Spell My Name with a "The": Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{cleanup|Several examples still require context, followed by a move to more appropriate tropes for those whose context doesn't fit here.}}
{{quote|''"Hmm, I'm not sure about 'Hulk' for a kid. Although I do like the sound of a name beginning with 'The'."''|'''Phoebe'''|''[[Friends]]''}}
A name for a place, person of thing is prefaced with the definite article (i.e. "the") has the word emphasized, often as a symbol of its importance.
This form of naming scheme is sure to cause [[The "The" Title Confusion|some grammatical confusion]], especially where plural forms and numeric adjectives are involved - [[Rule of Funny|sometimes on purpose]]. Dialogue for alien characters may end up using this trope in order to indicate their unfamiliarity with the language (be it English or otherwise) used by the other characters.
'''Note: This page is ''not'' "[[People Sit on Chairs|A list of names that start with 'The']]". Any "example" that does not have the word "The" emphasized should be removed.'''
{{examples|The examples of this trope include:}}
== The [[Advertising]] ==
* Inversion: A late-1990s ESPN commercial series stars Mike O'Malley as "Rick", bemoaning that "everyone calls me ''The'' Rick."
== The [[Anime]] and The [[Manga]] ==
* Chazz Princeton from the dub of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' sometimes insists on calling himself "The Chazz". This is roughly equivalent to the original anime's gag of Manjyome constantly correcting people with "Manjyome ''san da''!" (roughly translated to [[They Call Me Mister Tibbs|"That's ''Mr.'' Manjyome, to you!"]]). Unfortunately, too many of the "offenders" [[Insult Backfire|completely misinterpret this]] as him trying to say the Engrish "Thunder", thus twisting it into his nickname.
* The Ninja from ''[[Kinnikuman]].''{{context}}
* The girls' official designation in ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'' is "The Children."{{context}}
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* In ''[[D.Gray-man]]'', The Earl of Millennium is referred to in this way. It's even included in the character profiles from the Japanese official materials as part of his name.
* In ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'', Scirocco's final mecha is named "the The O". It appears to be something to do with 'theos', the Greek word for 'god'.
* The subtitles for ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' have [[Third-Person Person|Amae Koromo]] refer to herself as ''the'' Koromo, [[Woolseyism|possibly to point out that she isn't doing it to be cute
* Accelerator from ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'' is often referred to as 'The Accelerator'.{{verify}}
* After the main event of ''[[Blame]]'', the main character is referred as "[[Sobriquet|The]] [[Person of Mass Destruction|Calamity]]".
* In the [[Tournament Arc]] of ''[[Shaman King]]'', Tao Ren names his team "The Ren
== The [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Memetic Mutation|The Goddamn]] [[Batman]] and The Joker, The Riddler, and The Penguin, though
** It's even [[Lampshaded]] in one issue of ''Superman/Batman Generations'', when he is talking to Alfred's ghost.
{{quote|"The" Batman. You must be the only one who uses the definite article anymore.}}
** And in ''[[Batman Returns]]'' by [[Catwoman (comics)|Selina Kyle]].
{{quote|'''Selina:''' Well. ''The'' Batman...
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** What? He's not ''The'' Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?
* The Corinthian from ''[[The Sandman]]''.{{context}}
*
* The original alias of Oroku Saki in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' was actually "The Shredder". As time went by and subsequent [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|media]] [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|adaptations]] left their mark on the franchise, he is now more commonly referred as simply "Shredder".
* [[The Flash]] counts too.{{context}}
* J'onn J'onzz is almost always referred to as
* The Mandarin from [[Iron Man]].{{context}}
** Also The [[Iron Man]], but only he calls himself that.
* THE Punisher has fought THE Russian, THE Mongolian, and THE Mennonite.
* Nobody can stop [[The Juggernaut]] from being mentioned here!
* Of
== The [[Fan Works]] ==
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* Comedic example: ''[[Alternative Gods]]'' has "The [[Plain Name|Matt]]."
