Name's the Same/Video Games

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• Alucard: The main character from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night doesn't have his own anime, yet.
• Dizzy: Yolkfolk protagonist of a series Yahtzee loves, or Stripperiffic Commander Gear with sapient wings and a tail?
• The Nobodies from Devil May Cry should not be, under any but the most heavily drugged-and-drunk situations, mistaken for the Nobodies from Kingdom Hearts. Though a properly done DMC/KH crossover would be totally sweet.
• Mother Brain is a malevolent AI in three different games. Taken literally in Metroid, where she's a giant Brain In a Jar, but not in Phantasy Star II or Chrono Trigger. The Final Boss of the original Gradius is also called the Mother Brain, and so is the first boss of Blaster Master.
• Both Paper Mario and Wario Land The Shake Dimension have near identically named volcano levels with a general Lethal Lava Land theme. One's... Mt. Lavalava, and the other is Mt. Lava Lava.
• In Rare games Sabre Man and Killer Instinct two Sabre Wulf appeared, though being different characters.
• Still Alive, a song from Mirror's Edge or Portal?
• Lord British, let me introduce you to Lord British.
• One of my friends once remarked: Why are all Morrigans in video games hot?
  • Celtic Mythology. Depending on who you ask, The Morrigan was either a goddess or general Badass of death whose name either meant Great Queen or The Terror. Both fit.
• King: the lady bouncer from Art of Fighting? Or a masked luchador persona in Tekken? Both are prominent Fighting Game characters. There's also a villain named King in Mega Man and Bass and it's also one of Solidus Snake's aliases in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
  • A prominent rabbit-thing character in Cave Story, too.
• Capcom has actually quite a few examples within their games:
  • Retu the final boss from Final Fight 2, shares his name with the Shorinji Kempo master Retsu from the first Street Fighter. In Japanese, they're different spellings of the same name (same kanji for both even).
  • Which Lucia are you talking about? The cop trained in Taekowndo who assisted Mike Haggar and Guy in fighting the Skull Cross gang? The redheaded demon hunter who fought alongside Dante?
    • Or the bioroid who fought alongside (and against) Bill Rizer?
    • What about the blue-haired woman who fought alongside Princess (later Queen) Elincia?
  • Arthur, Lancelot and Perceval: The Power Trio from the latest mobile phone Ghosts N Goblins game or the Power Trio from Capcom's old Beat'Em Up Knights of the Round?(obviously, both are all inspired by the same source).
  • Belger: the Big Bad from Final Fight or the 2P character in Magic Sword?
  • Mr. X: Powerful Umbrella B.O.W. or a poorly disguised alter-ego?
    • Or, from Irem, the Big Bad of Kung-Fu Master?
    • Or, the Tommy gun-wielding Syndicate head from Streets of Rage?
  • Tyrant: Well-known Umbrella B.O.W. or Fou-Lu's final dragon form?
    • Not by Capcom, but there's also a certain Brother from Turgor.
  • Joe can either be Viewtiful or Super.
    • or Condor.
      • Or even Sniper, among other variants.
  • Both the main character from the old game Son Son and his granddaughter are named Sonson.
  • Rudra & Agni: Weapons Dante uses or Ryu's strongest forms?
  • Both Ray and Rei are written identical in katakana (rei).
  • Maya: Spirit Medium or Secret Agent?
  • You forgot about Axl, which could either be a mook in the Mad Gear or a Reploid with the ability to copy any Reploid he chooses.
• Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to this gentleman from Tecmo Gaming, Ryu Hayabusa, who'll be watching us here at the Gaming University of Capcom. These are respectively Ryu, minister of martial arts, Ryu, minister of boomerang studies, Ryu Bateson, minister of drama, Ryu, minister of familial relations, Ryu, minister of theology, and Ryu, minister of genetic engineering. Do we mind if we call you Ryu to avoid confusion?
  • A much more obscure fact is that Capcom has 2 more main characters named "Ryu", upping the total to 8: Outside of the 6 mentioned above, there's also the protagonist for both old arcade games Avengers (known in Japanese as Hissatsu Buraiken) and Trojan.
  • The Big Bad of Data East's Karnov is a hydra-type dragon named Ryu.
• Tsukihime and Tales of Hearts both have a pair of siblings named Kohaku and Hisui. In the former, they are (female) identical twins and Kohaku is the older one, whereas in the latter they are not twins and Hisui is Kohaku's older brother. Like the above Ryu example, only one of these pairs (Tsukihime's) is No Last Name Given, though.
  • While we are on the subject, has Kohaku and Kohaku met the young lad Kohaku yet?
