History Main / TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX

* UsefulNotes/{{MOD}}, {{Demoscene}} and game musician Frédéric Motte originally used the artist name Moby, before [[Music/{{Moby}} Richard Melville]] snapped up the rights to that name. Since then, Motte has gone by either Elmobo or The Artist Formerly Known as Moby.

* After UsefulNotes/{{Microsoft|Windows}} abandoned the name "Metro" for its Windows 8 UI system[[labelnote:*]]although they deny it's for trademark reasons and insist it was just a codename[[/labelnote]], some referred to it as [[http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/08/11/0051250/you-cant-bypass-the-ui-formerly-known-as-metro-on-windows-8 the UI Formerly Known as Metro]]. [[http://www.theregister.co.uk Or]] TIFKAM, "The Interface Formerly Known as Metro".

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': When they find a strange symbol among the evidence at a crime scene (part of a "th" that had snapped off a keychain), Castle suggests that it means the killer is The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, despite it not directly resembling his symbol.

* Music/DangerousToys' ''The R*tist 4*merly Known As Dangerous Toys'' (The title also parodies Prince's penchant for Letters2Numbers, while the cover art is a parody of Prince's ''Lovesexy'' album featuring their MetalBandMascot Bill Z. Bubb in place of Prince himself). This was apparently also something of a DevelopmentGag -- two of the original members had left the group, so they had considered changing the band's name to reflect this.

* Music/DangerousToys' ''The R*tist 4*merly Known As Dangerous Toys'' (The title also parodies Prince's penchant for Letters2Numbers, while the cover art is a parody of Prince's ''Lovesexy'' album featuring their MetalBandMascot Bill Z. Bubb in place of Prince himself). This was apparently also something of a DevelopmentGag -- two of the original members had left the group, so they had considered changing the band's name to reflect this before reconsidering.

* Music/DangerousToys' ''The R*tist 4*merly Known As Dangerous Toys'' (also parodying Prince's penchant for Letters2Numbers). This was apparently something of an in-joke -- two of the original members had left the group, and they had considered changing the band name to reflect this.

* The Superbuddies -- Formerly Known as [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League America]].

* Music/{{Prince}} appeared on ''Series/MuppetsTonight'' during his 'Formerly Known As' phase. When introducing himself this way to Bobo the security bear during the NotOnTheList schtick, Bobo snarkily replies, "And I'm the bear currently known as unamused."
** Similarly, when he guested on Series/TheLateShowWithDavidLetterman, Paul Shaffer introduces Dave as "The Artist currently known as Pinhead!". Cue SpitTake.

* ''Series/MadTV'' parodied this along with ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' in a sketch called, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin appropriately enough]], "The Artist Formerly Known as The Prince of Egypt".

* Used twice by ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''; one of the puppies in the ''101 Dalmatians'' parody is called "The Puppy Formerly Known as Prince", while "Lisa's Wedding" shows a list of arrested celebrities that includes "The Artist formerly known as [[http://z.about.com/d/altreligion/1/0/h/S/2/stafkap.jpg *unpronounceable symbol*]]" and "The Artist formerly known as Creator/BuddyHackett." One of the flashback episodes ("Lisa's Sax") is set during a time when "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince was currently known as Prince."

* In ''Website/{{Neopets}}'', two different equipment items were [[NamesTheSame given the name "Desert Axe Weapon" by mistake]]. The more recent of the two was promptly renamed to "Weapon Formerly Known As Desert Axe Weapon".

* Dangerous Toys' ''The R*tist 4*merly Known As Dangerous Toys'' (also parodying Prince's penchant for Letters2Numbers). This was apparently something of an in-joke -- two of the original members had left the group, and they had considered changing the band name to reflect this.

* The archives for the Website/{{Usenet}} group ''[[UrbanLegends alt.folklore.urban]]'' were originally made available via FTP from cathouse.org. When the archives moved to a new domain on the web, the new site was referred to as TAFKAC (The Archives Formerly Known As Cathouse).

In 1993, Creator/WarnerBrosRecords legally prevented the musician [[Music/{{Prince}} Prince Rogers Nelson]] from releasing music under a different label using his legal first name "[[OnlyOneName Prince]]", as they owned a trademark on it. As part of a TakeThat, he changed his name to an unpronounceable, and then-untypeable [[LuckyCharmsTitle "love symbol"]], which resembles a modified transgender symbol, oriented in the same direction as the female symbol and given a second, longer, and more stylized bar at the base of the shaft.[[note]]"O(+>" is an ASCII art approximation of this symbol, and Warner Bros. was forced to supply the print media with a new font containing the symbol. "Ƭ̵̬̊" is another approximation out there that reflects the proper orientation, but it's far more difficult to type out. Currently, the symbol is unavailable in Unicode due to it being a copyrighted logo as opposed to a public-domain symbol.[[/note]] In response, the phrase "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince" was [[MemeticMutation coined by]] a public that had no idea what else to call him, and quickly became a very popular target for parody thanks to its obtuseness. His contract with Warner expired three years later, but Warner still owned the trademark on the name "Prince" until 2000, after which the musician went back to his given name. Once he did, it effectively made him [[ShapedLikeItself the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince]], if you're being technical.

* From ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie'':
-->'''Kari:''' ''[narrating]'' ... And Matt's trying to make it as a rock star! His stage name is the Digidestined Formerly Known as Matt.