Red Baron / Real Life

Real Life examples for Red Baron.

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Military, politics etc.

Germany

• Manfred von Richthofen, the Trope Namer. He got the nickname because he had a 'Freiherr' title (literally 'free lord', often translated as 'baron') and painted his plane bright red. Those who actually knew the man would recount how approachable he was to those in the squadron he led, commenting that he was quite friendly and would joke around with his fellow pilots. It says a lot that his sworn enemies gave the man a burial with full military honors, out of sheer respect for his prowess and valor as a fellow Sky Warrior. It is even rumored that tears were shed at the funeral by those who lost friends to his red triplane's gunfire. Given that von Richthofen was only in his early twenties during his career and airplane technology was relatively new and yet he still managed to shoot down 80 freaking planes, it's no surprise why everyone in the war respected the guy. Which also makes his death somewhat ironic — he wasn't killed by an enemy pilot, but by a lucky shot from a machine gunner on the ground (after being chased down there by an enemy pilot; while the circumstances are sketchy, the lethal rounds were confirmed to be infantry-grade, and penetrated at an angle that would have been extremely unlikely unless they were fired from the ground). He managed to make a controlled landing right before he bled out.
• Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, meaning Red Beard. Not a terribly badass nickname, but he's still considered one of Germany's great heroes, and greatly respected even by his enemies of the Italian city-states (indeed, "Barbarossa" is Italian-they gave him his nickname) and their descendants.
• Charles V was called "the Emperor King" on virtue of being both King of Spain (and Naples, and Sicily) and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
• Imperial General Matthias Gallas was known as "The army destroyer". Unfortunately, they weren't talking about the armies of his enemies...
• Otto von Bismarck was known as the "Iron Chancellor". True, he wasn't a soldier, but he was such a supreme political genius that the moniker was well earned. Bismark also gave a very important speech which convinced the Prussian Reichstag Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Deputies) to make their military stronger, eventually leading to the unification of the German states. It was called the 'Blood and Iron' speech. On 30 September 1862, when he said "The great issues of the day are not decided by speeches and majority decisions - that was the error of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood." However, the massive expansion of the Prussian Army was at that point already going on for two years.
• Field Marshal August von Mackensen of the German Army during WWI, who led his soldiers to a very hard-fought and brutal victory over Serbia in 1915 picked up nicknames like he picked up medals. During WWI, he was known as "Hindenburg's Brain" for his contributions to German theory and his actions under Hindenburg (who he later replaced) in smashing the Russian invasion of East Prussia. Due to his wearing of the uniform of the Prussian Death's Head Hussars, he was also called "the Last Hussar".
• Erwin "The Desert Fox" Rommel. Rommel's son Manfred said that he was glad of the compliment because he knew the British had learned to appreciate foxes from hunting them, but he would have liked lion even more than fox.

United States

• Retired US Marine General Jim Mattis goes by several:
  • "Mad Dog", which he earned leading US and British troops in Fallujah in 2004 (he apparently doesn't like this nickname).
  • "Chaos", his callsign as a colonel during the Iraq War, which he says stands for "colonel has an outstanding solution."
  • "Warrior Monk", as he is a bachelor with a vast personal library on all things military.
• According to apocryphal legend, the US Marines earned their nickname "Devil Dogs" in WWI from German troops calling them "Teufelshunde", for their tenacity and terrifying presence in battle.
• The Harlem Hellfighters was the first African-American regiment to serve with the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. They were the first unit to cross the Rhine into Germany, and besides the Croix de Guerre from the French army (under which they’d served for six months) for “brave and bitter fighting", they earned the nickname “Hell Fighters” from the Germans, for never losing a man through capture nor a foot of ground to the enemy.
• One of the more famous cases of this trope were the Buffalo Soldiers, the nickname originally given to the all-black 10th Cavalry Regiment, who fought with legendary skill against everything from bandits, the Spanish, and Apache renegades.
• From the American West was John Johnson, also known as Liver Eatin' Johnson, also known as the Dapiek Absaroka, meaning the Crow-Killer (the Crow as in the Native American tribe, not the Corvid).
• Calamity Jane
• "Wild Bill" Hickok, though some stories say that his nickname was derived from a previous nickname "Duck Bill," in reference to his nose.
• USS Samuel B Roberts. Due to her extraordinary bravery during the Battle off Samar, this tiny ship gained the nickname, The Destroyer Escort That Fought Like a Battleship. This tiny ship with only 2 main turrets managed to fire off over 600 rounds while she dueled with several Japanese heavy cruisers in such close quarters that her opponents were not able to lower their guns low enough to effectively return fire. The naval equivalent of a knife fight in a phone booth.
• USS Enterprise (CV-6). Being the most famous of American aircraft carriers in the Pacific War, she actually has several monikers. Some of them include "The Big E", "Lucky E", and most famous of all, "The Grey Ghost". The last of which was due to the fact that every time the Japanese Navy announced they had sunk her, she came back intact.
• The nuclear carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65). Being the most famous American aircraft carrier of the post-World War II era, it, like its namesake, was called "Big E." She was also called (after 1986) the "Mobile Chernobyl" because of its famed eight nuclear reactors (all subsequent American nuclear fleet carriers have had only two, but Enterprise was the US'S first foray into nuclear powered carriers and they thought they'd need as many reactors as a normal ship needed boilers- which turned out to be a little excessive).
• Tom "The Hammer" DeLay (R-TX), former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, named as such for his governing style.
• George H. Thomas, one of the lesser known commanders of The American Civil War today, had two nicknames given to him during the Western campaigns. At the route at Chickamauga, Thomas rallied several Union units to allow the rest of the Army to retreat back to Chattanooga. On Snodgrass Hill, his command stood as a rock, earning him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga". Later, during the Battle of Nashville, his breaking up of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under John Bell Hood earned him the title "The Sledge of Nashville."
• Confederate general Thomas Jonathan Jackson was nicknamed "Stonewall" Jackson for standing like a stone wall in the midst of the battle. The nickname was first used by fellow general Barnard Elliott Bee Jr., though he may not have meant it as a compliment (some think Bee was criticizing Jackson for not advancing).^*Bee himself wasn't able to further elaborate on his meaning after the battle, as he was killed in action shortly after making the remark.
• From the American Revolutionary War, we have Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, who is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare. He was given this name by Col. Banastre Tarleton, who had been ordered to kill him but was never able to because of Marion's use of the South Carolina swamp lanes.
  • Tarleton himself was given the nickname "Bloody Ban" or "The Butcher" after the Waxhaws Massacre. The Patriots thereafter referred to "no quarter" as "Tarleton's quarter".
  • Thomas Sumter, the "Fighting Gamecock"
  • "Gentleman" Johnny Burgoyne
• President Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, who earned his name during the War of 1812, for standing as "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield. Later, when President, Jackson beat off an attempted assassin with a cane. Whether the cane was hickory or not is unknown.
  • Another version of the story says he was called "Old Hickory" because the cane was hickory, and the would-be assassin wasn't the first man to receive a beating with it. (And the assassin only survived because Jackson's own aides pulled him off the man.)
  • The Muscogee (or Creek) Indians, whom he slaughtered, called him Jacksa Chuya Haryo, "Jackson, Old and Fierce". And this was fifteen years before he became President.
  • Zachary Taylor, President twenty years after Jackson, was also renowned for his military prowess, and was nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready". Ironically, he died not much more than a year into his term.
• The Iroquois Indians' nickname for George Washington was Town Destroyer. He is otherwise known "The Father of Our Country"^note Or as Bill and Ted prefer to call him, "the dollar bill guy".
• Carlos Hathcock, legendary American sniper of The Vietnam War, best known for performing a real life example of a Scope Snipe. Known amongst the Viet Cong and N.V.A. as Lông Trắng, "White Feather", due to the white feather he kept in a band on his bush hat.
• Before becoming an astronaut, John Glenn was a military pilot and was nicknamed the "MiG Mad Marine" for shooting down three.
• Alan Shepard, meanwhile, was dubbed the "Icy Commander" for his often bad moods while helping run the NASA office during the years he was grounded with Meniere's disease.
• General Ulysses S. Grant, after his slew of victories against the South in the American Civil War, wound up with the nickname, "Unconditional Surrender" Grant.^note Amusingly enough, he only ended up with the initials "U.S." to make the nickname work because of a clerical error in his appointment to West Point, with Congressman Thomas L. Harner accidentally listing him as Ulysses Simpson Grant instead of his actual birth name Hiram Ulysses Grant when nominating him for West Point, and in childhood, he was informally known as Ulysses by his father, with Simpson being his mother's maiden name. He liked the new name better and kept it, preferring to keep the middle initial S. While attending West Point from 1839 to 1843, he was also nicknamed "Sam", since the initials U.S. also stood for Uncle Sam.
• George "Blood and Guts" Patton.
  • He brought it on himself, by repeatedly saying that battles were won with "blood and brains", in this case meaning both physical and mental effort.
  • "That Crazy American Cowboy" was apparently another nickname bestowed upon him by the Germans, though whether or not they knew of Patton specifically or just knew that the Americans had a certain general who was infamous for his aggression and bloodthirst depended upon the German in question and the time period.
• The Devil's Brigade, a joint American/Canadian Special Forces unit in WWII and the subject of a decent, if slightly inaccurate, movie. So named by the Germans — "Des Teufel's Brigade". Not only were they fearsomely capable in combat, but they used to terrify their enemies by doing things such as sneaking through their camp in the middle of the night sticking leaflets on their tents with a picture of a skull and crossbones and the inscription "The worst is yet to come...".
  • The Germans frequently bestowed "devil" nicknames. The United States Marines became "Teufelhunden" ("devil dogs") following the battle of Belleau Wood (1918)^note Allegedly. There's no surviving contemporary German records of this nickname, and it's grammatically wrong anyhow and the
  • The P-38 "Lightning" heavy fighter became known by the Germans as "der Gabelschwanz-Teufel" "(the fork-tailed devil)" from its twin booms and surprising maneuverability. By the middle of the war, however, Luftwaffe fighters had become wise to the Lightning's tricks and losses began to mount in the European Theatre, but the nickname stuck, since the plane was still a dire threat for any inexperienced or overly-confident German pilots.
• General George Crook, also known as "Grey Wolf", had a distinguished career fighting against the Shoshone, the Apache, the Sioux and the Cheyenne in the Indian Wars of the 1880s. He ironically later became an activist for the rights of the defeated Native Americans and spent years speaking out against the United States' unfair treatment and failed federal policies. Three guesses who gave him that nickname.
• Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman has used his stage name for so long that when he ran for governor of Texas, he received permission to officially put "Kinky" on the ballot.

