Shout-Out Theme Naming: Difference between revisions

Some writers, instead of just including the odd [[Shout -Out]], name entire groups of characters after characters in some other work of fiction.

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]]'' contains [[Shout -Out|a nod]] to Disney's ''[[Cinderella (Disney film)|Cinderella]]'' with the ancient mage Bibidi, his son Babidi, and the demon that they created, Buu ("Bibbidi bobbidi boo!").

** Also, in the original ''[[Little Women]]'' Beth's was the only name ''not'' changed from her real life counterpart. So having her the odd name out is IN ITSELF a shout out.

* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Animeanime)|Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' there are two female students from the Obelisk Blue dorm named [[Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)|Asuka and Rei]].

** ''Evangelion'' references aren't just for ''GX''. In ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]] Diamond and Pearl'', the resident [[Jerkass]] [[The Rival|Rival]] is named Shinji while his brother is named '''Rei'''ji.

* Speaking of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'', there are the most recurring members of Team Rocket, the pairs of Jessie and James, and Cassidy and <s>[[My Name Is Not Durwood|Buffy]]</s> Butch. named after famous outlaws. For Jessie and James, their original Japanese names are a [[Shout -Out]], too (''[[Miyamoto Musashi]]'' and ''Sakaki Kojirou'', respectively). To up the ante, when the four are paired based on gender, there is a theme ''again'' .<ref>''Musashi'' and ''Yamato'', sister Japanese battleships for the females, and Jirō and Saburō , "second" and "third" sons, respectively</ref>. That's a lot of [[Shout -Out|Shout Outs]]...

* Of course ''[[Detective Conan (Manga)|Detective Conan]]'' (or ''[[Case Closed]]'' for that matter) has [[Theme Naming]] all over the place, but Shinichi's surroundings worth some mention. He called himself the modern [[Sherlock Holmes]], and he lives in lot 2-21, Beika, Tokyo. Next to Beika we have Haido (Hyde Park anyone?), and the river that flows across the neighbourhoods is called Teimutsu (Thames, anyone?). Tell me, is this still Tokyo, or is London who happened to be inhabited by Japanese?

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has a surprising bit of [[Cultural Cross -Reference]] with Nodoka's four treasure hunter friends in the [[Magic World]] [[Story Arc]]. All of them are named after characters in [[James P. Hogan (Creator)|James P. Hogan]]'s ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110907032616/http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/0345301072/0345301072.htm Inherit the Stars]'' novel. Craig Caldwell is named after Gregg Caldwell, Kristin Danchecker is named after Professor Christian Danchekker, Lynn Gulland is named after Lyn Garland, and Aisha Coryell is named after Koriel.

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (Anime)|Gundam Wing]]'' contains references to ''[[The Wizard of Oz (Filmfilm)|The Wizard of Oz]]'': ''Dorothy'' Catalonia and her gold-plated vehicles, the organization ''OZ'' (whose emblem is a lion), the Specials' emblem looking like the ''Tin Woodsman'''s head in profile, and, in episode 34, the OZ commander's callsign is "''Scarecrow'' 5".

** In ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', Athrun's [[Mid -Season Upgrade]], Infinite Justice, is named after "Operation Infinite Justice", the original name for "Operation Enduring Freedom". Likewise, Kira's Freedom is likely named after "Operation Enduring Freedom".

** The ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'' spinoff ''Advance of Zeta'' combines this with [[Cross Cultural Cross-Reference]], as all the experimental mobile suits in it are named for characters from ''[[Watership Down]]''.

* In ''[[Tantei Opera Milky Holmes (Anime)|Tantei Opera Milky Holmes]]'', pretty much everybody (and everything) is named after something from detective fiction. For starters, the heroines are named Sherlock (obvious), Cordelia (as in Gray), Hercule (as in Poirot) and Nero (as in Wolfe).

== [[Film]] ==

* '''Rosen'''berg and '''Guilden'''stein from ''[[Harold and& Kumar Go to White Castle]]''. Named after [[Shout -Out to/To Shakespeare|Rosencrantz and Guildenstern]], of course.

