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{{trope}}
Sometimes a character is so [[badass]] that they don't have just a name. They have their own nickname, or '''sobriquet''' - one that is so badass that anyone who hears it [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|will crap their pants in fear]]. If they occasionally show up, be prepared to hear this nickname spoken repeatedly whenever they rescue someone.
Compare with [[Fan Nickname]], where the fans come up with a nickname that isn't used in the series. [[The Butcher]] is a subtrope where the nickname typically refers to the character's violent nature or dark acts.
Compare [[The Magnificent]], [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]], and [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]. [[I Have Many Names]] can be when they have more than one
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', epithets normally contain the character's given name (said given name is said after the rest of the epithet). Those would fit under [[The Magnificent]]. There are some exceptions to this. For example Edward Newgate is commonly known as Whitebeard. And Silvers Rayleigh has the nickname Dark King.
* In the one-shot ''[[Blame]]'' sequel, the lead character is referred to as "The Calamity" by the Silicon Beings. Given his penchant for [[One-Man Army|mass]] [[No Kill Like Overkill|destruction]], it fits.
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** Played for laughs with Lloyd, whose known as 'Earl of Pudding' because he likes pudding.
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*** Lelouch is also referred to as the "Black Prince." In contrast, his formidable brother Prince Schneizel is known as the "White Prince."
** Princess Cornelia is known as the "Witch of Britannia" for her ruthless conquests on the battlefield.
*** Even Princess Euphemia gets a nickname.
** Guilford is known as "The Spearhead of the Empire"
* In ''[[The Record of a Fallen Vampire]]'', the protagonist and
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*** Though, given the reputation the battle of Ishbal has in the world of FMA and Roy's actions in it, The title "Hero of Ishbal" may also double as [[The Butcher]]. The soldiers in his company who initially bestowed the title on him meant it to be an honour, but many of his foes (especially the homunculi) often invoke it to claim that they are [[Not So Different]] and the title is sure to come up in any [[Hannibal Lecture]]. Roy himself seems to hold the latter view, Case in point being that a homunculi bringing it up in conversation with Roy is an indicator that he/she/it is about to be [[Playing with Fire|terminated]] [[Berserk Button|with]] [[Curb Stomp Battle|Extreme Prejudice]].
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* Every [[Action Girl|Pandora]] in ''[[Freezing]]'' has a badass nickname, most notably The Untouchable Queen and The Monster of West Genetics.
* In ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'', Maj. Motoko Kusanagi is always referred to as "the Major" over 2 seasons and a movie, her first name is used about five times, and her surname appears about as often, although it appears in writing a few more times. In the manga, it's used about as often. It's common among fans to just refer to her as the Major. Some fans forget her real name, because it's so obscure. Oh, and it might not be her real name at all; in the manga, when the narrator introduces her, it is as "a woman calling herself Major Motoko Kusanagi (an obvious alias)". Additionally, while "Motoko" is a rare female name, "Kusanagi" is a mythological sword; an equivalent English name would be Brittany ''Excalibur''. If you still believe that's the [[Cyborg]] super-agent's real name, I've got a bridge to sell you. [[Recycled in Space|On Mars]].
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*** A somewhat more historically accurate homage would be Char's ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam AGE]]'' counterpart, Zehart Galette, another red-clad ace whose piloting style is somewhat less flashy and more calculated (by the standards of an action series, at any rate), complete with a psychotic, [[Blood Knight]] brother/wingman.
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*** Master Asia's title in Japanese, "Touhou Fuhai", more literally translates as "Invincible East".
*** Then there's the entire Shuffle Alliance, which Master Asia is a former member of. All the members are named after playing cards, such as Domon Kasshu, the King of Hearts.
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*** Shinigami is also given to [[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team|Terry Sanders Jr]], for less impressive reasons ("The Reaper" in the dubs)
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*** ''[[Gundam 00 Sidestories]]'' add Amy Zimbalist, his comrades call him "Steel Cowboy". To enemies, he's "Devil of Unification".
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*** The MSV material is full of ace pilots with these kind of nicknames, like Federation fighter pilot Texan Dmitri (called "Lady Killer" because of his good looks). For the record, Auggs earned his name because [[No Range Like Point-Blank Range|he only fired his gun at point blank range]].
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* ''[[Overman King Gainer]]'' has Gain, who is known as the Black Southern Cross.
* Parodied with Kuno in ''[[Ranma ½]]'' who keeps giving himself nicknames that no one else recognizes, starting with "Blue Thunder of Furinkan High".
* Kenshin from ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' was known as the Hitokiri Battousai (or Battosai the Manslayer, for those who are into english dubs) during the Bakumatsu, as a reference to his profession (assassin) and his sword fighting style.
** Saitou Hajime is known as the Wolf of Mibu.
** He tries to dissociate himself from it; people accepting that the name does not define him constitute several meaningful moments in the series. Chiefly Kaoru at the beginning, but Aoshi contradicting Saitou from 'Battousai' to 'Kenshin' at almost the very end bears remembering, too.
*** An advantage of 'Hitokiri Battousai' being so infamous as such is that a minority of people even know he was '''Himura'' Battousai,' and practically nobody was aware of the personal name 'Kenshin.'
** In the first deeply serious fight in the series, versus the psycho assassin Udo Jin-e ([[Nom De Guerre|Kurogasa]]), he gets into trash-talk mode and says, "let me show you the meaning of the name, ''Battousai''." (Apparently it means he is the best damn quickdraw in Japan. Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu has a lot of battoujutsu, or ''iai'' techniques.)
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** And how could we forget the Heartless Sorcerer Swordsman, and his friend Mummy Man.
** Not a typical example, but how about The Lord of Nightmares?
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** In the game, he is known as, in order, "Lynx", "Cheetah" and finally, as the "Black Cat" as the game goes on and his fame spreads.
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** '''[[Walking Shirtless Scene|THE]] [[Large Ham|MIGHTY]] [[Memetic Badass|KAMINA]]!!!'''
** "{{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Lordgenome]]}}" sounds too ridiculous to be a given name, so it is likely one of these.
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* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', the sweet, ditzy blonde lady Marie Mjolnir is aptly nicknamed the Crusher. (She turns out to be a [[Lightning Bruiser]].) Justin is known as the Executioner. Maybe a running thing for Death Scythes, although the others have no such nicknames (although being called the 'Demon' such-and-such' could be enough on its own).
* ''[[Trigun]]'' - Vash the Stampede is such a [[Walking Disaster Area]] that he gets dubbed the "Humanoid Typhoon" (and actually does get reclassified as an "Act of God" by the planet's insurance company so it doesn't have to pay out damages incurred in connection with him).