• MooMoo Farm is both a racetrack in Mario Kart, a location in Pokémon Gold and Silver (specifically Johto), and The Legend of Zelda the Minish Cap It seems likely that the latter two are shoutouts, though.
  • Moo Moo Farm is also the infamous secret cow level in Diablo II.
  • Rainbow Road in Mario Kart and Rainbow Road in F-Zero X (The 64DD Expansion Pack even has a remix of MK64's Rainbow Road music). Super Mario 64 also has a secret stage called Rainbow Ride.
• Another same company example: an F-Zero racer and Fox McCloud's father both share the same name: James McCloud (It should be noted that the former is technically a Shout-Out to the latter).
• Dr. Carroll appears as name of a computer in Perfect Dark and as name of a scientist in the prequel. The former is implied to be a Virtual Ghost of the latter.
• Kratos in Tales of Symphonia and Kratos in God of War.
  • Both of these are references to an obscure Greek God (really obvious in the God of War case), a god of strength, who just became an aspect of Zeus later on.
  • Kratos Aurion even has a title in his game named "War God".
• Gray Fox, the cyborg ninja, or the leader of the Thieves' Guild?
• In the Japanese version of the first Mega Man game, the Robot Master known as "Bomb Man" elsewhere was originally known as "Bomber Man". This was changed in the overseas version to avoid confusion with the much better known Bomberman.
• World of Warcraft has Xavius, first of the satyrs and X'avius, a Scourge necromancer. While the satyrs are very found of naming places or themselves after their master, there is no connection between him and X'avius.
  • Also, there's Hakkar the blood god in World of Warcraft, and Hakkar the demon in The War of the Ancients.
• Raiden the thunder god from Mortal Kombat, Raiden the Masked Luchador from Fatal Fury, Raiden the Shoot'Em Up series, and Raiden from Metal Gear Solid.
• There's the Mecha Dragon from Mega Man 2, and the Meka Dragon from Wonder Boy in Monster Land and its sequels.
• The Nameless Ones of Forgotten Worlds, or the Nameless One of Planescape: Torment? Oh, and don't forget about Nameless from King of Fighters.
• Kid Icarus has the "Kometo" (sometimes transliterated as "Komayto") enemy type; Iji has the "Komato" aliens.
• Do not confuse the Nineball and the AC Nineball. The first is an idiot ice fairy who somehow became an Ensemble Darkhorse (and Nineball is her nickname, anyways), and the second is a Recurring Bonus Boss whose mere appearance on the battlefield is considered by many players to be a Oh Crap moment and reason enough to consider the Godzilla Threshold crossed (and as a result, time to do anything you can to kill that AC, regardless of normal play style).
• Gradius's name resulted from a Japanization of "gladius", which is also the name of a much later RPG involving Roman gladiators. It's also the name of the first sword in Wonder Boy in Monster Land.
• Sauria is the name of a dinosaur-inhabited planet in Adventures Of Rad Gravity, as well as Star Fox Assault.
• Beat happens to be a speedy guy who lives in a trendy alternate Tokyo. Am I talking about the protagonist of Jet Set Radio, or his partner in The World Ends With You?
  • And then there's Beat, the avian robot from the Mega Man series, and a young wielder of firearms in Eternal Sonata.
• Iris is the ex-girlfriend of a Capcom character, whose relationship with said character ended with a tragedy. Is she a robot girl, or a shrine maiden?
  • Or is she a program that kills herself to stop an evil scientist, or maybe a girl from Pokémon Black and White, who is also the last Gym Leader?
  • Might also be ultimate summon from the Golden Sun series.
  • Or one-half of the reincarnation of the magus Rosenkreuz.
  • Unless, of course, she's actually Erim, the Sinistral of Death in Lufia II.
• Speaking of Gradius: is Cruiser Tetron a boss in Life Force, or the Big Bad of Hero Core? However, this one is intentional, since Daniel Remar came up with the story of the latter game as a child and named the villain after said boss.
• The Boss, either the way too patriotic Badass lady from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, or the way too violent Badass player character from Saints Row 2 (who can also be a lady if the player wants). In La-Mulana, it's the name of the blue enemy unique to Hell Temple (and the avatar of one of the game's creators). It's also the name of the Big Bad from Jumper Two.
• There's a character in BlazBlue who plays with this trope with her first AND last name. Her name? Makoto Nanaya.
  • In BlazBlue, there's also Jin Kisaragi, a cold-hearted asshole... and in another game, there's Jin Kazama, a cold-hearted Tragic Hero. Both like keeping people away from them. Now you'd need to be careful if you ever named a game character "Jin K."
