Awesome McCoolname: Difference between revisions

 

=== Anime and Manga ===

** You'd think Gold Roger would have been his bounty name, but no, his name is actually {{spoiler|Gol D. Roger}}.

** Other cool people have a "D" middle name like Monkey D. Luffy or Portgas D. Ace. {{spoiler|Considering Ace was Roger's son, he could be called "Gol D. Ace". Gold Ace? Yes.}}

** The ''[[One Piece]]'' world is rife with these: Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock, Roranoa Zoro (recursive transliteration of L'Ollonais [[Zorro]]), Fisher Tiger, Nefertiti Cobra, Bartholomew Kuma, San Juan Wolf, Jesus Burgess, Avolo Pizarro...

* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' has a number of examples, though various characters might be living under aliases:

** Spike Spiegel. When asked if Spike was Jewish due to his last name, the creators responded that they just thought it [[Rule of Cool|sounded cool]].

** Incidentally, Evangeline's last name is an anglicization of the Gaelic phrase for [[Bilingual Bonus|Child of the Dark Stranger]].

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch Lamperouge]], [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Jeremiah Gottwald]] and Bismarck Waldstein. [[Action Girl|Kallen Stadtfeld]] doesn't sound too shabby either.

** What, no love for Villetta Nu?

* ''[[Hellsing]]'': Alucard, Seras Victoria and - infamously - Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing (who is a woman, incidentally).

* ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is full of them. Natsu Dragneel/{{spoiler|Dragion}}, Gray Fullbuster/{{spoiler|Surge}}, Erza Scarlett/{{spoiler|Knightwalker}}, Zeref, Gildartz, Ren Akatsuki, Makarov, Laxus, Gajeel Redfox, Juvia, Levy, Hades, and Zancrow.

** And with the newest chapter, we have {{spoiler|Bluenote Stinger}}. 

* [[Ghost in the Shell (manga)|Motoko ''Kusanagi'']]. That's like being called Girl Caliburn, or Girl Excalibur, because Motoko is a girl's name meaning "child", and [[Public Domain Artifact|the Kusanagi]] (literally "grass-cutter") is a sword of Japanese legend. [[wikipedia:Kusanagi|The Kusanagi is essentially equivalent to Excalibur.]]

* Dude. [[Berserk|Guts]]. '''[[Rule of Cool|GUTS]]'''.

** Kaname Chidori has a nice ring to it as well.

* The [[Lyrical Nanoha]] franchise Gives us names like Fate Testarossa, Subaru Nakajima, Teana Lanster, Vita, Signum etc. Some devices' names, such as Mach Caliber, Cross Mirage and Storm Raider sound cool as well. Ironically, the most [[Badass]] among all of them goes by the rather plain name of "Nanoha Takamachi" and her device is named "Raising Heart."

 

=== Comic Books ===

* ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'': Spider Jerusalem.

* In ''[[Echo]]'', one of the main characters is Ivy Raven, [[Action Girl|secret agent extraordinaire]].

* Slade Deathstroke the Terminator. ''Deathstroke''. His actual name is Slade Wilson. Deathstroke the Terminator is his ''nom de guerre''.

* Power Man was born Carl Lucas, but promptly changed his name to Luke Cage. These days he goes by Luke Cage because frankly that's just as bad-ass as "Power Man." ([[Nicolas Cage|Nicolas Coppola]] agreed that "Cage" was way better.)

 

=== Fan Works ===

** And then, you've got [[Mary Sue]]s with names like "Chihuatlan Razortalon." Sure, "Razortalon" fits the model...but "Chihuatlan" [[Narm|invokes small yappy lapdogs]] rather than the exoticism for which the author was no doubt shooting.

* In ''[[The Mad Scientist Wars]]'' we have the Tinker family, who '''all''' have this. For instance Andrew Omega-Particle prince Risk Tinker, or his son Frederic Zeta Risk Raize Tinker. This goes back pretty far- for instance, Grandpa '''Florian Blitz Viktor'''.

