Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,684
edits
Odd Name Out: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (19 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:taranchulapeople.png|link=Homestar Runner|frame|
{{quote|''Join Mandy, Brandy, Andy, and Scurge, as they learn how to give a care.''
In a group of characters with [[Theme Naming]], sometimes one just doesn't fit the pattern.
To the viewer, this is about as subtle as placing a big, blinking neon sign saying [[Chekhov's Gun|"HEY, LOOK! THIS GUY'S IMPORTANT!"]] above their head even before the character has a chance to ''do'' anything, and whether or not they really ''are'' important is a matter of debate. For some reason, this character tends to be named [[Everything's Better with Bob|Bob]], due to the inherent hilarity of the name "Bob". He may also have another [[Plain Name]].
Sometimes identifies [[The Runt At the End]]. Can also apply to a lapse in [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]].
Compare [[Aerith and Bob]]. Subtrope of [[The Last of These Is Not Like the Others]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==▼
* In ''[[
▲== Anime ==
▲* In ''[[Bakuretsu Tenshi]]'', the main characters are named after the heroines of ''[[Little Women]]'', substituting "Sei" for "Beth". {{spoiler|A [[Lampshade Hanging]] occurs in the [[OVA]], where Sei ends up commanding an airship called the ''Elizabeth''}}. Appropriately, Beth's name is sort-of the odd one out in the original novel -- she's the only March sister whose name wasn't changed from [[Real Life]].
** In the original novel Jo was the odd one out with her comparatively tomboyish name, which actually suits her fine considering she's [[The Stoic]] [[Action Girl]].
** According to [[Word of God]], Sei's last name is Elizabeth. Why her middle name is the same as the airship is anyone's guess.
* In ''[[Death Note]]'' Light is the only Yagami not to have a name that starts with "S" (Sochiro, Sachiko, Sayu)
** Then there's the Wammy's boys: L, Beyond, Mello, Near, and... Matt.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' includes the kanji for the senshi's planets in their last names, save for Aino Minako, whose name comes from Venus being the goddess of love. Fitting this, Minako is also the first senshi to draw her powers from her planet's namesake rather than from what the kanji means. This is because she was created first for ''[[Codename: Sailor V]]''.
** In the Outer Senshi, Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto's last names are Ten'ou (天王), Kaiou (海王), and Meiou (冥王). They mean sky king (Uranus is a Greek "ur-god", the personified sky the way Gaia is the personified earth), sea king (Neptune is the Roman name for Poseidon, the god of the sea), and dark king (Pluto is an alternate name for Hades, god of the death and the underworld). The Japanese name for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto (the planets) are Ten'ousei (天王星), Kaiousei (海王星), and Meiousei (冥王星). See the pattern? ...Sailor Saturn's last name is Tomoe (土萠). It means sprouting earth (and has no connection to mythology whatsoever). The Japanese name for Saturn is Dosei (土星), so Tomoe seems to fit the inner senshi's naming scheme.
** Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoisite stayed the same in the English dub, Engrish (Jeddite, Nephlite, the oi as a diphthong) notwithstanding. Kunzite became Malachite. Big hint he's Beryl's last henchman. Beryl herself qualifies. Also, Jadeite and Nephrite were the first two. A ''lot'' of
* The Ly Five in ''[[Shaman King]]''. The other four all have names that end in -ly (Sally, Lily, etc), but the leader's name is Sharona. Naturally, this is intentionally played for laughs when they first introduce themselves.
* A semi-example: Most of the ''[[Rozen Maiden]]'' sisters are named for jewels. Hinaichigo, Suigintou and Kanaria are not.
Line 36:
** All of the Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities are named after Shinto Gods (Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, {{spoiler|Susanoo, and Kagutsuchi, as is the non-Manekyo technique Izanagi}}) except for Kakashi's ability, Kamui, which is named after an '''Ainu''' god.
* In ''[[Case Closed]]'', the suspect in a murder is both the literal odd guy out (he's something of an introvert and doesn't get along well with the rest of the group) and, as Conan quickly realizes in a [[Eureka Moment]], the only one of that circle of friends that doesn't have an airport-based name.
* In ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' the Servant Classes are: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and... Assassin.
* {{spoiler|Blackbeard}} from ''[[One Piece]]'' is the only one of the [[Psycho for Hire|Seven Warlords of the Sea]] without an animal-themed name and [[Animal Motifs|motif]].