England

• Sir Francis Drake was known to his arch-enemies, the Spanish, as simply "El Draque": the Dragon. Considering that he most famously "singed the King of Spain's beard" with a fire-ship raid on Cadiz in 1587 that fried a significant chunk of the so-called Invincible Armada, which would sail in 1588, this is rather appropriate. "Drake" is an archaic English word for "dragon", as in "firedrake".
• Arthur Wellesley, the The Duke of Wellington, was known as the Iron Duke, one of many 'Iron' titles popular at the time. This was mostly because of his war record, but wags and embittered reformists/radicals used it to refer to the iron shutters he installed over his ground-floor windows to keep them from getting smashed during the numerous riots during his term as Prime Minister.
• Edmund Ironside, so named because he was a capable military leader.
• Margaret Thatcher gained the title "The Iron Lady" after a strong anti-Communist speech. Red Star (the newspaper of the Reds with Rockets) gave her that name, and it wasn't intended as a compliment. She was not yet PM at this point.
• King Henry V of England (the one Shakespeare wrote a play about) was called 'The Butcher of Agincourt'... though not by the English.
• Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, is generally referred to as 'Warwick the Kingmaker' for his actions during the Wars of the Roses, in which he raised and deposed monarchs from both competing dynasties before ultimately being killed at the Battle of Barnet.
• Ask about T. E. Lawrence and most people have no idea what you mean, but everyone has heard of Lawrence of Arabia.
• Another famous example is William the Conqueror, who only achieved that title after he conquered England. Before that, he was just the Duke of Normandy and had a slightly less badass nickname "William the Bastard" due to his father having never married his mother.
• Sir Henry Morgan, one of the most successful pirates and privateers in history, was known as The Sword of England.
• William the Marshal, a knight who rose out of obscurity to become the right hand man of three Kings of England (four if you count Henry the Young King) and the Regent to a fourth (fifth), being at points the most powerful man in England. He was considered the greatest knight that ever lived and an excellent general, becoming Famed In-Story in Real Life thanks to bards making up songs about him. He was also a genuine badass, fighting in the front lines at the age of 70 at the Battle of Lincoln and, in a less obvious but perhaps more astonishing display of badassery, reissuing the Magna Carta. Without him, it might very well have fallen into obscurity.
• King Edward I, 'Hammer of the Scots'. Needless to say, the Scots weren't very fond of him. At 6'2", Edward was extremely tall for his era, earning him another badass nickname, Longshanks.
  • "You, Scot! Hammertime!"
  • Edward's daughter-in-law was no less formidable, eventually tiring of her husband Edward II's laziness, incompetence and habit of lavishing favours on his favourite, Piers Gaveston, a man widely hated by just about everyone besides the King, and masterminding a ruthless and effective coup d'etat which put her son on the throne under the Regency of her and her lover, Roger Mortimer. For this, she earned the nickname 'the She-Wolf of France'. Unfortunately for her, Edward III was quite as capable as his grandfather and not the sort to be anyone's puppet.
• Sir James Douglas, a.k.a. 'The Black Douglas' who led a contingent that pursued the fleeing English army back across the border and went on to wreak havoc in the North of England with his fast raiding force of mounted infantry.
• Sir David Stirling, the original founder of the SAS, was nicknamed "The Phantom Major" by the German forces. So badass was this nickname, that he wasn't even recognized when captured. Due to the terror that this nickname had inspired, he was assumed to be much bigger and scarier than he was, a surprising achievement when you realise that Stirling was already six foot six.
• Lord Horatio Nelson was called 'Britannia's God of War' by Lord Byron.
  • Japanese Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, who led his nation to victory that shocked the world in the Russo-Japanese War, came to be known as "The Nelson of the East". Tōgō took this so seriously that he became convinced he was the reincarnation of Lord Nelson.
  • Rounding it out is Admiral Yi Sun-Sin of Korea, who was dubbed "The Martial Lord of Loyalty" for his consistent defense of the nation against the Japanese invasion, despite the Decadent Court demoting him multiple times out of jealousy. Even Tōgō did not dare to compare himself with Yi, for (Yi) has no equal.
• One of Nelson's subordinates, Lord Thomas Cochrane, was dubbed 'the Sea Wolf' by Napoleon himself for his devastating commerce raids on the French coast, and was later dubbed 'El Metálico Lord', 'the Metallic Lord', during his highly successful decade as a mercenary Admiral in South America and Greece after being struck from the Naval List for a highly controversial conviction for Stock Exchange Fraud and, apparently, getting bored. Despite how it sounds, and Cochrane's legendary exploits, such as the capture of Valdivia (seven forts, three hundred men, only two ships? No problem) including being one of the driving forces behind Chilean and Peruvian citizenship, before taking service with Brazil and gaining its independence from Portugal within a year, it was actually an insult based on Cochrane's perceived greed - the colloquial translation runs more like 'Count of Cash'. Part of it was probably paranoia and stubbornness, combined with a total inability to play politics, but he did leave both Chilean and Brazilian service over disputes over payment and share prize money (in the second case, he absconded with a large chunk of a provincial treasury, raided several merchant ships, then sailed back to Britain in a captured Brazilian frigate, presumably with two fingers firmly waved behind him).
• "Mad Jack" Churchill (no relation), famed for such eccentricities as running around the battlefields of World War II with a claymore and longbow, actually using these to kill people, and bringing along his bagpipes. He was crazy, but he was Crazy Awesome.
• Billy Bishop of Canada, the British Empire's great flying ace of World War I, got the nickname of Hell's Handmaiden.

France

• Henri I, duc de Guise, was called le balafré, meaning Scarface.
• Napoleon's Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout, Duke of Auerstaedt and Prince of Eckmuhl, was known as the Iron Marshal.
• The French king Philip IV "The Fair"^note "The Fair" as in the beautiful was also called the "Iron King". His most memorable achievements were: planning and carrying out the arrest of the Knights Templar all across the kingdom in the span one day^note Friday 13 October 1307 in what was arguably the most complex police operation of all time, getting his grandfather Louis the Ninth canonized, imposing his rule on his pretty much autonomous vassals, fathering the She-Wolf of France (see below) and getting the fricking pope arrested!^note The relevant pope, Boniface VIII, greeted his men with "Here is my head, here is my neck, at least, I shall die pope!" He then died a month later of old age and his (French) replacement moved the Holy See to Avignon in France. Incidentally, Dante Alighieri, who positively hated Boniface VIII, consigning him to the Eighth Circle of Hell in the Inferno (for simony), saw Philip's arrest of the Pope as being so egregious that he said in the Purgatorio (through Philip's ancestor Hughes Capet) that Philip was destined for Hell just for this act.

Spain

• El Cid Campeador, one of the national heroes of Spain. "El Cid" is the Hispanicized version of al-Sīdi, which is the Northern African rendition of the Arabian al-Sayyid, which means "Lord". "Campeador" is trickier, coming from a Medieval Spanish word for a military champion translating literally as "battlerfielder" or more poetically "battlefield master".^note It was once believed to come from Latin campidoctor, the Roman word for a drill sergeant, but this is now considered Dated History. It seems he was called both things, though. The Lord Master of Battlefields is so badass it hurts.
• King Alfonso I de Aragon earned the name "El Batallador" ("The Battler") for his seemingly endless military successes.
• Peter I of Castile was known as "El Cruel" ("Peter the Kind" — no, just kidding, "the Cruel") by his enemies and "El Justo" or "El Justiciero" ("The Just" or "The Justicemaker") by his supporters. The former stuck much more.
• Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were simply known as The Catholic Monarchs.
• Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, considered the greatest military genius in Spanish history, became universally known as "El Gran Capitán" due to his Italian allies labelling him "Il Gran Capitano" after his campaigns in Italy, translating as "The Great Captain" in both cases.
• Francisco Pizarro was nicknamed "Machu Capitán" ("The Old Captain") by the natives due to his advanced age. He was also called Apu, Quechúa for Lord.
• Hernán Cortés himself was given by his native allies the name of "Chalchihuitl Capitán", with chalchihuitl being the Nahua name for green gemstones, which were highly valued in Mesoamerica. The name would thus translate as "The Gemstone-Precious Captain".
• Pedro de Alvarado was called Tonatiuh, the Sun God, by the Tlaxcaltecs. This came from being reddish-blonde and a very charismatic man, not because they believed him to be really a god, though.
• Original conquistador Alonso de Ojeda was known as "El Centauro de Jáquimo" for his usage of cavalry and success during the Battle of Jáquimo.
• The Spanish explorer who got shipwrecked in Texas and explored much the American southwest and northern Mexico was Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, whose family name translates into "head of cow". He was not a minotaur, though. Back in the 1200s during the Reconquista (711-1492 AD), as the Spanish were trying to drive the Arabs out of Spain, one of Cabeza de Vaca's ancestors, Martín Alhaja, helped the Spanish army defeat a large force of Arabs by marking a secret mountain trail with a cow's skull. The king was so grateful that he awarded "Cabeza de Vaca" to the family as both a title and name.
• The Duke of Alba was called "I Jzeren Hertog" ("The Iron Duke") by his Dutch enemies.
• Being famous by his strength, Jerónimo de Ayanz became known as "El Nuevo Alcides" ("The New Alcides", this being an alternate name for Hercules) and "El Caballero de las Prodigiosas Fuerzas" ("The Knight of the Prodigious Strength").
• The nickname "El Rayo de la Guerra" ("The War Lightning") was given to several generals of the period, but it is more associated to Alexander Farnese, known by his highly mobile battle tactics and crushing siege brilliance.
• "Medio Hombre" ("Half-Man") for Blas de Lezo, who was one-armed, one-legged and one-eyed for most of his active and awesome career.

Russia

• Ivan the Terrible. In Russian, "groznyi" really means something closer to "fearsome" or "formidable". Which is just as awesome.
• Another WWII example is Die Nachthexen (the Night Witches), the Soviet all-women 588th Night Bomber Regiment; their old wooden adapted cropdusters were hard to shoot down because they were slower than the stall speed of the German Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulf fighters. This meant that whenever someone managed to get near them, they'd have to slow down to a point where the plane stalls and becomes unable to fly anymore.
• Lydia Litvyak. A WW2 Soviet fighter pilot with the 586th IAP, later with the 73 Gv IAP. The highest scoring female fighter ace in history with 12 solo victories and 4 shared over 66 combat missions. Her nickname? "The White Lily of Stalingrad", sometimes (mis)translated as "White Rose".
• The Soviet Union's first Secret Police organisation was founded by "Iron Felix" Dzerzhinsky, a hardliner who was zealous and ruthless enough to impress even Stalin.
• In WWII, the Soviets had Lyudmila Pavlichenko - known and feared by the Germans as "Lady Death". During her time as a sniper, she had racked up 309 confirmed kills, granting her the title of the deadliest female sniper in recorded history. Starting from taking up sharpshooting in her early days as a hobby, she became known to play cat and mouse with her targets and use several tricks to catch them off-guard. Her history has been written into a comic by Rejected Princesses, here.

Brazil

• The greatest military man in Brazilian history, the Duke of Caxias, had two: one he shared with The Duke of Wellington: "O Duque de Ferro" ("The Iron Duke") (though unlike Wellington, his was entirely due to prowess in battle), the other was "O Pacificador" ("The Peacemaker"), because of his career crushing rebellions and destroying foreign threats in a way that would cause peace.
• Another Brazilian was Manuel Luís Osório, the Marquis of Erval, he was nicknamed "O Legendário" ("The Legendary").

Poland

• Polish king Jan III Sobieski was known as "The Lion of Lechistan" in Ottoman Empire.
• Henryk Dobrzański, first guerilla commander of WWII, was nicknamed "Mad Major" due to his impossible victories.
• Polish General Jozef Bem who fought in the 1848 Hungarian revolution was widely nicknamed "Bem apó" (Grandpa Bem or Old Man Bem) for his fatherly attitude towards his soldiers and his advanced age.

Finland

• A Finnish example: Simo Häyhä, the sniper or the single greatest killing machine in human history. He achieved over 500 kills in less than 100 days during the Winter War, also known as the "White Death". The cutest thing about the name is that "the white death" also means sugar.
• Harry Järv, a Finno-Swedish officer during the Winter War, who due to his many successful behind-the-lines missions was given the nickname "Järven" (The Wolverine). Remind you of someone? His name is nearly a pun in itself since "Djärv" (pronounced identically) means "Bold"...
• The Finnish front of Winter War had a lot of legendary guys known by their nicknames. One of them was the commanding officer of the aforementioned Simo Häyhä, captain Aarne Juutilainen, also known as "The Terror of Morocco". Yes, Morocco. "The Terror" had earlier served with the French Foreign Legion in Morocco for years before returning from the desert to the frosty battles of the Winter War. The Terror was a national hero of the Battle of Kollaa, and was able to hold the almost impossibly thin lines with his men (such as The White Death). There's still a Finnish saying "Kollaa kestää" (Kollaa will hold), meaning that you will resist and fight back, no matter what it takes.

East Asia

• Generally speaking, one of the main reasons this trope is so particularly prevalent in much East Asian culture and fiction (particularly from Japan and China) is because, historically, successful generals or other heroes in conflicts in Sino-influenced cultures were formally granted such titles by their lords and governments after particular achievements, and often got many more from their soldiers and from the citizenry besides. Guan Yu, for example, had a bunch of them even in life, before he was made into basically a deity. These include "Mei Ran Gong", or "Lord of the Magnificent Beard" and "Changsheng", or "The True Leader".
• Sanada Yukimura. After an impressive display of valor and one mighty Foe-Tossing Charge, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who was his target, honored him with the title "Japan's Number One Soldier".
  • He's also known as "Demon of the Crimson Lotus" (due to his and his troops' trademark red armor), which is seriously cool. There was even a folk song comparing him to a demon (in a good way).
• Chinggis (Genghis) Khan is an excellent example, as the name he is best known by is a title taken after he united Mongolia, not his birth name, which was Temujin. The exact meaning of his title is unknown, with numerous translations proposed, from 'Oceanic Ruler', to 'Ruler of All People Who Live in Felt Tents'. The other style of this trope, similar to the Norse and Medieval examples, was (and still is) common in Mongolia, with most people's 'last' names being monikers like 'the Brave', 'the Wrestler', and so on.
• Võ Nguyên Giáp, the redoubtable North Vietnamese general who led his soldiers to victory over Japan, France, and then the United States, was called "the Red Napoleon" for his military genius. Most notably, Giap had no military experience prior to joining the Viet Minh, working only as a history teacher during his adult life. Everything he knew about military strategy, he taught himself using military manuals (including Sun Tzu's work) and the accounts of famous generals from history (including the real Napoleon).
• Miriam Defensor Santiago, the Philippines' longest-serving senator and one of its most accomplished politicians, was called the "Iron Lady of Asia". This was alongside her other titles of "Dragon Lady", the "Platinum Lady", the "Incorruptible Lady", the "Tiger Lady".
• The real name of Nang Keo Phimpha, the only ruling queen of Lan Xang (modern-day Laos), has been lost to history. She's known only by her epithet, which means "The Cruel". She assassinated seven kings before taking the throne herself, and she did it all while over 80. She was finally deposed and executed at the age of 95.