  • Also, when you say Vermilion with Guns Akimbo, is it about Badass Adorable, shy Woobie Noel or the single-named, crazy-ass Psycho for Hire Vermilion?
• Gene from God Hand is the male Player Character, who specializes in Good Old Fisticuffs, reversing enemy wrestling movies and dodging enemy attacks instead of blocking them. Jeane from No More Heroes is the female Final Boss, who specializes in Good Old Fisticuffs, reversing your wrestling moves, and dodging your attacks instead of blocking them.
  • Jeane is also the Ms. Fanservice magician from the Suikoden series.
• From two of Square Enix's most popular franchises, we have Terra and Terra.
  • Though in Japan, Terra Branford was known as Tina. However, the mage Tellah from FFIV, however, can also be read as Terrah, or Terra if you prefer.
    • From a different game series, we have the Stardroid named Terra.
  • Similarly, there's Rikku and Riku. Even better: Rikku makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts II.
    • That one's more down to odd romanization (wouldn't be the first time - Hello Seifer). FFX's Rikku is spelled Ryukku in kana.
  • This trope is at its most Egregious in Final Fantasy IV, which boasts two Prince Edwards (who have absolutely nothing to do with each other) as major playable characters in the exact same game. One is Prince Edward Chris von Muir of Damcyan (who, to be fair, was called "Gilbert" in the original Japanese version), and the other is Prince Edward Geraldine of Eblan (who goes by "Edge" anyway).
  • Both Final Fantasy VI and Super Mario RPG have a boss named Kaiser Dragon, or "Czar Dragon" in Ted Woolsey's translations. It's also the name of a Ryu transformation in the Breath of Fire games.
• Mercer as a villain in science? Do you mean Dr Mercer from Dead Space or the real Alex Mercer of Prototype?
• A character named Sora who eventually gets an alternate self: Sora! Roxas! Haseo! Wait...
• An immense space station with picturesque plant-heavy corridors, cityscape-like views out of the windows, lots of residential modules and offices connected together, and the second location the player visits in the game, before Opening the Sandbox. You're thinking of Citadel Station from Knights of the Old Republic II... or perhaps Mass Effect. There's also a Citadel Station in the first System Shock.
  • But not the Citadel from Half-Life 2, which is a massive Combine facility. That thing is downright scary inside.
  • Or the ruins of the Pentagon in which was rechristened the Citadel by the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel.
• Alec Mason, the Martian freedom fighter, is one letter away from Alex Mason, the Vietnam-era CIA / SOG operator.
• Scorpion Tank: main battle tank of the UNSC or the GLA?
  • Scorpion is also the name of a light anti-infantry vehicle in later Unreal Tournament games.
  • Relatedly, Goliath Tank: first fielded in 2001 or 2303?
• Mobius: leading researcher on Tiberium, or the 118th Tactical Fighter Wing?
  • It's probably a planet brought about via localization in Sonic the Hedgehog.
  • You may also be referring to the Big Bad dark god of the Agarest Senki series.
• Pigsy is either a character in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West or a boss in Manhunt.
• Maki had her name changed to Mary in both Revelations Persona and Kira Kira Pop Princess. There is also a Tammy in both, but the former's Japanese name is Tamaki while the latter's is Tamae.
• Albatross: secret agent of the WCPO? Or a top-secret weapon developed by the Nazis Badds?
• Starly: A pink starfish living in the sky, or the resident local bird of Sinnoh?
• The Disgaea series has two angels named Vulcanus: The main antagonist of the first game and the female lead of the fourth game.
• Scorpion from Mortal Kombat is not to be confused with The Scorpion, a masked wrestler from Capcom's short-lived Saturday Night Slam Masters series (although his Japanese name is Astro).
  • Or the fact that it was Lance Bean's nickname in the American versions, up until Contra 4, where a new character was given the nickname.
• The Mother antagonists from Wild ARMs and from Rogue Galaxy are both major villains, with world eater tendencies, and both have insect-like characteristics (Mother from Wild ARMs was trapped in a cocoon; Mother from Rogue Galaxy looks like a praying mantis in her first form, before her shell cracked and then turned into a moth-like creature).
  • And don't forget The Mother from Dragon Age Awakening, an Ax Crazy major villain with arachnoid characteristics (in addition to the Multi Boobage, tentacles, human face weeping blood, etc.).
• How many video game characters are named Ignis again? Let's see, Relius' wife-turned-automaton, crazy-ass Ruina General that plays with fire, the lovable and god damn hard SNK Boss with the voice of Norio Wakamoto, a proud guy who thinks himself as holier than other elves...