** The Medaka Mermaid Quintuplets are named [[Numerical Theme Naming|Ichika, Nika, Sanka, Yonka]]... [[Rule of Funny|and Yonka Two.]]
Line 55:
* In ''[[Hero Camp]]'', Dina Might's family, the Might Family superteam, which is made up of David (father), Donna (mother), Desmond (brother), and Charlie (uncle).
* The Three Lieutenant Marvels from ''[[Shazam]]'' comics: Tall Marvel, Fat Marvel, and ''Hillbilly'' Marvel.
* The [[Metal Men]] consist of (in the
* [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]: [[Katanas Are Just Better|Leonardo]], [[Schizo-Tech|Donatello]], [[Life of the Party|Michaelangelo]], [[Knight in Sour Armor|Raphael]]. In one of the movies, Mikey can't help but get a dig in: "All the good ones end in O!".
** In most of the Japanese localizations, they ALL do - Raphael is called "Rafaello" in those dubs.
* ''[[XXXenophile]]'': "Now Museum, Now You Don't" features the four goddesses Okaraska, Boolatraaca, Xynotreen and ''Trixie''.
▲== Fan Fics ==
* In the ''[[Charmed]]'' fan fic, ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2532056/1/Justice Justice]'', the Charmed Ones met up with the group of elders who are responsible for the trial. They are: Darban, Esttai, Briel, Serris, and George.
* The main cast of the [[Mega Crossover]] [[Fanfic|fan]][[Web Comic|comic]] ''[[Roommates 2007|Roommates]]'' is [[Pirates of the Caribbean|James]], [[Labyrinth|Jareth]], [[Les Misérables|Javert]] and [[The Phantom of the Opera|Erik]]
Line 68 ⟶ 67:
== Films ==
* In ''[[Jay and Silent Bob]] Strike Back'', we have Missy, Chrissy, Sissy and ''Justice''. Guess which one does a [[Heel Face Turn]] by the end of the movie.
* In ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs]]'', the dwarfs' names are adjectives that describe their personality - Grumpy, Happy, Dopey, Bashful, Sleepy and Sneezy. The one hold out is Doc, the self-appointed leader.
* In the beginning of French movie ''[[Asterix]] and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'', the pet crocodiles belonging to the Queen all have names ending in "is" (as do all Egyptians characters) except for one called Serge.
* The names of the quints from ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' are Harry, Larry, Garry, Barry, and Nathan Jr.
Line 80 ⟶ 79:
** Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob, Bob... Malcolm.
* ''[[Dude, Where's My Car?]]'' gives us the following line:
{{quote|
** Guess which one's the crazy one.
* ''[[Up]]'': Charles Muntz's dogs are all named after letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha is the lead dog, Beta is second in command, and so forth). The one hold out is D(o)ug, implying that he's so low in the pecking order that there are no more letters left to be named after.
Line 91 ⟶ 90:
* The Van Waldenberg siblings in ''[[Blades of Glory]]'' are named Stranz, Fairchild, and Katie. Guess which ones are world-class figure skaters and who "cheers on the sidelines".
== Jokes ==
== Literature ==
* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
{{quote|
'''Rincewind:''' McSweeneys?
'''Twoflower:''' Very old established family. }}
** This is a [[Shout-Out]] to James Clavell's [[Asian Saga]], a novel series about a Scottish family who founded a business empire in China.
Line 105 ⟶ 106:
** Parodied in ''[[Tom Strong]]'', where Tom's [[Funny Animal]] counterpart, [[Animal Superheroes|Warren Strong]] has three daughters (Tesla's counterparts) called Topsy, Turvy and Fluffytail. Fluffytail prefers to be called Delilah.
** Also parodied in ''[[Girl Genius]]'''s [[Filler]] side story, with Flopsy, Mopsy and [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]].
* Subverted in [[Christopher Moore]]'s ''[[Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff|Lamb the Gospel According To Biff]]''. All of Balthasar's concubines have elaborately long names usually referring to sex, such as "Tiny Feet of the Divine Dance of Joyous Orgasm" and "Delicate Personage of Two Fu Dogs Wrestling Under a Blanket," with the sole exception of Sue ("Short for Susanna"). Naturally, if any of them are going to be important, it'd be
* In ''The Joy Luck Club'' by [[Amy Tan]], one of the daughters has four brothers: Matthew, Mark, Luke and Bing. To elaborate, {{spoiler|guess which one tragically dies when the daughter fails to keep an eye on him?}}
* All of Lynn Kurland's romance novels are titled after songs, with the exceptions of her novellas (except ''To Kiss In The Shadows'', which was released as a single paperback novel) and her books ''Dreams of Stardust'' and ''Much Ado in the Moonlight''. There doesn't seem to be a particular reason for DoS and MAitM.
