I Have Many Names: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''Verence:''' Are you Death, fellow?

'''Verence:''' Which one are you using at present?

 

In some stories there are characters with so many names, aliases, [[The Magnificent|bynames]], [[Sobriquet|and/or titles]] that it's hard to keep track of them. An attempt to do so ends up with an [[Overly Long Name]]. As such, when asked who they are, it is not uncommon for them to reply "I Have Many Names."

* ''[[Baccano!]]'''s Claire Stanfield, a.k.a Vino, {{spoiler|Rail Tracer}}, and a number of aliases that he changes about every week or so before finally sticking with {{spoiler|Felix Walken}} for legal reasons like {{spoiler|getting married}}. His stepbrothers are more than a little annoyed with this practice.

* Hei (a name which in itself is an alias) from ''[[Darker than Black]]'' has a number of them, including Li Shenshun, BK201, the Black Reaper, and (thanks to one of his slashfic-writing [[Loony Fan]]s) "the masked man with delicious collarbones"...Hey, he had no control over that last one, okay?

* Guts of ''[[Berserk]]'' is known as "The Black Swordsman" and "The Branded Swordsman" after the Eclipse, but back in the days when he was with the Band of the Hawk, in addition to his official title of Commander of the Hawk's Raiders, he also earned the title of "The Hundred Man Slayer" because of what he did to the Blue Whale Knights around the middle of the Golden Age arc.

* [[Trigun|Vash The Stampede]] is only really named 'Vash,' although he seems to have accepted 'The Stampede' as a legitimate surname since it became his most common epithet. He's also known as 'The Humanoid Typhoon,' 'The Walking Disaster Area,' 'The Demon of July,' and 'The First Human Act of God,' though the latter is only for insurance purposes.

* Luffy in [[The Will of the D]] when {{spoiler|thanks to the water logia type fruit provided by a time traveling Gold Roger he is able to claim sovereignty over the sea}}

{{quote|"I have many names and I have no name, for they drift away with the currents."}}

** In ''Drunkard's Walk V'', a goddess (once fallen but now redeemed) says to Doug:

{{quote|"In [[The Dance of Shiva|one world]], I was reborn as [[Bubblegum Crisis|a dancer named Linna Yamazaki]], who grew and lived as a mortal and [[The Dance of Shiva|came into her birthright on the eve of the Apocalypse]]. In another, I never Fell, and [[Heralds of Valdemar|a people of horses and plains do me duty and worship]]. In [[Saint Seiya|yet another]], I invest avatar after avatar, calling to myself each time the best and brightest in the arts of war to do battle against the Dark. [[Marathon Trilogy|I have been Sekhmet, Mylee, Ishtar, Michael, Athena and a billion others, and I will be a billion more before the worlds grow dim and cold.]]

** There are even Elven terms for the various types of names according to originator and function. The general extra epithet was called the ''epessë'', the after-name. It was usually an honorary title or nickname, sometimes chosen by the Elf personally.)

** Gandalf from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': "Many are my names in many countries: Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkun to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incanus, in the North Gandalf, [[Mordor|to the east I go not.]]" Additionally don't forget Gandalf Greyhame, Gandalf the Grey, The Grey Pilgrim (a translation of Mithrandir), The White Rider and Gandalf the White. Also Greybeard, Stormcrow and Lathspell (Ill-news) as insults (although "Stormcrow" is [[Appropriated Appellation|later used by Gandalf himself]]).

*** In the [[Affectionate Parody]] ''[[Bored of the Rings]]''', Arrowroot son of Arrowshirt, True Son of Araplane—the Aragorn-analogue—drops the Trope name while parodying the above scene. His allies heave a long-suffering sigh as they confirm it to be true while at the same time keeping him from actually reciting the names.

** Tom Bombadil is called "Forn" by the dwarves, also known by the Men as Orald. And by the Elves as Iarwain Ben-Adar ("the eldest and fatherless").

** Sauron has many, many names (and titles), the most amusing of which is probably The Nameless One. Depending on how you count, he can easily beat even Aragorn and Gandalf.

** Also, Saruman/Curunir/Curumo, Saruman the White, Saruman of Many Colors, the White Wizard, nicknamed Sharkey.

** Even Frodo and Sam got elvish nicknames in the drafts (which translate as Endurance Beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable).

** Reasons which might be related to the way he will look at you as if trying to figure out whether he owes you money, and if not, whether you might lend him some.

* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s Death, as mentioned in the quote. In the ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''Mort'', a list of his titles includes "The Stealer of Souls, Defeater of Empires, Swallower of Oceans, Thief of Years, The Ultimate Reality, Harvester of Mankind" before Death himself gets fed up and interrupts the herald announcing him.