* When the chaos spell from that Halloween turns Buffy Summers into a Time Lady in ''[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-21501/Doctorsgirl+Tick+Tock+One+little+clock.htm Tick, Tock, One Little Clock...]'' by "Doctorsgirl", a ''[[Doctor Who]]''/''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' [[Crossover Fic]], she chooses to simply go by the name "The Slayer".
*
** Inconsistently applied to the Varga. He is officially "The Varga" and not just "Varga" (there are hints that it may actually be the name of his species, of which [[Last of His Kind|he is the last]]), but the better someone gets to know him, the more likely they'll start using "Varga" as a name and not like a title.
** Done semi-jokingly with Amy "Panacea" Dallon -- when discussing the possibility of her shifting from [[The Medic]] to a more active crime-fighter (not to mention the identity who will later be called "Ianthe"), Taylor suggests that she rebrand herself as "The Amy" so as to strike fear into criminals. It becomes something of a short-lived [[Running Gag]] among their friends at Arcadia, and Taylor and Lisa trot it out every so often for quite while after; Amy herself eventually embraces the joke.
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in the first chapter of ''[[Drunkard's Walk]] VIII: [[Harry Potter]] and the Man From Otherearth'' to show that the story's protagonist is not aware of information that people around him take for granted:
{{quote|'''Charlie Weasley''': "And this is the famous Harry."
'''Doug Sangnoir''': "Not ''the'' Harry?"
''[Doug winks at Harry]''
'''Harry Potter''': "No, just ''a'' Harry"
'''Doug Sangnoir''': "Oh, well, then, that's better. I'm glad we got that straightened out"}}
== The [[Film]] ==
* The Chad in the ''[[Charlie's Angels]]'' movies -- a skinny weed of a guy who insists he's not just "Chad".
* The Greg Wilson. Who did ''[[The Hottie and The Nottie]]'', which should tell you something, and from the same film, "The Jesus."
* ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'': "The Dude," though he's actually addressed as just "Dude." Jesus also refers to himself once as "The Jesus."
* The titular character of the ''[[El Mariachi]]'' trilogy has [[No Name Given]], so other characters [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|call him "El Mariachi"]], or by the third movie, just "El".
* ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' has [[Miles Gloriosus]], who does not technically insist on a The, but other characters are compelled to give him one (or two).
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'''Daphne:''' Don't call him "the Shit!"
'''Shitty:''' At least I'm "the Shit". You're just ''a'' shit. }}
* [[Cleanup Crew|The Wolf]] ([[Alliterative Name|Winston Wolf]]) in ''[[Pulp Fiction]]''.
* The villain in ''[[Hackers]]'' insists on going by his hacker handle, "The Plague." When he corrects a security guard played by [[Penn & Teller|Penn Jillette]], the guard responds, "Sorry, Mr. The Plague!"
* The Chief in ''[[Fanboys]]'':
{{quote|'''The Chief''': The Chief likes to [[Third-Person Person|refer to himself in the third person]]. It causes confusion, especially with the bitches.}}
== The [[Literature]] ==
* The Mule from Isaac Asimov's ''[[Foundation]]'' series.{{context}}
* The Cadpig from "The Hundred and One Dalmations", who is a [[Little Miss Snarker]]. She's mostly reffered to as just "Cadpig" in the sequel, "The Starlight Barking".
* [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''Talents'' series has The Rowan, so named because she was found in the ruins of The Rowan Mining Company with no known name - she was referred to as "the Rowan child", and eventually she came to think it was her name.
* In [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s "Tamsin" there is The Billy Blind. Not ''a'' Billy Blind, but ''The'' Billy Blind.
* Richard Adams's ''[[The Plague Dogs]]'' has The Tod.
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'': While plotting to betray Frodo and get his hand on the Ring, Gollum briefly fantasises about being known as ''The'' Gollum. Sauron is also called [[The Lord of the Rings]].
*
* The Macquern in ''[[Zuleika Dobson]]'' is always referred to as, well, The Macquern—except by Zuleika, who insists on calling him Mr. Macquern instead.
** If he was the head of a Scottish clan, then "The Macquern" would be his official title, so it's possible that Zuleika was deliberately yanking his chain by calling him plain "Mr." - any man in his clan would be "Mr. Macquern", but only one could claim to be ''The'' Macquern.