** Sadly, Rosenberg doesn't [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|cast spells]].

* ''[[Serenity (Film)|Serenity]]'' has a rather roundabout [[Shout -Out|shoutout]] in the name "Miranda." Miranda is the character from Shakespeare's ''[[The Tempest]]'' who says the line that ''[[Brave New World (Literaturenovel)|Brave New World]]'' by Aldous Huxley [[Literary Allusion Title|comes from]]. ''[[Brave New World (Literaturenovel)|Brave New World]]'', of course, had the mind-control drug that [[Government Drug Enforcement|made all people happy, mindless, and compliant.]]

* In ''[[Minority Report]]'' the three precognitives are named for Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, and Arthur Conan Doyle.

* In the [[The Lorax (Filmfilm)|2012 film]] of ''[[The Lorax (Literature)|The Lorax]]'', the main human characters are named Ted (presumably short for Theodore, [[Dr. Seuss]]'s real name) and Audrey (Dr. Seuss's wife).

** Their enemies, [[The War Onon Terror|la-Qualda]], also control drug fronts inside of ''candy factories''. And the candy factories just happen to be a chain called ''Bubblespeck'' (Primatech), which merge with a former rival named ''Sprucethirst'' (Pinehearst). To be fair, there are ''plenty'' of other theme names going on:

** Rhodney Antilles is a reference to [[Self -Deprecation|Rodney Dangerfield]], Colossus of Rhodes, and [[The Iliad (Literature)|Achilles]].

** Pinkella Goldsen = Pink + [[Cinderella (Literaturenovel)|Cinderella]] + Gold + [[Spirited Away|Sen]]

** Cybomec is [[Averted Trope|NOT]] named after [[Heroes (TV series)|Sylar]], [[Battlestar Galactica|nor the Cylons]] [http://dozerfleetwiki2.wiki-site.com/index.php/Heroes_versus_Stationery_Voyagers_mythology for that matter]{{Dead link}}. His [[Jack the Ripoff|serial killing ways]] and [[The Dark Side|psychotic lust for power]] are more [[Freudian Excuse|due to]] abuse from his [[Evil Teacher|grade school teachers]] than [[Oedipus Rex|his aloof parents]]. For those who [[Viewers Are Geniuses|still can't figure it out]], his name is merely shorthand for {{spoiler|"Cybernetic Mechanical."}}

* The monster hunters in ''[[The Scar (Literature)|The Scar]]'' by [[China Mieville]] are named after the characters from ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]'', but in different languages. Their leader is Tinntinnabulum - the Bellman, and their ship is the ''Castor'' - Beaver.

** ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze (TV)|Kamen Rider Fourze]]'' pulls a similar trick by naming most of the main characters with variations and anagrams of character names from the Showa era seasons of ''[[Kamen Rider]]''.

* As a carryover from the books it's based on, Tristan and Siegfried from ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (TV)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'' are named such because of the real life James Herriot's love of [[Richard Wagner]] operas.

** Banban '''Akaza''' comes from '''[[Agatha Christie (Creator)|Agatha]]''' Christie.

== Software[[Tabletop Games]] ==

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The four elemental fiends in ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' were originally named for demons from Dante's ''[[Divine Comedy|Inferno]]'' -- Scarmiglione—Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, and Rubicante. A display issue caused their names to get changed in the English translation, to Milon, Kainazzo, Valvalis, and Rubicant, respectively. All four are also corrected in the official GBA re-release.

** To say nothing of [[Those Two Guys]] in every game named [[Star Wars|Biggs and Wedge]].

* The Koopalings, debuting in ''[[Super Mario Bros 3 (Video Game)|Super Mario Bros 3]]'', are all named after famous musicians.

** As is ''[[Super Mario World (Videovideo Gamegame)|Super Mario World]]'' sub-boss [[Nine Inch Nails|Reznor]].

* In the English translation of ''[[Trauma Center]]'', all the patients have names that are a mix and match of the characters and actors of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', ''[[Scrubs]]'', and ''[[ER]]'', three popular medical shows.

* Most of the important characters of the ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' series have names based on ''The Divine Comedy'' -- Dante—Dante, Vergil, Trish (shortened from Beatrice), Lucia and Mary ("Lady"). Seven of the demon types that appear in the third game are named for the [[Seven Deadly Sins]].

