Declarative Finger

"I can see why tiger aphorisms don't catch on." - Calvin

Mr. Freeze, talking to Poison Ivy in Batman and Robin.

"My Boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!" —Zelda CDI

It seems that a hand gesture involving a character lifting his or her hand, and sticking up the index finger, is often associated with the idea that said character is saying something profound and/or philosophical, whether according to the character, the author, or both. Especially Narm-y if the character closes his or her eyes while doing this, suggesting self-satisfaction.

Often parodied to the point of subversion or even inversion, though.

Not to be confused with a declarative use of another finger.

Examples of Declarative Finger include:

Anime and Manga

• Pokémon episode "The Perfect Match!". Jessie does this while talking about her plan to steal the Sea Spirit sapphire.
• Osaka does this at least once.

Comic Books

• Brainy Smurf, true to the comic, did this a lot, especially when quoting Papa Smurf.

Film

• Used by Lucas in Empire Records, who gets away with it largely on the basis of being a Cloudcuckoolander.

Newspaper Comics

• Calvin and Hobbes has this done frequently by at least Calvin and his dad, and by Hobbes, who provides the page image.
• Also pretty common in Peanuts, except that there a character would raise his or her entire fist. (Apparently, Charles Schulz didn't realize that this is a common socialist gesture.)

Live Action Television

• This pose is part and parcel of Souji Tendo's Catch Phrase, where he points to the sky as he relates a piece of wisdom from his grandmother.

Video Games

• King Harkanian from the Zelda Cdi game Faces Of Evil, does this while saying "mah boi, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!" See context here.

Web Comics

• VG Cats parodies this here.

Web Original

• Sailor Moon Abridged lampshades this.
• The fgsfds meme.

Western Animation

• Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, had one when he was impersonating his Uncle giving him sage advice.

Zuko: How am I supposed to convince these people that I'm on their side? What would Uncle do? [Impersonating his Uncle, pacing and holding up his finger] Zuko, you must look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself. [Dropping the impersonation and getting frustrated] Even when I'm talking for him I can't figure out what he means!

• Ferb Fletcher is typically depicted in this pose.
• Brainy Smurf does it every time he lectures the other Smurfs.
• Practical Pig in Disney's Three Little Pigs.
  • The finger point, in fact, was very common in the early days of The Golden Age of Animation, as mentioned on The Illusion of Life. Animators were starting to animate dialogue, and the pointing finger was the most popular way of hitting the accents on the voice track. As their skills improved and found more sophisticated ways of matching the vocals, use of the finger was curtailed as too cliche.
• Frequently used by Dexter on Dexters Laboratory.

Real Life

• This probably goes back to Plato (the quintessential Western philosopher), as depicted on the famous fresco The School of Athens by Raphael. In fact, Plato's upward-pointing finger is contrasted by Aristotle's downturned palm, which symbolically depicts Plato's idealized view of nature and Aristotle's more materialistic way of thinking.
  • Socrates, the philosopher guru who taught Plato, is depicted as this in this famous depiction of his death. Artistically, the painter was making heavy use of lines, particularly the strong lines and right angles of Socrates' pose, for logic and order.
• Fidel Castro, of all people, was caught on camera doing this while scolding fellow Latin strongman Hugo Chavez for his occasional anti-Semitic statemtents.
• I did NOT have sexual relations with that woman.