* All the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' characters, as noted above, have ridiculously cool names. In the [[Elemental Chess Trilogy]] fanfic series, Riza Hawkeye gets an extra one. After she marries Roy Mustang, the men of their unit feel awkward calling her ''Hawkeye'', but they also can't call her ''Mustang'', so they refer to her by the affectionate nickname "Ladyhawk."

* ''[[Deserving]]'' has a character called Sin. The author apparently intended it to be a [[Fail O'Suckyname]] bestowed on the child by a father who hated him and his mother, and [[Giver of Lame Names|calling him that]] is [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|allegedly]] a crossing of the [[Moral Event Horizon]], but, well, ''[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Sin]]''.

* ''[[The Dilgar War]]'' has captain Manly Power. At first the crew of the ''Space Race'' can't believe it, then they verify it and realize his crew has to call him Captain Power, and declare it the coolest name ever.

 

* ''[[Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs]]'': Flint Lockwood. Technically, this is [[What Could Have Been|left over from when his character was a]] [[Science Hero|suave, successful scientist]].

* ''[[Lilo and Stitch]]'': Cobra Bubbles.

** Torque Redline. Well, technically his name's Rod and 'Torque' is only a nickname, but come on, ''Torque Redline''.

* Something about ''[[Surf's Up]]'''s "Cody Maverick" exudes "extreme sports legend". It's youthful, has the word "maverick" in it, and sounds smooth off the tongue.

* ''[[Idiocracy]]'' Heavyweight President of the World: President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho

* RiffRaff and Rocky Horror from ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''

* In Guillermo Del Toro's ''[[Pacific Rim]]'', we are treated to character names such as Raleigh Antrobus, Yancy Antrobus, Newt Gotlieb, Tendo Choi, Herc Hansen, and Stacker Pentecost.

* From the movie ''[[Gladiator (film)|Gladiator]]'', the protagonist's name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. Sounds like a serious individual and, of course, he is.

 

=== Gamebooks ===

** "Slartibartfast," which was created to sound obscene but not be. Adams started with Phartiphukborlz and changed it just enough to get past the censors.

** And, of course, Ford Prefect, although it sounds much cooler to American readers who mostly didn't realize that he's actually named after a sensible British motorcar.

** Also Mightily Oats, a shortened form of "The Quite Reverend Mightily-Praiseworthy-Are-Ye-Who-Exalteth-Om Oats".

*** That's actually a title rather than a name. "Dragon" is the head of the Ankh-Morpork College of Arms, which is based on the real British College of Arms, an office of the Royal Household. The College is composed of 13 officers of arms (a.k.a. heralds), including at the time of writing Garter Principal King of Arms, Lancaster Herald and Bluemantle Pursuivant.

** '''Suffer-Not-Injustice''' Vimes.

** One Igor had former masters with names such as Screaming Dr. Berserk and Crazed Baron Ha-Ha.

* ''[[Good Omens]]'': 

** features Anathema Device. The Devices were a real family who were involved in witch trials in the 17th century (so were the Nutters), and Anathema is a word that has a variety of meanings in a religious context; put them together and you have a perfect set-up for scenes like {{spoiler|Agnes' prediction that ends in the sentence "And thou shalt be there also, Anathema" -- which the modern Anathema assumes (correctly, it is implied) to be addressed to her}}.

** Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer. Newton Pulsifer said he would go on a rampage as well with a name like that

* Neil Gaiman's ''[[American Gods]]'' could make this list based simply on the gods' various real and assumed names, even without the protagonist's exceptionally cool name: Shadow Moon, aka {{spoiler|Baldur Moon}}.

* Citizens of [[The Culture]] in the novels of [[Iain Banks]] [[Overly Long Name|have ridiculously long and odd-sounding names]]. Some parts are chosen for them, some by them, some depending on where they were born/what they were designed for (AIs). Examples include Rasd-Corudesa Diziet Embless Sma 'Da Marenhide and Foristi-Whirl Skaffen Amtiskaw Handrahen Dran Easpyou.

