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The Namesake: Difference between revisions
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Suppose you go see a film called "the boat". Movie starts and it takes place as far away from a body of water as is possible. No boats. An hour can pass and you won't see a single boat. But just when you were thinking "maybe it's a [[Non-Indicative Name]]", a huge sailing vessel [[The Reveal|is revealed]] to be what everything was revolving around. Expect to hear someone in the theater go, "Oh, that's what it was!" This trope is similar to a [[Title Drop]] except that a character need not say it aloud.
A namesake is the thing within a story that the story itself is named after. It could be [[The Eponymous Show|a character]], [[The Place|a place]], an object, or indeed a metaphor. Often, the namesake is [[Exactly What It Says
Examples below should be stories where either what the title "promised" wasn't delivered until rather late in the story, or the title seemed [[Non-Indicative Name|non-indicative]], and later was revealed to be physically in the story. Please do not put stories whose name was [[I Thought That Was|intentionally misleading]] all along, with the title thing never actually appearing.
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May be [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] if, once the namesake finally appears, a character asks, "[[Home Page/Headscratchers|why do they call it that?]]" usually immediately after the [[Title Drop]]
Not to be confused with [[Namesake Gag]] nor the book and film entitled [[The Namesake (
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'': The title refers to the final form of [[Humongous Mecha|Gurren Lagann]], which doesn't appear until the last episode. Averted in the English dub, the title is simply ''[[Gurren Lagann]]''.
* [[Gundam]] series tend to be named for the protagonist's [[Humongous Mecha]], but there are a few noteworthy exceptions. The most prominent is ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', which is named for an in-universe theory about an innate factor that [[Hollywood Evolution|lets them advance to the next stage of evolution]]. Naturally, it's possessed by the four central characters (and the protagonist of [[Gundam Seed Destiny|the sequel]]).
** Frequently, the title refers to the protagonist's [[Mid-Season Upgrade]] rather than their original mobile suit; the [[Zeta Gundam]], [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|00 Gundam]], and [[G Gundam|God Gundam]] <ref>The dub calls it the Burning Gundam; theoretically, the show should have been called B Gundam...</ref> come to mind.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[DC Comics]]' ''[[Fifty Two]]'' at first seems like a reference to its [[Real Time]] format a la ''[[
* The English title for the ''[[Tintin
== Film ==
* ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' has an interesting title, especially compared to the self-evident titles of the other ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies. Namely, it raises the question, who is the "phantom menace"? Darth Maul, as the [[Never Trust a Trailer|advertising campaign would suggest]]? Senator Palpatine, the [[The Chessmaster|mastermind behind it all]] who [[Devil in Plain Sight|hides behind a respectable front]]? The Sith in general, who are supposed to be extinct? Or perhaps [[Start of Darkness|Anakin]], who at this point is only a "phantom" of the "menace" he will one day become?
* In the original version of ''[[The Wicker Man]]'', the titular man of wicker isn't shown or otherwise mentioned until the very end of the movie.
* Disney's ''[[The Princess and
== Literature ==
* ''[[Bridge to Terabithia]]'': The title "bridge" finally appears {{spoiler|in the final chapter, when Jesse builds it to replace the rope that he and Leslie used, whose breaking resulted in Leslie's [[Death
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' chapter titles do this quite a bit. For instance, chapter eight of ''[[Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' is entitled {{spoiler|Flight of the Fat Lady}}. This doesn't actually happen until the second-last page of the chapter.
** ''Azkaban'' has a chapter titled "The Servant of Lord Voldemort". {{spoiler|When you start the chapter, you think the title simply refers to Sirius Black. By the time you've finished the chapter, it's become apparent that the eponymous servant is Peter Pettigrew.}}
* ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (
** Although those who read the first book know that {{spoiler|it's the dolphins' last message to humankind, making the title itself a [[Foreshadowing]] of their hand in Earth's restoration}}.
* ''[[Lord of the Rings]]: The Two Towers'': The second tower is revealed quite late in the book.
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* The [[Brandon Sanderson]] novel ''[[Warbreaker]]'''s namesake is revealed on the last page.
** [[Trailers Always Spoil|Or the inside blurb of the hardcover...]]
* In ''[[
* Although [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s [[Chronicles of Prydain]] largely averts this, the final book, ''The High King,'' plays it fairly straight. {{spoiler|It's not until the last three pages that it becomes revealed that the title refers to Taran, the series protagonist, being proclaimed High King of Prydain.}}
* The books in the second ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' arc, ''[[The New Prophecy]]'' are all named after times. In the first book, the chosen cats are told to go to the place where "the sun drowns" to "listen to what midnight tells them". At the end of the book, {{spoiler|they go into a cave to take shelter and get attacked by a badger. But the badger is actually named Midnight and she can talk cat. She then tells them that their forest will be destroyed and that they must find a new home.}}
== Live Action TV ==
* ''Crossed, Double-Crossed'' is a [[Story Within a Story|book shown in an episode]] of the TV series [[
* Several ''[[Lost]]'' episodes do this, such as "The Substitute," "Some Like it Hoth," and "Jughead." The flashbacks in "Not in Portland" depict Juliet being recruited for a job in Portland. At the very end, we learn this is actually how she was recruited by the Others. Richard tells her, "Well, actually we're not quite in Portland."
* The titular event in ''[[The Event]]'' is not revealed until the final episode. Because the series is [[Cut Short]], it only really gets mentioned in passing and we never see it transpire.
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