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| 2 | %% Do not add examples of second-person narration for tabletop gaming, Choose Your Own Adventure stories, or interactive fiction unless the work plays with, subverts, or averts it somehow. |
| 3 | %% Second-person narration is an OmnipresentTrope in those works, and only non-straight examples of second-person narration should be listed. |
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| 7 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 11 | %% Image selected per crowner in the Image Suggestion thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=wua507lj |
| 12 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700 |
| 13 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 15 | |
| 16 | [[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/still_you.jpg]]]] |
| 17 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/{{Deltarune}} (It's what they call "you.")]]]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ->''And you rage and scream and reach through the Force to crush the shadow who has destroyed you, but you are so far less now than what you were, you are more than half machine, you are like a painter who has gone blind, a composer gone deaf, you can remember where the power was but the power you can touch is only a memory, and so with all your world-destroying fury it is only droids around you that implode, and equipment, and the table on which you were strapped shatters, and in the end, you cannot touch the shadow.'' |
| 20 | ->''In the end, you do not even want to. In the end, the shadow is all you have left. Because the shadow understands you, the shadow forgives you, the shadow gathers you unto itself—and within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame.'' |
| 21 | ->''This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, forever.'' |
| 22 | -->-- ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Most of the books [[SelfDemonstratingArticle you]]'ve read are written either in the first person (narrated from the perspective of one of the characters, who is referred to as "I" and "me") or in the third-person (referring to all characters by name or with pronouns referring to other people, like "he" and "she"). Occasionally, though, you run across something written in the [[PointOfView second-person]], where the subject of the narration is ''you''. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | You'll note that second-person narration is very rare. On one hand, like first-person narration, it has a very intimate feeling. On the other hand, while the intimacy of first-person narration is that of storytelling, the intimacy of second-person narration is that of telepathy: the book is telling you what you experience and how you experience it, which often includes directly telling you what you're thinking or feeling. You may find this rather presumptuous when a work is telling you what your own thoughts are, especially if you happen to vehemently disagree with the narration, which is one reason why you see second-person works so infrequently. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | You'll often find it used in conjunction with a FeaturelessProtagonist. Both serve the same function: they attempt to identify you with the protagonist. For much the same reason, you'll also often find it keeping close company with PresentTenseNarrative, to reinforce the impression that this isn't just happening to you, but it's happening to you ''right now''. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | If you look hard enough, you will discover indications that the second-person narrator is ''not'' supposed to be you the reader. You will likely want to ask why the author of such a work would dare try to make you identify that intimately with a second-person narrator who is, um, not ''you.'' But you'll probably never ask the question aloud because the person you want to ask isn't there. How can you speak your piece when you have no one to tell it to? Talking to yourself would make you look crazy, so you'll just have to leave it an internal monologue for now. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | You've frequently seen second-person narration in ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' novels, {{Tabletop RPG}}s, as well as InteractiveFiction games -- [[OmnipresentTropes so frequently]], in fact, that you shouldn't feel any need to list specific examples from these genres in this page. You can even make a convincing argument that all VideoGames where you play a personified main character are narrated in second-person. In fact, now that you think about it, some examples are specifically trying to evoke the feeling of these media in you. You will almost never find second-person narration in works older than these. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | You will also find second-person narration in a few literary novels, especially ones written outside America. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | '''Special note on music examples''': just because a song uses second person ''pronouns'' (you, your, yours, yourself) a lot does not make the song Second Person ''Narration''. It's only Second Person Narration if the "you" refers to the character who is singing, not the character who is being sung to. If the song also has first-person pronouns--even many fewer than second person pronouns--it's almost certainly not Second Person Narration. ("You're so vain, '''I''' bet you think this song is about you" is not Second Person Narration; "I" is the person singing, and "you" is the person being sung to.) Imperative sentences--commands--directed at "you" are also a sign that it's probably not Second Person Narration. ("Eat your peas," is not Second-Person Narration, but "You eat your peas" might be.) The same is true of questions directed at "you"--if the singer is asking questions of "you," in most cases that means the singer is ''not'' "you" and the song is not Second Person Narration. (Unless "you" are just talking to "yourself" in which case it might be.) |
