Line #175 Main/TheNounWhoVerbed


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4	[[quoteright:299:[[Literature/TheManWhoWouldBeKing https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4dd3ff.png]]]]
5
6	A simple way to make a title: by taking an animal or person central to the story and saying they do something that is also central.
7
8	Often ''The Girl Who...'' or ''The Boy Who...''. A variation for inanimate objects is ''The Noun ''That'' Verbed''. The verb is usually in past tense and sometimes in present tense but rarely in future tense. Occasionally a pronoun is used instead of a noun.
9
10	This can sometimes be used InUniverse, usually to name a character. In this case, the verb is almost always in present tense, and a pronoun is used as often as a noun. Some trope names (see below in Examples) follow this pattern making this trope TruthInTelevision.
11
12	OlderThanFeudalism with the fable ''The Boy Who Cried Wolf''.
13
14	This method of naming usually causes the works to be ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin; though sometimes it's a case of ItMakesSenseInContext. Rarely the names created are so strange that it MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.
15
16	Can be a SpoilerTitle. InUniverse examples can overlap with EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep and[=/=]or TheTropeWithoutATitle.
17
18	Compare NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom, InWhichATropeIsDescribed, NounVerber, AdjectiveNounFred, CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase. Compare PersonWithTheClothing for InUniverse examples.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Trope Names That Follow This Convention]]
26	* BooksThatBite
27	* HeWhoFightsMonsters
28	* TheOneThatGotAway
29	* TheOneWhoMadeItOut
30	* TheOneWhoWearsShoes
31	* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything
32	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething
33	* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight
34	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Titles That Are Examples of This Trope]]
38	[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
39	* ''Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime''
40	* ''Manga/ThoseWhoHuntElves''
41
42	[[AC:{{Fanfic}}]]
43	* ''Fanfic/SheWhoSkittersInShadows''
44
45	[[AC:{{Film}}]]
46	* ''Film/TheBoyWhoCouldFly''
47	* ''Film/TheBoyWhoCriedWerewolf''
48	* ''Film/TheBrainThatWouldntDie'' (aka ''Film/TheHeadThatWouldntDie'')
49	* ''Film/TheCarsThatAteParis''
50	* ''Film/TheEnglishmanWhoWentUpAHillButCameDownAMountain''
51	* ''Film/TheManWhoBoughtMustique''
52	* ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth''
53	* ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooLittle''
54	* ''Film/TheManWhoKnewTooMuch''
55	* ''Film/TheManWhoLovedWomen''
56	* ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance''. Ransom is an attorney newly arrived in the Wild West town of Shinbone. On his way in he was robbed by the notorious outlaw Liberty Valence, and when he sees how the town is terrorized by him, vows to bring him to justice.
57	* ''Film/TheManWhoSuedGod''
58	* ''The Man Who Would Be Polka King'' (not to be confused with ''Film/ThePolkaKing''; this is the documentary)
59	* ''Film/TheMenWhoStareAtGoats''. Members of the New Earth Army [[DeathGlare stare at the goats]] in an attempt to stop the goats' hearts.
60	* ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''
61	* ''Film/TheThingThatCouldntDie''
62	* ''Film/TheTwoWhoStoleTheMoon''
63
64	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
65	* ''Literature/AesopsFables'': "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"
66	* ''The Bear Who Wouldn't Share''
67	* ''The Booger That Escaped''
68	* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoAteAround''
69	* ''Literature/TheBoyWhoCouldntSleepAndNeverHadTo''
70	* ''The Boy Who Didn't Want to Be Sad''
71	* ''The Boy Who Lost His Sneeze''
72	* ''The Boy Who Reversed Himself''
73	* There is a famous South Korean book and movie called ''The Dwarf Who Threw The Ball'' about a dwarf and his family.
74	* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries''. Too many examples to list all, but the first four in the series are:
75	** ''The Cat Who Could Read Backwards''
76	** ''The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern''
77	** ''The Cat Who Turned On and Off''
78	** ''The Cat Who Saw Red''
79	* Cleveland Amory's ''The Cat Who Came for Christmas''
80	* ''Literature/TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein.
81	* ''The Cat Who Went to Heaven'' by Elizabeth Coatsworth
82	* ''Charlie the Crocodile Who Couldn't Catch a Cold''
83	* ''Literature/TheDinosaurThatPooped''
84	* ''The Dog Who Rattled''
85	* ''The Dog Who Wouldn't Be'' by Farley Mowat
86	* ''The Donkey That Sneezed''
87	* ''Eppie the Elephant Who was Allergic to Peanuts''
88	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoCircumnavigatedFairylandInAShipOfHerOwnMaking'' and its sequels ''The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There'' and ''The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two''.
89	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoCouldFly''
90	* ''[[https://talesfromthelilypad.podbean.com/e/the-girl-who-cried-pee The Girl Who Cried Pee]]''
91	* ''[[Literature/DragonridersOfPern The Girl Who Heard Dragons]]'' is a compilation of short stories that includes one of the same name. The main character of this story is a young girl called Aramina who can telepathically ''hear'' any dragon even though she is not bonded to one (something that is very rare in that 'verse).
