I, Noun
So you're going through the bookstore reading titles, browsing for something to read. You see lots of random things, incoherent titles, boring titles, one-word titles that could mean anything or nothing. What to read? And then you see it. A book that sounds like it will focus on one subject just because of the title. A book that purports to speak from authority, just because of the title. It is a book that reads "I, Noun" possibly with an obscenely long subtitle.
This is a subtrope of The Joy of X. Related to Enter Eponymous.
Examples of I, Noun include:
Audio Plays
- "I, Davros" A Doctor Who spinoff series of audio dramas.
Comic Books
- "I, Zombie" Vertigo comic book series.
- "I, Zombie" is also the title of a White Zombie song and a film, none of which are related.
- "I, Vampire", DC Comics strip about a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire.
- "I, Joker", a Graphic Novel about the eponymous super villain.
Film
- I, Madman, 1989 horror film.
- I, the Jury a noir featuring Mike Hammer. Based on the book by Mickey Spillane.
Literature
- I, Claudius, possibly the Ur Example.
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, definitely the Trope Codifier.
- "I, Robot", an unrelated short story by Eando Binder (which actually predates the Asimov by about a decade, and may have inspired its title).
- I, Robot, an arcade game released in the 80s.
- I, Vampire: The Confessions of a Vampire -- His Life, His Loves, His Strangest Desires ... by Michael Romkey - You get the feeling they just couldn't bring themselves to use such an undescriptive title and trust it to stand on its own merits.
- I, Strahd by P. Elrod, memoirs of titular vampire, set in Ravenloft.
- I, Sniper: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel by Stephen Hunter
- I, the Jury a noir by Mickey Spillane featuring Mike Hammer. Also became a movie.
- I, Monster: Serial Killers in Their Own Chilling Words by Tom Philbin
- I, Q, a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel featuring Q (and riffing off the intelligence test of the same name).
- I, Tyrant -- AD&D2 Sourcebook about beholders (a pun on "eye tyrant").
- I, Weapon, a 70s sci-fi novel about the breeding of the ultimate living weapon from several human subspecies to fight an alien threat.
- I, Jedi, the only Star Wars Expanded Universe novel to be written entirely in the first person.
- Isaac Asimov parodied himself with a late autobiography called I. Asimov: A Memoir, where the different punctuation transforms the pronoun into an initial.
- Cory Doctorow has short stories called both "I, Robot" and "I, Rowboat".
- "I Cthulhu or, What's A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47° 9' S, Longitude 126° 43' W)?", by Neil Gaiman.
- I, Lucifer by Glenn Duncan.
- I, Ba'al, a short story set in the Stargate Verse.
- Week Ending: Cabinet Leaks had a parody autobiography of Carol Thatcher called I, Carol. And every time she refers to herself in the first person it's "I, Carol", to the editor's despair.
Live-Action TV
- "I, Borg", a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode—a significant title, as the hiveminded Borg attach no importance to individuals. (Strictly speaking, the official episode title, and the one on production records, is "I Borg" with no comma. It's still an example.)
- The Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "I Robot, You Jane" (which doubles as a Literary Allusion Title to "Me Tarzan, you Jane").
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ends with a string of these, including "I, Whoops There It Is" and "I, Done".
- "I, Rowboat" was also the title of a Conan O'Brien parody of the then-recent Will Smith I Robot movie.
- "I, Mudd", a Star Trek: The Original Series episode.
- "I, E.T.", a Farscape episode
Theatre
- Musical about Roy Keane: I, Keano
Web Original
- I, Mario, the attempt at a more realistic Super Mario Bros..
Western Animation
- Futurama: "I, Roommate.
- "I, Brobot" (Phineas and Ferb)
- "I, D'oh- Bot", an episode of The Simpsons.
- "I, Monster" is the title of an episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
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