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** Giving a [[Seme]] a badass nickname is very common in [[Boys Love|yaoi]]. Sometimes the [[uke]] will have one, too.
* ''[[Baki the Grappler]]'' features Orochi Doppo, "the Karate God", and Hanma Yujiro, both "The Ogre" and "The world's strongest creature".
* Pretty much everyone of any power in ''[[
{{quote|'''Heaven Canceler:''' Well, just don't die. As long as you don't die, I can fix you.}}
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* Yomiko Readman of ''[[Read or Die]]'' is known as The Paper. This name is apparently given to the most talented [[Paper Master]] of the British Library and is passed on whenever one retires or dies. Yomiko is the 19th person to be issued that codename. Her deceased lover/mentor Donny Nakajima was the 18th.
* Sakata Gintoki of ''[[Gintama]]'' is known as the "Shiroyasha (White Demon)" during the Joi War.
* Gavrill from ''[[Franken Fran]]'' is known as "The Wolf", due to her brutality and shape-shifting powers.
* Back at the time when {{spoiler|Habara}} from ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' was a [[Enfant Terrible]]-level [[Bully]], she was known as the Archdemon.
* In the dub version of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'' and ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V]]'', Jack Atlas is the "Master of Faster". Likely self-proclaimed title, but he ''is'' a celebrity and a [[Large Ham]].
* Every adventurer in ''[[Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?]]'' gets a sobriquet upon reaching Level 2. Bell Cranel, the protagonist of the main story, is "Little Rookie"; Ais Wallenstein, the protagonist of the sidestory ''Sword Oratoria'', is "Kenki" (Sword Princess).
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*** [[Robin]] was originally known as the Boy Wonder, and later as the Teen Wonder.
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*** "Two-Face" was originally the nickname used to identify Harvey Dent once his face was half-scarred by acid and he became a criminal. Later versions of the character used this as a persona Dent adopted as part of his multiple personalities disorder.
*** Scarecrow is "The Master of Fear" while The Riddler is "The Prince of Puzzlers."
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** His cousin, [[Supergirl]], is either the Girl of Steel or the [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Maid of Steel]] as a play on Superman's most common nickname.
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{{quote|[[Great Lakes Avengers|Big Bertha]]: She's sort of beaten [[MODOK]]... and [[Doctor Doom]]... and [[Thanos]]... single-handedly.
[[Deadpool]]: [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|Oh, c'mon, those stories can't actually count in continuity]].
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* Some of the chapter titles in ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]'' are implied to be nicknames Scrooge has acquired during his adventures.
** Not a chapter title, but commonly used as Scrooge's nickname during his cowboy days is "Glasgow Kid".
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* In ''X-Men Noir'', newspapers call Professor Xavier "the Professor of Crime"; his X-Men all have nicknames of their own, but they seem to have given them to each other. There's also the various criminals who taught young Tommy Halloway the tricks of the trade: Horace "Harlem Houdini" Hobbs, Orville "The Gentleman" Whitwell, and Cain "The Juggernaut" Marko.
** ''Iron Man Noir'' has the infamous pirate Captain Namor, also known as the Beast of the Blue and the Blood Mariner.
** [[Luke Cage]] himself in ''Luke Cage Noir'' received the name "Power-Man" after taking two bullets in the chest and getting up as if nothing had happened.
* In ''[[Le Scorpion]]'', Armando Catalano is universally known as 'the Scorpion'.
* [[The Mighty Thor]]- it was actually a fairly common thing in the early days of the comic for especially nasty villains to be declared/declare themselves 'The enemy of all who live!' (exclamation point mandatory).
* Ralph Dibny, the [[Elongated Man]], was often referred to as the 'Ductile Detective', especially during his stories from the 1960s and 70s.
* Gilbert Shelton's ''Wonder Wart-hog'' was called the 'Hog of Steel', in an obvious parody of Superman.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', Kyon is called "[[Gratuitous Japanese|Kowa-Keigo]]<ref>[[Badass Nickname|Terrifying Guardian]]</ref> Kyon" after serving as a replacement for Tsuruya's bodyguard.
* In ''[[The Hill of Swords]]'', [[Fate/stay night|Shirou]] has been nicknamed "The King of Swords", much to his annoyance.
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* Most females in the [[Naruto]] universe have the *insert specialty* mistress of their village.
* ''[[Ponies Make War]]'': After her [[Split Personality Merge]] and [[He's Back|the restoration of her true personality and power]], Twilight Sparkle take up the title of "The Godslayer". This serves the dual purpose of making her appear both a symbol of hope for the [[La Résistance|Loyalists]] and a figure of fear for the [[Les Collaborateurs|Royals]].
* ''[[Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]'': The main heroines, [[Amazon Brigade|Mirage squadron]], are dubbed "Angels of Equestria" by Cheerilee and the fillies. There's also
* Douglas Sangnoir of ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]'' appears to be picking up [[I Have Many Names|a collection of sobriquets]] as he makes his way across the universes.
== [[Film]] ==
* The ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]'' series featured a few. For example, Apollo Creed was The Master of Disaster, The King of Sting, The Dancing Destroyer, and The Count of Monte Fisto.
** And of course, Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa himself. Not to mention that "Rocky" is itself a nickname for Robert, and a common one for fighters (Marciano, Graziano)
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* [[Pulp Fiction|"You're sending the Wolf? Shit, Negro, that's all you needed to say."]]
== [[Literature]] ==
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', the Aiel call Lan Mandragoran ''Aan'allein'', which the Old Tongue for "[[Last of His Kind|The Man Who Is One Nation]]," a reference to the fact that he is the uncrowned king of Malkier, and has sworn to fight the shadow.
** The Dragon Reborn itself is a kind of example of this.
* Westley from ''[[The Princess Bride (novel)|The Princess Bride]]'' is called The Dread Pirate Roberts. It's lampshaded when he mentions no one would be afraid of The Dread Pirate Westley.
** "The Man in Black" fits the trope much better, as that's what the characters actually call him during the book and movie.
** Also, the original Dread Pirate Roberts retired twelve years before Westley took the title. Westley's mentor (who was the [[Legacy Character|Dread Pirate Roberts before Westley]]) explains that it's important that the title stays, because the name intimidates people so much that it will give the bearer of the name an edge.
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* [[Diana Wynne Jones|The Chrestomanci]] is known only by his title, and alternately by "The Big Man," "You Know Who" or "That Man Up at That Castle." He is almost never called by his real name except in the books that starred him as a kid.
