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{{trope}}
Game X gives you the option of [[Hello, Insert Name Here|naming your character]] at the start. In the sequel, he or she appears as a [[Bonus Boss]], [[Secret Character]], etc., and as such the developers had to give them a name. Alternatively, Game X gets a book or movie adaptation, and rather than set it in first person, or have [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|everyone call him barkeep,]] they just make up a name for him.
Occasionally, a sequel to a game will work around this by making the character an [[Old Save Bonus|Old Save]] [[Bonus Boss]], only showing up if you played the previous game anyway. Another workaround is to give a name that was one of several suggested choices in the first game.
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== Action-Adventure ==
* Every game in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series lets you name the hero; canonically, however, his name is always Link.
* In ''[[Crusader of Centy]]'', you name the main character at the start of the game, but the manual identifies him as Corona.
* The ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' has succeeded in remaining nameless until [[The Movie]], at which point it became absurd, and he was given the name Dastan, which means "[[Trickster Archetype|trickster]]", drawn from the Persian epic ''[[The Shahnameh]]''.
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== Eastern RPG ==
* ''[[Pokémon]]'':
** The hero from the first ''[[Pokémon]]'' game is officially named Red, and his rival is Green (in Japan) or Blue (internationally). Both names are revealed when you fight them in ''Gold/Silver''.
** The characters being named for the first default name on the list was then assumed to be the convention in the Johto games as Gold and Silver actually use Red as the name of the [[Bonus Boss]], who is meant to represent the original protagonist. The hero is Gold, the rival is Silver, and the heroine (from the [[Updated Rerelease]]) is Kris.
** This ended around Ruby/Sapphire, though, when the heroes got "canon" names—the RSE hero is Brendan, and the RSE heroine is May ([[The Rival]] is whichever character the player isn't). Similarly, Diamond and Pearl have Dawn and Lucas.
*** And, because the fourth-gen games have two playable characters and a rival, we end up with Dawn, Lucas and Barry (who was not officially named until his anime debut/sort of regresses to the original naming convention of the first name on the list.)
** The remakes of G/S/C establish Gold's real name as Ethan, which was [[Fanon Discontinuity|heavily disputed]]. The new female character (that replaced Kris) was named Lyra, though many fans refer to Lyra by her Japanese name (Kotone) to distinguish her from her anime counterpart. Silver didn't receive a new name per-say, but his default name was changed from 'Silver' to 'Soul.' His data is stored under the name 'Silver', though.
*** As of the remakes the only character with no default or official name at all is the female choice from FR/LG. Fans assume she is either Blue(Japan)/Green(International) or, as popularized by Bulbapedia, Leaf.
** Of course, that's just within the canon of the games. Many kids were probably inspired by the anime that followed the Red game's suggestion in naming the hero Ash, and his rival Gary. (Ironically, while both are suggested names, Gary is the hero's suggested name in Blue, and Ash is the rival's name!) Likewise with the Japanese games, Satoshi and Shigeru.
** It is worth noting that in the [[Pokémon Special|most popular manga adaption]], the 'game name' method was retained. For example, the manga counterparts of aforementioned Brendan and May are Ruby and Sapphire, and Lucas, Barry, and Dawn are Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.
** While you still get to decide the names, in ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', the player characters are named Touya and Touko (Japanese) and Hilbert and Hilda (international) on the Battle Subway. The rivals have canon
* The hero of the ''[[Boktai]]'' games is named Django. The second game's title makes this canon, being ''Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django.''
* Many of the games in the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series featured heroes [[Hello, Insert Name Here|named by the player]] who were usually given names in various media adaptations. Strictly speaking, these names aren't actually canon (official guidebooks and other tie-in products tend to stick to generic titles, see below), but they're used almost universally among fans.
** ''[[Suikoden I|Suikoden]]'':
*** The protagonist was named Tir McDohl in a licensed novlization and in a later radio drama until in a later manga, which gave him the name "Ryui."
