History Main / IAmTheNoun

* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] is about to be arrested by Mace Windu for treason and conspiracy, and Windu says that the Senate will decide his fate, he simply replies "I ''am'' the Senate!"[[note]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Not. Yet.]] [[/note]] Given that his manipulations have essentially granted him control of the Senate, it is not an empty statement. This line, like the scene it apears in, has been subjected to a lot of MemeticMutation. Chances are if a ''Star Wars'' fan references "The Senate", they are talking about Palpatine rather than the actual Galactic Senate.

-->[[spoiler:Death. And I don't mean it metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or any other fancy way. [[LiteralMetaphor I am Death. Straight. Up.]]]]

* On ''Film/{{S1m0ne}}'', Victor gets Simone to say "I am the death of real".

--> '''Cat R. Waul''': "Simply put, mouseling, I am the law here, and you are a mere hors d'oeuvre."

-->'''Coco Labouche''': "No one fires Coco Labouche, Coco Labouche fires others! COCO LABOUCHE '''''IS''''' EUROREPTAR!!"

** Finn does this in "Jake the Dog" [[spoiler:when he goes insane from wearing the ice crown]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'', as Viren takes the throne, Opeli tells him that he isn't above the law. He replies that she's badly misjudged the situation.

* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'': The game opens on Gunvolt captured by a Sumeragi officer, and on the recieving end of some ElectricTorture. Unbeknownst to his captor, however, Gunvolt is a powerful [[PsychicChildren Adept]] with the power to [[ShockAndAwe control electricity]], which he promptly uses to break out of his restraints and escape. When his shocked captor asks how Gunvolt can be unharmed after being pumped full of electricity, Gunvolt simply responds, "I ''am'' electricity."

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Will uses this in "Father Knows Best" to dissuade Ashley from confiding in a personal matter. The matter in question being that she dropped out of Bel-Air Academy and has been attending public school.

* "I AM RIPPER! TEARER! SLASHER! GOUGER! I AM THE TEETH IN THE DARKNESS! THE TALONS IN THE NIGHT! MINE IS STRENGTH! AND LUST! AND POWER! '''I AM [[WesternAnimation/{{Beowulf|2007}} BEOWULF]]!'''"

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars1 "Speed. I am speed."''

* ''Film/TheBatman2022'' brings us this exchange as Batman's EstablishingCharacterMoment.
-->'''Mook:''' The hell are you supposed to be?\\

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' we get this exchange:
-->'''Bane:''' ...and you betrayed us.\\

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'': "[[MegaCorp We]] practically ARE the military!"
** Comes back to bite Robo in the ass too: "You thought you could just stroll in here and arrest me? You're ''product''!"

* ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe''—Jacques: "I am the Great Went." Laura: "I AM the Muffin." "And what a muffin you've got, eh!"

-->'''God:''' [[ShapedLikeItself I Am That I Am]].
** The sequel tries to top this:
--->'''God 2.0:''' I am the way and the truth and the life.\\

*** Really that's most of the gospel of John. For example, John 11:23-25.

** Jesus also does it in the most minimalist way possible:
--->'''Jesus:''' I AM.

** Also, the 'unclean spirit' (Mark 5.9):

* In Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy, the Noghri object to their sovereign Grand Admiral Thrawn breaking their rules by having a commando under suspicion taken to his ship rather than being tried by their elders. He doesn't like this. He doesn't like this at all. In fact, when the maitrakh keeps protesting he reminds them of what it means to defy the Empire by ordering an airstrike on the hills around him - and on Honoghr, where most of the planet is barren, this is really bad.
--> "''I'' am the law on Honoghr now, maitrakh. If I choose to follow the ancient laws, I will follow them. If I choose to ignore them, they will be ignored. Is that clear?"
** Also, when Pellaeon is concerned that the mad C'baoth is breaking away from TheEmpire, C'baoth retorts "I ''am'' the Empire".