** Or Moist von Lipwig, conman extraordinaire. He was hanged under the name Albert Spangler, but he used lots of others, including (apparently) "Ethel Snake".

** Granny Weatherwax is known to the dwarfs as "She Who Is To Be Avoided" and to the trolls as "Go Around the Other Side of the Mountain," titles about which she had mixed feelings. (The similarity of these to certain of [[Doctor Who|The Doctor's]] sobriquets is probably coincidental.)

* ''[[Harry Potter]]:''

** Harry Potter; The Boy-Who-Lived, [[The Chosen One]], Undesirable No. 1.. [http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Harry_Potter etc]..

* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'', heroine Jame picks up many names. Her real name is Jamethiel, but that's an ill-fated name to give anyone because of the infamy of its last bearer, so she's Jame—but many people try and back-form the nickname to Jameth, since it's the only name in her culture except for the bad one that would have that abbreviation. She is called Talisman in the thieves' guild, the B'Tyrr (which also means Talisman) as a tavern dancer, and Jamie by her old tutor. Her epithets include Priest's Bane and Lordan of Ivory.

* Jack Shaftoe of [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Baroque Cycle]]'' is known as Half-Cocked Jack (for [[Crazy Awesome|two]] [[Nightmare Fuel|reasons]]), ''L'Emmerdeur'', the King of the Vagabonds, Ali Zaybak, Quicksilver, Sword of Divine Fire, and Jack the Coiner.

* Mr. Church aka The Deacon, aka St. Germain. These are just the ones we know {{context}}<!-- What is this from? -->

* The ''[[Outlander]]'' series has James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser. While he is generally known as Jamie to the readers, and to most of his associates in the first two books, in the later books he sometimes uses various combinations of his middle names as a disguise. When first encountered in book three (''Voyager''), for example, he was going by Alexander Malcolm. He's sometimes also known as Red Jamie, or as Dunbonnet.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** Dalek name for him: "Ka Fariq Gatri"—The Destroyer of Worlds.

*** There's also the slightly more often-quoted nickname courtesy of the Daleks -- "The Oncoming Storm".

** A more standard use of the trope comes from "The Impossible Planet", where the Ood declare of the Beast:

{{quote|"Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Krop Tor. Some may call him Satan. Or Lucifer. Or the King of Despair. The Deathless Prince. The Bringer of Night. And these are the words that shall set him free."}}

* In ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'', we Settra, who mostly goes by [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Imperishable]], but according to the 8th edition Tomb Kings rulebook, he requires a highly literate body guard because he has so many titles that it takes "2 hours to say them all."

* To keep from drawing their attention, [[Changeling: The Lost|the Lost]] refer to their Keepers as the True Fae, the Gentry, and the Others.

 

== Video Games ==

** [[Ax Crazy|Terumi]] [[Troll|Yuuki]], [[Faux Affably Evil|Hazama]], [[Our Ghosts Are Different|Kazuma]] [[Artificial Human|Kuvaru]], [[Dark Is Evil|Black]] [[Japanese Mythology|Susano'o]], [[Complete Monster|The True Evil]].

* The Player Character in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]''. To the dragons, you are [[I Am Who?|Dovahkiin]]. To people who know the legends, you are [[You Are the Translated Foreign Word|Dragonborn]]. The Graybeards give you the name "Ysmir", which the previous world-changing dragonborn Tiber Septim was given before you. You are probably [[Screw You, Elves|"Whoever in oblivion is killing all our Justiciars out on the roads"]] to the Thalmor. And of course, you are [[Hello, Insert Name Here|whatever you name your character.]]

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', all the exiles (save for {{spoiler|troll's session Jack and Black Queen}}) are known only by their job or title, which change depending on their role with only their initials remaining constant. WV has had the most so far, being known as the Wayward Vagabond, Warweary Villein, {{spoiler|Wastelandic Vindicator}}, and most recently {{spoiler|Wizardly Vassal}}.

** All the players have at least three names, as well: their actual name, their instant messaging handle, and their mythological title. For instance, Terezi Pyrope is gallowsCalibrator is the Seer of Mind, and Dave Strider is turntechGodhead is the Knight of Time. Some have even more; for instance, John is both ectoBiologist and ghostyTrickster because he changed his handle.

* ''[[Evil Diva (webcomic)|Evil Diva]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20140406203555/http://www.evildivacomics.com/?p=797 Well, he does, but it's someone else who tries reeling them off]

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mr. Sin]] from ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'' mysteriously disappears and is replaced by a "cousin" with a different first initial and hairstyle whenever one of his plans goes catastrophically pear-shaped. How often has he done this? It's hinted that he uses initials because he ''ran out of first names.''

