Name's the Same/Real vs. Fictional: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

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== A ==

** In addition, one of the shows that ran opposite ''Quantum Leap'' during its run was ''[[China Beach]]'', which ALSO had a regular character named Sam Beckett.

* '''Mary Bell''': when you hear this name what little girl do you think of? Is she an insane British [[Enfant Terrible]] [[Serial Killer]] that liked to torture and murder toddlers in the 60's or a sweet Italian [[Magical Girl]] cartoon character from the early 90's that likes [[Green Thumb|using flowers to fight evil]].

** Or maybe one of [[Zack Ryder]]'s [[Z True Long Island Story|Broskis]]?

* '''Ryan Bingham''': The award-winning singer/songwriter, or [[George Clooney]]'s character in ''[[Up in the Air]]''? Coincidentally, non-fictional Ryan Bingham won an [[Academy Award]] for songwriting the same year George Clooney was nominated for playing fictional Ryan Bingham in ''Up in the Air''.

* A minor character in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Richard III]]'' is referred to as '''Sir James Blunt'''. The real person the character is based on was actually named James Bl'''o'''unt.

** '''James Blunt''' the musician/soldier was also born James Bl'''o'''unt.

* '''Michael Bolton''': A disgruntled [[Office Space|software engineer]] shared his name with a [[Michael Bolton|no-talent ass-clown]] (those are the engineer's words, of course).

* A '''[[High School Musical|Troy Bolton]]''' was beaten to death by ex-fugitive Raymond Ross, as told on the Discovery Channel's ''I Almost Got Away with It''.

* Baseball player '''Milton Bradley''' is not to be confused with the board game company Milton-Bradley.

** Not to mention Paul O'Neil, the baseball player, or maybe the former Treasury Secretary.

* Although the comic character never got to kick the football, there have been a Chicago Bears defensive back, a New Orleans Saints running back, a Washington Redskins wide receiver, and a USC offensive lineman named '''[[Peanuts|Charlie Brown]]'''.

** Charlie Brown is also the civilian identity of [[DC Comics]] supervillain Kite Man, which raises some questions about that round-headed kid who struggles with the Kite-Eating Tree.

* '''Michael Collins''' is the name of an astronaut, one of [[Marvel Comics|Deathlok]]'s alter egos, and General Michael Collins of the Irish Republican Army.

* '''Sarah Connor''': Mother of the [[Terminator|future human resistance leader]], or [[wikipedia:Sarah Connor (singer)|German pop singer]]?

** A common [[Sitcom]] gag involves characters going to see a Copperfield performance, and getting the one other than they were expecting.

* '''Alice Cullen''', [[Twilight (novel)|quirky vampire]] or [[Law and Order UK|murdered nurse]].

* '''Kouta Hirano''': Author of [[Hellsing]] or a [[Highschool of the Dead|Gun Otaku that can mow down hordes of zombies]]?

* People searching for information on the '''[[wikipedia:Croton capitatus|hogwort]]''', no matter how carefully they specify their search parameters, will get mostly [[Harry Potter]] sites.

* '''Anthony Hope''': author of ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' or optimistic, lovesick sailor from ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]''?

* '''Ryan Howard''': a first baseman with the Philadelphia Phillies, and a character on ''[[The Office]]''.

* '''Arthur Jensen''' is a UC-Berkeley sociology professor (in)famous for his arguments in favor of a genetic and racial basis for human intelligence. He's also [[Network|the guy who told Howard Beale about Corporate Cosmology]].

* '''Avery Johnson''': Former NBA player and current coach of the New Jersey Nets or a [[Halo|Marine Sergeant Major for the UNSC?]]

* '''Kevin Johnson''': Former NBA player and Mayor of Sacramento, or Michael's alias on ''[[Lost]]''? (The show has a large number of characters and aliases named intentionally after real people or fictional characters. This one seems to be unintentional.)

* Helen Fielding's fictional character '''[[Bridget Jones]]''' should not be confused with the Bridget Jones who was a writer and occasional actress on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' (and eventual wife of fellow ''MST''er Michael J. Nelson.)

** The undead pirate was inspired by the folklore character, and Bowie changed his name because of the Monkees singer.

** There's also a recurring character with the name in the ''[[Bloody Jack]]'' novels.

* '''Tom Jones''' is the stage name of a Welsh pop singer as well as the eponymous protagonist of [[Tom Jones|Henry Fielding's novel]]. This wouldn't be an example, as the singer took his name from the book, except that a third Tom Jones wrote ''[[The Fantasticks]]'' and other musicals with composer Harvey Schmidt.

 

* '''John McIntyre''' is a [http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8449439 retired NHL player], a [http://johnemcintyre.blogspot.com/ political blogger], and a fictional surgeon on [[M*A*S*H (television)|not one]], [[Trapper John MD|but two]] TV shows. And UN secretary general in ''Wrongfully Accused''.

* '''Ronald McDonald''' was also the name of a [[Mall Santa]] at the Lake Forest Park Town Center in Washington State, and was charged with and plead guilty to child rape.

* '''Ichiro Mihara''' is either the president of the [[Angelic Layer|Piffle Company]], or the vice president of [[wikipedia:Arika|Arika]]. At least [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDJQP1xg5EY two] [http://bsixcentdouze.free.fr/tc/tgm-en/tgm.html fans] of Arika have made note of this.

* The classic Western film ''[[High Noon]]'' has a villain named '''Frank Miller'''. It's just a coincidence, since the film was made while [[Frank Miller]] the comics author wasn't even born, but the film's theme song about "shooting Frank Miller dead" is [[Hilarious in Hindsight|quite entertaining regardless]].

 

== O ==

** Fittingly enough, the news anchor hosted a web series about space travel.

 

== P ==

* '''Pandora''' is either [[Avatar (film)|a dangerous jungle moon of planet Polyphemus]] or a small, potato-shaped moon of Saturn.

** And ''I'' thought Pandora was that cool online music site that introduces you to new music based on your existing favorites?

** And Adrian Mole's paramour.

* '''Ruby Rose''': actress/VJ who's been tapped to play Batwoman, or [[RWBY|cartoon protagonist character]]? (Either way, in October 2018 McAfee said "No other celebrity was more likely to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware", so don't Google her.)

* '''Marco Rossi''' is not only the name of two fictional characters (one of them being a playable character in the ''[[Metal Slug]]'' video games, the other the protagonist of the anime series ''[[3000 Leagues in Search of Mother]]''), it is also named of several Italian people (including two football players and sexologist), since "Marco" and "Rossi" are both common Italian names.

 

== S ==

* Try to talk about '''Dr Spock''' the pediatrician without people making ''[[Star Trek]]'' jokes.

* The [[Sega]] [[Homestar Runner|Homestar]] '''Star Projector'''.

* '''[[Lucky Starr]]''': Hero of a series of [[Isaac Asimov]] novels, or '60s Australian singer who recorded the original version of "[[wikipedia:I've Been Everywhere|I've Been Everywhere]]"?

* '''[[April Stewart]]''': Character on ''[[The Funky Phantom]]'', or voice actress on ''[[South Park]]''?

* '''Nietzsche''': [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nihilist philosopher]] or [[Yggdra Union|a cute mermaid]]?