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{{trope}}
{{quote|''To be yourself is all that you can do.''
|''Be Yourself'', by [[Audioslave]]}}
{{quote|''I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.''
|''Man to God, [[The Bible|Psalm 139:14-16 (ESV)]]''}}
'''Be Yourself''' is a popular trope, especially in shows aimed at children. One character tries to persuade other characters to change their images and not be a loser, geek, etc. After the change goes amiss, [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]] almost always ensues, and [[An Aesop]] is delivered about how it is better to be true to one's own nature. Usually, that means being [[Two Decades Behind|behind the times]], [[Beauty Is Bad|physically unattractive]], [[This Loser Is You|uncool]] and a [[Failure Is the Only Option|complete and utter failure]].
Occasionally this is warped into "Be Who You Should Be", as a [[Rule-Abiding Rebel]]; the plot doesn't even recognize certain personalities as even being choices and thus they "clearly" must be fake personas. And forget the notion that someone has ''different branching possibilities.'' That's far too complicated.
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Can be considered a [[Broken Aesop]] if a character's true nature is to be vulgar or [[Exclusively Evil|pure evil]] - a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] is certainly being true to himself, but that doesn't make him a good person. Most frequently, however, it's broken when the intended message is inadvertently twisted to [[Status Quo Is God|"don't improve or reinvent yourself, broaden your horizons or even make any new friends"]] - the more often an episodic series attempts "Be Yourself", the more likely they are to break it this way.
Of course, one that puts up facades by nature should be considered true to oneself by definition. The worst [[Broken Aesop|attempts at showing this
If the
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* [[Just the Way You Are|Being beautiful and being yourself]] are mutually exclusive according to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBSZd55HyTM this Converse All Stars commercial]
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* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] by all those [[Drugs Are Bad|"above the influence" commercials telling teenagers not to do drugs.]]
▲== [[Anime]] & [[Manga]] ==
* The whole ''point'' of ''[[Shugo Chara]]''.
* ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' brilliantly
* Early on in ''[[Kare Kano]]'' Yukino is Ms. Perfect at school and a Slacker at home who likes to wear sweat clothes and be comfy. She learns to "Be Herself". She put so much work into faking perfection that she's constantly exhausted and burnt out when she's at home.
* ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'' does this with Nekozawa and, even more memorably, Kasanoda. Also done with Honey; in his case "being himself" includes being a hedonist who values [[Sweet Tooth|sweets]] and toys above people (even his own family). Haruhi even notes that "himself" isn't that great of a person. This is used for Haruhi herself, as a sort of subversion. She says that she'll "Be herself from now on," {{spoiler|meaning she would leave the host club. Haruhi eventually decides to pursue her dreams and become a lawyer, moving away to America.}}
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* In ''[[Virgin Love]]'', Daigo has to reassure Kaoru that it's okay to be a [[Crazy Jealous Guy]] and that he shouldn't run from relationships because of self-hatred. In turn in ''[[Virgin Love|Junai no Seinen]]'', Kaoru tells Daigo he doesn't have to try so hard to live up to Kaoru's expectations because Kaoru wouldn't date him if he wasn't already what he wanted.
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' plays this in a horribly idealistic way. The whole plot probably wouldn't have gone as [[Mind Screw|insane]] as it [[Assimilation Plot|did]] if Shinji had just been honest with himself and others from the start.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' Season 1 has this present during Jaden's duel vs. Zane in the graduation duel. Jaden tried dueling like Zane or Bastion would and it nearly cost him the duel. After some food and some advice from Zane to
* [[Tsundere|Mikoto]] teaches [[The Ojou|Ritsuko]] this in the ''[[
* Deconstructed pretty harshly in ''[[Fate/Zero]]''. Gilgamesh gives this advice to Kotomine - except that Kotomine's natural inclination is [[Evil Feels Good|to take pleasure from suffering]], and [[Evil Mentor|Gilgamesh knows it]].
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[American Born Chinese]]'' is ultimately about this trope.
* Subverted in ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'', in which the eponymous protagonist [[Heroic Sociopath|takes this to the extreme]]. He even tells his protege: "Be yourself until you bleed."
== [[Film]] ==
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* ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]''.
* One of the songs in ''[[High School Musical]]'', "Stick to the Status Quo", features three people who move out of their clique's normal behaviour (a geek who likes hip-hop dancing, a stoner who plays the cello, a basketball jock who bakes) and their peers exhort them repeatedly to "Stick to the stuff you know; stick to the status quo".
