History UsefulNotes / JapanesePronouns

* Vash the Stampede of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' normally uses ''boku'' or even ''atashi'' as part of his ObfuscatingStupidity persona, but will switch to ''ore'' when he means business.

* Raleigh, a ruthless pirate with a rich upbringing, uses this pronoun in the Japanese dub of ''VideoGame/SlyCooper''.

* [[BigBad Bowser]] from the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series, in keeping with his [[AwesomeEgo brash and boastful personality]].

* The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3,'' after her defection, to symbolize how she has sacrificed her humanity in order to become a soldier.

* ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuColorfulStage'': Mizuki. Instant noodles are Kanade's TrademarkFavoriteFood, as their quick prep time and ease of consumption allow her to focus more time on composing music. The game also collaborated with Nissin for the [[MilestoneCelebration 50th anniversary]] of the Cup Noodles brand, adding five songs from famous {{Music/Vocaloid}} producers themed around Japanese Cup Noodles flavors.'' uses "boku". This is notable mostly because Mizuki has an AmbiguousGenderIdentity -- they're outwardly feminine, but their gender is officially a secret. It's all-but-stated that they are, at the least, gender non-conforming, and their use of "boku" plays a large part in their presentation.

* "Big sister"-type villagers from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' speak in the Kansai accent and thus use "uchi". They're presented as [[CuteBruiser tough]], CoolBigSis characters.

* As their name applies, "uchi" villagers from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' speak like this. They're presented as [[CuteBruiser tough]], CoolBigSis characters.

* Despite her rather blunt and somewhat tomboyish character, Marisa of ''VideoGame/TouhouProject'' series still uses ''watashi'' to describe herself, to the point that an old joke among the Japanese side of the fandom is that Marisa using something like ''ore'' is a sign of a fake or cheap imitation.

* Mizuki in ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' uses "boku". This is notable mostly because Mizuki has an AmbiguousGenderIdentity -- they're outwardly feminine, but their gender is officially a secret. It's all-but-stated that they are, at the least, gender non-conforming, and their use of "boku" plays a large part in their presentation.

* Several charaters in ''Franchise/AceAttorney''

:''Ore-[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics sama]]'': 俺様 "My magnificent self," perhaps, or "my most esteemed highness." Attaching an honorific that indicates great respect to the most macho of first-person pronouns makes it a highly emphatic, arrogant and presumptuous version of ''ore''. Used either tongue-in-cheek, or [[SmugSnake by the]] [[{{Narcissist}} most smug of men]].

:''Ore-[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics sama]]'': 俺様 "My magnificent self," perhaps, or "my most serene highness." Attaching an honorific that indicates great respect to the most macho of first-person pronouns makes it a highly emphatic, arrogant and presumptuous version of ''ore''. Used either tongue-in-cheek, or [[SmugSnake by the]] [[{{Narcissist}} most smug of men]].

* Asuka Kazama in {{Tekken}} initially went by "atashi" in her debut in Tekken 5 but she later switched to "uchi". Given that she is from Osaka, this is more appropriate.

:''Wagahai'': 吾輩 / 我が輩 "my class, one of my standing". Every bit as arrogant and presumptuous as ''ore-sama'', with the added benefit of being quite archaic (it incorporates the possessive form of ''ware''). Note that 50% of the time you see this, it's an allusion to ''Wagahai wa Neko de aru'' (''Literature/IAmACat''), a well-known Japanese satirical novel.

* Both Akatsuki and Murakumo from ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'' use this one in their winning quotes since both of them are OlderThanTheyLook [[spoiler: and Murakumo is the BigBad with quite the AGodAmI complex]]
* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'''s Arakune, likely a sign of his ego beneath all of his insanity (before that, he actually uses "boku").

* Cranky villagers from ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' use "ore". They're implied to be the oldest villagers and [[GrumpyOldMan act the meanest]].

* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'': Ragna, the main protagonist, uses "ore" to refer to himself, and "temee" to call everyone else (though he sometimes uses "omae" or "anta" instead). It reflects his rough, mean personality.
* [[TheLadette Kuukaku Shiba]] in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. Stern Ritter Liltotto is an "ore-onna", made ever stranger by the fact she looks like a little girl.

* Lelouch in ''Anime/CodeGeass''. He switches to 'watashi' for his Zero persona to avoid identifying himself as a male teenager. As a child, though, he used ''boku'', in contrast to Suzaku, who used ''ore'' as a child and ''boku'' as a grown-up.
* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/TheCupheadShow'' uses "ore", showing his [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling carefree, easygoing and fun-loving]] personality compared to his brother Mugman, who uses "boku".

* ''Literature/DateALive'': Shido uses this, which was a bit of an issue when he was DraggedIntoDrag to get close to [[DoesNotLikeMen Miku]] and kept forgetting to use "watashi", though he just keeps using it when she doesn't dwell on it. Conversely, Tohka normally uses "watashi" but switched to "ore" while trying to pass herself off as a boy to stick with Shido on a field trip.

*** Used most often and with much emphasis by [[DudeLooksLikeALady Tieria Erde]] in , likely as a counter to his feminine appearance, as during a HeroicBSOD, he interestingly cycles through pronouns, saying "Ore wa...boku wa...watashi wa...". In fact, his pronoun usage seems to generally depend on his mental state: although he usually uses "ore", he has been known to slip into "boku" or "watashi" during moments of extreme emotional distress or while having an identity crisis.
*** Setsuna F. Seiei. After all, he often phrases [[CatchPhrase "Ore(-tachi) wa Gundam!"]]