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* All of the [[Squishy Wizard|Insequent]] from ''[[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant|The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' have titles like this: the Harrow, the Ardent, the Mahdoubt, etc. These are not their [[I Know Your True Name|true names]], however.
== The [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* Dr. Todd "The Todd" Quinlan from ''[[Scrubs]]'',
* In the ''[[Monk]]'' episode "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine", [[Jerkass]] [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome|medicated]] Monk demands to be called "The Monk".
* ''[[Dead Ringers (TV series)|Dead Ringers]]''' version of [[Doctor Who|the Fourth Doctor]] gave his first name as "The".
* The Stig, a mysterious racing driver in ''[[Top Gear]]'' whose face is never shown, although they sometimes just refer to him as "Stig" and he doesn't seem to mind.
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* In the ''[[Corner Gas]]'' episode "Tax Man," '''''a''''' tax man repeatedly demands to be not referred to with a "the".
{{quote|"I'm '''''a''''' tax man, not '''''the''''' tax man. Saying ''''''the''''' tax man is just a ''little'' dehumanizing!"}}
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Rani, the Meddling Monk, the Valeyard... all renegade Time Lords give themselves names in this fashion. It's just what they do.
** Don't forget ''the Doctor''.
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** So... a [[Deal with the Devil]] made with [[Donald Trump]]??
* [[Seinfeld|"Love The Drake!"]]{{context}}
* From ''[[Charmed]]'', The Source, The Triad, The Elders, The Seer.{{context}}
* Mike "The Situation" in ''[[Jersey Shore]]''.{{context}}
* Comedy news correspondent ([[Saturday Night Live]], [[The Daily Show]]) A. Whitney Brown would say he hopes to one day be "THE Whitney Brown."
* The Prophets on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' exclusively refer to Sisko as "The Sisko". Which becomes kind of hilarious when you start thinking about his several no-nonsense kick-asserythroughout the series.
** Also, in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|TNG]]'' episode "Who Watches the Watchers?", Picard is referred to as "The Picard".
{{quote|"I believe I have seen the Overseer. He is called 'The Picard.'"}}
* High-ranking Fae figures in ''[[Lost Girl]]'' have titles - not names - like this, such as The Ash and The Morrigan.
* ''[[Happy Days]]'': Arthur Fonzerelli is called "[[Insistent Terminology|The Fonz]]" by everyone except Mrs. Cunningham.
* Played with on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': A demon mistakenly referred to as "The Gnarl" is actually just named Gnarl.
== The [[Music]] ==
* [[U2]]'s The Edge - but everyone calls him ''The'' Edge anyway.
* [[Eels]] has a band member nicknamed [[wikipedia:Jeff Lyster|"The Chet"]], who has been with the band since 2005.
* Before [[Pink Floyd]] switched from blues to prog rock, they were The Pink Floyd.
** In interviews, members of the band sometimes refer to it just as "The Floyd". So do some fans.
* According to Liam Howlett, it has always been [[The Prodigy]], and the word the was only removed to fit within the displayed logo.
* Ardent fans of [[The Tragically Hip]] ''will'' correct you, if you either drop "The" from the band's name or don't capitalize it. If you're in a hurry, you can drop the word "Tragically", but keep the "The".
* [http://www.insaneian.com Insane Ian’s] wife and sometimes-collaborator is known as "The Stacey".
* Turned [[
== The [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
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* Bret Hart had an interesting [[Verbal Tic]] - he'd put "The" in front of names that didn't require one. "The Summerslam", "The [[Wrestlemania]]"...
== The [[Radio]]
* Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? [[The Shadow]] knows.
== The [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Exalted]]'': Abyssal Exalts, traditionally 'sacrificing' their names and replacing them with titles, sometimes begin their new titles with The. Being Exalts embodying death, destruction and decay, they also tend to be [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|names you run away from]]. Given that titles have a tendency to be flowery, poetic, and overwrought, they make you wonder if they might be names someone ran away with... or at least got carried away with. None the less, 'the' seems used as a division between Name and Title in most of the game's parlance.