** There's at least one fanfiction where cat has to ask who christopher is, having not heard his proper name before. In charmed life it takes half a book for them to learn it's a title not the family's surname which is chant like theirs.
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** Despite not being an [[Action Girl]], Daenerys Targaryen accumulates several of these, including Stormborn, the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, and Breaker of Chains.
** Robb Stark was called "The Young Wolf" primarily by his enemies, with emphasis on the "young" part. After he started winning numerous victories, they more emphasized the "wolf" part.
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** Crops up in other Gemmell books such as Dakeyras, more commonly known as Waylander, or Jon Shannow, the Jerusalem Man.
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** In books six and seven, he's saddled with "[[The Chosen One]]." The wizarding world doesn't seem to be big on creativity.
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** Also from the ''[[The Dresden Files]]''- Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you [[Knight in Shining Armor|Michael]] [[Meaningful Name|Carpenter]], the '''Fist of God'''.
{{quote|'''Harry''': "Not just an affectionate nickname, folks."}}
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* The last Duke of Ankh, and self-appointed executioner of the last ''King'' of Ankh, [[Discworld|Stoneface Vimes]]. His great-something-grandson Sam Vimes Sr. starts getting the same nickname after acquiring something of the same reputation re: dealing with authority.
{{quote|'''Vimes:''' ''The'' Regicide. Not sure why people have to call him that. I mean, it was only one king. It wasn't as if it was a habit.}}
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* In the [[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]] books by P.C. Hodgell, Kencyr frequently carry an epithet as well as a name. It cannot be self-applied, and may not be flattering. Jame, the protagonist, is dubbed "Priests'-bane", while her brother Torisen is "Black Lord", based on his rather gloomy style of dress.
* Subverted in [[Belisarius Series]] by Venandekatra the Vile. It is specifically remarked that he is ''not'' called "the dreaded" or the "ruthless" or anything like that but only "the vile". Dreaded people are respected, vile people are held in contempt.
* Randall Flagg in ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' and other books "The Man Without A Face" The Dark Man" "The Black Man" "The Walkin' Dude".
* In the [[Gordon R. Dickson]] novel ''Spacial Delivery'', there's a culture of bear-like aliens, Dilbians, who give everyone epithets. The most badass member of the race is known as "One Man"...as in "one man army."
** A thing to remember about them is that the epithet doesn't always mean what it sounds like it means. "Daddy Shaking Knees" might seem like a name for a coward, but in fact he got it because in an emergency [[Load-Bearing Hero|he held up something heavy for a '''long''' time]] ... and his only sign of strain was that after almost an hour his legs began to tremble just a bit. Also, Dilbians value cleverness, not just physical strength. One Man is very strong, yes — and '''extremely''' smart.
* In the ''[[Black Jewels]]'' series, Daemon SaDiablo earned the name "The Sadist" even though he was a [[Sex Slave]] at the time.
* ''[[Dark Life]]'' has Shade. (The other members of the Seablite Gang also only go by their nicknames...but they're less badass. Eel? ''Kale''?)
* ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]'' has Dalinar "The Blackthorn" Kholin, and Kaladin who gets called "Stormblessed" (implying that he's incredibly lucky) by two different groups of people who never met each other.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* [[Being Human (UK)|"Lord Harry"]]
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** In fact, the name 'the Doctor' fits this trope, as it's the one he chose for himself. Even allowing that, we haven't scratched the surface of badass names and titles he's collected across time and space. Along with 'Lonely God' and 'Oncoming Storm', we have Sir Doctor of TARDIS, the Mighty Warrior, the Trickster, the Madman With A Box and The Last of the Time Lords.
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** The Last/Lone Centurion.
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** Thanks to Davros, the past, present, and future companions and allies of the series hero now have the awesome collective title fitting for those who traverse the realms of time and space alongside the Doctor: ''The Children Of Time!''
** The Master has, well, the Master and Death's Champion.
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** Technically Captain Jack Harkness counts, as literally no one knows his real name.
** Captain John Hart (a.k.a. Spike from the 51st century).
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* Entertainingly parodied in ''[[Community]]'' episode "A Fistful of Paintballs", where Josh Holloway's character is known only as "The Black Rider", resulting in this exchange:
{{quote|'''Annie:''' Who is he?
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'''Annie:''' Ok... But he's not really riding anything-
'''Troy:''' Look, I don't ''name'' people, Annie! I'm a deputy. I deputize. }}
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** It's heavily implied that Scar is, in fact, the Raider that Starbuck had shot down,
* John Sheridan, Captain of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' from season 2 onward, was known as "Star Killer." He was the only one who managed to destroy a Minbari vessel (The ''Black Star'') during the Earth-Minbari War.
* ''[[Survivor (TV series)|Survivor]]'' has quite a few contestants that are given these, including Richard Hatch (The King, The Emperor), Jerri Manthey (The Black Widow, The Wicked Witch), Robert DeCanio (The General), Vecepia Towery (The Sneak), Rupert Boneham (The Pirate), Sandra Diaz-Twine (The Queen, The Empress), Cirie Fields, (The Puppet Master), Earl Cole (The Godfather), Benjamin "Coach" Wade (The Dragon Slayer)
* The eponymous ''[[Super Robot Red Baron]]'' itself is occasionally referred to as "The Crimson Phoenix". Bonus points for already being ''called'' [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Red Baron]].
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
** Buffy is 'The Slayer'.
** The Master.
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** ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]'' offers a villainous version with [[The Dragon]] Damaras, who's called "The Strongest Man in Space". He then backs this name up by [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb-stomping]] [[The Rival]] who had up to that point been curb-stomping the Gokaigers, then taking on all six Gokaigers at the same time.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* Robin of Locksley, Earl of Huntington was declared an outlaw and adopted the name: [[Robin Hood]].
