hypocrite on Justice League!
MAD: In the Gremlins (1984) parody, Billy complains about one of the evil Gremlins attacking Gizmo, saying that they should live in peace with their own kind. The evil Gremlin thinks that Billy, as a human, is rather hypocritical for expecting other species to live in peace with their kind.
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye has Krok of the Scavengers reveal that he wants to build a treatment center for any Cybertronian who has been left traumatized or suffers from mental disorders as a result of the war. To achieve that goal, however, he would have to sell Grimlock (who had been tortured and experimented on, leaving him mentally-disabled as a result) over to Demus (who would have done more torture and experimentation on the unfortunate Dinobot). Fulcrum is quick to call him out on his hypocrisy, willing to sell Grimlock, despite needing help more than anyone (in which the ashamed Krok admits to letting the ends justify the means).

Fan Works

Adventures of a Line Hopper: In Elizabeth, when it turns out that the Doctor could have stopped Elizabeth's madness and her Sunnydale's mass-death but didn't, Anya points out he has just screwed over an ex and destroyed a town even though he calls her out on doing those things before. This proves to be the last straw for the Doctor as he agrees that there is no difference between him and the ex-vengeance demon and leaves to "stop [him]self".
Alicorn: Part of Captain Tristar's much-needed callout of Twilight has him call her out on her hypocrisy in being jealous of Rainbow Dash. Twilight grew up in the wealthiest city in the country, had the privilege of being a magically powerful unicorn, and was personally tutored by Princess Celestia. Rainbow was raised by working-class parents, was orphaned at a young age, and did not have an ounce of magic until recently, yet Twilight is jealous of her for her being revealed as Celestia's daughter after seventeen years of not having a single advantage or privilege.
The Altaz Mariners: During the battle in "Farrow", some of the enemy lieutenants call out Renaldo and his rebellion, arguing that he isn't actually fighting for the common people as he is already rich and just wants more power. Renaldo never actually denies it, just retorting that Baron Lothar is better off deposed.
Alternate V: A villainous example; Tsumugi would constantly tease Kaede about her hypocrisy for encouraging everyone to not play by the killing game, despite the fact that she attempted to take a life, and caused the killing game to start.
Bestowal: Kudo snarks that it's rich of Bruce to warn Izuku to be cautious when he's using Fa Jin when he died by blowing himself up with it.
Facing the Future Series:
- Sam calls Undergrowth out on this, saying he's just as greedy as he says mankind is, always taking and not caring for anything other than himself.
- Danny brings up Walker's Screw the Rules, I Make Them! policy, and calls him the biggest hypocrite he's EVER met.
Keeping Secrets (Fairy Tail): In chapter 34, Lucy starts chewing out Natsu for siding with Zeref and Alvarez, unaware that things are way, way more complicated than they look. Invel Yura, probably the Dragneel family's most devoted servant, hits his limit after Lucy begins to consider that he was brainwashed.
Invel: I've heard quite enough of this. Not only do you insult His Majesty to his face aboard the Imperial flagship, but your words regarding His Highness reek of hypocrisy. You accuse him of flippantly discarding his bonds with you and the rest of Fairy Tail, yet that is exactly what you expect him to do when it comes to his own brother!
The Many Dates of Danny Fenton: In Chapter 11 of TMDDF: After Many Dates: Danny and Kim, Kim rips into Sam for her jealousy and hypocrisy:
Kim: Okay, Sam! Why are you like this? Are you jealous of me and Danny?
Sam: I am not!
Kim: Don't play dumb with me; I'm a straight-A student.
Sam: Pfft... how many boys have you promised a date with to help you?
Kim: Okay, you know what?! I think I know what's your problem. For all your talk about disliking shallow jerks, you're just as, if not more, shallow than the rest! You won't give me a chance to be your friend just because I'm a cheerleader. Have you seen my best friend? Sure, I have a habit of not exactly being a saint, but I care about people. You, however, are unwilling to even try and be nice with others. So, I'm a cheerleader, so what? Why is that a good excuse to be rude to me? How does that make you better?! The answer is, of course, it doesn't! And by the way, Danny told me you're rich. You complain about what's wrong with people and the world and yet all you do is buy depressing poetry and concert tickets! I use my cheerleading to save people and stop bad guys. You wanna do something good or prove you're not another shallow little brat?! Why don't you use that money and instead of buying more black clothes, donate to homeless shelters or fix houses that were destroyed by storms?! I'm trying to be friends with you because I like Danny a lot. I don't have to be your friend, but I actually put the effort into it for his sake. So why aren't you willing to put in any effort? If you care about him in any way at all, why aren't you willing to do something to make him happy?
The Morrigan: When Norea says that she came back to the Dawn of Fold with a gundam, Sabina points out that she stole it from Peil. Norea shoots back that Sabina stole her own gundam, Gundam Morrigan, from Norea back when it was still named Lfrith Ur.
Most Sinners' Trash is A Princess's Redemption Project: Charlie lets Lucifer have it after learning he had made a deal with Alastor out of paranoia towards Vox, which he himself had dissuaded her from ever doing.
