Megalomania

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This article is about the psychopathological condition. For other uses, see Megalomania (disambiguation).

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Megalomania (from the Greek word μεγαλομανία) is a psychopathological condition characterised by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence - often generally termed as delusions of grandeur. It includes an obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions. It is sometimes symptomatic of manic or paranoid disorders.

[edit] In fiction

Megalomania is portrayed very often in fiction, usually as an affliction of supervillains. It is not always used in a strictly correct manner. For instance, it is common for a villain to be described as a "megalomaniac" if he demonstrates an obsession with gaining immense power and wealth (rather than a delusion that he already possesses these things). However, fiction also contains genuinely megalomaniacal supervillains (for instance, the villain in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe), and the lesser sense of an obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions is a common supervillain trait.

Charlie Chaplin parodied the more amusing and ridiculous aspects of megalomania in The Great Dictator, his classic movie comedy about Adolf Hitler.

Stewie Griffin from the comedy series Family Guy has many aspects of megalomania with his dreams of world domination and attempts at matricide. Though his many failed attempts to do so are shrugged off due to the fact that he is a baby.