| 37 | |
| 38 | Sibling trope of FirstPersonPerspective. |
| 39 | |
| 40 | ---- |
| 41 | !!Examples: |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 44 | |
| 45 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 46 | * Creator/ECComics stories do this a lot: |
| 47 | ** In one story, it's used to hide the fact that [[DeadAllAlong the narrator is dead]]. |
| 48 | ** In other stories it's used for effect rather than to hide the twist; for instance, the well-known story [[http://cacb.wordpress.com/2008/12/03/ec-comics-master-race/ "Master Race"]] places the reader into the role of a former Nazi death camp commander. |
| 49 | ** One story in the ''Tales From the Crypt'' comics used this in the caption narration to [[TheAllConcealingI hide the fact that the narrator is a vampire.]] |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/IronFist'': The early stories from the 70s used second-person narration, starting each story with variations of "You are Iron Fist." This was started by creator Roy Thomas and continued with writers Len Wein and Tony,Isabella in the ''Marvel Premiere'' title and ChrisClaremont in his own series. |
| 51 | * ''ComicBook/ManThing'': The series has this due to Man-Thing's limited understanding of human ways. |
| 52 | * ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': [[spoiler:Morpheus']] wake in the tenth volume, "The Wake", is narrated in second person, and to great effect. |
| 53 | * ''ComicBook/TheSentry'': The 2000 and 2005 miniseries apparently use SecondPersonNarration to represent the protagonist's internal monologue, which creates a claustrophobic effect: the Sentry is a character metaphorically and somewhat literally trapped in his own head. This is kind of weird when the perspective shifts to Reed Richards or the Hulk in the crossover issues, because it begins to feel like the author dictating to them the mental tongue baths they are giving the Sentry, but then becomes awesome again in ''The Sentry vs. the Void'', which wraps up the 2000 miniseries, when it becomes apparent that the Sentry is ''supposed'' to be a CanonSue: |
| 54 | -->You're the last line of defense, arriving in the nick of time with one second left on the clock.\ |
| 55 | You're better than Jesus. Tick. |
| 56 | * ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'': Shade waking up [[spoiler: the day after Kathy's death]]. |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'': The series does this, though it was dropped with the last relaunch. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula'': The narrator summarizing the previous issue: "Your name is Frank Drake and you are having a bad day. Your girlfriend has just been killed, turned into a vampire, and you had to kill her again (or something like that). You have came to the bridge to commit suicide." |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 62 | * Sometimes this type of narration is used as a proper narrative device, with the narrator (whoever the narrator is) addressing whichever character the story happens to be about. The narrator and the "you" tend to be implicitly the same: in angstier fare, the fic is the character talking to/mentally berating himself, which makes it a prime device for fics fueled by angst. A non-angsty example of this can be found in most parts of the ''[[Fanfic/AgentLokiInternationalManOfMayhem Agent Loki: International Man Of Mayhem]]'' 'verse. |
| 63 | ** Fanfiction.net eventually banned them, making [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3886737/1/Child_of_War stories written with the "you" as an actual canon character with a purpose other than romancing or saving the day]] something only supposedly found in the archives. |
| 64 | ** This is also common with "Reader x [insert character(s) here]" stories, where the second person narration is for the purpose for the reader to SelfInsert themselves into the story. CharacterizationTags are often used to indicate the state of the reader or character(s) they're within the story such as "shy!Reader" or "Teen![[Film/TheAvengers2012 Steve Rogers]]". Despite the use of the "x", quite a few Reader x Character(s) stories aren't actually shipping, some people just really want to hang with a character from/the cast of their favorite thing. Much like other examples, quality varies and it can fall into the Sue trap, though personal enjoyment mostly depends on whether or not you're keen on WishFulfillment. |
| 65 | * The Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion fic ''Fanfic/AndIfThatDontWork'' has a scene with 2nd-person [[ManipulativeBastard Gendo Ikari]]. |
| 66 | * ''Fanfic/AChampionInEarthBet'' is a ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' quest, reading from the perspective of the ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds''-styled character, [[PhysicalGod the Avatar]], placed into the CrapsackWorld of Earth-Bet to make it better. |
| 67 | * The fanfic series ''Fanfic/FallingIsLikeFlying'' is almost entirely written in second person, but 'you' look through the eyes of an established character (in the main four stories, they are: Taichi, Homare, Kazunari and [[spoiler: Kasumi]]). Considering that this series also contains DemonicPossession and AndThenJohnWasAZombie happening to this character sometimes, it is supposed to feel more chilling then when one were to look at it through the lens of a third person. |
| 68 | * The ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' fanfiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6822251/1/life_a_fact_above_all_others life a fact above all others]]'' gives a second-person narration to the enigmatic Foxface, allowing her to remain nameless, but by no means a FeaturelessProtagonist. |
| 69 | * Given that it's a ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' fanfic, ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/980776/chapters/1931119 Moirailegiance is Science]]'' is written this way. It's basically the AuthorAvatar telling the story to the reader, who flips POV frequently, even on a couple of occasions to the "Detached Third-Person FourthWallObserver". |
