History Main / TheyCallMeMisterTibbs

* The form of address used by various characters in referring to a certain, ah, You-Know-Who is important to characterization throughout, and becomes critical in the last book of, the ''HarryPotter'' series. Depending on who's talking about him and to whom, he'll be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (formal, almost "official" parlance), You-Know-Who (casually between most wizards, if anyone speaks of Voldemort casually), Voldemort or Lord Voldemort (a rare brave few), the Dark Lord (mostly Death Eaters), Riddle (used very sparingly), or Tom (almost exclusively the purview of Dumbledore). The closest he got to actually being named in the media was when Cornelius Fudge referred to him as "Lord ''Thingy''."

[[TropeCodifier Trope is named]] for SidneyPoitier's famous line from ''InTheHeatOfTheNight'', where an educated black detective, Virgil Tibbs, is in a bigoted part of the South, and ends up tied up in a murder case; early on, he is asked what people call him where he comes from.

* One ''{{Dragnet}}'' episode had a perp who insisted on being addressed as Mister Daniel Loomis. Sergeant Joe Friday informs him that he is heading to a place where he will be a number, and not a Mister.

* The TropeNamer, ''InTheHeatOfTheNight''. "They call me ''Mister'' Tibbs!"

* The 1950 ''TreasureIsland'' film. After Long John Silver and his mutineers have successfully captured the ''Hispaniola'' and left the officers barricaded in a stockade house on the island, Silver approaches the house to negotiate.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. Captain Jack Sparrow always insisted on the title. Understandable, as being a pirate captain borders on his purpose in life; it's certainly far more than a mere job. By ''Dead Man's Chest'', other characters had bought into it:
-->'''Beckett:''' You do remember a pirate named...I believe it is "Jack Sparrow"?\\

* ''{{Nixon}}'': When the head of the CIA calls him "Dick", Nixon replies with, "My friends call me 'Mister President.'"
* ''AustinPowers'': "Doctor Evil! I didn't spend all those years in [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate evil medical school]] to be called 'mister', thank you very much!"
* Reversed in ''TheAmericanPresident''. President Andrew Shepherd's Chief of Staff and best friend, A.J., always calls him "Mister President", even when they're alone. At one point, he insists that A.J. can call him "Andy" when they're alone. A.J. responds, "Whatever you say, Mr. President."
* In ''ThePinkPanther'' movies, once Jacques Clouseau is promoted to Chief Inspector, he makes sure to point it out to everyone calling him "Inspector".
* ''Film/StarTrek'' This is not James T. Kirk. "This is ''Captain'' James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise."
** Mr. Chekhov acknowledging orders from Spock, who's the Captain in Pike's absence; "Aye commander, uh..er...Captain. Sorry, ''captain''."
** Type A; in order to demonstrate the utter contempt and arrogance of the villain in an extremely direct and subtle way.
--> Pike: This is Captain Christopher Pike of the Starship ''Enterprise''. To whom am I speaking?
--> Nero: Hi Christopher. I'm Nero.
* In ''LockStockAndTwoSmokingBarrels,'' Vinny Jones' character Big Chris, a loan enforcer for [[AllDevouringBlackHoleLoanSharks Hatchet Harry]], admonishes (read: slams a tanning bed lid on his face) a delinquent debtor who gets it wrong when speaking of the creditor.
--> Debtor: "Tell Harry--" '''SLAM''' "--I mean ''Mister'' Harry..."
** When Rory Breaker's thug addresses him as "Rory" while he's in the midst of a cold fury, he responds, "That's Mr. Breaker. Today, my name is ''Mr. Breaker!''
* In ''ToSirWithLove'', as soon as he starts teaching the class, Thackeray declares that he is "no dude, or brother, or man. I am Mister Thackeray." He also makes a point of referring to all his pupils as Mr. or Miss as a mark of respect. This was also done in the sequel.

-->Gangster: Now listen, bozo-
-->Groucho: That's ''Mister'' Bozo to you.
* Done twice in ''AFewGoodMen'' within seconds of each other.

* In the movie ''ThreeTheHardWay'', a policeman is looking at the hero's driver's license:

* At one point in ''Film/YoungGunsII'', Pat Garrett is accused of letting Billy the Kid escape by deliberately getting to the Kid's hideout late. US Marshall Poe calls him "Pat," leading to:

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Rei always addresses Asuka in the most impersonal way possible.

** This troper received some [[SemperFi Corps]] flavored ass-chew when he mistakenly addressed a Gunnery Sergeant as "Sergeant". Gunny was lenient on account that "(Army) soldiers don't know no better".

** [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesJokersFavor The episode ''Joker's Favor'']] from BatmanTheAnimatedSeries: When Batman meets Charlie Collins, he is a pathetic victim of TheJoker who is HoldingOutForAHero and could have helped TheJoker to kill a lot of people. When Batman meets him again at the alley, Batman calls him ''Charlie''. After Charlie confronts the Joker and pranks him with a bomb, Batman addresses him as ''Mr. Collins''.

** US Army soldiers (especially in ground combat units) will sometimes refer to the First Sergeant, who is the highest ranking sergeant in a company, as "Top", short for "Top Sergeant", depending on the level of familiarity and atmosphere.

