History Main / EarnYourTitle

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', Jade earned his title "The Necromancer" because he would scavenge corpses after battles [[spoiler:to use them in [[CloningBlues fomicry]] experiments. And he ''was'' trying to revive the dead, just not as zombies.]] Contrary to rumor, all his troops are alive and not even slightly zombified.

** King Alfred the Great earned his title by beating back the Vikings and forcing a peace upon them that both saved Wessex, Mercia and the south of England from conquest ''and'' compelled the Vikings to convert to Christianity. Further, he was known as a good leader who completely revamped the Wessex legal codes, and he was a scholar to boot, producing translations by his own hand of philosophical works such as Boethius' ''Consolation of Philosophy'', church works like ''On the Pastoral Care'' by Pope Gregory the Great and the ''Soliloquies'' of St. Augustine, and Sacred Scripture such as a portion of the Book of Psalms. [[NeverLiveItDown And yet... all anyone today can remember is him burning those dang cakes...]]

** King Alfred the Great earned his title by beating back the Vikings and forcing a peace upon them that both saved Wessex, Mercia and the south of England from conquest ''and'' compelled the Vikings to convert to Christianity. Further, he was known as a good leader who completely revamped the Wessex legal codes, and he was a scholar to boot, producing translations of philosophical works such as Boethius' ''Consolation of Philosophy'', church works like ''On the Pastoral Care'' by Pope Gregory the Great and the ''Soliloquies'' of St. Augustine, and Sacred Scripture such as a portion of the Book of Psalms. [[NeverLiveItDown And yet... all anyone today can remember is him burning those dang cakes...]]

* The ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' get their ''show'' named after their infamy. [[BerserkButton Just don't call them that to their faces]]. Their official codename is the "Lovely Angels" (which, honestly, fits them).

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':

[[caption-width-right:347:[[WhatTheHellHero What the hell, Sersi?]] ThouShaltNotKill! But perhaps dealing with murderers with a group called "ComicBook/TheAvengers" [[WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt was just begging for it to happen]]...]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': One of [[GreaterScopeVillain Acnologia's]] most infamous titles is that of "Dragon King". That's because dragons work under AsskickingEqualsAuthority (i.e. [[GreaterScopeParagon Igneel]] is the "Fire Dragon King" because he was the strongest known [[PlayingWithFire fire-type]] dragon) and Acnologia indiscriminately slaughtered dragons wherever he could find them until any challengers to him crowning himself the effective king of the entire (nearly extinct) species were either dead or in hiding knowing they had no shot of taking it from him.

* In ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' most of the Kings have nicknames related to their notable attributes but Black Lotus and Blue Knight (aka World End and Vanquish respectively) both also bear the title "Legend Killer" for single-handedly taking on a Legendary level monster in the Unlimited Field.

* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist'': One episode has Barry The Chopper. And it's no surprise why, [[spoiler:given that he's a serial killer that chops up his victims in his shop]]. They could've easily gone with TheButcher for this one -- and, indeed, [[spoiler:when he returns as a bloodsealed armor, he claims that was one of his other nicknames]].

** Ork titles work this way as well, being self-styled but very much earned (see [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Gorgutz Deffkilla Gunsmasha Ghostkilla Ragescreama Daemonkilla Bloodspilla 'ead'unter]].

** "Spike" itself is another earned title, given to him by his penchant for torturing victims with railroad spikes (which also tied in to his dorky human years when someone claims he'd [[TemptingFate rather have a railroad spike driven through his head]] rather than listen to more of his poetry.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': One of [[GreaterScopeVillain Acnologia's]] most infamous titles is that of "Dragon King". That's because dragons work under AsskickingEqualsAuthority (i.e. [[GreaterScopeParagon Igneel]] is the "Fire Dragon King" because he was the strongest known [[PlayingWithFire fire-type]] dragon) and Acnologia indiscriminately slaughtered dragons wherever he could find them until any challengers to him crowning himself the effective king of the entire species were either dead or in hiding knowing they had no shot of taking it from him.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}:

* "71-Hour Ahmed" from ''Literature/{{Jingo}}''
** From the book:
-->'''Vimes:''' Well, that's an unusual name.\\
'''Prince Khufurah:''' ''(deadpan)'' No, the name Ahmed is actually very common where we come from.
** [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that he earned it by killing a guest in his house one hour before the three-day period of SacredHospitality was up. He'd amassed enough evidence to determine that the man had poisoned a well in a desert and killed several dozen people, waiting the extra hour would have allowed the guy to depart and escape.]]

