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Named for the [[Ace Pilot]], [[wikipedia:Manfred von Richthofen|Manfred von Richthofen]], who was known as "The Red Baron" during World War I. He was best known for having the highest kill count of any flyer and for his bright red plane.
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 and [[They Call Him "Sword"]] when he's called after some kind of weapon. This may also be a sign that you're dealing with [[The Dreaded]]. While some fall into [[Only Known by Their Nickname]], most of these characters regularly use their real names. Subtrope to [[Nom De Guerre]], where they ''have'' the nickname, but they might not be particularly known or feared for it.
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* In ''[[Claymore]]'', several of the main characters have nicknames that belie their badassedness, including "Teresa of the Faint Smile" who can kill Yoma without ever having to use her extra powers.
* In the second season of ''[[Code Geass]]'', Suzaku has earned the nickname "White [[Shinigami|Reaper]]"; his Knights of the Round teammate Luciano Bradley is "[[Blood Knight|the Vampire of Britannia.]]" Before the name of the pilot of the Lancelot was know, the Black Knights referred to Suzaku as the White Helmet (or something similar, depending on translation). Lelouch's mother was known as Marianne the Flash.
** Played for laughs with Lloyd, whose known as 'Earl of Pudding' because he likes pudding.
** One random pilot refers to Kallen as "The Ace of the Elevens", but it's unclear if this is an actual nickname or merely a statement of fact. Her codename in Lelouch's cell phone is [[Chess Motifs|Q1]]. [[Fan Nickname|Fans tend to call her]] "Crimson Lotus", which is the translation of her [[Super Prototype]]'s name, Guren.
** And Lelouch, or more accurately, Zero, is "the Man Of Miracles".
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* All of the [[Ace Pilot|Ace Pilots]] in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' have this, the most famous being the legendary Char "The Red Comet" Aznable, who was clearly based off of Richtofen.
** What's interesting to note is that despite the chromatic similarities, Char's canonical fighting style, at least in the original series, is actually the polar opposite of Richthofen's. While The Red Baron was an average pilot at best whose real talent was his superior marksmanship and knack for picking targets who wouldn't see him coming, The Red Comet used a combination of high-speed, in-your-face assaults and enough acrobatic skill to avoid taking hits in what would otherwise be suicidal maneuvers. In truth, his style is probably closer to Manfred's brother Lothar, who, while not as famous, garnered a reputation as one of the most aggressive, reckless pilots of WWI.
*** A somewhat more historically accurate homage would be Char's ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam
** Spoofed by Johnny Ridden being known as the "Crimson Lightning", which causes him grief since he's constantly being mistaken for Char. It's so bad that his [[Catch Phrase]] is practically "I'm the Crimson Lightning, dammit!", said immediately after someone mistakes him for Char.
** Also from Zeon, Ramba Ral is known as "Blue Giant". And team of Gaia, Mash and Ortega known as "Black Tri-Stars".
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* The ''[[Little Busters!|Little Busters]]!'' [[Yonkoma]] side-stories spoof this, with the titular characters thinking up such nicknames for themselves so they can become more familiar. No one is happy with theirs, all ending up with things like "The Man with the Golden Sphincter".
* ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' earns the title "Ace of Aces" to her military peers mid-way through the series. And let's not forget her [[Fan Nickname]] "White Devil"...
** Subaru eventually gains her own nickname in the post-StrikerS [[Time Skip]]: Silver Ace.
** Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate's [[Evil Twin|Evil Twins]] from the ''Battle of Aces'' game are called, respectively, the Starlight Destroyer, the Thunderblade Assailant, and the Ruler of Darkness.
* Evangeline A.K. Mcdowell of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has many of these including ''Maga Nosferatu'', ''Feared Queen of the Night'', and ''Apostle of Destruction''. Her least favorite is "Kitty".
** Jack Rakan has his own collection of nicknames: "The Thousand Blades", "The Man Who Cannot Die", "The Immortal Fool", [[Overly Long Name|"That Damn Guy Who You Can Stab With Swords All You Like And It Won't Do A Thing, Dammit!"]]
** ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' is full of these; there's "Death Glasses" [[Stoic Spectacles|Takamichi]], Nagi the "Thousand Master", etc.
*** Recently Negi himself gained title of "Lightning God", quite appropriate for someone who is not only able to use lightning magic to great effect but also turn his whole body into it.
* The highest-ranked Otome in ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' have nicknames that match that of their GEMs. For instance, Shizuru is known as the "Bewitching Smile Amethyst", and her [[The Rival|rival]] Haruka holds the secondary title of "Continental Orb Topaz". Some of these tend toward the "odd" end of the [[Word Salad Title]] scale.
* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': the machine itself is more than once called "The Invincible Tower of Black Iron". Mazinkaiser carries on the tradition of being called the "Demon God of Justice".