* From ''[[Harry Potter]]'', Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Though Brian is a perfectly good old name from the British Isles, it's also, you know, still used. Frequently. In the fifth film, this is [[Played for Laughs]] when he states his own name, with "Brian" said more quietly and after a slight pause.
** Everyone in the Weasley family has a normal, old-fashioned kind of name like Fred, George, Ronald or Bill (William). And then they named the girl "Ginevra".
** In the Black family everyone has a name [[Stellar Theme Naming|connected with astronomy]]
*** She's not the only one (Sirius' mom was named Walburga), but she's the main exception. [[Word of God]] says that she thought of Narcissa's name early and didn't want to change it.
** Harry's children are James, Albus and Lily. Albus stands out as the only "odd" name (though apparently he uses "Al" for short) as well as the only one not named after one of Harry's relatives.
* In ''[[Captain Underpants]] [[Long Title|and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (And The Subsequent Assault Of The Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds)]]'', the main villains are three aliens named Zorx, Klax, and Jennifer. The aliens are aware that their names may raise suspicion while disguising themselves as cafeteria ladies, so they go by [[Comically Missing the Point|Zorxette, Klaxette, and Jenniferette]].
* Comes up in the [[X Wing Series]] novel ''Wedge's Gamble''. A pilot sees a freighter named Contruum's Pride and knows it's not legit because it doesn't fit that planet's [[Theme Naming|naming system.]] There are holes in his theory - couldn't this ship be ignoring tradition, or not an official Contruum ship? - but as it turns out it's full of TIE fighters.
{{quote|
* In [[John Ringo|John Ringo's]] latest book, ''[[Live Free Or Die]]'', on an alien space station that no human has ever heard of or been to:
{{quote|
* In ''[[Memetic Mutation|The Falcon's Malteser]]'', the main character Nick is kidnapped by four goons called Lenny, Kenny, Benny and Fred.
* Major characters in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' include Isana, Amara, Fidelias, Maximus, Araris, Invidia... Tavi? Every Aleran character has a [[Gratuitous Latin]] [[Name of Cool]]... except him. {{spoiler|Which, as it happens, is [[Foreshadowing]]. His name is short for Oc'''tavi'''an, which is very much in line with the rest.}}
* Also from [[Jim Butcher]], ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' books all have two word [[Double Meaning Title
* The ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'' began with ''Eragon'' and ''Eldest,'' both of which start with "E" and have six letters. Fans speculated that the last book in the trilogy would be called ''Empire,'' but the author eventually made it a quartet with the final books titled ''Brisingr'' and ''Inheritance,'' respectively.
* In the novel ''Murder at Avedon Hill,'' the five children in the Avedon family are named Richard, Carin, Edvard, Jon, and Julienne. {{spoiler|If you guessed that ''two'' of them would turn out to be Important and Special, give yourself a pat on the back. Edvard is a vampire-bite victim and Julienne has some sort of magical affinity.}}
* This one appears in [[The Bible]], of all places:
Line 128 ⟶ 129:
** Lamech's three sons were Jabal, Jubal... and Tubal-Cain. The first two were from the same mother, the third - and his sister, Naamah - from another. On the other hand, this is only a partial example since Jabal, Jubal and Tubal rhyme.
* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] gives us Han and Leia's children: [[Theme Twin Naming|Jacen, Jaina]], and [[Dead Guy, Junior|Anakin?]] Not intentional, just that the people behind ''[[Dark Empire]]'' didn't know Jacen and Jaina existed.
* Elizabeth Hand's novella ''Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol'' features a set of cut-rate Ramones called the
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the direwolves are named Nymeria, Ghost, Summer, Lady, Grey Wind and... Shaggydog, who was named by a three-year old. It's also an ironic name, given that Shaggydog is the most wild and savage.
* The [[Sandra Boynton]] book ''15 Pets'' had fourteen animals named Bob, but the turtle has an [[Overly Long Name]].