* Subverted completely in ''[[Bertie and
* One of the main themes in ''[[Dead Poets Society]]'', which is subverted when you consider that staying true to himself indirectly leads
* Thoroughly deconstructed in ''[[Fantastic Mr. Fox]]''. Exactly what "being yourself" means to the animals in the film is never
* ''[[Happy Feet]]'': The whole point of the movie's [[Aesop]] is that Mumble made all the difference in the world by being himself.
* Chris's mother says something of this nature to him in the movie ''[[Just Friends]]''.
* This is the moral of the film
* In ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' Hiccup is told a few times that he just needs to change, but eventually becomes respected for his own abilities. The quotation below becomes a set of [[Arc Words]].
{{quote|'''Gobber''': You need to stop all... this.
'''Hiccup''': But you just pointed to all of me!
'''Gobber''': Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you! }}
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* This is a major part of ''[[Cars 2]]''.
* This is also a major part of ''[[Mystery Team]]'', coupled with an [[Aesop]] about being willing to change.
*
* Also a significant theme of Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' (and '''only''' the Disney version): Pretending to be the overbearing, pompous "Prince Ali" only alienates the hero from Princess Jasmine, who finds the earnest, resourceful "street rat" more appealing. In fact, the other characters feel trapped as well. Princess Jasmine, thanks to being a princess is forced to marry, while the Sultan is trapped by the law that says that his daughter must marry a prince. In the end, however, they realize that they can all get what they want while still being themselves. Additionally, in the memorable scene on the balcony, the Genie transforms himself into a bee and encourages Aladdin-- "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|bee yourself]]!"▼
* Almost every Disney movie has this, but ''[[The Emperor's
* A significant theme of Disney/Pixar's ''[[Ratatouille]]'': Be yourself and follow your dream, even at the risk of death.▼
* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', this is key to understanding the Dragon Scroll's message, which contains the power to make whoever reads it one of the greatest kung fu masters in existence. {{spoiler|It's a blank scroll that shows nothing but the reflection of the reader's face.}} Or rather, the true secret of the Dragon Scroll is that {{spoiler|[[Arc Words|there is no secret ingredient.]] The most important factor in your success is you and your desire/determination to improve yourself.}}▼
* It's what both Fievel and Tanya learn by the end of ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'', and it's shown that they've learned it more through action than words; i.e. Tanya washing her make-up off and Fievel turning his hat right-side-in so it's blue again and not a cowboy hat. A rare example of the trope executed in a way that doesn't come off as sappy. Also inverted when Tiger saves the day and gets the girl by going from peace-loving to badass via training montage. Kind of [[Broken Aesop|breaks the whole aesop]] if you think about it.▼
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* [[Broken Aesop|Broken]] by ''[[Family Matters]]'' with "Stefan Urquelle". {{spoiler|And then reconstructed when Laura decides she loves regular Steve, instead of letting him be Stefan permanently.}}
* Amongst Petey Greene's ramblings in ''How to Eat a Watermelon'' is this. Interestingly, he teaches this not by avoiding a stereotype, but by fulfilling it. Rather effective, actually.
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* ''[[Glee]]'': In one episode, token [[Camp Gay]] Kurt [[I Just Want to Be Normal|just wants to be normal]], his standards for "normal" being his father, and musician John Mellencamp. For a glee club assignment, he performs Mellencamp's "Pink Houses", complete with false Southern accent. The teacher Will is visibly concerned, and by the episode's end, Kurt learns he was trying way too hard to be more like his dad, even if it meant not doing his hair and making out with [[The Beard|Britany.]]
* [[Dexter]] spends much of the second season deciding whether he should be himself. Thing is the "himself" he means is a serial killer, turning this into a [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop]].
* Inverted in the reality show ''[[Beauty and the Geek]]'' with the entire series being about men and women having to act specific ways to get a smart or attractive partner.
* ''[[Warehouse 13]]'': [[Genki Girl|Claudia]] has just been made an apprentice agent, and tries
{{quote|'''Claudia:''' Umm... maybe I should stick with the computer stuff. I'm really not good at the interviews. Especially with the... people.
'''Myka:''' Why do you say that?
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'''Claudia:''' Is this your version off a Pep Talk?
'''Myka:''' We already have one me, we don't need another me. I want you to go in there and be more like... you. }}
* Subverted in the ''[[Highway to Heaven]]'' episode
* In ''[[Community]]'' episodes [[Community/Recap/S1/E17 Physical Education|"Physical Education"]] Jeff gives this advice to Abed when the rest of the study group is telling him to act differently when approaching a potential secret admirer.
* ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'': Lisa pretends to be high-class to date a rich guy. She discovers he's a jerk when he scoffs at her old friends.
