-->''It was one of those comic book name coincidences, like how you know a college professor named Dr. Klaus von der Murder isn't going to be getting tenure.''
-->- '''Lore Sjoberg'''
-->''"Has anything good ever come from a company called Gentek?''
-->''"No. Not once."''
-->- '''Unskippable'''

People make a big deal out of names, and writers are no exception. Even if they eschew ThemeNaming and other NamingConventions they'll still use names they think are cool and dignified, powerful and appropriate, or sinister and fearsome. Which is why there are inevitably certain NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast. For much the same reason it's unlikely [[OneSteveLimit Steve]] will turn out to be the [[EvilMakeover outrageously stylish villain]] bent on absorbing the planet's [[TheLifestream life stream]] to [[AGodAmI ascend to godhood]], and someone with a name like oh, say, Hannibal, isn't exactly going to be selling cookies for charity.

These come in various flavors, and most of them are used by [[AntiHero Anti Heroes]] of the BadAss variety from the DarkAgeOfSupernames and villains of the fearsomely competent and world destroying kind, for whom the mere [[TheScottishTrope mention of their name]] can bring down DramaticThunder.

Note that this is different from all those characters who got their names ''because'' they are a badass. It's one thing to be codenamed Wolverine because you're a scrappy fighter (no, not ''[[TheScrappy that]]'' kind of scrappy), or to be called Blade because you use one on vampires; it's another when a deadly fighter has the birth name "Blade" for no in-story reason.

See also RedBaron (also known as BadassNickname), MeaningfulTitles, TheMaster, NameOfCain, MyHeroZero, JackAttack, GoAskAlice, TheMagnificent, OneBadMother and AwesomeMcCoolName. When applied to a location, it frequently falls under [=~I Don't Like the Sound of That Place~=] or the [=~People's Republic of Tyranny~=]. Contrast NamesToTrustImmediately, FluffyTheTerrible, where the name fails to describe the nastiness, and DeathbringerTheAdorable, where the nastiness fails to live up to the name.

'''Before adding an example remember: they must be a villain or very dark antihero. Please do not put in plain heroes, no matter how BadAss they are. For them, see the DarkAgeOfSupernames'''
----
[[foldercontrol]]

'''Adjectives:''' Some names also work as adjectives: ''Vicious, Grim, Sinister, Nefarious, Horrible.''

[[folder: Adjectives:]]
* ''Vicious:'' -- The villain from ''CowboyBebop'', Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and his namesake pro wrestler
** Vishous from J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood novels, mercifully shortened to 'V'. Most of her male characters have bizarrely spelled 'badass' names, including Torhment, Phury, Zsadist, Rehvenge, and Wrath (well, that last one is spelled correctly). Some characters get off luckier with names like John Matthew, Darius, and Blaylock.
** In ''[[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures]]'', there was a villain called Vid Vicious (obviously named after Sid Vicious).
** The main antagonist of the fourth {{Pokemon}} movie is named Vicious.
* ''Grim:'' -- Thanks to TheGrimReaper which spills over into Grim from ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', Grimlock of ''{{Transformers}}'', Grimmjow of ''{{Bleach}}'', Grimjack of ''Grimjack''
** Don't forget [[TwistedMetal Mr. Grimm]].
** Or Mr Benjamin Grimm, otherwise known as the Thing
** [[TransformersGenerationOne Grimlock]] and [[TransformersAnimated Grimlock]]. But not exactly [[TransformersRobotsInDisguise Grimlock]].
* ''Mal'' (Latin for "bad") and English variants (malice, etc): [[{{Shakespeare}} Shakespeare's]] Malvolio, the Malfoy family from ''HarryPotter'', Bishop Malveaux from Zork: Nemesis.
** Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, the AntiHero from ''{{Firefly}}''
*** A coincidence that River Tam actually mentions in the series.
**** It really is a coincidence. The name "Malcolm" is the Anglicized version of the Gaelic "Mael Colium", and has nothing to do with the latin word. Neither does it have anything to do with the latin word for "dove", despite what a certain keychain tries to assert...
**** Just a thought, but "River" sounds a lot like "Reaver", and in universe, that might count as "run away really fast".
**** That's quite an accent you have there...
** Special mention to Malcolm Betruger, the villainous MadScientist responsible for the demon invasion in Doom3. Not just "mal" in the name but BilingualBonus as "Betrüger" is German for "deceiver" or "swindler."
** Ivanhoe has a lot of these. The Templar Preceptor Albert de Malvoisin ("bad neighbor"), for one.
** Malus from [[{{Castlevania}} Castlevania 64]]. In this case means hammer, though the pun on "Malice" works, too...
*** That's 'Malleus.' Malus is Latin for 'evil,' 'malice' being derived from it.
** Malus, the [[spoiler: final]] colossus in ''{{Shadow of the Colossus}}''. The other colossi have much more harmless-sounding Latin titles.
** ''ElTigre'' features a gigantic monster named El Mal Verde.
** The DCAU Superman series had Superman free a trapped Phantom Zone kryptonian named Mala. This spanish speaking troper knew immediately where the episode was going.
** Also Maleficent from Disney's SleepingBeauty.
** And the dub name of ''DigimonAdventure02's'' BigBad, [=BelialVamdemon (see below): "MaloMyotismon"=].
** There's also Dreadlord Mal'Ganis from the Warcraft universe.
** The [[{{Warhammer 40000}} Ordo Malleus]]. Double points as malleus is latin for "hammer".
** Malin Keshar from ''BattleForWesnoth''. And the necromancers / liches from the Mal- line.
** Maladict[[spoiler:a]], [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee-addicted]] [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] [[spoiler: and SweetPollyOliver]] from [[Discworld/MonstrousRegiment Monstrous Regiment]].
** Malekith, the Witch-King of the Dark Elves from Warhammer Fantasy.
** And there's Malpercio from the [[BatenKaitos Baten Kaitos]] series.
** Minor MarvelComics MadScientist Doctor Malus, who grants super-powers to deserving C-list mooks.
* ''Sinister:'' Simon Bar Sinister, from ''{{Underdog}}''.
** Sinestro from GreenLantern.
** Senor Sinestrio of ''ElTigre''.
** And {{Sinistar}}. HE HUNGERS! RUN! RUN! RUN! RUN!
** Mr. Sinister from ''XMen'', of course.
** Slight variation: Sinistrals, from the Lufia games.
*** This might actually be an aversion. "Sinistral" means "left-handed," (as opposed to "dextral") which the sprites actually are (in some games, at least).
* ''Nefarious:'' -- Dr. Nefarious, the main villain from ''Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal''
** Similarly, from ''WorldOfWarcraft'', Lord Victor Nefarius AKA Nefarian the Black Dragon.
** Count Nefaria, a long-running MarvelComics villain.
** Nefaria is the right hand of the {{Big Bad}} in Saban's ''Masked Rider''.
** [[CrashBandicoot Dr. Nefarious Tropy.]] Bonus points for having a sinister name even when it's shortened ([[PunnyName N. Tropy = entropy]]). And he sounds like Peter Lorre.
** Count Nefarious from the PC game ToonStruck.
* ''Shady:'' Shady Shrew from SlylockFox. This trope is usually extrapolated to other bit criminals like Reeky Rat or Slick Smitty--it's surprising that name profiling hasn't been implemented yet.
** Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
* ''Grievous:'' -- General Grievous from ''StarWars'' who, despite his name, isn't.
* ''Greedy:'' -- ''CaptainPlanet'' foe, Hoggish Greedly. Also Greedo from ''StarWars''.
** And Greed from ''FullmetalAlchemist'', although this is justified by him being a literal incarnation of that [[SevenDeadlySins sin]].
** And Greedy from ''{{Ristar}}''.
** Greedo from ''{{Star Wars}}'' - who did not [[TheDogShotFirst shoot first]].
* ''Dastardly:'' -- [[WackyRaces Dick Dastardly]].
** And of course, Dick's [[DastardlyWhiplash contemporary]], Snidely Whiplash. Admittedly, "Snidely" is more of an adverb, but "Whiplash" is a noun, so what can you do.
* ''Horrible:'' -- Just silly enough that it's (as far as is recorded here) never used seriously. [[DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog Dr. Horrible]] is a... horrible example. As is Horribus in ''SluggyFreelance''.
* ''Geist:'' -- It's a common BadAss name, from ''MDGeist'', to ''Bloodrayne's'' Gegengeistgruppe, to Geist in Asura Blade, to Maken X/Shao's BigBad. People/things named Ghost tend to be far less threatening... unless of course [[{{Starcraft}} you've built up your tech tree]].
** The remake of ''TheCabinetOfDrCaligari'' gives this as Francis' surname.
** And John Raimi, alias ''{{Geist}}'' from the Gamecube title of the same name.
** The Geist Balrog in MapleStory is a more vicious version of the Crimson Balrog, and is an additional party quest boss.
** Heh, this gonna be fun... One of Polish literature classics, ''Lalka'' feature a certain Professor Geist, late XIXth Century scientist ([[ReluctantMadScientist this trope should be closest]]. Or [[NikolaTesla this]].) working on lighter-than-air metals.
** {{Einhander}} has the [[ThatOneBoss sixth boss]], a shuttle your character is supposed to destroy. That [[TransformingMecha transforms into the boss.]] Its name? [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Schwarzgeist (Black Ghost)]].
* ''Evil'' -- Dr. Evil, Austin Powers' arch-enemy.
** Avery Schreiber played a villain named "Mr. Evil" on ''The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine".
** Cruella de Vil. Double whammy, because you have both "Cruel" and "Evil" in her name, if you ignore the word breaks. (Also "devil".)
** [[{{Berzerk}} Evil Otto.]] That is all.
** It may be an unwritten rule that the leaders of [[{{Pokemon}} Cipher]] (listed far below) have some part of Evil in their name. First was Evice (also [[spoiler:Es Cade, the corrupt mayor of Phenac City]]) and second was Greevil. For added evil points, Greevil's Japanese name translates into Deathgold (double whammy!). Crap...
** Evilyn from He-Man.
* ''Craven'' -- Kraven, from ''Underworld'', Kraven the Hunter (Spider-Man villain). Wes Craven makes a lot of horror movies. And then there's [[GodzillaTheSeries Mendel Craven]], who is just as wimpy as his surname implies.
* ''Insidious'' -- [[StarWars Darth Sidious]]. Double points for rhyming with "hideous". Sith have really obvious names.
* Slightly subverted in ''TheGraveyardBook'' with the Jacks of All Trades. Names such as Mr. Dandy and Mr. Nimble are intended to be somewhat menacing. But still, not exactly Dr. Horrible in terms of naming.
* Horrendous - The jock/big chunk of meat who ruled the warrior city from the video game {{Nox}}.
* The original Japanese name of ''MegaManZero's'' BigBad is ''Vile''. It's a MeaningfulName, fitting for [[CompleteMonster someone like him]].
** There was also a Vile in ''MegaManX'', ''X3'' and ''X8''.
** Master Vile from the third season of ''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.''
* Robby Rotten from ''LazyTown''.
** Real Life example: Johnny Rotten, band leader of the {{Sex Pistols}}
*** Given that 'Johnny' is British slang for 'condom', that verges on {{squick}}, too.
* Sgt Gross in the ''BlakesSeven'' episode 'Moloch' is one of the lesser known villains of the show, but notably nasty. He's a cowardly deserter now (by freak chance) ruling a planet with a sadistic streak who's very, very strongly implied to enjoy raping and cannibalising his female prisoners in equal measure.
* The main antagonist from SigmaStarSaga was a guy named Tyrannical Overlord.
* ''Dark'' - such as Darth Vader and other Sith Lords from StarWars.
** Then there's G. M. Dark from ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''.
** [[TheSwordOfTruth Darken Rahl]].
* Subtly, several names translate to disabilities, though that's not always bad. On the good side, "[[CodeGeass Cecile]]" ("Deaf"). On the bad side, "[[TheVampireChronicles Claudia]]" ("Lame").
* The Ludo in [[HarryPotter Ludo Bagman]] means "deceptive." Obviously this means nothing, because [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter he is totally a trustworthy guy]].


[[/folder]]

'''The Adjective One''' Similar to the above, but these "names" are purely adjectives usually for {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and [[SealedEvilInACan really ancient evils]], presumably so old their real name is forgotten... or they're from a time ''before proper nouns existed''.

'''[[folder: The Adjective One]]'''
* [[HPLovecraft The Great Old Ones]]
* The Nameless One
* The Banished One
* The Unclean One
* The [[WheelOfTime Dark One]]
* [[{{Futurama}} The Dark Ones]]
* The Evil One was the villain from TimeBandits. Just Evil for short.
* [[DoctorWho The Lonely God; The Oncoming Storm]] - a hero, but death and destruction follow in his wake.
* The [[EldritchAbomination Old Gods]] from {{Warcraft}}
** The Faceless Ones from the same franchise. Also, how could you forget The Forgotten Ones?
*** [[IncrediblyLamePun Quite easily, thank you!]]
* The [[{{Precursors}} First Ones]], from {{Babylon 5}}, though tthose who weren't Shadows or Vorlons weren't really that bad.
* The [[{{Warhammer}} Old Ones]]
* The [[{{Satan}} Lone Power]] of YoungWizards, sometimes referred to as "The Lone One", although It [[IHaveManyNames has many names.]]
* [[{{Bionicle}} The Shadowed One]], ancient and feared leader of the Dark Hunters.
* Subversion: [[DoctorStrange The Ancient One]] is (well, [[DeathByOriginStory was]]) quite benevolent.
* ''The King in Yellow''
* [[{{Sandman}} The Endless]]
* [[{{Transformers}} The Fallen]]--helps that he's perpetually [[IncendiaryExponent on fire]].
* [[{{Nasuverse}} The Ultimate Ones]], though they are also known as 'Types' and 'Aristeles'
* [[ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum The Mysterious Somebody]]
* [[HarryPotter The One Who Must Not Be Named]].
** [[DoNotExplainTheJoke What, Voldemort?]]
***[[ShockingSwerve I thought it was Candlejack, but I cou]]
[[/folder]]

'''Animal:''' People and families can have animals, real and mythological, as part of their names, but in fiction it's usually a dangerous sign to meet someone with a predatory animal in their name. ''Wolf, dragon, lion, tiger, coyote, snake.''

