Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / FirstPersonPerspective

Go To

1This trope applies when the story is told from "inside the head" of one person. If there is a narrative, it will be told as if that person were speaking to us. If there is a camera, it will be looking through that person's eyes. (A related perspective is third person limited, which likewise follows a single character's point of view, but views that character from outside.) It's most commonly used in literature as a narrative technique and in video games as a genre. It is noticeable and notable when it appears outside of those two areas, especially in movie and film where it's relatively rare to see anything directly from a character's perspective, rarer still for it to be maintained throughout. It was a major breakthrough in art when perspectives that no human could reasonably see started to be used in painting, such as a bird's eye view.
2
3This, especially when accompanied by first person narration, can also unintentionally function as a SpoilerOpening to audiences, who subconsciously assume (with good reason) that regardless of what happens during the story (who dies, etc.) the viewpoint character ''must'' survive the events in order to be in a position to relate the tale to the audience later.
4
5First Person stories have the advantage that it is very hard for the reader to not feel sympathetic towards the narrator.
6
7While a character being very perceptive or making good guesses is considered acceptable, one of the common mistakes people make in writing First Person is giving the reader the feeling that either the narrator is always right, psychic, or is omnipotent in some way. To involve the reader even more, the narrator can think 'at' the reader, asking rhetorical questions and making DeadpanSnarker comments.
8
9Successful First Person means the narrator is still often wrong about what is going on outside of their line of sight and knows nothing of the thoughts of others, and may even view past events in a different light. It can be hard to let the reader know that they're wrong - for example they're suspicious of somebody who is actually trustworthy.
10
11First Person can be written in the immediate PresentTense, which means that the writer must additionally be careful that the narrator does not know the future, but has the advantage of the reader not knowing if the narrator will survive the story.
12
13Sibling trope of SecondPersonNarration.
14
15!!Sub-Tropes:
16
17* TheAllConcealingI
18* AllFirstPersonNarratorsWriteLikeNovelists
19* CaptainsLog
20* CharacterNarrator
21* FirstPersonShooter
22** FirstPersonGhost
23** FreelookButton
24** UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective
25* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator
26* FirstPersonSmartass
27* POVCam
28* PrivateEyeMonologue
29
30!!Examples:
31
32[[foldercontrol]]
33
34[[folder:Audio Play ]]
35
36* The ''Series/BlakesSeven'' ''[[AudioPlay/BlakesSeven Liberator Chronicles]]'' are told in first person, backed by a second character in a supporting role.
37
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
41* Romance manga and anime like to do this sometimes. The ''One Room'' series, ''Webcomic/TawawaOnMonday'', ''Anime/TrainingWithHinako'' and ''Anime/MakuraNoDanshi'' mostly have these in conjunction with the Iyashikei genre; they're used as a tool to make the audience feel more excited and happy in the focus characters' presence.
42* Some {{Hentai}} such as ''Issho ni H Shiyo!'', ''Betsu ni Anta no Tame ni Ookiku Natta ja Nai Dakara ne!!'' and ''Tsunpri'' effectively wrote the POV part in such a way to make ''you'' have sex with Yui, Hina, Aoi, Haruka and so on and [[NoFourthWall just completely disregarded the fourth wall altogether]], as if a good [[MaleGaze look at]] [[{{Fanservice}} the characters' voluptuous bodies with nicely-shaped breasts and nipples]] [[MindScrew isn't enough]]. In other words, it is you that gets involved in the H-scenes. The FakeInteractivity was [[ExploitedTrope well-exploited]] on this one.
43** To put this in perspective (no pun intended), since they were in POV, they were quite a MindScrew to even veteran {{Hentai}} fans, as most of the genre did not put the viewer in direct sex scenes with the characters, for some fans, they would need some time to adjust to the first-person view. The audience ain't have it easy, right?
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Fan Works]]
47* ''Fanfic/IWillNotBow'', based on The ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', is told from the POV of Ren, the OriginalCharacter protagonist. Averted in the fic's sequels and rewrite, which are told in third-person.
48* ''FanFic/MyTimeOfDying'', a ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanfic ([[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10270643/1/My-Time-Of-Dying found here]]) is written from Scourge's POV, but is also strictly PresentTense. Scouge is consistently suicidal, depressed, and putting his own thoughts through the wringer. He also repeatedly snarks at the reader while mentally voicing his dislike of the more heroic characters like Sonic. The story is all the better for Scourge being written as a FirstPersonSmartass. He stays IC, keeping his bigoted opinions and suspecting the more noble characters of ulterior motives. Additionally his flawed reasoning is obvious to the reader, all keeping him from becoming a DracoInLeatherPants. He is a VillainProtagonist, but the story maintains a SympatheticPOV.
49* The 4th entry of ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'' introduces 2 OCs in the same story and is narrated in the form of diary entries of one of them.
50* ''FanFic/LupineTree'' is told from the perspective of [[PlantPerson Jack]]. Oddly, because he currently has ''[[MarionetteMaster fourteen]]'' [[HiveMind bodies]] as of chapter 11,[[note]]His tree and thirteen puppets[[/note]] he can see and narrate multiple simultaneous series of events and can see a situation from multiple angles even if the story itself sticks to strict first person.
51* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' and its [[TheVerse 'verse]] are primarily third-person, but any scenes focusing on [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] honor the style of his canon, and are told from his POV.
52* ''Fanfic/MadWorldInvaderZim'' is told entirely from Dib's POV.