== The [[Video Games]] ==
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* The members of the Cobra unit in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'': The Pain, The Fear, The Fury, The End, and The Sorrow. In the case of The Boss, however, other characters tend to just call her "Boss" (forgoing the "The") when speaking to her; probably as a sign of respect. However, her original codename was "The Joy".
* In-keeping with [[The Hulk]] and characters of that ilk, ''any'' [[Player Character]] in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' can have the game plunk a "The" before the character's name whenever it appears onscreen. Any such optional "The" is omitted for occurrences of [[Hello, Insert Name Here]], however.
** ''City of Heroes'' also has the giant monster/supervillain "The Hamidon", formerly the [[Mad Scientist]]/eco-terrorist Hamidon Pasilima before he went (permanently) [[One-Winged Angel]].
* ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]]'' gave us The Edel, who actually ''needed'' the "the" to distinguish himself from the other Edel.
* The [[Blind Idiot Translation]] for the Navi Mode dialogue in ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] Anniversary Collection'' sometimes puts a "the" in front of character names, resulting in things like "the Beat" or "the Plant Man".
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* ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' has "The Murray".
* The ''[[Postal]]'' Dude. It's apparently his actual name.
* ''[[Saints Row]]'' has Los Carnales, "los" being masculine plural for "the". A running gag in the game is characters being reminded (and not caring) that "los means the" and thus "The Carnales" and "Los Carnales" are both correct while "The Los Carnales" is ''not''.
* In ''[[Total Annihilation]]'', one unit is named "The Can". Should a player decide to build fifty of them, he or she could reasonably be described as having an army of The Cans.
* But in ''[[Might and Magic]] VII'', the android encountered in the final cutscene is at pains to point out that:
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* ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' has the Bionis and the Mechonis, the two gods on whose corpses the game takes place.
* One ending of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' has {{spoiler|the protagonist having become known as "The Shepard", thousands of years into the future.}}
* ''[[NetHack]]'' uses this for some of its artifacts (e.g. The Eye of the Aethiopica, The Heart of Ahriman and The Magic Mirror of [[Merlin]]) and quest nemesis monsters (e.g. The Cyclops, The Dark One). It comes up often when spelling the artifacts' names for wishes.
* [[Barbarian Hero|'''The''' Iron Bull]] in ''[[Dragon Age: Inquisition]]''. He is ''not'' an Iron Bull, he is [[Insistent Terminology|'''''The''''' Iron Bull]], and he will ''not'' let you forget it.
== The [[Web
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' does this with several characters, [[Rule of Funny|''especially'' when it makes no grammatical sense]]. There's The Cheat, "The Paper" and Homestar's 1936 counterpart, "The Homestar Runner". And The King of Town, and The Poopsmith, and The Ugly One, and The Sneak, and The Stick [http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/Integral_Article and...] <ref>Yes, the [[Wiki Rule|HR Wiki]] made a page for it too.</ref>
{{quote|"Out popped a lifetime supply of fish sticks, and a The Cheat!"}}
* Let's not forget The Mole from ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]''.{{context}}
== The [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Mezzacotta]]'': The Comics Irregular's The Hyperstig.
* ''[[Magellan]]'' has The Man Who Can, who constantly has to remind people to remember the 'The' in front, along with other parts of his nomme de guerre.
* ''[[Scary Go Round]]'' gives us The Boy, along with his parents, The Mother and The Father.
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* The Hulking Shyster and The Leering Gobbler from ''[[A Moment of Peace]]'' have 'The' names because they each represent their species of monster.
* The Las Vegas Tsunami from [https://web.archive.org/web/20170516173252/http://thedugs.com/ The Dugs] features a protagonist known only as "The G.M." meaning General Manager. There have been several moments hinting at that the man's initials are also G.M.
* ''[[Impure Blood]]'': [[The Abomination]]—though [https://web.archive.org/web/20131027140535/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter001/ib007.html one of the first things asked on his rescue is his true name.]
