Tropes in this episode include:
- Analogy Backfire: When Rigby is upset about his name change, Skips tries to comfort him by telling that things were tough when he changed his name, but no one cared after a couple of years. But then, he realized that he didn't change his "Trash Boat".
- Apathetic Clerk: The lady at the front desk in charge of changing people's names. She is quite indifferent towards Rigby's predicament, and stiffly tells him that he needs to give her fifty dollars or she cannot change his name back.
- Chekhov's Gunman: At the beginning of the episode, what convinces Rigby to change his name is the leader of a famous rock band named The Urge stating he changed it to that himself during a televised interview. The climax of the episode involves his future self going back in time trying to kill Rigby for ruining his life and career simply for his name being so laughably bad that it became famous - or rather infamous - enough to knock him completely off his perch.
- Didn't Think This Through: Rigby decides to name himself "Trash Boat", only for everyone to find the name ridiculous.
- Embarrassing Last Name: Besides the name of which the premise is revolved around, one gag shows a man wanting to change his name back to "Chad" than the one he has now: Mr. Buttcheeks.
- Escalating War: While he didn't kill Rigby as planned, The Urge claims to have gotten his fame back now that he undid the name change. Shortly after, time-traveling rock star to time-traveling rock stars arrive with the same goal, leading to this.
- Formerly Fit: The Urge in the present is slim, handsome and well-fit. When The Urge from the future comes to kill Rigby/Trash Boat, he is morbidly obese and balding.
- Gainax Ending: Even for this show the ending is weird. Basically, it ends on an Escalating War between the time-traveling rock stars ending when a Maraca grenade kills everyone except Mordecai and Rigby.
- Instrument of Murder: The Urge has a double-necked guitar that fires lasers from the headstock when played. At the end, other time traveling musicians show up with similar instruments, starting with guitars of guitar-adjacent ones, then becoming exaggerated when percussion and wind players show up. Also, one has maracas that double as grenades, which are powerful enough to take them all out.
- Jerkass Ball: Rigby's co-workers hold this big time, with Mordecai making fun of his new name before he tells them because it's that funny. However, he and Benson take it a step further as they treat Rigby as a stranger because of the new name, with Benson being even less tolerant of "Trash Boat's" slacking than "Rigby's".
- Laser-Guided Karma: The Urge tries to kill Rigby instead of simply helping the latter change his name back. He gets a taste of his own medicine when another musician comes back in time to kill him.
- Line-of-Sight Name: Rigby sees a trash can and a painting of a boat and emerges with the Atrocious Alias "Trash Boat" that'll torment him for the rest of the episode.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Thanks to The Urge, Rigby was able to get his name changed back, as his trying to kill Rigby convinced Mordecai, who earlier turned down helping his friend, to give him the money he needed in order to change his name.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In order to change his name back, Rigby (or "Trash Boat") needs 50 dollars, so he asks Benson for any other work to get more money."Trash Boat": Look, is there any extra work around that I can do?
Benson: (surprised) Whoa-ho! Extra work? You really are a new man, Trash Boat! - Pet the Dog: Mordecai uses the 50 bucks that were originally going to be used for when he and Margaret go on a date to change Trash Boat's name back to Rigby.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: After "Trash Boat's" name was changed back to Rigby, The Urge is at first overjoyed. But then another musician arrived, claiming vengeance against him for ruining his career by changing his name. The clerk in charge of the name-changing reacts by simply shutting her doors.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The Urge loses his fame because Rigby gained stardom sometime after changing his name. He tries changing his own but didn't work as he hoped, so he moves to Plan B: going back in time to the present to kill Rigby. By the end though, he discovers Rigby changed his name back, canceling his plan.
- Space Whale Aesop: Don't try to change your name, or else you'll steal a famous rock star's fame and his future self will try to kill you because of your new name.