[[folder:Animal]]
* ''Dragon:'' -- Drake, Draco Malfoy from ''HarryPotter'', Dragin from ''yerCake''Dracula
** Although his mother's family, the Blacks, had a tradition of giving their children astrological names, so...
** Dracul, in Romanian, is interchangable for "dragon" or "devil". Therefore, "Dracula" = "Son of the Dragon." How [[AxCrazy peculiarly appropriate]].
*** And Draco, a lawmaker from ancient Greece, from whom we get the term "draconian" as in "draconian penalties for overdue library books" meaning that the penalties are harsh.
** Count Dregon, the BigBad from Saban's ''Masked Rider''.
* ''Lion:'' -- Leo, Leonidas, Lionel (Lex Luthor's uber-villainous dad in ''{{Smallville}}'') Leos from ''GundamWing'', on the other hand, are only dangerous if you yourself are not also in a HumongousMecha. Unless there's a {{Bishonen}} at the controls, then you're ''screwed''. "Ari", "Aslan" or any non-English variant that's not immediately obvious doesn't count.
** Lion El'Jonson, in addition to being an homage to a poet. Primarch of the Dark Angels of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}.''
** [[MirrorMask Stephanie Leonidas]].
** Lion-O of the ''ThunderCats''.
** Regulus from ''HarryPotter'', named after the main star in the constellation Leo.
***Despite being a [[spoiler:Death Eater]], he is strongly implied to have [[spoiler:turned on Voldemort and destroyed one of his [[SoulJar Horcruxes]]]], making him arguably [[spoiler:not much of]] a [=NTRAFRF=], unless you happen to be [[spoiler:Voldemort]].
** Ari Haswari in ''{{NCIS}}'', murderer of Kate Todd. Interestingly, "Ari" means ''sin'' in Hindi, making it doubly a [=NTRAFRF=].
** Real life example: Leon Trotski. Fighting off your assassin who's just whacked an icepick into your skull?
* ''Tiger'' -- Furio Tigre from ''[[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations]]''. White Tiger, from the Jackie Chan movie ''Rumble in the Bronx''.
** And Benitora/Crimson Tiger from ''{{Samurai Deeper Kyo}}''
** However, Tiger Tanaka from ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'' is a {{badass}} on the side of good.
** ''ElTigre'' takes this trope and runs with it.
** Aisaka Taiga (yes, it's pronounced pretty much the way it sounds) from ''{{Toradora}}''.
*** For bonus points, in addition to the Spanish meaning of the title, "Tora" means "tiger".
* Other wildcat species:
** J. C. Cooger from ''Literature/SomethingWickedThisWayComes''.
* ''Scorpion'' -- Scorpio (Homer's Bond villain-esque boss on ''TheSimpsons''), the Scorpio Killer from ''Dirty Harry'', Scorpius (''{{Farscape}}'' and ''PowerRangersLostGalaxy''), Scorpina (''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'') Robert Scorpio from ''GeneralHospital'', and not to forget plain old Scorpion from ''MortalKombat''. Or ''SpiderMan''.
** Scorponok of ''{{Transformers}}: Beast Wars'' was an exception. Other Transformers with the name aren't, though. And given the main theme, often were likely to have a form that involves a stinger hanging over their body...
** I'll go one better. King Scorpion. Makes this (vaguely) TruthInTelevision and also OlderThanDirt.
* ''Wolf:'' -- Wolfen, Wulf, Adolf, Lupin, [[GirlGenius Wulfenbach]] (such as Claudia Wolf from ''SilentHill 3'', Wolf from ''NeedForSpeed Carbon'', Wolf O'Donnell in ''StarFox'', Sniper Wolf of ''MetalGearSolid''), and the Space Wolves of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', Wulfgar (aside from the Drizzt novels, a good strong Norse name), Nicholas D. Wolfwood from ''TriGun'', Wolfgang from "The Fifth Elephant", who gets an added bonus for being a werewolf.
** Averted with ''HarryPotter'''s Remus Lupin. Although he is a werewolf. (Fenrir Greyback, however, another werewolf from the series, is quite the villain [Fenrir being a giant wolf and a son of Loki in Norse mythology].)
** The Star Wolves from ''FugitiveAlien''.
** Averted as well in ''FushigiYuugi'': Tasuki's nickname, Genrou, means "phantasm wolf", hence the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin phantom wolves]] that shoot out of his talismans.
** Also keep your eye on anyone named ''Isengrim'', ''Ysengrin'' or any variant thereof, because they're either a BigBadassWolf or a GeniusBruiser. Sometimes both, if you're unlucky. He was ''Reynard's'' nemesis in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynard_cycle the Reynard cycle]], and a certain ''General Ysengrin'' also a villain in GunnerkriggCourt under the employ of Coyote. [[MeaningfulName Unsurprisingly, he has a wolf's head.]]
* ''Coyote'' -- (Unless there's a [[LooneyTunes Wile E.]] in front)
**[[XanatosGambit Xanatos]]' own look-alike robot.
** Coyote Starrk: The [[{{Bleach}} Primera Espada]], bitches.
* ''Bull'' -- From Ivanhoe, the stubborn and thuggish Reginald Front-du-Boeuf ("bull-head"). Also Bull Shannon from NightCourt.
* ''Bear'' -- Most kinds of bear aren't well-known or catchy enough to get their own section, but watch out for anyone who goes by "Grizzly" or "Kodiak". However Russian bears (as a name, nickname, or title) definitely fit in this trope. ''[[Chuck]]'' - 'Sugar Bear'
** [[ThisIsSPARTA I! Am!]] {{BEOWULF}}!
* Any type of ''ominous bird'', especially raptors: --
* ''Hawk:'' -- Spenser's partner from the ''Spenser'' series of novels, and later ''Spenser for Hire''. (But probably not Tony Hawk, the Professional Athlete Least Likely To Be Caught Using Steroids.) Don't forget He, Richard Hawk. There's also Hawke from ''AdvanceWars''.
** T. Hawk from ''StreetFighter''.
** [[{{Berserk}} Griffith's]] Band of the Hawk. Well, [[TheLegionsOfHell the second one, anyway]]...
*** Subversions: Hawk from [[SecretOfMana Seiken Densetsu 3]] and Hawk from Terry Brooks' ''Genesis of Shannara''.
*** Riza Hawkeye from {{Fullmetal Alchemist}} doesn't fit this at all, though she is a scarily good shot.
*** Not to mention Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce from M*A*S*H. The only person who'd consider him a NTRAFRF would be Frank Burns.
** Agent Gilbert Hawk of the ''ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum''; Agents may be the good guys, but they're still dangerous.
* ''Raven::'' -- the ultimate [[{{Badass}} badass]] from ''Snow Crash'', Raven from ''TeenTitans'', Vulcan Raven in ''MetalGearSolid'', Ravenus from the ''Linkage'' mini-comics packed in with the ''[[{{Transformers}} Micron Legend]]'' DVD's in Japan (and a pun on "ravenous", to boot), Mr. Raven from ''ElGoonishShive'', Eric Draven from ''TheCrow'', and The Raven Guard of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' .
** [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Mystique's]] real name is Raven Darkholme.
** Subverted, then played straight, then subverted again in ''TalesOfVesperia''.
** Don't forget [[MyImmortal Ebony Darkness Raven Way]], or whatever her name is at the moment.
*** Her full name is Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way. Yes, the apostrophe's included.
** [[ThatsSoRaven ''OH SNAP!'']]
** Ironically, AmericanNinja Jonathan ''Raven'' was played by an actor named Jeffrey ''Meek''.
** Also, Raven from Zoids
** Raven is one of the worst of a legion of anti-heroes in Glen Cook's ''The Black Company'' series.
** Korax, the BigBad from ''Hexen''. Something of a pun on the part of [=''Raven''Soft=] who wrote Hexen.
** That guy from ECW.
** Ravensbrook was a women's only concentration camp.
** Raven, the PerkyGoth from CecilBDemented.
** Korax, first officer on the ''IKS Gr'oth'' in ''[[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Trouble with Tribbles]]''.
** Let's not forget Raven, the FireEmblem mercenary who can solo entire maps on his own.
* ''Eagle:'' -- Eagle of ''AdvanceWars''. ''{{Psychonauts}}'', where Eagle is one of the four animal-themed luchadores running around in the head of Edgar Teglee, with Tiger, Cobra, and Dragon making up the rest. He takes the opportunity to [[KickTheDog punch Raz in the head]] while he's briefly confused over Eagle's catchphrase. [[spoiler:Ca-caw!]]. The entire team from {{Eagle Riders}} (a.k.a. ''{{Science Ninja Team Gatchaman}}'')
*** Unless the author is American, in which case Eagle is almost always a hero. [[RunningGag In America!]] There's a reason it's called {{Eagleland}}.
* ''Crow:'' -- Jacob Crowe of ''TimeSplitters: Future Perfect'' fits the bill. Ashe Corven from the Crow series would also qualify, though it's a Latinate version of the name. And not to forget Justin and Iris Crowe in ''Carnivale''. And CosmicHorror Victorian horror mishmash ''Nightmare Creatures'' had Aleister Crowley as the BigBad of the series.
** {{Earthworm Jim}}'s archnemesis [=PsyCrow=].
** The Jim Crow laws of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
** Karasu (Japanese for crow) from Three of Heart, One of Blood doesn't seem like this at first: He offers to [[spoiler:Bring Yukimori back to life.]] Unfortunately, it doesn't hold, least of all because [[spoiler:He's a Legacy and he can't raise the dead- he actually [[PrimalFear can control fear]] and cast [[MasterOfIllusion extremely realistic illusions.]] ]]
* ''Raptor:'' -- Lord Raptor in ''{{Darkstalkers}}''. Rex Raptor of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' could be a subversion.
* ''Shrike:'' -- A bird that impales insects or lizards onto sharp branches to feed on them. The ''Hyperion'' series by Dan Simmons features a NighInvulnerable, time-traveling robot assassin known as The Shrike, who is definitely not someone you want to mess with, primarily because it ''will'' live up to its name. Also Captain Shrike of the aforementioned Raven Guard, who likes to pop up out of nowhere with his jet pack and impale people with his impossibly [[impossibly sharp weapon]]
* ''Snake:'' -- Solid (and Liquid and Solidus) Snake of ''MetalGearSolid'', Snake Jailbird of ''TheSimpsons.''
** This also applies to people with names that invoke species of deadly snake: Viper, Cobra, etc. Suach as [[{{Blackadder}} "...I shall be known from now on: The Black... Vegetable!"]], or ''everybody'' from ''KillBill.''
** Don't forget Orochimaru of ''{{Naruto}}'' fame. In Japanese, his name is usually written as 大蛇丸; the middle character 「蛇」 means "snake." Additionally, the "Orochi" (written as 大蛇) is itself an evil snake from Japanese mythology.
*** Similarly to the above example and subversion, William Makepeace Thackeray had a lovable traitor family named the Crawleys, and Anthony Trollope, who was heavily influenced by him gave the last name to a noble character. It's probably worth noting GoodOmens which has NobleDemon Crowley originally named "Crawly" (he was the serpent in the Garden of Eden), and whose present name is an allusion to famous Satanist Alastair Crowley.
** [[EscapeFromNewYork Snake Plissken]] anyone?
** Serpent from ''MegaManZX'', and his company, Slither Inc.
* Any sort of ''mustelid:'' -- (weasels, skunks, badgers, and wolverines) but the larger the better. They may not be particularly dangerous on the surface, but they will be the sort of person who holds a grudge and will not let go of it (Badger from ''{{Firefly}}'', Itachi from {{Naruto}} whose name literally means "Weasel")
** People named Weasel (or some variation thereof) tend to be {{LovableTraitor}}s.
** [[TheWindInTheWillows Mr. Badger]], who is not only a badass JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but also [[SpeciesSurname a badger]].
** "Brock" (as in [[TheVentureBrothers Brock Samson]]) is Old English for "badger".
** I can't believe you people forgot Marvel's Wolverine. He's only the greatest comic book character of all time!
* ''Fox:'' -- Steve Fox from ''{{Tekken}}''. You might also want to avoid people who take the name Vixen, too ...
** Any variation of "Reynard," from the medieval stories including, but not limited to, Renard, Reinhardt, Reineke, heck, possibly even [[{{Dracula}} Renfield]]. If somebody in your group has a variation of that last name, avoid him. He's TheMole.
*** Especial mention should be made to the RushHour sequels, in which not one but two villains have names that translate to "Fox" in that character's native language: Hu Li, from 2, and Inspector Renard from 3.
*** [[ThoseWackyNazis Wacky Nazi]] Reynhard Heydrich.
*** GunnerkriggCourt's resident plush doll-possessing fox spirit Reynardine, AKA Renard.
*** Le Renard Subtil is the name of the villain in the novel {{Last of the Mohicans}} DEFINITELY traitorous.
*** Janine "Fox" Renard from {{Gargoyles}}. Before she got married, anyway...
** Any fox in {{Redwall}} has a proclivity for double dealing.
** Can't believe no one's mentioned {{Zorro}}.
* ''Spider:'' -- Much like Fox, it's a trickster's name, so there are quite a few aversions.
** Special mention to the various Black Widow villainesses.
** Spider from ''AnansiBoys'', which is also a MeaningfulName, because he's the son of Anansi.
** [[{{Transmetropolitan}} Spider Jerusalem]], rogue journalist.
* [[PaniPoniDash Tsurugi Inugami]] in addition to [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Tsurugi]], he is also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inugami Inugami]] - not just an animal, it is a ''Japanese mythology god''.
* In a rare plant-related example, {{Bone}}'s Briar and Rose. Guess who's the baddie.
** Thorn's a really nice girl, though.
* Pretty much anybody named "Jackal" is either an assassin or a terrorist.
* ''Monkey:'' -- a subversion of the trope by Dutch author Tais Teng. The God of Fate in Dreams plays dice with the Goddess of Fate in Daylight, with the stakes being which one of them gets to toy with the life of a puny mortal - but a creature unimpressively named [[EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys the Monkey]] determines the victim of their game. And his fate. And is therefore, for all intents and purposes, the Supreme Being.
** One of the most mysterious gods of the realm, Manay'yend, carries the title "Brother of the Monkey". Nobody knows what this means, but it is implied that those who figure it out will [[GoMadFromTheRevelation wish they hadn't]].
* ''Flamingo:'' -- [[OnePiece Donquixote Doflamingo]], a nihilistic pirate and [[PeoplePuppets puppet-master]] who [[RazorFloss slices people into pieces]]. He dresses in a pink, feathery coat and dabbles in slave trade, and abandons it because it's become passe (the slave trade, not the coat).[[/folder]]

'''Body Part:''' Usually, the extremity they'll hit you with, or the one that's the most scarred. ''Blood, talon, skull, fang.''

[[folder:Body Part]]
* ''Blood:'' -- (Too many bad vampire movies to count, as well as Lawrence Blood from ''FatalFury'' and the classic ''[[Film/CaptainBlood Captain Blood]]''. Combine two dangerous names and you get Blood Falcon, Captain Falcon's EvilTwin from ''F-Zero X''.)
** Notable mention is [[{{Gunnm}} Caerula Sanguis]], whose name literally means "blue blood," both a mark of her [[{{LadyofWar}} regal and elegant bearing]] and of her...shall we say...[[{{JapaneseVampire}} clinical status.]]
** The evil-sounding connotations of Blood as a name is what a young, babyface pro-wrestler to switch from his real name, Richard Blood, to the stage name Ricky Steamboat (arguably the only example of a wrestler having a more Badass real name than stage name)
*** In real life, the only person ever to get close to successfully stealing the crown jewels of England was called... Colonel Thomas Blood.
*** [[PennyArcade His name is... Raven Darklaton... Blood!]]
** And combining this with the XtremeKoolLetterz example below, we have ChaoticEvil AxCrazy PsychoForHire dwarf [[BaldursGate Korgan Bloodaxe]]
** Averted in the second series of ''Welkin Weasels'' novels, where one of the main characters is named Bryony Bludd, which is lampshaded by (wouldn't you know it?) a vampiric stoat. It's still a MeaningfulName, though; she's a veterinary surgeon (which within the series actually means a doctor to her fellow TalkingAnimals).
** [[JusticeLeague Jason Blood]], to whom an actual demon from Hell is bound.
** [[BlazBlue Ragna The Bloodedge]]. In actually, one of the sanest people around. But he has a fearsome OneWingedAngel form which fits the trope to a tee.
** The Primarch of the Blood Angels Space Marines chapter in ''Warhammer 40000'' was imaginatively named Sanguinus.
** RafaelSabatini's famous pirate, Captain Blood, started his career as ''Doctor'' Blood. It works either way! Notably, he was not bloodthirsty at all, and was a complex and sensitive man, so his name had a touch of irony to it... Which was completely lost in the [[Film/CaptainBlood movie]], turning him into an uncomplicated {{badass}} with an entirely appropriate name.
** Real life example: This lurker's father had a doctor when he was young called Dr. Blood. Doesn't that sound like a cheap-o horror flick right there?
* ''Fang:'' -- (Fang from ''[[MaximumRide Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment]]'', Fang, the thug with a spider for a head, from the animated version of ''TeenTitans'', Fang The Sniper of ''SonicTheHedgehog''. Since 'kiba' is the Japanese word for 'fang', Kiba the dog-themed ninja from {{Naruto}} and Kiba the wolf from WolfsRain also qualify)
** And helicopter-chucking Shootfighter ''{{Tekken}}'' titan Iron Kiba pretty much trumps all of the above, as a combination CompleteMonster and OldMaster. He's also larger and sturdier than most ''Hokuto no Ken''/''Fist of the North Star'' {{BigBad}}s to boot.
** Also, the FourFangs from FireEmblem 7.
** [[MortalEngines Stalker Fang]]. That is all.
* ''Scar:'' (main villain of ''[[DisneyAnimatedCanon The Lion King]]'', Scar from ''FullMetalAlchemist'', General Skarr in ''[[TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'', [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Scara B. King]] in TheNamelessMod)
** Subverted in John Ford's classic, ''The Searchers'': Cicatrice, aka "Scar," does indeed commit a heinous act in killing a settler family and kidnapping the two daughters...but after that he spends his time either oblivious to (as in, living his life and leading his tribe) or ''running from'' the man who spends years hunting him down, {{Determinator}} Ethan Edwards.
** Only known name of a revenge-driven serial killer in ''{{FullmetalAlchemist}}'' who is out to get every single state alchemist and all those who get in his way via alchemical brain explosion. He's so effective at this that all high-ranking officers temporarily abandon their HQ in Central City where he was spotted and head out to the Eastern boondocks.
* ''Beards:'' -- Maybe this is just a pirate thing, but Blackbeard, {{Bluebeard}} and the Barbarossa Brothers (literally "red beard"). Luffy's brother in One Piece works for a Captain Whitebeard.
** there was also Yellowbeard, recurring Monty Python character, who finally managed to get his own movie. Sort of.
** [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Barbossa]] means "beard of bones".
**In RealLife, there was also a Holy Roman Emperor named Friedrich Barbarossa, who worked hard to live up to his reputation (until he died of a heart attack in Turkey by falling in an ice-cold river at the beginning of the Third Crusade...) ThoseWackyNazis named their invasion of Russia after him.
* ''The Hand:'' -- a {{Ninja}} clan in the MarvelUniverse. The Foot is a ninja clan from TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles. Mr. Hand is a villain in ''DarkCity'', though all of the villains has "Mr. Noun" names. The infamous Black Hand of historical and melodramatic fame may also qualify.
** Master Hand and Crazy Hand of SuperSmashBros.
** Hugh the Hand is an assassin in Margarate Weis and Tracey Hickman's Death Gate Cycle. The "Hand" is actually his rank within the assassin's guild.
* ''Wing:'' -- for the implications of DeathFromAbove. (Blitzwing, Thunderwing, Darkwing and about a dozen other {{Transformers}} with "wing" in their name)
** Although the Decepticon Darkwing's name is less threatening, due to the unfortunate coincidence of being shared with [[DarkwingDuck a Disney duck character]].
*** And {{Mooks}} should stay the hell out of ''GundamWing.''
* ''Guts:'' -- The AntiHero of ''{{Berserk}}''.
** Guts Man from ''MegaMan''.
* ''Claw:'' -- or any spelling variation thereof, such as Klaw, main enemy of ''InspectorGadget''.
** [[ToyStory Claw chooses who will go and who will stay!]]
** [[WarriorCats Tigerclaw.]]
** Michelle Clore (sounds like "claw" in the right accent), the BigBad of ''KateModern'', a pun which was lampshaded on more than one occassion.
** The Hooded Claw, that guy who's always trying to kill Penelope Pitstop.
** [[FallOut Deathclaws]]--Sneaks the "Death" in there as well. They're appropriately named though--you really don't want to screw with these guys.
** Klaw, sonic-handed enemy of the FantasticFour.
* An honourable mention must go the Hyena People from ''{{Digger}}'', whose females have the following, friendly, lovable names; [[CuteBruiser Grim-]] [[GoodIsNotNice Eyes]], [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Blood-Eyes]], [[TheLibby Blood-Tail]], [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Shadebones]]... most female hyenas seem to have them. Even the benevolent ones have names like [[TheDumbledore Boneclaw Mother]], and the smaller less aggressive males names like [[OwlBeDamned Owl-Caller.]]
* RealLife examples, [[WorldWarI the Black Hand Gang]] and the craze in the early 20th century of referring to TheMafia in New York as the "Black Hands"
[[/folder]]