* From the point of view of Navy trastionalists, named ships are almost universally "misaddressed" in (civilian) media and speech. Proper address of a ship's name, at least in English, is to treat it as if it were a person. Therefore, a ship should ''never'' be addressed with "the" before its name. In other words, "the ''Enterprise''" is incorrect, and she should actually just be addressed as ''Enterprise''. The exceptions would be if discussing a class of vessels (the ''Nimitz''-class carrier) or using some other description before the name (the WWII aircraft carrier ''Intrepid'').

* ''AustinPowers'': "Doctor Evil! I didn't spend all those years in]] [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate evil medical school]] to be called 'mister', thank you very much!"

* In James Clavell's ''{{Shogun}}'', the protagonist insists on being referred to as ''Anjin-san'' ("Mr. Pilot") instead of just ''Anjin'' as soon as he's learned enough Japanese to understand what ''[[JapaneseHonorifics -san]]'' means.

** ''Blackadder goes forth'' also gives us the delicious exchange:

* In the German version of ''StarCraftII'', Matt usually addresses Raynor with the formal "Sie", but when it's only the two of them in the Cantina (like in the cinematics "Hearts and Minds" and "Who we choose to be") he switches to the more familiar "Du".
** An exceedingly minor character in the StarCraft ExpandedUniverse, Captain Serl Gentry, is a military scientist. You could call him "Doctor" or "Captain", as he has earned both ranks, but he does ''not'' like it when an enlisted nurse calls him Doctor. He only tolerates "Captain".

** The LawAndOrderUK episode based on this also inverts this trope when the man in question consistently refers to James Steele by his proper title rather than his first name in an effort to aggravate him by acting as though they're equals.
* The titular character of DrQuinnMedicineWoman often needs to remind people to call her "Dr" instead of "Miss", several of whom ''deliberately'' call her "Miss" in an effort to rankle her and demonstrate their lack of respect.
* In the first episode of Season 4 of {{Castle}} Detective Beckett calls the new Captain "ma'am" leading to her responding: "My mother drops by, you can call her ma'am. Call me Sir or Captain.
* On OneLifeToLive, as {{Jerkass}} character nastily refers to a doctor who has had his licensed revoked (thanks to the {{Jerkass}} lying through his teeth during a malpractice suit) as ''"Mr."'' in an effort to taunt him.
* One of the many, many RunningGags that occurs in the Mexican sitcom ElChavoDelOcho, usually with El Chavo referring to Profesor Jirafales[[hottip:*:In Spanish, it's spelled with one s.]] as "Maestro Longaniza" ("longaniza" is a kind of sausage).

* One {{Dragnet}} episode had a perp who insisted on being addressed as Mister Daniel Loomis. Sergeant Joe Friday informs him that he is heading to a place where he will be a number, and not a Mister.
* PlayedForLaughs in FatherTed, as the housekeeper Mrs. Doyle is [[RunningGag never referred to her first name]]:

** A variant bordering on subversion occurs with His Grace His Excellency Commander Sir Samuel Vimes The Duke Of Ankh. He started out simply as a Captain of the Watch, and was Captain Vimes. Then he retired and said, "They call me ''Mister'' Vimes" in a reference to ''In The Heat Of The Night''. That didn't last; though Vimes did mean to retire, in short order he was made a Knight, and Commander of the Watch. Still later, he was made a Duke. He's not fond of "Sir Samuel" or "Your Grace," though...while he ''does'' understand the value of titles, he prefers to use his Watch rank. He's ''Commander'' Vimes, thank you very much. He is occasionally "Sir Samuel, if you must," if calling a duke by his job title is giving someone apoplexy.\\

** ''Mistress'' Weatherwax. She won't let you forget it. Unless you come from her home country of Lancre and/or have known her for a ''really'' long time; then she generally won't object to being called "Granny." Only Nanny Ogg and Archchancellor Ridcully are allowed to call her by her first name, though. In the short story "The Sea And Little Fishes", Mrs Earwig commits the unpardonable sin of calling her "Miss Weatherwax".

* ''TheNightOfTheHunter: "''Preacher]]'' Harry Powell."

* This is SeriousBusiness ''[[TheLordsOfCreation In the Courts of the Crimson Kings]]''. A human Eastern-bloc ambassador nearly suffers a nasty fate when he refers to their "fraternal aid" to the Emperor, implying a blood relationship where none exists.

** After Miles gets a permanent post as Imperial Auditor, both Ivan and Miles' clone brother Mark address him as "Lord Auditor Coz/Brother" on occasion to needle him.

* Zigzagged by LaurenceOlivier on the set of {{Sleuth}}. When MichaelCaine, who had never met a Peer before, asked how he should be addressed, Olivier replied, "I must always be addressed as Lord Olivier. And now that that's settled, call me Larry."

** The Romance languages as a rule have these, with different cultures having different rules for the use of titles and formal or informal address. For example, it is very rare in Mexico for strangers not to use ''doctor(a)'' when addressing a medical doctor or even a medical ''student,'' but using the formal form of You (''usted'') is rare. Yet the informal second person plural (''vosotros'') form is almost never heard outside Spain. In Latin America, second person plurals are almost universally addressed with the formal ''ustedes.''