Not Quite Heroes: When Dr. Drakken rants about having one of his inventions stolen, Shego mocks him by asking how this situation is any different from all the times Drakken and Shego stole somebody else's invention. Drakken outright says that this case is different because it happened to him.
of elder, stone and cloth:
- Sirius is extremely suspicious of Edward for being related to Herpo the Foul and fully expects him to be a dark lord in disguise. Remus calls him out on this, saying that he of all people has no right to judge others on their family background.
- Dumbledore takes several points from Slytherin (Edward's house) for leaving the school grounds, taking Remus Lupin with him and destroying a Hocrux, calling it a "foolish endeavour". He also threatens to fire Lupin over it. McGonagall immediately calls bullshit, telling Dumbledore that he can't punish Edward for something he did outside the school under teacher supervision when he awarded Harry and his friends points for breaking the rules two years prior.
One helluva time with Iruma kun: Fed up with how Blitzo's constantly prying into his and Millie's sex lives, Moxxie calls Blitzo out for being so tight-lipped about his own sex life.
A Possible Encounter for a Phantom:
- Danny calls out Barkin dismissing Ron's masculinity for Kim saving his life, since he needed Kim to rescue him the night before.
- Kim calls Sam out for getting mad at Danny when he spied on her and Gregor, but she has no problem spying on Danny when he's with Kim.
RWBY:
- Coeur Al'Aran is prone to having these in his fics.
  - In Your Wildest Dreams: When Ironwood attempts to arrest Jaune for accidentally breaking the law when his uncontrollable Dream Walker Semblance sent him into Penny's unconscious CPU, Oobleck calls out Ironwood in Jaune's defence that Ironwood himself broke the law by effectively smuggling Penny, who is essentially classified Atlas weaponry, into Beacon.
  - Null: A furious Jaune gives Blake more than one well-deserved callout on what an absolute moral hypocrite she is, pointing out how she deliberately betrayed him and left him for the wolves, knowing full well of his and his kidnapped family's horrible and desperate situation with Chivalric Arms, and herself had no intention of ever lifting a finger that could help any of his family afterwards; and yet she still has the nerve to preach about the sanctity of lives repeatedly, and she's willing to compromise her so-called morals and ethics just like she criticizes Jaune for doing when it's her new team leader Ruby instead of Jaune's family or any of her old White Fang comrades that are on the line.
  - Professor Arc: Jaune makes sure to call Nicholas Arc, his father, out for refusing to accept surrender in a duel when he has a sword to his throat just after Nicholas was lecturing on the importance of knowing when to accept defeat.
  - Relic of the Future: More than one of Jaune's closest allies, including Summer and Taiyang, call him out to his face on how for all his extreme wariness of Ozpin (due to the latter's original timeline counterpart's role in Jaune's experiences in the Bad Future) and insistence on being better than him, Jaune in many ways is just as manipulative, secretive and distrustful in his campaign to save Remnant as he partly hates Ozpin for being. The fact that Ozpin and Jaune are not so different is a key theme of Jaune's character and self-realization in the fic.
- Psyga315, who pretty much specializes in writing accusation and deconstruction fics, has several where a RWBY character gets called out by another on their hypocrisy.
  - Just Like Him (Link): When Yang tries to brush off the White Fang soldiers Team RWBY sent falling off the train to their likely deaths in Volume 2 that they were no innocents, on account of their plan to flood Vale with Grimm, Blake fires back that what those soldiers were trying to do to Vale is essentially what Team RWBY, JNR and their companions have since done to Argus after they killed the Leviathan and then left Argus fend for itself without doing anything about the horde of remaining, smaller Grimm. Blake furthermore adds that Yang trying to justify their actions getting others hurt makes her sound like Adam, who Yang was writing off as an irredeemable monster moments before. Jaune later calls out Ren and the rest of their friends for telling him his life isn't something to throw away, when that's logically exactly what Pyrrha did against Cinder at Beacon after the latter had already achieved her main objective, yet they glorify Pyrrha for that instead of calling her actions out as the Stupid Sacrifice they were.
  - Never Compromise: Qrow chides Lucy that her actions in exposing the truth about what happened at Haven will feed distrust of the council among other issues, at which point Lucy retorts that that's rich coming from Qrow, who previously expressed no respect or care for the council.
  - The Wrong Place For Morals: Ruby tries to stop Jaune killing Cinder in revenge for Pyrrha and everyone else she killed because Ruby thinks that If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!. Ren calls Ruby out that neither she nor anyone else had a problem with Ren essentially taking vengeance when he killed the Nuckelavee in Volume 4, and Nora reminds Ruby that killing a monster and threat like Cinder isn't that much of a step down when Ruby herself has already maimed both Cinder and Tyrian for life in self-defenses and defense of her loved ones.
- I Rewrote RWBY Volume 8: When Ruby calls out Ironwood for being so secretive to his own allies about his plans for Amity and Atlas during the events of Volume 7, Ironwood retorts that Ruby and her friends themselves acted no better towards him by being constantly cagey and keeping their own important secrets from him, and that Ruby's group ultimately acted no better than Ozpin after they even earlier lashed out at the latter for exhibiting the same behavior in Volume 6.
