History MeaningfulName / ComicBooks

** En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse) is the first mutant, and his name is said to mean The First One. However, in our universe, it is Arabic for 'the morning light', ie. dawn. However, though it would be grammatically incorrect by modern understanding (it should be El Sabah Nur and Sabah and Nur are more commonly girl's names), It should be noted that Apocalypse was born in ancient Egypt, long before the modern Arabic language existed. At least in the Marvel Universe, "En Sabah Nur" meant 'The First One' and the language only changed after he had lived for hundreds of years, if not thousands.

* Can't forget the ''{{Asterix}}'' comics. In the entire comic series, every name at least means ''something'', from [[DreadfulMusician incompetent bard]] Cacofonix to Briton chieftan Zebigbos.

* Namor the {{Sub-Mariner}}'s name means "avenging son" in Atlantean. Avenging is basically all he does. His cousins Namora (avenging daughter) and Namorita (... little avenging daughter, one assumes) are less prone to ludicrous amounts of rage.

* In Marvel's ''{{Man-Thing}}'' comics, there was a CorruptCorporateExecutive named F. A. Schist, dedicated to anti-environmental policies. Because that's totally what a fascist is.
* [[{{Scamp}} Disney's Scamp]] basically is a scamp. The only one of his siblings that looks exactly like his father the Tramp, his name is also the only one that rhymes with his father's.

** And of course then there's [[CompleteMonster Willy Pete.]] For those of you who don't know, "Willy Pete" is what they call white phosphorous in military jargon. White phosphorous is a strong incendiary. Willy Pete is an incredibly powerful fire elemental.

* The second Foolkiller's real name was Greg Salinger. He was a poet and very attuned to literature. He instructed his predecessor to say that he was picking up a package for Pierre, J.D. A reference to Pierre Salinger and of course J.D. Salinger, both of whom are also known for something literary.

** Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, though it's his fault instead of it being coincidental within continuity. He swears (depending on the era) that the name X-Men stands for "extra" power or for the X-factor gene, not his name. (Somehow, it took a villain deliberately outing him after ''years'' for people to [[GenreBlindness get the hint]] that bald, wheelchair-bound Professor Xavier and bald, wheelchair-bound Professor X were the same guy... though here were other villains who already knew, but for various reasons had no interest in outing him.

* The Flash battled a crook called Rainbow Raider, who used a pair of goggles emitting beams of solid rainbow-coloured light to rob art galleries, even though he himself was colour-blind. His real name was Roy G. Bivolo, the first seven letters deonoting the colours of the spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.)

* [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM]] is FURIOUS that Victor Von Doom, main villain from the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' was not the very first example! Seriously, what were his parents thinking? According to the original canon, he was [[strike: [[AcceptableTargets a Gypsy]]]] [[OnceAcceptableTargets Roma]], and they had to have it sound European. It was not uncommon in the past for Romanies to have two names, one used within their community and another used with outsiders, so his ancestors may have adopted 'Von Doom' to blend in with (the presumably Germanic-speaking) peoples around them.

** And in the French version, the same character was named Ezdanitoff, which could be translated as "isn't that awesome" in the [[strike:Brussels]] ''Flemmish'' dialect. Well, well.

* Jessica Jones. Her name might seem insignificant, but the alliteration is something the majority of {{Marvel}} characters created in the SilverAge have in common.

* A villain from ''FantasticFour'', ''Diablo'', real name ''Esteban Diablo'', supposedly a Spanish alchemist born in the 9th century (or 19th, depending on the source). His name translates to "Stephen Devil". [[DidNotDoTheResearch No one could use such a surname in Spain]], even less in a more religious era. Later his name was retconned to Esteban Corazón del Diablo, meaning "Stephen Devilheart" or "Stephen Heart of the Devil". Now Mom's surname is "Of the Devil"; not a great improvement. Even later, Spanish-born comic-book artists working for Marvel apparently campaigned to change the surname to "De Ablo", meaning absolutely nothing but at least that would not require an execution.

* In Marvel's ''[[{{ptitleqw186l80}} Man-Thing]]'' comics, there was a CorruptCorporateExecutive named F. A. Schist, dedicated to anti-environmental policies. Because that's totally what a fascist is.

* In a similar vein, when the Red Skull had worked his way into the position of Defense Secretary of the United States, he used the alias Dell Rusk - an anagram as well as a reference to former real-life State Secretary Dean Rusk.