* Lyra Belacqua in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' gets dubbed "Lyra Silvertongue" (and occasionally just "Silvertongue") by Iorek, because of her ability to beguile and fool people with her words, and her ability to "talk her way" out of anything.

** Hiruzen Sarutobi was known as both "The Professor" and "The God of Shinobi" for mastering all elemental natures and arguably knowing more about magic than anyone else in the setting.

** To a greater extent is the Title given to each State Alchemist, which typically refers to their greatest alchemical strengths or feats -- except for Ed Elric, who's title is in reference to his metallic arm...and the fact that he managed to bond a human soul to a metal suit of armor.
* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is known as the "Hundred Man Slayer" due to his single-handed massacre of at least a hundred mercenaries at the midpoint of the anime. Guts also gets the nicknamed "Black Swordsman" after the Eclipse, due to wearing black armour and leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Most people don't even know the Black Swordsman and the Hundred-Man Slayer are the same person.

* Lyndess in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'' starts out as Lyndess Groundburner (Baravadans all have “given” names, some of which they give themselves) and the origin of “Groundburner” is not explained. However, when the four start asking around Ta'akan for her friends, they learn that because of the punishment inflicted on her by the gods, she's now known derisively as “Lyndess the Example.”

* Discussed in ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. Colonel Hans "the Jew Hunter" Landa is introduced in his opening scene by this title, and contrasts himself to Heydrich (who apparently hates being known as "the Hangman" by the citizens of Prague despite, as Landa says, having done everything in his power to earn it,) by saying he loves his nickname precisely because he's earned it. In a later scene, however, he expresses open disdain for it and claims he is simply a detective and the title is "just a name that stuck", and it's unclear which attitude is true or whether he changed his opinion (the scenes are separated by a few years, but in both he's trying to manipulate the people he's talking to towards different ends).

** Keladry is called ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' near the end of the fourth book by a WaifProphet and the Chamber of the Ordeal, since she has a habit of doing just that. She considers it to be an EmbarrassingNickname.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', two of the Andalite characters earn titles. Alloran is Alloran the Hork-Bajir killer because he was the one who released the virus that killed so many, an attempt to prevent the Yeerks enslaving them all. And Seerow is referred to as Seerow the Fool, because he gave the Yeerks the technology that let them become planet-conquering enslavers in the first place. At the end of the series, Ax also gains the nickname "Aximili of Earth" for being their greatest authority on Human culture and mankind's staunchest Andalite ally.

* In ''Franchise/{{The Witcher}}'', Geralt of Rivia has a few of these, such as White Wolf, Gwynbleidd (meaning "White Wolf" in Elder Speech) and [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Butcher of Blaviken]]. He gets that last one after an event that takes place [[spoiler:in the short story ''The Lesser Evil'', [[CurbStompBattle when he kills a group of bandits]] [[AxCrazy for seemingly no reason]] in the marketplace of the town of Blaviken. It was actually justified, [[SadisticChoice as they were planning to murder a number of the town inhabitants in a ploy to get the town mage out of his tower and kill him]], but the townsmen weren't aware of that little detail when [[HeroWithBadPublicity they started pelting Geralt with rocks]], and the name stuck...]]

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Howard was trying to get a "really cool" astronaut name but, as he tells Raj, you don't pick the name, it is given to you by the other astronauts. While on a video-call with Mike "Mass" Massimino (who is an astronaut IRL), he tries to get Raj to play the Elton John song "Rocket-man," however, his mom chooses that moment to yell to him that his "Froot Loops are getting cold." Guess what name he gets later? (Hint: ''not'' Rocket-man).

** Khârn the Betrayer (what a guy!) earned his title after slaughtering his way through two [[TheCorruption Chaos]] SpaceMarine legions, [[YouHaveFailedMe one of them his own]]. We're not sure if he refers to himself that way, since he usually only says things like "[[MadnessMantra KILL! MAIM! BURN!]]," "[[BloodKnight BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE]]!" or "[[TheBerserker RAAAAAAGGHHH]]!!!"