• Fennel is a glasses-wearing side-character researcher, that much is certain. Question is, is she amiable and generous in generally peaceful Unova, studying the dreams of Pokémon, or is he a misanthropic Mad Scientist who Looks Like Orlok while studying Thaumatech in the warring state of Alistel? Both games were released at about the same time, too, making the parallel even more amusing.
  • Last I heard, he left to start his own band.
• Sgt. Jack Barnes in Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead is not to be confused with Corporal Barnes in Medal of Honor: Frontline.
• Aurelia: queen of Dalkia, a planet once lost to the Warp, or a nation at war with Leasath
• Games of American McGee's Alice seem to use the name The Red Queen to refer to the Queen Of Hearts and the red queen chess piece interchangeably.
• A rather insteresting example with Sheena: both a minor character from the NES Strider and the female playable character from Run Saber, which is itself an Expy of the original arcade/Mega Drive Strider!
  • What about Sheena Fujibayashi?
  • The president's playboy son .
• Don't confuse Beatrice and Beatrice. Even though they are both mental entities, of a sort.
• Shadow's a generic name, but ironically only two may come to mind: One's a hedgehog, the other's a ninja.
• More a What Could Have Been example, but in Pokémon Gold and Silver, the protagonist's home of New Bark Town was originally going to be named "Silent Hills". Nearly a year before their release, the game Silent Hill came out, which may have lead to the rename.
• Georg: Are we referring to the Memetic Badass Georg Prime or are we talking about Badass Grandpa Georg?
• Boomer: idiot Locust who like to launch grenades, or fat zombies that can call in more zombies?
  • I prefer the Big Lipped Alligator Moment of Boomer in Super Mario RPG.
  • The plural form could be a tribe hailing from Vault 34 who likes blowing shit up with heavy artillery.
• This Starman makes you invincible for a few seconds. That Starman is a servant of Giygas. Star Man might also be the Robot Master from Mega Man 5, or the Masked Luchador from Pro Wrestling.
  • What about that other Starman?
• Destruction Derby is both the name of an early arcade game by Exidy (also known as Demolition Derby) and a PlayStation racing game series.
• Jean and Paul. Both are antagonists there to distract the player from what's really going on. Jean is a smug and fairly flamboyant man just taller than the main character with a hat that rival's only the protagonist's in pimp-level per cubic centimeter, and his eyes are covered at all times. Paul, meanwhile, is a much less attractive man with an amazing gift for inventing fantastic machines. They're both trying to get in the way of an amazing archaeologist with a costume that's entirely unmistakable as a dark coat and top hat... the question is, is that man Doctor Lautrec or... (sigh) Professor Layton? Come on, Konami.
• Gilgamesh is either the prince who wore golden armor and attacked monsters to save Ki in The Tower of Druaga or the weapon-collecting Recurring Boss from Final Fantasy V. Both Gilgameshes are interested in a sword called Excalibur, though they might get the bad version instead. There's also the Nasuverse Gilgamesh who also wears golden armor and would like to wield Excalibur, though it's usually wielded against him.
  • This is the entire reason why the latter two met in a room
• Magman: An enemy fought in a volcanic area. Question is, is it a gigantic living blob of lava, or a walking miniature volcano?
• The working title for Rez was Project Eden, but a PS2 action-adventure game snapped up that name.
• Zero: Dr. Wily's final creation? A synthetic human who revels in destruction, created by the Gerard Foundation? Or a high-ranking member of NESTS and his clone?
  • There's also the white Eldritch abomination that tears out its own eye and attacks you with its blood.
  • Anyone forgetting that old guy that gives Snake advice on his mission?
• Nathan Graves: Vampire Hunter or Dark Age of Comics parody.
• Top Man is either the name of a robot that uses tops as weapons or a race of alien tops.
• The name Rock. Geese's son, perhaps? Mega Man's real name? Or an axe-wielding Englishman looking for his adopted son?
• Speaking of "Rock", The Legend of Zelda has two separate dungeons named Turtle Rock. It's not the only shared name, either - there's also two Fire Temples, two Temples of Ice, and three Forest Temples.
• In regards to Black Orchid most people would recognize Jago's estranged sister and winner of the first KI tournament, not the corporation of assassins, of which Shadow Yamoto is a member.
• Everyone knows about Pandora's Box. Both contain immeasurable power, but while one had corrupted the Greek gods, the other only triggers its power when powerful fighters are present.