| 70 | * ''Fanfic/MyHuntsmanAcademia'' places the reader in the shoes of Izuku Midoriya and allows readers to vote in on what happens next, with the story's course being constructed like a game of TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}. |
| 71 | * Common among ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fics, often for clopfics where "you" (in pony form or [[InterspeciesRomance otherwise]]) romance/seduce/bang a character from the show. |
| 72 | ** It has gotten to the point that a [[http://www.fimfiction.net/group/203875/the-most-dangerous-group-contest FIMFiction site-wide contest]] was held where writers had to use at least one of the "always bad" story tropes - second person perspective, alicorn OC, OC x major character romance, or human in Equestria - and make it into a good story, proving that a good writer can make anything work. |
| 73 | * [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5235290/1/Rising_Sun Rising Sun]] is written in second person and an example of this technique being used effectively. |
| 74 | * ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' fanfic "[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/1641044 The Taste of Honey]]" uses this kind of narration to great effect too. |
| 75 | * ''Fanfic/TowardABrightFuture'' is a ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fic, with the reader as an AmnesiacHero with [[{{Seers}} future vision]] who becomes the teaching assistant to Class 1-A. |
| 76 | * Extremely common among ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fics. More than a quarter of the fanfics on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn pair one of the characters (with Sans being the most common) with the reader. |
| 77 | * The ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' shortfic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/10161218 Wafuku]]'' uses this. |
| 78 | * The ''VideoGame/Persona5'' ContinuationFic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31457483/chapters/77809799 Metamorphosis]]'' starts as a reader-insert, about an unnamed classmate who Akira befriends and eventually falls in love with after returning to his hometown at the end of the game. However, the story frequently cuts away from her perspective to show scenes she's not present for or wouldn't be able to understand even if she was (eg, Akira talking with Morgana), while still referring to her as "You" outside of dialogue. [[spoiler:It also trips the reader up at some points by using "You" to refer to her Shadow.]] |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 82 | * ''Film/TheBribe'': The first two-thirds of the film is an extended flashback in which Rigby addresses his own reflection in the mirror, as he berates himself for falling for Elizabeth's charms and neglecting his duty as a federal agent. He speaks to the reflection throughout his narration, saying that "you" sold out and "you" did this and that. |
| 83 | * ''Film/BriefEncounter'' is presented as Laura's confession of her affair to her husband who she refers to as "you" throughout the film. |
| 84 | * The 1961 film ''Film/BlastOfSilence''. |
| 85 | * In 1945 FilmNoir ''Film/{{Detour}}'', Al the narrator continually address the audience as "you", as Al pleads with us to believe that he isn't a murderer and he didn't mean to do anything wrong and he only stole that dead guy's money and car because he had to and [[spoiler: when he strangled that woman to death it was totally an accident...]] |
| 86 | --> "How many of you would believe it wasn't premeditated? |
| 87 | * 1947 film noir ''Film/LadyInTheLake'' starts with Literature/PhilipMarlowe addressing the audience directly, saying stuff like "You'll meet the people, you'll find the clues...and maybe you'll solve it quick, and maybe you won't." This sets up the rest of the movie, which is almost entirely shot in POVCam from Marlowe's perspective, with other characters looking at the camera and addressing Marlowe and the audience as "you". |
| 88 | * ''Film/TheMemphisBelle'': The narrator of this 1944 propaganda documentary about a B-17 bomber sometimes addresses the audience as "you", saying that ''you'' might have dozed off in high school but ''you'' will definitely be paying attention when the CO gives the briefing for the bombing raid. On other occasions, the narrator speaks of "we". The idea is obviously to make the viewers feel part of the mission and the war. |
| 89 | * The 1972 film ''Poetic Justice'' by Hollis Frampton |
| 90 | [[/folder]] |
| 91 | |
| 92 | [[folder:Gamebooks]] |
| 93 | * Most {{Gamebooks}} such as ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'', ''Literature/FightingFantasy'', ''Literature/LoneWolf'' and InteractiveFiction. This is not universal however, as series such as ''Literature/SagasOfTheDemonspawn'' stick to third-person narration. |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 97 | * French novel ''99 Francs'', a satire on the world of publicity by Frederic Beigbeder, is divided into sections in which the narration is built around the pronoun which is the title of the section: Je, Tu, Lui, Elle, Il, Nous, Vous, and Ils. |
| 98 | * "...And it Comes Out Here" by Creator/LesterDelRey is structured as a monologue from a time traveler, telling 'you' what 'you' are about to do. In this case, 'you' is a distinct character, the time traveler's younger self. |
| 99 | * In ''Literature/TheAngelOfKhanElKhalili'', "you" are Aliaa, a young woman searching through the eponymous BazaarOfTheBizarre for a self-proclaimed angel. Your goal is to strike a deal with this supernatural entity to save the life of your mortally wounded sister. |
| 100 | * Georges Perec's ''The Art and Craft of Approaching Your Head of Department to Submit a Request for a Raise'' is a textual representation of a flowchart explaining all the ways you'll never get a raise, and consequently written entirely in the second person. |
| 101 | * Carlos Fuentes' short novel ''Aura'' is written in second person, ''future'' tense. It gives you a sensation of inevitability on what the protagonist is going through, with it adds to the other themes of the book. |
