Don't Call Me "Sir"!: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Peppermint Patty:''' Before we go, kid, I want to ask you something. How come you're always calling me "sir" when I keep asking you not to, huh? Don't you realize how annoying that can be?<br />

'''Marcie:''' No, ma'am!<br />

<br />

 

A character is in a position of high authority or status, and as a part of this, is owed respect and even obeisance from those considered beneath him.

This is a [[Super-Trope]] of the second variant of [[They Call Me Mister Tibbs]], where a character insists upon [[First-Name Basis]] in order to be more jovial.

 

{{examples}}

 

* Youko, the main character and eventual queen in ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'', can't stand to see her courtiers and peasantry prostrate themselves before her, partly because it offends her sense of equality and because she fears the ministers are scowling while their faces are hidden. At the end of the series, she issues a proclamation that abolishes the custom.

* In ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]'', after Reinhard and Hilde {{spoiler|[[Unequal Pairing|get married]]}}, Reinhard tells her she can stop calling him "Kaiser" like everyone else and call him [[First-Name Basis|by his first name]], with mixed results.

* The third [[Audio Adaptation|Megami Sound Stage]] reveals that Hayate has been trying to get {{spoiler|Agito}}, who recently joined her family, to call her by [[First-Name Basis|her first name]] rather than "Commander/Lieutenant Colonel [[Last-Name Basis|Yagami]]". {{spoiler|Agito}} is initially unable to do so, but eventually starts calling her "Meister Hayate."

* In ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', [[Rebellious Princess|Relena Peacecraft]] asks [[Magnificent Bitch|Dorothy Catalonia]] not to call her "Relena-sama", presumably because they're the same age (in fact, Dorothy's a year older). Dorothy keeps calling her that anyway, which seems to be [[With Due Respect|subtly mocking]].

* [[Ordinary High School Student|Yuuri]] of ''[[Kyou Kara Maou]]'' repeatedly asks characters, especially Conrad, to address him as Yuuri rather than the kingly title of 'Your Majesty'.

 

* Cyclops of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] just can't call Professor Xavier anything other than his title and surname, even when the Professor asks him to call him "Charles".

{{quote| ''BLU Engineer'': {{spoiler|Mr. Conagher}} is my father. Call me {{spoiler|Dell}}.}}

 

== Fan Fiction ==

 

* In [[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]] Dumbledore tells Harry that Headmaster is to formal he can call him 'Heh' for short. He is both surprised and pleased when when Harry does.

 

* In ''[[The American President]]'', President Andrew Shepherd tells his Chief of Staff, A.J., that he can call him by his first name when they're alone together. A.J. replies, "Whatever you say, Mister President."

* [[A New Hope|"I see, Sir Luke."]]

* In the 1986 movie ''Saving Grace'' the new Pope Leo XIV wants his closest aides to ''please'' call him something other than 'Your Holiness' all the time. Though he does say 'Your Not-So-Muchness' is "Too long."

* [[Colonel Kilgore]] in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''.

{{quote| '''Kilgore''': You can cut out the "sir" crap, Lance. I'm Bill Kilgore, I'm a [[Surfer Dude|goofy foot]].}}

* In ''Sanctuary'' (book three of the ''[[Dragon Jousters]]'' series by [[Mercedes Lackey]]), Kaleth has to scold the Tian priests at least twice for prostrating themselves to him. Not that you can really blame them, as each time Kaleth had been possessed by one of the Altan/Tian pantheon to pass messages on ....

* Played with (like everything else) in [[Discworld]], with King Verence II and Queen Magrat. Verence had been a member of the Guild of Fools and Joculators, which is firmly established as the bottom of the social ladder, and Magrat is simply "a bit wet", and most of the country (which is tiny) has known her all her life. They both hate being deferred to this way, Magrat because she feels like marrying someone she loves should have nothing to do with how people she's known forever treat her, and Verence because he feels it's inexpedient and has even gone so far as to set up a parliament. The people they rule, however, are a bit old-fashioned, and don't hold with Verence's style of ruling, since what is the point if they have to rule themselves? After all, it's "got to be done proper."