*** Which gives new meaning to his name: it may not be referring to [[AxCrazy his nature]], but rather the genocide that [[HeWhoFightsMonster turned him into the man he is today]]. The slaughter of his people was just that-an atrocity.
** Going back much further in GreenLantern history, we have {{Sinestro}}, which is Latin for left-handed. As for another recent villain, there's Larfleeze: a combination of lard and sleaze, [[MessyEater which is]] [[Greed quite]] [[VillainousGlutton.]]

* The Silver Age [[TheFlash Flash]], Barry Allen, was named for one of the Twelve Apostles; sure enough, he's practically a saint within the DC superhero community thanks to his HeroicSacrifice in the CrisisOnInfiniteEarths (he's back now, if you somehow missed it). [[hottip:* :The name "Bartholomew" normally wouldn't be special, since most of the Apostles' names are quite common, but it does stand out because it's a name not in common usage nowadays.]]
* Many of the villains in ''DickTracy'' famously had nicknames describing their physical appearance or criminal specialty, such as Flattop, Pouch, Pruneface, the Brow, the Mole. During the first fifteen years of this long-lived strip, it was also commonplace for characters to possess names that become descriptive when spelled backwards: a midget named Trohs, a bandleader named Seton, a playboy named Kroywen, an honest man named Toirtap, a crook named Doolb, and (long before Stephen King was born) a killer named Redrum.
* The BigBad of ''{{Kick-Ass}}'' is named John Genovese. This is a reference to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese Kitty Genovese]], a woman who was murdered and whose neighbours simply ignored her screams. This incident is commonly cited as sparking the [[http://www.worldsuperheroregistry.com/ real-life superhero movement]].

* The second Foolkiller's real name was Greg Salinger. He was a poet and very attuned to literature. He instructed his predecessor to say that he was picking up a package for Pierre, J.D. A reference to Pierre Salinger and of course J.D. Salinger both of whom are also known for something literary.

* Tony Stark (Iron Man) is one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe - not surprising considering that his last name is the German word for ''strong''.

* Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, translates to ''Crusher''.

* Ray Palmer, the Atom, had two notable enemies who shared this trait: The Bug-Eyed Bandit (Bertram Larvan), and the Floronic Man (Jason Woodrue). The Bug-Eyed Bandit had a son, Bertram Larvan, Jr., who would become his LegacyCharacter.
* [[GreenLantern Sinestro.]] It doesn't stand for "sinister", but rather is Latin for "left-handed." And Sinestro was [[GeniusBonus the only left-handed Green Lantern.]]

* One of the main characters in the ''DeadSpace'' Graphic Novel is a priest. His name? '''Deakin Abbott'''.

* In ''[[RapunzelsRevenge Rapunzel's Revenge]]'', there is a man named Brute who is strong, not very bright, and works for [[BigBad Mother Gothel]]. [[spoiler:{{Justified|Trope}} and maybe {{subverted|Trope}} when we find out that Gothel ''gave'' him that name, and something like a magical lobotomy, making Brute neither his real name nor a proper description.]]

** The {{Aquaman}} stand-in from RobLiefeld's Awesome Comics line was named Roy Roman -- "Roy" meaning "King" and Roman being, as noted, "Namor" backwards.

* ''JudgeDredd'''s full name is Joseph Dredd, and he was designed to strike dread into people's hearts. The real name of his enemy, Judge Death, is in fact Sidney D'Eath. Chief Judge Solomon is named for the [[TheBible Biblical]] king and judge with a gift of wise judgement.

** Going back much further in GreenLantern history, we have {{Sinestro}}.

* [[GreenLantern Sinestro.]] It doesn't stand for "sinister", but rather is Latin for "left-handed." And Sinestro was the only left-handed Green Lantern.

* In ''[[{{Ptitle7hpv9q0i}} Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja]]'', the powerful RealityWarper PsychopathicManchild is named Alfie O'Meagan, a mashup of "alpha" and "omega".

* In the ''StarRaiders'' graphic novel, the ''very'' [[{{Tomboy}} tomboyish]] Tomorrow Hardtack calls herself "Tommy".

* Ray Palmer, the Atom, had two notable enemies who shared this trait: The Bug-Eyed Bandit (Bertram Larvan), and the Floronic Man (Jason Woodrue). The Bug-Eyed Bandit had a son, Bertram Larvan, Jr., who would become his LegacyCharacter.