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** Also worth a mention is "Dark King" [[Badass Grandpa|Silvers Rayleigh]], former first mate to {{spoiler|the Pirate King himself}}.
* ''[[Overman King Gainer]]'' has Gain, who is known as the Black Southern Cross.
* Parodied with Kuno in ''[[Ranma ½|[[Ranma
* 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.
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* The Flame Haze of ''[[Shakugan no Shana]]'' have... interesting [[Word Salad Title|titles]], to which they are always referred to by, except by close friends. These include: The Arbiter of Reverse Reasoning, The Master Throne, The Specialist of Everything, and The Interpreter of Condolences.
** And going even further, Shana doesn't actually have a name besides her title, The Red-Hot Eyed Flame Haired Hunter, until Yuji gives her one.
* ''[[Slayers]]'': Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, the Doramata (Dragon Spooker), the Enemy of All Who Live. She's not too fond of the last two but will cheerfully use the first.
** And how could we forget the Heartless Sorcerer Swordsman, and his friend Mummy Man.
* ''[[The Sky Crawlers]]'' has a feared ace known simply as [[The Dreaded|'The Teacher']].
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*** Some of Batman's foes also have nicknames; [[The Joker]] is occasionally referred to as "the Clown Prince of Crime" and Bane, as the man who delivered the most brutal beating Batman ever experienced, is known as "The Man Who Broke the Bat."
*** "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."
* [[Wolverine]] of [[X-Men (Comic Book)|the X-Men]] used to be just "Wolverine". Then we learned his name was Logan. And ''then'' we learned his ''real'' name was James Howlett.
* Arguably, all superhero codenames count as this. Only if the owner of the name is respected, though.
* [[Spider-Man]] is referred to as either the Web-slinger or Wall-Crawler, based on his two main methods of transportation. A less common name is "The Arach-Knight", as a pun on Batman's "The Dark Knight".
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* [[Wonder Woman]] is sometimes called "the Amazing Amazon".
* [[The Flash]] is The Scarlet Speedster, or sometimes just The Speedster.
** also The Fastest Man Alive.
* [[Green Arrow]] is the Emerald Archer.
* [[Black Canary]] is the Sonic Siren.
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* Hans von Hammer, an [[Expy]] of the original Red Baron, is ''[[Enemy Ace]]'' to comics readers, but was known [[In-Universe]] as "The Hammer of Hell."
* 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'.
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* [[Blade (film)|Blade]] is known and feared as The Daywalker.
* In ''[[Smokin Aces]]'', everyone assumes that The Swede must be an incredibly badass [[Career Killer]], because he goes only by "The Swede." {{spoiler|Subverted, in that it turns out he's a heart surgeon, not an assassin.}}
* [[Antonio Banderas]]' character in the ''[[El Mariachi]]'' franchise is simply known as 'EL' which means 'the.'
** Also 'him," which sounds more meaningful and intimidating.
*** Amusingly enough though, it's clarified within the films that it's ''El. As in "The"''. Might have been meant as a bit of a [[Bilingual Bonus|bilingual pun]] by the [[Robert Rodriguez|director]].
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== 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.
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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."}}
* In the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' novel "Dragons of Spring Dawning" as the elven princess Laurana leads the Whitestone Armies to a series of incredible victories over the [[The Empire|Dragonarmies]], her long blonde hair and radiant nature earn her the nickname 'the Golden General'.
* [[Gentleman Bastard|The Lies of Locke Lamora and its sequel Red Seas Under Red Skies]] have [[Magnificent Bastard|Locke]], whose nickname is "The Thorn of Camorr," though the only people who call him that don't know who he is. Rather apropos, considering the fact that he frequently robs them blind.
* 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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* Many of the major Wild West characters in the novels by Karl May have nicknames: Old Shatterhand, Old Surehand, Old Firehand, Old Death, Old Wabble (notice a pattern there?), Sans-ear, Aunt Droll... The author [[Hand Wave|handwaves]] the frequent use of the "Old" prefix as a supposed Western way of adding extra ''emphasis'' to the quality referred to in the nickname rather than to indicate actual age (such as Old Shatterhand's uncommon strength and habit of knocking out even the strongest foe with [[Signature Move|a single judiciously placed blow to the head]]), though Old Wabble, also known as "the King of the Cowboys", actually ''is'' an old man even when first encountered.
* In ''[[A Swiftly Tilting Planet]],'' the dictator threatening nuclear war is nicknamed "El Rabioso" and "Mad Dog Branzillo." The peaceful leader who replaces him after the time-travel events is nicknamed "El Zarco."
* In ''[[The Blue Sword]]'', frequent references are made to "Lady Aerin, Dragon-killer," a legendary heroine of the Damarian natives.
