History Main / TheNamesake

* ''Crossed, Double-Crossed'' is a [[StoryWithinAStory book shown in an episode]] of the TV series Series/{{Charmed}}. Though the characters in the book [[ParanoiaFuel generally mistrust each other]], there isn't an actual betrayal until the end; when the main characters find themselves [[ThisIsGonnaSuck surrounded by bad guys]] and the book's narrator reveals TheNamesake by saying, "The couple knew they'd been double-crossed and there was no way out."

* The Nick Hornby novel ''A Long Way Down'' is about four people planning to [[InterruptedSuicide jump off a building]], so it seems clear what the title means. Except that a line near the end twists what you think TheNamesake is; they ask whether they should jump, which would be the ''short way'', or take [[TitleDrop "the long way down"]], that is, ''taking the stairs back down'' and moving on with life, which is literally "the long way".

* "[[Literature/TheManFromPIG The Man From P.I.G.]]", by Creator/HarryHarrison, is [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront a pig farmer]] from [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction Porcine Interstellar Guard]].

** The title of the episode ''The Name of the Doctor'' was assumed to be taken literally; its real meaning is revealed at the end: [[spoiler: The Doctor's participation in The Time War was considered to be so awful that he did not refer to himself as The Doctor during it; therefore, it was not in the name of the doctor.

** The title of the episode ''The Name of the Doctor'' was assumed to be taken literally; its real meaning is revealed at the end.

* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'''s ''So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'' doesn't reveal its namesake until chapter 23.
** 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]].
* The book of ''Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians'' has this even more than the movie, because there AREN'T 101 dalmatians for most of the book: there are Pongo and Missus, the original 15 puppies, the puppies' foster-mother Perdita, plus the additional 82 puppies Cruella had, giving a total of 100 dalmatians. The narrator actually [[BreakingTheFourthWall mentions this problem in the second to last chapter]], promising that the 101st dalmatian will be along soon.

** During the resolution, Department Head Araman explains to Potterley, the historian, that the past begins in the present, making them the same thing, from the perspective of the {{Chronoscope}}.
---> "The dead past is just another name for the living present. What if you focus the chronoscope in the past of one-hundredth of a second ago? Aren't you watching the present?"
** The German title is "Das Chronoskop" and the Italian title is "Il cronoscopio". Both translations promote the [[{{Chronoscope}} time-viewing device]] to titular importance due to its impact on the story.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' plays with the trope. An early TitleDrop by Midna makes it appear that the second part of the title refers to Zelda herself, as the princess of a kingdom flooded with twilight. Only when the game is at least half finished is it revealed that [[spoiler:it's actually ''Midna'' who is the Twilight Princess, as the rightful heir to the invading twilight realm's ruling family]].

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' don't actually appear until the fifth game in the series.

* The books in the second ''Literature/WarriorCats'' arc, ''TheNewProphecy'' 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.]]

Examples below should be stories where either what the title "promised" wasn't delivered until rather late in the story, or the title seemed [[NonindicativeName non-indicative]], and later was revealed to be physically in the story. Please do not put stories whose name was [[IThoughtThatWas intentionally misleading]] all along, with the title thing never actually appearing.

** Within the series, ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth by Sleep]]'' (the aforementioned prequel) is also an example. It might refer to two different things, [[spoiler: the literal birth of Vanitas or the figurative birth of Sora as a Keyblade Wielder, both of which happen when Ventus, one of the three protagonists, is asleep.]] Either way, both are revealed/happen when the game is nearing completion.

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 NonIndicativeName", It [[TheReveal is revealed]] that the characters suffered a horrific shipwreck that they are now afraid to even [[ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject speak of anything]] related to boats and ocean. Expect to hear someone in the theater go, "Oh, that's what it was!" This trope is similar to a TitleDrop 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 [[TheEponymousShow a character]], [[ThePlace a place]], an object, or indeed a metaphor. Often, the namesake is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rather obvious]] (''RomeoAndJuliet'' is obviously named that way because there's a character called "Romeo" and another called "Juliet"; ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' obviously includes a machine to [[TimeTravel travel through time]]) but sometimes, authors (or film studios) want to use titles that draw attention, and that's when the namesake may not appear until the end of the story, or might indeed only be a metaphor for a certain situation in the story which doesn't become clear until the end. In short, this becomes a trope when the reason why the book/movie/chapter/episode/etc. is called the way it is, isn't revealed to the audience until [[NowYouTellMe near the end]]; regardless of whether the characters [[EverybodyKnewAlready knew about it all along]] or not. If book/movie/chapter/episode is named after a pivotal plot point rather than an actual person/place/thing, then it's a SpoilerTitle.

* The subtitle for [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/85294/id---that-indestructible-something I.D. - That Indestructible Something]] (visible on the cover image and shown in the individual chapters) is ''Injector Doe''. This looks like a pair of random words, until it's revealed that it refers to [[spoiler:a random person (a "John Doe") accidentally modifying the virtual simulation that is our reality (i.e. "injecting code") with sheer force of will]].

* The BrandonSanderson novel ''Literature/{{Warbreaker}}'''s namesake is revealed on the last page.