** The first protagonist is mentioned by his surname only in ''Suikoden II'', but can be recruited in the game as an [[Old Save Bonus]]. Due to a glitch, the U.S. version of the game only recognizes the uppercase letters of the player's save file and superimposes them over "McDohl" instead of simply substituting the name completely. If the player named his character "Tir", then his name will become "TcDohl". This was however fixed for the PAL release.
** The hero of ''[[Suikoden II]]'' is named Rioh in the novelization and audio drama, and Tao in a manga.
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* The hero of ''[[MOTHER 1]]'' is named Ninten, a name that's not even specified in the Japanese version's manual. The same character is named Ken in the Japanese novelisation.
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'':
** The protagonist of ''[[Persona 3]]'' has no name; however, in the manga adaptation of the game, he is named Minato Arisato.
** ''[[Persona 4]]'''s manga adaptation names the protagonist Souji Seta. The [[Persona 4 Arena|fighting game sequel]] and [[Persona 4: The Animation|anime adaptation]], on the other hand, name him Yu Narukami.
** The protagonist of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne]]'' is given the name of Naoki Kashima in the radio play adaptation. However, sometimes the names in the adaptations differ majorly; the aforementioned Naoki/Demi-Fiend is also known as Mana Shin in the ''Nocturne'' novelisation, and the protagonist of the original ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' has ''[[wikipedia:Characters of Revelations: Persona#Protagonist|three]]''
** The ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Devil Summoner]]: [[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon|Raidou Kuzunoha]]'' series' prequel novelization gave him the first name Jouhei.
** In a somewhat straighter example, the main character of ''[[Shin Megami Tensei:
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' uses it at times:
** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' gives you the choice of naming your characters, even if most only accept the original names, which are constantly used in all the various sequels and prequels.
** ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' enables you to change the main characters name (which is never part of any audio in the game for that purpose) but in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' it is "Tidus". Same goes for the Aeons; the ones Yuna recruits can be named however you like, but their evil counterparts will always be 'Dark originalname'. It's [[Justified Trope|actually appropriate]] with renaming the Aeons, as Yuna is only applying a nickname to them. One of the other summoners you duel, {{spoiler|Isaaru}}, has given his different nicknames. "Valefor" and "Bahamut" are effectively species names, not individual names, even if the species only [[A Kind of One|consists of one member]].
** ''[[Final Fantasy III]]'' allowed the player to name all four characters. The official manga serialization gave them the names Muuchi, Doug, J. Bowie, and Melfi. Then the DS remake gave them four different names, Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus. ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' simply calls the hero representing the game "The Onion Knight", though his first alternate costume in ''Duodecim'' is called "Luneth" as a [[Shout-Out]].
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*** ''[[Dragon Quest VI]]'': Rek
*** ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'': Eden
* In ''[[Fossil Fighters]],'' the hero has no default
* ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' lets you rename everyone... setting up a gag where you're given the "Rename" screen for {{spoiler|Roger Bacon}}, who promptly informs you he ''isn't'' joining your party and you shouldn't be so presumptuous. ''Covenant'' reveals that the default names for everyone were the canonical ones, and does away with renaming (except that the screen ''still'' pops up for {{spoiler|Roger}}).
* In ''[[Golden Sun]]'' and its first sequel, ''The Lost Age'', you could name [[The Hero]] (along with the rest of the player characters if you punched in certain codes at the naming screen) whatever you wanted. In ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn|Dark Dawn]]'', however, the Warriors of Vale all go by their default names.
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== Real Time Strategy ==
* The canon ending for the original ''[[Warcraft]]'' has the Orcs winning, making the player the new Warchief. In ''Warcraft 2'', it's revealed that the Warchief is named Orgrim Doomhammer, who becomes an important figure for the Orcs. After all, [[World of Warcraft|Orgrimmar]] is named after him.