Other

• Vlad Dracula was also known as Vlad Tepes, Tepes meaning "Impaler" cause, well, that is what he did. The Turks were very frightened of him, calling him "Kazıklı Voyvoda" ("The Impaler Prince"), and mounted his head on the walls of Istanbul, to assure people that he was really dead. Consider the fact this man saw the Turks invading his land, turned to the Turkish prisoners and said 'Well, they aren't doing anything', and created a forest of roughly 30,000 impaled Turkish soldiers.
• A lot of medieval Vikings had fantastic nicknames, some more fearsome than others: Erik Bloodaxe, Ivar the Boneless, Erik the Priest-hater, Sigurd the Crusader, Sweyn Forkbeard, Erik the Red, Harald Bluetooth, Harald Wartooth, Ragnarr Lodbrok, etc. Though these were made up by English historians who needed an easy way to separate historical vikings from each other. It didn't end with the end of the Viking Age though. During the later middle-ages we still have names like Erik Lisp and Lame, Valdemar the Victorious, Magnus Barefoot...
• Golda Meir, first female Prime Minister of Israel, also got the "Iron Lady" title.

• Muhammad Ibn Abi Aamir, who is still known in Spain as Almanzor, from Al-Mansur, "The Victorious One".
• Perhaps the best known (at the time anyway) Roman example of this trope was Scipio Africanus. He was born Publius Cornelius Scipio and the "Africanus" was added after he kicked ungodly amounts of Carthaginian ass in the Second Punic War, including defeating Hannibal (who had already crushed the better part of a dozen Roman armies, usually when badly outnumbered) with more or less even odds at the battle of Zama.
• Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne. His name means "Charles the Hammer."
• Judah Maccabee (makkab = hammer), whose byname was also applied to the dynasty he founded.
• Charlemagne himself. The name means 'Charles the Great'.
• Several "Black" nicknames:
  • Edward, Prince of Wales, is known as "the Black Prince" today - though apparently not to his contemporaries, since the first recorded use of "Black Prince" occcurred in Grafton's Chronicle (1569), two centuries after his death. Historians can't agree on whether the title refers to his black shield or his reputation, either.
  • The French General Thomas Dumas (the father of Alexandre) was know as the "Black Devil": the irony is, while he gained this name thanks to his black skin and his very authentic badassery (holding a bridge against the Austrian army while being shot six times and emerging alive and victorious), he was perhaps the most honourable general of the French Revolution (refusing to participate in pillage, denouncing the slaughters in Vendée, remaining faithful to the ideals of the Revolution).
  • Eugene James Bullard, the first African-American fighter pilot in the world (though he flew for the French) earned his nickname of 'The Black Swallow of Death' as an infantry soldier in the infamous French Foreign Legion where he won he Croix de Guerre. He later worked as a spy for the allies when France was taken over by the Nazis, and fought in the defense of Orleans.
  • Duke Frederick William of Brunswick, the "Black Duke". He and the free corps he raised in 1809 to fight against Napoleon was dressed in black in memory of his father, duke Charles William Frederick, mortally wounded at Auerstedt in 1806.
  • Famed Spanish guerrilla leader Juan Martín Díez (1775-1825) was better known as el Empecinado, the "pitch-man", because of the black earth of his home. In 1814 a royal decree gave him permission to use Empecinado as his name instead of Díaz.
    • Interestingly enough, nowadays "empecinado" means "really stubborn" in Spain (and it's even got a verb counterpart, "empecinarse", "to dig one's heels").
  • General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing got his nickname from his tenure as commander of the 10th US Cavalry, a unit of African-American soldiers who are more well known as the legendary 'Buffalo Soldiers'. This one was somewhat bowdlerized by newspapers and history books: Pershing's original nickname was "Black-Assed Jack."
  • Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, better known as the "Black Baron", was a Russian general from a Baltic German noble family who earned his moniker due to his love for wearing black, Cossack-style uniforms. Unlikely many of his contemporaries, he was among the Royals Who Actually Do Something and earned a well-deserved reputation for military and political acumen during the Russian Civil War.
    • The Bolsheviks feared him so much they ended up using him as a bogeyman in their marching song "White Army, Black Baron".
  • Another example of a menacing nicknamed flying ace is the highest scoring ace of all time, Erich Hartmann, the 'Black Devil', who flew for the German Luftwaffe during World War II and had a staggering 352 victories. Nearly all of these were against Soviet pilots on the Eastern Front, however, so he never gained much notice amongst the Americans and British. He got the name from the black tulip painted on the front of his plane, which he eventually had to remove because all his potential targets tended to run once they saw it.
    • Hartmann was also called the Blonde Knight◊ and Bubi, an affectionate version of 'little boy' in German, by his allies.
  • Not to be outdone, the armored subdivision of the Waffen-SS also has a Black Baron of their own: tank ace Michael Wittman.
  • And of course, the king of pirates himself, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach.
  • St. Moses the Black was senior abbot at the Paromeos Monastery, and was known for his enormous build and sharp wit and was rightly feared by bandits and troublemakers for his criminal past
• Many of the bynames that monarchs tends to acquire fit into this. Everything from the standard "the Great" to ones like "plowpenny".
  • Richard the Lionheart, who remains to this day the only King of England to be known by their byname rather than regnal number (Alfred the Great was only King of Wessex).
  • Alfred the Great.
    • His daughter, Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians and de facto Queen of Mercia.
  • Alfred's Welsh contemporary Rhodri Mawr, Mawr meaning 'Great' and Rhodri meaning 'King' (part of it also, puzzlingly, means 'wheel'). This broadly translates as 'Great King'.
  • Hywel Dda, Hywel the Good, who came to prominence just afterwards and whose law code stuck around for approximately five hundred years.
  • The Mughal sultans: The names they are usually remembered under (Babur, Akbar, Aurungzib, Shah Jahan...) weren't their actual names but more like descriptions. Akbar^note real name Abu'l-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad is especially funny as he is in western sources often called "Akbar the Great", which is redundant because Akbar * already* means "The Greater" (the comparative form of the Arabic adjective "kabir" = "great"). Shah Jahan^note Shahabuddin Muhammad means "emperor of the world". Babur^note real name Zahir-ud-din Muhammad means "the tiger".
• Khalid ibn al-Walid (Immortal Son of the Newborn), also known as Sayf Allāh al-Maslūl (the Drawn Sword of God), Four-Star Badass extraordinaire. How much more badass can your name and nickname get ?
• One that's so common it's often overlooked, Mohandas Gandhi is commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, an honorific meaning "great soul" in Sankrit. Ask about "Mohandas" Gandhi, and most people will just give you a blank stare. (In everyday speech in modern India, he is referred to as Gandhiji, i.e. "honourable Gandhi".)
• The Air Force of the Israel Defense Forces is sometimes affectionately (or not so affectionately) referred to as "The World's Largest Distributor of MiG Parts".
• Ehe entire Australian SASR were known to the Viet Cong as "The Phantoms of The Jungle" due to them using the same guerrilla tactics as the Viet Cong, as well as achieving an average kill ratio of 500 to 1.
• Russian general Mikhail Skobelev was known as the "White General" (and by the Turks as the "White Pasha"). The Turkmen's would later call him "Bloody Eyes".
• Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire, possible descendant of Genghis Khan, "Tamerlane" to some, "The Scourge of God" to everyone else.
  • Attila the Hun was known as the Scourge of God nearly a millennium earlier, but in a different part of the world.
    • While "Attila" itself apparently was not his real name but one given to him as a title of honour. It is generally believed to be a diminutive of the Gothic word atta, "father".
• Alfredo Astiz, El Ángel Rubio de la Muerte (The Blond Angel of Death). This moniker may or may not have stood as inspiration for Dragunov's (The White Angel of Death).
• A number of Ottoman Sultans had such monikers. For example, Mehmed II is better known as Fatih (The Conqueror) and Suleiman I is known as Kanuni (Lawmaker?) in Turkish and as the Magnificent in English.
• Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Afghanistan resistance leader against the Soviet Union and later on, the Taliban. Earned the name Lion of Panjshir, which also puns as Lion of Five Lions in Persian.
• Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: Born Ali Rıza oğlu Mustafa, given the nickname Kemal (perfection) by his math teacher, later given the last name Atatürk (father of the Turkish people) by the Turkish parliament, establishing it as a unique surname that no one else may ever use.
• Przemysl II Ottokar, King of Bohemia was nicknamed the "Iron and Golden King" because of his military power and wealth.
• During The War of 1812, the employees at the E & S Wilson meat packing plant in Troy, NY (owned by Ebeneezer and Samuel Wilson) had the barrels of packed meat rations stamped E.A. - U.S., with Elbert Anderson as the co-partner in the contract to supply rations. When someone asked a barrel stamper what the letters U.S. stood for^note They actually stood for Elbert Anderson - United States, one of them jokingly replied "Uncle" Sam, and the nickname stuck, with the joke circulating that all government property belonged to Uncle Sam, and even the employees called themselves "Uncle Sam's Boys". During the Civil War, Thomas Nast caricatured him as tall and lanky with a beard, based on Abraham Lincoln, and the famous Uncle Sam Wants You recruiting poster which originated in World War I is based on a self-caricature of James Montgomery Flagg, which was also inspired by an earlier "Lord Kitchener Wants You" recruitment poster published throughout Great Britain a few years earlier.
• Byzantine emperor Basil II is more commonly known as Basil the Bulgar-Slayer for being the man to finally conquer the empire's long time foes, the First Bulgarian Empire. While he did crush them, and was capable of ruthlessness, the story of him ordering 15,000 Bulgarian prisoners blinded in lots of 100, with one man in each lot left with one eye to guide the other 99 after the Battle of Kleidon is at best a vast exaggeration and at worst a complete fabrication - though it wouldn't have been entirely out of character, either...
• Prince Eugene of Savoy was known as "The Great Captain". In his time, captain was practically the same as 'general'... And, as the Turks and the French learned at their expense, he was the best of all. This was a particular embarrassment to the French, as Eugene, due Savoy being allied with France, had originally tried to join the French military, and immigrated to Austria after being turned down on account of being seen as too small and his mother having been exiled.
• Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy-Aosta, 2nd Duke of Aosta and Italian general during World War I was known as the Undefeated Duke, and his Third Army as the Undefeated Army, because nobody could defeat them. He cheated during the Battle of Caporetto by retreating from his positions, now impossible to defend due the collapse of the Second Army, before being engaged, but got his revenge one year later, when, during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Third Army's cavalry units would transform the Austro-Hungarian ordered retreat in a total rout and trigger the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Austrian general of Croatian origin, Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, was nicknamed "Lion of Isonzo". He managed to cleverly utilize the terrain and stalemate almost the entire Italian military might with what was the smallest and weakest Austro-Hungarian army in the field. And once he did receive reinforcements after Russia collapsed and German and Austrian troops could be transferred westwards, he pushed Italians from Isonzo on the Slovene border all the way back to Venice.
• The kings of Italy of the House of Savoy all had such a nickname:
  • Victor Emmanuel II (the one who reigned when the Kingdom of Sardinia became the Kingdom of Italy)) was known as the "Gentleman King" for not abolishing the constitution when he could have with Austria's support and "Father of the Fatherland" for being the first king of united Italy in over one thousand years;
  • His son Umberto I was known as the "Good King" for a number of liberal reforms in the penal code (including the first abolition of the death penalty) and personally helping the victims of a number of natural disasters (two volcanic eruptions, a devastating downpour and a cholera outbreak) and "Cannon King" for approving and praising the repression of Milan's famine-motivated riots with artillery (the latter caused two attempts on his life from anarchists, the second of which actually succeeded);
  • His son Victor Emmanuel III was nicknamed "Soldier King" and "Victorious King" for reigning during World War I, and "Little Sabre" for his 'impressive' height of 153 cm (exactly five feet);
  • His son Umberto II, last King of Italy, was nicknamed "May King" for reigning for about one month, most of which was in May 1946.
• From México (or rather, New Spain and then México), Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu, Agustín de Iturbide for short. As a brilliant royalist Dragoon during the war of Independence, in four years of heavy action he never lost a single battle, except for once, when commanded by others, and personally dealt defeat to the insurgent's greatest General, José María Morelos. Iturbide is often referred to as the greatest horseman to ever exist in his home country, and paired with his swordsmanship (he was prone to laughter typical of Flynning during battles) it earned him the nickname of "El Dragón de Hierro", translated: "The Iron Dragon" (in Spanish, "dragón" and "dragoon" are spelt the same). He would go on to create his own plan to liberate México from Spain, and achieved it within 7 months. His fame after that earned a host of other nicknames by the eager press, too long to write here, but just two of those would be "Jupiter's Lightning" and "Neptune's Trident".
• Pier Gerlofs Donia was a Frisian pirate and resistance leader against Holland. He had two particularly badass nicknames: "Grutte Pier" (Great Pier), earned for his absolutely massive size and strength (just check out◊ his sword!), and "The Cross of the Dutchmen", which he earned after a naval battle where he sunk 28 Dutch ships in a single day.
• Hungarian aristocrat and politician István Széchenyi got the nickname "A Legnagyobb Magyar" (The Greatest Hungarian) for his continous efforts to improve Hungary's wealth and innovations throughout his life. He succeeded.
  • Széchenyi's close friend and fellow politician Miklós Wesselényi was widely called "Árvizi Hajós" (Sailor in the Flood) after he personally saved lives using a rowboat when River Danube flooded the city of Pest in 1838.
• 15th century Austrian military captain John Haugwitz, better known by his nickname Haugwitz the Black. He served in the Black Army of Matthias Corvinus, a definitely badass military formation which may have been nicknamed after him.
• The (alleged) first Fighter Ace of the 21st Century became quickly known as "The Ghost of Kyiv".
• The former 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot were known as "The Die Hards", and the phrase "die hard" actually comes from them. During the Battle of Albuera in The Peninsular War, the 57th saw hard fighting. At one point, their commander, Colonel William Inglis, was badly wounded by grapeshot (think a shell used to turn a cannon into a giant shotgun). He refused to be carried to the rear, laying by his regiment's Colours, and when the fighting got particularly fierce, he could be heard calmly saying "Die hard, 57th, die hard!". Despite massive casualties (422 out of 570 rankers, and 20 out of 30 officers), they managed to hold long enough that they broke the French advance.
• Real-life Pirates sometimes acquired badass nicknames. Examples include "Arch Pirate" Henry Every, "Lioness of Brittany" Jeanne de Clisson and "Blackbeard" Edward Teach. It's no surprise that Eiichiro Oda was inspired by this to base some characters from One Piece on said real-life pirates.
• Albanian national hero Skanderbeg was known by a number of nicknames. Among his countrymen he was "The Dragon of Albania", to the Pope he was "Defender of Christianity" and to the Turks he was "Dread of the Ottomans". "Skanderbeg" itself could qualify since his real name was Gjergj Kastrioti, but after being taken hostage by Sultan Murad II, he named him "Iskander Bey" which meant "Lord Alexander" as in Alexander the Great. The name was slightly altered to Skanderbeg and that is what he is better known.
• Ferenc Nádasdy, the husband of infamous Elizabeth Báthory, was called the Black Knight of Hungary because of his victories over the Ottoman Empire and cruelty to his enemies. In fact, in both aspects he was very similar to Vlad Țepeș, mentioned above.
• George II of Kakheti has the well-deserved nickname "Av-Giorgi" — translated as "George the Bad", "George the Mad", or "George the Evil". He's famous for murdering his father, blinding his brother, invading his neighbours twice, and eventually being captured and killed when his second invasion failed.
• Demetrius II of Georgia, AKA "Demetrius the Self-Sacrificing". His nickname might not have been meant as a compliment — he went to the Mongol ruler's residence, ignoring warnings that the Mongols planned to kill him, and was arrested and beheaded.
• Demetrius II's son, George V of Georgia, has the much more impressive title of "George the Brilliant". He earned that title: he defeated the Mongols and ended their control of Georgia, defended his country from the Ottomans, created two law codes, and established diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire, Genoa, Venice, and Egypt.
  • Earlier in his life he was nicknamed "the Shadow King of Tbilisi". This wasn't as awesome as it sounds; it just meant Tbilisi was the only place where he had any authority.
• Billy Sing, Australia's greatest sniper in WWI. Dubbed 'The Assassin' and 'The Murderer', Sing's official record lists 150 kills ^note an official kill was recorded only if the spotter saw the target fall, but his actual tally was estimated to be closer to 300. General William Birdwood, commander of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), told Lord Kitchener that "if his troops could match the capacity of the Queensland sniper, the allied forces would soon be in Constantinople." Sing's skills were so feared, the enemy forces specifically assigned a champion Turkish sniper to assassinate the man. When said sniper had Sing in his sights, Sing shot first, and was the only one of the two to walk away alive.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi is called "The Hero of Two Worlds", due to his military and revolutionary experiences in both Europe and South America, more specifically the Wars of Italian Independence and his role in the Ragamuffin War against the Empire of Brazil.
• Military vehicles and aircraft provide several examples:
  • Perhaps the most well-known of them all: the A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the "Warthog" or "Hog". The plane gained noteriety during the 1991 Gulf War, in which Warthog pilots racked up nearly 1000 tank kills.
  • During the Soviet-Afghan War, the Mil Mi-24 gained a fearsome reputation as a speedy helicopter with the durability and firepower of a tank. This led to Afghan rebels nicknaming it "Shaitan-Arba", which translates to "Satan's Chariot".
  • The M1 Abrams main battle tank is sometimes referred to as "Whispering Death" for its (relatively speaking) quiet gas turbine engine.