%%* [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] says this in many forms.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E02TheCircle The Circle]]", Kira discovers that Jaro Essa, a minister for Bajor's provincial government, is actually conducting activities for the terrorist group Alliance for Global Unity, or the Circle.
--->'''Kira:''' So, you're involved with the Circle.\\
'''Jaro:''' I am the Circle, Major.
** Used for a WhamLine in "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS03E02TheSearchPartII The Search, Part II]]":
--->'''Kira:''' You're part of the Dominion, aren't you?\\
'''[[spoiler:Female Changeling]]:''' ''Part'' of? Major, the [[spoiler:Changelings]] ''are'' the Dominion!
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E22SkinOfEvil Skin of Evil]]", Picard quotes to Armus that [[Creator/PercyByssheShelley "all spirits are enslaved that serve things evil"]]. His reply: "I do not ''serve'' things evil; I ''am'' evil."
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E16TheOffspring The Offspring]]", when Picard tells Admiral Haftel that he's prepared to go to Starfleet regarding Haftel's order that Data must surrender his daughter, Lal, Haftel replies "I am Starfleet, Captain!" Picard, naturally, is not intimidated.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E2Parallax Parallax]]", the Emergency Medical Hologram says, "I am the embodiment of modern medicine." Unfortunately, he doesn't deliver a MajorGeneralSong, as it's before he discovered opera.
* On ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'', Stephen Colbert doesn't use "The" but it sorta of applies. When Stephen Miller (in Joseph Goebbels mode) says that Donald Trump's powers would not be questioned, Stephen Colbert pretends to be Miller, "Adding '[[AGodAmI I am become Death]], Destroyer of Worlds...KneelBeforeZod.'"

* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
** The Goa'uld have a tendency to yell "I am your god!" at defiant foes.
** Also, O'Neill, at his promotion ceremony: "All these years, I've been sticking it to The Man. Now I'm The Man!"
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': The Wraith go for the somewhat more disturbing "I am your death."
* ''Series/TheWestWing'':
-->'''Donna:''' [Despairing of the nigh-impossible process of getting travel expenses reimbursed] We're getting beat by the system, Josh.\\
'''Josh:''' We ''are'' the system, Donna.\\
'''Donna:''' ...Well, we suck!
** Also, when Donna had described him as not practicing law: "I don't practice law? I help write the laws! I make the laws! I am the law!"
** And later:
--> '''Leo:''' You don't pick losing candidates and usher them to their principled end. You're the guy who takes good men and makes them great. You and Josh still think you're barking at the heels of the party - you ''are'' the party!
* Multiple PoliceProcedural shows:
-->'''Random civilian:''' Get out of here before I call the police!\\
'''Cop:''' I ''am'' the police!
* Used a lot by [[MagnificentBastard Malcolm Tucker]] in ''Series/TheThickOfIt''. Things he ''is'' include the matrix, the press and the heart of government:
-->'''Olly Reeder:''' You want to have a loop?\\
'''Malcolm Tucker:''' Fuck you, [[TheNicknamer Andy Pandy]], I ''am'' the loop...
* From ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'' we have the alcoholic Jim Lahey, who ''is'' the liquor.
** "Against the law, is it Randy? Well I AM THE LAW! Go get the chains and orange gag balls."
* From ''Series/TwentyFour'' Season 2 we got:
-->'''Civilian:''' Get out or I call the police!\\
'''Jack Bauer:''' I ''am'' the police!
** In Season 3:
--->'''Wayne:''' This is politics. It's not medicine. Do me a favour and stay out of it.\\
'''Anne:''' "Stay out of it?" I ''am'' it!
* Rather like ''The Thick of It'' above, the ever-popular ''Scenes from a Hat'' from the even-more-popular ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' has these suggestions for "announcements that will make this audience cheer wildly":
-->'''Ryan:''' In ten minutes, we bring out the liquor!\\
'''Wayne:''' [[spoiler:I'm the [[strike:liquor]] licker!]]
* In one episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', Dr. Forrester told TV's Frank to push the button and Frank said, "I ''am'' the button!" He was acting high at the time, though.
** Another time, Dr. Forrester introduces a new line of Rennaisance Faire inflatable punching bags.
--->'''Forrester''': "I am Harlequin!"\\
'''TV's Frank''': I am your worst nightmare!
* In one of ''Series/BreakingBad'''s most iconic scenes, formerly mild-mannered Walt delivers a shocking BadassBoast to wife Skyler. All together now:
-->'''Walt:''' I am not in danger, Skyler. I ''am'' the danger! A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. ''I am the one who knocks!''
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
--> I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanova. I am the right hand of vengeance... and the boot that's going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am Death Incarnate... and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me.