53* ''Fanfic/CodeWings30'' is told in Cassidy's POV.
54* ''Fanfic/RaisinSomeHell'' is told from first-person and chapters alternate on who's perspective is focused on. For example, Chapters 1 and 3 are from Amity's perspective, Chapters 2 and 4 are from Luz's perspective, and Chapter 5 is from Eda's perspective.
55* ''Fanfic/LabRat'' is told in WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom's point of view.
56* ''Fanfic/TimeBreakSaga'': While the stories in this series are primarily written in third-person, Tager's POV chapter in the second story, ''Silver Linings'', is in first-person.
57* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'' starts out as being solely from the POV of SelfInsert character Jeremiah Cross. At the end of the Alabasta Arc, however, [[spoiler: when Cross starts the SBS broadcasts]], the story starts showing other [=POVs=] to detail how Cross' presence and the Straw Hats' actions are affecting other characters around the world. 90% of the time, though, is still from Cross' POV.
58* Barring the first chapter and the cuts to the present day, ''[[Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast Patterns of the Past]]'' is told entirely from Olesya's point of view.
59* ''Fanfic/TranscendingLegends'' is told from Rainbow’s point of view.
60* ''Fanfic/DCFanUniverse'': ''Harley Quinn'' is written from the perspective of Harley herself, narrating her story to the reader.
61
62[[/folder]]
63
64[[folder:Films -- Live-Action ]]
65* In the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' movie there's a sequence shot in first person meant to reflect its FirstPersonShooter roots.
66* In ''Film/KickAss'' when Hit-Girl rescues Kick Ass and Big Daddy from Johnny G's thugs, it's done in a FirstPersonShooter style.
67* In the original Franchise/{{Halloween}} movie the opening sequence in which a young Michael Myers spies on then murders his older sister is done from his point of view.
68%%%* ''Film/HardcoreHenry''
69* ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'': During the [[LeParkour rooftop chase]] in 1491 Granada, crossbow shots aiming at Aguilar and Maria are seen from the crossbowmen's and Ojeda's perspective as they shoot.
70* ''Film/HardcoreHenry'' is entirely done in this perspective.
71* In ''Film/DarkPassage'' the early scenes are shot from the protagonist's point of view, so his face never appears to the audience. After he undergoes plastic surgery the point of view changes and he is revealed to now look exactly like Humphrey Bogart.
72* This is a recurring element of many FoundFootageFilms, in order to have some sort of immersive approach.
73* Several segments from the french movie ''Film/TheDivingBellAndTheButterfly'' are shown from a first person perspective.
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Literature]]
77* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TrueLove": Joe, a computer program, is the one telling the story. Joe's limited senses [[JustifiedTrope justify]] the use of FeaturelessPlaneOfDisembodiedDialogue, since Joe cares more about a meeting of the minds than appearances or smells.
78* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' are fully told from the perspective of central protagonist Harry Dresden.
79* From the ''Literature/TheFurtherAdventuresOfBatman'' anthology, "Literature/SubwayJack", is written from [[SwitchingPOV several different perspectives]], including having narration from inside Gordon’s head or Batman’s case files.
80* ''Literature/MyNewKitten'': The story is told from the perspective of the owner of a new kitten.
81* ''Literature/MyStory'': Each book in the series is told from the perspective of TheProtagonist.
82* ''Literature/{{Neogicia}}'' is told from Saly Asigar's point of view.
83* The story of ''Literature/{{Piranesi}}'' is told by the eponymous character. As he's an AmnesiacHero living in an OntologicalMystery, this verges on a MindScrew for the reader, though Piranesi is open and precise about what he experiences, and everything makes sense in the end.
84* The Sega-era ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' light novels are told from Amitie's perspective.
85* ''Sarah, Plain and Tall'' is told from Anna Witting's perspective.
86* Creator/RichardLaymon's novel ''Literature/{{Savage}}'' is told from Trevor Bentley's point of view.
87* The ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' books are told entirely through Rose Hathaway's perspective.
88* Morgan Harding in ''Literature/{{ATLStoriesfromtheRetrofuture}}'' narrates the entire story.
89* ''Literature/RaceToTheSun'' is told by [[TheProtagonist Nizhoni]] herself.
90* ''Literature/StoneCold'' has two narrators; Link ([[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda no, not that one]]), a homeless teenager trying to survive on the streets, and Shelter, a [[ShellShockedVeteran Shell Shocked Veteran]] on personal mission to eradicate the homeless.
91* ''Literature/{{Indexing}}'': The story starts from Henry's point of view, with passages like:
92--> There’s no dress code in my office, not even for the field teams, since many of us have reasons to avoid the more common suits and ties. I still liked to keep things formal.
93* Most ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' books are written in third person, but ''[[Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy I, Jedi]]'' is the first (and only) book to be written entirely from the perspective of Corran Horn, as he trains at Luke's Jedi academy on Yavin IV.
94* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' is told entirely from the perspective of Katniss Everdeen.
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
98* In later seasons ''Series/Numb3rs'' used gun barrel perspective as the FBI agents performed operations intercut with more regular footage.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Web Original]]
102* ''Literature/DreamHighSchool'' is told from your character's point of view (and you are the main character). Unique in that {{Gamebooks}} are usually told with SecondPersonNarration.
103* "Literature/NothingLikeTheSun" is narrated by its main character, justifying why [[NamelessNarrative neither she nor anyone else has a name]]. Also, for reasons that are massive spoilers, the story ''requires'' first-person narration, and just would not work well in third person.
104[[/folder]]

Top