Illeism

Illeism is the act of referring to oneself in the third person instead of the more appropriate first person.

Illeism is sometimes used in literature as a stylistic device. In real life usage, illeism can reflect a number of different stylistic intentions or involuntary circumstances.

In literature

Early literature such as Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico or Xenophon's Anabasis, both ostensibly non-fictional accounts of wars led by their authors, used illeism to impart an air of objective impartiality to the account, which included justifications of the author's actions. In this way personal bias is presented, albeit dishonestly, as objectivity.

Illeism can also be used in literature to provide a twist, wherein the identity of the narrator as also being the main character is hidden from the reader until later in the story (e.g. one Arsène Lupin story where the narrator is Arsène Lupin but hides his own identity); the use of third person implies external observation. A similar use is when the author injects himself into his own third-person-narrative story as a character, such as Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation, Douglas Coupland in JPod, and commonly done by Clive Cussler in his novels, beginning with Dragon. (There are also novels in which illeism may have been committed, but are not explicit, such the Traveller in H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, the identity of whom is often presumed to be Wells himself, as portrayed in the 1979 film Time After Time.)

It can also be used as a device to illustrate the feeling of "being outside one's body and watching things happen", a psychological disconnect resulting from dissonance either from trauma such as childhood physical or sexual abuse, or from psychotic episodes of actions that can't be reconciled with the individual's own self-image.

The same kind of objective distance can be employed for other purposes. Theologian Richard B. Hays writes an essay where he challenges earlier findings that he disagrees with. These were the findings of one Richard B. Hays, and the newer essay treats the earlier work and earlier author at arms' length.

A common device in science fiction is for robots, computers, and other artificial life to refer to themselves in the third person, e.g. "This unit is malfunctioning" or "Number Five is alive" (famously said by Johnny Five in Short Circuit), to suggest that these creatures are not truly self-aware, or else that they separate their consciousness from their physical form.

Illeism is also a device used to show idiocy, such as the character Mongo in Blazing Saddles, e.g. "Mongo like candy" and "Mongo only pawn in game of life."

In everyday speech

Illeism in everyday speech can have a variety of intentions depending on context. One common usage is to impart humility, a common practice in feudal societies and other societies where honorifics are important to observe ("Your servant awaits your orders"), as well as in master-slave relationships ("This slave needs to be punished"). Recruits in the military are also often made to refer to themselves in the third-person, such as "This soldier" or "This recruit," in order to reduce the sense of individuality and enforce the idea of the group being more important than the self. The use of illeism in this context imparts a sense of lack of self, implying a diminished importance of the speaker in relation to the addressee or to a larger whole.

Conversely, in different contexts, illeism can be used to reinforce self-promotion, as used to sometimes comic effect by Bob Dole throughout his political career. This was particularly made notable during the United States presidential election, 1996 and lampooned broadly in popular media for years afterwards.

Similarly illeism is used with an air of grandeur, to give the speaker lofty airs. Idiosyncratic and conceited people are known to either use or are lampooned as using illeism to puff themselves up or illustrate their egoism. The artist Salvador Dalí used illeism throughout his interview with 60 Minutes's Mike Wallace, punctuating it with "Dalí is immortal and will not die," although this may have been a reference to the legacy of his art rather than his actual self. The wrestler The Rock was notorious for this, mainly to enhance his persona to a superhuman level.

An increasingly common use of illeism in common speech is as sarcasm, used when a person is being spoken about by other people present as if he weren't there. For example, Alice and Bob having a conversation about Carol: "Did you hear about Carol?" to which Carol interrupts with "Carol can hear you, you know."

Young children in Japan commonly refer to themselves by their own name (a habit probably picked from their elders who would normally refer to them by name, this is due to the normal Japanese way of speaking where referring to another in the third person is considered more polite rather than using the Japanese words for "you", like Omae) though as the children grow older they normally switch over to using first person references. Japanese Idols also may refer to themselves as so to give of the feeling of childlike cuteness.

Notable uses

Real people

• LeBron James made several references to himself in the third person during his highly publicized "The Decision" program on ESPN.
• Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico presents the author's exploits in the Gallic War in the third person.
• Conan O'Brien often does it as a joke, much in the sarcastic or self-deprecating sense
• Salvador Dalí in his 60 Minutes interview
• Bob Dole especially during the 1996 presidential election
• Rickey Henderson occasionally spoke in third person.
• Karl Malone
• Norman Mailer's The Fight, refers to the author in the third person throughout The Fight, explaining why he has chosen to do so at the beginning of the book.
• Diego Maradona
• Pelé
• Charles de Gaulle
• WWE legend The Rock during his wrestling career, particularly with the catchphrases "The Rock says" & "Do you smell what The Rock is cookin'?"
• Paulo Maluf
• Anthony Garotinho
• Flavor Flav, particularly in the Public Enemy track "Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man", e.g.: "Flavor Flav is the sun, Public Enemy number one"
• Billy Davies, football manager, currently of Nottingham Forest, formerly of Derby County and Preston North End.
• Gregg Easterbrook, sports journalist, refers to himself as "TMQ" throughout his weekly Tuesday Morning Quarterback column.
• Chad Kroeger, lead singer of Nickelback, is known by referring to himself as "Chad" in concerts.
• Henry Adams, historian, author and descendant of presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, throughout his autobiography The Education of Henry Adams
• Cam Newton, quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, referred to himself in third person on at least two occasions during his press conference at the NFL Combine
• Amir Khan, boxer
• Herman Cain, US presidential candidate

