How Many Times Does Trixie Actually Say "I"? · 5:31pm May 19th
One of Trixie's best-known traits in the fandom is that she speaks in the third person all the time. But does she really? Turns out, no one has ever counted the times she says "I." Until now...
Look at this dumb, adorable horse, always going around saying her own name.
By the way, that art is by SymbianL, and their art is super cute, so check 'em out!
Anyway, a buddy of mine in Discord wondered aloud, "Wait how many times does Trixie say 'I'?" Now, I pride myself on knowing a lot about the show, and I know she definitely has said it a fair number of times, but I didn't know the exact answer.
So, I Googled it. And came up empty-handed (or empty-hooved, if you like).
And you'd think it would be a pretty small number... Trixie is KNOWN for calling herself "Trixie." It's one of her biggest character quirks! Indeed, fanfic authors - myself included - usually have her use "I" only when she's being particularly serious, sincere, or emotional.
It's famously a plot point in the fan series Turnabout Storm, among other things.
So, one would think that the number of times she calls herself "I" would be relatively low. I sure did.
If you did, though... you would be wrong.
Trixie has a speaking role in 14 out of 221 episodes. And she says "I" in all but TWO of them, and those are the ones where she has the fewest lines.
But okay, enough beating around the bush. In just the main series - no EQG or shorts or anything - Trixie says "I" or a variation like "I'm" or "I've" or "I'd" a grand total of...
Two hundred and eighty-eight times!
Yep! 288 times! That's an average of 21 times per episode! I don't know about you, but I'm actually a bit surprised it's that high.
In fact, in one episode, she says it FIFTY-TWO times (that's her record).
But it also shows a trend that's a bit heart-warming. Trixie referring to herself in the third person is often considered a sign of her haughtiness, her ego, and her immaturity. So it's interesting that she uses "Trixie" much more heavily in her early appearances. She says "I" just five times in her first appearance, "Boast Busters," but that record-breaking 52 times occurs in her LAST major appearance, "A Horse Shoe-In."
While she never stops being her usual, trouble-making self, I think it's rather heart-warming to see that subtle bit of maturation coming through her dialogue. It's a cute little story that flew right under our noses.
Good job, you adorable, four-legged dumpster fire. (Jk, you know we love you.)
Art by SarmaTeppou.
P.S. If you're curious about the exact statistics and numbers per episode, here's a link to the Google Spreadsheet I used to calculate things.
A sign of any good Trixie author is when they know when to let Trixie say "I" and when to say "Trixie"
5781761
Exactly!
Ah, but how many Trixies does she say? One side of the data means little.
In all seriousness, this is a helpful reminder that she communicates through more than constant illeism. Thanks for doing the rundown.
The meme lines always become more prevalent in the cultural memory of the property than they were in actuality. See also: “Dashie” as a nickname for Dash (ed) is used eight times in the show. And only three of those were from Pinkie: the rest compose one from Fluttershy, two from Rarity, and one each from both her parents.
Also, half of those eight occur in Seasons Six and Seven, one of a few examples of later writers buying into the same assimilation of osmosis the fans did. Bit like when 20 percent cooler came back in the last two seasons five times, after it’s one appearance in Season One…
I hate that I can't actually credit the writers with giving her a solid character arc :| I feel it's more likely whoever did the last few episodes just forgot she tends to speak in third-pony
5781817
For AJ? Dang, I don't remember that at all! Guess my memory is slipping.
I kid, I kid, I know what you meant. And yeah, they did tend to go a bit overboard with that sometimes, but I actually thought it was a bit cute. A lot less subtle compared to Scootaloo's chicken cart, at least... yeesh...
5781829
Well, I do think the writing got worse in the later seasons but I'm going to give them solid credit on Trixie's arc. Looking through the transcripts, it becomes apparent that the fans got it right: Trixie speaks in 3rd person a lot in a way that is performative. She speaks in first person when she's sincere. I noticed that she uses the third person when she's performing in her magic show or speaking with strangers even in later episodes, but around Starlight in particular, she drops the act. I think it shows how comfortable she is with her as a friend that she doesn't need that sort of barrier. And since Trixie's episodes in the later seasons become Starlight episodes by default, she's around Starlight more often than not, which also explains the high "I" count.
Maybe not a huge deal, but credit where it's due.
(P.S. Also, in fairness, she says "I" 23 times in her second appearance, which is just 2 fewer than the number of times in the Season 6 finale, and that's TWO episodes. So she always said "I" more than we noticed.)
Six times, actually.
Also, in S07E02 she she says "I" 48 to 50 times, depending on how many "I"'s you can count in
In S07E24 transcript says:
But if you listen carefully, you can hear that Trixie actually says:
Which means, there are 12 "I"'s in S07E24.
23 "I"'s in S09E11.
53 "I"'s in S09E20.
Wonderful. Now do a count of BOOKZ! ^^
Huh, wow. Thanks for doing the research and reporting on it!