The Von Trope Family: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Dr. Frank-N-Furter:''' Go on, Dr. Scott... or should I say, ''Dr. '''Von''' Scott?!''
'''Brad:''' Just what exactly are you implying? |''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]''}}
Want to give an ambiguous character that extra bit of onomastic intrigue? Tack a "Von" on to their last name.
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At its most basic level, "von" merely exists as a marker of Germanic origin, high origin or both. However, character namers have seen fit to use the syllable to make two main branches of the Von Trope Family tree.
# Darker Von Trope: Often the Von implies sternness, skill at intrigue, sadism or any of the other tropes that [[Those Wacky Nazis]] tend to
# Lighter Von Trope: It is also used as more of a [[Stock Foreign Name]] for a Germanic [[Funny Foreigner]] (especially [[Mad Scientist
# Or sometimes, [[Reality Ensues|the character just happens to have that as part of their family name]], with no particular cultural significance meant to be attached (though in countries with a long history of democracy, the elitist overtones of the prefix often cause it to be dropped).
Naturally, there may be crossover between these two subsets.
The Dutch equivalent, "Van", may be used to imply the same categories, if more rarely. In America, a Dutch [[Preppy Name]] is often a better shorthand to signify old money and "[[
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{{examples}}
* Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, the leader of Hydra in the Marvel Universe
* The German-born Manfred von Karma of the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series, a prototypical [[Amoral Attorney]] (a prosecutor, in this case). His daughter, Franziska von Karma (whose name literally means "free of bad karma"), has less of the evil, but certainly the name seems to fit the stern lady with a [[Whip It Good|whip]].
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* [[Gaia Online]]'s Von Helson family, an aristocratic family that happens to consist entirely of vampires. Vladmir (and later Zhivago) are both major antagonists throughout the storyline. The Von Helson were also villainous for a while, but have undergone some [[Villain Decay]] in recent years (lampshaded in a recent mini comic). Ian and Louie are subversions. Ian is a lovable goofball who runs a costume shop with his talking cat, and Louie is a nice guy who just happens to be King of the Vampires, [[I Hate You, Vampire Dad|hates his dad]], and works at the local Formalwear shop.
* Von Pinn of ''[[Girl Genius]]''
** The Wulfenbach family never uses "von", but outside the comic a lot of people seem to use it for them, largely due to this trope. The fact that they ''don't'' use it is likely related to the contempt the Baron has for the nobility's "rules".
* Baroness Paula Von Gunther, antagonist of ''[[Wonder Woman]]''. One of the few comic villains to make the leap to the TV show, in fact.
* Von Bach of DC's ''[[Kingdom Come]]''.
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* Eric and Karl Von Shrakenberg from [[The Draka]] novels of S.M. Stirling.
* Erich and Karl Von Shrakenberg from ''[[Tech Infantry]]'', named as a [[Shout-Out]] to Stirling's characters.
* One of the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] types seen in an early scene in ''[[Aliens]]'' is named Van Leuwen.
* ''[[Blackadder]] Goes Forth'': George's idea for finding the German spy at the field hospital was to look for the guy whose name began with "Von".
* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' mentions an old villain named [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Baron]] Von [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Ruthless]]
* Von Bolt from ''Advance Wars''. The series has a habit of the [[Big Bad]] having a German name (his predecessor being 'Sturm').
* Ludwig von Koopa from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]] 3'' and later games. He even has [[Einstein Hair|Beethoven Hair (theatre)]].
** And Magnus Von Grapple from the second ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' game.
* Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer from ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' invented the [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|Rosenkreuz Order]].
* Sepp von [[Louis Cypher|Theofels]] from an [[Erast Fandorin]] spinoff series.
* [[House (TV series)|House]] refers to the man who ratted him out at college for cheating as "Dr. Von Lieberman" although the man's real surname is "Webber", because it "sounds much eviller".
* Baron von Blitzschlag, a Nazi scientist who's a kind of villainous [[New Old Flame]] - had offscreen run ins with ''[[Captain America (comics)]]'' and other heroes. Currently acting as a scientific adviser to ''The Initiative'', working on such catastrophes as Cyborg Thor and [[Cloning Blues|repeatedly cloning a deceased member]].
* A prominent bloodline of [[Our Vampires Are Different|Vampires]] in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' are the Von Carsteins, modelled on the [[Dracula]] archetype and living in [[No Communities Were Harmed|an analogue for]] the Black Forest.
* [[Mad Scientist]] Simon von Simon (and his unseen rival Sigmund von Sigmund) in ''Little Gloomy''.
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* Bermuda Von Vichtenstein from [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]. Not exactly evil, but he's still a [[Knight Templar|Vendice]] afterall.
* Velvet von Ragnar, the [[Creepy Crossdresser]] played by Gene Simmons in ''Never Too Young to Die''.
=== Lighter Von Trope Examples: ===▼
* ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]'''s Abraham Van Helsing (a Dutch Jew) is a good guy.