Religion

• The most common name for a famous religious figure: "Christ" comes from the Greek word "Christos", meaning "Anointed" - the Greek translation for "Messiah", which meant the same thing.
• Older Than Feudalism: Along very similar lines to Jesus Christ (and older), "Buddha", loosely translated, means "The Awakened One".
  • The Buddha also had a variety of similar titles, including such as The Tathagata ("Thus Come One", or "One Gone Thus") The World-Honored One, and The Teacher of Gods and Men. Among many others.
• Jesus Christ had two disciples called Simon, one was called Simon the Zealot, the other "the Rock", in Greek Petros, which became the popular Christian name "Peter". In French Peter is Pierre, while "rock, stone" is pierre.
• Jesus also had three disciples called Judah or Judas, one of whom was referred to as Thomas (via Greek Didymos from the Aramaic for "twin") and another, later also known as Jude, as Thaddeus (meaning disputed, could come from a Hebrew word meaning "valiant" or "wise", but could also be a variant of "Theodore"). Both Thomas and Thaddeus became first names in their own right.
• Jesus had two more disciples, the brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them the "Sons of Thunder".
• Among other nicknames, Jesus himself is known as "The Prince of Peace".
• Giovanni Bernardone was nicknamed Francesco (Latin: Franciscus), "Frenchman", by his father, an Assisi merchant trading with France. Nobody calls St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni anymore.
• Odin's nicknames and titles are a mix of this trope, The Magnificent, and Names to Run Away from Really Fast. Some notable ones include All-father, Lord of the Undead, Wand-Bearer, Hooded One, and God of Runes.

Sports

• In American Football:
  • Deacon "The Secretary of Defense" Jones, the man who coined the term "sack" for the sport.
  • The Atlanta Falcons:
    • Deion "Prime Time" Sanders.
    • Matt "Matty Ice" Ryan.
    • "The Burner" Michael Turner.
  • The Pittsburgh Steelers:
    • "The Bus" Jerome Bettis.
    • "The Flyin' Hawaiian" Troy Polamalu (he's originally from California, but of Samoan descent).
    • "Big Ben" Ben Roethlisberger.
    • "Mean" Joe Greene.
    • "Jack Splat/Dracula in Cleats" Jack Lambert, so called because he was missing a few of his front teeth, leaving his canines prominently displayed, and he played with a reasonable amount of blood lust.
    • Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, and Antonio Brown were known as the "Killer B's".
  • Gale "The Kansas Comet" Sayers.
  • The Dallas Cowboys:
    • "Captain Comeback/Roger the Dodger" Roger Staubach.
    • Ed "Too Tall" Jones.
    • Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson.
    • The offensive trio of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin are known as "The Triplets".
  • Reggie White, the "Minister of Defense" (as he was also an ordained minister).
  • The Ismail brothers—Raghib "Rocket" and Qadry "Missile".
  • Several Oakland Raiders players, including, but not limited to:
    • Jack "The Assassin" Tatum.
    • Ken "The Snake" Stabler.
    • Skip "Dr. Death" Thomas.
    • Dave "The Ghost" Casper.
    • Ted "The Mad Stork" Hendricks.
    • "Tecmo" Bo Jackson.
  • The New York Jets:
    • "Broadway Joe" Namath.
    • Darrelle Revis is known as "Revis Island" for his exceptional ability to cover opposing receivers all by himself without help, allowing the rest of his team to do other responsibilities. Opposing receivers would left marooned on an island this way.
    • Antonio "Alcrotraz" Cromartie, for his ability to lock down opposing receivers and prevent pass completions.
  • The 1985 Chicago Bears were known by their nicknames:
    • "The Punky QB" Jim McMahon.
    • "Sweetness" Walter Payton.
    • "The Colonel/The Sack Man" Richard Dent.
    • William "The Fridge/The Refrigerator" Perry.
    • "Samurai" Mike Singletary.
    • Steve "Mongo" McMichael.
    • Dan "Danimal" Hampton.
  • The Seattle Seahawks have the following:
    • "Dangeruss" Russell Wilson.
    • "Beast Mode" Marshawn Lynch.
    • Kam "Bam-Bam" Chancellor.
  • The Philadelphia Eagles:
    • Brian "Weapon X" Dawkins.
    • Nick "Saint Nick/Big Dick Nick" Foles.
  • George Kittle is "The People's Tight End". He got the name due to his friendship with The Rock, as well as his willingness to interact with fans.
  • The Kansas City Chiefs:
    • "The Nigerian Nightmare" Christian Okoye.
    • Patrick "Magic"/"Showtime"/"The Kid" Mahomes.
  • "The Sheriff" Peyton Manning.
    • "Easy" Eli Manning.
  • Tom Brady is known as "Tom Terrific", but nowadays, is more commonly known as "TB12" or "The GOAT" (Greatest of All-Time).
  • Clay Matthews III, "The Claymaker".
  • Joe Montana is known as "Joe Cool" due to his calmness when performing under pressure, especially in the Super Bowl.
  • The Dolphins' wide receiver duo of Mark Clayton and Mark Duper were known as "The Marks Brothers".
  • "L.T." Lawrence Taylor.
  • "The Juice", O. J. Simpson.
  • "Johnny Football" for Texas A&M Heisman Trophy winner and later Cleveland Browns bust Johnny Manziel. Incidentally, he got the nickname in high school.
  • "The Freak" Randy Moss, or Jevon Kearse.
  • Calvin “Megatron” Johnson.
  • Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.
  • Joe Burrow is known as “Joe Brrr” for his cool demeanor, and also as “The Tiger King” for his success with the LSU Tigers and Cincinnati Bengals.
  • Cam Newton's size, strength, and speed were all impressive by NFL standards, let alone quarterback standards, earning him the nickname "Superman".
  • Derrick Henry, better known as His Royal Highness “King Henry”.
    • In high school, Derrick Henry was known as “The Yulee Bulldozer”, and for good reason. His stat line from Yulee High has to be seen to be believed.
• Not only players, but particularly dominant defenses and offenses, will also have colorful nicknames as well.
  On defense:
  • The Fearsome Foursome, the defensive line of the Los Angeles Rams during 1960s and 1970s.
  • The Steel Curtain defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970's; it originally referred to their defensive line, but it eventually applied to the Steelers' defense as a whole.
  • The Doomsday Defense, the defense of the Dallas Cowboys under Coach Tom Landry that lasted from the 1960's to the 1980's.
  • The Miami Dolphins have a couple base on time period:
    • The No-Name Defense, the defense of the Miami Dolphins during the 1970's, including their perfect 1972 season. Cowboys coach Tom Landry said he couldn't name anyone on Miami's defensive side of the ball, which they took on as an Appropriated Appellation.
    • The Killer Bees, the defense of the Dolphins from the 80s, because six of the eleven starters' last names began with the letter "B".
  • The Purple People Eaters defensive line for the Minnesota Vikings from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.
  • Orange Crush, the Denver Broncos defense during the 1970's.
  • The Grits Blitz, the 1977 Atlanta Falcons defense.
  • New York Sack Exchange, the defensive line of the New York Jets early 1980s.
  • Monsters of the Midway:
    • Originally applied to the University of Chicago Maroons of the early 20th century, whose campus was and still is located on the Midway Plaisance on the city's South Side.
    • After UChicago shut down its football program in 1939, the nickname quickly transferred to the Chicago Bears, which had a dominant era in the years surrounding the demise of Maroons football.^note The Maroons returned as a club team in 1963 and upgraded to varsity play in 1969, but did so in the small-college ranks. They now play in NCAA Division III.
    • It was again applied to the suffocating Bears defense of the mid-1980s, especially their Super Bowl-winning season in 1985.
  • The Dome Patrol, the New Orleans Saints linebackers during the late 1980's and early 1990's, the only linebacker unit to have all four members elected to the same Pro Bowl.
  • Big Blue Wrecking Crew, the defense of the New York Giants during the 80's.
  • The Legion of Boom, the Seattle Seahawks secondary during the 2010's.
  • The No-Fly Zone: the 2015 Denver Broncos defense that was led by its historically dominant secondary.