* Honey Bear, the youngest of [[The Berenstain Bears]], is the only member of the Bear family that has a proper name. Her parents and her older brother and sister are all named after their relationships in the family.
* In ''[[Warrior Cats]]'', the majority of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|700-something]] characters have compound names like Bluestar, Mudclaw, Russetfur, Cedarpelt, Whitestorm... so when there's a cat living in the Clans with a name like Boulder, Daisy, or Millie, it sticks out.
== Live-Action TV ==
Line 139:
* Clark's friends in ''[[Smallville]]'', actually: You got [[Theme Initials|Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane]], and... Chloe Sullivan. Guess which character wasn't originally created in [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]]!
* On ''[[Privileged]]'' the relevant characters are Laural, Rose, Sage, Lily, ...and Megan.
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': The "Australian Philosophy Professors" sketch, in which the members of the department complain about the newest addition to the faculty being "a bit confusing"
* A [[Benny Hill]] gag once combined this with [[Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion]], with the law firm of Arten, Marten, Barten, and Fargo.
* ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'' had the guest stars, "The Mosquitos", whose names were Bingo, Bango, Bongo... and Irving.
Line 145:
* Episodes of ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'' have short, usually one-word titles... except for the seventh season episode "Please Note We are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation from Henry Kissinger".
* Lauren, Lauren, Cassie and Lauren, Will's interns on ''[[The West Wing]]''.
* In ''[[Scrubs]]'', Dr. Kelso decides to save effort by calling all the male interns Dave and all the female interns Debbie. Except the one who actually is named
* Australia's ''[[The Comedy Company]]'' character Con the Fruiterer had daughters Roula, Soula, Toula, Voula, Foula and Agape.
* In the ''[[Space Mutiny]]'' epsiode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', Mike and the 'bots make up tons of silly nicknames for the protagonist along the lines of "Big McLargeHuge", "Slate Slabrock" "Thick McRunfast", and "Smash Lampjaw" (to name four)...and then there was "Bob Johnson". Doesn't have quite the same punch,<ref>
* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode [[Doctor Who/Recap/S31
* In one episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]]'', the women buy minks to breed for fur. Rose names them Fluffy, Muffy, Buffy, and Joanne.
* For a season of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', the team consisted of: Sam, Cam, Dan(iel) and Teal'c. One of them wasn't from Earth. Guess which one.
** They later pass it off as an obscure African name. Given that most Americans don't know much about Africa, it works out.
* [[Newhart|"Hi, I'm Larry. This is my brother, Darryl. This is my other brother, Darryl."]]
* Happens with the names of the tasks on ''[[The Amazing Race]]'': Detour, Roadblock, Yield, Intersection, U-Turn, Speed Bump, and... Fast Forward? One has to wonder why no one thought of calling it a "Shortcut" instead.
* In the ''[[Blackadder]] II'' episode "Head" Blackadder becomes Lord High Executioner. When he is introduced to his staff, the first one is Ploppy, the second is Miss Ploppy. The third one? Baldrick. Ploppy and Miss Ploppy do suggest renaming Baldrick to Ploppy.
* ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' has this in the episode "The Zazzy Substitution", wherein Sheldon buys several cats, naming the first five after scientists who worked on The Manhattan Project (Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynmann, Edward Teller, Otto Frisch), and the last one Zazzles. "He's so...zazzy!"
Line 164:
** For the other teams we have [[Hikari Sentai Maskman|X1 Mask]] ([[One-Shot Character|a one-episode warrior in green]]), [[Chouriki Sentai Ohranger|King Ranger]] (instead of "Oh Black"), [[Mirai Sentai Timeranger|Time Fire]] (since there's already a "Time Red"), [[Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger|Shurikenger]] (instead of "Hurricane Green"), [[Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger|Abare Killer]] (instead of "Abare White"), [[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger|Deka Break]] (instead of "Deka White"), [[Mahou Sentai Magiranger|Magi Shine]] (instead of "Magi Gold"), [[Juuken Sentai Gekiranger|Geki Chopper]] (instead of "Geki White") and [[Tensou Sentai Goseiger|Gosei Knight]] (instead of "Gosei Silver").
** A non-extra example is featured in ''[[Battle Fever J]]'', where the [[Smurfette Principle|lone girl]] of the team is codenamed "Miss America" instead of following the "Battle (nation's name)" pattern of the other members.
