History UsefulNotes / JapaneseHonorifics

The following is the set of honorifics used to address or refer to family members. These are used as a both a term of address as well as a term of reference (i.e. when you are talking about the person in question), though note that there is a specific set of terms used to refer to one's own family members. These can be used standalone or attached to names (except for ''Otoosan / Okaasan'', see below). The "O" at the beginning is called a beautifying prefix, used to honor the addressee, and can be dropped off if the speaker wish so or if the honorific is used as a suffix to names.

* In ''Manga/ErikaChange'', Erika, [[ForWantOfANail who transfers to Oarai in this doujin]], generally doesn't use honorifics on her teammates, due to being significantly less polite than Miho. She does, however, seem to respect Hana enough to use "-san" on her.

** Shouto Todoroki notably uses a more old fashioned and formal address for Endeavor, using "Oyagi" instead of one of the more friendly or affectionate ones, or even the more formal "Otoosan", suiting their strained relationship and Endeavor's stern demeanor.

*** Characters address the player with different honorifics based on their personality and roles. Heroes who are more informal or think the player is beneath them use yobisute, polite Heroes use "-sa
n" and exceptionally polite ones will use "-sama."

*** Rhea, as Archbishop of the Church of Seiros, is addressed as "-sama" by most characters("Lady Rhea" in the localization), with some exceptions. Shamir, who's blunt and informal, uses yobisute on Rhea, who doesn't seem to mind even though Catherine calls Shamir out on it in their supports. Seteth drops titles with Rhea in private given their long history. Edelgard normally addresses Rhea with respect, [[spoiler:but stops after she declares war on the Church of Seiros]]. Byleth also uses yobisute on Rhea when they're paired for a duo unit in Heroes, but in English, Byleth instead calls her "Lady Rhea."

*** Yunaka, a bubbly GenkiGirl [[spoiler:who actually happens to be a former assassin who's trying to put her old life behind her]], uses "-shi" on other characters for unspecified reasons.

*** Characters address the player with different honorifics based on their personality and roles. Heroes who are more informal or think the player is beneath them use yobisute, polite Heroes use "-san" and exceptionally polite ones will use "-sama."

* The English translations of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series used honorifics inconsistently. This is largely reflected in Goro Majima, who refers to protagonist Kazuma Kiryu with the affectionate "Kiryu-chan". In the first game's English Dub, Majima calls him "Kazuma-chan", while later games translate Majima's pet name as "Kazzy". ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza 0}}'' features honorifics in its English subs [[spoiler:along with the first instance of "Kiryu-chan" appearing in an English script]]. It is left ambiguous if Majima referring to Kiryu as Kiryu-chan is an instance of InsultOfEndearment, TermsOfEndangerment or [[AmbiguouslyBi if Majima is genuinely flirting with Kiryu.]]

** While Aoi and Ema are close enough to call each other "Ema" and "Oi-chan," at work, Aoi refers to Ema as "Yasuhara-san" when speaking with coworkers, just like how she calls virtually everyone else by their last name and "-san" (even Tarou, whom the majority of the office calls by his first name without honorifics out of disrespect). When speaking with Segawa(a freelance animator who works for [=MusAni=], Aoi simply calls Ema "Yasuhara," since it wouldn't be appropriate to use an honorific in that situation.

** Junko's the most formal of the zombies, using "-san" on all the others's surnames. This continues even after Episode 10, when she starts calling Sakura by her first name.

* This is even worse in the Japanese dub of ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'' and for a good reason, at least regarding the way how Dracula's minions address him: Almost all Dracula's followers address him in the same way as he is normally addressed in English, in this case, being named by his name exclusively without honorifics, or just being named "Count" (Hanshaku). This is especially relevant here, as in almost all the games of the franchise with Japanese voice acting, Dracula is ''always'' addressed as either "Count Dracula" or "Lord Dracula" (Dracula-sama), but this is not the case here, except in a few episodes, when Isaac did used "Dracula-sama", but not consistently. It's very likely the reduced use of honorifics was done for avoiding LipLock.

** Mai uses appropriate honorifics on most people, but forgoes them with Mikoto and Natsuki, who become her closest friends; her younger brother Takumi; and Yuuichi, whom she eventually falls in llove with.