On offense:

• The Electric Company: The Buffalo Bills' offensive line of the 1970s, because they “Turned On The Juice” (O.J. Simpson), and played a huge role in O.J. Simpson's 1973 NFL MVP season. They were named after the popular children's show of the same name.
• The Hogs: The Offensive Line of the then-Washington Redskins during the 1980's, as they hogged up the line and plowed through to allow their backs space to run through.
• The K-Gun: The hurry up, no-huddle offense of the late 80s-early 90s Buffalo Bills, which took them to four consecutive Super Bowls (1990-1993 seasons). Named after Bills tight end Keith McKellan, and not quarterback Jim Kelly, as commonly believed.
• Greatest Show on Turf, the then-St. Louis Rams offense in the late 90's and early 2000's.
• Air Coryell, the then San Diego Chargers offense in the late 1970's and early 1980's.
• The Fun Bunch, given to the Wide Receiving corps of the then-Washington Redskins in the early 1980's.
• Bull Elephant Backfield: The running backs of the 1950's Los Angeles Rams.

• In the Canadian Football League, Michael "Pinball" Clemons. He became so well-known by that name that his article at The Other Wiki uses Pinball, not Michael.
• In Basketball:
  • LeBron James: King James; The Akron Hammer; The L-Train.
  • The Big O, AKA Oscar Robertson.
  • Julius Erving is more commonly known by the moniker "Dr. J."
  • In a subversion, Wilt Chamberlain was called the uncool "The Stilt"; he preferred "The Big Dipper."
  • Magic Johnson. If you just say "Magic", you know exactly who everyone is talking about, and it's not the team in Orlando. Incidentally, his real name is Earvin.
  • Michael Jordan: His (Royal) Airness; Air Jordan; Black Cat; Money. In NBA message boards, he's just known as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Captain; The Tower of Power.
  • "Larry Legend", Larry Bird, also known as "The Hick from French Lick".^note his Indiana hometown
  • Most of the dominant centers of The '90s had one. Hakeem Olajuwon was "The Dream", Patrick Ewing "The Beast", David Robinson "The Admiral"^note So nicknamed because he was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. and Dikembe Mutombo "Mount Mutombo".
    • Shaquille O'Neal was most often referred to simply as "Shaq". Partly because it was easier to say than "Shaquille", and partly because, especially when he was younger, he was built like a brick house, and only slightly easier to push around than one. Other nicknames for him are Superman; The Man of Steel; The Big Aristotle; Shaq-Fu; The Big Shamrock; Shaq Daddy; The Big Galactus; The Big Shaqtus; Shaq Diesel.
  • Stephen Curry: The Golden Boy; The Baby-Faced Assassin; Chef Curry.
  • Kobe Bryant: Black Mamba; The 8th Wonder of the World; Mr. 81; KB-24; KB8; Lord of the Rings; The Dagger; Three Rings; Kob-Me; Kobe Wan Kenobi
  • Kevin Garnett: KG; The Franchise; The Big Ticket; The Kid
  • Paul Pierce: "The Truth", a nickname given to him by Shaq.
  • Vince Carter: Vinsanity; Air Canada; Half-Man, Half-Amazing.
  • Dennis Rodman: The Worm; The Menace; Demolition Man; Rodzilla.
  • Some foreign players are nicknamed after their native country, like "The Polish Hammer" Marcin Gortat, "Air Congo" Serge Ibaka, "AK47" Andrei Kirilenko (and yes, he played with the number 47), "Captain Canada"/"Hair Canada" Steve Nash — the latter being another pun on the original Air Canada, Vince Carter (when he was playing in Toronto), or "The Greek Freak", Giannis Antetokounmpo.
  • And one of the most famous ones among the younger players is the "Manimal", Kenneth Faried.
  • Spanish player Juan Carlos Navarro is better known as La Bomba Navarro. Not because of his eponymous arched shot, but for his ability to absolutely bomb matches (in a good way) with less than favourable odds. Also, "to be la bomba" means roughly "to be the awesomest".
  • Damian Lillard: "Dame Time". Named for a signature taunt where he taps his wrist to say "it's time for me to do something awesome." Also, "Dame Dolla", his rap name.
  • The Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s and early 1990s were known as the Bad Boys, due to their rugged, physical style of defense that carried them to two NBA championships.

