History Main / ExpositoryPronoun

* In the Indonesian film ''Film/WhatsUpWithLove'', CoolLoser Rangga points out that Cinta has switched from calling him ''lo'' to ''kamu'', which is intimate for Jakartan highschoolers, which flusters the latter.

* Indonesian has the casual ''kamu'' and the formal but impersonal ''Anda''. The Jakarta dialect ''lo'' is also often seen in media among close friends or to younger people. ''None'' of these are considered polite, though; the polite way to address others is ''Bapak'', ''Ibu'', or ''Kak'' (Sir, Ma'am, or older sibling, respectively).

*** The main character, Emu, uses "boku" as his default pronoun, while his SplitPersonality Genius Gamer M uses "ore". Fittingly, Emu is an AllLovingHero NiceGuy with good manners, and M is confident and also a bit of a {{Jerkass}}, though he's still normally a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': In the English translation, Kenshin always refers to himself in third person as "this one" (a {{Woolseyism}} of the Japanese verb ''de gozaru'', signifying humility). However, when his SuperpoweredEvilSide Hitokiri Battousai takes over, he shifts to first person.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', Omnics (sapient robots, who rebelled and started a RobotWar in the backstory and are an oppressed minority in the present) use different gender pronouns to help drive home the fact that they're essentially on the same level as humans. Zenyatta and Orisa go by "he" and "she" respectively, Bastion (who was churned out as a MechaMook in the aforementioned war, but exhibits full sapience after being offline for decades) goes by {{it|IsDehumanising}} but is sometimes also called "he" in patchnotes or developer interviews [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial as is often done in English for a person of unknown or unclear gender]], and the non-playable [=Lynx17=] uses "they" (with WordOfGod clarifying that they identify as non-binary]]).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', Omnics (sapient robots, who rebelled and started a RobotWar in the backstory and are an oppressed minority in the present) use different gender pronouns to help drive home the fact that they're essentially on the same level as humans. Zenyatta and Orisa go by "he" and "she" respectively, Bastion (who was churned out as a MechaMook in the aforementioned war, but exhibits full sapience after being offline for decades) goes by {{it|IsDehumanising}} but is sometimes also called "he" in patchnotes or developer interviews [[MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial as is often done in English for a person of unknown or unclear gender]], and the non-playable [=Lynx17=] uses "they" (with WordOfGod clarifying that they identify as [[{{Transgender}} non-binary]]).

In European languages there are often two pronouns for second person (normal and polite "you", for example "tu/vous" in French or "tu/voi" in Italian) and three for third person (masculine, feminine, object/impersonal). So for example, a character can use the familiar "you" where the polite form would be expected to show that they are rude or not familiar with social norms. [[HeyYou The misuse can also be deliberately offensive, out of sheer hostility or rebelliousness.]]

* Italian uses a system largely similar to French: the informal "tu" (singular) is used for people with whom one is closely acquainted, whereas in formal situations or when addressing a superior, elder or stranger the formal "voi" is used instead. Since "voi" is also the plural of "tu", sentences in which it is used are also structured as if the speaker was talking to multiple people. A complication arises from the fact that Italian has a ''second'' formal pronoun used interchangeably with "voi" -- "lei", the third-person feminine pronoun, used as such because most Italian honorifics are feminine. Standard Italian technically requires the use of "lei", but most dialects use equivalents to "voi" and most people tend to use that as well. The result can sometimes be an odd system of three honorifics, where "tu" is used in informal situations, "voi" in mildly formal settings where strict adherence to grammar is not expected, and "lei" when one is particularly worried about making a good impression.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', Omnics (sapient robots, who rebelled and started a RobotWar in the backstory and are an oppressed minority in the present) use different gender pronouns to help drive home the fact that they're essentially on the same level as humans. Zenyatta and Orisa go by "he" and "she" respectively, Bastion (who was churned out as a MechaMook in the aforementioned war, but gained full sapience after being offline for decades) goes by {{it|IsDehumanising}} or a gender neutral "he", and the non-playable [=Lynx17=] uses "they" (with WordOfGod clarifying that they identify as [[{{Transgender}} non-binary]]).

* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'': Eddie Brock is the most known and longer host of the symbiote and the relationship of both is more like two different beings coexisting instead one possessing the other, noticed when this is the only incarnation that speaks in "we" instead "I" [[spoiler:included the comeback of Eddie Brock at the end of Vol. 3 with the famous "[[http://www.flipgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Venom-01-263x400.jpg We're back]]" and the restart of Vol. 1 in 2017]]. Also noticed in his other appearances, specially ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes'', where he introduces in the game with this CatchPhrase:

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'': Eowyn uses the archaic "thou/thee" to address others, which goes with the slightly outdated kind of speech the Rohirrim are supposed to speak. In fact, AntiquatedLinguistics is common outside the Shire, moreso as you move east and especially south -- so the hobbits' ''failure'' to distinguish between the formal and informal forms of "you" (as Modern English also does not) confuses the people of Rohan and Minas Tirith into thinking they must be very high-ranking nobles indeed, if they can get away with talking to Gandalf like that.