* In ''[[Endstone]]'', [http://endstone.net/2009/08/20/issue-2-page-10/ Jon reflects on them when he faces death].

* ''[[Hijinks Ensue]]'' [http://hijinksensue.com/?p=2247 crosses] this trope with [[I Call Him Mr. Happy]].

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has [https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-12-22 Chinook], the new AI of Eina-Afa.

 

{{quote|'''Harley:''' And we got these custom sauces, 'cause I'm the Doctor of Dressing, aka the Pharaoh of Flavour, aka the Minister of Mixture, aka the Connoisseur of Condiments, aka the Don of the Drippin', aka the [[Jeff Goldblum]] of the Internet, aka... <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|dramatic zoom on the sauces]]] ...the ''Sauce Boss''.}}

* The owners of one automobile site go by [[House Pseudonym|pen-names]], not for anonymity according to [[Word of God]], but their own idiosyncratic reasons.

 

== Western Animation ==

* "[[Big Bad|I've]] had many names during my life, but my favorite... is [[The Spectacular Spider-Man|Tombstone]]."

* Parodied on ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', "The Chronicles of Meap": "I am known by many names through out the universe... well, two really: Mitch, and some of the guys call me Big Mitch!"

** In the movie ''[[Turtles Forever]]'', the Shredder lists all his names as part of his [[Badass Boast]].

* In ''[[Animaniacs]]'':

{{quote|'''[[The Devil|Satan:]]''' Little fools! I am Beelzebub, Lucifer, the reaper of souls, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|the really angry one!]] I AM SATAN! [[Evil Laugh|MWAHAHAHAHAA!]]}}

* In ''[[Miraculous Ladybug]]'', Marinette Dupain-Cheng's usual and preferred heroic identity is that of Ladybug; however, many times she has assumed other heroic identities for a variety of reasons, each time with a Kwami and Miraculous other than hers; in "Kwamibuster", after Tikki was kidnapped by the eponymous villain, Marinette uses the Mouse Miraculous to become Multi-Mouse, and is later aided by the kidnapped kwamis, becoming Multibug, Multinoir, and finally Multifox. In "Reflekdoll", she uses Adrian's Miraculous to become Lady Noir, a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of Cat Noir. In "Miracle Queen" she uses both the Ladybug and Dragon Miraculous to become Dragon Bug. She ''almost'' had an Akuma-identity, which Hawk Moth named "Princess Justice", but seeing as the akumatization is interrupted and not completed, details remain a mystery.

 

== Real Life ==

** Personal name ''Thutmose Neferkheperu'' -- "Son of Re, born of Thoth, beautiful of forms"

* The humble tomato (''Solanum lycopersicum''). The Convention on Biological Diversity organized a project to list every plant on the planet in a giant catalogue (they're still at it, as of 2010). Most of the plants were erroneously given 2 or 3 names around the world, which is no big deal if you are looking for information on a particular plant. On the other hand, the tomato was accidentally given 790 fricking names, making it the plant with most names in the world.

* Chairman Mao's fourth wife went by ''eight'' names during her life: she was first called Lǐ Jìnhái (a boy's name) because her father wanted a son; then renamed Lǐ Shūméng; then enrolled in school as Lǐ Yúnhè, a more dignified name; then shortened it to Lǐ Hè; went by the stage name Lán Píng; then adopted the [[Nom De Guerre]] Jiāng Qīng; wrote articles under the pseudonym Lǐ Jìn; was called Madame Mao by the Western media; called herself Lǐ Rùnqīng after being released from prison. Her tombstone bears her school name, Lǐ Yúnhè.

* Ramses II had a couple of different names, the most well known being Ramses the Great, then there was [[Watchmen (comics)|Ozymandias]], and User-Maat-Re-Setep-En-Re.

* Germany has [[wikipedia:Names of Germany|many different categories of names in different languages]], such as Germany in English, ''Deutschland'' in German itself, ''Allemagne'' in French, ''Niemcy'' in Polish, and a few others.

* The late Prince Rogers Nelson, or simply known as [[Prince]], had quite a few aliases. Among them were ''The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, The Artist, Alexander Nevermind, Coco, Starr * Company, Camille'', and [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/af/Prince_logo.svg/220px-Prince_logo.svg.png his very own symbol.]

* The dinosaur ''Plateosaurus engelhardti'' has been named over ''twenty times'' (All of them have turned out to be the same species)

* Many Chinese and Koreans who live in Western countries are given two names, so they can feel a part of both cultures. Also, names might be harder to pronounce or look/sound funny in the other language, e.g 혜나 ([[Hye Na]]), looks like Hyena and Jill (질), sounds like the Korean slang word for the female genitals.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Naming Conventions]]

[[Category:Older Than Dirt]]