| 102 | * Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheAuthorsOrdeal": "You" are a ScienceFiction writer, [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny distracted from day-to-day things]] like conversations, traffic lights, and ''other cars'' by your new story. Getting caught up in [[PointOfView the third-person perspective of the story]], you cannot [[TheMadnessPlace escape the obsession]] until after you've completed the outline, and you "wake up" [[GeniusSlob in complete disarray]]. |
| 103 | * Kage Baker's short story/FramingDevice "The Hounds of Zeus", found in ''[[Literature/TheCompanyNovels Black Projects, White Knights]]''. |
| 104 | * ''Bright Lights, Big City'' by Jay [=McInerney=] is one of the more famous English-language examples. |
| 105 | * ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'' has Essun written in the second person, both to distinguish her from other characters and to create a SympatheticPOV for a character whose actions and trauma are often unpleasant and unsympathetic. [[spoiler: In the end the second person narrative is revealed to be a first person narrative by Hoa, educating a now amnesiac Essun about her past.]] |
| 106 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_13 Bunker 13]] by Aniruddha Bahal is a Stale Beer Flavored SpyFiction, very much at the end of SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism. You are an Indian journalist conducting an investigation into covert intelligence operations of the Pakistanis. It keeps the second person perspective even after [[spoiler: the reader unravels that he is actually a Pakistani double-agent]]. |
| 107 | * Ann M. Martin's ''California Diaries'' books are mostly written in the first person, being fictional diaries, but Ducky's books are in second person. The explanation is that he doesn't feel comfortable writing about his feelings or whatever in first person, so he uses it to distance himself). |
| 108 | * The first chapter of ''[[Literature/TheTomorrowSeries Circle of Flight]]'' is done like this, as Ellie comes home to find Gavin is missing. |
| 109 | * Some chapters of Creator/IainBanks's ''Complicity'' are written in second person in present tense. These describe the actions of a murderer. It really helps to hide the identity of the killer (even their gender) but the result is also very creepy. |
| 110 | * ''Literature/TheCrimsonPetalAndTheWhite'', where "you" is the reader as we're told where the characters are going, what they're thinking at the time, etc. This is often acknowledged by telling the reader to pay attention, hurry up so they don't miss something, and a moment early on when a character's daughter walks into the room and the narrative says, "all this time you were following him, you never would have thought he had a daughter." |
| 111 | * ''Cut'' by Patricia [=McCormick=] is written in second person; the story is told by Callie to "you", her therapist. |
| 112 | * ''Damage'' by A.M. Jenkins; it works extremely well as the protagonist is severely depressed and the writing style helps underscore his disconnection with himself and his feelings. |
| 113 | * ''Creator/DaveBarry in Cyberspace'' contains a non-comedic, English-major-y short story written from this perspective of a housewife, new to the Internet, who starts an online romance. |
| 114 | * Creator/HarryTurtledove's short story "Deconstruction Gang". In the compilation reprint he notes that this was partly as a SelfImposedChallenge and partly to fit with the surreal nature of the story (that literary {{Deconstruction}} could actually be used to demolish old buildings and roads, and English majors are employed to do so). |
| 115 | * Rosamond Lehman's ''Dusty Answer'' sometimes switches to this from third person, forcing the reader to closely identify with the heroine. Could this be why it was her most insanely popular novel, leading to multiple marriage proposals? Could be. |
| 116 | * The first chapter of ''Literature/TheElricSaga'' is written in this manner, as a way of establishing the title character and his court. |
| 117 | * A few chapters in ''Literature/FightClub'' do this, in order to show that the narrator didn't live his life, but lived the life he was told to live. |
| 118 | * ''The Frangipani Gardens'' by Barbara Hanrahan starts off like this. but it's dropped after the first chapter. |
| 119 | * Several of horror writer Gemma Files' short stories are written using this tense, including "Rose-Sick", "Bottle of Smoke", and "Slick Black Bones and Soft Black Stars", although the latter two do in fact turn out to have named, gender-specific protagonists. |
| 120 | * ''Literature/TheGirlsGuideToHuntingAndFishing'', a series of related short stories [[PatchworkStory collected into a novel]], switches to second-person in one story/chapter for the female protagonist/narrator. |
| 121 | * ''The Gospel of the Knife'' by Will Shetterly is also written in second person. |
| 122 | * The Hungarian book ''Hajléktaland'' ("Homeless-land") is a documentary disguised as a tourist guide book. In the book you, the reader, are guided through Budapest and the surrounding areas with the assumption that you are homeless and you want to find safety, food, shelter, medical care, etc. The book never breaks SecondPersonNarration to build the reader's empathy toward the homeless. It is an intentionally harrowing read. |
| 123 | * ''Half-Asleep in Frog Pajamas'' by Creator/TomRobbins, but completely not a FeaturelessProtagonist -- information about "you" gets revealed slowly over the course of the book. |
| 124 | * ''Halting State'' and its sequel ''Rule 34'' by Creator/CharlesStross are written in the second person despite having multiple well-defined, named narrators, as an homage to text adventure gaming. |
