Third-Person Person: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A '''Third-Person Person''' is a character who always refers to himself or herself in the third person.

In Japanese media, young children and girls who are childish or [[The Cutie|cutesy]] may refer to themselves in this manner. In older characters, however, it may be a sign of [[Hollywood Psych|psychological issues]], such as a very traumatic event in their past. It also may be a sign of humility, so [[Samurai]] and noblewomen usually refer to themselves in the third person when talking to their lords. If a character ''transitions'' into a [[Third-Person Person]] over the course of the series, watch out for signs of [[Yandere]], and keep tabs on all [[Knife Nut|pointy]] [[Ax Crazy|objects]].<ref>Note also that in Japanese language there is no ''grammatical'' distinction between first, second and third person (the verb endings do not depend on person or singular/plural as in English), and the subject often gets omitted. The difference between first and third person is not so ''sharply'' obvious in original Japanese texts, therefore, as it is in the English ones where the subject ''always'' has to be mentioned. This can be a headache for the translators, and the translations are, consequently, often inconsistent.</ref>

 

 

The technical term for this is "[[wikipedia:Illeism|illeism]]", from the Latin word for "that" (sometimes also used like "he") with "-ism" attached. If the speaker does this for only for a story in which they are revealed as the central character, its [[And That Little Girl Was Me]] or [[Narrator All Along]]. 

* A commercial for Progressive auto insurance has a guy who comes into "the Progressive store" to talk with Flo about auto insurance refers to himself in this manner, confusing her at first. Then another associate shows up and he gets confused as well, leading Flo to be all "Here we go again."

 

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': [[Big Bad]] Dr. Hell occasionally refers to himself in third person when he is ranting, angry or uttering [[Badass Boast]]s. [[Go Nagai]]'s ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' manga offers a good example:

{{quote|'''Dr.Hell''': "Destroy me? How arrogant. A tiny island country intends to destroy Dr. Hell, the future ruler of the world? Alright! I swear I shall crush Japan in merely ten days! And the whole world shall witness the true power of Dr. Hell!"}}

* In the ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' manga, Yuki's fellow student council member Kimi does this, apparently to make herself more [[Moe]].

* Nagisa in the ''[[Strawberry Panic!]] '' manga and light novels. Thankfully, this "cute" habit didn't make it into the anime. (The official manga translation ignores it, too.)

* ''[[Ranma ½]]'':

** Shampoo. In her case, of course, it was to point out that she was a [[Verbal Tic|foreigner]].

* Amae Koromo of ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'', who fits both the cute anime and villainous Western types. Depending on her mood, watching this [[Insufferable Genius]] of a little girl speak in the third person can be adorable, intimidating, or both.

* ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'': Mokona is wondering where [[Ambiguous Gender|Mokona]] is on this list, as [[Shaped Like Itself|Mokona is Mokona.]] (Yes, this is because pronouns have gender in Japan, and it's a [[Running Gag]] that Mokona's gender is unknown.)

* Freyr from ''[[Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok]]''.

* Kero from ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' uses this at times, calling himself "the great Cerberus".

* Aoko Nakamori from ''[[Magic Kaito]]'', who is 17 years old and talks like a little girl. It's hinted, though, that this comes from [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|her rather low self-esteem]]: Aoko views herself as childish, so she acts accordingly.

* ''[[Yotsuba&!]]'': Yotsuba does this a lot (in Yen Press' translation, but not ADV Manga's translation).

* Haruka and Yuuto from ''[[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu]]'' tend to do this to each other.

* Sara from ''[[Ai no Shintairiku]]'' refers to herself by her name.

* In ''[[2000 AD]]'' there is the Lowlife strip, featuring a wally squad (undercover) judge named Dirty Frank. He's pretty...odd...and generally refers to himself in the third person (and occasionally brushes against the fourth wall).

* ''[[PS238]]'' has eccentric tailor-engineer [http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/01182012/ Amir Praxis].

 

== Fan Works ==

* Some fanfics like [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3042174/Dead_Men_Tell_No_Tales this one] describe [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Tia Dalma]] as one of these. It may be the result of her [[You No Take Candle|broken English]].

* Stalkkus in the [[Fan Film]] ''[[Godzilla]] vs. the Kaiju Killer''.

 

== Films -- Animation ==

* In the German dub of ''[[Hercules (1997 film)|Hercules]]'', the title character refers to himself in third person multiple times [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHPmS706tLg during "Go the Distance"], his [["I Want" Song]].

* An early draft of ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'' was going to have a comic-relief wizard character named Zoltan who for some reason always spoke in third-person.

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* [[Blazing Saddles|Mongo like to play!]]

* In ''[[Phantom of the Opera]]'' Erik has an unfortunate tennancy to slip into this.

 

== Literature ==

* In the semi-dystopia of [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everlasting-Mann-aus-Zeit-fiel/dp/3805250169 "Everlasting" by Holly-Jane Rahlens], the first-person singular pronoun was abolished some centuries earlier as part of an ideological war, and is now known only to historians and to the residents of a few vaguely Amish-like enclaves.