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': When Hardison made a robot to help Parker with her work and Parker felt like he was trying to replace her.
-->'''Hardison''': It's not a toy, it's a safe-cracking machine.\\
'''Parker''': ''I'' am a safe cracking machine!
* ''Series/TheSavageEye'':
** Ireland's PresidentForLife claims to be the nation of Ireland itself.
** In the Sports episode, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn566hjmk1Y she travels back in time]] to November 19, 2009 and cuts off Thierry Henry's hand off for knocking "me, the Irish Nation" out of the World Cup.
* One episode of ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' involved disc jockey Venus (very drunk at the time) wandering into Mr. Carlson's office:
-->'''Carlson:''' Shouldn't you be on the air?\\
'''Venus:''' On the air? I AM the air! I am the wind!

* ''Series/{{Daredevil 2015}}'', from the first season finale:
-->'''[[spoiler: Wilson Fisk]]''': It means that I'm not the Samaritan. That I'm not the priest, or the Levite. That I am the ill intent... who set upon the traveler on a road that he should not have been on.
* ''Series/LukeCage2016''. Luke goes to take on a couple of Cottonmouth's thugs who just shook down a strip club worker for her tips.
-->'''Stripper:''' Don't you need a gun?
-->'''Luke:''' I am the gun.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Oliver has said on more than one occasion:
--> "The bow and arrow are just tools. I'm the weapon"
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
** In episode [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E7KillerFrost "Killer Frost"]], BigBad Savitar says he is "the future". [[spoiler: It turns out it was ExactWords: Full sentence was "[[MyFutureSelfAndMe I am the future Flash.]]" and we were initially let to think it was "I am the future, Flash."]]
** In season 9, the villain Red Death says "I am vengeance!" [[spoiler:when revealing herself as [[Series/Batwoman2019 Ryan Wilder]]]].
* Averted in ''Series/BlakesSeven''. When [[BigBad Servalan]] is deposed in a coup, the rebels urge their leader to let them kill her, arguing that "Servalan is the Federation". The RebelLeader points out this is only true while Servalan is alive, and she can be forced to order her armies to surrender. Kill her, and the war goes on as one of her subordinates would inevitably fill the power vacuum.

* ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto''. This is one of Souji Tendou's quotes quoted from his grandmother.
-->'''Tendou:''' My grandmother said this: "I am Justice."
* ''Series/KamenRiderWizard'': Haruto Soma has his catchphrase "I am the last hope." When all the other attempts to save a [[VictimOfTheWeek Gate]] from falling over the DespairEventHorizon failed, he has to fight their literal inner demons before they rip that person to shreds from inside out. He is their only chance of survival.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019''. Subverted when Homelander tries to throw his weight around with Stan Edgar, the CEO of Vought Industries, by claiming that as he's the worlds most famous superhero, then "I am Vought!" Mr. Edgar points out that Vought is not a superhero company but a pharmaceutical company, and so its most valuable asset is not Homelander but the confidential SuperSerum used to create superheroes, which due to Homelander's stupidity is no longer either confidential or the sole property of their company. Homelander gets payback in a later episode when Mr. Edgar goes to The Seven for help getting Vought Industries out of a scandal and Homelander refuses to help, saying "We are ''not'' Vought!"
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'': Will uses this in "Father Knows Best" to dissuade Ashley from confiding in a personal matter. The matter in question being that she dropped out of Bel-Air Academy and has been attending public school.
-->'''Will''': Don't tell me, 'cause if I know, I can't say I don't know when you get busted and Uncle Phil start rounding up the usual suspects. And I ''am'' the usual suspects.
* ''Series/Foundation2021'': The Galactic Empire's ruling clone dynasty use "Empire" as an honorific, referencing the conceit that they are the "imperishable permanence" that sustains the imperial status quo.
* Yo-han says this on two different occasions in ''Series/TheDevilJudge''.
** At the Social Responsibility Foundation he delivers a speech where he exclaims that he's "the power."
-->'''Yo-han:''' I am power! I am power. Me, me, me!
** When Professor Min quotes Creator/FriedrichNietzsche's famous "if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you" quote referring to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Yo-han becoming like the monsters he claims he fights]], Yo-han tells him "you misunderstood the situation. ''I'm'' the abyss."
* ''Series/BlueBloods'': In "Identity", Season 9 ep. 21, the head of a social justice organization is recruiting Police Commissioner Frank Reagan's daughter Nicky for a job, apparently in order to use her as a mole into the Reagan family. So Frank gets the community organizer's brother a job with the NYPD in order to use him as "insurance". When the community organizer asks Frank if he pulled any strings to get her brother a job Frank responds, ominously, "I AM THE STRING."

