Friendly Address Privileges

Dominic Greene: My friends call me Dominic.

James Bond: I'm sure they do.
—Quantum of Solace

When a character wants to make things a little less formal, perhaps to show how amicable and gracious he is, or just because he's laid back and being friendly, he might decide to drop the formalities and invite others to use his first name, or even a nickname.

A common Subversion is for the other character to then pointedly abstain from using the more casual name, or for the first character to specify that while his friends call him that, the character they are talking to shouldn't.

A subtrope of Don't Call Me "Sir"!. When subverted, often overlaps with They Call Me Mr. Tibbs.

Examples of Friendly Address Privileges include:

Comic Books

To my friends, de name's Remy LeBeau. To my enemies, it's Gambit! You can go on ahead an' forget dat first name right about now.

Film

Sheriff Bart: What's your name?
The Waco Kid: Well, my name is Jim, but most people call me... Jim.

Criminal Kid: You didn't tell me your name.
Jeannie: It's Jean, but a lot of guys call me Shauna.
Criminal Kid: Okay, Jean.

Megara: Megara. My friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends.

Leonard Smalls. My friends call me Lenny... but I ain't got no friends.

  • RoboCop 3 has another variation His friends call him Murphy, but the OCP executive can call him RoboCop.
  • Quantum of Solace included the quote above. Greene trying to act gracious, while Bond is being pretty blunt with the fact that he doesn't like him.
  • From Zardoz, when Zed sees that Arthur Frayn aka Zardoz is Not Quite Dead:

Frayn: My Brutal friends call me Zardoz.
(Frayn stabs Zed with a collapsible knife)

Hans Gruber: Touching, Cowboy, touching. Or should I call you, Mr. McClane? Mr. Officer John McClane of the New York Police Department?
John McClane: Sister Teresa called me Mr. McClane in the third grade. My friends call me John, and you're neither, shithead.

Kent: Hello, Jerry!
Dr. Hathaway: I told you before, Kent: you don't get to use my first name.

Literature

  • Commander Vimes from Discworld allows those he really, really likes to just call him "Mister Vimes".
    • Also:

Vimes: This is Mr. A.E. Pessimal, plain A.E. if he ever makes friends.

    • Discworld in general has a lot of fun with this.
  • From the Doctor Who New Adventures novels, the Doctor's latest companion meets the Master for the first time: "Summerfield. Bernice Summerfield. My friends call me Benny, but you can call me Professor Summerfield."
  • From Dead Beat:

Ramirez: Everyone else who lets me ride on their dinosaur calls me Carlos.

    • The trope is very commonly subverted in The Dresden Files - Harry constantly corrects people (most often, Nicodemus Archleone and John Marcone) trying to call him that, insisting that they would never be his friends. He also does it himself all the time to grind people's gears, continuing to use first names after being explicitly told not to.

Live Action TV

(JJ enters the room where Hotch is speaking with convicted serial killer Jacob)
Jacob: Oooh! Who are you?
JJ: My friends call me JJ...
Jacob: Well... hello, JJ!
JJ: You're not my friend. You can call me Jennifer.

  • The Dukes of Hazzard: Boss Hogg uses his Speed Trap to stop any famous singers passing through. The fine is six months in jail or one song at the Boar's Nest. Tammy Wynette gets stopped, and sings for her freedom. After the song the Dukes go up to her and congratulate her, each calling her Miss Wynette, to which she replies "you can call me Tammy." Then Boss Hogg steps up.

Boss Hogg: That fine performance of yours squares the fine on this speeding ticket, Tammy.
Tammy: You can call me Miss Wynette.

Sejanus "Ah, Castor, how nice to see you."

Castor "I'm Castor to my friends, Sejanus."
—I, Claudius "Some Justice"

Music

  • Singer Eric Bogle traditionally introduces himself in song at the start of a concert. One of the introduction songs goes:

My name is Eric, some folk call me Eck,
Call me Ricky and I'll break your neck,
If you're feeling formal, Mr Bogle will do,
But to my friends it's Eric, and I hope that means you.

Video Games

York: FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan. Please, just call me York. That's what everyone calls me.

  • Averted in the introductory level of Hitman: Blood Money, when the guard at the amusement park gate asks for 47's name.

47: Names are for friends, so I don't need one.

Ventus: Call me Ven!

Western Animation

Dr. Doofenshmirtz: And I'm Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, but my friends call me... (trails off, sighs) Man, I just got in such a funk.

I'm 1776, but my friends call me Sev. Will you be my friend?

Ned Flanders: The handle says Flanders, but my friends call me Ned!
Homer Simpson: (bored) Hi, Flanders.

Pip: My name is Philip, but the kids call me Pip because they hate me.
Damien: Then I shall call you Pip.
Pip: Right-o.

Real Life

  • Comes up from time to time in organizations with fairly rigid hierarchies, such as the armed forces. Depending on the organization, this is often officially prohibited in order to maintain discipline between the ranks.
    • This also becomes a subject of some Interservice Rivalry related ribbing, as different branches of the same service (such as the United States Army and the Air Force) may have different cultural attitudes towards this sort of thing.[1]
  1. ↑ The US Air Force, for a variety of reasons, is seen as far more relaxed in this area than the Army, for instance.
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