== [[Music]] ==
''See also Wikipedia's list of [[w:Honorific nicknames in popular music|honorific nicknames in popular music]]''
Alphabetical by Sobriquet:
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* [[The Big Bopper]]
* The Biggest Band in the World: [[U2]]
* Bird / Yardbird: [[Charlie Parker]]
<!-- * The Boss: [[Gene Ammons]], [[Diana Ross]], [[Rick Ross]], or [[Bruce Springsteen]] ... so this isn't a sobriquet. -->
* [[Count Basie]]
* Canada's Unofficial Poet Laureate: [[Gord Downie]]
* The Chairman of the Board; Ol' Blue Eyes: [[Frank Sinatra]]
* Cool Ruler: [[Gregory Isaacs]]
* [[Duke Ellington]]
* The Fab Four: [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]
** The Pre-Fab Four: [[The Monkees (band)|The Monkees]]
*** Alternately, [[The Rutles]].
* Father of the Texas Blues: [[Blind Lemon Jefferson]]
* The First Lady of Song: [[Ella Fitzgerald]]
* Forces' Sweetheart: [[Vera Lynn]] ''(the first to hold the title)''
* The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business; Mr. Dynamite; Soul Brother Number One (among others): [[James Brown]]
* Killer: [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]
* The King: [[Elvis Presley]]<ref>Although he didn't like being called that, as in his eyes, [[Real Men Love Jesus|only one person deserved the title.]]</ref>
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* The King of Pop: [[Michael Jackson]]
* The King of Swing: [[Benny Goodman]]
* King of the Delta Blues Singers: [[Robert Johnson]]
* The King of Noise: [[Rahzel]] (human beatboxer)
* King of the Surf Guitar: [[Dick Dale]]
* Last of the Red Hot Mamas: [[Sophie Tucker]]
* The Man in Black: [[Johnny Cash]]
* The Master of Reinvention: [[David Bowie]]
* Mr. Guitar: [[Chet Atkins]]
* Mr. Pure Energy: [[Gary Valenciano]]
* Mr. Showmanship: [[Liberace]]
* The Most Dangerous Band in the World: [[Guns N' Roses]]
* Motor City Madman: [[Ted Nugent]]
* Nightingale of India: [[Lata Mangeshkar]]
* The Only Band That Matters: [[The Clash]]
* The Piano Man: [[Billy Joel]]
* President of Culture: [[Seo Taiji]]
* Prince of Darkness: [[Ozzy Osbourne]]
* The Purple One; His Purple Badness: [[Prince]]
* Queen of Funk: [[Chaka Khan]]
* Queen of Rock & Roll: [[Tina Turner]]
* Queen of Shock Rock: [[Wendy O. Williams]]
* Satchmo: [[Louis Armstrong]]
* The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing: [[Tommy Dorsey]]
* The Silver Fox: [[Charlie Rich]]
* Slowhand: [[Eric Clapton]]
* Sting: Gordon Sumner
* Tiger of Wales: [[Tom Jones]]
* Timeless Balladeer: [[Bert Nievera]]
* The Voice of a Generation: [[Bob Dylan]]
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* Professional wrestlers in addition to their stage names will also sometimes use nicknames, the best known is probably [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] being called "The Texas Rattlesnake". As if "Stone Cold" wasn't a [[Badass]] ''enough'' nickname.
** [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]: The People's Champ; The Most Electrifying Man In [All Of/Sports] Entertainment; The Brahma Bull; The Great One.
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** [[Mark Henry]]: The World's Strongest Man
** Rhino: The Man Beast; The War Machine
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** [[Chris Jericho]]: The Human Highlight Reel; the Highlight of the Night; the King of the World; the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rollah, The Best in the World at What he Does, Y2J
** [[Chris Benoit]]: [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|The Rabid Wolverine]]; The Crippler
** [[Samoa Joe]]: The Samoan Submission Machine
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** Greg Valentine: The Hammer
** [[Hulk Hogan]]: The Immortal; Hollywood; Incredible
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** Brutus Beefcake: The Barber
** Jim
** Jimmy Hart: Mouth of the South
** [[Bobby Heenan]]: The Brain
** Ricky
** [[Scott Hall]]: The Bad Guy (as Razor Ramon); Big (in [[AWA]])
** Umaga: The Samoan Bulldozer
** [[Cody Rhodes]]: Dashing
** Tommy Dreamer: The Innovator of Violence, The Heart Of ECW
** Dean
** Sabu: The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death Defying Maniac (and [[Joey Styles]] somehow managed to get all that out in one breath on ECW TV shows)
** [[AJ Styles]]: The Phenomenal One; Mr TNA; The Face that Runs [[WWE Smackdown|the Place]]; The Champ that Runs the Camp
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** Sid Vicious: The Millenium Man; The Master of the Powerbomb; The Man Who Rules The World; Sycho
** [[Jeff
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** [[Scott Steiner]]: Big Poppa Pump; The Big Bad Booty Daddy; White Thunder; The Genetic Freak; Freakzilla and many more
** Shane Douglas: The Franchise
** Chris
** [[Christian]] (Cage): Captain Charisma; The Instant Classic
** Monty Brown: The Alpha Male
** [[Andre
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** Alex Wright: Das Wunderkind; The German Wrestling Machine
** La Parka: The [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Chairman]] of [[WCW]].
** [[Mick Foley]]: The Senior Asskicker (title given to him by [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]]); The Hardcore Legend; Mr. Bang-Bang (as Cactus Jack)
** Chris Hero: That Young Knockout Kid
** Claudia Castagnoli: The Most Money-Making Man; Swiss Superman (as Cesaro); The King of Swing (as Cesaro); Swiss Cyborg (as Cesaro)
** [[Bryan Danielson]]: The American Dragon; The Best in the World
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** Homicide: The Notorious 187
** [[Sheamus]]: The [[Fighting Irishman|Celtic Warrior]]; The Great White
** [[Alberto Del Rio]]: The Essence of Excellence; The Mexican Aristocrat
** [[The Miz]]: The Awesome One; The Most Must-See WWE Superstar/Champion
** [[Beth Phoenix]]: The Glamazon
** Jack Swagger: The All-American American; The Real American
** [[John Cena]]:The Doctor of Thuganomics; The Champ; The Marine; [[Invincible Hero|Superman]]; Big Match John
** [[The Big Show]]: The World's Largest Athlete
** Ezekiel Jackson: The Personification Of Domination
** [[Randy Savage]]: The Macho Man
** [[Vader]]: The Mastodon
** [[Jake Roberts]]: The Snake
** Koko
** Rick Martell: The Model
* MMA also lends itself to fighters getting nicknames that give you an idea of how awesome they are.
** Fedor Emelianenko, probably the single best fighter in the world, is nicknamed :The Last Russian Emperor."
** Ken
** Wanderlei Silva: The AX Murderer.
** Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.
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** Kazuchi
** Randy Couture: The Natural, [[Captain America (comics)]].
** Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Minotauro (Minotaur)
** Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Minitoro (Little Bull)
** Dan "The Beast" Severn.
** BJ "The Prodigy" Penn
** Georges "Rush" St. Pierre
** "The Dean of Mean" Keith Jardine
** Anderson "The Spider" Silva
** Jung Chan-Sung: The Korean Zombie
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The [[Space Marine]]s of ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' actual title is the Adeptus Astartes, and they are also known as the Angels of Death. The Blood Angels are a chapter of Space Marines, who are [[Super Soldier]]s with [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampiric characteristics]] and are known for [[Attack! Attack! Attack!|bloodthirsty assault tactics]]. A [[Magic Knight|Librarian]] of theirs is named [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Mephiston]], and is known by ''them'' as "the Lord of Death".