• In Ice Hockey:
  • Hardly anyone needs to ask who 'The Great One' is, but for the record, it's the Ambassador of Hockey, Wayne Gretzky.
  • Gordie Howe held every significant NHL career scoring record until Wayne Gretzky came along and rewrote the record book. He played professionally in FIVE decades (40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's), and was a 23-time NHL All-Star. He was known as "Mr. Hockey".
  • Guy Lafleur, former player for the Montréal Canadiens, was nicknamed "Le Démon Blond" (The Blond Demon), for what should be obvious reasons. He was also frequently called "Le Fleur" (The Flower) in allusion to his own name, but that's not nearly as intimidating^note it is actually more of a pun, "Fleur" being a feminine noun, and him being a guy, hence saying "Le" instead of "La".
  • Mario Lemieux got "Le Magnifique", the Magnificent, when he wasn't Super Mario.
    • His Pittsburgh Penguins teammate, Jaromír Jágr, was known as "Mario Jr." early in his career. He was generally the team's second-leading scorer when they were together, and it is, coincidentally, an anagram of his first name.
  • Martin Brodeur, goalkeeper of the New Jersey Devils, became "Satan's Wallpaper".
  • New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was called "King" Henrik.
  • Dominik Hašek, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time in and out of the NHL, was dubbed The Dominator.
  • Professional fist-thrower Derek Boogaard was referred to as "The Boogeyman", as he was 6'7'' and caused smaller players to lose sleep. Or go to sleep.
  • Sean Avery is known as "The Pest", when he isn't known as something much more profane with a similar meaning. He's possibly the most antagonistic, fire-starting little prick to ever play sports, and he's not shy about physical confrontations. The home crowd usually loves him, everyone else wants him dead.
  • Maurice "Rocket" Richard, due to his fast attacking style of play en route to scoring many goals. His little brother Henri was also a prolific goalscorer, earning him the nickname "Pocket Rocket". Both brothers are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
  • Curtis "Cujo" Joseph.
  • Detroit Red Wings (and also New York Islanders/St. Louis Blues) goalie Chris "Ozzie" "The Wizard of Oz" Osgood.
  • Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson. Yes, he was an enforcer. No, you didn't want to fight him.
  • Pat "Little Ball of Hate" Verbeek, who was one of the biggest pests in NHL history until Sean Avery showed up.
  • "Bam-Bam" Cam Neely, one of the first modern "power forwards" in the NHL.
  • Bobby "The Golden Jet" Hull. His son was known as "The Golden Brett" Hull.
  • The Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers teams in the 1970's that were known for their physical, often dirty style of play.
• In Baseball:
  • Babe Ruth of baseball fame probably holds the record for most nicknames like "The Babe", "The Sultan of Swat", "The King of Swing", and "The Great Bambino". He is almost never referred to by his real name, George Herman Ruth Jr.
  • Willie Mays, the Say Hey Kid.
  • Ted Williams, The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, was also called The Splendid Splinter, The Kid, and Teddy Ballgame.
  • Orlando "El Duque" Hernández, during his career, was hardly ever referred to by his real name.
  • Joe DiMaggio: "Joltin' Joe" or "The Yankee Clipper". His birth name was Giuseppe.
  • Bob "Rapid Robert" Feller.
  • Jimmie Foxx, "Double X".
  • Lou Gehrig was called "The Iron Horse".
  • David Ortiz, universally known as "Big Papi".
  • Walter Johnson, "The Big Train".
  • Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron, who shattered Babe Ruth's home-run record with a whopping 755 home runs compared to Ruth's 714.
  • And let us not forget Stan "The Man" Musial.
  • Jackie Robinson: Dark Destroyer; The Colored Comet; Jack-Jack; Jackie the Robber; J-Rob
  • Rickey Henderson, "The Man of Steal", owns the career stolen base record with 1406. Lou Brock, the man in second place, has 938.
  • Ozzie Smith, "The Wizard of Oz", is widely considered to be the greatest defensive shorstop of all time.
  • Pete “Polar Bear” Alonso and Ronald “El Abusador” Acuña Jr. They were rookie sensations in back-to-back years, they play for rival teams, they’ve met head-to-head multiple times in the Home Run Derby, and they have equally badass nicknames.
  • And this is an incredibly small sample of the nicknames in baseball, which are an integral part of the culture like in no other sport; fuller, but by no means complete, lists can be found here and here.
• In Football/Soccer
  • German footballer Franz Beckenbauer is also known as 'the Kaiser'.
    • "Kaiser" means "Emperor" in German. Thus, other German badasses are also called Kaiser (Michael Schumacher, for example.)
    • Though in Germany "Kaiser" is reserved to Beckenbauer. He got his nickname from a radio reporter in a game in which his club Bayern Munich defeated Schalke 04 and his own performance outshone that of Schalke's star player Reinhard Libuda, then known to his fans as "the King" (der König). Libuda, a very good player in his own right, is remembered to this day as "Stan" Libuda (after Sir Stanley Matthews).
  • 'The King' is a common moniker for the widely-accepted greatest player of all time in an English football team's history. Two of the most famous include King Sir Kenny Dalglish of Liverpool and Denis Law of Manchester United — note that Manchester United also has a King Eric, a.k.a. Eric Cantona.
  • Aside from the Kings, the Manchester fans cheered for "The Welsh Wizard" Ryan Giggs, the "Ginger Ninja" Paul Scholes and the "Baby-Faced Assassin" Ole Gunnar Solskjær, scorer of late and vital goals.
    • And while we're at it, the whole team of United is nicknamed the "Red Devils". Interestingly, the Belgian national team is called Les Diables Rouges in French and De Rode Duivels in Dutch, which mean exactly the same thing.
  • Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a.k.a. "King" Pelé.
  • Ronaldo O Fenômeno, meaning "The Phenomenon".
    • Sometimes, he's rather unkindly referred to nowadays as "Fat Ronaldo", due to the expansion of his girth and the rise of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is often referred to as just "Ronaldo", or even "CR7" (after his initials and shirt number).
  • The late, great Diego Maradona is instead known by some as "El Pibe de Oro", which stands for "The Golden Boy". The nickname came from his time at Argentinos Juniors, where he was obviously the biggest prospect in the squad before he left to join Boca Juniors, then Barcelona, and then went to cap off his career at Napoli.
    • Related to Maradona — or perhaps, because of what he did to Maradona — Athletic Club's Andoni Goicoechea was nicknamed "The Butcher of Bilbao".
  • Liverpool Football Club, referred to as 'the Reds', has a fanbase in the habit of giving awesome nicknames to their players. The classic example is 'King' Kenny Dalglish. Following Dalglish becoming Sir Kenny Dalglish in 2018, the response from Liverpool was: "In Liverpool, we call him King."
    • More recently, Robbie Fowler was known as 'God'.
    • Steven Gerrard has 'Captain Marvel' (No, not that one, not that one, and not that one either), 'Captain Fantastic', 'Stevie G', and 'James Bond' (given to him by team-mate Daniel Sturridge because he could do anything) to pick from.
    • His former midfield partner and successor, Jordan Henderson, took a while to win over the Liverpool faithful in general and especially as captain (not being Steven Gerrard had a lot to do with it), but with a maturing of his playing style and leading Liverpool to a 6th Champions League and their first League title in 30 years, plus his palpable passion, he was embraced and given the ultimate accolade of inheriting Gerrard's monikers of 'Captain Fantastic' and 'Captain Marvel'. Nicknames since have included 'Captain Courageous' (given to him for diving in to make a key defensive header when he knew that making contact would get him kicked in the head) and 'Jordan Precision F-Strike Henderson'. More recently, the New York Times did a profile on him during the Pandemic, highlighting his rallying of his fellow captains to raise funds for frontline workers (and testifying before the government on online bullying while surrendering his social media to an awareness organisation, leading player protests against the proposed 'Super League', and after consultation with black colleagues, helping coordinate the Premier League's response to BLM...) while recovering from injury. They noted another nickname of 'the Captain of Captains' and dubbed him 'the Captain of Everything'.
    • Former striker Fernando Torres is 'El Niño' or 'The Kid' (though he'd picked that one up in Spain).
    • Notably physical (sometimes to the point of Unnecessary Roughness) Slovak centre-back Martin Skrtel picked up the nickname "The Terminator", largely for his physicality, and partly because he generally looked like he was about to kill someone.
    • Former midfielder Philippe Coutinho, a short Brazilian player whose skilful play and penchant for spectacular long range goals have earned him the nickname 'the Little Magician'.
    • Young talent Ben Woodburn was, after scoring a spectacular 25-yard goal for Wales at the age of 18, dubbed 'the Prince of Wales'. Unfortunately, his career has rather dropped off since.
    • And the recent hero, Mohamed Salah. He plundered 44 goals in 52 club games in his debut season, nabbing the Golden Boot, PFA Player of the Year, PFA Player's Player of the Year, and Football Writer's Association Player of the Year as well, before in 2021 becoming the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush - and only the 5th ever in the club's c. 130 year history - to score 20 plus goals in 4 successive seasons. He's usually known as 'the King of Egypt'/'the Egyptian King', or simply, 'the Pharaoh'. In Egypt, meanwhile, he's referred to as 'the Fourth Pyramid', and across the Arab world he is known as 'The Pride of the Arabs.'
    • After forming a lethal Power Trio with Roberto 'Bobby' Firmino and Sadio Mané, known for speed, positional flexibility (the three frequently swap positions to bamboozle defenders), and a ruthlessness in front of goal that racked up 90 goals between them, the three have been nicknamed 'the Red Arrows', after the RAF's legendary aerobatics team. When Coutinho played with them, they were known as the 'Fantastic Four', a nickname they've reacquired in 2020 following the arrival of Portugal's Diogo Jota from Wolves.
    • Defensive midfield powerhouse/occasional auxiliary centre-back Fabinho was variously dubbed 'the Octopus' (for having limbs apparently everywhere to block the ball), 'Inspector Gadget' (for his apparently infinitely extendable legs), and 'Dyson' (after a brand of vacuum cleaner, because he cleans everything up - this one was actually brought to the wider world by his manager, who used it in a post-match interview).
    • Also, as mentioned below, Jürgen Klopp contrasted himself with José 'The Special One' Mourinho, by dubbing himself 'The Normal One'. Of all the managers that The Special One has faced more than twice, The Normal One is the one he has the single worst record against — in fact, a 3–1 defeat by Klopp's Liverpool when he was in charge Manchester United actually got him sacked.
    • Other nicknamed players include former midfielder Joe 'Welsh Xavi/Welsh Pirlo' Allen. Originally, it was a joke by manager Brendan Rodgers — Xavi and Pirlo are two of the most skilled midfielders of their generation, both World Cup winners and key players for clubs such as Barcelona, AC Milan and Juventus. Allen was a moderately talented and hard-working midfielder on his best days, and while his determination eventually won over the Liverpool faithful, no one really saw him as being on that level and it was baggage he didn't need.
    • Some newer players have also got nicknames, including Scottish left-back Andy 'The King of the North' Robertson, and English midfielder Alex 'the Ox' Oxlade-Chamberlain.
    • Wild Card Uruguayan striker Darwin Núñez has been affectionately dubbed 'Captain Chaos', 'the Agent of Chaos', or even 'the God of Chaos', simply because no one's quite sure what he'll do next - and frankly, that probably includes him — what with his propensity for footballing Confusion Fu and somehow missing chances that would be easy, and casually tucking away goals that are borderline impossible. His energy, enthusiasm, cheery smile, and this x-factor have made him instantly popular.
    • The team itself has been dubbed 'the Comeback Kings/Europe's Comeback Kings' owing to their propensity for mounting comebacks that border on unbelievable. The nickname came after a particularly ridiculous stunt in their Europa League tie against Borussia Dortmund in 2016. Dortmund, one of the most highly rated teams in Europe, were 3–1 up with less than thirty minutes to go. Liverpool, technically outclassed, had to win outright, and did, winning 4–3. This is arguably not as dramatic as another incident, however, the Champions League final of 2005. After going 3–0 down before half-time, instead of scoring three goals in half an hour, they did so in six minutes, and won on penalties. Unsurprisingly, it's known to this day as 'the Miracle of Istanbul'.
    • Then, they arguably topped that in 2018/19 with what is coming to be known as 'the Miracle on the Mersey'/'the Miracle of Anfield': going into the second leg of the semi-final against Barcelona, having lost 3–0 in the first leg, needing to score 3 goals just to take it to extra time, four to win outright, and (thanks to the away goals rule) five if Barcelona managed to score even one (which with Lionel Messi, widely considered to be the greatest player in footballing history, was almost guaranteed) no one really gave them a chance. And that was before two of their three star strikers were ruled out through injury, forcing them to turn to Divock Origi, a striker who'd scored a total of four goals all season, and Xherdan Shaqiri, an attacker who hadn't played since January, and their title rivals all but confirmed the title the night before. And yet, Liverpool promptly annihilated Barcelona, winning 4–0 — two of those goals being scored by Origi, and in a further twist, the other two being scored by Gini Wijnaldum, only on the pitch in the second half because one of the Barcelona strikers had accidentally-on-purpose injured Liverpool's star left back, forcing a reshuffle.
    • Following their return to Europe's biggest stage, the UEFA Champions League, in 2017/18, and prompt breaking of more or less every goal-scoring record in the book, including a 5-0 demolition away to Portuguese champions, the supposedly rock-solid Porto in the Last 16, a 5-2 thumping of AS Roma (who had just knocked Spanish giants Barcelona) at home in a semi-final with a final aggregate score of 7-6, and in between, a 5-1 aggregate demolition of competition favourites and English champions Manchester City, Liverpool got a new nickname: 'Europe's Entertainers'.
  • Similar to the Robbie Fowler one, Southampton legend Matt le Tissier was widely referred to as "Le God" by Saints fans.
  • Adebayo Akinfenwa, striker for Wycombe Wanderers, is officially the physically strongest player in world football according to the Fifa Soccer franchise. As a result, he's widely referred to as 'the Beast'.
  • On the less than badass note, English footballer Darren Anderton was talented, but also infamous for being injury-prone and was thus generally referred to as 'Sick Note'.
  • Legendary English midfielder and captain David Beckham, meanwhile, was referred to as either 'Becks' or 'Golden Balls'. It is up for debate whether this had more to do with his gifts with a football or his modelling career.
  • Everton, Manchester United, and England striker (and captain) Wayne Rooney has been dubbed 'Shrek', for his resemblance to the ogre in question - a model he is not.
  • Brazilian soccer player Givanildo Vieira de Souza got the nickname "Hulk" during his playing days in Japan. He embraced said nickname and wears it on the back of his shirt. He kept it when he moved to Portuguese champions Porto, and when they played Arsenal FC in the Champions League, this led to cheerful chants from the Arsenal faithful of, "He's going green in a minute! He's going green in a minute!"
  • Also from Brazil there was Adriano "Imperador", 'Emperor'.
  • Current Roma manager José Mourinho is called "The Special One" after a remark he made during his first spell at Chelsea. He had already won two league titles and the Champions League with Porto, and proceeded to win two more league titles with Chelsea, went to Inter Milan and did the treble, went to Real Madrid and won multiple league titles, then returned to Chelsea and won another title with them. It's fair to say he deserves the moniker.
    • Jürgen Klopp, appointed Liverpool manager in October 2015, referred to himself as "The Normal One", something quickly embraced by the fans and the media. The icing on the cake came in the form of their first encounter in the Premier League on Halloween 2015, when The Normal One's Liverpool side thrashed The Special One's Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. A rematch took place almost exactly three years later when The Special One was in charge of Manchester United. It ended with the same scoreline, and actually got Mourinho sacked.
  • Ex-Real Madrid, Porto and Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas is often called "Saint Iker" due to his valuable performances.
  • Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin, considered one of the greatest of all time at his position, was known as the "Black Spider" and the "Black Panther" due to his all-black goalkeeping kit (actually very dark blue) and his astonishing agility.
  • Possibly more of a subversion, but Switzerland's very short, deceptively muscular and talented winger Xherdan Shaqiri has earned the nickname 'the Magic Dwarf'. He went on to play for Stoke City, a team famous for long ball tactics aimed at enormous strikers and the complete opposite of technical play, before moving to Liverpool, who were more appreciative of his technical talents before his eventual move to Lyon - and dubbed him 'the Cube', because, well, he's more or less cube-shaped.
  • Former Liverpool, Barcelona, and Argentina midfielder/defender Javier Mascherano is referred as "El León", meaning "The Lion". His fierceness, strength and personality completely justify the sobriquet.
  • American forward Christian Pulisic, formerly of Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea and now with AC Milan, widely considered to be the first genuinely world-class player the US has produced, was nicknamed 'Captain America' by Chelsea supporters after a barnstorming hat-trick early in his first season with Chelsea.
    • Pulisic is actually the second American to get that nickname in England. The first was Claudio Reyna, who was US national team captain while playing in the Prem, first for Sunderland and then Manchester City.^note And in a weird symmetry, Claudio's son Giovanni became a promising prospect for Borussia Dortmund not long after Pulisic moved to Chelsea.
• In Rugby Union:
  • Brian Lima, Samoan winger/centre, was named The Chiropractor, because his tackles were so violent they could rearrange the bones of his victims.
