History IAmNotShazam / AnimeAndManga

** A lot of people who are not anime fans think ''Manga/DragonBall'' is the name of Son Goku.

* ''Manga/AstroBoy'': Has anyone ever actually referred to him as "Astro ''BOY''" in-universe? Astro's name is simply "Astro". Depending on the anime and dub you're watching, his whole name is Astro Boy (that's the name Kathy and Dr. Elefun give him in episode 2 of the English dub of the 80's series, The Robot Circus), so once in awhile he'd be referred to as Astro Boy, but more often than not he's simply called Astro for short. However, this trope is played straight in the original Japanese, where the series is called "Tetsuwan Atomu" (Mighty Atom), where his name is Atom, not Mighty Atom.

* The heroine of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' is named Hitomi, not Escaflowne. Escaflowne is, of course, a giant mecha. Escaflowne does not have the vision, the vision is depicting Escaflowne.
* The main character of ''Manga/{{Aria}}'' is Akari, and Aria is the name of the company she's working in (although it's a namesake of the president).
* The teacher/main character of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' prefers to be called Itoshiki Nozomu. He freaks out when his name is written horizontally, however, because it spells out "Zetsubou", which means "despair".
* While the protagonist of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is indeed named "Naruto", his last name is Uzumaki, not "Shippuden". ''Naruto Shippuden'' is the name of the sequel to the original anime series.
* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' is not the name of the MagicalGirl team featured, who are just referred to as the Magic Knights (plural). It specifically refers to the lead GenkiGirl and her mashin named Rayearth. The {{OAV}} attempts to change this by changing the name of the Mashin to "Lexus" and Rayearth is all the knights' [[FusionDance fused]] Mashin.
* "Hina" in ''Manga/LoveHina'' doesn't refer to any of the main characters, but to the name of the inn where characters live, itself named after Keitaro's grandmother.
* Her name is Pastel Ink, not ''Moetan''.
* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'':
** The main character in the series ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' is named Tenchi Masaki. The title of the series is a complicated Japanese pun (involving, among other things, the standard Japanese labeling for "This End Up!"), and ''not'' the name of the main character. This caused some confusion when the movie ''Tenchi Muyo! In Love'' came out, because misreading the title as the name of the main character implies that Tenchi falls in love in the movie, which he doesn't. The title is most easily translated as "No Need For Tenchi", which fits in with the IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming.
** Also, Ryoko has been called "Tokoton Ryoko" on at least one fan web site. ''Tokoton Ryoko'' is actually the title of a [[AllThereInTheManual book about her]], and means ''Thoroughly Ryoko''. Her name is in fact just Ryoko, although she is sometimes (but never to her face) called Ryoko Hakubi, due to her relationship with Washu in the [[{{OVA}} OVAs]].
* The title character of ''Manga/MythicalDetectiveLokiRagnarok'' is not named Loki Ragnarok; he's just Loki. In fact, the god Loki, from Myth/NorseMythology.
* The protagonist of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' is known as "Vash the Stampede". [[WordSaladTitle No one is certain what the title refers to]], the most popular idea being his three weapons: the silver revolver, the machine gun hidden within his prosthetic arm, and his Angel Arm. This confusion was lampshaded during the Adult Swim broadcast of the show. One of their bumper cards accidentally referred to Trigun, the show, as "he." This resulted in a ton of angry emails to AS about how the character's name is Vash, not Trigun. AS responded by creating a new card which intentionally confuses the two. "Can Trigun escape? Will his marksmanship be enough?"
* The main character of ''Manga/SumomoMoMomoMo'' is named Momoko, not Sumomo or Momomo. But most people are just lucky to say the tongue-twister title correctly, so try to cut them some slack on getting the characters right, too.
* When ''Manga/CityHunter'' was adapted to Italy, Ryo, the main character, [[DubNameChange had his name changed]] to... City Hunter (Hunter was the first name, City the surname, apparently).
** Of course by Manga/AngelHeart people who don't know Ryo very well are calling him "City Hunter" the same way people will call Hal Jordan or Allan Scott "Green Lantern".
*** This was also prevalent in the original ''City Hunter'' manga, where "City Hunter" (often rendered "CH" in English with Japanese furigana above it in dialogue balloons) was implied to be the name of Ryo and Kaori's organization.

