Humble verbs in plain form


I saw in Sekiro that some characters are using humble verbs like 参る but in
their plain form.

What's the point of this?

Would anyone actually use a humble verb without the polite ending in real
life?




That is a signature speech style of samurai and ninja depicted in modern
fiction. They also typically speak like ～でござる, which is a plain form of
～でございます. I think there are several reasons they speak like this.

  * Stereotypical samurai are loyal, but reticent, proud and dignified at the same time. They don't have to be very polite like a servant or a butler.
  * ます as a politeness marker derived several hundreds years ago as a contraction of まゐらす (see [this](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99#Etymology_1)). です derived from でございます. Therefore, ます/です was not the most polite style in the age of samurai. In samurai dramas, we hear peasants and merchants say ます/です often, but people with high social status seldom use them, especially when they speak formally.
  * Last but not least, if that 参る was said before a battle, who wants to speak politely in a battlefield?

This type of 参る is used also by a proud Western knight before a duel. ござる is
almost specific to samurai/ninja.




That is a signature speech style of samurai and ninja depicted in modern
fiction. They also typically speak like ～でござる, which is a plain form of
～でございます. I think there are several reasons they speak like this.

  * Stereotypical samurai are loyal, but reticent, proud and dignified at the same time. They don't have to be very polite like a servant or a butler.
  * ます as a politeness marker derived several hundreds years ago as a contraction of まゐらす (see [this](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99#Etymology_1)). です derived from でございます. Therefore, ます/です was not the most polite style in the age of samurai. In samurai dramas, we hear peasants and merchants say ます/です often, but people with high social status seldom use them, especially when they speak formally.
  * Last but not least, if that 参る was said before a battle, who wants to speak politely in a battlefield?

This type of 参る is used also by a proud Western knight before a duel. ござる is
almost specific to samurai/ninja.