92	* ''The Girl Who Kissed the Peach Tree''
93	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoLovedTomGordon''
94	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoNeverMadeMistakes''
95	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoOwnedACity''
96	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoPlayedGo''
97	* ''Literature/TheGirlWhoPokedGodWithAStick''
98	* The first chapter of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' is called ''The Boy Who Lived'' in reference to Harry surviving Voldemort's murder attempt the night before.
99	* One chapter of ''{{Literature/Inheritance\|Cycle}}'' is called ''That Which Does Not Kill...''.
100	* ''Harvey the Boy Who Couldn't Fart''
101	* ''The Jester Who Lost His Jingle''
102	* Creator/RudyardKipling's ''Literature/JustSoStories'' feature:
103	** ''The Cat That Walked By Himself''
104	** ''The Crab That Played With The Sea''
105	** ''The Butterfly That Stamped''
106	* ''Literature/TheLittleEngineThatCould''
107	* ''Literature/TheManWhoFoldedHimself''
108	* ''Literature/TheManWhoLaughs''
109	* ''The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat'', the title of a collection of case studies (and of one of the cases) by neurologist Oliver Sacks.
110	* Creator/RobertAHeinlein wrote a novella called ''The Man Who Sold the Moon''.
111	* ''Literature/MillenniumSeries'':
112	** ''The Girl Who Played with Fire''
113	** ''The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest''
114	* ''Literature/TheMouseThatRoared''
115	* ''Literature/ThePlantThatAteDirtySocks'': Both the series title itself and the in-universe book "The Glob That Ate Outer Space".
116	* ''The Princess Who Didn't Eat Cake''
117	* Creator/AnneMcCaffrey's ''Literature/TheShipWho'' series:
118	** ''The Ship Who Sang''. Helva is a [[WetwareCPU Brainship]] who learned to sing despite her artificial body. It even gave her an extraordinary range. Throughout her travels, she uses singing as a hobby, but sometimes that talent has significant use...
119	** ''The Ship Who Searched''
120	** ''The Ship Who Won''
121	** ''The City Who Fought''
122	* ''Literature/TheSpyWhoCameInFromTheCold''
123	* ''Literature/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''
124	* ''The Tiger Who Came to Tea''
125	* ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' chapters:
126	** ''The Tale of the Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail''
127	** ''The Tale of the Twins Who Weren't''.
128	* Creator/MarkTwain's ''The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg''
129	* Margaret St. Clair's ''The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes''
130	* James Tiptree Jr.'s ''The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats''
131	* Lawrence Block's ''The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep''. Also, in his Bernie Rhodenbarr series, about half of the books have titles that start with ''The Burglar Who.''
132	* ''The Tiger Who Came to Tea''
133	* Dr. S. Ralph Harlow wrote articles about alleged mediums called ''The Woman Who Could Put Objects Into Motion'' and ''The Man Who Transported Objects Through Space Without Ever Leaving the Room''.
134	* ''Women Who Run with the Wolves'', which is about the ''Wild Woman'' archetype.
135
136	[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
137	* ''{{Series/Bones}}'' had a couple rare exceptions to its “X in the Y” format that were like this. “The Bones That Blew”, “The Man Who Fell To Earth” “The Boy With The Answer” and “The Man With The Bone”.
138	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
139	** The series 6 (revival) episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E10TheGirlWhoWaited The Girl Who Waited]]". In it one of the Doctor's companions, Amy Pond, gets stuck in a different part of a hospital to the Doctor and Rory. [[spoiler:Due to time moving at different speeds in different parts of the hospital Amy has to wait a long time (from her point of view) for the Doctor to rescue her.]]
140	** Series 9 (revival) has a two-parter, both the episodes of which follow this convention. The episodes are called "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E5TheGirlWhoDied The Girl Who Died]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E6TheWomanWhoLived The Woman Who Lived]]". The title characters are [[spoiler: the same person, Ashildr — a maiden brought back from the grave by the Doctor as a functional immortal]].
141	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]
142	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' had a few episodes named in this format. For example, on television there was "Mr. Conklin Plays Detective". On the radio, the episode "Connie Tries To Forget Mr. Boynton" follows this trope.
143	* ''Series/GAROTheOneWhoShinesInTheDarkness''
144	* The ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E05TheThingThatCouldntDie The Thing That Couldn't Die]]'', which is about [[Film/TheThingThatCouldntDie the aforementioned film of the same name]].
145	* The ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' comedy sketch ''The Thing That Wouldn't Leave'', featuring Creator/JohnBelushi, Creator/BillMurray and Creator/JaneCurtin.
146
147	[[AC:{{Music\|tropes}}]]
148	* ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' and its TitleTrack by Music/DavidBowie. The song was later covered by Music/{{Nirvana}}.
149	* ''The Man Who Invented Himself'' by Robyn Hitchcock
150	* ''The Man Who Dies Every Day'' by Music/{{Ultravox}} (John Foxx era)
151	* ''The Man Who Would Not Die'', an album by Blaze Bailey, a former Music/IronMaiden vocalist.