| 125 | * ''Literature/HarrowTheNinth'' is written in an intimate second person about Harrow, though the FlashbackBPlot is written in traditional third person. The unusual narration seems to reflect Harrow's [[SanitySlippage fragile]] mental state and prolonged HeroicBSOD. At least, that's what we're led to believe for the majority of the book. [[spoiler:The second-person point of view is actually narrated by Gideon's consciousness trapped inside Harrow. Even as her point of view becomes more and more first-person in Act 5, she continues to address Harrow as "you."]] |
| 126 | * Creator/OrsonScottCard's novel ''Literature/HartsHope'' is written in the second person, but the "you" in the story is not the same as the "you" reading it; rather, it is being narrated to someone else, whose identity only becomes clear at the end. |
| 127 | * ''Literature/HouseMadeOfDawn'', to help give some clarity with the extremely [[AnachronicOrder non-linear]] narrative, describes all of Abel's childhood in this fashion, though it's blatantly obvious the "you" is just Abel. |
| 128 | * Creator/GeneWolfe's "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories": in this case, "you" is likely the writer's younger self. |
| 129 | * ''Literature/IfOnAWintersNightATraveler'' by Italo Calvino has a frame story (about "the Reader") as well as descriptions of the novels the Reader is reading. The Reader is referred to as "you"; the narrators of the internal novels are referred to as "I". Then there's an interesting section where the Other Reader (the love interest of the Reader) becomes the "you" for a brief while. |
| 130 | * ''Literature/IfYouGiveAMouseACookie'' tells "you" all about what will happen if "you," well, give a mouse a cookie. |
| 131 | * Bob Leman's short story "[[http://www.www3.reocities.com/Paris/villa/4018/texts/Instructions.html Instructions]]" - a set of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin instructions]] from unnamed aliens to humans they send through a DeadlyTrainingArea "to alleviate boredom". |
| 132 | * Jeff [=VanderMeer=] likes to use this trope: |
| 133 | ** ''Literature/VenissUnderground'' is divided into three parts, the second of which is told via second-person narration (the first via first-person and the third via third-person narration). The "you" in this case is Nicola, the first narrator's [[HalfIdenticalTwins twin sister]] and the third narrator's ex-girlfriend. |
| 134 | ** In ''Acceptance'', the third book of ''Literature/TheSouthernReachTrilogy'', the chapters dedicated to the director are written in the second person and present tense, with the director being the one adressed as "you". |
| 135 | * At least two short stories by Neal Shusterman, "The Body Electric" and "Loveless" used second-person narration. |
| 136 | * ''Literature/TheNightCircus'' by Erin Morgenstern has short, page-long portions in second person, which allow you to experience the circus "first hand." |
| 137 | * Creator/DrSeuss's ''Oh, the Places You'll Go!'' is written in the second person...it's right there in the title! Even more uniquely, it's written in future tense. |
| 138 | * [[http://literary.erictmarin.com/shower.htm "The Parable of the Shower"]] by Leah Bobet is written in the old style second-person singular familiar--that is, "thou." The effect is used to evoke a King James Bible-style of speaking. |
| 139 | * Tim Waggoner's [[http://timwaggoner.com/portraitof.htm Portrait of a Horror Writer.]] |
| 140 | * Half of Creator/AnnLeckie's ''Literature/TheRavenTower'' is written this way, with the narrator telling the story of Eolo through a 'you' perspective. The other half is a first-person narration by said narrator, eventually revealing [[HowWeGotHere how he came to be involved with the half he narrates second-person]]. |
| 141 | * Creator/DavidBrin wrote a story, "Reality Check," in which you really are the main character. You're supposedly in a LotusEaterMachine, and the narration gets increasingly frantic as you fail to snap out of it. A clever experiment in writing, but one that can be easily defused by reading the story backward. |
| 142 | * Used to very good effect by Matthew Stover in [[Literature/RevengeOfTheSith the novelization]] of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. While most of the book is written in third person, Stover breaks out the second person present-tense narration when he moves into an in-depth character study, which he always signals with the phrase "This is what it feels like to be X." |
| 143 | * "S", by Doug Dorst has a section in the Interlude written in second person narration. However, rather than have the 'you' be a featureless protagonist, the 'you' is simply another character. |
| 144 | * Creator/LorrieMoore's collection of short stories "[[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/90872.Self_Help Self-Help]]" contains a few examples of second-person narration. Stories like "How to be an Other Woman" and "How to Talk to Your Mother" exemplify the second-person style. |
| 145 | * The last part of the novel ''Some Other Place. The Right Place'' by Donald Harington is written like this, but the "you" is not the reader but the first-person narrator of the previous chapters, whose "eye" has been confiscated by a new narrator who speaks in first person plural. |
| 146 | * In ''Literature/TheStand'', by Creator/StephenKing, Fran at one point muses about Harold's very unusual fiction writing style: second person, present tense. |
| 147 | * In 2014 novel ''This Is the Water'', you are Annie, a middle-aged suburban swim mom with a daughter on the swim team, and you contemplating having an affair... while a SerialKiller stalks your town. |
| 148 | * The Creator/PaulJennings story ''Thought Full'' is done like this, part of the narrator's (somewhat unnecessary) attempt to put the reader in his shoes. |
| 149 | * ''Literature/AVisitFromTheGoonSquad'', which shifts the perspective of the narration in every chapter, uses this for chapter 10. |
| 150 | * Several stories -- or the narration between the stories - in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' [[ExpandedUniverse guidebooks]] are written this way. Occasionally it will be as if the reader is a cat interacting with the characters. Other times, it will be from one character speaking this way to another specific character that appears in the books. At times -- notably the [[ConfessionCam "so-and-so speaks" portions]] -- the identity of the "you" isn't necessarily clear. |
