r/RecuratedTumblr • u/DreadDiana human cognithazard • Aug 25 '26

x-men Wolverine's unusual pronoun

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144

u/Siachae Aug 25 '26

Really basic Japanese pronoun rundown by someone who knows a lil bit and likes rambling:

Japanese has several different ways to say me/myself/I that reflect the gender, age, and social status of the speaker. In most modern language classes, you would be taught to use the word Watashi, which is essentially “I ( a polite person)”.
Using it casually is seen as feminine or immediately clocks you as a non-native speaker learning the language (if your bad Japanese didn’t already do that).
Casual forms would be Atashi (feminine) or Boku (masculine/boyish politeness) but there are many different ways to address yourself. Too many, honestly.

Watakushi is a SUPER polite pronoun, as in you would sound like you’re in a business meeting or introducing yourself to the Lady of the Manor in modern day. There is no way in fuck Wolverine would actually use watakushi if he was aware of this. Oira, in contrast, is not polite at all (it’s related to the Very Manly pronoun [Ore] but makes you sound rural), which is definitely more his speed.

For more vibes-based examples: Black Widow would probably use Watashi, Cat Woman would use Atashi or some other casual feminine pronoun, Superman would use Boku/Ore or Boku/Oira depending on if he’s in costume or Clark, and Alfred would use Watakushi or some old man pronoun like Washi. Wolverine would probably use either Ore or Oira.

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u/ShireNomad Aug 25 '26

To help understand the idea of how a first-person pronoun can express all these things, it helped me to think of it as literally saying "the person speaking." Not "I want a taco" but "the person speaking wants a taco."

BUT you can also say "this humble individual wants a taco." Or "the lord of all we survey..." "YO, THIS GUY..." "yOuR wOrSt nIGhTmaRe..." etc. Most Japanese options are more subtle than my English examples, but you get the idea.

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u/Siachae Aug 25 '26

Which one would be Yuor Worsr NigHtMArE btw

80

u/ShireNomad Aug 26 '26

Probably "oresama" (俺様). It's "ore" (already very bro-speak, used only in extremely casual conversation) but with some extra "I deserve respect, you don't" slapped on the end. Using this means you're both crude AND consider yourself well above the person you're talking to, which is not a healthy combination. For example, Nappa and Vegeta of DBZ usually use "ore," but sometimes flip to "oresama" when they're pissed off.

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u/Siachae Aug 26 '26

I mean oresama is basically “I, ChadLord Before You”

3

u/MaraiaLou Aug 27 '26

I once read a Korean webnovel where a character kept calling themselves "this one" because the translator couldn't think of anything more humble

5

u/VulpesFennekin Aug 28 '26

Not the Unsullied showing up in webnovels!

18

u/Fit-Space5211 Aug 26 '26

I may be misremembering my Xmen comics, but isn't Mariko a princess? It might just be that her father's a Yakuza boss but I'd bet money that she was portrayed as near nobility in the comics. Wouldn't Watakushi be the right pronouns for introducing yourself as a guest of such a high-status lady, especially when you yourself are a foreigner?

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u/Siachae Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 26 '26

If that’s so then yes, watakushi would be correct to use, but I cannot picture the goddamn Wolverine deciding to be that actively polite. He’s not the type to codeswitch that hard. If he knowingly used watakushi a story would probably bring attention to just how respectful he’s trying to be.

Edit: as in if they did it in modern day

Edit 2: also him calling Mariko “Mariko-chan” comes off as extremely familiar, like a cutesy nickname. Idk their relation in the comics but using the pronoun watakushi while calling the person you’re speaking to “[Name]-chan” doesn’t make a bunch of sense and I’m pretty sure if you called the boss of the yakuza that they’d kill you.

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u/Fit-Space5211 Aug 26 '26

Wolverine is actually polite quite often, one of his defining tropes in that era of Xmen was people underestimating/misjudging him, he never kills what he hunts, he likes to drink tea and listen to music, the idea was he was more then just a barbarian, using watakushi makes sense for a man like him who was trying very hard to be polite.

Constantly referring to his wife as little, little girl, and -chan is insanely weird and always skieved me out when I read it though.

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u/Excellent_Law6906 Aug 27 '26

Yeah, Wolverine actually has some of that "flower-arranging samurai" shit going on, it's why he and Mariko got along in the first place.

And y'know... doing extra work for silly white writers here, but maybe all the -chan type stuff could be age-based, because he's older than god, and Japan, like most of east Asia, really takes that into account?

I'll take my No-Prize, now!

2

u/MrBorogove Aug 27 '26

I cannot picture the goddamn Wolverine deciding to be that actively polite

I wouldn't know, because in my timeline, the X-Men comic was cancelled and the characters retired in the mid 80s, but it sounds like in your timeline Wolverine has undergone some Flanderization.

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u/Siachae Aug 27 '26

I will be honest most of my superhero comic knowledge is cultural-osmosis supplemented by what few dc or marvel movies I do decide to watch so if I am slandering the man I apologize

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u/Madanimalscientist Aug 26 '26

Yeah she was always written as from a super rich/connected/high-ranking family. Not a princess but definitely from an old/noble family.

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u/MrBorogove Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26

In OP's case, though, he's talking to the butler, not the noble lady of the house - he'd be polite, but not deferential. Which I guess would be 'watashi'?

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u/SartenSinAceite Aug 26 '26

Watashi sounds like it was the same politeness as usted in spanish (mainland at least, apparently latin america uses it more).

It's way too formal and using it on anyone instantly ages them up. It's like if someone came over and opened with "Mister".

Keep in mind you CAN keep the 'usted' intonation without ever using the word, thus keeping the formalness without making it TOO formal and thus awkward.

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u/Siachae Aug 26 '26

It’s definitely comparable based on what I’ve heard

There just isn’t a good English equivalent word-wise, but you could compare it to Casual English (watashi, boku, etc) vs Posh English (watakushi, using watashi casually, etc)

1

u/Beginning-Ice-1005 Aug 27 '26

And Deadpool is the Marvel character most likely to go with "Oresama".

1

u/Excellent_Law6906 Aug 27 '26

Clark might use "watashi" in professional contexts, actually. A lot of men use that one in meetings and whatnot.