Character Name Alias: Difference between revisions

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Fictional characters going undercover need snazzy aliases so that they aren't recognized. Can't think of what to call yourself, and the [[Line of Sight Name|scenery isn't providing any helpful hints]]? Just use the name of a character from fiction, or the name of a real famous person! No one will ever know who you really are.

Fictional characters going undercover need snazzy aliases so that they aren't recognized. Can't think of what to call yourself, and the [[Line-of-Sight Name|scenery isn't providing any helpful hints]]? Just use the name of a character from fiction, or the name of a real famous person! No one will ever know who you really are.

If a character makes a habit out of doing this, it may be a case of [[Themed Aliases]].

Subtrope of [[Sue Donym]]. If the character has traveled back in time and is using a name from the future, it's [[I'm Mr. Future Pop Culture Reference]].

== [[Anime]] ==

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== [[Fan Work]] ==

* ''[[Sonichu]] [[Nineteen Eighty Four|1984]]'' has the anonymous main character make up the alias "Winston" when meeting another character, who uses the alias "Orwell".

* ''[[Sonichu]] [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' has the anonymous main character make up the alias "Winston" when meeting another character, who uses the alias "Orwell".

** This trope was also part of a major trolling scheme against the "original" ''[[Sonichu]]'' author, who was successfully convinced that his comic was being plagiarized by an Englishman named Jimmy Hill, who is actually a football commentator.

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* In ''[[Ender's Game]]'', Ender's brother and sister make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke "Locke"] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demosthenes "Demosthenes"] their online identities.

* In [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s ''Young Adult Novel'', the Wild Dada Ducks of Himmler High School, who use their Dada names instead of their real names, include the Honorable Venustiano Carranza (President of Mexico), previously known as Pecos Bill.

* The main character of ''Little Brother'' originally goes by "w1n5t0n", as in the protagonist of ''[[Nineteen Eighty Four|1984]]''. When the plot starts heating up, he realized it might be a tad too obvious, and gets a new alias.

* The main character of ''Little Brother'' originally goes by "w1n5t0n", as in the protagonist of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]''. When the plot starts heating up, he realized it might be a tad too obvious, and gets a new alias.

* Trix MacMillan is not the real name of the character from the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] who's known by that name, and it's very close to [[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy|Tricia McMillan]].

* ''[[Sweet Valley High]]'' had a spin-off series, ''Elizabeth'', in which Elizabeth runs away to London and becomes a servant in an aristocrat's mansion. She decides to use the alias [[Pride and Prejudice|Elizabeth Bennet]], and while people do call her out on it, she ultimately gets away with the ruse.

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== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* On one episode of ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'', Ned, Emerson and Chuck go undercover in a nunnery to solve the murder of a nun. Emerson uses the alias Father Dowling, lifted from a television show called ''The Father Dowling Mysteries'', and Ned goes by Father Mulcahy, from ''[[~~Mash~~ (TV)|Mash]]''. Chuck uses the name "Sister Christian", a song from the band Night Ranger. Subverted a bit when they do end up getting caught.

* On one episode of ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'', Ned, Emerson and Chuck go undercover in a nunnery to solve the murder of a nun. Emerson uses the alias Father Dowling, lifted from a television show called ''The Father Dowling Mysteries'', and Ned goes by Father Mulcahy, from ''[[M*A*S*H (TV)|Mash]]''. Chuck uses the name "Sister Christian", a song from the band Night Ranger. Subverted a bit when they do end up getting caught.

{{quote| '''Mother Superior:''' Perhaps you'd like to call your associate, M*A*S*H's Father Mulcahy. And Sister Christian is nothing but a heavy petting metal ballad. }}

* On ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'' one UnSub was a teenager who said his name was [[Grand Theft Auto IV|Nico Bellic]]. Everyone was shocked when [[Cool Old Guy|Rossi]] [[Criminal Minds (TV)/Funny|said he knew that's GTAIV's main character]].

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* ''[[Family Guy]]'': "I'm Officer T.J. Hooker. ''Sheriff'' Officer T.J. Hooker. And this is my partner MacMillan and Wife".

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animation)|The Simpsons]]'': "Uh... Elvis. Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabar".

* On ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'', immortal [[Anti Villain]] MacBeth uses the alias Lennox MacDuff as his modern persona. Both are characters from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Macbeth]]''. The first time he uses it, the person he's talking to (a writer) immediately finds him suspicious.

* On ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'', immortal [[Anti-Villain]] MacBeth uses the alias Lennox MacDuff as his modern persona. Both are characters from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Macbeth]]''. The first time he uses it, the person he's talking to (a writer) immediately finds him suspicious.

* [[American Dragon Jake Long|Jake Long]] once came up with the alias [[Beyonce]] [[Justin Timberlake|Timberlake]], but it was okay becuase he was [[I'm Mr. Future Pop Culture Reference|time traveling at the time]].

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Freefall (Webcomic)|Freefall]]'', as part of Sam Starfall's plan to get Florence out of Ecosystems Unlimited, [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01683.htm he identifies himself] to [[Pointy Haired Boss|Kornada]] as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Cold Leonard Snart. Captain of this cold facility]".

* In ''[[Freefall (Webcomic)|Freefall]]'', as part of Sam Starfall's plan to get Florence out of Ecosystems Unlimited, [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01683.htm he identifies himself] to [[Pointy-Haired Boss|Kornada]] as "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Cold Leonard Snart. Captain of this cold facility]".

* In [[Homestuck]], Dave tells Terezi that his name is [[Ben Stiller]].

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]],'' Grace utterly fails at using this trope. Because of an earlier comparison [[Clark Kenting|between her and]] [[Superman]], the name she chose was Clark.

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== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'': Occurs in ''[[Spin Off|The Program]]'', when [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Kami Steele]] attempts to introduce herself to Luke Mendoza and Ryan Montoya as [[Kill Bill|Beatrix Kiddo]]. Hilariously, both characters see right through it, mostly because they ''already know she is Kami''.

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'': Occurs in ''[[Spin-Off|The Program]]'', when [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|Kami Steele]] attempts to introduce herself to Luke Mendoza and Ryan Montoya as [[Kill Bill|Beatrix Kiddo]]. Hilariously, both characters see right through it, mostly because they ''already know she is Kami''.

* ''[[Red Panda Adventures]]'': Kit gets spotted using one of these on a hotel register.

{{quote| '''The Grey Fox:''' If you were really Marianne Dashwood, this would be a [[Jane Austen]] novel.<br />

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## The scammer may use it as a false name later, making his future scams more obvious.

* As shown in the documentary film ''Kanehsetake: 270 Years of Resistance'', one of the protesters at the Oka Crisis used the alias "[[A Nightmare On Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]]". Naming yourself after a child-killer is probably not the best way to get the public on your side...

* The 2010 Orwell Prize for best political blog was ironically awarded to an anonymous blogger calling himself [[Nineteen Eighty Four|Winston Smith]].

* The 2010 Orwell Prize for best political blog was ironically awarded to an anonymous blogger calling himself [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|Winston Smith]].