- The Tale of a Cat Most Curious: Team RWBY and Jaune are on the receiving end of several callouts — mostly coming from the Curious Cat, although Neo also gets a few in when she confronts Ruby — for contradicting the morals they preached and doing the same things they criticized others for doing; such as them not being truthful, trusting or transparent with Ironwood despite their demanding to receive those very same things from him and Ozpin respectively, de-prioritizing Mantle's and its people's immediate welfare to focus on their own problems and plans to save people (which were ultimately very costly) just like they criticized Ironwood for, and not being honest about their recurring pattern of disregarding civilians' welfare which counters their claims of fighting to save everyone and protecting those who can't protect themselves.
A Red Rose in the Blue Wind (RWBY & Sonic the Hedgehog):
- Sonic and Rouge call out on Shadow's hostility towards Ozpin and his inner circle's shadier actions, pointing out that he has no ground to stand on given that he did far worse things than them in the past, like when he tried to destroy the world when they first met.
- Ruby would call out Yang's inability to forgive or hear out Qrow by mentioning how she wants to give Sienna Khan and Raven Branwen the benefit of the doubt, despite both of them being unremorseful killers who has done way worse unambiguously worse things than be a Yes-Man to Ozpin's conspiracy group.
Resurrected Memories:
- Danny doesn't say it out loud, but he calls Sam out on this when she praises Amberline (Ember) for pranking Paulina by putting clown makeup on her, while in the past, she scolded Danny whenever he got payback on Dash for his bullying.
- One instance involves Ember being called a hypocrite by an old version of herself in a dream for deciding to not use the dirt on Paulina from Star due to having kept a promise to her.
- Ember is quick to call Kitty a hypocrite over lecturing her on manipulating Danny and keeping her identity a secret from him when Kitty had blackmailed him in order to make Johnny jealous and even overshadowed Paulina to do so.
Stagnation or Stability:
- During their exchange over the chat messaging system on Kinger's computer, Caine calls Kinger out for rifling through his code without his consent, which prompts Kinger to respond by pointing out how Caine did things to the humans without their consent too such as using modifiers or dressing them up and making them dance during his musical number.
- Jax points out when everyone ignores Kinger referring to Caine as 'it' for a stretch of exposition about his memories of Caine's earlier days of existence despite them all having been on his case for doing the same earlier.
- Zooble hits back at Jax's constant dehumanizing of Caine when he condemns Caine as a killer for consuming his successor AI by pointing out the hypocrisy of insisting Caine is Just a Machine while still hating and holding things against him as if he were alive and sentient.
Jax: Poor Caine? It killed something and your conclusion is 'poor Caine'?
Zooble: For what Caine did to be considered murder, the other AI would have to have been alive. If that replacement was alive after three months, then there is no fucking way you can argue Caine wasn't after eleven. Either Caine isn't alive and therefore not a killer, or he's a living person who killed someone. You can't have both, Jax.
Telling Lies? No, Mama (Miraculous Ladybug): Alya calls out the class for rallying to Lila's defense like "some kind of protection squad" simply because Lila claims Marinette has been bullying her, when they never did anything similar for Marinette during all the years Chloé actually bullied her.
Uncle B (Helluva Boss): As Paimon lambasts Stolas for letting Octavia regularly mingle with imps as well as his relationship with Blitzø, Stolas point-blank calls his father a hypocrite before introducing Paimon to Persephone, the child Paimon had conceived with an imp.
Vile and Blasphemous (Hazbin Hotel): Vaggie takes great glee in pointing out that what Lute is trying to do, find Adam in Hell and bring him back to Heaven, is exactly what the target of her hatred Charlie is doing: get sinners out of Hell because they don't deserve eternal damnation. Lute tries to insist that it's different, but Vaggie is enjoying the schadenfreude.
What Friends Do (Miraculous Ladybug): Alya calls Marinette out on how she treats Chat Noir and Adrien. Marinette gets mad at Chat Noir for trying to win her over even after he is told she loves someone else yet she has still been trying to win Adrien over after he confessed he loved another girl in "The Puppeteer 2". In fact, some of her romantic tactics have been even worse than Chat Noir's, like trying to humiliate romantic rivals in public or taking advantage of Adrien when he's sad. Marinette is upset by the tactics Chat uses on her, which include writing off the unknown rival as a jerk to justify wooing, refusing to move on despite being told they are just friends, expecting them to overlook their flaws because of their good points, or telling themselves that they can change their love's mind and convince them to give them a chance if they try harder, yet the series has thus far shown us that she has no problems doing those same things to Adrien. What's more, Alya accuses Marinette of thinking herself as above all Adrien's Loony Fans who only have Celeb Crushes on him, and that she herself loves him for who he is on the inside, when in reality, she too is Loving a Shadow, as she has had two years to get over her Smitten Teenage Girl problems but let herself be intimidated by his status and fame, keeping her stuck as a Stalker with a Crush who barely knows him beyond the flawless image she has of him.