* In ''[[Power Rangers]],'' get ready for the "is he a Ranger or not?" battle to ''never'' end if a hero's name doesn't have "Ranger" in it.
* In a vampire-themed episode of ''[[Psych]]'', a suspect's three roommates are named "Eddie, Jake, and Lucien." Shawn, Gus, and Julie immediately look for "Lucien." {{spoiler|Of course, it's not Lucien or Jacob, but [[Twilight (novel)|Edward]].}}
* On the TV series [[Batman]], all members of the Gotham police force had an Irish name starting with O. Except for Goldberg.
* The demons in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' all have classical demonic names (Azazel, Lilith, even [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alastor Alastair]), with the exceptions of Ruby, Crowley and Meg,<ref>granted, it's not her real name</ref>
== Music ==
* [[KMFDM]] normally names their albums with five letters, words, or [[Lucky Charms Title|symbols]], but dropped this convention for two albums; ''Hau Ruck'' and ''Tohuvabohu''. Also, the remix album ''Brimborium'', whose title has no relation to its parent album.
== Newspaper Comics ==
* 'Irish' Murphy's three [[Angry Guard Dog|dogs]] in ''[[Footrot Flats]]''; Tiger, Wolf and Creampuff.
== Theatre ==
* In [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Othello]]'', Iago is the only one without an Italian name. His name is Spanish; this makes it a [[Prophetic Names]], as in early seventeenth-century England, Spanish people were considered [[
** Not only that- 'Iago' is the Spanish version of Jacob, otherwise known as James. And what was one of Saint James's titles? The Moor Killer.
** The Hebrew meaning of Jacob is "the supplanter," which also fits Iago ... or at least what he wants to be ... pretty well.
* Happens in the musical ''[[Chicago]]'' during the "Cell Block Tango" number. Mona tells of her ex-boyfriend, Al Lipschitz, who would try to find himself and on the way "found" Ruth, Gladys, Rosemary...and Irving.
Line 188 ⟶ 185:
* ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'': The [[Dramatis Personae]] in some editions lists "companions to Antonio and Bassanio": Salarino, Solanio, Salerio and Gratiano. Guess which one ends up being important.
* The five main players in [[Altar Boyz]] are Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham.
== Video Games ==
Line 196 ⟶ 192:
** According to [[The Other Wiki]], in the original Japanese version, one set of names for them (see [http://www.exotica.org.uk/wiki/Lost_In_Translation/Puckman here]) was Akabei (or "赤ベイ", with 赤 meaning "red"), Pinky, Aosuke (or "青助", with 青 meaning "blue"), and Guzuta (or "愚図た", with 愚図 meaning "indecisive person" or "someone who lags behind"). Guzuta is the only one that doesn't refer to a color.
* Commonly used in the different levels of ''[[Kirby]]'' games.
* In the Dusty Dunes Desert area of ''[[
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]: The Wind Waker'', the Tingle brothers: Tingle, Ankle, Knuckle, and David Jr, although the latter isn't actually related.
* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'': Most of the important characters' [[Humongous Mecha]] are named after Egyptian deities... Except for [[Gradius|Vic Viper]], which is the only one not powered by the [[Unobtainium]] known as Metatron.
* The Generic Dudes [[Gang of Hats]] from ''[[River City Ransom]]'' is a group of thugs with rhyming names (Gary, Cary, Terry, Jerry, etc.) Their leader's name? ''Ralph''.
* In the original ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' (and its remake, ''Shadow Dragon''), Oguma's three axemen are named Saji, Maji, and Barts in the Japanese version and Cord, Bord and Barst in the American version. This is expounded upon in the ending, the two similarly named ones becomes woodcuters, while the one that sticks out stays with the army.
* Until ''[[Silent Hill Origins]]'' came out, [[Silent Hill 2|James]] was, either accidentally or on purpose, the Odd Man Out of the protagonists whose names otherwise began with H. ([[Silent Hill 1|Harry]], [[Silent Hill 3|Heather]], and [[Silent Hill 4|Henry]].)
* The Brownie Kings from ''[[Eternal Daughter]]'': Mixie, Moxy, Pixie, Poxy, and Randolph.
