Fluffy the Terrible: Difference between revisions

Sometimes writers will play with the trope by making the monster ''look'' big, scary, and vicious, [[Gentle Giant|and yet be as sweet and lovable as its name suggests.]] Other times, justified because the monster was named when it was not yet big, scary, or vicious.

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' featured a genetically-engineered monster named Helen, killed by hired villain Toguro as a display of his power.

** Also there's Pantyhose Taro.

*** [[The Addams Family|"But it IS a turtle! A nice, cute and fluffy turtle! Why do you look so distressed?"]]

* The special effects crew of ''[[The Host (film)|The Host]]'' nicknamed their giant tadpole monster "[[Steve Buscemi]]". The resemblance is uncanny.

* In ''[[Kung Pow]]: Enter the Fist'', the main (male) villain was named "Betty". It's actually quite a bit worse than that, his name ''used'' to be "Master Pain;" he then changed it to Betty.

* In ''[[Winter's Bone]]'' the criminal, prone-to-[[Ax Crazy]]-violence, meth-addicted uncle of the main character is named... "Teardrop".

* The mechanical shark from ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' was nicknamed "Bruce" by the crew. Innocuous enough, until you realize "Bruce" [[Evil Lawyer Joke|was also the name of Spielberg's lawyer.]]

* The diabolical crime lord from ''[[RoboCop]]'' has the unassuming name of Clarence. In keeping with the joke, he also looks like a balding, spectacled accountant.

** He's something of a subversion in later appearances -- although still a very large, ferocious-looking ogre, the name fits his ''personality'' perfectly; he's a sweet [[Gentle Giant]]. When he ''does'' appear as a villain, he's virtually guaranteed to have a [[Heel Face Turn]] (as in ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'') or turn out to be a [[Punch Clock Villain]]. (a role he plays along with the other Flying Monkeys in ''[[The Wizard of Oz|The Muppet Wizard of Oz]]'')

* Prince Nuada in ''[[Hellboy (film)|Hellboy]] II: The Golden Army'' has a large cave troll with a robotic fist on a chain. He calls him Mr. Wink. He's named after Selma Blair's one-eyed dog.

* In ''[[The Unborn]]'', the spirit of the unborn child terrorizing Odette Yustman's character is named Jumby.

* [[Psycho for Hire|Bunny]] in ''Platoon''.

* The black horse owned by [[Complete Monster|Judge Frollo]] in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' is actually named [[All There in the Manual|Snowball.]]

* [[Lady and the Tramp|''Lady and the Tramp II'']] featured a large, mean, brutish-looking dog who menaced Lady and Tramp's son [[Scamp]] at one point named Reggie.

** Are you saying the Kray brothers had funny names?

 

 

** One of [[Those Two Bad Guys]] in ''[[Discworld/The Truth|The Truth]]'' is a gentleman named Mr. Tulip. He's the rather large [[Implacable Man]] with [[Hidden Depths|an inexplicable eye for art]] who keeps snorting [[Beat Bag|all those household solvents he's mistaken for drugs]].

** In ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]'' Mr. Teatime, a man who planned the death of the Hogfather, the Discworld's Santa Claus stand-in, embodies this trope to the point where [[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"|his name is pronounced in an affected, fluffier flourish,]] and his mere presence unnerves even the Assassins Guild.

* An [[Empathic Weapon]] sort-of example from ''[[Dragaera]]''- The owner of the Great Weapon Godslayer thinks that its/her name is melodramatic and instead calls her by the name of the person whose personality she has (from eating her soul, no less.) Thus, we get a magical knife that can and does destroy souls entirely accidentally, eliminates magical effects, and was designed to kill the Demon Goddess Verra (who, despite the title, is not a villain, exactly)... and it's referred to as {{spoiler|Lady Teldra}}.

* One of the major plots in [[The Diamond Age]] revolves about a chinese crime lord suspected to deal in child trafficing {{spoiler|but is actually rescuing tens of thousands of abandoned baby girls and raising them in secret over many years with heavy use of nano technology to be an army of [[Tyke Bomb|Tyke Bombs]]}}. As the chinese love to give flowery names to things, he calles them the Mouse Army. Even {{spoiler|at the age of twelve}} they become the largest and by far strongest army in the civil war.

* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', by [[Terry Pratchett]] and [[Neil Gaiman]], Adam, the young man who is fated to {{spoiler|become the anti-Christ}} names his dog "Dog." Dog, however, is {{spoiler|a hell hound.}}

** This slowly {{spoiler|becomes a subverted trope when Dog becomes as harmless and friendly as his name suggests, ''because'' this is his name}}.

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' features Harry's massive, evil-hunter mastiff/dog-a-saurus cross {{spoiler|and is actually a Foo dog, which is so reliable in its abilities that his glare could be used as evidence in the highest White Council courts}} named "Mouse", whose bark can send shocks through multiple dimensions. Dresden describes this as 'every cell of his body flinching' or something like that. It also scares the ectoplasmic piss out of every other supernatural being in the local vicinity. He also survived a hit from a speeding van and was only mildly inconvenienced at worst by a gunshot wound. Unless there's danger present, he's just a [[Big Friendly Dog]].

* In [[John Ringo]]'s ''[[Posleen War Series]]'' there is a supertank the size of a city block that shoots rocket sized shells with an anti-matter core that's named "Bun Bun." On the other hand it is named after ''[[Sluggy Freelance|that]]'' [[Killer Rabbit|Bun Bun]] so maybe it's a subversion of sorts.

* Most warships built by [[The Culture]]. In fact, most ships built by [[The Culture]].

* Kumiko's enormous London bodyguard in [[William Gibson]]'s ''[[Mona Lisa Overdrive]]'' - "My name, you see," he said, as though this would immediately reassure her, "is Petal."

* One episode of ''[[Hustle]]'' had a scary-ass [[Implacable Man]] named Pinky Byrne.

* Inverted in an episode of ''Empty Nest'' where a small lost dog charms the Weston family while destroying the household and the larger family dog Dreyfuss getting the blame. When the real owner appears, he explains to Harry Weston what the little bastard really is and calls him the appropriately named "Satan".

 

 

* ''[[Mechwarrior]] Living Legends'' has Mr. Bubbles. Mr. Bubbles is a [[Humongous Mecha|one hundred ton bipedal tank]] with ''three'' ten ton [[Gatling Good|rotary autocannons]] which can shred ''anything'' in the game in seconds.

* In ''[[Tomb Raider]]: Legend'', Amanda has befriended and trained a giant shadowy thing, [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|the origins of which are never explained]], and named it "Fluffy." She taught it to fetch, do tricks and kill Lara. Then again, [[Everything Trying to Kill You|what hasn't?]]

** There is a Coeurl, a ferocious cat monster from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' whose name is ''Meow''. It even makes the sound itself.

* An enemy in ''[[Icewind Dale]] II'' had a pet three-headed chimera named "Precious".

* ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island]]'' features a pirate known as Edward "Snugglecakes" Van Helgen.

{{quote|"Mine is the name that pirates fear the most!"}}

* The most menacing-looking characters in ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' is named "Sprout". He's also {{spoiler|the ''penultimate boss'' of the main game.}}

* From ''[[Wizardry|Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant]]'' comes Spot the dinosaur, a nasty boss fight at the end of the Giant Caves. Especially bad if you aren't expecting it.

* The third season of the ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' games introduced the most horrible and fearsome of the [[Eldritch Abomination|elder gods,]] whose birthing wails shattered the great continent of Pangaea. His name...is ''Junior.''

* In ''[[Mega Man Legends]]'', the Bonnes have collaborated to create the ultimate killing machine and Mega Man's greatest challenge yet: Bruno!

* Speaking of Fallout, there's the helpful [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Mister_Handy Mr. Handy]? Such a cute little explosive robot, yes he is!

* In the "Nazi Zombies storyline of ''[[Call of Duty]]: World At War'', the first ever hellhound is named Fluffy.

* The player character of ''[[Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies|Ace Combat 4]]'', Mobius One, is often times referred to as "the ribbon" or "the ribbon fighter", after the mobius strip design on his plane's tail. Mobius One is more or less singlehandedly responsible for turning the tide of the war, and in a extra mode in ''Ace Combat 5'', is said to be more effective in combat than a squadron of other pilots.

* In the Cold War simulator ''Theatre Europe'', you have the option to use a massive nuclear strike that will bring about [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. It's called "Fireplan Warm Puppy".