'''Conquerors''': Powerful tyrants, generals, and fighting men of history will generally lend some of their potent reputation to anyone who uses them as a namesake.

[[folder:Conquerors]]
* Raze - Rahs al Ghul from Batman sounds like this; also, Ghoul.
** For extra running bowel-trembling terror-ness, Ras al Ghul means "the demon's head" in Arabic.
* ''Augustus:'' -- But only if they never abbreviate it to "Gus", or, worse yet, [[PGWodehouse "Gussie"]]. Or, for that matter, "Auggie", but that's pretty uncommon. Named after Gaius Octavius Augustus, nephew of Julius Caesar and first emperor of Rome.
** [[EternalDarkness Pious Augustus]], [[spoiler: a.k.a. Philippe Augustine, a.k.a. Paul Augustine.]]
** Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden is a Swedified version, leading to...
** Gustave from ''SagaFrontierII''.
** Augustus Giovanni from VampireTheMasquerade, perhaps the most powerful necromancer in the setting.
** A less serious one would be Augustus Gloop from CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory.
* ''Alexander:'' -- But only if they never abbreviate it to "Alex"... or for that matter "Xander"... "[[{{Superman}} Lex]]" only one character can get away with. Alex Delarge of ''AClockworkOrange'' comes to mind. Named after Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who conquered Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia.
** Although PreCrisis, [[SuperMan Lex]] was short for ''Alexis'' Luthor.
* ''Caesar:'' -- Ever heard of [[TheCabinetOfDrCaligari a somnambulist named Cesare]]? Both of the titles 'kaiser' and 'tsar'/czar' are derived from 'Caesar'. Of course, the kaisers and tsars were notable lines of conquerors in their own rights. Named after Julius Caesar, who conquered and unified Italy, [[strike: France]] Gaul, and Spain towards the end of the Roman Republic.
** Cesare Borgia, scary Renaissance dude. Not as bad as [[{{Demonization}} his enemies suggested]], but still a bad dude.
* ''Cyrus'' -- [[ConAir "TheVirus"]].
** Miley Cyrus. End of story.
* ''Darius:'' -- [[spoiler:the {{Chessmaster}}]] from ''NeedForSpeed Carbon''.
** Darius Just in [[IsaacAsimov Isaac Asimov's]] ''Murder at the ABA'' is generally a decent enough fellow, albeit with a sharp tongue and the martial arts skills to back it up.
* ''Genghis:'' -- The original gets the double whammy of also having Khan used as part of his nickname. He's ''that'' {{Badass}}). His real name Temujin is less intimidating, but it pops up occasionally.
** Even though Temujin roughly translates to "Strong-As-Iron" in Mongolian, and "Supreme Earth Man" in Chinese.
* ''Gilgamesh:'' -- As the original is a Sumerian king, in ''The Epic of Gilgamesh''.
** Gilgamesh of ''FinalFantasy''. His {{badass}}ery might vary from game to game, but try telling that to [[FinalFantasyVIII Seifer]].
* ''Hannibal:'' -- Thanks to PopculturalOsmosis, a [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs certain fictional character]] is more famous than the original Carthaginian chap.
** TheATeam has one too.
* ''Julian''. Julian the Apostate needs no introduction; Julian, the semi-legendary Count of Ceuta, joined the Muslims and let them cross over into Spain; and the probably fictional Saint Julian the Hospitaller ''murdered his parents while they were staying at his house'' -- although he was [[NotWhatItLooksLike tricked into it]], and got his name for using his wealth to build shelters for the poor afterwards. A Julian is seldom as psychotic as some of the names on this list, but he should be taken very seriously.
** Another one: the genocidal Julian Robotnik from the Sat AM SonicTheHedgehog continuity, who makes every other version of Robotnik/Eggman look like Julie Andrews.
** Julian from Roger Zelazny's ''Amber'' series. Quote: "I delight in the slaughter of beasts, and I think of my relatives constantly."
** {{Alias}} has Julian Sark, mysterious Brit-cum-Russian aristocrat, and [[TheDragon Dragon]] to more than a few BigBad[=s=].
** Not to mention the fact that it is the adjective form for describing some of the early Roman emperors (though they are more commonly referred to as Julio-Claudian).
* ''Khan:'' -- ''StarTrek II: The Wrath Of [[TheKhan Khan]]'', Shere Khan of ''TheJungleBook'', Shao Kahn of ''MortalKombat''. Technically a Mongol-Turkic title, but whatever. Coincidentally a common surname in South Asia. Lots of Pakistanis, as well as Indian Muslims, will have the surname "Khan".
**[[{{Warhammer40000}} Jaghati Khan]] has the additional badassery from his first name, shared with one of Ghenghis' sons
** '''''[[TheKhan KHAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!]]'''''
** Also not to forget [[DoctorWho Dalek Caan]]
** [[TheShadow Shiwan Khan]]
* ''Magnus'': Latin for "Great" or "Big". A harmless first name in Swedish.
** '' -- Magneto from ''X-Men''. (The way Magneto spells his Erik with a k has the strange effect of making him look Swedish...)
** Ultra Magnus, from ''{{Transformers}}'', is an exception.
** Another ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' example: Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons.
** Magnus Honey from Roald Dahl's ''Matilda'' is an exception, as he seems to have been a NiceGuy, perhaps in keeping with his surname.
** Butch Magnus Milosevic from ''TheBoondocks''.
** {{Real Life}} Example: Magnus Ver Magnusson, the Icelandic powerlifter.
* ''Napoleon:'' -- may be a subversion of this trope; this troper can only remember the original Napoleon as a badass (although they named [[TheNapoleon a complex]] after him), and the most famous Napoleon besides him was, well...
** {{Animal Farm}}'s ManipulativeBastard pig whose actions emulate Stalin's.
* ''Vlad/Vladimir:'' -- Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in ''{{Dune}}'', Vlad from ''ElGoonishShive'', Vladimir Lem from ''MaxPayne'', Vladimir Bierko from ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'', Vlad Masters/Plasmius in ''DannyPhantom'', the eventual Khan (aha!) Vlad Ward of BattleTech fame, Vlad Taltos of Steven Brust's ''{{Dragaera}}'' series, Kaiser Vlad of ''Battalion Wars''.)
** Real-life examples: Vladimir Ilyich Oelyanov, better known as Lenin (Lenin, a ''{{BadAss}}?''), Vlad the Impaler, Vladimir Putin (particularly if you used to be part of the USSR).
* ''Xerxes:'' -- Examples include Xerxes from ''SystemShock 2''. ''ThreeHundred'' turns him into a CampGay version of [[StreetFighter Dhalsim]]. The original Xerxes ''did'' conquer half of Asia.)
** Also the name of Mozenrath's flying eel companion in Disney's ''Aladdin'' animated series, but he's more of a Nuisance Connected to Someone to Run Away Really Fast From than anything. Still, they made the effort.
* ''Nero:'' -- Nero Angelo from ''DevilMayCry'', [[spoiler: who turned out to be Vergil]], and Nero ([[strike:no relation]] [[strike:his son, according to WordofGod]] [[strike:Link?]] [[http://www.capcom-unity.com/carbo/blog/2009/04/28/captivate_2009__devil_may_cry_news_no_new_game_unfortunately Here you go.]]) from ''DevilMayCry 4'', as well as Nrvnqsr (pronounced Nero) Chaos from ''{{Tsukihime}}.''
** Don't mess with Nero Wolfe.
** In ''TheRescuers'', the villain has a pair of pet crocodiles named Nero and Brutus (see below).
** The villain of the 2009 ''StarTrek'' feature film is called Captain Nero.
[[/folder]]

'''Titles''': Certain military ranks, Nobility titles, and plain old titles carry tinges of evil all by themselves. Avoid anyone with the following ranks:

[[folder:Titles]]
* Doctor -- Doctor Doom, Doctor Victor von Frankensten, Doctor Jekyll, Doctor Evil, you name it. If you get an M.D. or a Ph.D., you might as well grow a handlebar moustache and start practicing your evil laugh. Bonus points for insanity. See also MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate.
** [[DoctorWho However, if "The Doctor" is the entirety of your name (that we know of)...]]
*** If you're a Dalek, you ''should'' run in this case
** "Doctor Loboto" from Psychonauts likes to extract children's brains, the name an allusion to lobotomies (which would be the destruction of part of said brains, which is almost as creepy as what he does with them).
* General -- While the lower officer ranks may have their share of heroes who risk their lives on the front lines, your average General sits in his cushy headquarters plotting the destruction of all who stand in his way. General Zod and General Grievous are prime examples.
** Both in fiction and in real life, you should run away from anyone holding the rank of Generalissimo.
* Baron -- ever since Manfred von Richthofen became the terror of the skies against the Allies in World War I, every Baron automatically catches his tinge. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from ''Dune'', Baron Otto Matic from ''Tom Slick'', etc..
** Jack Kirby's Demon had a minor villain named Baron von Evilstein.
** Arguably, the entire Kingdom of Baron in ''FinalFantasyIV''. [[spoiler:However, this is mainly due to Golbez sending Cagnazzo, the Archfiend of Water, to kill King Baron and take his place.]]
* Professor -- When academics, or at least would be academics, go bad. Professor Chaos, bringer of destruction and doom, is the latter.
* Captain, Commander and other high ranks are good too, either for villains but more so for antiheroes (or just straight up good-guy heroes). Anything lower tends to lack oomph. After all, nobody's scared of a Private. [[DrillSergeantNasty Sergeants, on the other hand...]]
[[/folder]]

'''Famous Murderers and Assassins:''' If a character has either the first ''or'' last name of a noted criminal, real or fictional, it's a good sign they're headed towards a life of crime themselves. If their name is followed by "the" and a violent-sounding verb (like JackTheRipper or Barry the Chopper), then they're almost certainly a SerialKiller. See also TheButcher, NameOfCain.

[[folder: Famous Murderers and Assassins]]
* ''Jack The Ripper:'' -- The villain in ''Red Eye'' is named Jackson Rippner. He even [[LampshadeHanging notes the connotations]]. [[GeneralRipper General Jack D. Ripper]], in ''DoctorStrangelove'' is even more directly based on Jack the Ripper.
* There were enough people named [[CainAndAbel Cain]] or variants that it even got [[NameOfCain its own article]].
* ''Brutus:'' -- is certainly a name to watch out for. Anyone named this will almost always be covered in muscles and/or weapons, and extremely prone to violence. (Examples include the original Brutus, who killed the last King of Rome [granted, he [[JerkAss deserved]] [[CompleteMonster it]]...], His descendant Brutus, who betrayed Caesar, Brutus/Bluto from the ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoons, Brutus, the psychotic, hulking guard rat from ''The Secret of NIMH'', Bruticus, a particularly, um, brutal CombiningMecha in ''{{Transformers}}'', and Brutaka from ''{{Bionicle}}''.)
** In ''The Rescuers'', the villain has two pet alligators named Brutus and Nero. See above.
* ''Lucrezia:'' -- Examples: the original Lucrezia Borgia, usually ([[HistoryMarchesOn but wrongly]]) regarded as a notorious poisoner, her {{Zork}} parody counterpart Lucrezia Flathead, Lucrezia Mongfish from ''GirlGenius'', Lucrezzia Belladona (belladonna is a type of poison), a mercenary poisoner (and husband killer!) from Warhammer, and Lucrezia Noin from GundamWing. It doesn't help that the name also means "Insanity")
** Lucrecia [=McEvil=] from an Earth Wind and Fire song. Also an example of ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* ''Judas:'' -- Saduj in ''{{Ultima}} V'' betrays the party.
* ''Victor or Frankenstein:'' -- Any variation.
** Victor: Victor von Gerdenheim in Darkstalkers, Doctor Vicktor (Benvictor as well) in ''{{Ben 10}}'', [[FantasticFour Victor Von Doom]].
** Not to mention [[MyNaymeIs Viktor]] Vaughn, the sinister street criminal and star of MF DOOM's ConceptAlbum ''Vaudeville Villain''.
** Frankenstein: Franky in ''OnePiece''
** [[MysteryMen Casanova Frankenstein]], who was used as the movie's villain just because of his awesome name.
** FrankenFran herself may never be referred to as explicitly as her name is given in the title, but...
* Retroactive aversion: Ralph Hinkley on ''TheGreatestAmericanHero'' was renamed Ralph Hanley after a man with the name Hinkley attempted to assassinate President Reagan.
* ''GunmanWithThreeNames:'' -- any character referred to by three names is likely a killer or dangerous sort, based on the examples of John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, and Mark David Chapman, famous assassins.
** Not to mention the ''Saturday Night Live'' episode in which Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat is assassinated (in circumstances reminiscent of the then-recent attempt on Ronald Reagan's life), conferring instant fame upon his triple-named assassin John David Stutts (also played by Murphy).
** When a real-life serial killer's identity is finally established, it's common for the news media to report the ''full'' name of the killer, including his middle name, even if the killer never used his middle name in his life. Westley Allan Dodd and John Wayne Gacy are examples. Thus, serial killers tend to be remembered as people with three names.
* ''Hitler:'' -- may be an exception. He was such a monster that his first name, Adolf, is never, to my knowledge, used in a threatening manner, or, for that matter, at all. Hitler did, however, manage to kill off an entire first name in most of the world.
** Dolph from ''SuikodenV'' may qualify, though. Dolph Lungren, too, maybe.
** Dolf The Crow, the sort-of BigBad from the Dutch TV-Show [[AlfredJKwak Alfred J. Kwak]] was a halfbreed of a crow and a species of bird I can't remember, spoke in a German accent, turned evil, started a political party with a banner obviously similar to the Nazi flag. He also attempts world domination a few times, and all this while wearing a Napoleon-like attire.
** Adolf is actually used in the novel ''Evil Genius''. One of the villains is named Adolf Hauser. To make matters worse, he's actually nicknamed "The Fuhrer" and teaches at the Axis Institute, a school for future supervillains. May be a case of RefugeInAudacity. Oddly enough, he's ''not'' the BigBad.
** Dolph, one of the bullies on ''TheSimpsons''.
** The video game ''Vandal Hearts'' pulls a double whammy with the BigBad Dolf Crowley. In fact, ''Vandal Hearts'' is full of these--it also has an antagonistic character named Hel Spites and his son, [[NameOfCain Kain]].
** Before the end of World War II, Adolf was one of the most popular names that German parents chose for a baby boy. After the end of World War II, ''nobody'' in Germany named their son Adolf any more.
** In the children's book {{Heidi}}, written long before World War II, Heidi's kind, lonely grandfather is named Adolf.
* ''Mordred:'' -- who killed King Arthur, does a double whammy, crossing into the '''Mor names''' category. Examples include Mordred Deschain in ''TheDarkTower''.
* The future humans in ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' really should have known better than to give [[spoiler: the Terminator captain of a submarine the name [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Caine_Mutiny Queeg]]]], even if they thought it was funny.
[[/folder]]


