History Main / OfThePeople

No relation to PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, where "Of the People" and similar phrases are generally used in the democratic sense as part of the titles of otherwise oppressive regimes.

* In many of the works of Creator/ZennaHenderson there's a group of humanoid aliens living on Earth that refers to themselves as "The People" in so many words. They arrived here around the turn of the 20th century, when their Home planet exploded. They look human enough to pass for human, provided they're not flying at the time, or doing one of the many other wondrous feats they're known and loved for by generations of SF readers. While some isolated Groups on Earth attempt to suppress and deny their heritage, others continue to use their powers discreetly. While continuing to call themselves "The People", they refer to the inhabitants of Earth as "Outsiders", and there's a distinct sense that they continue to call themselves that as a way of reminding themselves that they are not human.

* A DiscussedTrope in ''Literature/CitizenoftheGalaxy'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein. The protagonist finds himself being shunned by the Free Trader crew of the spaceship, and an anthropologist explains that they don't regard either of them as 'people'.

** The Qunari have a similar notion: "Outsider" in their language is "Bas". It can also mean "Thing".

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* The People in Creator/UrsulaVernon's ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' (a tribe of semi-anthropomorphic hyenas) operate this way. A little more significant than some of these examples because it determines whether or not you're fair game to be ''lunch''.
* Variant in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. The one-eyed Uniocs are from the planet Oth, and most species are named after their planet of origin.
-->'''Kevyn:''' Why do we call your people Uniocs rather than ''Oth''ers?\\
'''Ebby:''' As cultural underdogs, it was all we could do to convince you to call us "one-eye" rather than "foreigner."
[[/folder]]

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': In Act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope in regard to the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment and are not a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane asks for Cyrano's help in averting this trope with Christian. In Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is given an EmbarrassingNickname, and is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consisting of a [[DareToBeBadass dare]] to [[BullyingTheDragon Bully The Dragon]] by mentioning the word [[BerserkButton “nose” to Cyrano]].

* Played pretty straight in ''Franchise/DragonAge''. Elves refer to themselves as ''Elvhen'' ("The People"), Humans are ''Shemlen'' ("Quick Children") and Dwarves are ''Durgen'len'' ("Children of the Stone").

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having fewer voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]] Similarly, various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries proposed that other ethnic groups were actually different species. Their theories have largely been discredited by UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, wherein ThoseWackyNazis acted upon their recommendations and tried to kill 40 million people and enslave a further 140 million (but "only" successfully knocked off 25 million). Today's true believers in the validity of OfThePeople in the real world overlap significantly with true believers in the non-existence of The Holocaust ('Holocaust Deniers').

* In the 1982 ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''Kinda'', the Kinda refer to themselves as "we" and outsiders as "not-we." The latter term has been co-opted by UsefulNotes/{{Whovians}} to refer to people outside the fan community.

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having fewer voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]] Similarly, various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries proposed that other ethnic groups were actually different species. Their theories have largely been discredited by UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, wherein ThoseWackyNazis acted upon their recommendations and tried to kill 40 million people and enslave a further 140 million (but "only" successfully knocked off 25 million). Today's true believers in the validity of OfThePeople in the real world overlap significantly with true believers in the non-existence of The Holocaust ('Holocaust Deniers').

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having fewer voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]] Similarly, various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries proposed that other ethnic groups were actually different species. Their theories have largely been discredited by UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, wherein ThoseWackyNazis acted upon their recommendations and tried to kill 40 million people and enslave a further 140 (but only successfully knocked off 25). Today's true believers in the validity of OfThePeople in the real world overlap significantly with true believers in the non-existence of The Holocaust ('Holocaust Deniers').

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having fewer voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]] Similarly, various white biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries proposed that other ethnic groups were actually different species, but those theories have been discredited since UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, when ThoseWackyNazis used such theories to justify murdering millions of people.

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having fewer voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]]

* The name Mri in Creator/CJCherryh's ''Faded Sun'' trilogy means "people". What do these catlike aliens call humans and regul? Tsi-mri, "not-people". This makes the entry of Duncan into their society all the more noteworthy, and the inclusion of three humans in their holy records unheard of for any other species. They're still [[CantArgueWithElves unapologetic]] [[OurElvesAreBetter space elves]] though (but we like them anyway).

* In [[EndersGame Speaker For The Dead]], it's explained that there are four words for the varying kinds of 'people' that by the end of the book have become commonplace--one for the person of your own tribe/family/city (one's kin and equals), one for the person of another country/city/world (capable of sharing a community, communicating, and living as equals), one for the person who is of another species (who can at least be communicated with and thus peaceful co-existence achieved), and one for the truly alien or savage beast (with whom no communication can take place, usually meaning one side will destroy or dominate the other in order to be safe).

The classical Greeks were similar to the Slavs, giving their neighbors a name that cast aspersions on their speaking skills: Greek "barbaros" meant "babbler," and it meant Persians and Middle Easterners, whose languages sounded like babbling to the Greeks; it didn't refer to the sorts of peoples who we think of when we hear "barbarian."