* ''[[Wild Arms 2 (Video Game)|Wild ArmsARMs 2]]'', like ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' and ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' above, drew inspiration from the [[Divine Comedy]], as the terrorist organization the party fights through the first arc is named "Cocytus" (the ninth and lowest circle of Hell), with its four main generals named after the concentric zones within: Caina, Antenora, Judecca, and Ptolomea.

* The inhabitants of the Velvet Room from the ''[[Persona]]'' series have, of all things, theme naming based on ''[[Frankenstein]]''. Igor is named for the hunchbacked assistant that became associated with the Frankenstein mythos after Fritz in the Universal film -- thefilm—the name "Igor" probably originally came from the non-hunch-backed assistant from the 1953 version of ''[[House of Wax]]'' or a conflation of Fritz with Ygor from the Universal films, and was codified as an element of ''Frankenstein'' in ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'' -- Nameless—Nameless for the monster, and Elizabeth for Victor's bride from the novel. Margaret from ''[[Persona 4 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]'' continues the trend, by being named for the sister of the arctic explorer from the novel. The [[Odd Name Out]] is Belladonna -- althoughBelladonna—although visually modeled on the Bride from the film ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'', her name is original. There's also a case to be made for the Demon Artist, but that's more of a title than a name.

** Theodore is more obscure; assuming he follows the pattern, he's most likely named for -- givenfor—given that he's a male replacement for Elizabeth -- TheodoreElizabeth—Theodore Roszak, who authored ''Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein'', but it's possible he's instead named for Theodor von Holst, who did the illustrations for the 1831 edition of ''Frankenstein''.

* The lead twins of ''[[Mother 3 (Video Game)|Mother 3]]'' were named after the lead twins of a book called ''The Notebook''. Both stories are about horrible things happening to little boys.

* The full names of the two player characters in the original ''[[Contra]]'' (barring [[Spell My Name Withwith an "S"|spelling variations]]), Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, are a mix and match of the names of four actors who appeared in ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Aliens]]'': Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Michael Biehn in that order.

* The Lee brothers from the ''[[Double Dragon]]'' series, as well as the recurring [[Mook|mooksmook]]s Williams and Rowper, are named after the three main heroes from ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''. The arcade version of ''Double Dragon II'' even adds two [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|Abobo-like]] giant mooks named after Mr. Han's henchmen called Oharra and Bolo (although the manual of Mega Drive port identifies the latter as "Abobo", which ruins the shout-out a bit). There's also a female mook named Linda, who seems to be named after [[Bruce Lee]]'s widow.

* Oh, lord, ''[[A WitchsWitch's Tale]]''. First, all the Princesses and guardians of the kingdoms are named after characters from fairy tales or the like. Then, we get into the powerful and mysterious Queen Alice, and Liddell -- theLiddell—the protagonist, who wants to surpass her, and is implied to be more deeply connected to her than that.

* Several suspects in the [[Nancy Drew]] game ''White Wolf Of Icicle Creek'' have lupine-themed names, including Lou Talbot (for [[The WolfmanWolf Man|Larry Talbot]]) and Bill Kessler (for [[An American Werewolf in London|David Kessler]]).

* The two main characters of the NES [[Shoot 'Em Ups|shoot-em-upUp]] ''S.C.A.T.'' are not only [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|obvious ripoffs]] of [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and [[Sigourney Weaver]], they are even called "Arnold" and "Sigourney". The European release, ''Action in New York'', gave them new names (Silver Man and Sparks) just in case.

* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'' has [[The Divine Comedy|Beatrice, Virgilia, and Clair Vaux of Bernard.]]

* In ''[[The Mansion of E (Webcomic)|The Mansion of E]]'', most of the forest Nomes are named after magic spells from old [[Zork (Video Game)|Zork]] [[Interactive Fiction]] games.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* The second ''[[TMNTTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon featured a fighter called [[The Hulk|Kluh]], from [[Marvel Comics|Planet Levram]]. Later on, his father, Ammag, was introduced, continuing the theme.

** Not to mention the titular turtles being named after famous painters.

* ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' has many characters named (and partially based on) [[Shakespeare]] characters. The most prominent is Macbeth. Yes, that [[Macbeth]]. Inverted in-universe as he's the historical inspiration for Shakespeare's character.

* People sometimes do this with their pets or their children, which can lead to cases of [[Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?]].

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[[Category:Shout Out Theme Naming Tropes]]

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