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0WD5dHtD9A#t=2221s I AM THE CHAIR!]]

** Music/{{Sting}} has a few in "Brand New Day"; "I'm the train and you're the station, I'm a flagpole to your nation."

* Wrestling/ChrisJericho is the best in the world at what he does.
** Subsequently, Wrestling/CMPunk is the best in the world (Bryan Danielson did it before either of them)

* ''Theatre/PeerGynt''. An inmate of the Cairo Asylum, called Hussein, presents himself to Peer this way:
--> I am a pen.

-->"I am vengeance, I am the night! I am Batman!"

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': Followers of the church regularly chant 'We are the Flame, and Darkness fears us!" The Ancestor gloomily snarks that a trip to the dungeon will make them squeal 'We are not the flame, we are but moths, and we are doomed!"
* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar: Soulstorm'' had this from Archon Tahril:
-->''"I am the deadly shadow and the bird of prey. I am the poisoned dagger that brings swift death!"''
** And from other units as well:
-->'''Space Marine Chaplain:''' I am the Emperor's will made manifest.\\

* From ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'':

** Justified as being the Archangel of Justice, he actually is the personification of the virtue.

* An example of Kain's dry sense of humour in ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain: Blood Omen 2'':
-->'''Duncan:''' Restricted area. This passage is for night shift workers only.\\

* In the opening cinematic of ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', Kerrigan begins her BadassBoast by saying ''"I...am the Swarm."''
** She ends the final cinematic [[BookEnds with the same words]].

--> '''Xe'Ra:''' The Light will heal your scars!
--> '''[[spoiler:Illidan:]]''' I ''AM'' MY SCARS!

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': [[DeusEstMachina Petey]] does this, with some (almost certainly intentional) linguistic ambiguity that also makes it sound like AGodAmI.
-->'''Admiral Argharghrar:''' I can't evacuate on the word of an agent from a foreign power.\\

* In ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'', Vegeta demands an explanation over Piccolo being much stronger than him. When Vegeta's inflated ego makes him think he's a God after learning that Kami, whom Piccolo fused with, was God and he was still here, a gobsmacked Trunks questions if he believes his own hype that much.
-->'''Vegeta:''' '''I ''AM'' THE HYPE!'''

* Finn from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' does this in "Jake the Dog" [[spoiler:when he goes insane from wearing the ice crown]].
-->'''Finn:''' I am the end and the beginning. I am the hand of madness.
** This happens yet again in the part two of the following season premiere, "Escape from the Citadel".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' had a truly classic one with the villain [[Characters/MarvelComicsAIM M.O.D.O.C.]]:
-->'''M.O.D.O.C.:''' I am ''SCIENCE''!!! I AM ''GENIUS''!!!

* Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} was a triple threat in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': "You are NOT my father. I am NOT a disgrace. I am Vengeance. I am the Night. I AM BATMAN!"

*** Incidentally, this is why [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen Elizabeth II]] didn't need a driver's license or passport to travel in any of her realms. Such documents were typically issued in her name by her governments, and it would've been redundant for her to issue one to herself. The same principle previously exempted her from having to pay taxes to the British government, but she began doing so voluntarily in the 90s as a goodwill gesture. The same goes for her successor, [[UsefulNotes/CharlesIII King Charles III]].

* Portly Miami sports radio talk show host Hank Goldberg once dealt with an obnoxious caller this way:

** Doubly funny, considering that a self-deprecating sense of humor is normally one of the last things that one would associate with Goldberg.
* While they never explicitly said "I am the State", UsefulNotes/{{Nazi|Germany}}s spent a great deal of time and effort in promoting that image. For example: "Ein Volk, ein Staat, ein Reich, ein Führer. [[RuleOfThree (One people, one State, one empire, one leader)]]".
** During a party congress speech, Rudolf Hess said "[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] ist Deutschland!" ("Hitler is Germany!").