152	* ''The Princess Who Saved Herself'' by Jonathan Coulton.
153	* ''The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati'' by Rose & the Arrangement.
154	* Partial example in ''The Man Who'', the album by Music/{{Travis}}, said to be named for ''The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat'' (see Literature)
155
156	[[AC:Poetry]]
157	* ''Matilda, Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death''
158	* ''Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably''
159
160	[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
161	* The title of the Swedish translation of Dario Fo's ''Theatre/AccidentalDeathOfAnAnarchist'' translates as ''The anarchist who was thrown out of the window by accident''.
162	* ''Theatre/TheManWhoCameToDinner''
163
164	[[AC:Video Games]]
165	* ''The Spy Who Ate Lunch''
166	* ''[[VisualNovel/YuNo YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World‎.]]''
167
168	[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
169	* Creator/ChuckJones did ''The Bear Who Wasn't'', which might've been based on a book of the same name.
170	* The [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Bugs Bunny]] cartoon ''The Wabbit Who Came To Supper.''
171	* The ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "The Spy Who Stayed In With A Cold."
172	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': "The Boy Who Would Be Queen"
173	* ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'' episode "The Bear Who Came To Dinner."
174	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': "The Spies Who Loved Me"
175	* ''WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyInThePumpkinWhoCouldntSmile''
176	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' episode "The Smurf Who Would Be King".
177	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': "The Sponge Who Could Fly"
178	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie''
179	** The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' episode "King George and the Ducky" also features a sketch titled "The Englishman Who Came Up A Hill And Came Down With All The Bananas."
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Examples That Exist In-Universe]]
183	[[AC:ComicBooks]]
184	* In MediaNotes/{{the Bronze Age\|OfComicBooks}} Creator/MarvelComics a supergroup of supervillains are called ''They Who Wield Power'', or ''They'' for short.
185
186	[[AC:{{Film}}]]
187	* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. ''The Knights Who Say "Ni"'' use the word as their greatest weapon. They later change their name to something like ''The Knights Who Say "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptangya Zoooooooom Boing Ni"'', however, King Arthur, who can't pronounce this, proceeds to call them ''Knights Who ’Til Recently Said "Ni"''. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext.
188
189	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
190	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' feature at different times the [[EldritchAbomination Outsiders]] known as "He Who Walks Behind" and "He Who Walks Before". [[spoiler: It also turns out that the entity [[GreaterScopeVillain Nemesis]] is really named "He Who Walks Beside".]]
191	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Harry is often called ''The Boy Who Lived'' as he was the only one to ever survive either the Killing Curse or Voldemort.
192	* ''{{Literature/Inheritance\|Cycle}}''. One of the titles of the king of the werecats, Grimrr Halfpaw, is ''He Who Walks Alone''. Eragon notes that it's an odd title but no explanation is given other than Saphira theorising that it's a case of ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
193	* Valar are rarely called that by name in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (in contrast to ''The Silmarillion'' where they were often referred to by either that or their individual names), instead being known as ''Those Who Dwell Across the Sea''.
194	* ''[[Literature/TheShipWho The Ship Who Sang]]''. Helva is known as ''The Ship Who Sings'' due to her reputation as a [[WetwareCPU Brainship]] with a rare talent for it. Doubles as a TitleDrop.
195	* ''The Prince Who Dreams in the Void'' is mentioned in passing in ''[[Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen Dissolution]]''.
196
197	[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
198	* ''Series/DoctorWho''. At different points the Eleventh Doctor calls Rory and Amy ''The Boy Who Waited'' and ''The Girl Who Waited'' respectively due to Amy having to wait twelve years for the Doctor to come back for her and Rory having to wait two thousand years as a Roman centurion for Amy. As noted above, ''The Girl Who Waited'' becomes the title of an episode.
199	* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'': A diplomat and a dictator are desperately searching for ''The Girl Who Lived'', the possibly mythical survivor of a massacre.
200	* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
201	** Happens a lot with stories the characters tell:
202	*** "The King Who Couldn't See So Well"
203	*** "The King Who Wasted Paper"
204	*** "The King Who Ate Only Chicken"
205	** The Franchise/JamesBond parody is called "The Spy Who Loved Cookies".
206
207	[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
208	* In ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'', Jon mentions a movie called ''The Man Who Stubbed His Toe''. Garfield says ''there's a lot of adult language in it''.
209	* ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'' is sometimes called ''The Ghost Who Walks''.
210	[[AC:VideoGames]]
211	* One intro with Kabal in ''Videogame/MortalKombat11'' has Spawn being mistaken by the former as "some kind of Japanese luchador", before the Hellspawn corrects the mercenary by calling himself "The Ghost That Goes 'Bang!' In The Night".
212
213	[[AC:Webcomics]]
214	* Parodied in ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'', in the ''[[Literature/HarryPotter Torg Potter]]'' parodies. In order to sound more ''mysteeerious'', Homnigrits is known as ''The man who goes where few fear to tread''. Places like the mall. Not many people fear to go there.
215
216	[[/folder]]
217

Context Main / TheNounWhoVerbed