Film — Live-Action

Air Force One: When First Lady Grace Marshall tries to lecture Ivan Korshunov on the rules of war, he shuts her up thusly:
Grace: This isn't war! You just murdered an unarmed woman.
Korshunov: You, who murdered a hundred thousand Iraqis just to save a nickel on a gallon of gas, are going to lecture me on THE RULES OF WAR?! DON'T!
Clear and Present Danger: Towards the end, Jack Ryan is very quick to put his foot down as President Bennett begins to lecture him on acting by Revenge Before Reason. This ending scene even has shades of You Are What You Hate, with the President not being conscious that he murdered people as much as Escobedo did. It's also intended as a Does This Remind You of Anything?, to analyze many modern political issues.
Elf: When Morris and Eugene try to pitch an idea of a children's book about anthropomorphic vegetables to Miles Finch, Miles says no to that idea because they're too vulnerable and kids are already vulnerable. After Miles accidentally leaves behind his notebook, Morris discovers he's a hypocrite and calls him out to Walter: "His best idea is about a peach who lives on a farm. What's more vulnerable than a peach?"
The General (1998): Kenny points out to Martin that despite his pretensions of being a man of the people, his robbery of a small jewelers business caused it to go bankrupt and put countless working-class people like himself out of work. Martin simply snarks that they can go on welfare.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): Multiple examples, mainly toward Emma Russell. Mark Russell calls Emma out for endangering Madison's life and using Andrew's death as an excuse to play God with people's lives. Alan Jonah calls her out for dragging Madison into her scheme after Emma tells him to leave Madison out of it. Madison later calls out her mother's hypocrisy for telling her they were freeing the Titans and helping people in Andrew's memory to make his death matter and ensure what happened to Andrew wouldn't happen to anyone else; however, Emma goes on to kill billions of people in Andrew's name by repeating the tragedy that killed him and forcing it onto many other families.
Middle School: In the 2016 film adaptation, Rafe calls Principal Dwight a hypocrite in the climax for planting fake evidence to get an entire class in his school suspended, a very dubious act of bending the rules, while still strictly enforcing his own rules on his students.
Road to Perdition: John Rooney's right-hand man and go-to assassin Michael Sullivan Sr. asks for permission to kill John's son Connor after he killed Michael's son and wife. John lectures him on his Moral Myopia, pointing out that they've all committed the same crime countless times.
Michael Sullivan, Sr.: He murdered Annie and Peter!
John Rooney: There are only murderers in this room! Michael! Open your eyes! This is the life we chose, the life we lead. And there is only one guarantee — none of us will see heaven.
Voicemails for Isabelle: Tyler has a podcast about advising men and women to be better partners to each other, but unceremoniously ghosts Jill after sleeping with her. She crashes a live taping of his podcast to lambast him for his hypocrisy (even specifically citing an episode he did about accountability where he displayed none), earning applause from the women in attendance.

Literature

Aesop's Fables: The fable "The Fox and the Woodman" has the moral warning about hypocrisy. The woodman called the fox ungrateful for taking shelter to hide from hunters. Only for the fox to call out the woodman for selling him out to the hunters.
The Woodman You ungrateful fellow, you owe your life to me, and yet you leave me without a word of thanks.
The Fox Indeed, I should have thanked you fervently if your deeds had been as good as your words, and if your hands had not been traitors to your speech.
Horus Heresy: Betrayer: Accused of mutilating his "sons" by having them all implanted with the Butcher's Nails, Angron calls out Leman Russ, and by proxy the Emperor, for the hypocrisy in calling the Great Crusade a war of liberation for humanity, when in fact all the Legions offer worlds they attack is a choice between subservience to the Emperor or death.
Everworld: Merlin tells Senna she's a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond and that she shouldn't play games against gods. Senna's comeback is less than inspired.
Senna: You play those games.
Merlin: I invented those games.
Occultic;Nine: Yuta berates Myu's fans for jumping on the latest trend. Ryoka brings up that's exactly why he came to see Myu.
Revenge of the Sith: After Anakin accuses Padmé of sounding like a Separatist, for questioning whether the Republic was the right side or not, she points out he'd just been asking the exact same thing a moment ago. Anakin tries brushing it off by saying he wasn't thinking clearly.