  • Gareth Edwards, Welsh scrum-half, was The Prince.
  • Edwards' contemporary and teammate, fly-half Barry John, was The King.
  • Serge Betsen, French flanker, was La Faucheuse which translates as The Grim Reaper.
  • Sébastien Chabal, French number 8, was known for his beard, long hair and ferocious tackling, being nicknamed l'Homme des Cavernes — the Caveman by French fans.
  • Shane Williams, Welsh winger and last of the classic, miniature wingers, was known as 'Shimmering Shane' for his agility and quick feet, which frequently left opposition players on the floor. He was so well regarded that he was called up for the Lions Tour (a team consisting of the best players in Britain and Ireland) at the age of 36 when he'd just gone out to commentate.
  • Jason Robinson, England Winger and Fullback, was known as 'Billy Whizz' after a character from The Beano for his extraordinary turn of pace.
  • South African flanker Schalk the Beast Burger.
  • South African flanker Joe van Niekerk was Big Joe.
  • South African prop Jacobus Petrus du Randt was never known by either of his given names, but rather as Os, Afrikaans for Ox.
  • John Eales, Australian lock, was Nobody, which doesn't sound very threatening, until you know that it is because Nobody's perfect.
  • David Pocock, Australian flanker (and now an Australian federal senator), acquired the nickname 'the Jackal' at the 2015 World Cup for his talent at snaffling the ball for turnovers.
• In Formula 1:
  • Alain Prost, who became known as "The Professor" due to his cool and very calculating driving style
  • Any Finnish F1 driver almost always was tagged as "Flying Finns", former World Champions Mika Hakkinen and Keke Rosberg being prime examples.
    • Kimi Räikkönen somehow breaks this tradition by being touted as the "Iceman".
  • Michael "Der Regenmeister"^*"The Rainmaster" Schumacher (Due to his stellar performance at the 1997 Spanish GP, though the nickname did become applicable to other race drivers who were good in the wet).
    • During his Ferrari career, Schumacher was also widely known as the Red Baron.
  • Fernando "Magic" Alonso, so named because of his ability to outperform opponents despite having an often inferior car.
  • Max Verstappen was immediately tagged as "The Flying Dutchman" from early on in his F1 career.
• In NASCAR:
  • Ask any fan about "The Intimidator" (Dale Earnhardt), "Little E" (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), "Million Dollar Bill" and "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" Elliott, "Sliced Bread" (Joey Logano), "Fireball" (Glenn Roberts), "Smoke" (Tony Stewart), "Rowdy" (Kyle Busch), or "The King" (Richard Petty).
• IndyCar:
  • The two Al Unsers (Sr. and Jr.), whose careers overlapped, became "Big Al" and "Little Al".
  • Hélio Castroneves: "Spider-Man", from his victory celebration of climbing the catch fence.
• In boxing:
  • Muhammad Ali: The Greatest; the Champ; The Louisville Lip.
  • Joe Frazier: Smokin'; Gorilla.
  • Mike Tyson: Iron Mike; Kid Dynamite
  • Wladimir Klitschko: Dr. Steelhammer
  • Larry Holmes: The Easton Assassin
  • Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber
  • Evander Holyfield: Real Deal; The Warrior
  • Lennox Lewis: The Lion
  • George Foreman: Big
  • Pernell Whitaker: Sweet Pea
  • Ray Robinson, Ray Leonard, Shane Mosley: Sugar
  • Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Pretty Boy; Money
  • Oscar De La Hoya: Golden boy.
  • Érik Morales: El Terrible
  • Manny Pacquiao: Pacman; The Mexicutioner; The Destroyer; The Fighting Pride of the Philippines.
  • Harry Greb: The Smoke City Wildcat; the Human Windmill; King of the Alley Fighters; the Human Tornado,; the Human perpetual Motion Machine; the Pittsburgh Windmill;and the Wildest Tiger. Why so many nicknames? He was that good.
  • Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler; the Man Killer
  • Carlos Monzón: Escopeta (Spanish for shotgun)
  • Stanley Ketchel: The Michigan Assassin
  • Henry Armstrong: Homicide Hank; Hurricane Hank; Hammerin' Hank
  • Thomas "the Hitman" Hearns; K.O. specialist. He was also known as "Motor City Cobra".
  • "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler (who added the nickname to his legal name during his career).
  • Brazilian pugilist Adilson José Rodrigues, better known as Maguila. Was nicknamed as such for his resemblance with cartoon character Maguilla Gorilla.
  • Julio César Chávez: El Gran Campeón Mexicano (the Great Mexican Champion); and the Caesar of Boxing.
  • Juan Manuel Márquez: Dinamita.
  • Saúl Álvarez: Canelo (Cinnamon, term for red horses, on account of his characteristic red hair).
  • Marcel Cerdan: Le Bombardier Maroccain (the Moroccan Bomber, though he was French), and the Casablanca Cloutier.
  • Bernard Hopkins: "The Executioner", "The Alien" and B-Hop.
  • Ricky Hatton: Hitman.
  • Nicolino Locche: El Intocable (Spanish for "The Untouchable"), earned for his masterful employment of defensive boxing, which made him almost impossible to hit.
• In Martial Arts:
  • Massively famous Japanese karateka Gogen Yamaguchi was known as "the Cat", most likely because of his grace of movement and his small size. An unfortunately apocryphal story asserts that he acquired this name when he strangled a tiger while locked in a cage with it in a Russian (or sometimes Chinese) POW camp, which just goes to shows how much awe people held for him.
  • Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, founder of Kyokushinkai Karate, "The God Hand". The man who could One-Hit Kill a bull, and achieved it at most three times.
  • Say Cro Cop on an MMA board and everyone will know you're talking about Mirko Filipović.
  • Bruce Lee: "The Great One"
  • Joe Lewis, a black belt in Shorin Ryu Karate, several other disciplines and the man credited with creating American Kickboxing or Full Contact Karate was so popular during his hey day as a Pro Karate fighter that people called him "The Golden Boy". Later on, he acquired "The Jaguar" after a film he starred in and "The Greatest Karate Fighter of all time", as he was voted as such by his peers, including Chuck Norris and Bill Wallace.
  • Bill "Superfoot" Wallace is a Shorin Ryu Black Belt who almost destroyed his right leg doing Judo. Forced to improve his remaining leg when he entered Karate, he developed kicks that were clocked in excess of 60 MPH. He was so skilled with his left leg that he used it like a boxer would use a jab, hence his nickname. He retired from kickboxing undefeated with 23 fights and 13 K.O's.
  • Don Wilson, called by STAR System Ratings the greatest kickboxer of all time, was nicknamed "The Dragon". His Kung Fu style, appropriately is Pai Lum, White Dragon Kung Fu.
  • Benny Urquidez, legendary kickboxer, was nicknamed "The Jet" for his spectacular aerial kicks, particularly the jump spinning back kick.
  • "Thunderfoot" Hwang Jang Lee, Tang Soo Do black belt famous for displaying his unsurpassed kicking prowess as the bad guy in several Kung Fu films. During the Vietnam war, he was forced into a fight with a knife-toting ally who didn't believe in Lee's credentials to teach martial arts to the army. Lee kicked him in the head. Unfortunately, the man died, but the incident was ruled as self defense.
  • Dominique Valera, the pioneer of Full Contact Karate in France, is known as "Le King" for his undisputed status as the most legendary Karateka of that country.
• MMA also lends itself to fighters getting nicknames that give you an idea of how awesome they are.
  • Willie Williams: Bear Killer (which he earned by fighting an actual bear)
  • Fedor Emelianenko, probably the single best fighter in the world during his prime, is nicknamed "The Last Emperor."
  • Ken Shamrock: The World's Most Dangerous Man.
  • Wanderlei Silva: The Axe Murderer.
  • Quinton Jackson: Rampage.
  • Andrei Arlovski: The Pitbull.
  • Randy Couture: The Natural; Captain America.
  • Chuck Liddell: The Iceman.
  • Tito Ortiz: The Huntington Beach Bad Boy.
  • Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira: Minotauro (Minotaur)
  • Antônio Rogério Nogueira: Minitoro (Little Bull)
  • Dan Severn: The Beast
  • BJ Penn: The Prodigy.
  • Georges St-Pierre: Rush; GSP.
  • Alistair Overeem: The Demolition Man, The Reem.
  • Keith Jardine: The Dean of Mean.
  • Anderson Silva: The Spider; Spider-Man; The Dancing Spider.
  • Jung Chan-Sung: The Korean Zombie.
  • Lyoto Machida: The Dragon.
  • Grey Maynard: The Bully
  • Mauricio Rua: Shogun.
  • Dan Henderson: Hollywood; Dangerous;
  • Chael Sonnen: The American Gangster, The People's Champ
  • Rashad Evans: Suga.
  • Demetrius Johnson: Mighty Mouse
  • Conor Mc Gregor: The Notorious; The Pride of Ireland; Mystic Mac.
  • Jon Jones: Bones.
  • Mirko Filipović: Cro Cop (he was a Croatian counter-terrorist police officer).
  • Vitor Belfort: The Phenom
  • Francis Ngannou: The Predator
  • Gina Carano: Conviction; Crush.
  • Ronda Rousey: Rowdy
  • Cris Venancio: Cyborg.
  • Amanda Nunes: The Lioness.
  • Shayna Baszler: The Queen of Spades.
  • Miesha Tate: Takedown.
  • Holly Holm: The Preacher's Daughter.
  • Cat Zingano: Alpha.
  • Page VanZant: 12 Gauge.
  • Bethe Correia: The Pitbull.
  • Rose Namajunas: Thug.
• In cue sports:
  • A billiards player has one of these. Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame member Lou Butera was known as "Machine Gun Lou" for his rapid-fire style of play, a moniker earned due to a match in 1973 where he reached a score of 150 in 21 minutes.
  • Add to that snooker players Jamie "Shotgun" Cope, Ronnie "The Rocket" O'Sullivan, Ding "Enter the Dragon" Junhui, John "Wizard of Wishaw" Higgins ...
  • From the halls of Italian billiards, past and present Masters: Angelo "Lord Brummel" Bellocchio, Laurdes "Napoleon" Cavallari, Vitale "Terminator" Nocerino and Daniele "The Gladiator" Montereali.
  • "Hurricane" Higgins, "Whirlwind" White, errrr...."Interesting" Davis?
  • One of the most renowned Filipino billiards players is Efren "Bata" Reyes ("bata" being a Filipino term for kid). He got this nickname because there was a person also named Efren that played billiards where he lived during his younger days, the nickname being used to distinguish the two (the other Efren being an adult). His other title is "The Magician" because of being able to make extremely difficult shots.
  • Also Korean-American pool player Jeanette Lee, aka "The Black Widow", from the contrast between her killer instinct at the table and sweet, unassuming nature away from it. She embraces the nickname by regularly wearing all black at the table.
• In Cricket:
  • The great West Indian batsman Viv Richards was "The Master Blaster".
  • Michael Holding was "Whispering Death".^note For his silent, graceful bowling action - which would then deliver the ball at lethal pace.
  • The greatest batsman of all time, Sir Donald George Bradman, was simply "The Don".^note The Don's record batting average of 99.94 is incomparable - the best anyone else has managed is in the mid-sixties.
  • Sachin Tendulkar was the "God of Cricket".^note Sachin holds almost every single batting record worth holding that The Don doesn't hold, including an absolutely mind-boggling 100 international centuries. He also burst onto the scene as a 16-year old and continued until his late thirties. Shortly before The Don's passing, he publicly likened Sachin to himself.
  • Shane Warne was "The Sheik of Tweak".
  • Muttiah Muralitharan became "Murali" and the "Smiling Assassin". ^note Whether the batsman was hitting him (rare) or struggling against him (common), Murali almost always wore a child-like grin of excitement.
  • Rahul Dravid was "The Wall". ^note For his obdurate defence and almost zen-like patience and concentration.
  • MS Dhoni was "Captain Cool" or, to the fans from the South of India, "Thala" (Boss). ^note For his nerves of ice in pressure situations along with shrewd tactical captaincy.
  • Chris Gayle is, among other nicknames, "Mr. T20". ^note Gayle is unquestionably the GOAT of the Twenty20 cricketing format.
  • Lasith "Slinga" Malinga, from his unique roundarm bowling action.^note Broadly similar to sidearm pitching in baseball. At one time in the distant past, it was the standard bowling action, but had largely disappeared before he emerged in the 21st century.
  • The Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was "The Turbanator". ^note As a practicing Sikh, Harbhajan always wore a turban on the field.
  • The South African wicketkeeper-batsman AB de Villiers was "Mr. 360". ^note For his ability to strike the ball to any part of the cricket field, almost at will.
  • The Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is "Sir" Jadeja or "Rockstar". ^note The nickname started out as a derogatory one, due to his reputation as someone who overestimated himself and didn't perform; as his career progressed and he grew into one of the world's best players, it has become a compliment.
  • The Indian batsman Virat Kohli is often called "The King" or "King Kohli". ^note A flamboyant and spirited batsman, regularly tries to dominate the opposition on the field.
  • The 1948 Australian touring side of England were "The Invincibles". ^note They were the only test side to tour England without losing a match.
• In other sports:
  • Maureen Connolly, who in 1953 became the first woman to complete the calendar-year Grand Slam in tennis, was "Little Mo". The nickname didn't come only from her name—it was coined by a sportswriter who likened the power of her groundstrokes to the firepower of "Big Mo". As in the USS Missouri.
  • Alberto Tomba "La Bomba", Italian alpine ski racer.
  • Ian Thorpe a.k.a. "Thorpedo", Australian swimmer.
  • Another Aussie swimmer, this one female: Ariarne Titmus, "The Terminator". ^Explanation One of her other nicknames is Arnie.
  • Tigran Petrosian gained the moniker 'Iron Tigran' due to him having few wins and even fewer defeats in Chess. One Grandmaster said it's easier to win the championship than win a single game against him.
    • A frequent rival of Petrosian, Mikhail Tal, was known as 'The Magician from Riga' due to his hometown, and his tendency to pull off impossible-seeming combinations in otherwise quiet-looking positions, even against the best players in the world.
    • Garry Kasparov was often known as 'The Beast from Baku'
    • Earlier than all of these, third world champion Jose Raul Capablanca was often known as 'The Machine', for his ability to play with such precision and accuracy and almost never make a mistake. Very impressive considering that this was in the era before even the most primitive chess computers. Even the top engines of today evaluate Capablanca's play as being some of the most accurate in history.
  • Men's singles figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu is sometimes referred to as "(Japan's) Ice Prince" in the media. While his youthful looks and boyish (but impeccable) manners certainly fall into the Princely Young Man model, the title comes more from his status as reigning champion of his field. He earned the title after 19 broken world records, two consecutive Olympic gold medals, 12 international gold medals in total (having never gotten off the podium - that is, being in the top three best male singles' skater at all competitions he participated in - since November 2014), becoming the only male singles's skater to accomplish the Super Slam (winning all major competitions in both his junior and senior levels), being granted international awards (unrelated to skating) and the status of hometown hero to his native Sendai in addition to becoming a Japanese public figure. The Other Wiki has a more up-to-date list of his achievements. He has since become a professional skater ^note stopped competing, but he doesn't consider this a retirement and has reaffirmed his commitment to challenging the quadruple axel, a jump considered Beyond the Impossible and his long-term goal. His fans also refer to him as the "goat", or "G.O.A.T." (greatest of all time), though it's not a title exclusive to Hanyu. He's been called a "training demon" as well, referring to his ferocity in practice and dedication to the sport.
  • Weightlifting legend Naim Süleymanoğlu was "Pocket Hercules"—he was all of 4'10"/1.47 m, never competing at more than 64 kg/142 lb, but routinely lifted more than three times his body weight in competition.
  • Bodybuilding legend Sergio Oliva, the great rival of Arnold Schwarzenegger for much of the latter's career, was "The Myth".
• Track and field also has a few:
  • Before it was applied to Finnish racing drivers, the nickname "Flying Finn" was applied to several great runners, the most notable of whom were Hannes Kohlemainen (the Ur-Example), Paavo Nurmi (probably the most successful, and the Trope Codifier), Ville Ritola, Volmari Iso-Hollo, Taisto Mäki, and finally (in the '70s) Lasse Virén.
  • At around the time Virén was dominating long distances (5,000 and 10,000 m), Irish middle-distance runner Eamonn Coghlan became known as "The Chairman of the Boards", in reference to his tremendous success in indoor track that extended into the '80s. ("Boards" refers to the standard composition of temporary indoor tracks of Coghlan's day, which were laid over wooden boards.)
• In golf:
  • Eldrick "Tiger" Woods.
  • Golfer Phil Mickelson is usually just called "Lefty", as he plays left-handed (despite being right-handed in almost everything else). He's also been called "Hefty Lefty" and "Philly Cheesesteak", when he got a bit more pudgy than usual.
  • "Long John" John Daly. He hit the ball a LONG way.
  • "The Golden Bear" Jack Nicklaus. He was a big guy and often wore yellow or gold colored shirts, and was blond. Even though he slimmed down considerably by the late 1960s, the nickname stuck. It's now so closely identified with him that on The Other Wiki, "The Golden Bear" redirects to his page.
  • "The General" Arnold Palmer, in reference to him leading "Arnie's Army" (his MASSIVE galleries) around the golf course.
  • "The Big Easy" Ernie Els, because of his stocky 6'3" frame, and (arguably) the smoothest swing in golf history.
• Very widespread in Darts
  • "The Power" Phil Taylor,
  • "Cool Hand Luke" Luke Humphries
  • "Mighty Mike" Michael van Gerwen
  • "Bully Boy" Michael Smith
  • "The Iceman" Gerwyn Price
  • "Voltage" Rob Cross
  • "Snakebite" Peter Wright
  • "The Machine" James Wade
• In Professional Gaming (including the Fighting Game Community):
  • Daigo "The Beast" Umehara, after a famous Street Fighter III Third Strike comeback where he successfully parries^note timing forward taps to deflect attacks with no damage an entire super attack after being reduced to so little HP that even blocking an attack^note guarding against it by pressing in the opposite direction of the attack; easier than parrying but still causes the blocker to take damage would finish him off, and then bringing down his opponent's lifebar down to KO, a moment known by many as "The Beast Unleashed".
  • Professional Starcraft players often get nicknames beyond the screen names they use when competing. Perhaps the best known is SlayerS_Boxer, known as "The Terran Emperor" (real name Lim Yo Hwan). Others include NaDa "The Genius" or Iloveoov "Cheater Terran"^note a reference to his skill at building massive armies very quickly, not actual cheating.
  • League of Legends is no different. Probably the best-known example is Faker (real name Lee Sang-hyeok), also known as "The Unkillable Demon King".