Line 207 ⟶ 203:
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' [[Original Generation|OG Saga]]: [[Endless Frontier]] has group of antagonists call Orchestral Army. Their members have German name based on "[[The Bremen Town Musicians]]" (Henne - Hen, Ezel - Donkey and Katze - Cat), then we have a [[Cute Witch]] call '''Kyon'''.
** Which still fits the Bremen Town Musicians, because Kyon is Greek for Dog (though it's still odd name out for not being German)
* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV:
* The Koopalings do it ''four times'': First, the general theme of living (well, at the time anyway) male musicians:
** Lemmy Koopa (Lemmy Kilmister)
Line 230 ⟶ 226:
** What about Ami?
* [[The Strategist|The strategists]] of the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series have always been from the Silverberg family ([[Suikoden II|Shu, at least, is a student of Matthiu]]), but [[Suikoden V|the fifth game]] gives you Lucretia Merces, a hot Karayan [[Expy]] of Zhuge Liang, who has no relation to the Silverbergs in any way. The other side's strategists have nothing to do with the family either.
* Belladonna is the only properly named character from the ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' series to be related to the Velvet Room and not have a name that somehow ties into ''[[Frankenstein]]''. The remainder are Igor, Nameless, Elizabeth, Margaret (this one's pretty
* In ''[[Metroid Prime]] 2'', the [[Dark World]] counterparts of Temple Grounds, Agos Wastes, Torvus Bog and Sanctuary Fortress are respectively Sky Temple Grounds, Dark Agon Wastes, Dark Torvus Bog and ''Ing Hive''. Repeated in ''Metroid Prime 3'', where the main planets visited are Norion, Bryyo, Elysia and ''Pirate Homeworld''. Ing Hive has the name probably because it's where the Ing proliferate the most, while Pirate Homeworld is the only planet without a fully confirmed name.
* The Chateau level names in ''[[Something]]'' are based on the elements in the French language (Feu, Eau, Vent, and Terre), but the final Chateau has the name of Chateau Finale.
== Web Animation ==
Line 239 ⟶ 235:
** In a Strong Bad Email called "web comics", Strong Bad describes web comics as being about "video games, gamernerds, webgeeks, dorknerds, gamewads, nerdgames, webwebs, and elves."
* The characters from the eponymous video game in ''[[Kid Radd]]'' are named after slightly mangled pieces of Eighties slang - Radd, Gnarl, and Bogey (from 'bogus', not the British for 'booger'). The only one who isn't is Radd's 'girlfriend', Sheena, who's not only invincible, but who ends up merging with a version of herself from the sequel to her game, and becoming the most versatile fighter in the comic.
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' has four kids, whose online handles can be shortened to TT (tentacleTherapist), TG (turntechGodhead), GG (gardenGnostic), and... EB (ectoBiologist), which belongs to [[Lovable Nerd|John]], our original protagonist. This discrepancy is actually a [[Chekhov's Gun]]; {{spoiler|a group of [[All Trolls Are Different|internet/real trolls]]}} had forced him to change his handle from ghostyTrickster.
** ''[[Problem Sleuth]]'' has the four poker-playing elves: Ropo, Zobo, Foko, and Blod.
* ''[[You Damn Kid]]!'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20081030024040/http://www.youdamnkid.com/d/20000403.html shows some of the problems that can occur with this naming pattern.]
* Not a name thing, exactly, but Lady Surka of ''[[Digger]]'', a professional bridge-troll, lists some of her past jobs as dishwasher, assassin, and pirate queen.
* [[Played With]] in ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (webcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]:'' November is the daughter of King January, and has older sisters named August and September. The queen is named Avril, which follows the [[Temporal Themed Naming]] in another language. (They're also missing an October, though [[Word of God]] says that's because there's a two-year difference between September and November's ages.)
== Web Original ==
Line 254 ⟶ 248:
** Well, [[Comically Missing the Point|the name "David" is just as Semitic as those other three...]]
* Fey's three fairies from the [[Whateley Universe]], Trixie, Dixie, and Brunhilda.
* In [[Notting Cove|''Fairies of Notting Cove'']], all the forest fairies have Irish names, except for The Cook, who is [[Only Known by Their Nickname]]. Saga is also an
== Western Animation ==
Line 266 ⟶ 259:
* Yakko, Wakko, and Dot from ''[[Animaniacs]]'', who get double credit for this trope as the actors that voice them are all similar, with two rhyming names and a third odd name: [[Tress MacNeille|Tress]], [[Jess Harnell|Jess]], and [[Rob Paulsen|Rob]].