'''Demonic/Angelic:''' Pretty self explanatory, there's some names that just plain sound or ''are'' demonic. Since a few angels fell, some of the more malevolent sounding ones are included. (Note, [[DidNotDoTheResearch not exactly accurate angel-ology]] goes on below, just FYI)

[[folder: Demonic/Angelic]]
'''Infernal:'''
* Two words: ''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', literally "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Squid Vampire Squid from Hell]]".
* ''Ahriman:'' -- BigBad of Zoroastrianism, and the name of a powerful Chaos sorcerer from Warhammer 40k. Also a recurring monster in the ''FinalFantasy'' series. Also there's [[BigBad Dr. Mark Ahriman]] in ''False Memory'' by [[DeanKoontz Dean Koontz]].
* ''Azazel:'' -- Bad guy in ''TheSandman'', lots of mouths. Was meant to literally ''be'' the demon, though. Also the body-hopping demon squaring off against Denzel Washington in the movie ''Fallen'', the BigBad of ''{{Supernatural}}'', and the latest boss of the ''{{Tekken}}'' games. It's spelled with three a's in the television series ''Hex'', but the intention is still there.
** Not to mention [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Nightcrawler's]] self-proclaimed father - though that fact depends on which universe you're in, and who is writing it.
** There's a little-known (and rather bad) c-64 game called ''Death Bringer''. Its main villain is named Azazael.
* ''Damien:'' -- Of ''TheProphecy'' and ''The Omen'' fame, also features in ''ElGoonishShive''. A recent development, as historically Damien is the name of at least [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien one saint]].
* ''Lucifer:'' -- AntiHero of his own Vertigo comic book of the same name, Lucemon of ''DigimonFrontier''.
** And of course [[LouisCypher Louis/Luis Cypher]] (''AngelHeart'', ''TheMatrix''...)
** If you go for a variant on "beelzebub" or "satan", you'll generally look like you're trying too hard, though. Unless you're in Japan: Mr. Satan (from ''{{Dragonball Z}}''). He's not evil, though, and while he'd be a BadAss in any other Verse, in DBZ he's a {{Muggle}} with [[FakeUltimateHero delusions of grandeur]]. ''{{Digimon}}'' also gives us Demon, Beelzebumon, and [=SkullSatamon=]. They were dubbed as Daemon, Beelzemon, and... [=SkullSatamon=]?!
*** The snake in {{Redwall}} is named Asmodeus, a Biblical demon and the king of the lot in Jewish mythology. Brian Jacques says he did this on purpose.
** Similarily, "Lucien" is also a name to be found on dangerous people, as ''[[{{The Elder Scrolls}} Oblivion]]'', ''{{Fable}}'', and ''{{Runescape}}'' demonstrate.
** Also, Lucius Malfoy from HarryPotter
* ''Devil:'' -- Diavolo (Italian for "devil") from ''JoJosBizarreAdventure''
** Cruella De Vil, for an adjective/demonic combo. Note also that this name was kept in some countries where "devil" isn't actually a word, such as Spain; there it was from "Vil-", the Latin root for "evil".
** "De Vil" also followes a very common Dutch naming pattern of "De [verb]". "Villen" means "to skin" in Dutch.
**Let's not forget Diablo, the lord of all demons from the game bearing his name. This one may be too obvious to count in, however.
* ''Demon:'' -- Not to state the obvious or anything, but Demona from ''{{Gargoyles}}''.
** And Demonica from the PS2 medieval take on Powerstone, Barbarian. Though her story is different, you can definitely see the resemblance in body stance, personality, and the reasons for despising humans.
** The supervirus Daemon from ''{{ReBoot}}''.
** Akuma from ''StreetFighter''.
** Hiruma from ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has the kanji for "demon" in his name, 魔.
* ''Belial'': [=BelialVamdemon=], BigBad of ''DigimonAdventure02''. ''Digimon'' loves this, apparently. Was dubbed as [=MaloMyotismon=], which still evokes the adjective variety, but fell flat. Then again, so did [=BelialVamdemon=].
**Belial means "worthless" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, wicked or lawless men were commonly referred to as "sons of Belial."
** Berial is the name of a boss in ''[[DevilMayCry Devil May Cry 4]]''.
**Belial's used to such an extreme in ''DevilSurvivor'' that not only do they have a boss named "Belial", but if a demon so much as has "Bel" in it's name, you know it's going to be a tough fight. It even reaches the point where they renamed Baldr to Beldr so that he could fit the rule.
* ''Abyssion:'' -- From TalesOfSymphonia, the last in a venerable line of demon hunters. He asks the party to schlep around the world collecting "[[EvilWeapon Devil's Arms]]", for what turn out to be [[FaceHeelTurn less-than-savory]] [[BonusBoss purposes]]. Still, with a name like that, you'd think the party would have guessed ''something'' was up.
* ''Hell'' -- Doctor Hell from ''MazingerZ''. The dubbed version (''TranzorZ'') was worried people might be offended by that, so they called him "Doctor Demon" instead. Yeah, that's a LOT better.
** Enma Ai, a.k.a. "HellGirl," isn't exactly a bad person... but that's probably not running through your mind as she ferries you straight to hell.
* ''Mephistopheles:'' -- {{Warhammer40000}} doesn't use the entire name, but do have a BloodAngels [[MagicKnight Librarian]] called Mephiston.
**One of the Undead's Dreadlord hero units in Warcraft 3 bears the name Mephistroth.
* ''Amon:'' -- NeverwinterNights2 has a demon binder named Ammon Jerro.
** Also, the demon possessing [[{{Devilman}} Akira Fudoh]].
* ''Samael:'' -- ''ErrantStory'' gives us Ian Samael, recently [[spoiler:possessed/[[MindRape mind raped]] by an ancient elven goddess]]. On a good day, he's simply a WellIntentionedExtremist. On a bad one, he's a PersonOfMassDestruction, with very little regard for minor concerns like collateral damage.
** The name of the [[RespawningEnemies self-replicating]] demon in the first {{Hellboy}} movie.
** The new BigBad in Volume 5 of ''{{Series/Heroes}}''.
* ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' has the QuirkyMinibossSquad, the [[SevenDeadlySins Seven]] Sisters of Purgatory: Lucifer, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, Leviathan, Belphegor, and Mammon. Their main job in the series is carrying out human sacrifices to resurrect their mistress. (And {{Fanservice}}.)

'''Angels:'''
* [[HotFuzz Sgt. Nicholas Angel, badge number 777.]]
* ''Azrael:'' -- (Gargamel's pet cat in ''TheSmurfs''; an antihero from the [[{{Batman}} Batverse]], demon in {{Dogma}}, anime villain Muruta Azrael of ''Gundam SEED''; anglicized form of the name for the Angel of Death in Islam and some Hebrew lore.) Azurile from [[DragonWarrior Dragon Warrior Monsters]]
** Current Chapter Master of the Dark Angels in {{Warhammer 40000}} is one Azrael.
*** Asriel of ''His Dark Materials''.
** The real guy shows up in ''GoodOmens'', and in one of the ''{{Discworld}}'' books.
* ''Exodus:'' -- Possibly due to XtremeKoolLetterz; and the [[DidNotDoTheResearch vaguest recollection]] that it was something in the Bible; which is [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Significant]]. Baffling when you ponder that it means "to leave".
** Exodus (born Bennet du Paris) is a MarvelComics supervillain.
** ''Exodia, The Forbidden One'' will instantly win your Yu-Gi-Oh game when summoned.
** The titular [[BigBad Big Bad]] of ''[[{{Ultima}} Ultima III: Exodus]]''.
* ''Gabriel:'' -- This one's a double whammy with the whole Angel of Death / left hand of God thing. Sylar's real name in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' and Simon and River's dad from ''{{Firefly}}'', the possible real name of the main character in ''VanHelsing''.
** Also the name of the mysterious "other" ghost whisperer on ''GhostWhisperer''.
* The Angels in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' are all named after biblical angels except for the first two, which are named Adam and Lilith.
** You actually can add "Adam" to the list under certain circumstances. Example: Adam Monroe/[[spoiler:Takezo Kensei]], of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' who true to his name is the forerunner of all of the other superpowered people.
** Then there's the [[AntiAntiChrist Adam]] from ''GoodOmens''.
* For anyone who wishes to keep track, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enochian_angels here is a convenient score card]] for the Angel team.
* ''Raphael:'' the serial killer in the ''CriminalMinds'' two-parter "The Big Game"/"Revelations" has an alternate personality who believes himself to ''be'' the actual, biblical one.
** The [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles turtle]], on the other hand, is a good guy, just hot tempered.

'''Biblical'''
* ''Magog:'' -- The titular AntiHero of KingdomCome. Although this may be a subversion, as the character was recently reintroduced in the pages of JSA as a LegacyCharacter and seems to be reforming from his WellIntentionedExtremist self.
* ''Samson:'' -- Brock Samson from the ''VentureBrothers.'' The man is a walking TERROR. He once proposed weaponizing a jawbone, which (combined with his oft-mocked mullet) are subtle little Shout Outs to the original.
** [[RetiredCompleteMonster Samson Gray]], Sylar's father on ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.
* ''Lilith:'' -- (Lilith in ''{{Darkstalkers}}'', Dracula's daughter Lilith in Marvel Comics). In Jewish folklore, Lilith was supposed to be Adam's first wife, created from clay like Adam instead of from Adam's rib, making her his equal. She is often [[{{Demonization}} depicted]] as a baby killer, seductress, and mother of demons.
** Which makes her possessing little girls in ''{{Supernatural}}'' slightly off-putting and more than a little [[NightmareFuel jarring]].
** According to [[{{Narnia}} Mr. Beaver]], Lilith was also an evil genie, and an ancestor of Jadis.
** {{Frasier}} Crane's ex-wife Lillith was mainly a snarky ice queen.
** Used in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', where Lileath is the Eldar goddess of fertility and birth.
** Also in Warhammer 40,000 , Lelith Hesperax, a powerful Dark Eldar Wych-Leader
** The second Angel in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
* One of the two villains from ''TheProposition'' is named Eden Fletcher. His first name kind of gets him on here. Since he's an evil decadent type, and, better yet, a [[SmugSnake Smug]] ''[[SmugSnake Snake]]'' his name makes perfect symbolic sense.
* ''TheDresdenFiles'' has an actual demon/angel in the form of Lasciel.
* Names like Angel or Angelo, or women called Angela (such as in ''{{Spawn}}'' or ''{{Series/Heroes}}'') usually work too.
* ''Zillah:'' -- from Poppy Z. Brite's ''Lost Souls'' is named after the Biblical Zillah, the wife of Lamech (descendant of Cain). Interestingly, Brite's Zillah is male.
** However, as ''{{Toei}}'' so capably showed us, Zillah without the H is a horrible failure.
* In Jewish tradition, the name Absalom is considered banned or at least bad luck to give to a child, given that the character [[CallingOutTheOldMan lead a revolt against his father]]. TheCanterburyTales have a ButtMonkey character with this name, but that's probably more in reference to him being "pretty" (as was the Biblical character) than because of ill-omens associated with the name.
** There used to be a DrWho spin-off comic called "Absalom Daak, Dalek Killer".
* ''Moloch:'' -- A Biblical god/demon who [[{{Demonization}} according to his enemies]] went in for child sacrifice by fire. Also the techno demon on ''{{Buffy}}''.
** Also a (former) crime boss in ''Watchmen'', though he's well past his prime in most of the scenes featuring him.
** Also a boss in the ''MortalKombat'' series.
** [[{{Ravenor}} Zygmunt Molotch]]
** [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Malak]].
** In the English dub of ''SailorMoon'', Kunzite was renamed to Malachite. Still a semiprecious stone name, but...
* ''Nimrod:'' -- An ancient conqueror mentioned only once in Genesis. Shares the same name as a [[XMen robot from the future]].
** Similarly, there's a serial killer named Nimrod ("a mighty hunter before the Lord" and all) in ''The Doll's House'' from {{Sandman}}. Which also has the Corinthian, named for the Biblical symbolism of "through a glass, darkly" (as a dark mirror of humanity) as well as for the [[TheCharmer the]] [[JerkAss mode]] [[KavorkaMan of]] [[SerialKiller behavior, with his particular twist on it.]]
* {{LOST}} has a lot of Biblical names. Ironically, the show's resident {{Magnificent Bastard}} (though {{Your Mileage May Vary}} on his level of evil) is named Benjamin.

'''Pagan/Assorted:'''
* ''Abraxas:'' -- A name of God from Gnostic theology. The [[SoBadItsGood spectacularly awful]] ''Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe'' probably just liked the XtremeKoolLetterz, though.
** Abraxas is an evil cosmic being in MarvelComics, the anthithesis of Eternity.
** There's also an Abraxas Malfoy in Harry Potter.
* ''Acheron Hades:'' -- , and the entire Hades family in the ThursdayNext novels, named after the [[GreekMythology Greek underworld]] and the rivers in it.
* ''Faust:'' -- , and all derivations of it; note that it means "fist" in German. Ellen Faustino from ''The Supernaturalist'', Faust from the various versions, Faust from ''GuiltyGear'', who you ''really'' want to run away from before he sticks his giant scalpel up your ass.
* ''Tantalus:'' -- a figure from ancient Greek legend better known for his IronicHell punishment than for [[ImAHumanitarian what he did to earn it]].
* ''Dante:'' -- Of "Divine Comedy" and "Inferno" fame (Half-demon {{Badass}} from ''DevilMayCry'', BigBad of the anime ''FullMetalAlchemist''. Also the name of the chapter master of the Blood Angels in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}.'' Go Nagai's Demon Lord Dante, as well. Though stay far FAR away from the dub, it is undoubtedly a convention for the worst voice actors ever. It's even worse than "legendary" titles like M.D. Geist and Ogenki Clinic. It's possible that Edmond Dantes of TheCountOfMonteCristo was named with this intent, given that he sentences his enemies to an IronicHell (albeit while still on earth).
* ''Alastor:'' -- A demon of vengeance in Greek myth, and a possessing entity akin to Nemesis in Christian demonology. Spelled "Aleister," may be an allusion to purported black magician Aleister Crowley.
** Blade Master Alastor from ''ViewtifulJoe''.
** Mad-Eye Moody from ''HarryPotter''.
** Alister in {{Supernatural}}.
** One of the bosses of ''{{Painkiller}}''
** In ''VampireTheMasquerade'', alastors are the Camarilla enforcers charged with hunting down and destroying the Anathema, those vampires who the Camarilla have marked for Final Death.
* ''Lamia:'' -- are an ancient Greek demon whose description boils down to 'succubus of children.' This troper met the principal of a Christian school in Houston named Lamia Raad. This is not someone I would entrust my kids to.
** Also see Demon Lord Dante by Go Nagai. Lamia wants to alternatively either screw or eat everyone in the city to have/make food for her zillions of spider babies. (She's a drider instead of the typical half-snake version fantasy works usually toss up)
*** Also Lamia Loveless from ''SuperRobotWars''. An [[RobotGirl android]] and [[TheMole efficient spy]] who will sneak into your team, get really friendly with your teammates, while leaking information to her higher ups so at one point, she will be able to bring your group down in one swift move, and she has no concern in anything except her mission, her life included. Played straight in SRW Advance, when playing Axel's scenario, whereas she never did develop her conscience and stays as a cold blooded android.
** The Lahmian vampires from ''WarhammerFantasy''.
** Madam Lamia, Count Grendel of Gracht's assistant in ''[[DoctorWho The Androids of Tara]]''.
** Lamia the witch from ''Stardust''
* ''Baal:'' -- In ''StargateSG1'' and {{Diablo}}, among other works.
* ''Allelujah' - Allelujah Haptism from Gundam00
** Erm, excuse me? Allelujah is pretty tame. ''Hallelujah'', [[AxCrazy on the]] [[HeroicSociopath other hand]]...
* ''Jormungandr'' - The World Serpent of Norse myth.
* ''Janus'' - The Roman God of Gates, Doors, etc... Often depicted as having [[FaceHeelTurn two faces]]. The doors of his temple were ritually opened when Rome went on war. An example would be Janus from ''Goldeneye'', [[spoiler:who was later revealed to be Alec Trevelyan, AKA 006]].
** Janus from ''ChronoTrigger'' who [[spoiler:not only prophesizes that Chrono will die in his fight with [[EldritchAbomination Lavos]]]], but is also [[spoiler:the past self of apparent BigBad [[HeroicSociopath Magnus]]]].
*Odin. NorseMythology. Also this troper's given name, but that's neither here nor there.
** Usually refered to as 'the Allfather', 'Old One-eye' or 'the Ferryman', as He's rather scary and naming Him directly might bring you unwanted attention.
[[/folder]]

'''[[WeaponsAndWieldingTropes Weapons:]]''' Usually melee weapons, too. ''Sword, knife, gun, hammer, scythe.''

