All The Tropes

Name's the Same/Real vs. Fictional

< Name's the Same
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A

  • There's an evil organization in the Marvel Universe called AIM, no relation to the Internet service. This can lead to very funny reactions when your friends who don't read comics find sentences in your fan-fics like "We suspect AIM of involvement in the deaths of the astronauts."
    • Then there's the conservative media watchdog group AIM (Accuracy In Media).
    • And a Romanian copy of the AK-47.
    • Or AiM, a stage name of seiyuu/singer Ai Maeda.
  • Steve Austin: A bionic superman, or a beer-swillin', finger-gesturin' toughest SOB on the planet?

B

  • 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 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.
    • "Who walks in the classroom, cool and slow?/ Who calls the English teacher "Daddy-O'?"
    • Charlie Brown's is also a steakhouse chain.
    • There's also an Australian technology journalist working for the Nine Network named Charlie Brown, and there was yet another who worked on the development of Portal.
    • Then there's Charles Brown, a blues musician best known for penning the holiday classic "Merry Christmas, Baby".
  • In Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies, the fictitious Prime Minister of the UK is named Sir James Brown. One can assume that his political platform was one of getting down.
    • Even funnier when the real Prime Minister of Great Britain between 2007-2010 was James Brown, but he went by his middle name, Gordon. Presumably to avoid the obvious jokes...
    • James Brown is also the name of the guy who did hairstyling for The Brood.
    • Still another James Brown has worked as a sportscaster and pregame announcer for Fox and CBS.
    • Jim Brown played American football for the Cleveland Browns before turning to acting (The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, The Running Man.)
  • Joe Buck is the name of a baseball and football announcer for the FOX network, as well as the protagonist in Midnight Cowboy.
    • There's also a psychobilly musician named Joe Buck.
  • Kate Bush: a beautiful and amazingly talented but notoriously reclusive British singer with her own unique style of music or a character who met a nasty end on Gundam.

C

D

  • Matt Dillon: Movie actor, Dodge City marshal, or software developer?
  • Is Frank Drake a reluctant vampire hunter from a 1970s Marvel Comics series or an astronomer famous for his ideas about extraterrestrial life? Even their Wikipedia pages have redirects!

E

  • Michael Emerson (a.k.a. Benjamin Linus) is also the name of the head physician in Whose Life Is It Anyway?
  • Mike Evans was a co-creator of the TV series Good Times. Michael Evans was the name of the younger son on that series. However, the real-life Evans was not the basis for the fictional Evans. According to The Other Wiki, the series was actually based on the childhood of the series' other co-creator, Eric Monte.

G

H

  • Scott Hall: Pro wrestler once known as Razor Ramon, or Monarch Henchman #1?
  • Roy Harper: Speedy. Arsenal. Red Arrow or English folk singer?
  • Overworked Chicago psychologist Bob Hartley is not the same as Stanley Cup-winning hockey coach Bob Hartley.
  • Richard Haydn, the actor who played Max Detweiler in the film adaptation of The Sound of Music, should not be confused with Richard Hayden, David Spade's character from Tommy Boy.
  • Michael Hayes: Title character of a short-lived TV series with David Caruso, or a member of the Fabulous Freebirds?
  • Housepets has The Adventures of Spot, a Show Within a Show comic. In real life, The Adventures of Spot is a British children's animated show from the 80s that's based on a series of children lift-the-flap books by Eric Hill. And on the topic of Eric Hill, there's a news anchor named Erica Hill, too.
  • Kouta Hirano: Author of Hellsing or a Gun Otaku that can mow down hordes of zombies?
  • People searching for information on the hogwort, no matter how carefully they specify their search parameters, will get mostly Harry Potter sites.
  • In a particularly meta case, Chieko Honda was a voice actress, and apparently one of her roles was a ghost with the same name in an episode of Ah! My Goddess. The manga chapters on which that episode was based come early enough that it's unlikely (but not impossible) the actress's career had begun yet when the ghost was named.
  • Anthony Hope: author of The Prisoner of Zenda or optimistic, lovesick sailor from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?
  • Ryan Howard: a first baseman with the Philadelphia Phillies, and a character on The Office.
  • Is Victor Hugo an author or a mean, beaten-up car?

I

  • General Ike, leading allied multinational forces against a destructive madman. Is this Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance or Dwight D. Eisenhower?
    • Ike's crowd cheer in the English version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl plays with this a bit. "We like Ike" indeed.
    • Also, Ike was the name of a powerful hurricane, which resulted in many jokes in the Smash Bros. community during September 2008.
  • Kanae Ito is a minor character in Amagami. Kanae Ito is a prominent anime voice actress. The fictional one, though, is voiced by Yuki Matsuoka.

J

  • A minor character in Charles Dickens's Bleak House is named Michael Jackson.
  • Hugh Jass the one-off Simpsons character, and Hugh Jarse the programmer for 1980s British software house Bug-Byte.[1]
  • Billie Jean: A character in an eponymous Michael Jackson song, and a Las Vegas hoarder found dead under clutter piled to the ceiling. Not to be confused in any case with Billie Jean King - which was actually something that concerned producer Quincy Jones quite a bit, to the point that the song almost didn't get released.
  • 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 the guy who told Howard Beale about Corporate Cosmology.
  • Avery Johnson: Former NBA player and current coach of the New Jersey Nets or a Marine Sergeant Major for the UNSC?
  • Boris Johnson is Mayor of London. Boris Johnson is also head of the Democratic League and a major character in Norman Spinrad's science fiction novel Agent of Chaos; in fact, the first two words in the book are his name (Agent of Chaos was published three years after the mayor's birth).
  • 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 MSTer Michael J. Nelson.)
  • Davy Jones is a singer with The Monkees; a turn-of-the century baseball player; the real name of the singer whose stage name is David Bowie; a villainous undead pirate in the Pirates of the Caribbean films; and the personification of the sea in nautical folklore.
    • 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.
  • Mike Jones once said on a Missy Elliott song that he "can't be cloned". He probably never met the pro wrestler known as Virgil and Vincent, whose real name is also Mike Jones. To add to that...Mike Jones is also the name of a character from StarTropics.
  • Tom Jones is the stage name of a Welsh pop singer as well as the eponymous protagonist of 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.