* The five girls in the first season of ''[[Winx Club]]'' are Stella with sun and moon powers, Flora with flower power, Musa with music power, Tecna with...well, take a guess, why don't you? Last but not least - Bloom, with fire powers. Guess who's the main character?
* [[The Simpsons (animation)|"This is Maude, Rod, Todd, and I'm Ned!"]]
* An episode of ''[[Invader Zim]]'' shows Dib setting up a spy camera in Zim's kitchen and watching the feed from his room while his four recording devices, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Stevie, are being repaired.
* In ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'', Frankie G.'s group consist of several people whose names end in an "-ie" or "-y" suffix and their last initial, and Chaz.
* Most of the band members of Dethklok in ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' all have violent or fantastic names: William Murderface, Toki Wartooth, Nathan Explosion, Skwisgaar Skwigelf... and then there's the drummer, Pickles.
* In ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'' the four quadrants of the galaxy are named as Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Steve.
Line 274 ⟶ 267:
** He's also the only Dinobot whose torso isn't red.
* Somewhat related: ''[[Pepper Ann]]'''s grandma, Lilly, had two daughters, Lydia (the protagonist's mom), and Jane, which would be Lane, but Lilly was so tired after birth that she reversed the L.
* ''[[Futurama]]'' has Calculon, who was "all of history's great acting robots: Acting Unit 0.8, Thespo-mat, David Duchovny!"
* [[Rocky and Bullwinkle|Boris Badenov]] once claimed to be a partner in the advertising firm of Dancer, Prancer, Blitzen and Fink. No prizes for guessing which.
* In ''[[The Incredibles]]'', the two older children have names and powers that are symbolic of their time of
* An episode of the Disney series ''[[Bonkers]]'' had the eponymous character being followed by agents Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and [[The Beatles|Ringo]].
* An episode of ''[[A Pup Named Scooby
* The Possible family in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' has Kim, Jim, Tim, Slim, (great aunt) Mim and Joss.
* In ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' we get Toaster, Lampy, Radio, Blanky, and... Kirby? It's a type of vacuum, but still.
Line 290 ⟶ 283:
* [[The Powerpuff Girls]] are named Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles. Bubbles is the only Powerpuff Girl that is not named after a flower... unless you count [[Gonk|Bunny]] and [[Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels|Bullet]].
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]: Out of all living people in the Fire Nation Royal Family, Zuko is the only one whose name doesn't start with a vowel. His sister is named Azula, his parents are Ozai and Ursa, and his uncle is named Iroh.
** Ursa herself stands out for having the only Western-based name (Ursa is Latin for "bear"), aside from the born-onscreen baby Hope, whose name was specifically chosen to be meaningful.
* [[Totally Spies!]]: The three protagonists are named Sam, Alex, and Clover. And the three of them are girls.
* [[U.S. Acres]]: Unlike his brothers, Orson's name doesn't end in "-rt".
* [[Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines]]: Klunk is the only one in the Vulture Squadron to have a name that doesn't end in Y. Dick Dastardl'''y''', Muttle'''y''' and Zill'''y'''. Also, Dick is the only one of the four to be known by name ''and'' surname.
Line 297 ⟶ 290:
* ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]'': His parents are Richard and Nicole. His ascended pet/brother is Darwin, and his sister is Anais. And yet Gumball is the odd name out.
* [[The Jetsons]] are named George, Jane, Judy, and Elroy.
* [[Keith David|Goliath]] from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is the only member of the Manhattan Clan (until Angela joins the cast
* The [[Three Little Pigs]] are named Fifer, Fiddler, and Practical. Guess whose house didn't get blown down by [[The Big Bad Wolf]]!
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has the six main character ponies named: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle. The last name is the only one with four syllables.
* In ''[[Taz-Mania]]'', Molly's favourite band is The New Chips of the Block; Donnie, Ronnie, Lonnie, [[Bonnie and Clyde
* One episode of the 2010 ''[[Pound Puppies]]'' series features five puppy siblings: Flip, Blip, Tip, Whip, and Chubbers.