** Razor, the Lightning Revenant

** Purist Thunderwrath, the Omniknight

 

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* ''[[Ronin Galaxy]]'': the main character's name is Cecil Onimaru, which (given the multiple meanings of Japanese names) can litterally mean, "Oni's son." or "Oni-like son." For being a ronin, such a name seems extravagant. Also Leona Gallant - she couldn't possibly be a gallant knight, could she?

* ''[[Keychain of Creation]]'' gives us the relatively ordinary (for an Abyssal Exalted) "[[Overly Long Name|The Most Secret and Sorrowful of the Bearers of the Endless Destiny of All Creation Which Wander Amidst Forgotten Sights and Fallen Tears Along the Tread of Ancient Ashen Footsteps Through the Shadow of That Which Comes and Into That Riotous Cacophony Which Births All Fools and Steals All Beauty, Who Heralds Through Her Silence the Stillness and Chill of Those Who Were Not Born and Who Will Not Fade 'til All Things Fall and... In That Most Grim Harvest Form the... Final Restful Tomb of... All Awakened Life and... All the... Sleep... less... De--]]" ''(passes out from lack of breath)''. Everyone calls her Secret.

*  [http://fancyadventures.com/2009/01/09/page-53/ Max Facepuncher...] Yeah... And I think [[The Fancy Adventures of Jack Cannon|Jack Cannon]], the title character, counts too.

*  The main cast of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''? They go by the names Torg, Riff, Zoe, Gwynn, Bun-Bun, and Kiki. Hanging around with these people, you can kinda understand why Sam felt he had to change his name to "Sam da Man."

* ''[[Zokusho Comics]]'': Serge (pronounced like surge) Inverse. Nitrous Blight. Rotting Johnny. Drake Lephisto. Fizzbang the Goblin. That Guy. More than likely there's more to come.

* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in ''[[Slightly Damned]]'' with the Jakkai. An entire generation is born on the same day, and they are given only first names until a suitable last name is devised that matches their appearance or personality. These include Snaketail, Thunderheart and, the current champion, Bloodeyes.

 

=== Web Original ===

* There was once a topic on the ''[[World of Darkness]]'' Forums where someone was asking for suggestions on what they should legally change their last name too. The general consensus? "Your new name is Hellsing."

* Shades McCoolguy is a superfluous example of this from ''[[Chicken Maker]]''

 

=== Western Animation ===

*** And at least one whose name ''is'' a common word. Ravage.

* The Headmaster of ''[[School for Vampires]]'' has a name that could only be given to a truly ''badass'' vampire: Count Alarich von Horrificus.

** There's also DelGado. Hoss DelGado.

* While the girls of ''[[Sky Dancers]]'' got off pretty easy, the guys ended up with the names "Slam" and "Breeze".

** Then there's Shining Armor who is {{spoiler|Twilight Sparkles older brother.}}

* [[Rubber Man|Rubberbandman]] from ''[[Static Shock]]''. It just works on so many levels.

 

=== Real Life ===

* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/11/julius-andreas-gimli-arn_n_284276.html Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov.]

* [[Facebook]]'s name-filtering system tends to lock out the accounts of people with these kinds of names, as to its logic they sound made up. Native Americans are especially unhappy.

* Averted by Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat. who didn't use his decidedly awesome real name, Richard Blood, since it doesn't lend itself to a babyface.

* [[Groin Attack|Dick]] [[Nightmare Fuel|Blood]].

* Representing the National Football League, we have Mack Strong, Rock Cartwright, Takeo Spikes, Quentin Jammer, and Peerless Price.

* Don't forget former quarterback Joe Montana. Won 4 Super Bowls with the 49ers and 1 National Championship at Notre Dame. In a contest to give him a nickname, one contestant felt "Joe Montana" already sounded like a nickname, and therefore came up with "David W. Gibson."

* [[wikipedia:Wolfgang de Beer|Wolfgang 'Teddy' de Beer]], in Germany known as Teddy de Beer (pronounced "Teddy der Bär" in German, "Teddy the Bear")

* Geof Manthorn of ''[[Ace of Cakes]]'', which is completely at odds with such a laid-back dude.