* The Executor from the original ''[[
* ''[[Dawn of War|Dawn of War 2]]'' (and ''Chaos Rising'') let you name your captain, but he is called "Aramus" in the novel. Granted, the novel is ''probably'' not canon. In the novel, Aramus is ''never'' a captain (and barely a sergeant, for that matter), the Eldar never showed up at any point, Administrator Derossa and the Meridian governor both had different names, and {{spoiler|Tarkus dies at the end.}}
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== Simulation Game ==
* ''[[Harvest Moon]]'':
** [http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/altashheth/HMMPC-1.jpg Here] [http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a67/altashheth/femaleHM.png are] more-or-less accurate graphs of the whole deal.
** The male protagonists name as "Pete" was the default (as in, already filled in) name of the male farmer in 2001's ''Harvest Moon 3'' GBC if playing as a girl. ''Puzzle De Harvest Moon'' also names him "Pete". The default name for the female farmer if you were playing as a boy was "Sara."
** ''Island of Happiness,'' for instance, names the male and female protagonists Mark and Chelsea, respectively. However, you can't use "Chelsea" as your character's name, since you only get six character slots.
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* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'':
** For ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]] III'', which used live-action video instead of animated cutscenes, the main character (same as from the first two games) was given the name Christopher Blair. You still got to pick your callsign, which later games (and the novels, and the movie...) would establish as "Maverick".
** ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' and ''II'' had a command line [[
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== Strategy RPG ==
* In ''[[Ogre Battle]]: March of the Black Queen'', the player can not only decide the name of the main Lord, they can also decide the Lord's gender. In ''Ogre Battle 64'', the male version of Lord appears as a character named Destin Faroda, while the design of the female Lord was used for Europea Rheda.
* The [[Purely Aesthetic Gender|hero(ine)]] of ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' has the default name Revya. The ''[[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice]]'' cameo ''appears'' to [[Road Cone|establish Revya as female]] {{spoiler|and taking the Normal Path}}, but who can say with [[Nippon Ichi]]? It literally calls her just the hero from Soul Nomad "(default name: Revya)".
* In ''[[Fire Emblem Blazing Sword]]'', the player is the strategist/protagonist that Lyndis finds when the game begins. You're allowed to name him or her whatever you choose, but canonically, he goes by the name Mark.
== Wide Open Sandbox ==
* The guy from ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' is named Claude, revealed in a cutscene in ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|San Andreas]]''. Also revealed by the name of his default skin in the game (Claude) and a quick peek at the player character's name in the previous game's opening cutscene (Claude Speed).
* Aldo Trapani is the name of the ultra customizable player character from ''[[The Godfather (video game)|The Godfather]]: The Game''.
== Western RPG ==
* Pretty much every ''[[Star Wars]]'' game that allows the player to create the PC gives them at least an official gender (and species where applicable). The Exile from ''KOTOR 2'' is female, {{spoiler|Revan}} from ''KOTOR 1'' is male, Jaden Korr from ''Jedi Academy'' is a male human, and so on. The [[
** ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' generally uses the name of the hero's {{spoiler|original identity, Revan}} to refer to him, leading to a [[Late Arrival Spoiler]] situation in later games. The Exile's name is later stated to be Meetra Surik in [[Revan]], the book prequel to [[Star Wars: The Old Republic]].
** ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'' includes a variation on this: The main character is codenamed Starkiller (incidentally, the [[Mythology Gag|original last name of the Skywalkers]] in early ''Star Wars'' drafts) and his real name, as revealed in the books, but not (overtly) the games, is Galen Marek.
* While ''[[Diablo|Diablo II]]'' hints at the fate of the three possible characters from the original game, it only explicitly states that one of them (hinted to be the Warrior) became Diablo, and [["Wake
* ''[[Dungeon Siege]] III'' states that the hero of the first ''Dungeon Siege'' was a female warrior known as Lady Montbarron, who was also the ancestor of Player Characters Lucas and Katarina.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
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