Self-insert

noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A character in a story who represents the author's own person. slang

    "[Joss Whedon] loves sexualizing her, like […] making her fall for his self-insert Bruce Banner."

  2. 2
    A character in a story who the reader/viewer is meant to identify with. slang

    "The female character has to be likable. She's a self-insert for the female viewers so she probably won't be unique, but watching her interact with other characters can't be frustrating."

Verb
  1. 1
    To insert oneself.

    "For centuries, the commonest forms of implant had either been grown in situ or were designed to self-insert painlessly via existing orifices […]"

  2. 2
    To insert something into one's own body.

    "In Oregon, a group called Ceek Women's Health has begun clinical trials for a series of new devices—including […] a speculum that patients can self-insert."

  3. 3
    To insert one's own person into a story as a character. slang

    "The character looks like Goldman and is voiced by him, so critics said he was self-inserting himself into a romantic situation with an underage character."

Example

More examples

"[Joss Whedon] loves sexualizing her, like […] making her fall for his self-insert Bruce Banner."

Etymology

From self- + insert.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.