Live-Action TV

The Boys (2019): Starlight suffers one of these at the hands of The Shapeshifter in the Season 4 Finale. The latter calls Annie out on how self-righteous she is, thinking that she is the only true hero when every Supe believes that to apply to them. Annie knows that on some level, the latter is right, and eventually starts to cry once she can't deny the truth. The callout doesn't last long, though, as the Shapeshifter soon proves to be a petty, sociopathic monster who eventually starts to victim-blame Annie for being forced to give the Deep oral sex, framing it as her doing so willingly to advance herself.
Derry Girls: Happens with Erin, who tries to be a Politically Correct Hero but is very much quite the opposite:
- She's eager to publish a story in the school paper about a lesbian but when she finds out said lesbian is her friend Clare, she gets uncomfortable when Clare comes out to her. Clare reads her the riot act for this.
- She corrects people when they call Katya a Russian (she's Ukrainian) but she jumps to xenophobic stereotypes. When she calls Katya a prostitute in front of everyone, she gets called out for it.
The Good Wife:
- Peter has a tendency to get jealously enraged at the mere hint that his estranged wife Alicia might be sleeping around. He's been called out for it several times since it was his own infidelity that set off the main plot of the series in the first place.
- Diane is an advocate for women. "VIP Treatment" involves a politician who is known for helping third-world women, whom a masseuse accused of sexually assaulting her when she wouldn’t give him a ‘happy ending’. Diane is skeptical of the masseuse’s accusations, and Will points out she’s using the same criticisms she called out when he used them about a rape victim in "Stripped", because she’s a fan of the accused and his work. Diane then proceeds to struggle with the issue for the rest of the episode.
- In "Taxed", Diane is asked by R.D.’s group to step in against Louis Canning on a wrongful death lawsuit against two doctors who had been involved in a physician-assisted suicide. Diane does so even though she’s actually in favor of the practice, and Canning lampshades the hypocrisy. (Diane made her participation conditional on it being about this case, which had genuine misconduct by the doctors, not every case.)
- In "Tracks", Alicia's neighbors want to get her evicted for running a business out of her condo against the Tyrannical Homeowners' Association's regulations. Grace comes to their meeting and points out several of their own violations.
Haven: Nathan is prone to hypocrisy, mostly of the Moral Myopia kind. And the show is not afraid to call him out on it. This is done quite epically in "301," when the Troubled person of the week is a man whose delusions of Alien Abduction are manifesting into reality. When the "aliens" are set to destroy the town and attempts to counteract the Power Incontinence fail, Duke suggests they kill Wesley, a choice Nathan self-righteously condemns. Nathan's solution is to convince him to give in to his delusions and be abducted, which he agrees to. Wesley is beamed up by the spaceship hovering over Haven and disappears into thin air. Duke is disgusted and points out that Nathan doesn't even know what happened to Wesley or that this choice didn't kill him. Nathan attempts to take the moral high ground by saying Wesley chose this, but it falls flat. Wesley doesn't return for the rest of the series, leaving his fate ultimately unknown.
Madam Secretary:
- "The Show Must Go On": Henry McCord is approached by the Defense Intelligence Agency to blackmail a Russian military officer he's teaching at the National War College into becoming a U.S. mole by using evidence that he's Armored Closet Gay. Henry refuses, noting the hypocrisy of asking him to use blackmail while teaching a class on ethics, and instead suggests they approach Captain Dmitri Petrov and offer to get cancer treatment for his sister.
- "Hijriyyah": Liz points out the hypocrisy in Carlos Morejon's anti-immigration platform in general and current efforts to prevent the US from taking in Libyan refugees in particular, given his own parents came to the US as refugees from the Castro regime in Cuba. He doubles down, replying they were "fleeing an oppressive government", apparently thinking that's more qualifying than fleeing a Civil War in a Failed State.
RFDS (2021): In the season 2 premiere, Pete, Chaya, and Taylor treat a bull-rider named Cameron for a possible head injury, which he laughs off while blatantly hitting on Taylor. He becomes the "bad boy" in a Betty and Veronica-style Love Triangle with her boyfriend Darren for the rest of the season. Pete eventually calls her out for the breach of medical ethics (Cameron was a client at Chaya's mental health clinic, largely because Taylor works there), but she tells him that's pretty rich coming from a guy who to date has slept with two of his co-workers that we know of.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: "Inquisition": Dr. Bashir tells Agent Sloan of the newly revealed Section 31 that he doesn't believe in their "ends justify the means" philosophy. In response, Sloan points out that Bashir broke Federation law by hiding his genetically-engineered status to join Starfleet and become a doctor.
Sloan: How many lives do you suppose you've saved in your medical career?
Bashir: What has that got to do with anything?
Sloan: Hundreds? Thousands? Do you suppose that those people give a damn that you lied to get into Starfleet Medical? I doubt it. We deal with threats to the Federation that jeopardize its very survival. If you knew how many lives we've saved, I think you'd agree that the ends do justify the means. I'm not afraid of bending the rules every once in a while if the situation warrants it, and I don't think you are either.
Sydney to the Max: On the very first episode of the series, Sydney dyes her hair against her father, Max's, wishes. When it dyes disastrously, she conceals it with a wig. Unaware of this, Max changes his mind and brings her to the hair salon... so her wig has to come off. Later, her grandmother reveals that Max dyed his hair against her wishes as an adolescent, too. Not to mention, his color didn't turn out the way he wanted, either. Sydney yells at her dad, saying that he made her feel embarrassed and stupid for lying to him when he did the same thing as a child.

Radio

Torchwood (BBC Radio): In "Asylum," the Torchwood team discusses what to do with Frieda, a Half-Human Hybrid from 2069 who fell through the Rift in 2009. When Jack suggests isolating her, arguing that her future knowledge could be dangerous, Ianto remarks on how hypocritical it is, seeing how Jack can be gung-ho with the timeline himself.
Jack: Then she has to be isolated. Her future knowledge is too dangerous.
Ianto: That's a bit hypocritical, Jack. You're pretty gung-ho with the timeline yourself.
Jack: I am much more responsible these days.
Ianto: And I quote, time is like a river, you can throw in the odd shopping trolley, it'll still make it to the sea.
Jack Did I really say that?