** Hungary ''used'' to refer to herself as "ore" in her younger years... when she [[{{Bokukko}} thought she would grow up into a man]]. As she grew up, she switched to "watashi".

* Upon their first meeting in ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'', Hikaru uses ''ore'' while Akira uses ''boku''. Hikaru is a much rougher, normal boy from the lower/middle classes, while Akira is much more formal and polite
* Miroku in ''Manga/InuYasha'' mostly uses "watashi," but slips into "ore" and correspondingly rougher speech when he loses his temper - most noticeably when a catfish youkai tries to claim Sango as his concubine and Miroku announces that he will not overlook someone else "getting funny with my woman (ore no onna)". Inuyasha himself uses "ore" all the time. Jakotsu uses this and speaks in a rude masculine Japanese...[[CreepyCrossdresser suprisingly enough.]]

** Ayumu decides to turn his life around and announces symbolically "Goodbye, old "boku". Hello, new "ore"." Of course, being the ButtMonkey, it's not long before he's forced to welcome back his old boku...
** A rare female example: Yuki also refers to herself using "Ore."

** Thoma Avenir uses "ore" in contrast to most other male characters, like Erio, Yuuno and Chrono ("boku") and Zafira ("watashi").
** Zest Grangaitz and Regius Gaiz from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' use "ore".

* All four family members of the other Minami family from ''Manga/MinamiKe'' use "ore", even the [[{{Bifauxnen}} sister]], Touma.
** Hosaka, Fujioka and Makoto also use "ore". The latter uses it even when he's in his alter ego, [[DisguisedInDrag Mako-chan]].
* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': Sherlock and Moran both use "ore" to refer to themselves, reflecting their rough speech patterns (Cockney, in Sherlock's case) and brash, arrogant personalities.

* Takeo from ''Manga/MyLoveStory'' is a teenage boy who uses "ore". The name for the manga is "Ore Monogatari". Takeo's a FriendToAllLivingThings but is very masculine.

* Many of the males in ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' use "boku", however Ririka's childhood friend Seiya uses "ore". He isn't {{bishonen}} like many of the other boys and is headstrong.

** Sogeking uses "watashi", but the lyrics of this ImageSong have "ore".
** One [[OurGiantsAreBigger giant]] named Oimo uses "oi", so when he wants to say "me too", it comes out as "oi mo", like his name.

* In ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', after it is discovered that the androgynous Haruhi Fujioka, who'd just been pressganged into working for the host club, is actually a girl, she briefly proposes using "ore" on herself, only for Tamaki, her eventual love interest, to be scandalized.

* The majority of male members of the Phantom Thieves of Heart from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' uses ''ore'' as their pronoun, except Morgana who used ''Wagahai'' and Goro Akechi who used ''Boku''. In [[Anime/Persona5TheAnimation animated adaptation]], however, Akechi could be heard using ''Ore'' in only one occasion. [[spoiler:Nonetheless, after Akechi is revealed as the traitor, he fully used ''Ore'' when he confronted the thieves in Shido's Palace.]]

** Satoshi (Ash) from ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' uses "ore", which sometimes clashes with his polite speech patterns.

* Sailor Star Fighter/Kou Seiya in ''Franchise/SailorMoon''; this character is male (physically in the [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], just cross-dressing in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]]) in civilian form, but still uses "ore" as a Sailor Senshi.

* Yuzuru Nishimiya in ''Anime/ASilentVoice'' is quite a complete tomboy: dresses like a boy, acts like one and talks like one too. Her preferred pronoun is ''ore''. Apparently she's so convincing that she can pull off being her sister's "boyfriend", a front she puts up to protect her from the former bully that is our protagonist Nishida. However, she used to be quite girly (see Atashi Examples).

* Several characters in ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'' use ore, the main character included. Arawn also uses ore-sama a few times and the formal watashi when [[spoiler:he temporarily reverts himself to his angelic form.]]

* Ryuunosuke Fujinami from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' [[{{Bifauxnen}} sometimes has to remind people]] "Ore wa onna da!" ("I'm a woman!")

* Yamada and Miyamura from ''Manga/YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches'' both use this pronoun to highlight their brash and confident personalities. A noteworthy distinction is that Yamada is generally more likely to leave out first-person pronouns and only uses "ore" when it's necessary to a given context, while Miyamura uses "ore" constantly, almost to the point of a VerbalTic. When Yamada uses "ore", it's written in regular kanji, but when Miyamura uses it, it's written in katakana, probably to emphasize his love for the word.
* Hazuki in the manga version of ''VisualNovel/YamiToBoushiToHonNoTabibito'' uses "ore" while in the anime she uses "boku" instead.

** The {{youkai}} Venoct from ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' uses "ore" in the first game however he switches to "watashi" in the second game.
** Boyish KidHero Keita (Nate) uses "ore" in the Japanese version of the games and [[Anime/YokaiWatch anime]].

** Most of the boys use "ore". The exception is Shun, who is InTouchWithHisFeminineSide and uses a boyish "boku".
** The boys meet a kindergarten boy named Ken who uses "ore" despite his young age. He's very boisterous and aggressive.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Darth Vader, old Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda in Japanese also speaks in that way. Sorta justfied, since many of their respective Japanese [=VAs=] who dubbed them are old men themselves, through Darth Vader now uses "Watashi" instead since 2016, since his previous voice actor, Creator/ToruOhira, passed away, and his new official voice actor, Creator/TaitenKusunoki, is much younger.

* And who could forget Asuka's infamous "ANTA BAKA?!" toward Shinji Ikari from Anime/{{Evangelion}}''?