Arts

• In Literature:
  • Anne McCaffrey has been given the affectionate nickname of Dragonlady of Pern due to her famous Dragonriders of Pern series.
  • Andre Norton was dubbed "Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy" by her biographers, fans, and peers.
  • Alexander Pushkin is commonly referred to as "the sun of Russian poetry."
  • Alexei Tolstoy, the "Red Count" or "Comrade Count." Alexei, a member of the famous Tolstoy clan and thus a count and himself a well-regarded writer mostly of 1920s Soviet science fiction, was an ardent supporter of the Bolsheviks and earned this nickname.
  • William Shakespeare is sometimes known as "The Bard of Avon". He was born in the village of Stratford upon Avon.
• In Comic Books:
  • Steve Ditko: Sturdy.
  • Jack Kirby: The King.
  • Stan Lee: The Man; Smilin' Stan; Chairman Emeritus.
  • John Romita: Jazzy.
• In Voice Acting:
  • Masako Nozawa: The Eternal Boy, because of the many boys she voiced in her career (including most famously, Tetsuro Hoshino, Hiroshi Suzuishi [AKA: "Pidge"], and Son Goku)
  • Veteran Mexican voice actress Diana Santos is called "La Diosa del Doblaje" (The Goddess of Dubbing) due of being not only one of the still-active voice actresses there, but due to the fact, despite being an elderly woman, she still voices little girls, teens or middle-aged women and very rarely women of her own age. For a better example, she is still the official Mexican dub voice of Minnie Mouse from almost basically day one in Mexico since the 70s to this date.
  • Another Mexican voice actor, the late Jorge Arvizu (who was the Mexican voice of Fred Flintstone in the original series and the first voice of Bugs Bunny) was called "El Tata" (literally The Daddy, after a character from a comedy show in the 70s and 80s he used to play).
  • Tabitha St. Germain is frequently referred to as "T-Bone" by her coworkers.
  • Mel Blanc, the man who brought many of the iconic Looney Tunes characters to life, is known as "The Man of A Thousand Voices"— a title of which few other voice actors can boast.
• Statue of Liberty: Many a New Yorker, as well as Americans across the country, meanwhile, have affectionately nicknamed her Lady Liberty over the years, treating her as America's only true 'noblewoman'. The nickname has stuck surprisingly well, as though the statue itself has taken it on personally as a mark of affection that somehow manages to make its way to everyone who sees her, despite being an inanimate object. The nickname even sees use on this very website!

Geography

• Afghanistan: The Graveyard of Empires.
• Australia: The Land Down Under; The Land of Golden Fleece; Oz.
  • Sydney: The Harbour City; The Emerald City of Oz.
• Belgium: The Cockpit of Europe.
• Brazil: The Land of the Palms.
• Bulgaria: The Land of Roses.
• Cameroon: The Hinge of Africa.
• Canada: The Great White North; The Land of Maple Syrup; Victorialand; Canuc.
  • Useful Notes/Quebec: The Bridge City.
  • Toronto: Queen City; Hogtown; The Big Smoke; The City That Works; The Mageacity; The Six; Toronto the Good.
  • Vancouver: Rain City; Terminal City; Saltwater City; The City of Glass; Hollywood North; Lower Mainland; Seacouver.
• Chile: The Land of Poets
• China: The Red Dragon.
• Egypt: The Gift of the Nile.
• England: The Land of Hope and Glory; John Bull.
• Finland: The Land of Thousand Lakes.
• Indonesia: The Emerald of the Equator.
• Ireland: The Emerald Isle.
• Israel: The Holy Land.
• Italy: The Boot.
• Japan: The Land of the Rising Sun.
• Madagascar: The Red Island.
• Mexico: The Navel of the Moon.
• Mongolia: The Land of the Blue Sky.
• Myanmar: The Land of Golden Pagoda.
• Nepal: The Land of Truth.
• New Zealand: The Land of the Long White Cloud.
  • Auckland: The City of Sails.
• North Korea: The Hermit Kingdom/Nation/State.
• Norway: The Land of the Midnight Sun.
• Philippines: The Pearl of the Orient Seas; Juan dela Cruz.
  • Manila: City by the Bay.
  • Cebu: The Queen City of the South.
• Rwanda: The Land of a Thousand Hills.
• Singapore: The Lion City; The Land of Ship Builders.
• South Africa: The Rainbow Nation.
• South Korea: The Land of the Morning Calm.
• Switzerland: The Playground of Europe; The Land of Milk & Honey.
• Thailand: The Land of Smiles; The Land of White Elephants.
• United States: The Land of the Free; The Land of Opportunity; Uncle Sam.
  • California: The Golden State.
    • Los Angeles: The City of Angels; Tinseltown; La La Land.
    • Oakland: The City Across the Bay; The Town.
    • San Francisco: The Golden City; Fog City.
  • Colorado: The Centennial State.
    • Denver: The Mile High City.
  • Florida: The Sunshine State.
    • Orlando: The City Beautiful; O-Town; The Theme Park Capital of the World.
  • Illinois: The Land of Lincoln; The Prairie State; The Inland Empire State.
    • Chicago: The Windy City.
  • Massachusetts: The Bay State.
    • Boston: The City on a Hill; The Hub; The Athens of America; The Puritan City; The Cradle of Liberty; The City of Notions; America's Walking City; Beantown; Titletown; The City of Champions; The Olde Towne.
  • Maryland: The Old Line State; The Free State; Little America; America in Miniature.
    • Baltimore: The Charm City.
  • Michigan: The Mitten (for the Lower Peninsula) and the U.P. (for the Upper Peninsula).
    • Detroit: The Motor City; Motown; The D. Hockeytown; The Arsenal of Democracy; The Paris of the Midwest.
  • Minnesota: The Land of 10,000 Lakes.
  • Nevada: The Battle-born State; The Sagebrush State; The Silver State.
    • Las Vegas: Sin City; City of Lights; The Entertainment/Gambling/Marriage/Neon Capital of the World; The Capital of Second Chances; The Silver City; America's Playground.
  • New Hampshire: The Granite State; The White Mountain State; The Primary State; The 603.
    • Manchester: The Queen City; Manch Vegas.
  • New York: The Empire State.
    • New York City: The City That Never Sleeps; The Big Apple; The City So Nice They Named It Twice; The Capital of the World; The Center of the Universe; The Empire City; et ectera.
  • North Carolina: The Tarheel State.
  • Ohio: The Buckeye State.
    • Cleveland: America's North Coast; The Best Location in the World; The City of Light; The Mistake By The Lake; The Erie; The Land; The 216; Cleland; Believeland.
    • Toledo: The Glass City.
  • Pennsylvania: The Keystone/Quaker State.
    • Philadelphia: The City of Brotherly Love; Quaker City; America's Garden Capital.
    • Pittsburgh: Steel City; The City of Bridges; The Burgh.
  • South Carolina: The Palmetto State.
  • Tennessee: The Volunteer State; The Land of Dixie.
    • Nashville: Music City; The Buckle of the Bible Belt; Athens of the South.
  • Texas: The Lone Star State.
    • DFW Metroplex: The Metroplex.
    • Houston: Space City; Bayou City; Magnolia City; Hustle Town; The Capital of the Sunbelt; The Big Heart; Clutch City.
• Venezuela: The Land of Grace.

Railroading

It's not uncommon for many of the steam locomotives who survived into preservation to be given nicknames. Among them are

• Norfolk and Western 611, which is formally known as "The Spirit of Roanoke" in honor of her hometown, but has also been called "The Queen of Steam".
• Union Pacific 844 has been given the moniker "The Living Legend" in honor of her having never been retired from active service.
• London Northeastern Railway 4472 is forever "The Flying Scotsman" or just simply "The Scotsman" to her fans.
• Southern Pacific 4449 is "The Daylight" or sometimes "The Most Beautiful Train in the World" for her unique streamlining.
• Spokane Portland and Seattle 700 is called "The Lady".
• Union Pacific 4014, the world's largest operating steam locomotive, is "The Big Boy" after its class.
• Chesapeake and Ohio 1309 was named "Thunder" upon being acquired by Western Maryland Scenic Railway.
• Burlington Railroad 4000, back when it was streamlined, was named "Alice the Big Goon" because its streamlining made a clanking sound while running. It doesn't have it anymore, sadly.
• Pennsylvania Railroad's I-1 2-10-0 Decapods, as represented by the surviving 4483, used to be known as "Hippos" or "Decks".

Other

• Businesswoman Leona Helmsley was known as "The Queen of Mean", especially after she was convicted of being a tax cheat. More can be found on The Other Wiki.
• Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001, was nicknamed "Neutron Jack" due to his aggressive downsizing policies (since much like a neutron bomb, he would eliminate thousands of people and only leave infrastructure behind).
• Warren Buffett, the legendary investor of Berkshire Hathaway fame, is known as the "Oracle of Omaha" (he was born, raised, and still lives in Nebraska's largest city).
• In some cases, enforced anonymity can end up turning into this trope. Before his death Sergei Korolev — the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s — was often referred to only as "Chief Designer", because his name and his pivotal role in the Soviet space program had been held to be a state secret by the Politburo. This made him sound like a sinister figure to the American public, especially during the early days of the Space Race when there was public anxiety about the Soviets being ahead.
• Many gangsters involved in organized crime usually are known by their monikers, especially (but not limited to) those involved with "La Cosa Nostra". Famous examples include: Al Capone or "Scarface", Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, John Gotti AKA "The Teflon Don" or "The Dapper Don", Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia or the "Lord High Executioner", Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Jimmy "Whitey" Bulger, Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein or "The Big Bankroll", Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, Carmine Galante AKA "Lilo", Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, Jimmy "The Gent" Burke, Frank Costello AKA "The Prime Minister", "Crazy" Joe Gallo....you get the idea.
  • Ironically, Al Capone despised being called Scarface and his friends called him "Snorky". Really.
• Once known as "The King of Kong" (after the documentary film that talked about him), this red baron no longer applies since Billy Mitchell was discovered to have been cheating when he got his famous high score in the original arcade version of Donkey Kong.^note Furthermore, he has been banned completely from the Twin Galaxies high score list, which requires players to play on original arcade cabinets.
• This trope is practically mandatory for serial killers. Notable examples include Jeffrey "The Monster of Milwaukee" Dahmer, John "Killer Clown" Wayne Gacy, Albert "The Bogeyman" Fish, Richard "The Night Stalker" Ramirez, Albert "The Boston Stranger" Desalvo, Dennis "Bind Torture Kill" Rader, Ted "Campus Killer" Bundy, Rodney "Dating Game Killer" Alcala, Richard "Dracula" Trenton Chase, Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski, Rob "Pig Farmer Killer" Pickman, Tsutomu "The Otaku Murderer" Miyazaki, David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz, and so on.
• One frequent mailer to The Ricky Gervais Show is Paul "The Party Animal" Parker. Stephen and Ricky have fun with trying to imagine how he earned that title.
• One of the most beloved and popular chefs on Hell's Kitchen was Dave "The One-Armed Bandit" Levey, due to him winning the competition with a fractured arm.

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