[[folder: Weapons]]
* ''Knives:'' -- (Evil brother from ''{{Trigun}}'', psycho ex-girlfriend Knives Chau from ''ScottPilgrim''. The [[SuperSoldier Daggers]] from SeaQuestDSV.)
** Tough-looking character actor (and real-life ex-con) Danny Trejo oftens plays characters named after edged weapons. He's been Navajas ("knives" in Spanish), Razor Eddie, Razor Charlie, and Machete no less than four times.
* ''Gunn:'' -- Peter Gunn
** Charles Gunn, the muscle on ''{{Angel}}''.
* ''Any notable firearm manufacturer:'' -- (Colt, Winchester, Ingram, Glock, Mauser, et al.). You're not likely to meet a Alexander U.S. Repeating-Arms, but if you do you should probably run ''very'' fast.
** The Winchester brothers on ''{{Supernatural}}''. In the episode "The Benders," a county police officer asks, "Like the rifle?" and Dean answers, "[[NamedLikeMyName Like the rifle.]]"
*** In the season 4 episode "It's a Terrible Life," the bewitched brothers believe their names are Dean '''Smith''' and Sam '''Wesson'''.
** Mary Magnum again, also Moses Magnum from ''X-Men''. Thomas Magnum of ''Magnum, P.I.''.
** Tony Beretta, the cop from the '70's TV show, ''Beretta''.
** Subversion: In the anime ''ScrappedPrincess'', the Casull family is on the run from the church of Mauser and pretty much any last name for any character is a weapon manufacturer. There's enough characters to go from obvious ones like Winya Chester, Barrett and Steyr to more obscure ones such as Galil, Giat, Socom, Scorpse and Peters-Stahl.
** Ingram Plisken from ''SuperRobotWars''. Bonus points for sharing the surname of a dude called ''Snake''.
*** There are a lot of Banpresto Original characters named like that. There's Kyosuke '''Nanbu''', Excellen and Lemon '''Browning''', Lefina '''Enfield''', Sean '''Webley''', '''Ingram''' Prisken, '''Calico''' and '''Spectra''' among others...
* HK-47 from ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.
* ''Bullet:'' -- Bullitt, from the movie of the same name, Bulletta (B. B. Hood) from ''{{Darkstalkers}}''. Subverted in an episode of RedDwarf where Kryten tries to sound tough with the name Jake Bullet ... only to discover that his Badass-sounding 'Cybernetics Division' is traffic control. Also, one of [[CalvinAndHobbes Calvin's]] imaginary alter egos is a private eye named Tracer Bullet.)
* ''Icepick:'' -- There's a [[{{Transformers}} Decepticon]] by the name. Icepick is alos a bad guy from one of the "Double Dragon" games and one of the "Skate Or Die" games.)
* ''Blade:'' -- a mutant from the execrable ''VR Troopers''.
** Variation: [[BlazBlue Ragna the Bloodedge again]].
** ''TekkamanBlade''. Most of the other Tekkamen have weapon names too (Dagger, Axe, Sword...), and if that isn't enough indication you should run, there's Tekkaman Evil. Then ''Tekkaman Blade II'' has Tekkaman Dead.
* ''Needles:'' -- The [[MonsterClown murderous psychopath clown]] from the ''TwistedMetal'' series is called 'Sweet Tooth' after his ice cream truck by most people, but his ''real' name? Needles Kane.
** Mace was also the name of the JerkAss hero of ''[[StarWars The Ewok Adventure]]''.
** [[Ben10AlienForce Mike Morningstar]] again, as a morning star is also the name for a mace with spikes.
* ''Swords:'' -- Star Saber and Wing Saber of ''{{Transformers}}'' and Saber from ''TheInheritanceCycle''.
** [[GhostInTheShell Motoko Kusanagi]]. Admittedly a pseudonym, but still...
** Jerkass antihero of Climax's Dreamcast ''Timestalkers'' game, simply named Sword. Actually, everyone playable has a simple object name like the puppet being named Marion, except the elf Nigel, who was a hero from a previous game (though Sword is the only one people want to get away from for being such a smug Ahole). Lady scares the three mobster bad guys a lot, but that's because they're really just bluffing blustery types who are used to others doing their work.
** The Ten Espada from {{Bleach}}.
* ''Hammer:'' -- The [[CharacterTitle title character]] from ''Sledge Hammer''.
** [[DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog "The Hammer is my penis."]]
** The very hard-boiled MikeHammer.
* DukeNukem, of course. Or does that count as a verb?
* Simon Green's ''{{Nightside}}'' gave us "Shotgun Suzie," aka "Suzie Shooter," aka "Oh Christ, It's Her, Run!"
* JackVance has HeroicSociopath /VillainProtagonist Cugel the Clever, a homophone for cudgel. Also a jab at the character, since a cudgel is the exact opposite of his attempt to be clever and subtle.
* [[PaniPoniDash Tsurugi Inugami]], is named after a [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana sword]]. He's also named after a Japanese Mythology god as a bonus. The thing is, he is not one bit of a {{Badass}}. In fact, he is a downright pushover to [[FriendToAllLivingThings Misao Nanjo]].
* ''Hook'' -- Captain James Hook, "Mrs. Hook's little baby boy."
[[/folder]]

'''Verbs:''' Names that can also function as verbs (usually of the pain inducing variety) also fall in. Often overlaps with '''R Names'''.

[[folder: Verbs]]
* ''Burn:'' -- Burns (Montgomery Burns in ''TheSimpsons'', Arthur Burns from ''The Proposition''.
** Frank Burns from ''{{MASH}}''
* ''Hack:'' -- One half of Megabyte's QuirkyMiniBossSquad on ''ReBoot'', averts this trope since both of them are all but harmless. Also Cassie Hack, the slasher hunter from the series [=Hack/Slash=].
* ''Kill:'' -- By itself is actually kind of silly (see the controversy over Mr. Kill, a ''JamesBond'' villain from ''Die Another Day'') so expect variations such as Killgrave (a Daredevil villain unfortunately known as The Purple Man. Shoulda just stuck with his real name...), and Duff Killigan of ''KimPossible''.
** Also, Killian. It's the name of a [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Clint Eastwood lookalike]] BadAss sheriff in the original. Also appears in {{Fallout}}.
** Col. Kil''gore'' from ''Apocalypse Now'', a man who just can't get enough of the smell of napalm in the morning, outlaw Rud Killgore in an episode of ''WalkerTexasRanger'' and a Black Panther villain named Erik Killmonger.
** Dr. Killjoy from ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suffering_%28video_game%29 The Suffering]].''
** Ron '''Killings''' of {{TNA}}.
** Then there's PhoenixWrightAceAttorney villain Shelly de Killer. Who is a contract killer.
** Killer from ''[[ShadowHearts Shadow Hearts: From the New World]]''. Who is a serial killer.
** "Hello, I am Doctor Henry Killinger, unt zis is my magic murder bag."
** The Kill Master of ''BrutalLegend'' (voiced by Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead) named himself that so people would leave him alone. [[NonindicativeName He's the team healer.]]
* ''Pierce:'' -- Aaron Pierce in ''[[TwentyFour 24]]'', although he is a good guy with a heart of gold, he is still a complete and utter {{Badass}}.
** [[{{MIB}} Alien-hunting unit]] head Daniel Pierce of ''{{Roswell}}''.
* ''Punch:'' -- see ''PunchAndJudy''
* ''Ravage:'' -- Ravage in ''{{Transformers}}'', though he was rarely a threat to other Transformers, was not someone humans wanted to deal with.
** Semi-example: [[{{Transformers}} Bonecrusher]]
** Devastator. He devastates things.
*** Or any use of the name, really. The Harkonnen Devastator from the {{Dune}} games is the biggest, baddest tank around.
* ''Slash:'' -- one of Magus' minions in ''ChronoTrigger'', the other half of the QuirkyMinibossSquad in ''ReBoot''.
* ''Dominate:'' -- ''DoctorWho'' had an actual race calling themselves ''The Dominators''. (They come with [[strike: dwarves in suits]] CreepyMonotone killer robots, of course.
** A DCComics alien race were also called the Dominators. Naturally, they tried to conquer the Earth.
** The {{Always Chaotic Evil}} [[PsychicPowers psychic]] {{Space Jews}} in ''{{The Iron Dream}}'' were called Dominators.
* [[StarWars Darth Maul.]]
* Killum from ''SluggyFreelance''.
* [[TheAddamsFamily Uncle Fester]]. "It means, to rot!"
* ''XiaolinShowdown's'' Chase Young. [[MeaningfulName Meaningful]] in that he traded his soul for eternal youth.
* ''Shock:'' -- [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Doctor]] Shocc, [[ThoseWackyNazis Former-Nazi]] MadScientist from MarshalLaw.
* Another one for the real-life bin: Karin Slaughter. She writes thrillers.
** Another real-life Slaughter: [[http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=32793 A.J. Slaughter]], Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
** Tod Slaughter, known for his roles in film adaptations of Victorian horror melodramas and is particularly known for his portrayal of the original ''SweeneyTodd'' from the penny-dreadful "A String of Pearls."
* ''Stab:''. "Stabby Joe" from ''{{Friends}}''. Phoebe warned Ross not to walk down a certain alley to avoid meeting this character.
** Parodied on ''TheSimpsons'' where Marge is watching a film about a convict named Johnny Stabbo and his mother, Ma Stabbo.
* ''[[WonderWoman Genocide]]''. And she makes a point of saying that it's not just her name, it's what she does.
* ''Annihilate:'' You should probably run very fast from a weapon the military designates an [[{{R-Type}} "Annihilation Platform"]]. Especially when the individual unit's name has a 'mor' in it, being "Moritz-G."
* ''Loathe:'' Louis the Pious had three sons, Pepin II, Charles the Bald and Lothair. Guess which one tried to take over the Holy Roman Empire...

[[/folder]]

'''Nouns:''' But ''only'' really scary ones, like: ''Doom, hunter, death, cage.''