== Other Media ==
* Played with in the old joke: "My mother had four children. The first was named Spring, the second, Summer, and the third, Autumn. What was the name of her last child?" {{spoiler|The answer, of course, is the first name of the person asking the question, which is probably ''not'' "Winter".}}▼
▲== TV Tropes ==
** Another version of the joke goes: "Sarah's mother has four children. Three are named April, May and June. What is the fourth child named?" {{spoiler|Sarah.}} The original name can be anything.
** Yet another one: "Tom's mom had three children. If one was Monica and another was Veronica, what was the third?"▼
** Also: A woman had four children: Eeney, Meeney, Miney... and Steve. Why? {{spoiler|She didn't want no mo'}}.▼
* There's also the joke:▼
{{quote|So apparently one out of five people in the world are Chinese. MY family has five people in it, so I guess one of them must be Chinese. Could be my mom. Or my dad. Or my brother Jack. Or my little brother Heilong. {{spoiler|I'm pretty sure it's Jack.}}}}
== Real Life ==
* The ravens at the Tower of London are called Gwylum, Thor, Hugin, Munin, Branwen, Bran, Gundulf, Baldrick, Fleur, and Colin.
* Back in the 1910s, the White Star Line drew up drafts for three large ships that would all be named for, well, being large: ''Olympic'' was the first, then ''Titanic'' and finally ''Gigantic''. After what happened to the second one, the company feared that releasing the third with the [[Theme Naming]] intact would cause people to associate it with the disaster, so the ''Gigantic'' was renamed to ''Britannic''.
** [[Downer Ending|And sank a few years later]], during [[World War I]].
** On the other hand, the ''Olympic'' somehow managed to [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|ram and sink an attacking German U-Boat.]]
* For a long time, the fleet of the Finnish ferry operator Viking Line consisted of seven ferries: Amorella, Gabriella, Isabella, Mariella, Rosella, Cindarella and ... Ålandsfärjan. Today, the odd one out is Viking XPRS.
Line 317 ⟶ 313:
* The Duggar family from ''19 Kids And Counting'' consisting of children Joshua, Jana, John, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Jossiah, Joy-Ann, Jedidiah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn-Grace, and Josie. Their father is Jim, their mother is... Michelle.
* Director Robert Rodriguez named his four sons the unique and rather badass sounding Rebel, Rocket, Racer, and Rogue. While he kept the "R" theme with his daughter, he gave her the much more normal sounding Rhiannon.
* [[(The Customer is) Not Always Right]]: [http://notalwaysright.com/hawaii-spell-that/9451 Oh, that poor kid.]
* The [[Marx Brothers]]: Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo, and... ''[[wikipedia:Margaret Dumont|Margaret]]''.
* [[The Beatles|John, Paul, George, and Ringo]]. With Ringo replacing Pete.
Line 326 ⟶ 322:
* In quantum physics, the different 'flavours' of quarks are up, down, bottom, top, strange, and charm.
* Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that is not named after a Greco-Roman god. And nope, "Terra" will not help either.
** Same for
* The Earth's continents are named Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, the two Americas, and Europe.
* The three periods that made up the Mesozoic era are called the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous.
* The University of California at San Diego is split into six colleges (which basically entails different general education requirements, generally with some vague theme to each college's curriculum): [[Named After Somebody Famous|Revelle, Muir, Warren, Marshall, Eleanor Roosevelt]], and...[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Sixth]]. This is just a placeholder until they ''do'' decide on a name, but it's already been ten years...
▲* Played with in the old joke: "My mother had four children. The first was named Spring, the second, Summer, and the third, Autumn. What was the name of her last child?" {{spoiler|The answer, of course, is the first name of the person asking the question, which is probably ''not'' "Winter".}}
▲** Another version of the joke goes: "Sarah's mother has four children. Three are named April, May and June. What is the fourth child named?" {{spoiler|Sarah.}} The original name can be anything.
▲** Yet another one: "Tom's mom had three children. If one was Monica and another was Veronica, what was the third?"
▲** Also: A woman had four children: Eeney, Meeney, Miney... and Steve. Why? {{spoiler|She didn't want no mo'}}.
▲* There's also the joke:
▲{{quote| So apparently one out of five people in the world are Chinese. MY family has five people in it, so I guess one of them must be Chinese. Could be my mom. Or my dad. Or my brother Jack. Or my little brother Heilong. {{spoiler|I'm pretty sure it's Jack.}}}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:The Last of These Is Not Like the Others]]
[[Category:Theme Naming Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Odd Name Out]]
| |||