** Let's not forget the humble (but numerous) [[Redshirt Army|Imperial Guard]]. Guardsmen are notoriously [[Cannon Fodder|expendable]], but some have survived long enough to get a reputation. Case in point, the only regiment from planet Tanith narrowly escaped the obliteration of their homeworld, and they're still kind of pissed. Their official designation is the Tanith 1st - generally followed by a defiant chorus of "First and Only!" They also get tagged as [[Gaunt's Ghosts|Gaunts Ghosts]], thanks to their commander's rare appreciation for stealth (and survival). Mention Tanith and you get blank looks, but even [[Smug Super|Space Marines]] have heard of Gaunt's Ghosts.
** Lest we forget, Gaunt's Ghosts aren't the only Imperial Guardsmen of note. There's also Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken, [[Game Breaker]] and named after his adamantium hand. And Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker, so named due to his rumored habit of chewing glass instead of tobacco.
** Going away from individual names, many companies aside Gaunt's Ghosts also have unique and memorable names and histories even if they don't happen to be prominently shown in a particular series of novels, some examples being the Tallarn 3rd "Desert Tigers", the 8th Cadian "The Lord Castellan's Own" and the Catachan 24th "Waiting Death".
** Every Eldar Phoenix Lord: Asurmen the Hand of Asuryan, Jain Zar the Storm of Silence, Maugan Ra the Harvester of Souls, Baharroth the Cry of the Wind, Fuegan the Burning Lance, and Karandras the Shadow Hunter.
** The C'tan don't even have proper names, but are known only by a variety of titles. The four remaining C'tan have a bunch of names, but the most common (and the ones used by Games Workshop, for simplicity) are: [[The Grim Reaper|The Nightbringer]], [[Magnificent Bastard|The Deceiver]], [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|The Outsider]], and [[Game Breaker|The Void Dragon]].
** What, no love for [[Ciaphas Cain]], [[Memetic Mutation|HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!]]
*** Probably because that doesn't really fit the trope at all, being used in-universe only for Cain-centric propaganda. A closer example from Cain is his Perlian nickname. Since he saved numerous people from Orkz during their invasion of Perlia, the first campaign in which he achieved widespread fame, the denizens of that planet call him "The Liberator".
* ''[[BattleTech]]'' doesn't make use of nicknames all that often, but we mustn't forget the Bounty Hunter (a [[Legacy Character]] by and large only known by that name to all), nor Natasha Kerensky, the (in)famous [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Black Widow]].
== [[Theatre]] ==
* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]: Invoqued by the ballad improvised by Cyrano at Act II Scene VII, ''The bold cadets of Gascony'':
{{quote|'''Cyrano:''' ... ''Pink-your-Doublet'' and ''Slit-your-Trunk''
Are their '''gentlest''' sobriquets;
== [[Video Games]] ==
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*** It's actually just "Beowulf", and it's a codename rather than a nickname (Steel Beowulf is the title of Kyouske's Leitmotif). He is, however, inhumanly strong, not to mention [[Complete Monster|plain evil]].
** Calvina Coulange from ''[[Super Robot Wars Judgment]]'' was known as "White Lynx" before she quit military.
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** Rand Travis from ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]]'' inherite nickname "The Heat" from his master. Most character recognize him as infamous "The Crusher" though.
** In the anime, Elzam is known as The Black Tornado.
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*** The full list is as follows; The Spellslinger, the Butcher, Shadowstep, The Black Arrow, Skullcrusher, the Divine Avenger, the Crimson Blade, the Iron Maiden(female only), Lady Luck(female only), Man o' War(male only), Sir Slaughter(male only), The Tamriel Terror, and Dragonheart.
* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'', players can choose from any number of titles gained through achievements, with such fabulous options as Hellbane, Master at Arms, Binder of Beasts, and The Thief of Midnight.
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* Legate Lanius of ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' is known as The Monster of the East. [[Authority Equals Asskicking|For]] [[Blood Knight|good]] [[Kill'Em All|reason]].
** His [[Implacable Man|hardier]], [[General Ripper|fiercer]] and [[You Have Failed Me...|recently]] [[Unperson|made]] [[The Atoner|contrite]] predecessor, Joshua Graham, is known commonly as The Burned Man ([[Kill It with Fire|no points for guessing how he got it]]). He was known as the Malpais Legate before that, but it's uncommon knowledge by now.
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* ''[[Sly Cooper|Sly 3]]'' has a chapter in which the team must participate in a dogfighting contest held by a character known as the Black Baron.
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** Her [[Ninja Maid]], Sakuya, is likewise known as the Dog of the Devil.
** And then Flandre Scarlet, the Sister of the Devil. Who would probably have gotten an even more terrifying title if she was not [[Madwoman in the Attic|kept in her basement at all times]], since she pretty much [[Person of Mass Destruction|accidentally blows up anyone she sets her eyes on]]. ''Shoot the Bullet'' refers to her by the title of ''"Diabolic Wave"''.
** All the characters have a title that appears on the screen alongside their name when they are introduced.
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** As a matter of fact, [[Capcom]] bothered to give such an epithet to all the characters of the license in the ''Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia''. Ryu and Ken, for instance, are respectively the "Eternal Seeker" and the "Fire of the Rising Dragon", while Crimson Viper is labeled as "Miss Perfect".
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** Ragna the Bloodedge, also known as The Grim Reaper and
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** ''[[Jade Empire]]'' also uses the fact that [[The Empire]] doesn't know your character's name or what he/she looks like (no [[Mooks|adversaries]] have survived encounters with you) to have people in the capital giving speeches on the dangers of the Scourge of the South.
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** Not to mention that the player character can be known, alternately, as 'The Butcher of Torfan', 'The Savior of Elysium', 'The Hero of the Citadel', et cetera, depending on their background and in-game choices.
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** There's more than a few of these. We have "The Hero of Chaos" Cao Cao, "The Sleeping Dragon" Zhuge Liang, "The Fledgling Phoenix" Pang Tong, "The Little Conquerer" Sun Ce, on and on. ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'' is just as bad.
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** Angel Starr, a former detective appearing in one case, was known as the "Cough-up Queen" due to her ability to get even the most hardened criminal to spill information.
* In ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', {{spoiler|Revya}} in the Demon Path gets called the "Devourlord".