* Steven Brust renders this attitude by having both [[{{Dragaera}} Dragaerans]] (elves, more or less) and Easterners (humans, apparently), refer to themselves as "humans", and considering the other group not humans.

* In ''{{Traveller}}'' the Aslan name themselves ''Fteir'' which means "People of honor". Which doesn't mean non-aslan are not people, just that they are dishonorable. It is possible, however, for a being born into a non-Aslan body to be treated as ''Fteirle'' by living according to its tenets- it is more of a philosophy than a racial identity.

* CyranoDeBergerac: In Act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope in regard to the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment and are not a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane asks for Cyrano's help in averting this trope with Christian. In Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is given an EmbarrassingNickname, and is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consisting of a [[DareToBeBadass dare]] to [[BullyingTheDragon Bully The Dragon]] by mentioning the word [[BerserkButton “nose” to Cyrano]].

[[/folder]]

* The Atan people of David Eddings' ''{{Tamuli}}'' are a bog-standard ProudWarriorRace, so naturally it's mentioned at one point that they consider everyone else to be non-humans. In a bit of a twist, though, they've long since sold themselves as slaves to the Tamul Empire, because without an external interest directing their warlike tendencies they would quickly devolve into constant civil war.

* CyranoDeBergerac: At act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope about the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment not being a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane ask Cyrano his help to avert this trope with Christian. At Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is being given an EmbarrassingNickname, and he is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consisting of a DareToBeBadass to [[BullyingTheDragon Bully The Dragon]] by mentioning the word [[BerserkButton “nose” to Cyrano]].

--> 'Midst us pure Gascons—(pure! Heaven save the mark!

* The name Mri in Creator/CJCherryh's ''Faded Sun'' trilogy means "people". What do these cat like aliens call humans and regul? Tsi-mri, "not-people". This makes the entry of Duncan into their society all the more noteworthy, and the inclusion of three humans in their holy records unheard of for any other species. They're still [[CantArgueWithElves unapologetic]] [[OurElvesAreBetter space elves]] though (but we like them anyway).

--->It is more than just a wall, it is a marker. On one side is the Empire, which in the Agatean language is a word identical with "universe". On the other side is - nothing. After all, the universe is everything there is.\\\

* Diane Duane's Trek novel ''Literature/SpocksWorld'' gives many details of the history Vulcan, including "The Sundering." "United Federation of Planets" translates into Rihan (aka Romulan) as "Them, from There" while the Klingon Empire is "More of Them, from Somewhere Else."

* Steven Brust renders this attitude by having [[{{Dragaera}} Dragaerans]] (elves, more or less) and Easterners (humans, apparently), referring to themselves as "humans", and considering the other group not humans.

* The Ai-Naidar of ''Literature/{{Kherishdar}}'' consider themselves people, and everything else including aliens "other" - humans are in some way lumped in with rocks and animals (and gods, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality oddly enough]]).
* In [[EndersGame Speaker For The Dead]], it's explained that there are four words for the varying kinds of 'people' that by the end of the book have become commonplace- one for the person of your own tribe/family/city (ones' kin and equals), one for the person of another country/city/world (capable of sharing a community, communicating, and living as equals), one for the person who is of another species (who can at least be communicated with and thus peaceful co-existence achieved), and one for the truly alien or savage beast (with whom no communication can take place, usually meaning one side will destroy or dominate the other in order to be safe).

* The Temuji of the ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' series have named themselves The People. Anyone who isn't them isn't a person, and so they have no more qualms about killing others - no matter how old or young - than we have of stepping on an ant.

* In ComicBook/BlackPanther ,Wakandans are somewhat xenophobic and racist. They tend to view foreigners as barbarians and avoid doing business with them. When one government official suggests giving Westerners the Cure For Cancer, T'Challa overrules him, fearing that they would somehow turn the cure into a weapon.

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.[[note]]Ironically though, the slave states wanted the slaves counted as full people, since it would give them more representation in Congress, even with having less voters. The free states wanted them not counted at all, thus the compromise.[[/note]]

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.

* In ''Film/LittleBigMan'', the character played by Dustin Hoffman used the term "Human Being" when referring to "The People". But in reality, "Tsitsistas", the name of his tribe of the Cheyennes, means something more like "people like us." ("Cheyenne," for reference, is a Sioux term meaning "people who talk like foreigners." "Sioux," for reference, is an Ojibwe/Chippewa term meaning "people who talk like foreigners." And guess what "Ojibwe" means in Cree...)

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki. This mindset may be why the trope is more prevalent in Western works.

Real-world tribal peoples, by contrast, are much more likely to call themselves "those who speak eloquently" and their neighbors "the people who don't know how to talk." Peoples who call themselves "the only real people" are few and far between; peoples who call their neighbors "not real people" are practically unknown. A rare exception may be the Three-Fifths Compromise ''legal'' designation in the United States that declared whites full people, and blacks 3/5 of a person, officially from 1787-1865, with lasting direct repercussions until at least 1960 according to TheOtherWiki.