* Trolls in ''[[Runescape]]'' after named for the first thing they eat, or the sound it made when eating it. It was only a matter of time until a vicious troll warlord named "Pretty flower" came along.

* ''[[Fantasy Quest]]'': The angry murderous drawf's name is Mr. Snorri "Fruitloop" Throfssonsson.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'', while having its share of [[Killer Rabbit|killer rabbits]], has a borderline example of this in the form of the large centipede called Fluffy -- it's big compared to a human, but it's large for a bug and considered scary and unpleasant by the humans in the strip. (It's the alien Aylee who considers it cute and gives it the name.) Later, all its species get labelled "fluffies".

* ''[[Something Positive]]'' has the cutely named Choo-Choo Bear and Twitchy-Hug. The former, while terribly cute, is a shapeshifter, occasionally prone to fits of psychotic and homicidal violence. The latter was quite clearly homicidal. That's OK, though. Choo-Choo Bear had him shot. Then Davan made the remains into an ashtray.

* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', Dr. [[McNinja]]'s gorilla receptionist, who is known to take out [[It Makes Sense in Context|hunters of giant lumberjacks and go toe-to-toe with velociraptors]], is named Judy.

** The comic also includes a mob boss named Asa ''Sweet'' and little orange tabby over there who massacres a group of people while laughing maniacally? He's known as ''Freckle'' to his cousin.

* ''[[Goblins]]'' supplies the page quote, in the form of an Owlbear, [[Cold-Blooded Torture|tortured]] over months by the guard quoted [[Being Tortured Makes You Evil|in order to make it a killing machine.]] It works, {{spoiler|but [http://www.goblinscomic.com/01102008/ not quite in the way] [[Hoist by His Own Petard|the guard]] [[Karmic Death|might have hoped]]...}}

** After that, there's Biscuit the Orc. He was named after his favorite food as a child.

* ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'' has [[Show Within a Show|in-universe]] [[MMORPG]] "[[Fictional Counterpart|Realm of Lorcraft]]" where the fearsome beast named Pickles scared everyone. An incredibly frightening and powerful creature is a [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=261 little, bug-eyed chihuahua-looking] ''[[Killer Rabbit|puppy]]'' who can turn himself inside out. (See the start of that storyline [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=252 right here].)

* ''[[A Modest Destiny]]'' has the Vampire Lord Fluffy, [http://www.squidi.net/comic/amd/view.php?series=amd&ep=2&id=1 whose name was enough to strike fear into the heart of even the most brave]. He has [[Villain Decay]] as a backstory. {{spoiler|The decay is later subverted with a vengeance.}}

* Yuki from ''[[Megatokyo]]'' gets a pet [[Fun Size|FunSized]] [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|zombie]] [[Kaiju|'zilla]]. She names him Zom-Zom-chan and ties all the pieces that fall off him back on with ribbons.

* ''[[L's Empire|Ls Empire]]'' gives one of the main characters the Ultimate Chimera from [[Mother 3]] as a pet and names it Fluffy.

* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has the former Ob'enn Superfortress starship, the "Post-Dated Check Loan", capable of outgunning whole fleets at full capacity. Its controlling AI is named Petey. This is in deliberate contrast to the absurdly overdramatic names of most of its race's ships. Incidentally, the next ship the Toughs own is the "Serial Peacemaker", which is a glorified troopship entirely unworthy of its awesome name.

* [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Commissar_Dan Commissar Dan], [[Warhammer 40000]] character from [[Image Boards|/tg/]], has a pet Basilisk (a self-propelled gun, which he [[Too Dumb to Live|uses as a frontline tank]]) called "Fluffy".

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' v4 has Kenny the bear, whose one and only appearance on the island so far is attacking and killing an inactive student. It's heavily implied he used to have human owners who kept him in the cage.

 

 

'''Toxic Revenger''': Oh, be still my heart. I'm gonna be attacked by a little doggie named...Muffin? '''* CHOMP* '''<br />

''[[Hilarity Ensues|Maim-arity Ensues]]'' }}

* In ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'', Grodd had a giant gorilla he called "Tiny".

* In the ''[[Batman Beyond]]'' episode "Babel", the rampaging elephant is named Tiffany.