** In issue #423 Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} says "when it comes to mutants, we are the police!"

* ''Film/JudgeDredd''

* At the end of the opera ''Paul Bunyan'', as the lumberjacks are bidding goodbye to TheUnseen title character, Inkslinger asks him who he is. Paul answers:

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': Moments before his HeroicSacrifice to [[spoiler:save [[{{God}} Mata Nui]], Matoro does this as an extremely effective BadassBoast:]]

** Used this in reverse, in a somewhat more... belittling manner.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': "I am the Bat."

* ''PussInBootsTheLastWish'': the Wolf, [[spoiler:who is '''very literally''' Death, as in TheGrimReaper,]] mocks this trope when he finally properly introduces himself to Puss, implying that he is pretty damn sick of [[spoiler:people appropriating his name to emphasize their own lethality]]:

* ''PussInBoots2TheLastWish'': the Wolf, [[spoiler:who is '''very literally''' Death, as in TheGrimReaper,]] mocks this trope when he finally properly introduces himself to Puss, implying that he is pretty damn sick of [[spoiler:people appropriating his name to emphasize their own lethality]]:

* In ''Franchise/StarWars Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when [[BigBad Chancellor Palpatine]] is about to be arrested by Mace Windu for treason and conspiracy, and Windu says that the Senate will decide his fate, he simply replies "I am the Senate!"[[note]] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Not. Yet.]] [[/note]] Given that his manipulations have essentially granted him control of the Senate, it is not an empty statement. This line, like the scene it apears in, has been subjected to a lot of MemeticMutation. Chances are if a ''Star Wars'' fan references "The Senate", they are talking about Palpatine rather than the actual Galactic Senate.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', Vergil's {{leitmotif}}, Bury the Light, invokes this with the line "I am the storm that is approaching".

[[spoiler:'''Cutter]]:''' Something I should have done, long ago. ''This'' is for the good of the colony.\\

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' had a truly classic one with the villain [[Characters/{{AIM}} M.O.D.O.C.]]:

* Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series
-->"I will send you Torus's worst dream!"\\
'''"I AM Torus's worst dream!"'''

* Rand al'Thor from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': "Come against me, if you dare! I am the storm! Come if you dare, Shai'tan!"

* The Warden of Marshwood Hill in ''[[Literature/{{Redwall}} Martin the Warrior]]'': "I am the Law!" There's also a snake that declares "I am death to all beastssssss!"

* From ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'', the werewolf boasts - "I am hunger. I am thirst. Where I bite, I hold till I die" - and goes on.
* Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'': Shadow asks Czernobog (who is smoking a cigarette) if he's frightened of getting cancer. Czernobog scoffs, "I AM cancer. I do not frighten myself."
* ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'':
** [[GuileHero Kelsier]] and later [[DarkActionGirl Vin]]: "I am {{Hope|Bringer}}."
** Unsurprisingly, [[OmnicidalManiac Ruin]] gets in on it too. "I am mountains that crush. I am waves that crash. I am storms that scatter. I am ''the end''. I am Ruin." He [[AnthropomorphicPersonification really is]] those things.
* In ''Literature/EthanOfAthos'', when interviewing the telepathic Terrance Cee for possible recruitment:
-->'''Elli:''' Of course not. Not on our ''own'' people.\\
'''Terrance:''' Lady, when this thing is activated, I ''am'' the other people.
* In the Literature/{{RCN}} story ''The Way to Glory'', Daniel becomes aware of an Alliance spy and sets a trap for him with Adele's help. When it goes badly -- the spy is killed ''and'' the admiral he was duping forms a grudge against Daniel and Adele -- he frets that perhaps he should've instead reported the matter to the proper authorities. Adele points out that as an agent of Cinnabar's intelligence service, "I ''am'' the proper authorities," and nothing the admiral says will outweigh Adele's report on the incident.
* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. Sherlock gives a third-person one on his brother Mycroft:
--> "You are right in thinking that he is under the British Government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he ''is'' the British Government.”

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Aldrea tries this with Ax and the gang "I am hork-bajir!" Ax doesn't buy it, still seeing her as an Andalite in Hork-bajir form.