[[folder: Nouns]]
* ''Doom:'' -- [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom Doom]]: Doctor Doom, of course. And Thulsa Doom from ''ConanTheBarbarian.''
** [[{{Pokemon}} Houndoom]] is a demonic-looking Dark/Fire canine.
** Obscure bad-ass synonym version: [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ruination Ruination]], the [[CombiningMecha gestalt form]] of the Decepticon Commandos from {{Transformers}}.
** Rapper MF DOOM, whose persona is that of, well, a twisted genius hell bent on revenge against the industry that destroyed him. His real name, Daniel Dumile, also counts in this sense; It's pronounced "Doom-i-lay".
** Bonus points. [[LeagueOfSuperEvil Doomageddon]] combines doom and armageddon.
** If you're a toon, [[WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom]] is not someone you're going to want to hang around with. Or even if you're not, at that. He's not a nice guy, by any stretch of the imagination.
* ''Hunter:'' -- Hunter Hearst Helmsley, aka Triple H, from {{WWE}}. Ironically, the name is a leftover from a previous gimmick as a snobby aristocrat, and was not originally given to the sledgehammer-wielding, water-spitting, all-ass-kicking-all-the-time {{Badass}} we know today. Hunter was also the name of the extremely intimidating ActionGirl from ''Neverwhere''. Also, Hunter Blackthorne is TheChessmaster from ''NobleCauses''. Hunter Gathers from ''TheVentureBrothers.'' In fact, the naming of someone as Hunter is apparently so iconic that some "tests" to determine the MarySue-ness of characters specifically have a point (or more!) for someone named Hunter.
** Real life example: HunterSThompson.
** Jäger, the German word for hunter, likely counts. See [[GirlGenius the Jägermonsters]] and [[{{Bleach}} Grimmjow Jaegerjaques]], the latter of whom is a triple whammy [[SpellMyNameWithAnS depending on how you spell his name]]. Not to mention that 'jaeger' is also an Ominous Bird - a kleptoparasite that literally beats up other birds and steals their food.
* ''Death:'' -- (or "Deth") is a favored name component of villains and Evil Overlords, although such a name is usually not given to a character at birth, but acquired later once they've reached a certain level of "badassitude". It is the middle name of detective LordPeterWimsey, although in his case it is pronounced "Deeth" (rhymes with "teeth"). The Wimsey books also include a [[spoiler:psychotic neurologist named Sir Julian ''Freke'']]. The {{Discworld}} novels, despite featuring [[TheGrimReaper Death Himself]] as a prominent good guy, had a villain named Edward d'Eath (no relation) in ''[[Discworld/MenAtArms Men At Arms]]''.
** Exception - De'Ath (not pronounced like you'd expect) was apparently a real English aristocratic name. Inspired TerryPratchett for Edward d'Eath. There's also a De'Ath in {{Gormenghast}}.
** DC villain Deathstroke has my vote for The Most BadAss Name of All Time. And ''that's [[ItGotWorse 'not even his full name']]. His full name is 'Deathstroke The Fucking Terminator'. (NOTE: the word 'fucking' is not in Deathstroke's name.)
** An episode of the cartoon Mad Jack the Pirate featured a well-suited man called "Mr. D'eath". Jack remarks that his name sounds French until seeing the man upon which he realises the man is, in fact, [[ForegoneConclusion Death]].
** PatriciaAMcKillip's ''Riddle of the Stars'' trilogy features a man named Deth whose true allegiance is ambiguous, but eventually turns out to be [[spoiler:a good guy]].
** [[{{Metalocalypse}} Dethklok]] is all about this. Nathan Explosion, William Murderface, and Toki Wartooth all fit (and those are their birth names). Hell, everyone that attends a Dethklok concert is required to sign a pain waiver; if that doesn't suggest mass casualties, I don't know what does.
** Latinized version from ''{{Warhammer 40000}}:'' Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard.
**Arawn-Death-Lord of Annuvin, from the Prydain Chronicles. Apparently Death-Lord itself is a title, as he usurped it from a previous Death-Lord (who wants it back).
** Dr_Death from ''{{Neopets}}'' is a subversion. [[SignificantAnagram Eliv Thade]], not so much.
** [[JudgeDredd Judge]] Sidney De'ath became known as Judge Death ''before'' he became an undead monstrosity.
** Dracula's right hand man "Death" in the ''{{Castlevania}}'' series; like the Diskworld example he is the actual [[TheGrimReaper Grim Reaper]] but unlike that example he is definitely evil.
** Arnold Toht from ''RaidersOfTheLostArc. Toht is an Anglicized spelling for the German word for "death."
** Dr. Totenkopf in ''SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. His name is "Death Head" in German.
*** Actually, Totenkopf means skull.
** Cancer Deathmask from Saint Seiya. The fact that his Zodiac Sign (Cancer) is also the name of pretty much the most dreaded disease in the world short of AIDS doesn't make him any more approachable, either.
** No love for the ''[[StarWars Death]]'' Star?
** Not a person, but anything that goes by the name of ''DeathNote'' is clearly [[ArtifactOfDoom not something to be trifled with]].
** Satirical example: ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGWT6YPu4v4&feature=related DeathSpank]]''
** [[FinalFantasyV ExDeath]]. He might be a [[WhenTreesAttack tree]] (specifically, a tree with countless [[SealedEvilInACan evil spirits sealed within]], but a tree nontheless), but cross him, and you'll find yourself on a one-way trip to [[CessationOfExistence THE VOID]].
* ''Shadow:'' -- More popular for the AntiHero; the ninja assassin from ''FinalFantasyVI'', the hedgehog from the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games, nickname of the protagonist from ''AmericanGods'', although his real name is even more significant: [[spoiler: Baldur]] Moon. That's right.
** Also another key aspect of MarySue tests, incidentally.
** TheShadow
** [[BabylonFive The Shadows]]
* ''Pain:'' -- Max Payne, AntiHero and OneManArmy. Considering the [[XtremeKoolLetterz Xtremely Kool X]] in his first name, this guy's a double whammy... If you mess with him, you will experience pain to the max. And then there's Paine from FinalFantasyX2, ''Major Payne'', featuring Damon Wayans as a BadAss DrillSergeantNasty, and recent ''{{Naruto}}'' villain Pain, who [[spoiler:destroyed Konoha Village]].
** Also Howard Payne, villain of ''{{Speed}}''.
** RealLife example: Thomas Paine, who wrote the pamphlet that started the American War of Independence.
** Whip out your Spanish dictionary and you get [[HarryPotter Dolores Umbridge]].
** The Lady of Pain, ruler of Sigil, from ''{{Planescape}}''.
* ''Blight:'' -- [[SuikodenII Luca Blight]]. 'Nuff said. For far less intimidating versions, Captain Planet's hottie Dr. Babs Blight (Whose good sister is a member of the fluffy and safe naming trope, having been named Bambi).
** Honourable mention must go to the commander of the ''[[MutinyOnTheBounty Bounty]]'', who is exactly one crossed t short of this name, and would have ([[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory allegedly]]) ''more'' than lived up to it.
* ''Blaze:'' -- A common, if generic, name for [[PrsonalityPowers fire-type characters]] such as Blaze of ''MortalKombat''. Johnny Blaze of ''GhostRider'' also applies.
** Merlin's mentor was named Blaise.
* ''Jet:'' -- Like Shadow, more popular for the AntiHero; Jet Black of ''CowboyBebop'', the leader of a group of freedom fighters in ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'', and the hawk in ''SonicTheHedgehog''. And, as a RealLife example, Jet Li.
** Improper use may lead to {{Narm}}. I.E. Jet Brody from ''Fracture''.
* Real-life example: Nick Cave, as well as a few of his bandmates: Conway Savage, Roland Wolf, Hugo Race, Tracy Pew. Their music is quite often very scary.
** No Blixa Bargeld? I'd stay the hell away from a man named after a brand of ball point pen, StageName or otherwise. And for that matter, Lung Leg. She's pretty much a badass in her own right.
* Dr Biro of ''StargateAtlantis,'' while not actually BadAss as such, is generally agreed upon as someone to avoid...
** ''Adam'' [[MythBusters Savage]] is someone to run ''with''. Chances are, he's either running away from something about to blow up, or towards something he just blew up (in which case you get to see cool wreckage).
* ''Cage:'' -- Luke Cage, Power man. He was so cool that Nicholas Coppola changed his own last name to match his.
* ''Ravager:'' -- Deathstroke's daughter (not her real name).
** And [[ThatOneBoss That One]] BonusBoss from ''JadeEmpire''.
** And the name of the best halberd in the game (possibly the best ''weapon'', period) in ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate II]] [[ExpansionPack Throne Of Bhaal]]'', as well as a fairly nasty demon you fight at one point.
** The Dark Eldar Ravager in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Though, since the Dark Eldar have the fastest units in the game, running is ''useless.''
** The name of planet-life-force-eating Dark Lord Darth Nihilus' flagship in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.
** Also, ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''has a mentor-turned-evil with the first name [[MeaningfulName Saul]], as in the Old-Testament King; see "Conquerors", above. (Incidentally, Saul met his doom at a place called [[StarWars Endor]].)
** The tyrannosaurs in [[PeterJackson Peter Jackson's]] ''KingKong'' are classified as ''Vastatosaurus rex'', meaning "Ravager-lizard king."
* ''Plague:'' [[StarWars Darth Plagueis]], [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Plague/Prague]] in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (Changed to Petrine in English).
* ''Vader'' ("Father" in Dutch, and also sounds like "invader". [[StarWars Do I even need to expand this one?]]
** Besides our good friend Darth, there's also the pro wrestler Vader (known as Big Van Vader in Japan), who is similarly no one to be trifled with.
* Subverted. Two words- [[PsychopathicManchild Jonathan]] [[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} Teatime.]]
** It's pronounced Te-ah-tim-eh, if you want to live.
*** This is a parody of the name De'Ath and its correct pronunciation (see above).
** Vetinari's nickname was Dog-Botherer. It's not always how it's actually pronounced, especially when there's prep school teenagers involved. (Albeit, Asssassin's Guild school teenagers, but it's all the same.)
** Also Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip. Hardly scary words. Very scary men!
* ''{{Hell}}:'' -- The main villain of ''MazingerZ'' was Doctor Hell. Somehow neither that, the EvilLaugh ''or'' the creepy purple skin were enough for people to figure out he was evil until it was too late.
** Hell Tanner from ''Damnation Alley''.
** Sam Hell (Rowdy Roddy Piper) in the B-classic ''Hell Comes To Frogtown''.
** {{Hellboy}}
** Semi-example: [[{{Dracula}} Dr. Abraham van Helsing]]. The anime ''{{Hellsing}}'' added an extra L, just to be clear.
** Let's not forget the source of the word: Hel, Norse goddess of the dead and Niflheim, where those who died of sickness and old age go.
* ''Judge:'' -- Judge Holden in Cormac [=McCarthy=]'s ''Blood Meridian'', the Judges from JudgeDredd (double points for the Dark Judges, which also fit elsewhere in this section, with the Judge names of Death, Fire, Fear, and Mortis), and the aforementioned [[WhoFramedRogerRabbit Judge Doom]].
** Don't forget [[TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Judge Frollo]] what is unquestionably [[HangingJudge one]] [[StalkerWithACrush of]] [[DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] [[CompleteMonster nastiest]] [[MoralEventHorizon villains]]
** The Judges from ''FinalFantasyXII'' without a doubt.
* ''Grave:'' -- Zebediah ''Killgrave'' from above becomes a twofer, so you know he's bad news (of course, Luke ''Cage'' beat the tar out of him last we saw of him.) And from the [[TheDCU DC]] side of things, we have Lex Luthor's assistant, Mercy Graves. Who has ''no'' mercy. And then there's Beyond the Grave from {{Gungrave}}, who is an unstoppable zombie killing machine. The instruction booklet of the original game even says Grave is often called "Death" by his enemies.
** Saria Sorrowgrave from WorldOfWarcraft. Even though she's a relatively easy boss in a dungeon.
** There was a truant officer named "Shallowgrave" on TheFairlyOddparents.
* ''Bane:'' -- Bane from the ''{{Comicbook/Batman}}'' mythos, who is infamous for ''breaking Batman's back'', as well as Bane from the Forgotten Realms setting and 4th edition of ''DungeonsAndDragons'', the god of war, conquest and fear.
** There's also Darth Bane from {{Star Wars}}. Not only was he a Sith, but he tricked the leader of the Sith into wiping out the rest of the order, including himself (that is to say, the leader of the Sith). He also came up with the Rule of Two, under which Sidious eventually gained control of the galaxy and destroyed the Jedi order, the two long term goals of the Sith. It's worth noting that by the time Sidious died, he had in fact long since broken it: Emperor's Hands, Prophets of the Dark Side, Imperial Sovereign Protectors, Dark Side Elite, though these were not officially Sith, just Dark Side users trained by the Emperor.
** Bane from the Matrix is not actually a bad guy until he gets posessed by Smith, at which point he becomes one.
** Film star Sean Bean, who [[MemeticMutation simply rocks into Mordor]].
* ''Wound:'' -- General Woundwort from ''WatershipDown''; it's a plant (virtually all rabbits in the book are named after plants), but doesn't it ''sound'' scary? Also, "General" as a title.
* ''Fate or Destiny:'' -- Expect someone as hard to beat [[YouCantFightFate as the concept they're named after]].)
** Fate Testarossa of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. TheDragon of the first season who became ''stronger'' after her HeelFaceTurn.
** Fate Averruncus of ''MahouSenseiNegima''. ArchEnemy of Negi who has completely dominated almost every fight he's in.
*** Of course, [[spoiler: that isn't his real name.]]
** FATE from ''ChronoCross''. The super computer of Chronopolis and [[spoiler: [[TheManBehindTheMan the machine behind the villain, Lynx]]]].
** [[TheDCU Doctor Fate]].
** Destiny [[FluffyTheTerrible Hope]] [[HannahMontana Cyrus]].
* ''Faith:'' -- Faith from {{Buffy}} that did a vicious FaceHeelTurn.
* ''Dark:'' -- Perhaps crossing into colours, 'Dark' in just about any usage. Examples are [[strike: probably]] ''far'' too numerous to individually list here.
** Parodied with Mr. Furious in ''MysteryMen'', who tries to give his secret identity as Phoenix Dark, among other variations. It doesn't work, and he finally concedes that his real name is Roy.
** To the extent that, upon seeing the first episode of 80s cartoon ''Skeleton Warriors'' and hearing a character say "How can you think Baron Dark is our enemy?", he burst out laughing.
** Subversion: [[{{DNAngel}} Dark]], while a thief and a bit smug, works with the [[{{DarkIsNotEvil}} best of motivations]]. Then again, EvilCounterpart [[{{LightIsNotGood}} Krad]] plays it straight as can be.
** [[MegaMan Dark Man]], and the good guy {{Darkman}}.
** ''TheDarkness''
* Cinder, of the [[TheNameOfTheWind Chandrian]].
* ''Fury:'' -- Bryan Fury from ''{{Tekken}}.'' Also NickFury of Marvel comics.
* ''Tear:'' -- Surprising subversion: "[[ChronoTrigger Lucca Ashtear]]" is a heroine, though it might relate to her [[ForScience advancement of technology at the cost of safety precautions]]. Of course, that ends up saving everyone. Kind of.
* TheMaster has his own page, [[ManosTheHandsOfFate [=of wHiCh He woUlD apProvE.=]]]
* ''Gore:'' Emperor Gore from ''GetterRobo''.
** Teron Gorefiend from ''{{World Of Warcraft}}''.
* [[HalfLife The Free Man]]
* [[{{Scanners}} Vale]].
* ''Psyko'': From the {{Marvel Comics}} ''Sleepwalker'' series. He's a {{Serial Killer}} and [[MindRape Mind Rapist]] who likes to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy drive everyone around him insane literally just by looking at them]], try to manipulate them into [[MoreThanMindControl committing murder]], and is more or less a {{Complete Monster}}.
* [[FullMetalAlchemist EVERY homunculus.]] Come on, they're called after the seven deadly sins. [[ObviouslyEvil How bad can you get?]]
* [[LiveALive Odio]] and [[PunnyName variations of it.]]
* ''Atrocity:'' -- Atrocitus, perhaps the only GreenLantern villain who can give Sinestro a run for his money in the evil name department. It's appropriate, since he's literally a space demon.
* ''Holocaust'' and ''Necrosis'' from Three of Heart, One of Blood. Necrosis [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin causes any living object he touches to decompose, cell by cell.]] Doryn from the same series is an in-universe example: [[spoiler:his name is Zuzenai for 'essence of terror'.]]
* ''Dread'': As in John "Dread" Wulgaru of ''{{Otherland}}'' -- AxCrazy, SerialKiller, PsychoForHire, CompleteMonster at your service.
* ''Chaos'': The OneWingedAngel of Garland from ''FinalFantasyI'' who also reappears as the [[BeyondTheImpossible ultimate]] BigBad in ''{{Dissidia}}''. There's also [[BlobMonster Argosax the Choas]] in ''DevilMayCry 2'', and Chaos from ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Adventure]]'' (especially in his/its OneWingedAngel form).
* ''Despair'': The Despair Embodied of ''DevilMayCry 2'', the OneWingedAngel and BishonenLine (with a touch of ViewerGenderConfusion) of the above Argosax the Chaos and perhaps the only ''[[YourMileageMayVary real]]'' [[YourMileageMayVary challenge in the game]]. Also, there's The Despair from ''TheSandman'' (two of 'em, to be exact), who initiated the chain reaction that led {{Superman}} to Earth.
[[/folder]]

'''[[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Colors:]]''' Villains often favor certain colors of clothing and weapons, so it's not surprising that such colors should be in their ''names'' as well.

[[folder: Colors]]
* ''Black:'' -- Especially popular. (Blackguard, Blackheart, Blackthorne, Blackout, etc...)
** And [[GoodOmens Dr. Raven Sable.]]
*** And Nero the Sable from [[FinalFantasyVII Dirge of Cerberus]].
** {{Einhander}} has the sixth boss, Schwarzgeist. Which is [[GratuitousGerman German]] for "Black Ghost"
** Sirius Black, although this turns out to be somewhat misleading. It definitely applies to most of the rest of his family, though. His family attempts to deliberately invoke this trope with astrological names multiple times. Sirius, Andromeda, Regulus, Draco, probably several of the others do this also, but I don't know astronomy well enough to tell you for sure.
*** Bellatrix is also named after a star.
* ''Red:'' -- So is any variation of red. (Crimson and Scarlet sound especially BadAss. Vermillion, less so, but you can work with it. Even just plain old "Red," a.k.a. '''Carmine''' Zuigiber as ''GoodOmens'' proves.)
** A very bad example is Scarlet Foxfire, which has a color, animal and fire, from the {{webcomics}} of DavidGonterman. Gonterman probably does actually intend her to be a badass, but seeing as how she's some sort of superpowered vixen fursuit (worn by a guy), well, her status is dubious, at best.
** How are we forgetting Dirge of Cerberus's Rosso the Crimson, translating to "Red the red"? Yes, she is ''extremely'' bloodthirsty. She also has a Russian accent.
** And of course the [[LittleMissBadass rather dangerous]] [[JapaneseVampire Scarlet sisters]] from the various ''Touhou Project'' games.
*** Also, while not a person's name, the Scarlet Crusade from World of Warcraft. Originally devoted to slay undead, but turned into an army of insane religious zealots bent on killing anyone who's not one of them. Also, their leader is a demon/vampire in disguise.
** There's [[CaptainAmerica the Red Skull]] too.
** And [[MobileSuitGundam The Red Comet]].
*** Also the Crimson Lightning, but he often gets confused with the other guy.
** [[MegaManX Red, and Axel the Red]], two Mavericks from the ''MegaManX'' series.
** And a dragon named Scarlet in the ''SwordOfTruth'' series, though really it doesn't matter what the name is, you better run from a dragon if she ain't called Puff.
**Rezo the Red Priest of {{Slayers}} has a piece of the Dark Lord of his world sealed in his eyes, making him steadily more evil through his life. {{Lampshaded}} by Lina when she comments that his name sounds like a villain's after they meet and he tries to play her into giving up a powerful artifact.
** Red Sonja, from ConanTheBarbarian, is definitely someone you tread carefully around, unless you're Ahnuld.
** Scarlett O'Hara, of {{GonewiththeWind}} wasn't exactly the southern sweetie she liked to pretend she was. She EARNED that damn not being given!
** PorcoRosso is just a BadAss.
** How have we not had ''[[TheDarkTower The Crimson King]]'' yet?
*** Ditto for how the hell have we not had the ''[[EdgarAllanPoe TheMasqueOfTheRedDeath]]'' yet?
** Depending on who you ask, Red from Pokemon is no one to take lightly. That is, if you are Team Rocket or the Hero of Pokemon Gold and Silver...
* ''Yellow:'' -- the Victorians and Edwardians loved to associate this with madness and decay as the symbol of the plague is a yellow flag with a single black spot flown above an infected vessel or building
** ''TheKingInYellow'' by Robert W. Chambers more or less launched the idea of the BrownNote to the modern world with "the yellow sign''
** ''TheYellowWallpaper'' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
** HPLovecraft also had a King in Yellow and the [[BrownNote Yellow Sign]]
* ''White:'' -- Occasionally used as a subversion. (Example: Mr. White from the 2006 James Bond film ''CasinoRoyale'', and the villain Mr. White from ''KidsNextDoor''. Light Yagami of DeathNote is a variation. So is Albedo from the ''{{Xenosaga}}'' series. And ''GoodOmens'' again provides [[IHaveManyNames Chalky/Whitey/Mr. White etc.]]) Bonus points if the guy in questio is an EvilAlbino.
** Silver Sable (Silver Sablinova) is a double whammy. Of course, when you mix the two and consider her actions, she might be...
** Don't forget [[{{Carrie}} Carrie White]].
** The manga of ''CowboyBebop'' featured a reporter following the crew as they chased the White Siblings, Ash and Blanche, who preyed on the elderly.
** And ''again'' in [[FinalFantasyVII Dirge of Cerberus]] we have Weiss the Immaculate.
* ''Gray/Grey:'' -- Often used for characters whose morals or motivations tend to come in, well, shades of gray, or just generally to connotate [[{{Differently Powered Individuals}} people with powers]] or [[{{Badass}} badasses]]. (Gabriel Gray of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Dorian Gray, Valerie Gray from ''DannyPhantom'' (although her morals and motivations are good, and she thinks she's doing the right thing), various versions of Greymon from ''{{Digimon}}'' (And [=BlackWarGreymon=] has ''two'' of the colors on this list, so you ''know'' he's a force to be reckoned with), Gandalf the Grey from ''LordOfTheRings'' (before his [[TakeALevelInBadass ascension]] to Gandalf the ''White'' and utter badassery). [[{{Comicbook/X-Men}} Jean Grey]].
** DGrayMan
* Possibly subverted by Sonja Blue in the ''Midnight Blue'' series of stories. Though blue is often associated with sadness, Sonja is depicted as the preeminent badass of [[TheVerse the story universe]].
** Played straight in [[FinalFantasyVII Dirge of Cerberus]], though, with Azul the Cerulean.
* ''Pink:'' -- Not generally a colour considered associated with dangerous or villainous characters. Until you remember that Lina Inverse's official title is 'Lina the Pink.' And if you call her that to her face you will ''need'' to run away really fast.
* Blonde -- Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs
*[[BritishEnglish Colour]] C O L O '''U''' R damnit!
** [[{{Patriotic Fervor}} No! No goddammit, and it will never be! That is wrong wrong wrong, now and forever! No U! Never!]]
[[/folder]]