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': In ''Paradiso'', Saint Bernard's final speech manages to refer to the Virgin Mary with Italian's informal second-person pronoun (tu, te, ti, tuo, tua) seventeen different times, due to the Christian tradition of speaking to God and the Virgin using the phrasing one would use for one's own parents. The saint is introduced higher than other being and makes an intimate plea to an old widow he loves as his own mother. Through this child-like relationship with the Queen of the Universe, the protagonist is given the grace to see [[{{God}} the Trinity]] in all its perfection, all because Bernard learned to call Mary ''tu''.

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Other languages have more options. East-Asian languages like Japanese for example, have a variety of first- and second-person pronouns depending on character, social status, context, level of politeness, etc. Thus the pronouns used will give us an immediate glimpse of the kind of person a character is -- especially if it isn't the one you would assume at first glance.

This can be a headache for translators, as these kinds of subtleties don't always translate very well from one language to another. See PronounTrouble and GenderVocabularySlip for classic occurences.

* In the English translation of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', Kenshin always refers to himself in third person as "this one" (a {{Woolseyism}} of the Japanese verb ''de gozaru'', signifying humility). However, when his SuperpoweredEvilSide Hitokiri Battousai takes over, he shifts to first person.

* Being more based on comic books than his [[Film/SpiderMan3 previous appearance]], the new incarnation of ''[[Film/Venom2018 Venom]]'' maintains the "we" instead of "I" as in the comics, as well the famous "[[CatchPhrase We are Venom]]".

* Eowyn in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' uses the archaic "thou/thee" to address others, which goes with the slightly outdated kind of speech the Rohirrim are supposed to speak. In fact, AntiquatedLinguistics is common outside the Shire, moreso as you move east and especially south -- so the hobbits' ''failure'' to distinguish between formal and informal forms of "you" (as Modern English also does not) confuses the people of Rohan and Minas Tirith into thinking they must be very high-ranking nobles indeed, if they can get away with talking to Gandalf like that.

* In ''[[Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality For Love of Evil]]'', Lilith starts using capitalized pronouns when referring to Parry after he assumes the office of Satan (the capital indicating reverence) - although the author doesn't explain how this is apparent in spoken language.
* In Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Paradiso]]'', Bernard's final speech manages to refer to the Virgin Mary in the second-person personal form (tu, te, ti, tuo, tua) seventeen different times. The saint introduced higher than other being and is made up of an intimate plea to an old widow he loves as his own mother. Through this child-like relationship with the Queen of the Universe, the protagonist is given the grace to see [[{{God}} the Trinity]] in all its perfection, all because Bernard learned to call Mary ''tu''.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', the [[StarfishAliens Hanar]] consider it rude to refer to themselves in the first person. Therefore, they often refer to themselves as 'this one'.
* The Japanese translation of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' uses pronouns to emphasize the characters' personalities:

* Eowyn in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' uses the archaic "thou/thee" to address others, which goes with the [[AntiquatedLinguistics slightly outdated kind of speech]] the Rohirrim are supposed to speak.

** The HotBlooded Undyne uses the haughty "kisama" for the player character because of her disdain for humans. However, she refers to herself with the neutral "watashi" instead of the harsh "ore" to reflect her dignity as a member of the royal guard.

* Being more based on comic books than his [[Film/SpiderMan3 previous appearance]], the new incarnation of ''[[Film/Venom2018 Venom]]'' mantains the "we" instead of "I" as in the comics, as well the famous "[[CatchPhrase We are Venom]]".

* Archaic English had a distinction between "you", used in formal circumstances, and "thou", used to express intimacy and more rarely to address people perceived as not meriting respect. Deliberate use of one pronoun over the other was sometimes used for rhetorical effect: for instance, when Sir Walter Raleigh was being tried for treason in 1603, his prosecutor Sir Edward Coke (possibly apocryphally) tried to insult him by declaring that ''"I thou thee, thou traitor!"''. Also worthy of note is the use of "thou", rather than "you", when addressing God in prayer, to convey a tone both of reverence and of closeness between the worshiper and God.

* French has two second person pronouns; tu and vous. The latter is the plural pronoun, but can also be used to address a single person who you aren't acquainted with too well. Most of the time, it's still used as if the speaker was addressing a group of people.

* The Spanish language has two sets of second-person pronouns and corresponding extra sets of verb conjugations. Usted (singular) and ustedes (plural) are considered formal, for use between people who don't know each other well, while tu and vosotros are considered informal and are used between close friends and family members (a practice that has its own verb, tutearse). Additionally, vosotros is usually only used in Castilian Spanish, the official dialect of Spain; Latin Americans use ustedes for both formal and informal plurals.

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-->'''Venom:''' ''(in his intro)'' We are Venom!

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* The Japanese translation of ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' uses pronouns to emphasise the characters' personalities:

* Archaic English had a distinction between "you", used in formal circumstances, and "thou", used to express intimacy and more rarely to address people perceived as not meriting respect. Deliberate use of one pronoun over the other was sometimes used for rhetorical effect: for instance, when Sir Walter Raleigh was being tried for treason in 1603, his prosecutor Sir Edward Coke (possibly apocryphally) tried to insult him by declaring that ''"I thou thee, thou traitor!"''. Also worthy of note is the use of "thou", rather than "you", when addressing God in prayer, to convey a tone both of reverence and of closeness between the worshipper and God.

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* Some dialects of English [[OopNorth above the Mersey]] use the possessive plural pronoun "our" as a singular to refer to close family/friends.