"I can see why tiger aphorisms don't catch on." - Calvin
"My Boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!"
—Zelda CDI
It seems that a hand gesture involving a character lifting his or her hand, and sticking up the index finger, is often associated with the idea that said character is saying something profound and/or philosophical, whether according to the character, the author, or both. Especially
Narm-y if the character closes his or her eyes while doing this, suggesting self-satisfaction.
Often parodied to the point of subversion or even inversion, though.
Not to be confused with
a declarative use of another finger.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Comic Books
- Brainy Smurf, true to the comic, did this a lot, especially when quoting Papa Smurf.
Film
Newspaper Comics
- Calvin and Hobbes has this done frequently by at least Calvin and his dad, and by Hobbes, who provides the page image.
- Also pretty common in Peanuts, except that there a character would raise his or her entire fist. (Apparently, Charles Schulz didn't realize that this is a common socialist gesture.)
Live Action Television
- This pose is part and parcel of Souji Tendo's Catch Phrase, where he points to the sky as he relates a piece of wisdom from his grandmother.
Video Games
- King Harkanian from the Zelda Cdi game Faces Of Evil, does this while saying "mah boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!" See context here.
Web Comics
Web Original
Western Animation
- Zuko from Avatar The Last Air Bender, had one when he was impersonating his Uncle giving him sage advice.
Zuko: How am I supposed to convince these people that I'm on their side? What would Uncle do? [Impersonating his Uncle, pacing and holding up his finger] Zuko, you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself. [Dropping the impersonation and getting frustrated] Even when I'm talking for him I can't figure out what he means!
- Ferb Fletcher is typically depicted in this pose◊.
- Brainy Smurf does it every time he lectures the other Smurfs.
- Practical Pig in Disney's Three Little Pigs.
- The finger point, in fact, was very common in the early days of The Golden Age of Animation, as mentioned on The Illusion Of Life. Animators were starting to animate dialogue, and the pointing finger was the most popular way of hitting the accents on the voice track. As their skills improved and found more sophisticated ways of matching the vocals, use of the finger was curtailed as too cliche.
- Frequently used by Dexter on Dexters Laboratory.
Real Life