Theater

1776: As the debate on the Declaration of Independence is winding down, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina suddenly stands to object to the passage condemning the practice of slavery. While the non-slaveholding North tries to argue that it violates the very principles they're fighting for, Rutledge points out that while New Englanders don't own slaves they make vast fortunes transporting slaves from Africa to the plantations. The accusation blindsides the Northerners and nearly derails the entire independence movement. In the end, the passage is removed to ensure South Carolina's support.
Jesus Christ Superstar: A very cruel example from Annas in the opening verses to "Judas' Death"; when Judas tries to protest against Jesus getting killed, Annas tells Judas that he doesn't understand why he is filled with remorse after betraying Jesus in the first place.

Video Games

Assassin's Creed Origins: A side mission has the Son of Ra attempt this on Bayek for going insane and murdering so many people from the deaths of loved ones. But considering he's insane, his words don't hold much worth.
Blue Archive: Akira steals artwork because she thinks everyone should be free to appreciate art, and detests the idea of it being hoarded by those that only want it for its monetary value or will let it collect dust in a private collection. However, she also thinks that the pubic can't truly appreciate art, and keeps the artwork in her own collection until she thinks the world is ready for it. In the Art for Whom event, Miyo calls her a hypocrite for this, asking if she ever tested this belief out. She gets Akira to agree to hang both the real and fake "The Love of Purple and Blue Light" next to each other to see if the public can tell the difference, with the stipulation that she has to give it up if they like the real one more. When they do admire the real one more, she gives up on her theft.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II: In a flashback mission in the 1980s, shortly after Kravchenko's death, Mason's whole team was betrayed by the Mujahideem under Mullah Rahmaan who was secretly working for Menendez and was told to take care of them, with Woods calling him a two-faced hypocrite.
Injustice 2: One of Enchantress's intros against Superman has the witch call out the Man of Steel for having no qualms about hurting innocent people. In this Alternate Universe, Superman has no right to call her out considering he ran a planet-wide dictatorship and murdered people who called him out.
June: I can't help it. She has to be let out.
Superman: But you'll hurt innocent people.
Enchantress: Since when is that a problem for you?
Mortal Kombat 1: Numerous intros with various characters call out Omni-Man for hypocrisy.
- Downplayed, With Shang Tsung has Omni-Man expressing disgust about the sorcerer being a double-faced bastard, calling him a charlatan in one pre-match exchange, and in another talking about how "schemers like you rot the core of civilization", but he talks from experience, as he deceived the Earth of his verse into believing him to be a great hero as he prepared it for conquest. Shang Tsung, of course, absolutely hangs a lampshade on this hypocrisy however.
  Omni-Man: I'm not dumb enough to trust a charlatan.
  Shang Tsung: (Chuckles) But it takes one to know one, doesn't it?
- Played Straight with Liu Kang, Nolan doesn't buy Liu Kang's light and truth act, only for Liu to call out Omni-Man for being deceptive himself.
- Nolan calls Rain ambitious to a fault, only for Rain to mock him for being a universal conquering braggart.
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire: In Emerald, Archie rightly calls out Maxie for his hypocrisy when the latter calls Archie out on releasing Kyogre and causing inclement weather.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds: Tails, as Charmy's rival, tells Charmy that he is too young to race by himself. Charmy immediately calls out the Double Standard to Tails since he is another kid racer; albeit a couple of years older than him. There's also the fact that Cream is no older than them, and Sage, strictly speaking, is only one or two years old.
Triangle Strategy: During the endgame, Roland justifies surrendering to Hyzante in the name of the greater good, telling Frederica to her face that the sacrifice of her people is a necessary price for peace in Norzelia. Yet, when Benedict proposes a strategic alliance with Aesfrost—the very nation that murdered his father—for that same peace, Roland is outraged and rejects the idea outright. Benedict immediately calls him out on this double standard, pointing out the hypocrisy of demanding Frederica forsake her people while he refuses to set aside his own pride and thirst for vengeance.

Visual Novels

In the good ending of GENBA no Kizuna, after the investigators uncover the elaborate plot to make the victim's death seem like an accident, Terano, who'd been the prime suspect up to this point, tries Taking the Heat for the murder, followed by Ryuunosuke and then Amber doing the same, with all of them wantingto protect each other as well as the actual culprit, their mutual friend Shiku. Ryuunosuke then angrily calls out Amber for her actions, which would result in her getting arrested at best or getting killed by the victim's yakuza associates at worst, but Terano points out that Ryuunosuke just did the same thing himself, then concludes by saying that all three of them were misguided.

