Sudden Name Change: Difference between revisions

* The first appearance of Celtic Guardian in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' had him be referred as "Elf Swordsman." Curiously enough, Elf Swordsman was Celtic Guardian's Japanese name.

 

* When [[Stan Lee]] forgot [[The Incredible Hulk]]'s alter-ego is named Bruce Banner and started calling him Bob Banner, it led to a retcon where his full name is "Robert Bruce Banner". He also called [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker]] Peter ''Palmer'', but at least that was forgotten.

* In ''[[The Incredible Hulk]]'' #294 Banner is up against a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] named Max Stryker. Then Hulk is conscripted into the [[Secret Wars]]; when he comes back in issue #295 Stryker is now called Max Hammer.

* Also in the [[Marvel Universe]], Dr. Druid (who predates [[The Fantastic Four]]) was originally called Dr. Droom. When he was reintroduced, his name was changed to avoid confusion with Doctor Doom but no 'in-universe' reason is given for the change.

* In the ''[[Green Lantern]]'' comic book series, Carol Ferris's father was originally named Willard, but from his second appearance onward, he was renamed Carl.

 

== Film ==

* Brawl from ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' is for some reason actually referred by the name "Devastator" in the actual movie, but by his real name in the merchandise. The ''real'' [[Combining Mecha|Devastator]] actually won't appear until the climax of [[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen|''Revenge of the Fallen'']].

** Similarly, Wheeljack and Mirage from [[Transformers: Dark of the Moon|''Dark of the Moon'']] are actually both referred in-film as "Que" and "Dino", respectively.

 

== Literature ==

** Elwe's example makes sense, because while he was left behind building a kindgdom in Doriath the Elvish language mutated. The Elves in Valinor preserved Quenya, but the new language used by Elwe's subjects was Sindarin, and Thingol is the Sindarin rendering of Singollo.

* In ''Dragonflight'', the first ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' novel, the leader of the "old-timers" is T'ton, and Weyrwoman Kylora is Pridith's rider. In subsequent books, the names are T'ron, Kylara and Prideth.

* In ''[[Swallows and Amazons]]'', the little sister of the Walkers is known as "Vicky" the entire first book. The sequels promptly change her name to "Bridget". The explanation given in-story is that baby Bridget looked like "Queen Victoria in old age" and was jokingly nicknamed "Vicky", but the resemblance and the nickname ceased when she grew older. (In real life, author Arthur Ransome was basing several of the characters on real children, and Bridget was the name of their younger sister—when she got old enough to comment on the first book, she disliked the fact that her name had been changed, and Ransome fixed things up for her.)

* In the Project Gutenberg text of ''The Haunted Hotel'' by [[Wilkie Collins]], Lord Montbarry's eldest daughter's name changes from Lucy to Marian between chapters. The same slip is present in the French edition.

* In the ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' series, there are a couple, all due to author error. Owlfeather of WindClan's name mysteriously changes to Owlwhisker. The outcasts in Moonrise introduce themselves by their full names, two of them being "Rock Where Snow Gathers" and "Bird Who Rides The Wind". The full names are only mentioned once; they go by their nicknames "Rock" and "Bird" for the rest of the book. In the next book, their full names have changed to "Rock Beneath Still Water" and "Bird That Sings at Dusk". Bird appeared again in later books, and the authors attempted to fix their mistake; she is now "Bird That Rides The Wind".

 

* In the Psychiatrist Milkman sketch on ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', Mrs Ratbag's name changes to Mrs Pim with no notice. Which is to say, in the beginning of the sketch she's called Mrs Ratbag and later on she's called Mrs Pim, but it's the same character.

* ''[[The Price Is Right]]'': A pricing game known as "Now and Then" (where one must guess whether the prices of grocery items are their current price or one from an old supermarket flyer, the titular "now" and "then" prices) had its title changed to "Now ''or'' Then", for almost no apparent reason.

* Happened on ''[[CSI: NY]]'', one of the recurring detectives was Jessica Angell at one point and Jennifer Angell at another.

 

* Although name changes in [[Professional Wrestling]] occur often due to gimmick changes, sometimes names are changed for no apparent reason. Case in point, John Hennigan officially debuted on WWE Raw as Johnny Blaze, but was changed to Johnny Spade the very next week with no gimmick change. It would become Johnny Nitro just a few weeks later, but this name would eventually get a change in gimmick.

** The Blaze-to-Spade change could've been because of [[Marvel Comics]] having a well-known [[Ghost Rider]] by the name Johnny Blaze.

 

== Radio ==

* In the [[Marx Brothers]]' radio show ''Beagle, Shyster and Beagle'' Waldorf T. Beagle's name was changed to Waldorf T. Flywheel (and the show renamed ''Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'') because a real lawyer named Beagle threatened to sue. [[In-Universe]] it was explained that Flywheel had gotten divorced and went back to his original name.

 

== Theatre ==

* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in a [[Monty Python]] stage sketch in which there's a bartender who's called (and answers to) different names by all of his customers.

 

== Video Games ==

* A character in ''[[Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy]]'' is [[No Name Given|referred to]] as Jak's uncle, but in all later released material is instead known as the explorer.

** Erol's name from ''[[Jak II Renegade|Jak II]]'' changed to Errol in ''[[Jak 3]]''. A [[Fanon]] explanation is that the extra ''r'' refers to {{spoiler|"robot", reflecting his cybernetic 'enhancements'}}.

 

== Web Original ==

* Anna, one of the main characters in ''[[The Rapture Logs]]'', was named Jane until about halfway through Act III, when "creative difficulties" with the person on whom the character was based necessitated the name change, which was [[Retcon|applied retroactively]] through the archives.

* ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'' has fun with the [[MacGuffin|Silver Imperial Moon crystal]], which is never called the same way twice, even by the people looking for it.

 

== Western Animation ==

** And [[Goofy]] used to be known as "Dippy Dawg."

* Mei Li, the pig princess from one episode of the ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' animated television spinoff was actually known as "Pei Pei" in some promotional media.

 

== Real Life ==

 

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[[Category:Naming Conventions]]