| 151 | * The first chapter of ''[[Literature/WinnieThePooh Winnie-The-Pooh]]'' uses a FramingDevice in which A. A. Milne tells Christopher Robin a story about himself and Pooh, so in the story, Christopher Robin is constantly referred to as "you." This is only used for the first chapter, however, and the rest of the book uses conventional third-person narration. |
| 152 | * Creator/RoaldDahl dips into extended uses of this at times, notably in the nonfiction chapter "Lucky Break" from ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More'', when he describes what it was like to be caned at his school. |
| 153 | * Austin Grossman's ''Literature/{{You|2013}}'' is mostly written in first person from Russell's perspective, but when he's playing a game or the narrative is describing games and gaming, it dips into second-person. Since the book is partially about being a gamer, this makes sense. There's also a segment at the beginning that is directly written in InteractiveFiction format, commands and all. |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 157 | * The introduction to most episodes of ''Franchise/TheTwilightZone'' is in the second-person; this, along with the hypnotic visuals (which include a floating eyeball, a swinging pendulum, and a hypnosis spiral) and the weird snake-charmer music, are intended to bring about a real or simulated hypnotic state in the viewer. "You are entering a dimension not only of sight and sound, but also of the mind..." |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 161 | * "Baker Street" by Music/GerryRafferty. |
| 162 | * "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Music/BobDylan, for the purpose of disorientation: "Something is happening here, and you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?" |
| 163 | * Music/TheBeatles: |
| 164 | ** "For No One". ("And yet you don't believe her when she says her love is dead, you think she needs you.") |
| 165 | ** "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." ("Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly.") |
| 166 | * "Creepy Doll" by Music/JonathanCoulton. |
| 167 | * "Dancing Queen" by ABBA seems to be of the perspective of a dancer singing this song to ''themselves'', the dancing equivalent of looking in the mirror and saying "Damn, you're looking good today!" |
| 168 | * After a NewhartPhoneCall intro, "Dead End" by Music/MindInABox becomes a rather effective SecondPersonNarration. |
| 169 | ** SPN is fairly common in their songs. It also appears in "Take My Soul", "Between Worlds", "Fear", "What Used to Be", and parts of "Certainty". |
| 170 | ** In spite of using FirstPersonNarration, parts of "The Dream" seem to be in second person, as well. |
| 171 | * One example of second person ''narration' is the third vocal section of Music/{{Tool}}'s "Disgustipated." |
| 172 | * "Drunk Girl" by Chris Janson: |
| 173 | -->Take a drunk girl home\ |
| 174 | Let her sleep all alone\ |
| 175 | Leave her keys on the counter, your number by the phone\ |
| 176 | Pick up her life she threw on the floor\ |
| 177 | Leave the hall lights on walk out and lock the door\ |
| 178 | That's how she knows the difference between a boy and man\ |
| 179 | Take a drunk girl home |
| 180 | * Music/TaylorSwift's "Fifteen" uses mostly second-person narration despite clearly being an autobiographical song. |
| 181 | * "High on Your Own Supply" by Music/Apollo440: |
| 182 | -->Been building glass houses\ |
| 183 | When it's raining stones\ |
| 184 | There's crap on your doorstep\ |
| 185 | Now you're all on your own\ |
| 186 | You gave it no quarter\ |
| 187 | Now you're treading water\ |
| 188 | Bartender rang time, it's too late for last orders |
| 189 | * Music/IronMaiden's "Killers" starts with a SecondPersonAttack, before going into [[VillainSong the killer's point of view]]. |
| 190 | * Music/{{Everclear}}'s "Like a California King" is a song in second person written by Art Alexakis to himself as a reminder that he needs to never be "[[JerkAss that guy]]". |
| 191 | * The song "Mineshaft 2" by rapper/singer Music/{{Dessa}}. |
| 192 | -->''He knows how bad he acted, knows he can't have you back''\ |
| 193 | ''But the fact is he can't be happy when you're angry''\ |
| 194 | ''And you're so angry...He says you stayed so mad''\ |
| 195 | ''And he heard it on the street that you moved back in with your dad''\ |
| 196 | ''You were drinking something awful and that makes him sad''\ |
| 197 | ''Then he says it's good to hear your voice again''\ |
| 198 | ''And that it's hard to ask it, but he's calling with a question...'' |
| 199 | ** The chorus and first two verses are entirely in second person, with only the last verse switching to first person in a way that makes it clear the song is about Dessa herself. |
| 200 | * "Music/OnceInALifetime" by Music/TalkingHeads. "You may find yourself... living in a shotgun shack..." |
| 201 | * "One of Those Nights" by Music/TimMcGraw: |
| 202 | -->She slides in and you rode down Main Street\ |
| 203 | You turn right when that red light turns green\ |
| 204 | Sun sets now, you're half way to heaven\ |
| 205 | She picks a song, you turn it up to eleven\ |
| 206 | You say "do you wanna?" and she says "hell yeah"\ |
| 207 | So you hit the party, all your buddies are jealous\ |
| 208 | Someday you'll be looking back on your life\ |
| 209 | At the memories, this is gonna be one of those nights |
| 210 | * {{Music/Shia LaBeouf|Live}} by Rob Cantor: |
| 211 | -->''You're walking in the woods. There's no one around and your phone is dead. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him...'' |
| 212 | * Music/PinkFloyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" the "you" referring to Syd Barrett. |
| 213 | ** From the same album ("Wish You Were Here"), "you" in "Welcome to the Machine" refers to a young musician, who is being addressed by a seedy record company executive. |