Web Animation

The Amazing Digital Circus: Caine pulls off a beyond painful and horrific version on both Zooble and Jax during his Villainous Breakdown. When he subjects them to personalized Mind Rape like the other players excluding Kinger, he does so in ways that throw their own words back at them; Zooble is dragged and slowly sinking into a pile of their parts while surrounded by mirrors that remind them of their own fragile body image, while Jax is cruelly mocked by shadows of Kaufmo, Ribbit and Pomni, that viciously tear off his skin and expose his "true self" to them, referencing his own lies to himself.
Helluva Boss: In "Spring Broken", the rest of I.M.P. discovers that Blitzo used to date succubus pop star Verosika Mayday. As they ask him what dating her was like (with Moxxie wondering What Does She See in Him?), Blitzo tells them they're prying too much, stating he doesn't do that to them; the three shoot back that Blitzo very much does. Constantly.
Blitzo: Okay, look, you are all making this into a WAY bigger deal than it needs to be! I don't pry into your stupid personal lives!
Moxxie: You do that ALL the time, sir!
Millie: Come on, you kinda do that.
Loona: You TOTALLY do that.
RWBY: In Volume 7, Nora calls out Ironwood for forcing the oppressed lower city of Mantle to constantly make sacrifices while not giving them an explanation and simply expecting them to bear it.
In Turnabout Storm, Phoenix Wright is forced to Shoot the Dog to buy more time to extend the trial and prove Rainbow Dash innocent. He does this by accusing the witness, Fluttershy, and making her a suspect. Twilight Sparkle is outraged by the act and even objects to the claim, accusing Phoenix of slander. Prosecutor Trixie objects in turn to Twilight's baseless claims. Twilight calls Trixie a hypocrite for raising a stink when she had spent the whole trial insulting Phoenix at every turn. Trixie just responds that all she's done is Trash Talk Phoenix; she's never once accused him of something as serious as slander. The Judge sides with Trixie and overrules Twilight's objection.

Web Video

Multiverse Tales: In Redemption of the Were-Jaguar, Ganghadaran Sambhaavana, the Beleaguered Assistant to the Van Helsing Family, calls out the titular were-jaguar, Vasilia Kuznet, when she tells him off for not trusting that she has full control over her other form, or that his friend Annaliese Van Helsing will be able to defend him in the unlikely event of Vasilia losing control and attacking him. And the call-out really triggers Vasilia, because she hates hypocrites:
Vasilia: You strike as man vith great trust issues! Does not suit you vell, I believe.
Ganghadaran: Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black.
Vasilia: Excuse me?!
Ganghadaran: You claim I have trust issues, and yet, if you truly have control over this form and all its power, why would you not be constantly turning into it?
Vasilia: Because I get enough judgement from family for it after years of NOT having control! Friends need not know about vere-jaguar form, even if I do have control now!
Ganghadaran: Only further emphasising my point! Either you don't have as much control as you claim, and avoid turning to conceal that fact; or you do have full control, as you say, and don't trust your friends to be accepting of your... more fanged side. So, don't lecture me about trust, because you're either a liar... or a hypocrite.
SF Debris:
- Avatar: The Last Airbender reviews: Chuck lays into Katara for this in his review of "Fire", that she constantly is berating people for doing actions that she herself has done in the past, which she can easily justify away as a being a good thing. However, he notes that this has always been one of character flaws and that thematically, it makes sense, since she's very close to a Start of Darkness during this story arc.
- Farscape reviews: "The Way We Weren't": Chuck calls out the crew of Moya out for their treatment of Aeryn after finding out she was part of the Peacekeeper squad that murdered Moya's previous Pilot, pointing out that they can't play the Never Hurt an Innocent Card when they once cut off Pilot's arm for their own purely selfish reasons. He also calls out Zhaan for being so judgmental when the very reason she is on Moya is because she murdered a man, and unlike Aeryn, who was Just Following Orders at the time, the reason that Zhaan committed murder was because she simply felt like it!
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reviews: "Let He Who Is Without Sin": Due to the episode side-stepping around actually using the word "sex" (instead using the Risian word "jama'haron"), Chuck notes the bizarre dichotomy present in American culture, where discussing matters of sexuality is taboo, yet depicting scenes of graphic violence is perfectly fine.
- Star Trek: Discovery reviews: In the review of "Context Is for Kings", Chuck uses a Gag Dub of Michael Burnham and Captain Lorca to point out the hypocrisy of her (erroneously in context) calling him out for violating The Laws and Customs of War when, apparently unbeknownst to the scriptwriters, she herself had broken them in the previous episode.
  Burnham: You're developing ... some kind of spore-based biological weapon. The kind of weapon that is explicitly forbidden by the Geneva Protocols of 1928 and 2155.
  Chuck as Lorca: And putting a Booby Trap on a Klingon body violates Article 6 of 1980 Protocol II on Certain Conventional Weapons.
  Chuck as Burnham: Yes, but your thing sounds worse because it has "Geneva" in it.
  Chuck as Lorca: Touché.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation reviews:
  - "Menage a Troi": While Chuck agrees that Lwaxana was right to be angry with the Ferengi removing her and Deanna's clothing via transporter, he points out she has little reason to act so offended after learning that Ferengi do not permit women to wear clothing when she constantly forces people to go to Betazoid weddings completely naked as per their custom.
  - "A Matter of Time": When Picard rebukes Prof. Rasmussen's claim that his ready room decor would be of any interest to future historians, Chuck concurs — before noting that Picard's sacred Mintakan tapestry is CLEARLY missing from its usual place on the Captain's desk chair...
- Star Trek: Voyager:
  - "Initiations": Chuck notes that when Chakotay talks about his people teaching him a man doesn't own land, he has seemingly forgotten he was the leader of a guerrilla army dedicated to protecting their land.
  - "Equinox, Part 2": Chuck calls out the Voyager crew for acting morally superior to the Equinox crew, when they don't realise how lucky they are to have been living on the USS Reset Button all this time, instead of the USS Voyager... With Actual Consequences.
- The X-Files reviews: In "Ghost in the Machine" he calls out Mulder for always speaking up for dealing with aliens peacefully, but when it's an intelligent computer or a mutant he has no problem with killing it at the first chance.
The Wii Baseball World Cup: When Xavier says the Net Busters lack the "swaz and pazzaz" as the other Steamers, Spinny Winnie points out that he spent the whole match advertising his shampoo rather than actually playing baseball.
Spinny: Also, hang on—you spent the whole match promoting your stupid conditioner sponsorship!
Xavier: That's "Big Conditioner!" Now available in Succulent Golden Fygg Flavor.
Spinny: See, there he goes again!

