"Given how long it's taken me to reconcile my nature, I can't figure I'd forgo it on your account, Marty."
— Rust, True Detective
"I am what I am,
I don't want praise, I don't want pity."
I don't want praise, I don't want pity."
— "I Am What I Am", La Cage aux folles
"It's time to begin, isn't it?
I get a little bit bigger, but then
I'll admit, I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand?
That I'm never changing who I am"
I get a little bit bigger, but then
I'll admit, I'm just the same as I was
Now don't you understand?
That I'm never changing who I am"
— "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons
If I'm gonna be a loser, I'm gonna lose the way I wanna lose.
— Clayton, Out There
I yam whats I yam an' dat's ALL wot I yam.
— Popeye the Sailor Man
I'm bad, and that's good.
I will never be good, and that's not bad.
There's no one I'd rather be than me.
I will never be good, and that's not bad.
There's no one I'd rather be than me.
— Bad-Anon creed, Wreck-It Ralph
"Do you know what I learned losing that duel? I learned that I'll never win, not that way. That's their game. Their rules. I'm not going to fight them. I'm going to fuck them. That is what I know. That's what I am. And only by admitting what we are, can we get what we want."
— Petyr Baelish, Game of Thrones describing one of the darkest examples of this trope.
Say what I mean, and I don't give a damn
I do believe that I Am What I Am
I do believe that I Am What I Am
— The Grateful Dead, "Liberty"
'Cause I am whatever you say I am
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday, I am
I don't know, it's just the way I am
If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?
In the paper, the news everyday, I am
I don't know, it's just the way I am
— Eminem, "The Way I Am"
"I am me."
— An Oho Jee, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Black-hearted evil
Brave-hearted hero
I am all, I am all I am
Brave-hearted hero
I am all, I am all I am
— Crush 40, "I Am... (All of Me)", Shadow the Hedgehog
Riker: Someone once said, "Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man, and let history make its own judgements."
Cochrane: That's rhetorical nonsense. Who said that?
Riker: (grinning) You did, ten years from now.
"Yeah, I kinda get it now. You are me. A side of me I couldn't forgive, that I tried to ignore. But you still exist. You're a part of me."
— Chie Satonaka, Persona 4.
"Are you not a Great Wizard?"
"Hush, my dear," he said. "Don't speak so loud, or you will be overheard—and I should be ruined. I'm supposed to be a Great Wizard."
"And aren't you?" she asked.
"Not a bit of it, my dear; I'm just a common man."
"You're more than that," said the Scarecrow, in a grieved tone; "you're a humbug."
"Exactly so!" declared the little man, rubbing his hands together as if it pleased him. "I am a humbug."
[...]
"I think you are a very bad man," said Dorothy.
"Oh, no, my dear; I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad Wizard, I must admit."
Vagrant: Man, I... I dunno. I been sittin' here listenin' to you for two fuckin' hours... And i don't think I understood a fuckin' word of it. But what happened to your face, man? What dirty motherfucker did this to you?
Arseface: Muh! note
Vagrant: You did it to your-self?
Arseface: Shuh thuh! note
Vagrant: Well... shit, man, all due respect to that fuckin' cannon you got there, but... You gotta be the dumbest son of a bitch that ever lived, man!
"I am not a man of peace! And if that means I have to give up the symbols and Martian religion has to die, then so be it! At least I will know who I am. I am the Martian Manhunter!"
— J'onn J'onzz, Supergirl (2015)
"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to YOU!"
— Goku, Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z
"I guess you're right, Plankton. I am Just a Kid. And you know? I've been through a lot in the past six days, five minutes, twenty-seven-and-a-half seconds... And if I've learned anything during that time, it's that you are who you are. And no amount of mermaid magic... or managerial promotion... or some other third thing... can make me anything more than what I really am inside: a kid. But that's okay! Because I did what everyone said a kid couldn't do! I made it to Shell City, and I beat the Cyclops, and I rode the Hasselhoff, and I brought the crown back! So yeah, I'm a kid! And I'm also a goofball, and a wingnut, and a Knucklehead McSpazatron! But most of all, I'm... I'm... I'm... I'M A GOOFY GOOBER! ROCK!"
"I'm sick of acting like a dumb helpless girl just so a hot boy who dances his feelings will notice me. That's not who I am. I'm a smart, strong, sensual woman."
— Tina Belcher, Bob's Burgers, "The Belchies"
"Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."
—Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones
Mike: So I'm here ... to see what a big heart you have. Is that the idea? You throw money at these people, they bow low.
Gus: As far as the people here are concerned, I am the doctor's friend, and nothing more.
Mike: They have no idea you financed the whole place?
Gus: I prefer it that way.
Mike: The anonymous benefactor. Oh, that must make you feel pretty good. And is that supposed to balance the scales? Make up for everything else you do?
Gus: It makes up for nothing. I am what I am.
Gus: As far as the people here are concerned, I am the doctor's friend, and nothing more.
Mike: They have no idea you financed the whole place?
Gus: I prefer it that way.
Mike: The anonymous benefactor. Oh, that must make you feel pretty good. And is that supposed to balance the scales? Make up for everything else you do?
Gus: It makes up for nothing. I am what I am.
Sam: I'm a teenager who's made mistakes. You're a 50-something-year-old man who lives alone, drinks all day, and clearly hasn't figured out his own life.
Johnny: I figured out one thing for sure. If I did everything my parents wanted me to do, I'd be wearing a suit and tie in some worthless job while I wait out the clock. I didn't want that. And now I get to do what I love every damn day. I get to try to help kids like you find their own way. If you wanna sit in the back seat your whole life, go right ahead. It's no sweat off my back.
Johnny: I figured out one thing for sure. If I did everything my parents wanted me to do, I'd be wearing a suit and tie in some worthless job while I wait out the clock. I didn't want that. And now I get to do what I love every damn day. I get to try to help kids like you find their own way. If you wanna sit in the back seat your whole life, go right ahead. It's no sweat off my back.
— Cobra Kai, "Then Learn Fly"
You know those, uh... (scoffs) people. The ones I put down, the people I killed? I want you to know that I'd do it all again. This is a circus, all right? It's a charade, it's an act. This bullshit about how crazy I am, I ain't crazy! I'm not crazy. Okay? I know what I did. I know who I am. And I do not need your help. I'm smack-dab in the middle of my right goddamn mind, and any scumbag, any... any lowlife, any maggot piece of shit that I put down, I did it... because I liked it! Hell, I loved it! I'm sittin' here, I'm... I'm just itching, I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm itching to do it again. And you think... What, you think you're gonna send me to a nuthouse? Some doctor, they're gonna get me to stop doing what I wanna do? Well, that ain't happenin'! Not on my watch! You people, you call me the Punisher, ain't that right? The big, bad Punisher. Well, here I am! You want it, you got it! I am the Punisher! I'm right here! You want it, I'll give it to you! And anybody who came here today to hear me whine, hear me beg?! Well, you can kiss my ass! Do you hear me? I'm guilty! That's my plea, Judge! I'm guilty, you hear me?! I'm guilty! I'm guilty! I'll kill every one of 'em! I'll kill every single one!
—Frank Castle, Daredevil (2015), "Guilty as Sin''
The Maiden of the Mist: Your human form is so confining. You could be infinite!
Yorick: I am enough.
Yorick: I am enough.
Tommy: You know, Sal wanted me to go to law school. Work for some big company. Maybe run for office. 'Do something decent with your goddamn life, ya understand?'
Lincoln: You should have listened to him.
Tommy: It's in the blood, you know?
Lincoln: Yeah. You are who you are and there's no point in arguing with yourself about it.