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** The Koopinator: The Razor Blade Brigadier
** Rawk Hawk: The Feral Nuclear Reactor
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' gives us the Organization XIII members, all of whom sport [[Meaningful Name|unique monikers]] ranging from Badass to [[Narm]] and anywhere in between. To whit, we have: Xemnas "The Superior of the In-Between," Xigbar "The Freeshooter," Xaldin "The Whirlwind Lancer," Vexen "The Chilly Academic," Lexaeus "The Silent Hero," Zexion "The Cloaked Schemer," Saïx "The Luna Diviner," Axel "The Flurry of Dancing Flames," Demyx "The Melodious Nocturne," Luxord "The Gambler of Fate," Marluxia "The Graceful Assassin," Larxene "The Savage Nymph," and Roxas "The Key of Destiny."
* ''[[Armored Core]]'' has Nineball in the PS2 era games and later White Glint in 4 and For Answer.
* In ''Medieval 2: [[Total War]]'', your generals (and a number of your agents such as princesses and assassins) can get these sorts of titles. Sometimes it's the normal, awe inspiring names like King Edward the Chivalrous, Prince Louis the Brave, etc. However, if your general has too many of the ''wrong'' personality traits, you can get epithets like King Henry the Cuckold, Erik the Lewd, Doge Barbus the Queen, or Prince Hassan the Idiot...
* In the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series, Big Boss has an entire mythology based around him. Big Boss has fought in countless wars and saved the world from nuclear war a total of 3 times over the course of a Military career spanning 50 years. The United States used him as a basis for how to model their soldiers and even took some of his DNA to genetically modify their soldiers. Other countries marveled at his legendary skills and some even doubted that he existed thinking no one man could accomplish all the things he did. Big Boss rightfully earned titles ranging from The Legendary Mercenary, the man who makes anything possible, One-Eyed Jack, Saladin (referencing the famous commander from the Crusades), and the greatest soldier of the 20th century. Big Boss was shrouded in myth by enemies and allies alike.
* In ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', Mr. L nicknames himself the Green Thunder.
* The Great Papyrus from ''[[Undertale]]'' began to call himself that way to both reflect [[Awesome Ego|his own perceived awesomeness]] and the expectation that others saw it as well. [[Unpopular Popular Character|It only worked out of universe.]]
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Last Res0rt]]'' has several characters with nicknames, though not all get used in the comic/show itself. Of note among the ones that do: Jason "Ace of" Spades, Silk of the Solar Winds aka "White Noise", and Kurt "Geisha" Straieta.
* ''[[Goblins]]'' has [[Awesome McCoolname|Señor Vorpal Kickass'o]]!
* ''[[Achewood]]'' gives us Rodney Leonard Stubbs, known as "The Man With The Blood On His Hands" for his badassery in the [[Tournament Arc|Great Outdoor Fight]]. "Son of Rodney", {{spoiler|his son Ray}}, isn't half bad either.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' had Torg fall back in time into an ''[[Evil Dead|Army of Darkness]]'' pastiche, where the townsfolk called him "The Stormbreaker" based on his destiny to defeat a demon. They weren't entirely accurate, though... {{spoiler|Zoe was the ''real'' [[The Unchosen One|Stormbreaker]]}}.
* ''[[City of Reality]]'': after the events in Magic World, Todo's been nicknamed "The Soul of Reality." Since Reality itself is legendary for its [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]], that really means something.
== [[Web
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], Tennyo has picked up the nickname 'Disaster Dame'. She doesn't like it, and insists those catastrophes weren't her fault.
** Tennyo, aka Billie Wilson, has other, even worse nicknames. Like 'The Scourge' and 'Stalker of the Stars' (or 'Starstalker').
* [[Enemy of My Enemy (Fanfic)|All Brutes fear "The Black Sangheili"]]. Considering that Rukth 'Kilkar is indeed capable of slaughtering hundreds of foes without breaking a sweat ''and'' with [[Handicapped Badass|only one eye]], this is justified.
* ''[[Fate Nuovo Guerra]]'', owing to Servants being legendary heroes, features several, such as "Dragon King" for [[King Arthur|Uther Pendragon]], "Cunning [[Odyssey|Odysseus]]", "Godlike [[The Iliad|Achilles]]", "El Cid Campeador", for well, [[Only Known by Their Nickname|El Cid]], "Scourge of God" for Attila the Hun, etc.
* In ''[[The Salvation War]]'', Humanity is kicking demon butt so thoroughly that the Lords of Hell start calling them "The Lords of War."
* Some of the players in ''[[AH World Cup]]'' have badass nicknames. This includes, but not limited to: Murray Humperdick ("Bloody Murder"), Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ("The Armored Dinner Jacket"), etc.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'':
** Aang — The
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** Toph — The Blind Bandit, The Runaway
** Iroh — The Dragon of the West. There are two stories for how he got his name. One says it's because he can ''breathe fire'' after ''drinking tea'', but it later turns out that {{spoiler|you get the title of "dragon" by ''actually killing a dragon'' (though he lied about killing the last one).}}
*** This is probably twofold; in the Fire Nation {{spoiler|any Firebender who slays a dragon is given the title of dragon}}. His also being known as "Dragon" among the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe would be because of his formidable combat prowess and [[Breath Weapon]] (the Fire Nation might have a lot of dragons, but Iroh is ''The'' Dragon).
** Combustion Man, or his other name, Sparky Sparky Boom Man (we never learn his real name).
** '''''[[Spell My Name with a "The"|THE]] [[Third Person Person|BOULDER]]''''' is '''''FURIOUS''''' that nobody's mentioned him (and the other Earthbending fighters) yet!
** Many of the Freedom Fighters (The Duke, Pipsqueak, Longshot, Sneers)
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* The Red Lynx from the ''[[Swat Kats]]'' episode "The Ghost Pilot" is a perfect example. Not only is he an [[Expy]] of the [[Trope Namer]], but he's known ''only'' by his two nicknames; his real name is never revealed.
== [[Real Life]] ==
=== Military, politics etc. ===
* Manfred von Richtofen, the [[Red Baron]] - famous enough that his sobriquet was the former Trope Namer. Those who actually knew the man would recount how approachable he was to those in the squadron he led, commenting that he was quite friendly and would joke around with his fellow pilots. Still, it says a lot that his sworn enemies gave the man a burial with full military honors, [[Worthy Opponent|out of sheer respect for his prowess and valor as a fellow Sky Warrior]]. It is even rumored that tears were shed at the funeral by those who lost friends to his red triplane's gunfire. The fact that Richtofen was only in his early twenties during his career and airplane technology was relatively new and yet he still managed to shoot down ''80 freaking planes'' (a pilot is considered a "Flying Ace" if he shoots down ''five'' or more in his career), it's no surprise why everyone in the war respected the guy. Which also makes his death somewhat ironic - he wasn't killed by an enemy pilot, but by a lucky shot from a machine gunner on the ground (after being chased down there by an enemy pilot; while the circumstances are sketchy, the lethal rounds were confirmed to be infantry-grade). He managed to make a controlled landing right before he bled out.