'''Foreign Language Names'''
Japanese is quite open when coming up with names you normally wouldn't give your child.

[[folder: Foreign Language Names]]
* ''Yue:'' -- is a word meaning a 'tragic accident' or 'lethal occurence'. Though, this name is given to children who died either before birth or shortly thereafter. Still some parents don't quite get it. Princess Yue of {{Avatar The Last Airbender}} is named so, though her name also means moon in Mandarin, but since she's weak at birth, it might be a double edged sword [[spoiler: It was]]. Also {{Angel Sanctuary}}'s Katou's seldom mentioned first name is Yue, given by his father, because he was not his child, but the result of his mother's betrayal. It didn't finish him of after birth, but in the course of the series he gets killed - or most often kills himself - four times total.
** Also, Yueh from Dune [[spoiler:who turns out to be TheMole]]
* Kamikaze Kate from ''{{Misfile}}'', evoking images of the Kamikaze suicide pilots from WorldWarTwo and also has the hard "K" sound for bonus scariness.
* Jafar seems to be the perfect name for an Arabic EvilChancellor, as demonstrated in {{Disney/Aladdin}} and PrinceOfPersia.
* Russian (and Slavic, in general) names seem to be frequently used in Western fiction for bad guys, probably due to the {{Uberwald}} and RedScare tropes. For some examples, see the "Vlad" entry under "Conquerors".
* In Scottish, [[TheThrawnTrilogy "Thrawn"]] means a combination of obstinacy, assertiveness, and more than a hint of willful perversity.
*[[{{Batman}} Ra's al Ghul]] is Arabic for "The Demon's Head."
* Lobo. Even on earth, it conjures the idea of a rabid wolf, but on his planet, it translated into "He who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it."
** Why did his planet even need a word for that? How common can that actually be that they need a single word to describe it?
* "[[{{Castlevania}} Mathias Cronqvist]]", anyone? [[spoiler:You know, Dracula?]] Mind you, that's a real name, but "Cronqvist" certainly ''sounds'' intimidating.
[[/folder]]

'''Ancient Dead Languages:''', If someone has a name that's Latin, or Mesopotamian, or Babylonian; this probably means they were ''around back then''. A rule of thumb is usually the older something magical is, the more powerful. Expect OminousLatinChanting.

[[folder: Ancient Dead Languages]]
* Any vampire series; it's the ones with these names you really better watch out for. "Angelus" from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' for example, though that doesn't really count since it wasn't his birth name.
* ''{{Highlander}}''
* Apocalypse from the {{X-Men}} is also refered to as "En Sabah Nur". That's 30th century BC Egyptian/Arabic for "Kick Your Ass."
** Or "Good morning" [[GoodBadTranslation depending on who is translating.]]
*''Carcer'' is Latin for ''prison'' (the root of our ''incarcerate'') and is also the name of the villainous murderer-cum-policeman in Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld/NightWatch Night Watch]]''.
* Semi-exception: [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus]] are ancient by human standards, but a few million years is pretty standard for a giant alien robot, and they're nice folks.
** But extremely BadAss nonetheless.
* [[StarCraft Arcturus Mengsk]]. More intimidating for political reasons than physical.
* In SoulCalibur Zasalamel's (an immortal) attacks are named after Babylonian gods, sets up the events of the 3rd game for his own benefit, and while heroic in the 4th, is still a jerk.
* Nestor. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestor_Makhno Nestor Makhno]], the Anarchist.
* Any villain/weapon/organisation etc. called Cerberus; that has the added kick of an animal name (the three-headed dog which is said to guard the gateway to Hell to prevent anyone escaping). Strangely enough, nothing villainous ever seems to be named for the Greek original of this name, "Kerberos".
[[/folder]]

'''Anything that ends in the letter R:''' Since villains have to ''do'' things in order to be villains.

[[folder: Anything that ends in the letter R]]
* Real-life: Hitler and Himmler, ThoseWackyNazis
* Darth Vader
** Most of {{The Empire}}'s {{Cool Ship}}s have scary-ass names like ''Avenger, Executor, Exsanguinator, Eviscerator''... Lampshaded in one of the ''[[XWingSeries X-Wing]]'' novels.
* Hannibal Lecter
* Jackson Rippner
* GeneralRipper
* All but one of the villains in ''Resident Evil 4'' have names ending in an 'R', as does series BigBad Albert Wesker, and TheGhost villain Ozwell E. Spenser.
* Colonel Cutter, the {{Dragon}} of ''Antz'', despite [[spoiler: HeelFaceTurn]].
* Hunter
* [[{{Discworld}} Carcer]]
* Lex Luthor
* David Sumner of ''Straw Dogs'' turns out to be [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass the single most dangerous man in the universe]]
* [[{{Heroes}} Sylar]]
* CaptainPlanet foes, Mama Slaughter and Looten Plunder fit this trope.
* Various characters from the numerous ''{{Transformers}}'' series play this alternatively straight or subvert it:
** On the evil Decepticons' side, there's Thundercracker, Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Scrapper, Mixmaster, Devastator, Wildrider, Motormaster, Menasor, Reflector, Tankor and Demolishor, just to name a few.
* Baddies in lots of 80s/90s action movies seemed to be called either Hans, Kruger/Gruber, if not both, i.e. [[DieHard Hans Gruber]]. The harsh sound of the name seems to fit both this and the next category.
* [[FinalFantasyVIII Seifer.]]
[[/folder]]

'''K-name:''' Names with a hard K sound in them, for some reason (perhaps it's a fluke of the English language), sound tougher than names without them.

[[folder:K-name]]
* JackThompson
* JackChick
* Admitted by the creators of the Highlander franchise, and so common they even have a name - 'Kimmies': The Kurgan, General Katana (doubles up with a weapon name, for even greater badassery. Too bad the movie is [[SoBadItsHorrible commonly referred to as the worst movie ever made]]), Kane, Slan Quince, Kronos, Xavier StCloud, etc.
* The video game Outcast, the protagonist's name is Lt. Cmdr. Cutter Slade.
* Another ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' example: "[[AxCrazy Kharn]]" sounds scary enough, until you find that his title is "'the Betrayer''". You really, really want to run away from this one.
** Also, Khorne, Chaos God of War, whose followers are known by their battle cry "Blood for the Blood God!" The 40k universe is [[CrapsackWorld not a happy place]].
** Also Corax, Scryak, and Marneus Calgar.
** And Kaelis Ra, the god of death.
** Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar god of war.
* Kang, Koloth, Kor, Korax and Kras of the Klingons, from ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''.
** Note also the non-Klingon Kodos the Executioner, a double whammy (although he gets some sympathy in the end of his episode).
* Kang and Kodos from ''The Simpsons''.
* Korax, the really eeeeevil end-of-game boss from ''Hexen''.
* Korgoth of Barbaria.
* Hordak of ''She-ra'' fame.
* Kang the Conqueror, a major Avengers villain. Note that 'Kang' is an alias; his birth name is the disappointingly normal Nathaniel Richards.
* Robert E. Howard was fond of K-names, as evidenced by Conan, King Kull, and Solomon Kane.
* Red Army general Ivan Konev. The fact that he was one of Stalin's favourite officers should tell you enough.
** Also Georgy Zhukov (intelligent but willing to take brutal losses for his objectives), Konstantin Rokossovsky ("In Russia a Pole, in Poland a Russian"), and Aleksandr Kolchak (named himself Supreme Ruler of White Russia - as opposed to Red - during the Civil War). The prevalence of the hard K in some Russian names may sometimes be used as an intentional Anglo attempt to bring up [[{{Lzherusskie}} spectres]] of DirtyCommunists.
* Kratos, GodOfWar.
** Kratos Aurion from TalesOfSymphonia too.
* King K Rool from ''DonkeyKongCountry'' 1-3 (and Land 1-3, and 64, etc). Speaking of which, pretty much every single Kremling and boss character comes under this: KAOS, Kerozene, King Kut Out, Kleever, Kroctopus, Krow and Kludgel.
* [[{{Scanners}} REVOK! DARRYL REVOK!]]
* Koschei the Deathless, from Russian folklore, ought to get a mention somewhere. "Deathless" because he's removed his soul from his body to attain immortality. It's hidden in the eye of a needle, inside a duck egg, inside a duck, inside a fox, inside an iron treasure chest wrapped in the roots of a tree on an island which ''simply isn't there'' most of the time. Possibly the original lich.
** [[CharlesStross Project]] [[AColderWar Koschei]]... of course...
* Kamikaze Kate from {{Misfile}}.
* [[{{Starcraft}} Sarah Kerrigan]].
* [[KidsNextDoor Kuki Sanban]] appears to be a sweet, lovable girl, and for the most part she is. [[BerserkButton Deface or injure a Rainbow Monkey in her presence]] ''[[UnstoppableRage at your own peril]]''.
* Armok, God of Blood and almighty deity from the full title of DwarfFortress.
* Dalek Caan and Dalek Sec of the [[DoctorWho Cult of Skaro]]. Thay and Jast, by contrast, were largely ignorable.
* Er... "{{King Kong}}", anyone? The original and best? Especially if he has his foot raised above your head??
*Also, we cannot forget Kenpachi Zaraki of {{Bleach}} fame.
[[/folder]]

'''XtremeKoolLetterz:''', an extension of the above, most people with names that ''haven't'' been legally changed to have loads of "Kool Leturz" are best kept an eye on.

[[folder:XtremeKoolLetturz]]
* Axel (And pretty much everyone in the X obsessed Organization XIII in ''KingdomHearts II''.) There's an archvillain named Axel in ''Little Orphan Annie'', of all places. Besides, it almost sounds like axe. This also applies to Axel Almer in SuperRobotWars Original Generation 2, but [[HeelFaceTurn not so in Original Generation Gaiden]], seeing that his non OGs OG 2 personality is quite of a JerkAss, and a dangerous one at that. Also sort of applies to Axl of Megaman X7, but [[TheScrappy that's to the audience only anyway]].
* Drax (Hugo Drax from the JamesBond novel and movie ''Moonraker'', Drax the Destroyer from Marvel Comics)
* Drizzt Do'Urden; generally a nice guy, but [[UnstoppableRage you wouldn't like him when he's angry.]]
** Jarlaxle, also of ''ForgottenRealms''. He probably won't kill you. He'll just make your life a living hell.
** Zaknafein, Drizzt's father, a four-hundred-year-old weapons master who's defeated demons in single combat and can take someone's tongue out with a whip while blindfolded. And depending on the person, enjoys doing it.
* Niv-Mizzet (of ''MagicTheGathering'''s Ravnica block; a dragon who was also a MadScientist, so you ''know'' he's dangerous, and in combination with a single card he can start an infinite damage loop)
* T'raltixx (From {{Farscape}}, with a PunctuationShaker to boot)
* Xellos (Merry demon from ''TheSlayers'')
* Xena (the [[XenaWarriorPrincess Warrior Princess]])
* Xeno (Xenomorphs, better known as the aliens in the movie ''Film/{{Alien}}'') This one might be averted by simply being proper nomenclature. "Xeno" means stranger, and it has a very strange ''morph''ology.
** And don't forget Elron's favorite, Xenu.
* Vilgax (the BigBad of ''{{Ben10}}'')
* Nebulans from the original ''{{Transformers}}'' series often have names like this. See, for example, Grax, Zarak, and Krunk.
* Red X; not just the only ''antihero'' in the series but also the only character to never be defeated! (from the animated ''TeenTitans'', with a ''color'' to boot!)
* [[MyHeroZero Zero]], which is a name with a page unto itself
* Xander Drax, of ThePhantom film. Who? ''"X-A-N-D-E-R D-R-A-X, Xander Drax, begins and ends with the letter X."''
* '''Noun X:''' Some people may end up going by a "John Doe"-like pseudonym where they have a one-word description followed by an X. It's generally not a good idea to press them for real names.
** Marvel Comics, who publish ''X-Men'', has Professor X, Weapon X, Agent X, and Mutant X.
*** [[CanonImmigrant X-23]] is an OppositeSexClone of Wolverine (aka "Weapon X") who has been trained as an assassin since basically birth.
** Agent X of the ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum, who is even more AxCrazy than many Agents in [=FicPsych=].
** GaiaOnline has Labtech X.
* Thrax, the villain of ''Osmosis Jones''. Presumably intended to invoke "anthrax".
* [[OrderOfTheStick Xykon]], self named for the Xtreme Kool Letterz quotient. Gets (more) homicidal whenever someone spells his name with a Z by mistake - [[spoiler:Zs are for pussies]].
* [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]].
* The title character of ''xXx'', though at least half of that is from being played by Vin Diesel.
* Xanxus of {{Reborn}} is the incredibly badass leader of the Varia, an elite assassination team primarily employed by the most powerful mafia family in the world. He has some [[http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y271/Green09/01-1.jpg amazing full-body scars]], and he spends most of his time throwing blunt objects at his subordinates and breaking their faces with tables.
* Galbatorix from the InheritanceCycle is a name you give you child if you ''want'' him to grow up to be an evil emperor. It's ''possible'' that Galbatorix chose the name, but why is beyond most people; it doesn't roll off the tongue and sounds generically evil. You'd think someone who wanted to take over the world would ease people into it by picking something which sounded nicer. And if Galbatorix is indeed his given name, then he is fully justified in wanting to kick some ass--which raises the question of why he was let into the Dragon Riders.

[[/folder]]

'''Anything with Mor''' Mort is Latin for death, so it is often used to indicate death or evil.