== The [[Web Original]] ==
* Larry Damone's codename at [[Super-Hero School|Whateley Academy]] in the [[Whateley Universe]] is 'The Man Called Vengeance'. You have to say the whole thing. Really.
*
* As the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' is a superhero setting, there were a ton of these: The Wonder, The Sculptor, The Warlock, The Bishop, and most especially the Blood Red King. El Buho (The Owl) is a Mexican example.
* [[Facebook]] started out as [http://www.thefacebook.com/ The Facebook], before dropping the "The".
== The [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' has The Great and Powerful Trrrrrrrrixie, who demands that you call her as such!
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has "The Duke" ([[Ironic Nickname|a little kid]]) who gets mad if you call him just "Duke".
** '''[[Third-Person Person|The Boulder]]''' is angered by your failure to mention him!
** "Load the Toph!"
* "The Tommy" Gilligan from ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' insisted on going by this after he left the K.N.D.
* The animated version of ''[[The Tick (animation)|The Tick]]'' contains an [[Expy]] of [[Batman]] called Die Fledermaus, whose name (it sounds like "Deflator Mouse" when spoken) is always said with its article intact.
* The Brain of ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]''
* ''[[As Told by Ginger]]
* A minor character on ''[[Invader Zim]]'' is apparently named The Letter M. [[Villain Protagonist|Zim]] himself [[Inverted Trope|inverts this]], sometimes referring to other this way, particularly "[[Hero Antagonist|the Dib]]".
* (The) Hacker from ''[[Cyberchase]]''. It's even in his [[Catch Phrase]].
{{quote|'''Hacker:''' That's ''The'' Hacker to you!}}
* Played with in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''. The Monarch tells Hank that he is listed in the Guild of Calamitous Intent's books under M, for Monarch. Or possibly T, for The Monarch. This also applies to his wife, nee Dr. Girlfriend, later known as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.
* ''[[Cars]]'' has a character named The King, who Lightning McQueen refers to directly as 'Mister The King' - which leads to Mater addressing his wife as "Mrs. The King".
* In ''[[Kim Possible]]'', when Ron is [[Status Quo Is God|temporarily]] rich for an episode, he insists on being referred to as "''The'' Ron".
* ''[[Undergrads]]'' had 'The Douggler'.{{context}}
* Every episode in the second half of the second season of ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' begins with the word "The", and this is lampshaded with an episode titled "The The".
* The Tramp, from ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'', though he frequently gets called Tramp, mostly by the people closest to him (like Lady).
* On ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama World Tour]],'' [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Ezekiel]] starts to call himself "The Zeke" as part of his [[The Determinator|Determinator]] / [[Jive Turkey]] routine. He doesn't seem to care whether or not other people use it, though.
* In ''[[Futurama]]'', when Dr. Zoidberg got his mind swapped with Fry and is confronted with the Robo-Hungarian emperor in a wash bucket's body claiming to be Bender, he exclaims, "Bender, old pal! It's me, the Fry!"
*
* Starfire from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' inverts this, as she tends to address villains as "The (Villain Name)", even if their names don't have 'the' to start with.
* ''[[Regular Show]]'' has The Urge, a fame-hungry rocker that inspires Rigby to change his own name - but the name he picks [[Fail O'Suckyname|ends up being so bad]] that {{spoiler|it motivates a future version of The Urge to travel back in time and kill Rigby for eclipsing his fame [[Bile Fascination|through the name's sheer magnitude of suck]]}}.
==
* The Arabic names for God (in Islam and the Baha'i Faith) all begin with Al- which means "the".
** "The Lord", a common Christian name for [[God]].
** The Hebrew version is haShem, which means "The Name".
* In [[Celtic Mythology]], The Morrigan and The Dagda.
* What about His Holiness, The Dalai Lama?
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** Of course, then there's '''The''' U (the University of Miami (FL)).
** '''The''' Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
* [[Donald Trump]], a.k.a. "The Donald", a.k.a. "The former president"
* [[David Hasselhoff|David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff]].
* Some American Indian names are given in this way, such as the early 19th century Cherokee war leader The Ridge.
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* One of the five boroughs of New York City, the Bronx.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Language Tropes]]
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]
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