** Richthofen had other nicknames, such as the Red Knight (mostly by the British) and “Le Diable Rouge” (by the French, “the Red Devil”). In his own journals, he referred to himself as “der rote Kampfflieger” (“the red fighter pilot”), referring to the color of his aircraft.
* Another German example: Erwin "The Desert Fox" Rommel. In fact this trope could just as easily have been called The Desert Fox, [[Magnificent Bastard|if Rommel didn't already have a trope named after him.]] Rommel's son Manfred said that he was glad of the compliment because he knew the British had learned to appreciate foxes from hunting them. But he would have liked lion even more then fox.
* Vlad Dracula was also known as Vlad Tepes, Tepes meaning "[[The Butcher|Impaler]]" cause, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|well, that is what he did]]. The Turks were very frightened of him, [[Dead Guy on Display|and mounted his head on the walls of Istanbul, to assure people that he was really dead.]] Consider the fact this man basically saw the Turks invading his land, turned to the Turkish prisoners and said 'Well, they aren't doing anything', and created a forest of roughly 30,000 impaled Turkish soldiers.
** In addition, the name 'Dracula' is derived from ''dracul'', the old Romanian word for dragon. Vlad's father was a knight of the Order of the Dragon, and so Vlad's name means 'son of the dragon'. That's so awesome that if it wasn't true, someone would've had to make it up. ''Dracul'' can also mean devil, which also makes it appropriate for anyone who could scare away the Turkish army—and for the demonic imagery [[Bram Stoker]] used in [[Dracula (novel)|his novel]] several centuries later.
* From the American West was John Johnson, also known as Liver Eatin' Johnson, also known as the Dapiek Absaroka, meaning the Crow-Killer, note: the Crow as in the Tribe of Indians, not the Corvid.
* Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Calamity Jane (double-trope breaker: a female ''and'' a "good guy"), or her "partner in crime," lawman "Wild Bill" Hickok, John Henry "Doc" Holliday and of course entertainer "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
** Doc Holliday was actually a doctor; he was a dentist, though he didn't practice much. Wild Bill is something of a subversion; his name wasn't William or any form there of, it was James. His nickname was originally "Duck Bill" Hickok, in reference to his rather large nose.
*** He actually had a fairly successful practice until he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis...in which he became the gambling drunkard gunmen from hell that we know him as. Fun fact: While Doc most definitely had some of the fastest hands in the west, his accuracy wasn't all that good. In fact, one of the few times he was confirmed to have shot someone was an accident. He hit the barkeep instead of the man he was aiming for.
* Sir Francis Drake was known in Latin as Franciscus Draco: Francis the Dragon.
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* Another WWII example is [[wikipedia:Night Witches|Die Nachthexen]] (the Night Witches), the Soviet all-women 588th Night Bomber Regiment; their old wooden adapted cropdusters were hard to shoot down because they were [[Rock Beats Laser|slower than the stall speed of the German Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulf fighters]]. This meant that whenever someone managed to get near them, they'd have to slow down to a point where the plane stalls and becomes unable to fly anymore.
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* '''[[Ivan the Terrible]]'''. In Russian, "groznyi" really means something closer to [[wikipedia:Ivan the Terrible#Sobriquet|"fearsome" or "formidable"]]. Which is just as awesome.
** Ironically, he was actually quite beloved by the common people, and was featured in several folk-tales as a [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Reasonable Tsar of All Russia]].
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** [[wikipedia:Aethelred the Unready|Æthelred the Unready.]] Not because he lacked preparation, but because he lacked advisors ('unready' meaning 'not counselled'. Ironic, because his name Æthelred meant "well advised")
** Another fun one is Roric Ring-Slinger. The origin of his name depends on who you ask: allies said it was because of his generosity in handing out gold rings to his men; enemies said it was because of an incident where he was the judge of a boat-race, and when he tried to throw the prize (a ring) from his ship to the winner, he fell short by a good thirty feet, and the racers gave him the nickname as an insult. Incidentally, he was the father of four famous Vikings: Ivar the Bonelsss (the brains of the four, born with no bones in his legs), Iron-Sides (strongest and biggest), Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye (an extra-badass warrior with a peculiar pattern on one of his irises), and White-Shirt (who had a really clean shirt.)
*** You are mixing up your Viking Heroes- which is admittedly easy, the four mentioned- and more- were the sons of Regnar Lodbrog, a semi-historical King (we know he lived and served Horek/Erik of Denmark and that he got paid Danegeld to not plunder Paris on 28 March 845, but not that he was King) whereas Roric Ringslyngeren is a purely mythical "Lejre-King" who would have lived in the 6th century if we could be certain that he even lived.
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** Napoleon's Marshal [[Four-Star Badass|Louis Nicolas Davout]], Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmuhl, was known as the Iron Marshal.
** One of the most famous fighting units of the Army of the Potomac was the "Iron Brigade" (originally called the "Black Hat Brigade").
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** ''Cognomina'' were more like nicknames that distinguished one branch of a family from another; for example, C. Julius Caesar was Gaius of the Caesar branch of the Julian clan. The Caesar probably came from an ancestor, like Cicero did. Nicknames like "Africanus" were called ''agnomina,'' and were given for a person's own deeds or appearance (Like Mucius Scaevola - the last part means "lefty," and he burned his right hand off rather than betray Rome - or Appius Claudius Caecus - Caecus means "blind").
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** Other Hammers:
*** Judah Maccabee (''makkab'' = hammer), whose byname was also applied to the dynasty he founded.
*** Edward I of England, known as the Hammer of the Scots (called that on his grave in Latin: ''Malleus Scotorum'').
*** Tom DeLay, former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, named as such for his governing style.
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** In Latin that was "Carolus magnus", and it is a measure of how awe-inspiring that name was that it is thought that the popularity of "Magnus" as a first name in Northern Europe is based on it. While in many Slavic languages the word for "king" is derived from "Carolus" - e. g. in Russian it is ''krol'' and in Polish it is ''król'' (while "Charles" is "Karol").