| 214 | * Ricardo Arjona's "Si usted la viera(el confesor)" recounts to you a conversation between the narrator and a priest during confession, the whole discussion is about you ("you" being a woman of doubtful reputation). |
| 215 | * "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event, which could be described as a poem or very short story set to music: |
| 216 | -->''And it starts sometime around midnight''\ |
| 217 | ''Or at least that's when you lose yourself for a minute or two''\ |
| 218 | ''As you stand under the bar lights''\ |
| 219 | ''And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while''\ |
| 220 | ''And the piano's this melancholy soundcheck to her smile''\ |
| 221 | ''And that white dress she's wearing, you haven't seen her for a while...'' |
| 222 | * Music/LeonardCohen's "The Stranger Song". |
| 223 | * "Sultans of Swing" by Music/DireStraits. "You get a shiver in the dark/it's raining in the park but meantime/south of the river you stop and you hold everything" |
| 224 | * Many of the songs on Music/{{Swans}}' first few albums (''Filth'' through ''Holy Money'') were intentionally written to resemble political slogans, resulting in a good number of them being entirely in the second person. ''Cop'' in particular is filled with abstract mini-narratives and decidedly creepy character studies, all framed solely with the word "you." |
| 225 | ** Swans frontman Michael Gira's other major project, Angels of Light, has a few of these, most notable being the song that gave the band their name: The seven-minute "Angels of Light", which seems to describe an out-of-body experience. |
| 226 | * "Tertinggalkan Waktu" by [[Music/NoahIndonesia Peterpan]] completely lacks an "I" in its lyrics and instead narrates about a "you" ("''kau''") who have wasted their time. |
| 227 | [[/folder]] |
| 228 | |
| 229 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 230 | * The narration sequences of ''Podcast/ItCouldHappenHere'' are like this, discussing how your character manages to get by during the war. |
| 231 | * Central gimmick of the ''Podcast/{{Pseudopod}}'' episode "[[http://pseudopod.org/2008/03/14/pseudopod-81-its-easy-to-make-a-sandwich/ It's Easy to Make a Sandwich]]." It alternates between deep immersion and a narratorish, hectoring tone reminiscent of {{radio|Drama}}'s ''Radio/TheWhistler'': |
| 232 | -->"You make minimum wage and you smell like tuna all the time." |
| 233 | * ''Podcast/TwilightHistories'' is told using this style of narration. |
| 234 | * Several narrator sequences and in one case an entire episode ("A Story About You") of ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale''. |
| 235 | * The narration of ''Podcast/WithinTheWires'' Season 1's Relaxation Cassettes addresses the Institute's patient as "you" and feigns impartiality as a purely instructional, pseudo-omniscient figure in those exercises that mimic a typical guided meditation, but as her instructions deviate to become peculiarly specific, she eventually drops the façade to refer to herself as "I" at the end of the first cassette, and addresses the patient with increasing directness in subsequent installments. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 239 | * Used in the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII radio series ''The Man Behind the Gun''. |
| 240 | * ''Radio/{{Dragnet}}'' uses this in the opening narration: "You're a Detective Sergeant working out of Robbery Division..." |
| 241 | * ''Yandere Heaven'' puts the (presumedly) female listener in various roles trapped between two {{Yandere}} love interests. |
| 242 | * "Beebop-a-Reebop Rhubarb Pie" sketches on ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion'' are always narrated in second person by Keillor. It makes sense because the sketches always lead up to the in-universe radio ad for Beebop-a-Reebop ("Nothing gets the taste of [[ShaggyDogStory shame and humiliation]] out of your mouth like a piece of rhubarb pie!") |
| 243 | [[/folder]] |
| 244 | |
| 245 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 246 | * ''Roleplay/{{A Shock to the System|Roleplay}}'' has this. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
| 248 | |
| 249 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 250 | * The chapter-opening narration in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' uses this, as do the dreams- not surprising, given the [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons provenance]] of the game. |
| 251 | * The epilogue to ''VideoGame/Bioshock1'' is like this. |
| 252 | * The mission briefings in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' are always presented as being spoken ''directly'' to the player by a variety of characters, such as a [[BigGood GDI]] Commanding Officer or the BigBad Kane. |
| 253 | * The narration of ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' refers to the main character -- a hard-boiled detective with amnesia -- as if he's you. Not only that, but the various systems of this character's brain also speak to you as if you're that character. The detective does have an identity that you can find through the story, but you can choose to accept this identity, reject it, or carve your own. |
| 254 | * ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': The narrations at the end of each episode are in second person. |
| 255 | * Duncan from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' provides some opening narration and at the end of the game in this style. |
| 256 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonCave'', a lot of text is written in second-person, since you're the adventurous human who's taking care of dragons and exploring the wild. Evidently, you're not a blank slate because some of the flavor text describes how you feel about some eggs and some of your actions around hatchlings. |
| 257 | * ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': All mainline games in the series employ this type of narration, since the characters you play as are part of a guild you've built from scratch, including customization in name and class. The Story Mode of the first two games' respective remakes use the monologues or dialogues from the pre-built character guild, however. |