* 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.
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* 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 ==
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* [[Doctor Who|"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legend of the Dalek homeworld? The Oncoming Storm."]] - and considering what the Doctor's capable of, that might be a ''mild'' name.
** The Face of Boe calls him ''The Lonely'' '''''GOD''''', so there is that.
** 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.
** The [[Monster of the Week|Monsters Of The Week]] in the 2007 episode ''Blink'' have no known name, but in some places they're known as the "Lonely Assassins" or "Weeping Angels".
** The Last/Lone Centurion.
** The Classic Series provides "Ka Faraq Gatri" Dalek for "The Destroyer of the Worlds" or "Bringer of Darkness", and "The Evil One". And from the [[Expanded Universe]] we have some like "the Champion of Life and Time" and "The Sandman"
** 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.
** Bad Wolf.
** Technically Captain Jack Harkness counts, as literally no one knows his real name.
** Captain John Hart (a.k.a. Spike from the 51st century).
* [[Top Gear|All we know is, He's called The Stig.]]
* [[Heroes (TV series)|René]] was a lot more threatening back when he was only known as "The Haitian."
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* ''[[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|Spike]] has several: Spike (for murder by railway spike), the Scourge of Europe, William the Bloody (which was originally about his bad poetry, then became about the swathe of destruction he left behind him everywhere he went).
** Buffy is 'The Slayer'.
** The Master.
** Angelus/Angel.
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** [[AJ Styles]]: The Phenomenal One; Mr TNA
** [[Christopher Daniels]]: The Fallen Angel
** Sid Vicious: The Millenium Man; The Master of the Powerbomb; The Man Who Rules The World
** [[Jeff Jarrett]]: Double J; [[The Chosen One]]; The King of the Mountain, The Founder of TNA
** [[Sting (wrestling)|Sting]]: The Man Called Sting; The Icon
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** Chris Hero: That Young Knockout Kid
** Claudia Castagnoli: The Most Money-Making Man
** [[Bryan Danielson]]: The American Dragon; The Best in the World
** [[CM Punk]]: The [[Straight Edge]] Superstar/Savior; The Second City Saint/Savior; The Best in the World; The Voice Of The Voiceless
** Homicide: The Notorious 187
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** Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski.
** Kazuchi Sakuraba: The Gracie Killer (Ouch!)
** Randy Couture: The Natural, [[Captain America (comics)]].
** Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: Minotauro (Minotaur)
** Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: Minitoro (Little Bull)
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== Video Games ==
* Tommy Vercetti from ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' earned the nickname "The Harwood Butcher" after a particularly nasty incident in Liberty City in 1971. Tommy was quickly gaining power in the city so his boss, Sonny Forelli, sent him to "kill a man" in the Harwood district of Liberty. Turns out, that man was actually 11 hitmen who were sent to kill Tommy. Long story short, Tommy kills each and every one of those hitmen, earning him the nickname "The Harwood Butcher" and 15 years in jail.
* Subverted in ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]] 2'' where Ibis Douglas has the [[Badass]] nickname "Shooting Star"; this is actually an insult as she is a terrible pilot, and the nickname is a reference to the fact that she is constantly crashing her giant robot (in other words, like a shooting star, she's always plummeting to the Earth!). In a parody, her Rival, Sleigh Prestly gains the nickname "The Scarlet Comet" as a joke on Char(partialy because Shooting Star is one of Amuro's Nickname).
** But Ibis [[Took a Level In Badass|proves herself worthy]] of such a cool name as the game goes on.
** Alternate universe Kyouske is known as the "Steel Beowulf", partially cause he leads the Beowulfs and is so damn strong.
*** 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]].
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** ''Ace Combat 04'': The (Blue) Ribbon (Fighter) (Referring to the Mobius Squadron logo, a mobius strip), ''Ace Combat 5'': The Four Wings of Sand Island (4-pilot squadron), Demons/Ghosts of Razgriz (Referring to your pilot's status regarding a myth), '''Ace Combat Zero''': The Demon Lord of the Round Table, ''Ace Combat X'': Nemesis or the Southern Cross, ''Ace Combat'' 6: Angels (A blanket term for all allied aircraft).
** Then comes all the enemy squadron names, which are all badass in just the way they sound, even if it just means yellow/green/red in German (although their are many other languages and themes used), although just being named "Yellow Squadron" seems to make every solider on the opposing army call an all-out retreat with verified results in the amount of kills they take, not to mention being the most famous in the series.
* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'', you get a title that changes depending on your level and alignment - a low-level Good character might be called The Vault Martyr, while a high level Evil character might be called The Ravager. To contrast, a high level Good character may be called The Wasteland Savior, and will be depicted in your Pip-Boy as a kind of Messianic figure. Typically, this only comes up when Three Dog is reporting your exploits.