* ''[[Mister Rogers'
{{quote|"There's only one person in the whole world like you, and people can like you exactly as you are."}}
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'', this is the motto that Amanogawa High School follows, having each of their students be themselves, and thus have a diverse student body. However, this also creates a chaotic school ground, especially considering that some of the students are given [[Transformation Trinket|Zodiarts Switches]].
* Subverted in ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''. Ami, afraid that Usagi and others would leave her if she didn't act more social, reads a self-help book and tries to immerse herself more in her friends' habits, even lying just to establish herself as a more outgoing person. Usagi finds the book and realizes Ami has been faking it, and it seems that we're in for a straight
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* ''[[Audrey Wait]]'': A side character preparing her for live, national TV says these exact words to Audrey... [[Hypocrite|before handing her cue cards on what to say.]] [[Beware the Honest Ones|Audrey ultimately takes the advice to heart, ignoring the cue cards and screwing over the network airing her (and their duplicitous label associates).]]
* [[The Bible|Psalms 139]] invokes about being yourself that God made and loved you beforeyou were born.
== [[Music]] ==▼
*
▲== Music ==
▲* ''[[Madonna|Don't call for second-best, baby. Put your love into the test. You know, you know, you've got to make him express how he feels. And maybe then you'll know your love is real.]]''
* Is the overarching message of [[Avril Lavigne]]'s "Complicated".
* [[Lady Gaga]]'s "Born This Way".
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{{quote|''You need to be yourself. You can't be no one else."}}
* Frank Zappa's "You Are What You Is".
* [[The Veronicas]]' ''Secret Life'' album uses this as a theme.
* [[Britney Spears]] utilizes this as her message, subtly and unsubtly
{{quote|''Baby I'm a freak and I don't really give a damn''}}
* [[Eminem]]'s "Beautiful" is all about this trope
{{quote|''Be yourself man, be proud of who you are
''Even if it sounds corny
''Don't ever let anyone told you you ain't beuatiful''}}
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* [[Spoof Aesop|Spoofed]] in ''[[Dilbert]]''. Wally demonstrates what [http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2007-03-09/ taking this literally] would mean.
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==▼
▲== [[Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* Discussed and contraindicated by [[Chris Rock]], who has gone on record of saying that on a first date, you are not you; you are the ''ambassador'' of you.
▲== [[Theater]] ==
* ''[[Hamlet]]'': the moral is delivered before the hero's downfall. Early on in the play Polonius is telling his son Laertes "This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."
* Yelled repeatedly along with "dude" in the ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' show in [[Disney Theme Parks|Disney's California Adventure]] park by the genie when Alladin goes to meet Jasmine. After yelling for a good minute, the genie becomes overly embarrassed at how long he took, and then goes off to "[[Finding Nemo|find nemo]]".
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{{quote|'''Christian''':'' I will be loved myself—or not at all!}}
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* This is a major idea, plot point, and overall Aesop delivered in ''[[Persona 4]]''. Subverted in the case of {{spoiler|Adachi}}. {{spoiler|It's implied that since he's a [[Complete Monster]], he happily embraced his Shadow with next to no difficulty since at this point he no longer feels the need to repress his sociopathic urges}}. A similar case would be [[Loners Are Freaks|Mitsuo]], where his shadow represents that he's a worthless human being, which he rejects with a feeble attempt at claiming that his life is actually worth something.▼
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://explosm.net/comics/1120/ This] gem from ''[[Cyanide
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'',
** [
** [
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* On ''[[CatDog]]'', tough-acting tomboy Shreik tries to make herself "a real woman" so that Dog will take notice of her. It backfires when every guy ''except'' Dog ends up hitting on her.
* On ''[[Rugrats]]'', the Deville twins are tired of people getting them mixed up and decide to take on new personas. Lil becomes more like Angelica, a heartless bully, and Phil becomes more like Chuckie, a timid coward.
▲* A significant theme of Disney/Pixar's ''[[Ratatouille]]'': Be yourself and follow your dream, even at the risk of death.
▲* Also a significant theme of Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' (and '''only''' the Disney version): Pretending to be the overbearing, pompous "Prince Ali" only alienates the hero from Princess Jasmine, who finds the earnest, resourceful "street rat" more appealing. In fact, the other characters feel trapped as well. Princess Jasmine, thanks to being a princess is forced to marry, while the Sultan is trapped by the law that says that his daughter must marry a prince. In the end, however, they realize that they can all get what they want while still being themselves. Additionally, in the memorable scene on the balcony, the Genie transforms himself into a bee and encourages Aladdin-- "[[Incredibly Lame Pun|bee yourself]]!"
▲* Almost every Disney movie has this, but ''[[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]]'' subverts it - being himself means thinking [[It's All About Me]].
