Named by the Adaptation: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

There are a lot of characters with [[No Name Given]] out there. This trope is where an adaptation is made of the character's story and the character is given a name. This can range from the main character to secondary characters as well. The character may have become an [[Ascended Extra]] in the adaptation. It often serves to make the character seem more relatable though whether or not this works is up for debate. Another variation is where the character doesn't have a last name and is given one in the adaptation. Doesn't apply to characters whose names are changed in the adaptation. Compare [[Canon Name]] which is about linear installments.

 

* There's a few cases in ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', several of which ended up making their way back to the manga at a later point, like Shuu, Mai and Suno. Interestingly, Shuu was actually named "Soba" in his first manga appearance and became Shuu in later ones after it was used in the anime and Suno's name was only used in the manga when she made a single panel cameo a few hundred chapters after her main appearance.

 

 

== Film ==

* In the ''[[X-Men]]'' comics, Rogue's real name is unknown. In the [[X-Men (film)|live action films]] she is given the name Marie D'Ancanto.

* The Joker's name has never been revealed in the comics but in Tim Burton's ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'' he is named Jack Napier.

** Also in ''The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'' Lucy says her mother's name is Helen when it was never revealed in the books. Helen is Georgie Henley's mother's name and it was ad libbed by her at the last minute.

** And the Witch's dwarf servant is named "Ginabrik."

* The unnamed narrator/protagonist of a series of spy novels by [[Len Deighton]] became [[Harry Palmer]] in the film versions.

* The ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' was named Dastan in the film based on the "Sands of Time" trilogy. The games never gave him a name beyond 'the Prince'.

* In ''[[Danny, the Champion of the World]]'', Danny's surname is not revealed. In the film, it's Smith. His father, entirely unnamed in the book, is named William in the film.

* The 2010 ''[[Alice in Wonderland (film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' movie gives proper names to most characters that were only known by nicknames in Carroll's book such as the caterpillar being called Absolon.

* In ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' 2009 Uhura is given the first name Nyota. Note this name was [[Fanon]] for a ''long'' time before the film came out.

* In ''[[The Tomorrow Series]]'', Lee is the only main character not given a surname. In the film, he's credited as "Lee Takkam".

* The unnamed protagonist of the ''[[Doom]]'' video games is Flynn Taggart in the spin-off novels and John Grimm in the movie.

** This applies to a building instead of a character, but the books never give a name to the orphanage Voldemort lived in as a child. In a flashback from the sixth film, the sign out front reads "Wool's Orphanage". It's unclear whether this name came from Rowling or if the filmmakers invented it.

** The Hogwarts lake is never named in the books. The films call it "the Black Lake" and this name is recognized by the Harry Potter Wiki.

 

== Literature ==

 

 

** Similarly, Spike received his surname "Pratt" in IDW's comics.

* In ''[[The Worst Witch]]'' books, Maud's last name wasn't revealed until "The Worst Witch All At Sea" where she is called Maud Spellbody. The TV series gave her the last name "Moonshine". Drucilla was also given the last name "Paddock".

** All the teachers are also given first names that they didn't have in the book. Miss Cackle's becomes Amelia, Miss Hardbroom is Constance, Miss Bat is Davina and Miss Drill is Imogen.

* The TV adaption of ''[[Dashiell Hammett]]'''s ''[[The Dain Curse]]'' gave the previously unnamed "Continental Op" the moniker of Hamilton Nash. The name was described as ''[[Dashiell Hammett]]'' "spelled sideways."

 

== Theatre ==

* In the musical version of ''[[Candide]],'' Cunegonde's brother, who doesn't have a name in the novel, is called Maximilian. (The musical also gives him slightly more of a personality: he is ''both'' gay ''and'' narcissistic!)

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* In the book ''A Day with Wilbur Robinson'', Wilbur's friend, who narrates the story, goes unnamed. When [[Adaptation Expansion|expanded]] into ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'', he is given the name Lewis. {{spoiler|He also turns out to be known also as Wilbur's father, Cornelius Robinson.}}

* The [[Disney Animated Canon]] has named several [[Fairy Tale]] characters who did not have names originally:

** The stepmother and stepsisters in ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]''.

** Everyone in ''[[The Little Mermaid]]''. The original only identifies the characters as "the little mermaid", "the sea witch", "the prince", and so forth.

** ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' is an odd case. The heroine was originally referred to as "Beauty". However, "belle" is the French word for "beauty", so the original French versions would call her "belle", but not as her name. Conveniently, it happens that "Belle" is a real first name, so Disney made it the character's actual name. Additionally, Beauty/Belle's father is given the name "Maurice".

** Princess Jasmine in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]''. Interestingly, Disney was not the first to use that name. Aladdin's princess was first called "Jasmine" in an obscure '50s film called ''Aladdin and His Lamp''. Disney also gave the Grand Vizier character the name "[[Grand Vizier Jafar|Jafar]]".

* The ''[[U.S. Acres]]'' cartoons from ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' gave the names Mort, Gort, and Wart to Orson's bullying brothers who had originally only appeared in the first three weeks of the original comic strip.

* All of the locomotives in the animated version of ''The Little Engine That Could''. The Little Blue Engine is named Tilly, the Broken-Down Engine Georgia, the Shiny New Engine Farnsworth, the Big Strong Engine Pete, and the Rusty Old Engine Jebediah.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Naming Conventions]]