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Castlevania]] II: Belmont's Revenge''. His battle theme is called "Son of Satan".

*** However, Castlevania's Dracula is [[Castlevania: Lament of Innocence|not Vlad Tepes]].

* Actress [[wikipedia:Venus DeMilo|Venus DeMilo]].

* THE Reverend, Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. [[The Boondocks|It's like A Tribe Called Quest, you gotta say the whole thing.]]

* The Russian ice dancers may have [[Unfortunate Implications]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20121114155610/http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/extra/810017-russian-ice-skaters-cause-controversy-with-aboriginal-dance costumes],<ref>Not even their more "conventional" (by figure skating standards) long program costumes were without controversy, because [[Aint No Rule|they used the belts to hold on to each other]] during the performance.</ref> but their names are pretty awesome: Oksana '''Domnina''' and '''Maxim''' Shabalin.

* Norm Hiscock, a writer for ''[[Parks and Recreation]]''.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140827100459/http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~bane/ Dr. Sorabain Wolfheart de Lioncourt] (but it seems he does AI research, not Grendel-slaying). He apparently gets enough questions about it that he has a picture of his passport online.

* [[The Phantom (film)|Billy Zane]]. It's even played with in his [[Adam Westing]] cameo in ''[[Zoolander]]''.

* Lord Chief Justice and President of the Courts of England and Wales is Lord Igor Judge – ''Judge Judge''. He is formally addressed as Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge, Baron Judge.

* German actor [[Lexx|Dieter]] [[The Human Centipede|Laser]] ([[Its Pronounced Tropay|pronounced "lah-ser"]]).

* [[Calvin Coolidge]]. What did you expect from a guy who has 'cool' in his last name?

* Genghis Khan, as noted by [[Badass of the Week]], was born with the name "Temujin" - which literally meant ''"iron man."'' Of course, the man himself made the name "Khan" one of the scariest and coolest names ever.

* Volkan Demirel, Turkish goalkeeper. Why? His name roughly translates as "Vulcan Steelhands".

* Dutch football (soccer) trainer and former player Leo Beenhakker, whose last name literally translates as "leg chopper".

* [[Garth Nix]]

* Puritans of the New World used names like this frequently, including some that have become respectable, not-weird names, like Chastity, Hope, Constance. Other names didn't quite catch on. Praise-God Barebone was a significant Puritan figure in the [[English Civil War]], and named the Barebone's Parliament. The middle name of his son was "If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Wouldst-Have-Been-Damned." He was a pioneer of free-market economics and tended to go by the much less awesome Nicholas Barbon.

* Since names in Native American languages tend to be literally translated into English, we end up with names like [[Everything's Worse with Bears|Conquering Bear]], [[Names to Run Away From|Wilma Mankiller]], Madonna Thunderhawk, One-Who-Walks-With-The-Stars, and They-Fear-Even-His-Horses.

* Admittedly [[Dragon Ball|it's more]] [[Hilarious in Hindsight]], but how much would you give to be named [[wikipedia:Kamehameha I|Kamehameha the Great]]?

* Actor Omar Doom. Interesting note: his dad was a doctor, meaning that he was the son of [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Doctor Doom]]. (Actually, he was born with the last name "Makhdomi," but that's close enough.)

* Jack Justice is an Australian philosopher.

* Linebacker [https://web.archive.org/web/20131109134404/http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/profiles/whitney-mercilus?id=2533049 Whitney Mercilus]

* Rob McCool (who wrote a early HTTP server software)

 

== Examples of groups, places, and things with exceptionally cool names ==

** ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'' appears to have switched out the two names. Also, the second film has "The Key of Nebuchadnezzar", a miniature human skeleton encased in amber.

 

* ''[[Star Wars]]'': "Death Star", "Star Destroyer", "Lightsaber", ...

* [[Indiana Jones]].

=== Web Original ===

* ''[[Equestria Chronicles]]'' has more then a few of these.

 

=== Real Life ===

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Naming Conventions]]