History Main / OfThePeople

%% * Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'' %% Zero Context Example

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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 Holocaust deniers.

** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tel-quessir#Relations_with_other_races Elves]] call themselves ''tel'quessir'', which means "the people"; the various kinds of elves are named by adding qualifiers to this term; non-elves are ''n'tel'quess'', "not people". More often than not, the latter term has no elitist subtext attached, but depending on context may annoy even some elves. The funny part is that, after drow were "divorced" from the main elven community, both began to call each other "not people". Half-elves, meanwhile, get called ''cha'tel'quessir'', "almost of the people".

* In ''TabletopGame/{{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.
* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' elves [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tel-quessir#Relations_with_other_races use simple terms]] "the people" and "not people". More often than [[FantasticRacism not]] the latter term have no elitist subtext attached, but depending on context may annoy even some elves. Funny part is that after drow were "divorced" from the main elven community, both began to call each other "not people". Half-elves, meanwhile, get called "Almost of the people".
* Dolphins in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' refer to Humans and only Humans as "Land People". Non-humans who also happen to be landlubbers are only referred to as "Others". Taking it a step further, Humans who live and work on the sea are given an extra step up and called "Boat People".
* In older versions of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Halflings in their own language refer to themselves as "The People" and use other words (not all complimentary) for other races. This is used to justify why their general name is a bit of a [[FantasticRacism slur against their height]] whereas other races have names derived from their own languages (in general).
* Among the various names for [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken the Uratha]] is "the People."

** The Qunari have a similar notion: "Outsider" in their language is "Bas". It can also mean "Thing". The name "Qunari" actually means "follower of the Qun", with the Qun being their religion; like with the elves, they take the distinction quite seriously but everyone else treats it as just a name for the race.

For some reason, [[CantArgueWithElves no one argues]] with their exclusionist views. Alternately, heroes who [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman share similar]], [[WhatMeasureIsAMook unspoken sentiments]] and act in exactly the same ways may either [[WhatTheHellHero be called out on it]], or [[MoralDissonance fail to notice]] their own [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] when calling them out on their values.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' [[Francise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novel]] ''Metamorphosis,'' one of the subplots deals with the ''Enterprise'' responding to a species that is being attacked by a race called the Konor, which turns out to be the ''Konor'''s name for themselves, calling anybody else "iKonor," which equates to animals. [[spoiler: The Konor are telepathic, and it turns out that they're actually of the same species which had called for aid, throwing the ''Enterprise'' into a [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]] quandary.]]

* 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." [[note]]For example: "Bárbaros," the ancient Greek word from which "barbarian" is derived, was an onomatopoeic word that meant "babbler" and referred to non-Greek speakers; to Greeks back in the day, foreign tongues sounded like their equivalent of "BlahBlahBlah": "bar bar bar").[[/note]] 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 Holocaust deniers.

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", but highly advanced civilizations.

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." [[note]]For example: "Bárbaros," the ancient Greek word from which "barbarian" is derived from, was an onomatopoeic word that meant "babbler" and referred to non-Greek speakers; to Greeks back in the day, foreign tongues sounded like their equivalent of "BlahBlahBlah": "bar bar bar").[[/note]] 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 Holocaust deniers.

No relation to PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, where totalitarian regimes put "Of the People" and other [[{{Newspeak}} similar, democratic-sounding phrases]] in their titles.

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." [[note]]For example: "Bárbaros," the ancient Greek word from which "barbarian" is derived from, was an onomatopoeic word that meant "babbler" and referred to non-Greek speakers; to Greeks back in the day, foreign tongues were the equivalent of "BlahBlahBlah" (or "bar bar bar", in their case).[[/note]] 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 Holocaust deniers.

* %% Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'' %% Zero Context Example
* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

** This trope is deeply examined by Pratchett's co-authors in ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' books, in which Cohen and Stewart refer to the cultural conditioning and education of children as the "Make-A-Human-Being Kit". Every tribe has one exclusive to itself, and if you grew up in a culture that uses a different version of the Kit, your status as a True Human Being is probationary at best.

** In the ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'', the aliens from ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' tell Johnny that they call ''themselves'' "mankind", and that it's really them whom he's obliged to save.

* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''The Carpet People''. See page quote.
** In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

** In ''Literature/Discworld'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

** In ''Literature/SoulMusic'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

** In ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

** In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the terrifyingly warlike D'regs adopted their name from the local word for 'enemy' - it was what everyone else in the area already called them, anyway.

-->...and the D'regs were at war with everyone, including one another, and having considerable fun because the D'reg word for 'stranger' was the same as for 'target'.

* Diane Duane's Trek novel ''Literature/SpocksWorld'' gives many details of the history of 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."

* In many of the works of Zenna Henderson 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.

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." [[note]]For example: "Bárbaros," the ancient Greek word from which "barbarian" is derived from, was an onomatopeic word that meant "babbler" and referred to non-Greek speakers; to Greeks back in the day, foreign tongues sounded like the equivalent of "BlahBlahBlah" ("bar bar bar" in their case).[[/note]] 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 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." [[note]]For example: "Bárbaros," the ancient Greek word from which "barbarian" is derived from, meant "babbler" and referred to anyone who did not speak Greek[[/note]] 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 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 various European biologists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who 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 Holocaust deniers.

** This trope is deeply examined by Pratchett's co-authors in ''Discworld/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' books, in which Cohen and Stewart refer to the cultural conditioning and education of children as the "Make-A-Human-Being Kit". Every tribe has one exclusive to itself, and if you grew up in a culture that uses a different version of the Kit, your status as a True Human Being is probationary at best.
** A similar idea is used in ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'', though with countries instead 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 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 Holocaust deniers.

* The Skinners, from Literature/TheGeneral series call themselves "fraihom" meaning "real men". They acknowledge Raj as a 'half man', as a token if his badassery.

No relation to PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, where "Of the People" and other [[{{Newspeak}} similar, democratic-sounding phrases]] are used in the titles of otherwise totalitarian regimes.

No relation to PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, where "Of the People" and similar phrases are a democratic-sounding variation of {{Newspeak}} by otherwise oppressive regimes.