[[folder:Anything with Mor]]
* Mordred, Morgause and Morgan le Fay from KingArthur.
* In [[JRRTolkien J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s invented Elvish languages, "mor" means dark or black, hence:
** Morgoth - the "Dark Enemy," Supreme BigBad in the Tolkien-verse.
** {{Mordor}} - Black Land of evil in ''TheLordOfTheRings''.
** The Morannon, the Black Gates into Mordor.
** Minas Morgul, the Tower of Dark Sorcery.
** Or, you know, ''Moria.''
* Morlocks - From the novel ''The Time Machine'', which was the namesake of {{X-Men}}'s Morlocks and the basis for the novel ''Morlock Night'' (which makes them even more intelligent and dangerous).
* Professor Moriarty from SherlockHolmes.
** And Dean Moriarty from ''On The Road'' who gets his name from the above. While not evil, he is a morally loose character who seems to come apart at the seams at the end.
* Voldemort - ''HarryPotter'', of course, meaning "Flight from death" or "Theft from death" in French. And if you say his name in ''Deathly Hallows'', you really do have to Apparate. Really fast.
** Bonus points to him for making it up himself with an anagram of his real name.
-->Tom Marvolo Riddle = I Am Lord Voldemort
* Mort, of ''{{Discworld}}'' is an exception, as despite being Death's Apprentice, he's a skinny little nervous guy...until he gets into his role...
** Mort the Ghost from ''GunnerkriggCourt'' is also less than intimidating.
*** Unless you count the time that Annie gave him advice...
* Jack Mort, psychopath in ''TheDarkTower''.
* The God of Death in ''{{Warhammer}}'' is named Morr.
* Mr. Morden, agent of the Shadows in ''BabylonFive''
* Mordac, the Preventer of Information Services in {{Dilbert}}
* Mork from Warhammer 40,000.
* Morkai the Red, a minor character but powerful wizard in the early Drizzt novels, who is vicious and dogged in paying back those who ''killed him''.
* Played straight with a Mortimer Mouse, one of Mickey's rivals for Minnie's affection.
* Mordekai, "LovableRogue" from ''IrregularWebcomic''.
* Morrigan Aensland, from ''{{Darkstalkers}}''.
* Morticia Addams. Her entire family is a pun on being 'evil'.
* [[GodDamnedBats Murlocs]]
* The first enemy the Toa Metru of ''{{Bionicle}}'' went up against was the Morbuzakh, a Matoran-kidnapping plant.
* Doctor Moreau.
* Moridin from the ''WheelOfTime''. Dangerously insane, third most powerful evil person in the world (after the Dark One and his avatar), name literally means "death" in the {{Fictionary}} of the books, and just to top it all off, his previous name: [[spoiler:[[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Ishamael, a.k.a. Ba'alzamon]]]]. ''Oh, like it wasn't obvious.''
** Mordeth from the same series.
* The evil wizard Mordack from ''[[KingsQuest King's Quest V]]''.
* General Donald "Devil Rebirth" Morden from the MetalSlug Games.
* Mordion from ''Hexwood'', who has the face of a skull and is tasked with killing political enemies.
* Mortarion, Primarch of the Death Guard in {{Warhammer 40000}}.
* Morda from ''Taran Wanderer'' is another evil wizard.
* Queen Bavmorda from ''Willow''. GodSaveUsFromTheQueen!
* Mord the brutal gaoler from ''ASongOfIceAndFire''.
* Commonly used by dark elves in ''TheRiftwarSaga'', e.g. Morandis.
* Morlun from ''[[SpiderMan Spider-Man]]''. This guy, among other things, [[spoiler: ate Spider-Man's EYE. Then killed him.]] Sure, Peter got better, but still.
[[/folder]]

'''Names dealing with crime or criminality''' you can't really be sure what you're dealing with.

[[folder: Crime or Criminality]]
* Would you trust a sheriff whose last name was Outlaw?
* Would you buy a car from a dealer named Ransom?
**On that note, would you buy anything from a guy named [[TransformersGeneration1 Swindle]]?
* Would you take anything a guy called [[TheLordOfTheRings Wormtongue]] says at face value?
** Well, it was a nickname.
* This troper once received an anonymous letter to replace a door and change the locks for "heating and insulation purposes." The solicitor's last name? Lawless.
* From ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'', the evil Dr. Regis Blackgaard. Arguably subverted in that he has a twin brother, Edwin, who shares the name but is only guilty of being a LargeHam.
* [[VagrantStory Ashley Riot.]] He is, on occasion, referred to as Agent Riot. And his full title is [[OneManArmy Riskbreaker Ashley Riot]].
[[/folder]]

'''Anything that sounds vaguely(or not so vaguely) rednecky''' Depending on the name, could indicate someone BadAss, or someone AxCrazy or otherwise seriously disturbed.

[[folder:Rednecky Names]]
* BuffyTheVampireSlayer 's season six BigBad is named Warren Mears, which kind of foreshadows his future mental instability. (Of course, ironically, the actor's a Jew from New York, although his chick's from Alabama, but she's definitely not a redneck.)
* Carnage's real name is Kletus.
* The Authority: Seth Angus Bubba Joe Billy Cletus Clement Callum Cowie.
* [[KillBill Budd]]
[[/folder]]

'''Anything you can't pronounce on the first try''' For example, Cthulhu, Ithaqua, Shub-Niggurath, Y'golonac (YOU FOOL! [[SpeakOfTheDevil YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!!]]), Nyarlathotep,Yog-Sothoth, Etc.

[[folder:SesquipedalianLoquaciousness]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceausescu Nicolae Ceausescu]], General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party.
* From the Star Wars Expanded Universe: Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, known to the galaxy as Thrawn.
* The Forgotten Realms books have a habit of giving their dragons hideously long names.
* Many of the arrancar from Bleach. Aaroniero Arruruerie, Nnoitra Jiruga, Grimmjow Jeagerjacques, Ulquiorra Schiffer, Szayel Aporro Grantz...the list goes on and on.
* [[QuestForGlory Avoozl.]]
* [[KingsQuest Ifnkovhgroghprm.]] ([[spoiler: Rumplestiltskin backwards.]])
*Chattur'gha, Xel'lotath, and Ulyaoth of EternalDarkness.
* [[OfficeSpace Samir Nagheenanajar.]]
[[/folder]]

'''All of the Above''' Needless to say, anyone whose name combines several of the above traits is generally someone you really, really, do not want to get mad at you. And if they don't, they're probably a MarySue, which is arguably worse.

[[folder:All of the Above]]
* One boss from MadWorld appears to be named Herr Frederick Von Twirlenkiller. He appears to have weapons that could be charitably described as hybrids between a flail and a boeing jet engine strapped to each arm.
* {{Mecha}} war RPG/Minis-game/novel series ''Battletech'' features ''Gray''son ''"Death"'' Carlyle, who builds one of the most feared mercenary units in the 'verse out of pretty much nothing (And sensibly names the unit after himself: The Gray Death Legion). He gets his first 'mech for the unit by intimidating its pilot into surrender with nothing more than a single-shot shoulder-fired missile launcher that ordinarily wouldn't be enough to scratch the thing's paint. (And later marries her. The pilot, not the 'Mech.) This 'verse also features similarly {{Badass}} mercs ''Mor''gan ''Kell'', Jaime ''Wolf'', et cetera.
* One FantasticFour villain is Annihilus, who invokes both Noun names and Ancient Dead Languages.
** The trope is lampshaded with his UltimateUniverse counterpart, Nihil. Reed's [[TranslatorMicrobes translation device]] first renders his name as things like "I annihilate" and "I am nihilist", which everyone agrees is a bad sign.
--->'''Thing:''' "Dude. We met our first alien and his name is like E-Vill or something."
* Subverted by Capcom's Princess Devilotte de Deathsatan IX (from the Mecha game ''Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness''). Despite taking from Demonic Names, Noun Names, and FourIsDeath (Nine is a less-used alternative), she's less an intimidating foe, and more a one-girl QuirkyMinibossSquad.
*The Live Action/CGI combined series AceLightning contains many characters with the names of Lord Fear, Anvil, Dirty Rat and Felicity Fury... Ironically the least auspiciously named character is Kilobyte, who also happens to be the most dangerous of the bad guys.
* [[{{Discworld}} Carcer]] is a Crime-Related Scary Noun in an Ancient Dead Language with a hard "k" sound that ends in an "-er". That's a [[KnifeNut lot]] [[ImplausibleDeniability of]] [[PsychoForHire evil]], right there.
* In a contrast to the other Star Wars examples, the names of the two prominent Jedi-turned-Sith in the first KnightsOfTheOldRepublic are rather multilayered and subtle. Consider Malak - that's an adjective (mal), a body part(the jawbone, which in his case is missing), an angel's name (Malachi), and it ends in K! And Revan - that's an animal (raven), and three nouns (revenge, revenant, and revanchist, the last of which is basically "a vengeful person". Revenant, [[MeaningfulName by the way]] means [[spoiler: One who has returned from death or a long absence.]]) Well played, Bioware! The only other new, named Sith with a "Darth" attached is Bandon, who doesn't play nearly so big a role.
* And then there is {{Warhammer40000}}, Kharn the Betrayer, Lucius the Eternal, Typhus the Traveler, Abaddon the Despoiler and Ahriman of the Thousand Sons.
** Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka sounds as scary as he is, with added [[FunetikAksent K's]], [[RuleOfCool Kool letterz]], and [[UpToEleven improved difficulty pronunciation]].
*** Perhaps we should be thankful his name is so hard to pronounce. He's mentioned in the DawnOfWar series, and, if I remember correctly, his name was pronounced painfully similar to "gay skull", [[{{Narm}} which really shatters]] [[NightmareRetardant any menace in the name]].
* In StarslipCrisis, a character questions whether a certain CEO is really all that bad. I mean, [[LampshadeHanging how much can you tell from a name like Archcount Obdrath von Lucifuge?]]
**"His name's, like, Lord Murdertron or something."
* WelkinWeasels features the Grand Inquisitor Torca Marda. It's got the hard K sound in the middle, it's not quite an R-ending but it sounds close to one, ''and'' it's a ShoutOut to Tomas de Torquemarda, the infamous RealLife head of the Spanish Inquisition.
* The nuttier villains in {{Geneforge}} are prone to renaming themselves as the adjective one, adjective, or verb, but may combine them, as with Unending Purging. Also note Monarch, who doesn't strictly belong under any of these categories but chose his name because he wants to {{Take Over The World}}.
* Skeletor, of course. Even without his official title [[ ("Evil Lord of Destruction")]] that's pretty good. Although pretty much everything on [[HeMan that show]] has a terrifying name.
* [[SlyCooper Krusher]]. It's bascially a junior Kracken with a scarier name. It's got crush( a violent nown), a hard k sound, ends with r, and is somes times called The Krusher. I wonder if crush being spelled with a "K" helps. Yes it is feared and has a hundred tenticals.
* A subversion, [[PaniPoniDash Tsurugi Inugami]]'s name has the deadliness of a [[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana Tsurugi]] and the Mythological Animalness of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inugami Inugami]]. The only problem is that he is not one bit as {{Badass}} as his name implies.
* Kakistos of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' invokes K-name, Ancient Dead Languages, and Adjectives (his name is Greek for "worst of the worst").
* Sylar a.k.a. Gabriel Gray a.k.a. [[MyHeroZero Patient Zero]]—of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' again. Sylar is an R-name, a German word meaning “rope maker,” and getting the name off a watch is an allusion to the Zodiac killer. Gabriel (the angel of death), and last name is a color name.
* BridgeOfBirds gives us The Hand That No One Sees. [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Don't ask]].
* [[DwarfFortress Dwarf Fortress's]] LukeNounverber random name generator has (and very often uses) the capability to create surnames and titles such as Deathsucker, Chaosknight, The Wastes of Oxen, Otterthorny, and The God-forsaken Eater of Twilight, to name a few.
** And, of course, the infamous fortress [[LetsPlay Boatmurdered]].
* [[MyImmortal Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way]]
* [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/5/4/ Dr. Raven Darktalon Blood]]
* Ramses Overdark, Madaran imperial assassin from MagicTheGathering. Actually, legends is full of these types of names. Dakkon Blackblade, Rasputin Dreamweaver, Boris Devilboon, Tuknir Deathlock, Nebuchadnezzar, and that's just the humans. The Elder Dragons have names like Palladia-Mors and Vaevictis Asmadi, though the most powerful one is named... Nicol.
* Nrvnsqr Chaos in {{Tsukihime}}. Name looks unpronounceable, but it's actually 'Nero Chaos' so he doesn't get that one, technically. Hard K sound though. Plus, his most used name is generally 'Chaos,' a name he was given because he's just that evil as far as the Church is concerned. They ''really'' hate him. So that's both Infernal and Noun. Oh, and technically it's a title, as his real/original name is actually rather ordinary. As far as he's concerned, though, he doesn't really have a name anymore and merely responds to what people call him. It happens when you start tossing your identity away.
* One of the villains in ''BloodRayne'' is named Dr. Bathory Mengele. First, she gets the title of "Doctor"; second, her first name is the surname of the Hungarian serial killer Countess Erszebet Bathory (also known as "the Blood Countess"); third, she shares a surname with Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi "Angel of Death" known for human experimentation on Auschwitz prisoners. Needless to say, she's not very nice.
* [[BlazBlue Ragna The Bloodedge]]: [Pagan Mythology] the [Blood][Weapon]. Actually a fairly nice guy, but then in his Arcade mode ending [[spoiler:v-13 hijacks his body to become The Black Beast]], which is as bad as it sounds.
* Okay, let's do some math, folks. Demonic + Kool Letturz + Ends with R + CompleteMonster + HatePlague + {{Pokemon}} ='' '''CIPHER''' ''Yes, they are utterly evil, why do you ask?
* [[http://www.cracked.com/article_14982_9-manliest-names-in-world.html Staff Seargent Max Fightmaster]]
* Deathstroke the Terminator, real name Slade Wilson.
* Dr. Diabolik of the WhateleyUniverse. You've got the K-word, the evil adjective, the evil title... For extra credit, his daughter is named Jadis (like the White Witch in {{Narnia}}) and his son is named Malachai, Mal for short. Their codenames are She-Beast and Techno-Devil. You do the math.

[[/folder]]

'''The Man''': Some people are so infamous that they need no introduction. Sometimes this is hiding their true identity, but if it isn't, run.

[[folder:The Man]]
* In ''{{Discworld}}'', the Lady. Not evil, per se, but you do not want to annoy her. Especially not by saying her name. Rincewind is immune, but only because he doesn't believe he has gotten anything but a long series of lucky breaks.
* In Louis Sachar's ''{{Holes}}'', The Warden. ''ThisTroper'' doesn't remember whether her name is ever revealed, but she is nasty.
* [[ThePretender Miss Parker]].
* In "IWannaBeTheGuy" Your mission is to kill "The Guy", and the only thing standing between you and him is the hours of the most frustrating PlatformHell ever devised. [[EvilLaugh Good Luck]].
** It should also be noted that the protagonist is known as "The Kid."
* The Watcher in ''{{KateModern}}'', and the Shadow even more so. You really ''don't'' want to mess with the Shadow.
* The Guy, {{Disturbed}}'s mascot.
* Was it The Cancer Man or The Smoking Man? Or The Cigarette Smoking Man? Seemed to creep "{{X-Files}}" fans out no end, and make them worry what would happen to Mulder. The Man needs no name, and no freakin' nicorette.
* {{Team Fortress 2}}: The Pyro. A faceless, mumbling abomination in an asbestos fire-suit and gas mask, whose sole purpose in life is to hunt people down and [[KillItWithFire immolate them]]. Of course, if that doesn't work, he can always resort to his trusty [[AnAxeToGrind Fire Axe]].
** All the classes in Team Fortress 2 are so named, although due to his mediocre mastery of the English language, The Heavy refers to himself as "Heavy Weapons Guy," which also works.
* Lu Bu in virtually any ''DynastyWarriors'' game. Historically one of the most powerful generals in the time of the three kingdoms, pretty much everyone speaks of Lu Bu in hushed whispers, and when he shows up, he goes on a total rampage tearing through everything in his path. While there are some missions where you must actually ''kill'' Lu Bu, in most missions attempting to do this is suicide, as he's many, ''many'' times stronger than anyone else in the game, ''including your primary target for the mission'' (usually Dong Zhuo). If he's not kicking your ass, he's chasing you down, and it doesn't help that he always rides the fastest horse in the game. Yuan Shao's line, "[[MemeticMutation do not pursue Lu Bu]]", is probably the most useful advice you will ever recieve in Dynasty Warriors.
[[/folder]]
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