K

L

M

N

  • There's Willie Nelson the country singer and Willie Nelson the onion-spider monster from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The latter introduces himself to the Aqua Teens saying that he's not the Willie Nelson, but that his name is Willie Nelson.
  • Alfred Newman was a legendary Hollywood composer who created the 20th Century-Fox Fanfare and scored countless films from the 1930s to the '60s. Alfred E. Neuman, on the other hand, was a legendary "What, Me Worry?" mascot for Mad.
  • Ninjaman: Ally of the Kakurangers? Or Reggae artist?
  • Ed Norton is the name of an actor from such films as Fight Club and The Incredible Hulk, as well as Art Carney's character from The Honeymooners. Carney says he got "To the moon, Alice!" jokes all the time, especially before he became famous (though it was Ralph's catchphrase in The Honeymooners, Norton never said it).
    • There's also an "Ed Norton Music" that turns up in the credits of such programs as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi. Not sure whether it's named for a real person or just an homage to the Carney character.

O

P

  • Pandora is either a dangerous jungle moon of planet Polyphemus or a small, potato-shaped moon of Saturn.
    • I thought Pandora was the woman with the box from that myth?
    • 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.
    • And the resident Cloudcuckoolander/Genius Ditz from Skins. Her surname's even Moon.
  • Linda Park: Wally West's reporter wife or the actress who portrayed Hoshi Sato? Her name plays a big role in why some people want her to play the comic book Linda if they make a Flash movie.
  • Charles Parker: jazz legend or character in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries?
  • General Nick Parker is not to be confused with Captain Nick Parker.
    • For that matter, the International Security Assistance Force said General Parker is Deputy Commander of should not be confused with the Independent State Allied Forces.
  • Peter Parker: Neurotic New York superhero or former head of British Rail? (Hint: only one of them got knighted, so far).
  • This is a voice actor, and he has a name; his name is Robert Paulsen. The first victim of Project Mayhem was Robert Paulson.
  • Max Payne was also the Liberal party candidate for the 1984 Chesterfield by-election.
    • There was a WCW pro wrestler in the 90s who used the name Maxx Payne; he eventually filed a lawsuit with Rockstar Games over the name.
    • Maxx Payne would later become known as Man Mountain Rock.
  • In the movie Captain Clegg, the town doctor's name is Pepper. Just like the soft drink.
  • The protagonist in British author John Christopher's Sword of the Spirits trilogy is named Luke Perry. They were published when the actor of the same name was five years old.
  • Then there's Matthew Perry, a murder victim in the low-budget 1985 drama Belizaire The Cajun. He shares his name with both an 1850s naval officer and a 1990s sitcom star.
  • Mike Peters is money and he doesn't even know it. He's also the cartoonist of Mother Goose and Grimm and lead singer of The Alarm.
  • There's Jonathan Pryce, the actor, and then there's John Price, the SAS operator.

R

S

T

  • Chiaki Takahashi is the captain of the softball club in Sket Dance. Chiaki Takahashi is a voice actress who is not in SKET Dance.
  • The hero of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington rails against the evils of villainous political boss... James Taylor.
    • There have been three famous musicians called James Taylor; the one who was a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers before going solo, another who (as J.T. Taylor) was lead singer of Kool and the Gang, and another one about 20 years later, who in an interview said he'd got fed up with people asking why he'd "changed his style".
    • Jim Taylor of the Green Packers was the NFL leading rusher in 1962, the only time that Jim Brown (see above) did not lead the league between 1957 and 1965.
    • Also, James Arnold Taylor, a.k.a. Tidus.
  • Mick Taylor is a former guitarist for The Rolling Stones as well as the serial killer villain in Wolf Creek.
  • Sean Thornton is a character in The Quiet Man who knows how to use his fists. Shawn Thornton is a Boston Bruins player for whom the same description applies.
    • There's also a Welsh footballer named Sean Thornton.
  • Kate Todd, either an NCIS agent or a Canadian actress.
  • The Silent Hill verse has a Toluca Lake, which is also the name of district and lake in Los Angeles.
  • In Anne Rice's 1993 novel Lasher, there is a character named Stuart Townsend. In the 2002 movie adaptation of her book Queen of the Damned, actor Stuart Townsend plays the vampire Lestat. Freaky.
  • The movie character Tron serves a similar purpose to the BASIC command TRON, but was named as an abbreviation of "electronic".
    • Also, there is a member of the Canadian legislature named Kevin Flynn.
    • There's also a French politician named Georges Tron.
  • Timmy Turner: 10 year old boy with fairies or a surfing film director in his early 30s?

W

Y

Z

Unsorted

  1. ↑ "Ass" in American English is "arse" in British English, so these are effectively the same name.
  2. ↑ According to Tacitus's Annals, anyway
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