* Ludwig Von Drake, [[Donald Duck]]'s uncle, and a goofy [[Mad Scientist]].
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* The friendly-bully on ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' is named Buford Van Stomm.
* Evra Von from [[The Saga of Darren Shan|Cirque Du Freak]]. He often corrects people that it's just Von.
* [[Overly Long Name|Almaz Von Almadine Adamant]] from [[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice]].
* [[Corpse Bride|Victor Van Dort]].
* Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach in ''[[From Eroica with Love]]''.
* [[The Ahnold|Jorgen Von Strangle]], in ''[[The Fairly
* Nina Van Horn on ''[[Just Shoot Me]]''. It's not her real name (that would be Claire Noodleman); her agent got the last name from a porn star in his building.
* [[Erast Fandorin]]'s family name is a Russified version of "Von Dorn". Most of Boris Akunin's other novels feature characters who are [[The Verse|somehow connected to the same Von Dorn family]] and have names that are similarly descended from their name (Van Doren, De Dorn, Darnowski, etc.)
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* When The Doctor goes to Germany, he usually presents identification that says he is 'Doctor von Wer', literally, 'Doctor of Who'
* In ''[[Back to The Future]] III'', Doc Brown mentions that his ancestors before World War I were the von Brauns.
* [[Cheshire Cat Grin|Joey]] [[Eyepatch of Power|Von]] [[Magnificent Bastard|Krause]] from [https://web.archive.org/web/20140218141836/http://mortifer.smackjeeves.com/ Mortifer.] {{spoiler|Except it turns out not to be his real name...}}
* In ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'', Jack Benny's valet is Rochester Van Jones.
* The von Ulrichs, an [[Justified Trope|aristocratic German]] family in Ken Follett's novel ''Fall of Giants''. Although the story takes place during [[World War
* Professor Dinglehopper Von Schlemer, from ''[[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog]]''.
* Dr. Ludwig von Scientist from ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''.
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* In the "Junk Car" episode of ''[[Speed Racer]]'' dub, the race is held by a Baron Von Vondevon... who has a long-lost daughter Yvonne Von Vondevon.
* Eric Von Zipper, the comical [[Badass Biker]] character from the '60s ''Beach Party'' movies.
=== [[Real Life]] Von Trope Examples: ===▼
=== von Trope ===
* The trope name is a pun on the von Trapp family, of ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' fame.
* [[The Dick Van Dyke Show|Dick Van Dyke]]▼
* Professor Sebastian Van Strien at Warwick University. Aside from being [[The Unintelligible]] and setting [[Nintendo Hard|impossible exams]], he's not exactly ''evil''.▼
* [[Ungern-Sternberg|Roman Ungern von Sternberg]], crazy tinpot dictator extraordinaire.
* Erich von Stroheim, an actor who specialized in Evil German roles.
* [[Dita Von Teese]], burlesque model and former fiancee of [[Marilyn Manson]]'s, presumably chose her stage name for its darker exotic qualities.
* Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director of the movies ''[[The Lives of Others]]'' and ''[[The Tourist]]''.▼
* Wernher von Braun is a combination of the light and dark. Member of the Nazi party, inventor of the V2 rocket, one of the
* [[w:Ambrosia (band)|Multitalented]] [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2100945/ musician], [http://forbassplayersonly.com/interview-shem-von-schroeck/ singer] and [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Shem_Schroeck sex symbol] Shem von Schroeck.
=== van Trope ===
▲* Professor Sebastian Van Strien at Warwick University. Aside from being [[The Unintelligible]] and setting [[Nintendo Hard|impossible exams]], he's not exactly ''evil''.
* The famous Dutch football (soccer) player, Marco van Basten, regarded as one of the all-time best forwards in the game.
** Just like... well... a third of all Dutch.
*** [[Comically Missing the Point|A third of all Dutch are great forwards?]]
▲* Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director of the movies ''[[The Lives of Others]]'' and ''[[The Tourist]]''.
* Architect Maria Ludwig Michael Mies, to seem more impressive, appended his mother's surname, "van der Rohe."
▲* Wernher von Braun is a combination of the light and dark. Member of the Nazi party, inventor of the V2 rocket, one of the principle brains (if not '''the''' principle brain) behind the American side of the Space Race. (There is still some controversy as to whether he was a ''willing'' Nazi collaborator.)
* [[Ludwig Van Beethoven]] - But wait, why does a German man have a Dutch surname, you ask? It's just so happens Beethoven was of Belgian descent. His birth name was actually "Lodewijk".
** This is the reason ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' can get away with referring to him as "Ludwig van". There a lot of people with one of those words, or the other, but it's a rare combination.
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* [[Martin Van Buren]], eighth President of the United States, came from a Dutch family. In fact, he was one of the few Presidents to be naturally bilingual.
* Mario Van Peebles
* [[Jean-Claude Van Damme
* Actor Casper Van Dien played the character Brom Van Brunt in ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]''. The Van Diens are reportedly distant relatives of the real-life Van Brunt clan.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Trope Family, The}}
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