Fictional people

• Tarzan sometimes refers to himself in the third person, due to his lack of English knowledge.
• George of the Jungle refers to himself in the third person for the same reason.
• Patrick Bateman, in American Psycho refers to himself in the third person near the end of the novel, as his depersonalization is at its peak.
• Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid sometimes refers to himself as "Miyagi".
• Kimi Todo from Fruits Basket, who has apparently been using illeism since middle school.
• Nodame from Nodame Cantabile: it indicates her eccentric, free-spirit personality.
• Yuiko Hawatari from Loveless (manga), until she is taught to use the first person.
• Gregory from The Tale Of Despereaux
• Elmo from Sesame Street, whose speech is intended to mimic the speech of preschoolers.
• Cerebus the Aardvark
• Dracula from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
• Duffman, Gil, Groundskeeper Willie and Disco Stu from The Simpsons
• Scruffy the janitor in Futurama
• Foxxy Love of the animated series Drawn Together frequently refers to herself in the third person.
• Faustus from Marlowe's Play Doctor Faustus.
• The Hulk, in well-known phrases such as "Hulk smash!"
• Lunker, a character from the Retail comic strip
• Russell Northrop from the video game Bully, with phrases such as "Russell smash!", likely a reference to The Hulk.
• Golden Sparrow from The Forbidden Kingdom always refers to herself as "she" up until her last words.
• The supervillain Dr. Doom is famous for almost always referring to himself in the third person (one of the few exceptions being when he introduces himself with the line "I am Doom.") This trait has been mocked by superheroes such as the Human Torch and Spider-Man.
• House-elves in the Harry Potter books, particularly Dobby, who also usually refers to Harry in the third person when speaking to him.
• Rolf from Ed, Edd n Eddy, perhaps due to a lack of English knowledge.
• Numbuh Five from Codename: Kids Next Door, an American animated children's cartoon, refers to herself in the third person on multiple occasions.
• Jeff Bridges's character in the movie The Big Lebowski, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, refers to himself as "The Dude", such as in the popular final line "The Dude abides".
• Fictional columnist Smoove B from The Onion refers to himself in the third person and sometimes turns his name into a verb to inform women that they will be "Smooved."
• Jimmy from "The Jimmy" episode of Seinfeld, whose use leads to confusion about his identity. The usage rubs off on George Constanza, who exclaims "George is getting upset!"
• Gollum from The Lord of the Rings
• Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario
• Fawful, a reoccurring antagonist in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga and its sequels, refers to himself in the third person frequently. This is a part of a larger speech impediment he has.
• Mordac, a character from the Dilbert comic strip
• Hesh, a character from Sealab 2021
• Hercule Poirot, at least in the contemporary television adaptations Agatha Christie's Poirot
• Kenny Powers, from the television show Eastbound & Down
• Waspinator, from Beast Wars, always refers to himself in the third person.
• Petrie from The Land Before Time occasionally refers to himself in the third person.
• The Flea from Mucha Lucha.
• Candice from Pokémon. This is actually a translation error, as referring to yourself by name instead of pronoun is seen as "feminine" in the Japanese language, and is fairly common.
• Gambit (Remy LeBeau) from the X-Men
• Eddie Alvarez from The Unusuals
• Misa Amane from Death Note (omitted or reduced in some localizations)
• Grimlock in the various incarnations of Transformers
• Coldygury from Noonbory and the Super 7
• Subaru Kujo, a gender-ambiguous character from Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love
• The Phantom of the Opera refers to himself in third person in the original novel.
• Rath, a transformation of Ben Tennyson from the Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien series often refers to himself in the third person, but not all the time.
• Ed from Cowboy Bebop frequently refers to herself in the third person.
• The Boulder from Avatar: The Last Airbender, the character being based on aforementioned real-life pro-wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
• Lord Voldemort of the Harry Potter series of books, as a means of showing his narcissism and sociopathic tendencies.
• Doctor Suchong from the game Bioshock frequently refers to himself as Suchong.
• Bomber Busbridge from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
• Sayuri Kurata from Kanon speaks this way in order to separate herself from her past treatment of her little brother, which she regrets.
• Rena Ryuguu from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, partly to stop people from using her real name (Reina).
• Hana-chan, from Ojamajo Doremi, refers to herself in the third person, even saying "chan" along with her name.
• Denny Crane, played by William Shatner on Boston Legal
• Nooby, the least intelligent pygmy in Pocket God Comics
• Jocktopus, from the children's television series, Fish Hooks
• PallaPalla, from Sailor Moon
• Alien Pegassa from Ultra Seven
• Drum from the Cebeebies program ZingZillas
• Francesco Bernoulli from the movie Cars 2
• Joey from the cartoon The Penguins of Madagascar
• The Great and Powerful Trixie from the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
• Nooby, from the video game Pocket God and its comic series of the same name.
• Dr. John Faustus from Christopher Marlowe's play The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus
• Starchy, from Adventure Time