 

== Real Life ==

** The evil Viking king in ''[[The Sea Of Trolls]]'' was called 'the boneless' because he has no spine.

** Harald Bluetooth, who (retroactively) sounds like a computer nerd: his name was given to the device as he was the one who united the Norse factions in his area, just as the Bluetooth device apparently 'unites' electronics.

* In Rome, one of the emperors marched alongside the legions when he was a child. They made the child, a boy named Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, a set of armor that included little leather boots. Gaius received the nickname "Bootsy", or "Little Boots". [[The Caligula|Guess what the Latin word for "Little Boots"/"Bootsy" is]].

*** Also in the above image is Cyclone Tracy, the smallest and most compact cyclone on record that completely leveled Darwin, Australia in the 1970s.

** Both [[Lewis Black]] and [[Robin Williams]] talk about unthreatening-sounding hurricanes in their standup acts. Robin talks about hurricane Terrence, which sounds like a "slightly gay" hurricane, and Lew wonders why the fuck anyone would name a hurricane Lenny.

* Similarly, there's the [[wikipedia:Haboob|Haboob]] (which is actually Arabic for "strong wind"). Haboobs are monstrous desert duststorms usually caused by atmospheric disruptions. They're not so much destructive as they are disruptive, but they sure are threatening-looking. So the next time you're in Arizona and you see a six kilometer-tall wall of dust flying toward you at 100km/h, just remember: ''Haboob''.

* See the real life Fluffy the Terrible [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/12/buyfluff.ART_ART_01-12-08_A1_4191M6R.html?sid=101 here!] Admittedly, pythons don't move around that much....

* You'd think an animal called a "honey badger" would be pretty docile, right? '''[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/honeybadger.html WRONG.]'''

* And speaking of war machines, how about other ones being given cute nicknames by their drivers/pilots? There's the famous B-29 bomber ''Enola Gay'' (named after the pilot's mother) that dropped the big one on Hiroshima in [[World War II]]. The last remaining airworthy B-29 is named ''Fifi''.

* The name of the only individual known to have single-handedly exterminated an ''entire species''? [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A11484902 Tibbles].

* The dinosaur Saichania, which is a large ankylosauroid covered in spikes, horns, and thick, bony plates. Its name actually means "beautiful" in Mongolian.

* The U.S. made a habit of giving nuclear devices very innocent names.

** The atomic bombs dropped during World War II? Fat Man and Little Boy.

** The device responsible for the third most powerful nuclear test done by the U.S. was named Runt.

** The device responsible for the ''second'' most powerful nuclear test done by the U.S. was named Runt II.

* One of the most invasive plants in the eastern United States is the ''Ailanthus'' tree, commonly known as the Tree of Heaven. While it's pretty, it spreads so quickly that it rapidly chokes out all other plant life, and there is a very good reason that it's acquired the nickname "stink tree."

* The [[Israelis With Infrared Missiles|Israeli]] [[Mighty Glacier|armored version]] of the Caterpillar D9 [[Boring but Practical|bulldozer]], a [[Made of Iron|nigh-invincible machine]] which tears through buildings as if they're made of paper, is nicknamed "doobi", which means "teddy bear".

* The Pakistan Army has a long standing tradition of giving "feminine" sounding nicknames to its Artillery guns. Popular names include "Rani" (Queen), "Shazadi"(Princess) and "Soni"(cute girl).

* "[[wikipedia:Katyusha (song)|Katyusha]]" is a Russian diminutive of the name Yekaterina, and there's a popular song about it. It's also the name of [[wikipedia:Katyusha rocket launcher|rocket artillery]] that the Russians used in WWII.

* "Love waves" sound pretty romantic, hem? They are actually the most destructive of seismic waves. The kind that tears down building foundations, brings down bridges and makes railroads wavy. (In case your wondering, geologists aren't sadists, the waves are named after the man who discovered them, [[wikipedia:Augustus Edward Hough Love|Augustus Love]].)

* Russian soldiers have a habit of putting the endearment -ka at the end of their war machines. Which would be rather as if Americans called a tank "Abrams-sweetie".

* Admiral Andrew Baines Cunningham, one of Britains greatest admirals in [[World War II]]. His name means village of the milk pail.

* The meaning of the name Manfred is "Man of Peace". [[Red Baron|Yeah, right]].