** Sam Vimes acts like a variant of this trope after being knighted - he hates being treated like a nobleman in any way, since he is disgusted by the usual behavior of Ankh-Morpork's nobles, and he also still completely feels like a 'normal' citizen.

*** Eventually he becomes comfortable enough with it that most people who don't know him call him Sir Samuel. Admittedly, he's a ''Duke'' by this point, and he objects to "your Grace".

{{quote| '''Ax:''' "... Prince Jake."<br />

'''Jake:''' "Don't call me Prince."<br />

'''Ax:''' "Yes, Prince Jake." }}

** Amusingly enough, when Ax first is getting used to living with the rest of the crew, he does this because military command and structure is drilled into the entirety of Andalite society, but as time progresses, it's hinted that he keeps doing it because he knows it annoys Jake, and finds it funny.

** Though he did a [[Face Heel Turn]] once David came on the scene.

* Sandor Clegane of ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' doesn't technically have the rank anyway, but he functions as a knight in everything but name, and as such, other knights and courtiers often address him as "ser". [[Berserk Button|He hates it]]. Direct use of the trope name occurs when Sansa makes this mistake and he snaps, "Don't call me ''ser''."

'''Driver:''' "Yes sir." }}

* [[Belgariad|Belgarion]], having been raised as a [[Farm Boy]], is naturally unnerved when he is unexpectedly named as the Rivan King and suddenly everyone is bowing to him. He gets used to it after a while.

** From ''Crown of Slaves'', {{spoiler|Berry Zilwicki, upon becoming queen of Torch}} find the formalities associated with monarchy to be tremendously awkward, and comments that she foresees establishing the most informal monarchy in history. She prefers to be on a first name basis with people, which is convenient given that many of her future subjects {{spoiler|are from the Audubon Ballroom, and thus have no last names.}}

** Jeremy also winces a bit at being addressed as "Mister X"

** Calling superior officers "Sir" is also taboo in the navy of the [[People's Republic of Tyranny|People's Republic of Haven]], particularly soon after the initial coup and purge, though for more sinister reasons. The use of such titles is considered unacceptably elitist, and the use of the kludgy "Citizen [Rank]" is prescribed instead, under threat of [[Disproportionate Retributeion|severe punishment.]] Many Havenite crews ignore this requirement, depending on the attitudes of their [[Political Officer|Citizen Commissioners]].

* Kurtz in [[Stephen King]]'s ''Dreamcatcher'' very much dislikes the word "sir." He's ruthless and rather scary (unusual for this trope) and characters avoid the word "sir" out of fear of his reaction, although because they're obviously not comfortable around him "sir"s will often slip out. "Boss" is much more effective and doesn't put you on the lunatic's bad side.

* Michael from the ''[[Knight and Rogue Series]]'' insists Fisk just call him by his name, while Fisk only refers to him as Sir or Noble Sir (though he does use Sir Michael in monologue). Michael admits to the audience that he'd be willing, at least for a while, to just settle for Sir, since Fisk means Noble Sir as an insult.

** Of course when Fisk starts calling Michael 'Mike' on occasion that isn't appreciated either.

** In ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' Snape again insists on being called 'sir' and he chastises Harry for not doing so. This leads to Harry's famous riposte 'There's no need to call me "sir", Professor.'

 

== Live-Action TV ==

 

{{quote| '''Helen''': Did you just "ma'am" me???<br />

'''Donna''': I seem to have, yes.<br />

* The Doctor on ''[[Doctor Who]]''. It's usually a sign of great distress when he doesn't mind people calling him ''sir''.

** The [[The Nth Doctor|Tenth Doctor]] also dislikes being saluted. The only reason he lets the UNIT commander of the episode do it is because they seem to get a buzz out of it.