* The real name of Fenway, a {{Deadpool}} supporting character who is obsessed with baseball, is Homer Unn. Clearly it's supposed to be bad, but that's just... eugh. Ironically, his nickname comes from one of the hardest ballparks to hit a homer in.

** The {{Aquaman} stand-in from RobLiefeld's Awesome Comics line was named Roy Roman -- "Roy" meaning "King" and Roman being, as noted, "Namor" backwards.

* In ''{{Thunderbolts}}'', it's recently been revealed than the axe-wielding Headsman's real name is "Cleavon Twain", as in "cleave in twain" (or in simpler terms, "cut in two").

* AdamWarlock had his name changed to this by the Evoltionary. 'Adam' (for being the first of his kind) and 'Warlock' because "Men would fear his powers".

* A villain from ''FantasticFour'', ''Diablo'', real name ''Esteban Diablo'', supposedly a Spanish alchemist born in the 9th century (or 19th, depending on the source). His name translates to "Stephen Devil". [[DidNotDoTheResearch No one could use such a surname in Spain]], even less in a more religious era. Later his name was retconned to Esteban Corazón del Diablo (No idea why they accented Corazón but not Esteban), meaning "Stephen Devilheart" or "Stephen Heart of the Devil". Now Mom's surname is "Of the Devil"; not a great improvement. Even later, Spanish-born comic-book artists working for Marvel apparently campaigned to change the surname to "De Ablo", meaning absolutely nothing but at least that would not require an execution.
** They did not accentuate Esteban because in Spanish, Esteban does NOT need a written accent. [[DidNotDoTheResearch Of any kind]].

** "Pater Filucius" abounds with this, especially as it is to a large extent an allegory of religious conflicts of the era. Thus Gottlieb Michael is Germany ([[GermanPeculiarities Der deutsche Michel]] - the German Michael is the German counterpart to John Bull or Uncle Sam, named after the Archangel Michael, patron saint of Germany), his aunts Petrine and Pauline (named after St. Peter and St. Paul) represent the Catholic and Protestant churches, and his lady love, Angelica, refers to the Anglican church (Bush recommending to end the interdenominational strife by establishing something like the Church of England in Germany).

* Many characters from CarlBarks's Duck comics, including the miserly, Scottish Scrooge McDuck; BunglingInventor Gyro Gearloose; and the mean, greedy Flintheart Glomgold.

* Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, translates to ''Crusher''.

* In ''[[RapunzelsRevenge Rapunzel's Revenge]]'', there is a man named Brute who is strong, not very bright, and works for [[BigBad Mother Gothel]]. [[spoiler:{{Justified|Trope}} and maybe {{subverted|Trope}} when we find out that Gothel ''gave'' him that name, and something like a magical lobotomy, making Brute neither his real name nor a proper description.]]

* In ''[[{{Ptitle7hpv9q0i}} Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja]]'', the powerful RealityWarper PsychopathicManchild is named Alfie O'Meagan, a mashup of "alpha" and "omega".

* MarvelComics' ''DoctorStrange'' is not only a sorcerer, he debuted in the series ''Strange Tales''. Similarily, DCComics' space hero AdamStrange debuted in the series ''Mystery In Space''.

* The real name of Fenway, a {{Deadpool}} supporting character who is obsessed with baseball, is Homer Unn. Clearly it's supposed to be bad, but that's just... eugh. Ironically, his nickname comes from one of the hardest ballparks to hit a homer in.

* The real name of Fenway, a {{Deadpool}} supporting character who is obsessed with baseball, is Homer Unn. Clearly it's supposed to be bad, but that's just... eugh.

* In ''CulDeSac'' there's a girl who combines this with an [[IronicNickname ironic (nick)name]] -- her name is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_loris Loris]] Slothrup and she's an artist who does things about four times faster then normal a la ''WaysideSchool''[='s=] Bee Bee Gunn.

* Comic book villain T. O. Morrow.

* There is a lot of this going on in ''NobleCauses''. Race Noble is a speedster, Rusty had his consciousness trapped in a robotic body, Zephyr has air control powers, Celeste has stellar energy powers, etc.

* ''{{Steel}}'', the armoured, hammer-wielding African American hero, whose real name is ''John Henry'' Irons.

** And of course then there's [[CompleteMonster Willy Pete.]] For those of you who don't know, "Willy Pete" is what they call white phosphorous in military jargon. Willy Pete is an incredibly powerful fire elemental.

* {{Man-Thing}} villain and swamp draining contractor F.A. Schist.

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