** His father was called Pepin the Short, which is quite a contrast.
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* George H. Thomas, one of the lesser known commanders of [[The American Civil War]] today, had two nicknames given to him during the Western campaigns. At the route at Chickamauga, Thomas rallied several Union units to allow the rest of the Army to retreat back to Chattanooga. On Snodgrass Hill, his command stood as a rock, earning him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga". Later, during the Battle of Nashville, his breaking up of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood earned him the title "The Sledge of Nashville."
* Several "Black" nicknames:
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** Duke Frederick William of Brunswick, the "Black Duke". He and the free corps he raised in 1809 to fight against Napoleon was dressed in black in [[You Killed My Father|memory of his father, duke Charles William Frederick, mortally wounded at Auerstedt in 1806]].
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*** This one was somewhat bowdlerized by newspapers and history books: Pershing's original nickname was "Black-Assed Jack."
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*** Hartmann was also called [[Bishonen|the Blonde]] [[wikipedia:File:Erich Hartmann.jpg|Knight]] and [[Fluffy the Terrible|Bubi]], an affectionate version of 'little boy' in German, by his allies.
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*** Although it's unclear whether or not it was actually meant as a compliment. The man who said it, Brigadier General Barnard E. Bee, was in the midst of having his brigade destroyed while Jackson's brigade was standing "like a stone wall." While the conventional interpretation today is that it refers to how Jackson's men were holding off the Yankees, many historians think it was actually meant as a passive-aggressive swipe at Jackson for not supporting and reinforcing Bee's men. Bee died shortly thereafter so nobody knows for sure.
*** This Troper had a great-great-uncle who was actually named after him. Best part? Same surname. However, this was due to the fact that he was a direct male-line descendant of the paternal uncle of a [[Andrew Jackson|certain badass U.S. President of the same surname]]. Worst part? He hated his name. His nickname "Stoney", wasn't any better. Likely, anyone who thinks Stonewall Jackson and Old Hickory are related may be related likely has him mixed up. Probably because his name really was Stonewall, and T.J. Jackson's wasn't, but some may assume so. Sad thing is that he was born after the original died.
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** He's also known as "Demon of the Crimson Lotus" (due to his and his troops' trademark red armor), which is seriously cool. There was even a folk song comparing him to a demon (in a good way, mind you).
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** [[Zachary Taylor]], President twenty years after Jackson, was also renowned for his military prowess, and was nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready". Ironically, he died not much more than a year into his term.
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* The Southern Paiute indians' nickname for John Wesley Powell (Civil War veteran and geographer, who mapped most of the Colorado River valley) was 'Chief Arm Off', in reference to the arm he had previously lost in the American Civil War.
* Carlos Hathcock, legendary American sniper of the Vietnam War, best known for performing a real life example of a [[Scope Snipe]]. Known amongst the Viet Cong and N.V.A. as Lông Tr?ng, "White Feather", due to the white feather he kept in a band on his bush hat.
* Another Vietnam War example, the entire Australian SASR were known to the Viet Cong as "The Phantoms of The Jungle" due to them using the same guerrilla tactics as the Viet Cong, as well as achieving an average kill ratio of 500 to 1.
* [[Four-Star Badass|Russian general]] [[wikipedia:Mikhail Skobelev|Mikhail Skobelev]] was known as the "White General" (and by the Turks as the "White Pasha").
* [[wikipedia:Timur|Timur]], founder of the Timurid Empire, possible descendant of Genghis Khan, "Tamerlane" to some, "The Scourge of God" to everyone else.
** Attila was known as the Scourge of God nearly a millennium earlier, but in a different part of the world.
*** While "Attila" itself apparently was not his real name but one given to him as a title of honour. It is generally believed to be a diminutive of the Gothic word ''atta'', "father".
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* Sir James Douglas, a.k.a. 'The Black Douglas' who led a contingent that pursued the fleeing English army back across the border and went on to wreak havoc in the North of England with his fast raiding force of mounted infantry
* A number of Ottoman Sultans had such monikers. For example, Mehmed II is better known as Fatih (The Conqueror) and Suleiman I is known as Kanuni (Lawmaker?) in Turkish and as the Magnificent in English.
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* Sir Henry Morgan, one of the most successful pirates and privateers in history, was known as [[They Call Him "Sword"|The Sword of England]].
* Sir David Striling, the original founder of the SAS, was nicknamed "The Phantom Major" by the German forces. So badass was this nickname, that he wasn't even recognized when captured. Due to the terror that this nickname had inspired, he was assumed to be much bigger and scarier than he was, a surprising achievement when you realise that Stirling was already six foot six.
* David Thompson, scout for the Hudson Bay and Northwest fur companies, had the cognoman of "Koo-koo-sint" or "stargazer" from Indians for the many astronomical instruments he carried and his propensity to take observations in the course of his job.
=== Religion ===
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* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Along very similar lines to Jesus Christ (and even older), "Buddha," loosely translated, means "The Awakened One."
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* Jesus had two more disciples, the brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them the [[Names to Run Away From Very Fast|"Sons of Thunder"]].
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* Many Christian saints who have duplicate first names are differentiated by either a sobriquet or a placename. For example, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and St. John of the Cross... etcetera.
=== Sports ===
* Say Cro Cop on an MMA board and everyone will know who you're talking about Mirko Filipovic.
* The Big O, AKA Oscar Robertson.
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** From the halls of Italian billiards, past and present Masters: Angelo "Lord Brummel" Bellocchio, Laurdes "Napoleon" Cavallari, Vitale "Terminator" Nocerino and Daniele "The Gladiator" Montereali.
** "Hurricane" Higgins, "Whirlwind" White, errrr...."Interesting" Davis?
* Alberto Tomba "La Bomba".
* German footballer Franz Beckenbauer is also known as the "Kaiser".
** "Kaiser" means "Emperor" in German. Thus, other German "badasses" are also called Kaiser ([[Formula One|Michael Schumacher]], for example.)
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** Stanley Ketchel: The Michigan Assassin
** Henry Armstrong: Homicide Hank, Hurricane Hank, Hammerin' Hank
* In ice hockey:
** Guy Lafleur, former hockey player for the [[Montreal|Montréal]] Canadiens, was nicknamed "Le Démon Blond" (The Blond Demon), for what should be obvious reasons. He was also frequently called "Le Fleur" (The Flower) in allusion to his own name, but that's not nearly as intimidating.
** Maurice Richard, the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games, was called "Rocket" Richard by the fans. He never used the sobriquet himself. Yes, he played for the Montréal Canadiens.
** Bernie Geoffrion, the second player to score 50 goals in 50 games, was called "Boom Boom". Guess which team he played for.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Badass]]
[[Category:Fame and Reputation Tropes]]
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
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