{{quote| '''O'Brien:''' You know, I just realised, when he gets back from the academy, I'm going to have to call him 'sir'.}}

*** Which is somewhat odd, given that the novelization of the ''Deep Space Nine'' pilot explicitly mentions O'Brien being promoted to Ensign as an aspect of his transfer.

** Abby, being Abby, played with it.<ref>She is the ''only'' person in the entire show who can get away with this kind of thing and not get [[Dope Slap|Gibbs slapped]] for it.</ref>

{{quote| '''Abby:''' Yes, sir!<br />

(''amused reaction from Gibbs'') }}

** And if you call Ziva "ma'am"... whoops.

* Sandor Clegane of ''[[Game of Thrones]]'' doesn't like being called "ser". Unlike many examples, it's actually incorrect, as he is not a knight (though many assume he is, what with being the personal bodyguard of the Crown Prince). Beyond that, Sandor doesn't think much of knights - after all, [[Complete Monster|his brother]] is one.

* On ''[[CSI: NY]]'', Danny uses this to play a joke on his (unknown to them at the time of course)future wife in her first episode. On Lindsay's first day on the job, Danny tells her Mac likes to be called "sir". She proceeds to do so, and then Mac tells her not to call him "sir".

* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'': In "The Phoenix", [[Lex Luthor]] told Nigel not to call him "Sir" anymore since he no longer had a facade to keep.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Jedi Academy]]'': Kyle Katarn insists that both [[Player Character|Jaden]] and Rosh call him Kyle instead of Master, as he says that titles "make my skin crawl." Rosh tries to adapt to this and starts acting so relaxed he's soon found literally leaning on Kyle, which he doesn't appreciate either. [[Sarcasm Mode|There's just no pleasing some people.]]

** Whereas Jaden seems to have trouble calling him just Kyle right until the end of the game, which is supposed to take place over several years (however long it takes to go from being an Initiate to a Jedi Knight).

* This conversation from ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'':

{{quote| '''Clank:''' Please, return your appendages to the steering mechanism, sir.<br />

* In ''[[Mass Effect]] 2'', Kal'Reegar calls Tali "ma'am." When she tells him to call her by her name, he replies, "I'll work on that, ma'am."

** Shepard can choose to encourage this kind of mentality among the crew of the Normandy.

** He's not even comfortable with it then. It's only at the end of ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]]'' that he truly embraces the title.

* In ''[[Call of Duty]] 3'', Dixon insists on the squad not calling him Sergeant after he's promoted to the rank.

* Early on in ''[[King's Quest V]]'', [[The Scrappy|Cedric]] addresses [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|King Graham]] as "your majesty." Graham tells him to drop the "your majesty" part, as it is much too formal.

** Also, Blaze the Cat dislikes being called Highness. She tolerates "Princess Blaze".

* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]] Sergeant Dornan in ''[[Fallout 2]]'' explodes when the Chosen One addresses him as "sir."

{{quote| '''Sergeant Dornan''': "I AM NOT A SIR! I ''work'' for a living, you ''moron''!"}}

* In ''[[Tsukihime]]'', Shiki tries to get the twin [[Meido]] to stop calling him [[Japanese Honorifics|"sama"]]. Kohaku complies, Hisui doesn't.

{{quote| '''Shandris''': "I'll follow you for the rest of my life, my lady!"<br />

'''Tyrande''': "Don't call me that, I'm still Tyrande."<br />

'''Shandris''': "Yes, my lady" }}

{{quote| '''Srgt. Redford''': And cut out the "Sir, yes sir" crap! I'm a sergeant, not the goddamned President!}}

 

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[But I'm a Cat Person]]'''s Bianca doesn't like to think of her ownership of Patrick as anything but a technicality. He insists on calling her "Master" anyway.

 

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

== Western Animation ==

{{quote| '''Ratchet:''' "What's your name, soldier?<br />

'''Arcee:''' "Ar... Arcee, sir."<br />

'''Ratchet:''' "Don't call me sir. I work for a living." }}