* Quid from the ''[[Xeelee Sequence]]'' novel ''Raft''.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** The Ken Burns documentary ''Prohibition'' mentioned that the historical George Remus was also known for doing this.

* In one of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPGc9lYFyZ0 sketches] of ''[[That Mitchell and Webb Look]]'', Julius Caesar is instructed to talk about himself in this way. It doesn't work at all.

 

== Music ==

* "Whatever [[Jay Z|Jigga]] say, Jigga probably do"

* [[Eminem]] does this a lot.

 

== New Media ==

** And it shouldn't be there! Stop doing it!

* It is almost instinctive in [[Gender Bender]] stories to refer to one's opposite-gender self in the third person, usually as her name.

* ''[[I Love Bees]]'' has Monster Ann, a minor antagonist who speaks this way. 

 

 

* [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]] says... he is going to lay the smackdown on the [[Jobber|jabronis]] who neglected to mention him here!

* Not as common, but Mr. Kennedy (...KENNEDY!) still makes it a big deal in his pre-match promo.

* It's not uncommon for wrestlers to use their title nicknames to refer to themselves. [[Triple H]] has been quite guilty of this lately (King of Kings going back on his throne, you know the deal).

** ... and that's the bottom line, 'cause [[Steve Austin|Stone Cold]] said so!

 

== Puppet Shows ==

* Elmo of ''[[Sesame Street]]'' does this; it's part of the reason he's so adorable. Not so much ego as [[Justified Trope|he hasn't learned pronouns yet]].

** The Mexican version, ''Plaza Sesamo'', has Lola doing it as well, since she's the show's Elmo equivalent.

 

== Radio ==

* Most of the cast of ''[[The Navy Lark]]'' would slip in and out of [[Rule of Funny|whenever it was funny]], but C.P.O. Pertwee and Fatso Johnson would do it more than most.

* Denis King of ''[[Hello Cheeky]]'' would do this whenever he had just told a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|terrible]], ''[[Stylistic Suck|terrible]]'' joke. Usually the statement would go along the lines of "How does he think of them?" or "He's working well tonight!"

 

== Theater ==

{{quote|"...what?...who?...no!...''she!''..."}}

* One [[Shakespeare]] editor noted that "[[Hamlet]] frequently speaks of himself in the third person; which is characteristic of the philosophic man,--reflective, thoughtful, given to moralize and speak in the abstract."

 

== Video Games ==

* The Tankers in ''[[Oni]]'', if the quote "Can't stop Tanker!" is anything is go by.

* There's a good reason the multiplayer arcade game [[Gauntlet (1985 video game)]] tells you which character is doing things but in single player mode 'Warrior needs food'' becomes this trope.

* The mafia of ''[[A Hat in Time]]''. Confusingly they are also a [[Planet of Steves]] who address other members of their group as "fellow mafia".

 

* Angie in ''[[Shikkoku no Sharnoth]]'', which is kind of odd considering it takes place in [[Victorian Britain]]. Ah well.

* Rizu in ''[[A Profile]]''. At one point Masayuki is worried for her when she uses the more standard "[[Japanese Pronouns|atashi]]" to refer to herself.

* Remi from ''[[My Girlfriend is the President]]''. 

 

== Web Comics ==

* Faz of ''[[Walkyverse|Shortpacked]]'' often does this.

* Thog of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' also talks like this. In fact, most orcs do. This is eventually lampshaded when one orc abandons a chase to attend grammar class, hoping to learn personal pronouns.

* [[Funny Foreigner]] Konsta from ''[[Plus EV]]''.

* In ''[[Questionable Content]]'' Samantha as "[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2346 Skullmaster], [[Redundant Department of Redundancy|master of skulls]]". [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3590 AI can keep up], obviously.

 

== Western Animation ==

** Of course, there's "never room for Old Sweepy".

* The Flea of ''[[Mucha Lucha]]'' is an even more obvious parody, although he does say "I", "me", or "my" occasionally.

{{quote|"You're not the boss of Dracula!"}}

* ''[[Transformers]]''

* The title character of ''[[Invader Zim]]'' does this multiple times per episode, although he still uses personal pronouns when speaking normally, using this trope usually only when he's shouting. "VICTORY FOR ZIM!"

** In most instances, you can expect almost pornographic [[Large Ham]] emphasis on 'Zim.'

{{quote|"Zim needs no vacation!"

"Treachery! Lies! ZIIIIIMMM!"

* ''[[El Tigre]]'' villains Dr. Chipotle Sr., and his son, Dr. Chipotle Jr., do this. SWINE!

* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'': "Foolish biologicals! OVERLOAD WILL DESTROY!"

{{quote|"Mediocrity such as this is never far from Harm."}}

** Iron Will the minotaur from "Putting Your Hoof Down" speaks like this as well.

 

== Real Life ==

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]