*** Aizawa and Present Mic are the same way as well, just with last names instead of first. They’ve been best friends since they went to U.A. as teens.

** Shouto Todoroki notably uses a more old fashioned and formal address for Endeavor, using “Oyagi” instead of one of the more friendly or affectionate ones, suiting their strained relationship and Endeavor’s stern demeanor.

* In ''Anime/MyHime'', [[SweetPollyOliver Akira]] is still called "-kun" even after being revealed as a girl. Natsuki is also the only person Shizuru does not use honorifics on, which is a sign of their closeness.

* ''Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita'' is about two long-time female friends who agree to try out "marriage" together. Ruriko is so polite that she uses "-san" on her "wife" Kurumi(who uses yobisute on Ruriko), so as a result, Kurumi is somewhat shocked when she meets Rio, a newer friend of Ruriko's, whom Ruriko addresses with yobisute. A few chapters later, Kurumi suggests that Ruriko try dropping the "-san" from her name, and Ruriko almost succeeds, but adds it at the last second.

** Long-time best friends Mirio Togata and Tamaki Amajiki use first names without honorifics on each other. Their bosses, the heroes Sir Nighteye and Fat Gum, respectively, also refer to them the same way. *** Aizawa and Present Mic are the same way as well, just with last names instead of first. They’ve been best friends since they went to U.A. as teens.

** Long-time best friends Mirio Togata and Tamaki Amajiki use first names without honorifics on each other. Their bosses, the heroes Sir Nighteye and Fat Gum, respectively, also refer to them the same way.

** Midoriya is generally polite, using "-kun" on boys, "-san" on girls and adults, and "-sensei" on teachers. He does refer to Bakugo, his ChildhoodFriend of sorts as "[[AffectionateNickname Kacchan]]", uses "-chan" on Eri, a young girl. He forgoes honorifics on villains, since even [[NiceGuy Midoriya]] doesn't see the need to be polite to them.

** Hayasaka always calls Kaguya "Kaguya-sama" since -[[HeterosexualLifePartners despite how close the two are]]- they are technically master and servant. [[spoiler:She ends up dropping honorifics altogether when she retires as Kaguya's maid, since she's now free to address her surrogate sister with the appropriate level of closeness.]]

* Konata from ''Manga/LuckyStar'' at one point wonders why Kagami doesn't have a "-chan" nickname like Tsukasa ("Tsuka-chan"), Miyuki ("Yuki-chan") or Konata herself ("Kona-chan"), even though she often calls her "Kagamin". Then Kagami asks Konata to call her "Kagami-sama". Konata, [[TheGadfly of course]], acknowledges. Then Kagami feels it's really awkward and tells her to drop it. Quite unusually, the English dub actually retains the honorifics.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', characters address the player with different honorifics based on their personality and roles. Heroes who are more informal or think the player is beneath them use yobisute, polite Heroes use "-san" and exceptionally polite ones will use "-sama."

** Athena, who is quite a polite speaker compared to others, calls Kyo "Kyo-san" since he's older than her and one of the strongest fighters around. Actually she tends to use "-san" on almost everyone (Iori, Kim, Terry, etc.); the closest to exceptions are Bao, Momoko and Kensou, who get ''yobisute'' from her.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'',characters address the player with different honorifics based on their personality and roles. Heroes who are more informal or think the player is beneath them use yobisute, polite Heroes use "-san" and exceptionally polite ones will use "-sama."

** Most characters forgo honorifics on [[RobotGirl Aigis]], except for Ken (who uses -san on everyone as a sign of respect for them being older) and a few characters who don't know that she's a robot.
** In Persona 3 Portable, Hidetoshi uses "-kun" on both male and female protagonists, but switches to "-san" for the female protagonist later on, as a sign of respect and love for her.
** Similar to Junpei's example, IdolSinger Rise Kujikawa in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is known by her stage name as "Risechi" in the Japanese version, and "Risette" in the English version, the latter of which is a pun on "Reset."

** Vergo insists that Law address him using the "-san" honorific, and [[BeatStillMyHeart crushes his heart]] when he [[BerserButton doesn't]]. Law eventually does use the honorific... right before he [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe cuts Vergo in half]] and leaves him to die in a building that's about to explode.