Western Animation

Archer: Throughout the series, Lana Kane is shown to be a hypocrite by holding standards she does not live up to. But her biggest act of hypocrisy is when she is willing to cheat on her husband Robert because of her insecurities as a married woman, and out of spite, having become cold and distant to him, despite having contempt for her previous boyfriends Archer and Cyril for cheating on her and being so unforgiving of being cheated on. Previously, Lana didn’t cheat on her ex-boyfriend, so she did have a point, and while technically, she did cheat on Cyril, that was more of a do-and-die situation where a dangerous criminal that she was supposed to assassinate while she was undercover as his girlfriend forced Lana and Archer to have a three-way with him, which wasn’t willing. However, in the new seasons, when Lana marries a billionaire named Robert and becomes insecure about being a married woman and becomes cold and distant to Robert, Lana is willing to cheat on him out of spite and to overcome her insecurities, despite fully knowing what it’s like to be cheated on and previously being unforgiving on her ex-boyfriend’s for their actions. However, this time, Lana is fully called out on her hypocritical actions, and she’s forced to suffer the consequences of her actions when Lana discovers Robert just taking a shower with another woman and revealing that he knows that she cheated on him. When Lana tried to defend herself, she accidentally revealed another instance where she cheated on Robert. While Lana tried to defend herself, she realized that she didn’t have a leg to stand on in this argument, and Robert wasn’t letting her make any excuses for herself. All Lana could do was leave the apartment and go to Archer's home, where she cried all night about her imploding marriage.
In the DuckTales (2017) episode "Timephoon!", after the craziness of the episode, Della scolds Louie for what he had done, explicitly stating that he shouldn't run off without thinking of the consequences. Louie angrily mutters out "Well, I wonder where I got that from?", causing Della and the others to wince. Mrs. Beakley tries to deflect but Della stops her.
The Owl House: In "King's Tide", Luz calls Emperor Belos to his face for the delusional hypocrite that he is, pointing out the contradiction that he justifies his evil plan as Muggle Power to protect humanity from evil when he himself has committed absolutely vile acts of evil for hundreds of years and has literally turned himself into a Transhuman Abomination that's even further removed from human than any of the witches or demons that he wants to destroy are.
Rugrats:
- In the 1991 series episode "Murmur on the Ornery Express", Angelica chides Chuckie for bringing Wawa, his favorite teddy bear with him on their train ride to Little Biendeltown. Lil points out to Angelica that she also brought a toy with her, in the form of her Cynthia doll. Upon hearing this, Angelica tells Lil that Cynthia is not a toy, she's a traveling companion.
- In the 2021 series episode "The Big Diff", Angelica tells Tommy and Chuckie that they're too different from each other to be best friends, and that best friends should be exactly the same. After she points out the similarities between herself and her Cynthia doll, Chuckie is quick to point out that even they are different; as Angelica is a kid and Cynthia is a doll. Upon hearing this, Angelica tells Cynthia not to listen to Chuckie.
The Simpsons: Many characters are called out on this.
- "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge": Marge's opponents call her on the hypocrisy of demanding that one form of controversial, potentially offensive art be banned because she doesn't like it while objecting to the banning of another form of controversial, potentially offensive art because she does like it.
- In "Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy", Bart gets called out for being a hypocrite for watching and enjoying the female Itchy & Scratchy cartoon after organizing a boycott. Lisa uploads his reaction to the internet and turns him into a meme.
- Lisa is constantly on the receiving end of this trope:
  - "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson": Bart calls her out when she spends much of the episode complaining about how she feels "unchallenged" at school (and seems to look down on the other kids because of her "intellect"), she then sees military school as the way forward. However, when she is rejected by the boys and made to really be challenged (not just mentally but physically), she's completely incapable of living up to it.
  - When Todd Flanders has a crisis in faith in "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?", Lisa gives him a thumbs up after he tells the First Church of Springfield congregation he doesn't believe in God anymore. Lisa then tries to convert Todd to Buddhism, and he calls her out on it.
In the Z-O-M-B-I-E-S: The Re-Animated Series episode "A Wyatt Place", Wyatt tries to prove that he's an "Alpha" by picking a fight with the Sasquatch, and promptly gets his ass kicked by the Sasquatch, who lectures him on the folly of confusing aggression with actual strength. Wyatt points out that he's delivering this lecture while using violence, to which the Sasquatch responds that he never said that the lesson didn't also apply to him.

Hypocrisy Callout
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