* 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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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Last Res0rt|Last Res 0 rt]]'' 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.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'':
** Aang--The Avatar, The Last Airbender
** {{spoiler|Zuko}}--The Blue Spirit
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** 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)--Jet and Smellerbee are the two exceptions.
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* 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.
* A Finnish example: Simo Häyhä, the sniper or [[One-Man Army|the single greatest killing machine in human history]]. He achieved over 700 kills in less than 100 days during the Winter War, also known as the "White Death". The cutest thing about the name is that "the white death" also means sugar.
* Harry Järv, a Finno-Swedish officer during the Winter War, who due to his many successful behind-the-lines missions was given the nickname "Järven" (The Wolverine). Remind you of [[X-Men (Comic Book)|someone?]] His name is nearly a pun in itself since "Djärv" (pronounced identically) means "Bold"...
* 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.
* Henri I, duc de Guise, was called ''le balafré'', meaning Scarface.
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* Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was known as ''the Iron Duke'', One of many 'Iron' titles popular at the time
** Which, while badass, may be a subversion in context. To quote [[Wikipedia|The Other Wiki]]: "An opponent of parliamentary reform, he was given the epithet the "Iron Duke" because of the iron shutters he had fixed to his windows to stop the pro-reform mob from breaking them."
** [[Otto Von Bismarck]] was known as the "Iron Chancellor". True, he wasn't a soldier, but he was such a supreme political genius that the moniker was well earned. Bismark also gave a very important speech which convinced the Prussian <s> Reichstag</s> ''Abgeordnetenhaus'' (House of Deputies) to make their military stronger, eventually leading to the unification of the German states. It was called the 'Blood and Iron' speech. On 30 September 1862, when he said "The great issues of the day are not decided by speeches and majority decisions - that was the error of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood." However, the massive expansion of the Prussian Army was at that point already going on for two years.
** [[Margaret Thatcher]] gained the title "The Iron Lady" after a strong anti-Communist speech. ''Red Star'' (the newspaper of the [[Reds With Rockets]]) gave her that name, and it wasn't intended as a compliment. She was not yet PM at this point.
** Golda Meir, first female Prime Minister of Israel, also got the "Iron Lady" title.
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* Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, literally meaning Red Beard. Not a terribly badass nickname, but he's still considered one of Germany's great heroes.
* King Henry V of England (the one Shakespeare wrote [[Henry V|a play about]]) was called 'The Butcher of Agincourt'... though not by the English.
* 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:
** [[wikipedia:Edward, the Black Prince|Edward, Prince of Wales]], "the Black Prince".
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** "There stands Jackson like a stone wall" is generally accepted as the quote that caused the name.
*** 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.
* Imperial General Matthias Gallas was known as "The army destroyer". Unfortunately, they weren't talking about the armies of his ''enemies''...
* Many of the bynames that monarchs tends to acquire fit into this. Everything from the standard "the Great" to ones like "plowpenny".
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** 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".
* [[wikipedia:Alfredo Astiz|Alfredo Astiz]], El Angel Rubio de la Muerte (The Blond Angel of Death). This moniker may or may not have stood as inspiration for [[Tekken|Dragunov's]] (The White Angel of Death).
* Another English example: [[Braveheart|King Edward 'Hammer of the Scots' the I]]. Needless to say, the Scots weren't very fond of him. At 6'2", Edward was extremely tall for his era, earning him another [[Badass]] nickname, Longshanks.
** "You, Scot! [[Memetic Mutation|Hammertime!]]"
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* 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.)
*** Michael Schumacher, during his Ferrari career, was widely knows as the Red Baron, in fact.
*** Though in Germany "Kaiser" is reserved to Beckenbauer. He got his nickname from a radio reporter in a game in which his club Bayern Munich defeated Schalke 04 and his own performance totally outshone that of Schalke's star player Reinhard Libuda, then known to his fans as "the King" (der König). Libuda, a very good player in his own right, is remembered to this day as "Stan" Libuda (after Sir Stanley Matthews).
* Ask any Nascar fan about "The Intimidator" (Dale Earnhardt), "Little E" (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), "Million Dollar Bill" Elliot, "Sliced Bread" (Joey Logano), "Fireball" (Glenn Roberts), "Smoke" (Tony Stewart), or "The King" (Richard Petty).
* 'The King' is a common moniker for the widely-accepted greatest player of all time in an English football team's history. Two of the most famous include King Kenny Dalglish of Liverpool and Denis Law of Manchester United.
* Liverpool Football Club has a habit of giving awesome nicknames to their players. Robbie Fowler is known as 'God', Steven Gerrard has 'Captain Marvel', and Fernando Torres is 'The Kid'.
* In [[Cricket]]:
** Viv Richards was "The Master Blaster".
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