** The Tau earn names this way on top of their standard sept, caste and rank honorifics. One of the recurring ones is 'Kais', Tau for skilful, which has been used as the name of [[VideoGame/FireWarrior two]] [[VideoGame/DawnOfWar different]] video game characters and as part of special character Commander Farsight's full name. Farsight's most famous name is itself an example: he earned it in recognition of his ability to predict the movements of the Orks, and his rival Shadowsun earned her name for an incident where she used her fleet to create an artificial eclipse.
** Similarly, the Adeptus Custodes as the Emperors personal guard get a title for every great action in the Emperor's service which they add to their names. This, combined with their unnaturally long lifespans, usually leads to their names being extremely long with the length indicating the individual's worth. Captain-General Constantin Valdor, for instance, was said to have earned ''1,932'' names prior to the outbreak of the Heresy.

** Every main series game after ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' allows the player to earn titles from the various [[SidequestSidestory factions and guilds]] which are available to join. Becoming, for example, [[KingOfThieves Master Thief]] of the ThievesGuild requires you to do a lot of stealing throughout the questline. Downplayed in the games after ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', as there are no longer skill requirements to join or advance in the various factions. For example, a full blown BarbarianHero PC who can barely cast a spell can become [[TheArchMage Arch-Mage]] of the [[MagicalSociety Mages Guild]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' simply by completing the quest line with brute force.
** Traditional Nord naming conventions, in a nutshell (given they are [[FantasyCounterpartCulture fantasy Vikings]]). Nords have to earn a Clan name from a notable deed, fulfilling a life accomplishment or some other act of strength, bravery or shrewdness. Once a Clan name is earned, all their successors are free to use the name as they please. This is distinct from a nickname or sobriquet, which is freely given by others and indicated by the presence of "the"; so Ulfgar the Unending and Mjoll the Lioness are nicknames, but Jon Battle-born and Hermir Strong-heart are clan names.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' your jester follows you around in your castle and hails you with various titles depending on your actions ("Saviour of Elves", "Abuser of jesters" etc). In the sequel his successor also makes little songs to go along with the titles once you take a Harp from the Elves, from which he'll start a band with.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' lets you earn titles by completing achievements, which you can then chose which one to show, if any. This is just to show off, as NPC's won't care if you conquered Ulduar or became exalted by your factions capital cities.

* In ''Franchise/TheWitcher'', Geralt of Rivia has a few of these, such as White Wolf, Gwynbleidd (meaning "White Wolf" in Elder Speech) and [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Butcher of Blaviken]]. He got that last one from an event that took place in the novels [[spoiler:(in the short story ''The Lesser Evil'', to be accurate), [[CurbStompBattle when he killed a group of bandits]] [[AxCrazy for seemingly no reason]] in the marketplace of the town of Blaviken. It was actually justified, [[SadisticChoice as they were planning to murder a number of the town inhabitants in a ploy to get the town mage out of his tower and kill him]], but the townsmen weren't aware of that little detail when [[HeroWithBadPublicity they started pelting Geralt with rocks]], and the name stuck...]]

* Richard from ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' has so many of these it's used for a RunningGag. To specify: He is the "Chief Warlock of the Brothers of Darkness", "Lord of the Thirteen Hells", "Master of the Bones", "Emperor of the Black", "Lord of the Undead", and the mayor of a little village up the coast. During the story he also names himself "Lord of the Dance" on a whim and "Mistress of Magma" after he kills the previous holder. On a more serious note, he has also been referred to by a demon judge as "Lord Ashendale".

** Similarly, the Polish king Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki) earned his title because he transformed a poor country that was devastated and depopulated by decades of warfare, into an economic and military powerhouse. His economic, legal and educational reforms and heavy investment in infrastructure made Poland a European superpower for the next three centuries. Today most Polish people are actually unaware that he was also an accomplished and victorious military leader. He is the only Polish king to have been given the title of Great.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Machinima]]
* Danial the destructive, from Machinima/NeverEndingNights. He isn't a bad person, [[TooDumbToLive but he screws up in such ways that is causes a lot of destruction]].
[[/folder]]