A namesake is the thing within a story that the story itself is named after. It could be [[TheEponymousShow a character]], [[ThePlace a place]], an object, or indeed a metaphor. Often, the namesake is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rather obvious]] (''RomeoAndJuliet'' is obviously named tfhat way because there's a character called "Romeo" and another called "Juliet"; ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' obviously includes a machine to [[TimeTravel travel through time]]) but sometimes, authors (or film studios) want to use titles that draw attention, and that's when the namesake may not appear until the end of the story, or might indeed only be a metaphor for a certain situation in the story which doesn't become clear until the end. In short, this becomes a trope when the reason why the book/movie/chapter/episode/etc. is called the way it is, isn't revealed to the audience until [[NowYouTellMe near the end]]; regardless of whether the characters [[EverybodyKnewAlready knew about it all along]] or not. If book/movie/chapter/episode is named after a pivotal plot point rather than an actual person/place/thing, then it's a SpoilerTitle.

A namesake is the thing within a story that the story itself is named after. It could be [[TheEponymousShow a character]], [[ThePlace a place]], an object, or indeed a metaphor. Often, the namesake is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rather obvious]] (''RomeoAndJuliet'' is obviously named that way because there's a character called "Romeo" and another called "Juliet"; ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' obviously includes a machine to [[TimeTravel travel through time]]) but sometimes, authors (or film studios) want to use titles that draw attention, and that's when the namesake may not appear until the end of the story, or might indeed only be a metaphor for a certain situation in the story which doesn't become clear until the end. In short, this becomes a trope when the reason why the book/movie/chapter/episode/etc. is called the way it is, isn't revealed to the audience until [[NowYouTellMe near the end]]; regardless of whether the characters [[EverybodyKnewAlready knew about it all along]] or not. If book/movie/chapter/episode is named after a pivotal plot point rather than an actual person/place/thing, then it's a SpoilerTitle.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' chapter titles do this quite a bit. For instance, chapter eight of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' 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.]]

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'': The second tower is revealed quite late in the book.
** Of course, ''which'' two towers is open to interpretation. While Tolkein stated in a letter to his publisher they were Orthanc and Barad-dûr, almost any combination of Orthanc with Barad-dûr, Minas Tirith, and Minas Morgul makes sense. (Orthanc is inevitable, as half the book consists of fighting Saruman.)
** [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Or the inside blurb of the hardcover...]]

* In the original version of ''Film/TheWickerMan'', the man of wicker in the title isn't shown or otherwise mentioned until the very end of the movie.

* [[http://www.pantheracomic.com Panthera]]: The reason for the title isn't revealed until the 19th strip, which, [[WebcomicTime due to the comic being weekly]] and having [[ScheduleSlip missed an update]], meant that it was revealed after 6 months! Once it was, the author was quite verbal in pointing it out.
* ''SomethingPositive'': The title never actually appears in the strip anywhere. One of creator Randy Milholland's friends urged him to do "something positive" with his life, and the comic was the end result.

* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' games play with this a little. They never actually ''talk'' about the eponymous Dragon Age, but codex entries in the game and supplemental material elsewhere clarify that it's how the game world marks. Every hundred years is an age, and each new age is given a name inspired by significant events near the end of the previous one. Toward the end of the previous age, dragons began appearing in the world after they had long been thought extinct... so the games are all taking place during what has been named the Dragon Age.

* The English title for the ''{{Tintin}}'' adventure ''Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks'' references an element which only shows up at the end of the story. In most other languages, this album is known as "Coke on Board", with "coke" or some variant being a code-word for [[spoiler: human cargo being shipped to slavery]].

* Although Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'' 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.]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''Film/GrandCanyon'': About 99% of the movie takes place in and around Los Angeles, which is several hours of driving and nearly 400 miles away from the Grand Canyon. While the Grand Canyon is [[TitleDrop title dropped]] a few times in different contexts ("Ever been to the Grand Canyon?", "A hole as big as the Grand Canyon"), it isn't until the very final moments of the film that the main characters actually visit it.
* The Peter Sellers/Ringo Starr vehicle ''Film/TheMagicChristian'' is about the title's cruise ship which (a) doesn't appear till the third act, and (b) turns out to be a sham.
* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' has an interesting title, especially compared to the self-evident titles of the other ''StarWars'' movies. Namely, it raises the question, who is the "phantom menace"? Darth Maul, as the [[NeverTrustATrailer advertising campaign would suggest]]? Senator Palpatine, the [[TheChessmaster mastermind behind it all]] who [[DevilInPlainSight hides behind a respectable front]]? The Sith in general, who are supposed to be extinct? Or perhaps [[StartOfDarkness Anakin]], who at this point is only a "phantom" of the "menace" he will one day become? (according to WordOfGod, it's the second; helps Darth Sidious only appears once not in hologram form, making him mostly sort of a VirtualGhost)

* The title of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' initially just seems to have been chosen because it sounds cool, with the only obvious meaning coming from [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat James Bond surviving a seemingly fatal fall from a bridge]] in the first scene. Then, in the last third of the movie, we find out that [[spoiler: it's the name of Bond's family estate in Scotland]].
* ''A Time for Drunken Horses'' is not a metaphor; you ''will'' see intoxicated equines.
* In the original version of ''Film/TheWickerMan'', the man of wicker in the title isn't shown or otherwise mentioned until the very end of the movie.
* ''Film/{{Zardoz}}'': The film's eponymous God turns out to be [[spoiler:''The Wonderful Wi'''Zard''' of '''Oz'''''.]]