If you're idolized enough, people will ignore all the horrible things you've done in your life. Being deceased is optional, although it has been proven to make the effect more...effective.
The Gandhi Effect is named for Mahatma Gandhi, who is often worshipped as a hero around the world, despite the fact that he was a serial rapist.
one who gets fooled or harmed by their own people (or the people they belive are supporters of them). Background: IndiraGandhi was an Indian politican who was assassinated by her own bodyguards during her rule as prime minister.
He thinks all his friends are real. His friends are not real, they may harm him. He is such an Indira Gandhi
A person who steps in between two feuding people for the sole reason of making themselves look like a peacemaker and receiving kudos for their self-righteous effort. By relativizing the claims of each person in the dispute, and standing open armed with a pseudo-serene expression on their face, they naff off everyone in the room, but still think they are the second coming of Gandhi.
It was all sorting itself out until Steve started pulling a Gandhi, and then all hell brokeloose.
Person 1: Are you addicted to perianal abscesses?
Person 2: Yes.
Person 1: Johann Sebastian Bach And Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: The First Juvenile Release.