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.
A subtrope of [[Insistent Terminology]], and may overlap with [[Third-Person Person]]. Compare [[The Magnificent]],
'''Note: This page is ''not'' "[[People Sit on Chairs|A list of names that start with 'The'
{{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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** 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|'''
'''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"}}
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{{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".
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** 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 [[Up to Eleven]] with [[The The]].
== The [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
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== 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 [[Web Animation]] ==▼
** Ditto with "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>▼
* Let's not forget The Mole from ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]''.{{context}}▼
== The [[Video Games]] ==
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* ''[[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 Animation]] ==
▲
{{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]] ==
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{{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.
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* ''[[Aaahh!!! Real Monsters]]'' features their [[Sadist Teacher]], ''The'' Gromble. Their school disciplinarian is normally referred to as ''The'' Snorch.
* 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 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]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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