* Watch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9juSKwBF-8 this excerpt] from ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' TV series. Sebastian provides the perfect [[Theme Song]] for this trope: "You Got to Be You".
* A subplot in one episode of ''[[Sushi Pack]]''. The crabby Kani decides to be mellow, even though [[We Want Our Jerk Back|everyone likes her the way she already is.]]
▲* In ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', this is key to understanding the Dragon Scroll's message, which contains the power to make whoever reads it one of the greatest kung fu masters in existence. {{spoiler|It's a blank scroll that shows nothing but the reflection of the reader's face.}} Or rather, the true secret of the Dragon Scroll is that {{spoiler|[[Arc Words|there is no secret ingredient.]] The most important factor in your success is you and your desire/determination to improve yourself.}}
* The Aesop of every single ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode where [[This Loser Is You|Ron Stoppable]] [[I Just Want to Be Special|gets to be special for one episode]]. It is discussed in "The Cupid Effect", where Wade suggests the idea, yet Ron dismisses it: [[This Is Reality|"That only works in cartoons."]]
* When Tucker tires of his geeky (and for that episode, unlucky) lifestyle in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', his friend Sam suggests a change and makes him a Goth like her. Tucker however finds the experience horrifying, refusing the dreary make-ups and accessories, causing him to revert to his original self. Subverted the entire time because Sam ''tricked'' him into accepting who he is by making his short lived experience as a Goth as terrifying as possible.
* A major theme of the ''Holly Hobbie'' films, particularly "Marvelous Makeover."
* The premise of [[My Little Pony]]: ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20121109004346/http://www.hubworld.com/watch/610729116001 Princess Promenade]'', in which the dragon, Spike, tries desperately to get Wysteria to be a proper princess. She does her best to go along, but really just wants to be herself, and eventually ends up standing up and saying so, finding a way to still be a princess while being herself.
▲* It's what both Fievel and Tanya learn by the end of ''[[An American Tail]]: Fievel Goes West'', and it's shown that they've learned it more through action than words; i.e. Tanya washing her make-up off and Fievel turning his hat right-side-in so it's blue again and not a cowboy hat. A rare example of the trope executed in a way that doesn't come off as sappy. Also inverted when Tiger saves the day and gets the girl by going from peace-loving to badass via training montage. Kind of [[Broken Aesop|breaks the whole aesop]] if you think about it.
* In the ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' episode "Adventures in Squirrelsitting", Tammy tries to impress Chip by going to Fat Cat's hideout to recover the stolen Maltese Mouse. Gadget eventually finds her and seeing that she's jealous to tears of Gadget, informs her that she doesn't need to do anything impressive to get Chip to like her; she just has to "be Tammy".
* ''[[Family Guy]]'' has fun subverting this trope, using [[Butt Monkey|Meg]].
{{quote|"Chitty Chitty Death Bang"
'''Meg''': I don't get it. The harder I try to make friends, the more people hate me.
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'''Meg''': Wow, it's so obvious. Thanks, Daddy. }}
* Subverted in the "Clean is Keen" episode of ''[[Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids]]'': Suede Simpson stunk because he never showered. At the end Suede starts taking showers.
* In an episode of ''[[The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'', Tigger explains that the secret of his popularity is, "I've just got to be me!" Unfortunately, Eeyore misinterprets this by [[I Just Want to Be You|trying to just be Tigger.]]
* The original philosopher of this trope, [[Popeye]] the Sailor--"I yam wot I yam and tha's all wot I yam."
* Constantly played with in ''[[Futurama]]''. Lots of episodes end with a character learning a
{{quote|'''Hermes:''' When push comes to shove you gotta do what you love, even if it's not a good idea.}}
** This comes up directly in the episode where Fry becomes super smart and cultured thanks to worms remodeling his nervous system. Fry decides he wants to be liked for him, not because someone's making him better, and gets rid of the worms. It ends badly.
** Played with in another episode, where Bender goes to Robot Hell after failing to be a good person, and as he escapes promises never to be any more good or evil than her already is.
{{quote|Leela: ""Um... do you think you could be a little less evil than that?"}}
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
▲* This is a major idea, plot point, and overall Aesop delivered in ''[[Persona 4]]''. Subverted in the case of {{spoiler|Adachi}}. {{spoiler|It's implied that since he's a [[Complete Monster]], he happily embraced his Shadow with next to no difficulty since at this point he no longer feels the need to repress his sociopathic urges}}. A similar case would be [[Loners Are Freaks|Mitsuo]], where his shadow represents that he's a worthless human being, which he rejects with a feeble attempt at claiming that his life is actually worth something.
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Undead Horse Trope]]
[[Category:Plots]]
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