| 258 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has this in spades during Ron Perlman's opening and ending narrations. |
| 259 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', although it takes itself less than seriously. ''VideoGame/WestOfLoathing'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowsOverLoathing'' are narrated in the same way. |
| 260 | * ''VideoGame/TheLastSovereign'': For much of the prologue, the game uses this along with present tense narration. This is despite Kai, the protagonist, being a total idiot and asshole. [[spoiler: Once Kai dies and the perspective switches to Simon, the true protagonist, the narration also switches to third-person past tense. This was done stylistically to mimic the style of other lower quality H-games.]] |
| 261 | * In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, with a few exceptions that can be written off as typos, the narration always refers to Link as "you", e.g. "You found ten rupees!". The instruction manuals for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' are written entirely in second person. |
| 262 | * ''VisualNovel/MonsterProm'': The game's LemonyNarrator refers to the current player character as "you" at all times. |
| 263 | * You might have played {{roguelike}} games of yonder, in which case, you notice the ubiquity of this style of narration. Upon reading this entry, you might recall the days you played ''VideoGame/NetHack'': |
| 264 | -->You fall into a pit! You land on a set of sharp iron spikes! --More--\ |
| 265 | The spikes were poisoned! The poison was deadly... --More--\ |
| 266 | Do you want your possessions identified?" |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/OmikronNomadSoul'' is not about your character - it's about you. The player's soul is supposed to inhabit the bodies of the game characters. |
| 268 | * ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', much of which is dialogue and narration, tells the story this way. Like ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' above, it's a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game. |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/{{Roadwarden}}'' is told in second-person, allowing the main character to embody the person they play as and to slowly define their backstory as they journey across the peninsula. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' delivers a significant amount of its narrative through text messages in the chatbox that appears when you do a certain action, is affected by something, or when you examine something. A small amount of this text is first-person, but most of it is in second person. One classic example is the "You have been frozen!" message when you are hit by [[KillItWithIce Ice Barrage]] spell, as demonstrated by ''Webcomic/PrezleekComics'' [[https://www.facebook.com/RuneScape/photos/ice-barrage-apparently-not-the-most-practical-way-to-pk-another-great-comic-from/10156595964831729/ here]]. |
| 271 | * The game ''VideoGame/{{Shadowgate}}'' is told entirely in this form. |
| 272 | * The entire ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' franchise, wherein the main protagonist is the quintessential BlankSlate (and a HeroicMime and HelloInsertNameHere, at that). You do get quoted dialogue options, but one [[VideoGame/StrangeJourney chilling case]] involves the narration describing your EvilLaugh instead. |
| 273 | * ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' uses this for the normal narration. [[LemonyNarrator The narrator will even sass you if you do certain things]]. The narration will switch to first person in the No Mercy route, something that has caused a lot of argument and speculation over the narrator's identity. |
| 274 | * ''VideoGame/WarlordsHeroes'' uses this for its entire storyline, placing you in the minds of the characters themselves. |
| 275 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' series, the player character is never given any sort of physical description, either by appearance or character interaction. The HintSystem's painted lady in ''VideoGame/ZorkNemesis'' refers to the player as "Wanderer," and supplementary texts reveal that the Wanderer is a female pilgrim on some sort of religious journey. But what narration the games have refers to the goings-on of the plot as if they're happening to you, not the Wanderer. |
| 276 | [[/folder]] |
| 277 | |
| 278 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 279 | * ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'' narrates the protagonist Fern's actions in second person, in part because they're being influenced by the mysterious mental presence that represents the comic's readers [[FromBeyondTheFourthWall on the far side of the fourth wall]]. On a couple of occasions, Fern gets angry enough with the commentators to hijack the narrative and switch to first person for a while. |
| 280 | * ''Webcomic/BlackWardEmptyChambers'' likewise inherits the same as the SpiritualSuccessor to Webcomic/SilentHillPromise. |
| 281 | * ''Webcomic/{{Fortuna}}'' takes the parody aspect of ''Homestuck's'' narration to a new extreme, being fully stylized as a video game. The characters are refered to by third-person pronouns and names, but the reader's actions are all second-person. It becomes even more accentuated when the v1 AIs (self-aware beings who know that they are trapped behind a screen on the reader's computer) begin to converse with the reader directly. |
| 282 | * ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'', as a parody of the style of adventure games and gamebooks, uses this format. As do [[OriginalFlavour a large portion of its fanfics.]] Note that, save for ''Webcomic/BardQuest'', this is combined with SwitchingPOV, making it clear that "you" is not the reader. |
| 283 | * ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise'' borrowed this format from ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures''. |
| 284 | [[/folder]] |
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