• There's three characters named Jubei Yagyu. The first two are a master swordsman and his granddaughter who fought against the Genma. The second is is a master swordsman/ronin who is seeking personal enlightenment.
• Yuna. Single name? Check. Different people? Most definitely. The well-known one is a female summoner turned sphere hunter, while the other is a male mad scientist.
• Monty Mole is the name of the hero of a series of British platformers, and is also the name of an enemy in the Super Mario Bros. games.
• Yoshimitsu: The current head of the Manji Clan? Or his ancestor?
• There are two major events which carry the name The Great War. The first is the war between Zeus and the gods against Cronus and the Titans, while the second is a 2-hour nuclear war between the United States and China which left the world a radioactive wasteland.
• Eddie: also known as Flip-Top, or the shadow demon who possessed Zato-1's body?
• There's also Ed E., the crooked cop on Belger's payroll and ED-E, the Enclave eyebot who flew far and fast.
• Which Seth are we talking about here? The secret agent and partner to Vanessa? Or the head of S.I.N.? Or the mad treasure hunter or that backstabbing Nod liutenant?
• Princess Kitana's best friend, an investigative reporter, Zog's leading general, and a snarky colonel have one thing in common: they share the name Jade.
• Athena. Daughter to Zeus and half-sister to Kratos? Or a sword-wielding princess whose descendant happens to be Athena Asamiya?
• Deimos. The younger brother to a certain vengeful Spartan? Or one of Mars' moons which happens to be orbiting Hell itself?
• Assassins' Guild. The very first had Zato-1 and Milla Rage as its members, while the well-known one had Altair and Ezio Auditore as its members.
• Valentine. Ivy Valentine's namesake sword? Or a deadly ninja nurse with a personal agenda?
• Chaos. The God of Decay? A former scythe-wielding Secret Society executive who went batshit insane following severe memory loss? A Chao mutated by the Chaos Emeralds which act as a guardian for its species? A member of the Elsa Crew who serves as the ship's security and is over 6,000 years old? The final boss in the original Final Fantasy? Or Vincent Valentine's ultimate form?
• Shiva. Mr. X's right hand man? Or a summon most known for her Diamond Dust attack?
• Cerberus: A pro-human organization? A boss, later transformed into one of Dante's weapons? A triple-barreled handgun used by Vincent Valentine? A zombified Doberman designated MA-39 found inside and around the Spencer Mansion? Or the sentry of Underworld who hates ghouls but can't kill them due to the combat inhibitor?
• Raven. Badass ninja/operative? Or badass mercenary with a grudge against House Ostia?
• Guy: Stoic Bushinryuu ninja with a love of sneakers? Or a swordmaster nickmaned the "Saint of Swords?" Or maybe you're referring to The Guy. Unless of course you're talking about this Guy, or Guy from the Lufia series.
• Ashe: A hunter searching for loot and fortune? The Frost Archer? Or the alias of a certain Hume princess thought to have died?
• Elena: The newest member of The Turks? Or the tribal princess skilled in Capoeira?
• Maria could either be a manifestation sent to tempt and torture James Sunderland, or it is Benny's signature firearm. But what if she's Firion's friend or an opera singer?
• You got Fatman, a mad bomber on rollerblades hell-bent on blowing up The Big Shell, and the Fat Man, a nuclear catapult weapon capable of launching miniature nukes.
• Hayate: The one from Dead or Alive? Street Fighter EX 2? Shadow of the Ninja? or Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi?
• Nariko's trigger-happy sidekick and a Shaolin Monk who is friends with Liu Kang are both named Kai.
• An interesting one is the name Sheeva. We all know about the female Shokan warrior, but most don't know about the the police dog who Aya Brea later fights in its three-headed form.
• Vega. Self-proclaimed Spanish Ninja? Or a general in the Brotherhood of Nod who is also a powerful druglord?
• Azura: a Daedric prince? Or the site of the final battle in the Locust-Human War?
• An in-game example, we have Balrog, Vega and M. Bison. Depending on where you play Street Fighter, the following could be:
  • Balrog: The American Boxer in the U.S. or the Spanish Ninja in Japan.
  • Vega: The Spanish Ninja in the U.S. or the Man in Red in Japan.
  • M. Bison: The Man in Red in the U.S. or the American Boxer in Japan.
• The demigod hell-bent on revenge on his fellow demigods is not the only person named Asura. The other one is a warrior from the Demon Realm of Makai who is at odds with Yuga the Destroyer.
• Ymir could be one of the following: an Elven forest, a boss also known as Whelk whom you face at the end of the Narshe Mines, or a jovial, Super Sledge-wielding Slaver operating in the Capital Wasteland.