Quotes / Establishing Character Moment

Kamina: (draws a sword against a Gunman) HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY! Listen you-
(Gunman attacks, but Simon pulls Kamina out of the way in time)
Simon: What the hell are you doing?!
Kamina: Establishing that I'm the badass leader, duh.

— Gurren Lagann The Satire

"A toast establishing me as the wealthy, successful protagonist, who is handsome."

— Wealthy, Successful Protagonist (Who Is Handsome), A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever

"Sometimes, when you meet a new operative, it's a good idea to open with an aggressive move. You learn about people when you make them play defense: their reflexes, weaknesses, how they handle themselves under pressure. And even if they are able to counter, it never hurts to know how far they're willing to go."

— Michael Westen, Burn Notice

"Jedi. You are surrounded. Your army is decimated. Make peace with the Force now, for this is your final hour. But know that I, General Grievous, am not completely without mercy: I will grant you a warrior's death. Prepare."

— General Grievous, Star Wars: Clone Wars

The reader also knows everyone poos. But if the first thing a character does is poo in front of the reader, the reader will think of them as the Pooing Character forevermore.

—How NOT to Write a Novel

Korra: I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it!

(Korra proceeds to bend three elements)

— Korra, The Legend of Korra, "Welcome to Republic City"

"HEY! NO RESETTIN'! YOU HEAR ME?! Huh? You sayin' you never reset nothin'? Oh, well, uh.... Guess we ain't got a problem then. So, lemme introduce myself. Name's Resetti. Mr. Resetti. On behalf of the family, I'd like to show youse.... I mean show YOU, uh.... Uh, show you.... Aw, forget it! How's a mole supposed to remember this garbage? HUH? Let's cut to the chase. Ever hear of Animal Crossing? Yeah? Well, that's where I'm from. I'm the guy who stops cheaters from cheatin'. The no-resettin' policy enforcer, ya follow? Ya break the rules, ya gotta deal with the mole in charge here. I'm like the....how you say.... conscience of Animal Crossing. And, uh, I ain't one to toot my own horn or nothin', but I'm a big deal. I'm the most popular— What's that? You ain't got time for this? You wanna know what it is I'm doin' here? You ain't heard a word I said, that it? You got potatoes in your ears, punk? HUH? This is Super Smash somethin' or other, ain't it? Yeah? Then quit complainin'. I'm SUPPOSED to be here. I'm the star of the show, twerp! Huh? What's that? I'm in the way? Ya can't see the screen? KEEP CRYIN', PUNK! I got a little news for ya! It don't matter if you're resettin' anything, OK? I'm gonna be poppin' up now an' again, so you'd better be ready for your daily dose of mole! It ain't like this is all earthworms and mudbaths for me, pal. I'm just followin' orders. We clear? SCRAM!"

— Mr. Resetti, Super Smash Bros. Brawl

[The basketball scene] tells you everything you need to know about these people. Jubilee’s a teenager and cooler than a polar bear’s toe nails. Gambit’s a rogue, and Rogue is totally into it, but too smart to fall for him. Rogue herself is a straight-shooter, but not to the point that she’s a stick in the mud. Wolverine might not be as flashy as the others, but that’s just because he is apparently better than everyone at everything, including being too modest to admit how good he actually is.

— "Chris Sims Is Wrong About Jim Lee’s X-Men"

John Van Dyke: The first commandment says "Honor thy father".
Toby Ziegler: [Curtly] No it doesn't.
Josh Lyman: Toby—
Toby Ziegler: It doesn't!
Josh Lyman: Listen—
Toby Ziegler: No! If I'm gonna make you sit through this preposterous exercise, we're gonna get the names of the damn commandments right! "Honor thy father" is the third commandment!
John Van Dyke: Then what's the first commandment?!
President Bartlet: [Walking into the room] I am the Lord Thy God; thou shalt have no other God before me. Boy, those were the days, huh?

—The West Wing, "Pilot"

The Ninth Doctor: Do you know like we were saying, about the earth revolving? It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it...[the Doctor takes Rose's hand]...the turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world. And, if we let go...[He releases her hand]...that's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home.

—Doctor Who, "Rose".

Hi kids, do you like violence?

—Eminem, "My Name Is..."

OGiNiM: HaLlO, MiJnHeEr! HoE GaT DaN MeT U? SoRrY, I’m StIlL LeArNiNg DuTcH AnD I’m PrObAbLy BuTcHeRiNg YoUr LaNgUaGe...

(sometime later)

OGiNiM: Oh! By ThE WaY, HyDrO ToLd Me ThE NeWs. 100,000 SuBsCrIbErS?! ThAt’S InCrEdIBlE! CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS! HaVe YoU GoTtEn ThE LiTtLe SiLvEr ThInGy YeT? I’m DyInG To SeE It!

HyDrO: are you late or something? he showed the plaque at the very beginning of the stream

 ...

 oh by the way sir congratulations

— The first appearances of OGiNiM and HyDrO, Pokémon × Nimja: Play the Game

This is the penal unit. I decide when you die.

— AWACS Bandog, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Mission 5: "444"

Sorry but I’m gonna eat while I work. My judgement goes fuzzy whenever I get too hungry.

— AWACS Long Caster, Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Mission 11: "Fleet Destruction"

Torres: The damn bastard ruined it!

Alicorn CDO: Sir?

Torres: Don't you see? He walked all over it with his dirty boots! Over the crisp, white sheets of my bed that I had just made!

— Mattias Torres showing that he has a few screws loose in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, SP Mission 1: "Unexpected Visitor"

The year I turned 26, as the head of my own brokerage firm, I made $49 million, which really pissed me off because it was three shy of a million a week.

— Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street

Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for ya, but it ain't gonna be easy... Bad fish. It's not like going down to pond chasin' blue gills or tommy cots. This shark - swallow ya hole. L'il shakin', l'il tenderizin', down ya go. Now we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back the tourists, that'll put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant! I value my neck a lot more than 3000 bucks chief! I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him... and kill him... for ten! Now you gotta make up your minds. Gonna stay alive and ante up? Or ya wanna play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers; I don't want no mates. There's too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.

— Captain Sam Quint, Jaws

"Ever since I was a kid, Shanks would tell me stories about pirates and their adventures. So, yeah, the sea's been calling. Well, not exactly calling, because I pretty much can't swim, but you get the idea. I'm setting out to follow my dream, to find the One Piece and become... KING OF THE PIRATES! All I need is a loyal crew. I think about ten men should do. Well, ten men and a bird. It's not gonna be easy. The ocean is... is pretty big and kind of dangerous. So what do you say? Are you with me?"

— Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece (2023)

"Ah, there you are. First, let me say how sorry I am that we're meeting in such awful circumstances. I was a great admirer of....Benjamin? Wait, no... Bernard! You may not know this, but we were actually good friends. That's why it's going to be such an honour to continue his life's work of letting people pay me to see animals. I can see you're still sad, though. Perhaps this will lift your spirits - I'm making you senior zoo manager! it's a position of great responsibility! Although the same wages. I've also bought a new zoo which you're going to be in charge of. It's.... a bit of a fixer-upper, but it's nothing you can't handle. All you have to do is make the animals happy, get those annoying protestors to leave, expand the zoo a skosh, adopt a grizzly bear and a Siberian tiger ^note  The zoo in question is in Greece, a hot climate. , make sure the zoo is extremely profitable and then just pass a teeny tiny little inspection. Trust me - you'll have more spare time than you know what to do with! Oh, and also you have to research some bears or something. I forgot the details."

—Dominic Myers, Planet Zoo

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