** Another common mistake is referring to the Energy Blasts that became staples of the series as Dragon Balls
* When ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' came to Israel and was dubbed into Hebrew, Yusuke Urameshi's name was changed to...you guessed it... "Yu Yu Hakusho".
** The Netflix description of the movies is worse. One of the movies refers to him as Yu Yu Hakusho, the other Yu Yu Urameshi, and the series itself correctly identifies him as Yusuke Urameshi.
** Anime fans have a [[MemeticMutation meme]] from the period where Wrestling/WWESmackdown advertised the ''Dark Tournament'' video game with color commentator Wrestling/{{Tazz}} proclaiming "''Yu Yu Hakusho''! I love that guy!" in each and every ad.
* Creator/TokyoPop is guilty of this; in their translation of ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'', Mew Ichigo was initially referred to as if "Mew Mew" was her ''name''. In fact, "Mew Mew" is a title granted to all the series' {{Magical Girl}}s. When the group is given the name "Tokyo Mew Mew" in the second volume, the translators realized their mistake and started calling her Mew Ichigo. [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Too bad they didn't fix everything, though.]]
* Due to the title, there's confusion over the name of the protagonist in ''[[Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi Mahou Sensei Negima]]''. It's "Negi", not "Negima" (and as of this writing, the author has not given a reason why there is an extra "ma" in there). [[note]]Also, the extra "ma" is written with a ''hiragana'' character, while the protagonist's name is written with ''katakana'' characters "ne" and "gi", which further underlines the fact that this is actually a compound word.[[/note]] The only time it's mentioned is during a TitleDrop. Negi's friends briefly call themselves the "Negima Club" until Evangeline makes them change it. See the manga's FridgeBrilliance page for a possible (spoilerific) reason for the -ma at the end.
* The manga ''Manga/{{Rin}}'' isn't named after a character, but is a kanji used to refer to something that gives one shivers of awe.

* ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' is not the name of the main character of the manga, he's named Kaneda. His best friend who gains superpowers and goes insane also is not Akira, he's called Tetsuo. The strange creepy child that gives Tetsuo the superpowers? No, he's Takashi. In fact, Akira doesn't show up during the entire first volume and is more like a living MacGuffin.
* Nobody in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' is named like this. It's a insulting nickname for {{Bungling Inventor}} Senbei Norimaki; the ''Dragon Ball'' Wiki compares this to nicknaming an author "Writer's Block". Though Harmony Gold's failed pilot did rename him, every other adaptation and dub call him by his true name.
* Before ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' got its official translated name, a lot of folks thought the main character's name was Yotsubato. Despite the fact that the Japanese manga books say "Yotsuba&!" on the back cover.
* ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' is not the name of the female lead of the series (of the same name). It's Chii. "Chobits" is the class of persocom that Chii is implied to belong to. [[spoiler: It turns out, she is one of them.]]
* The nameless pharaoh from ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' is neither called ''Yami'' or ''Yu-Gi-Oh''. The later just means "{{king of games}}" and would refer to the title [[ToBeAMaster everyone who plays the series' card game is trying to achieve]] and the former is a FanNickname stemming from his in-universe nickname of ''Yami Yugi'' (Dark Yugi) which characters often use in order to differentiate him from the "normal" Yugi. Although the English dub tosses around the term "king of games" and "spirit", it also has a scene where the Pharaoh tell Yugi he is known by many names, including Yugioh and Yami.
** Knowing that Yu-Gi-Oh means "King of Games," it's not unreasonable to believe that it's one of the things he's known as. Since he is a Pharaoh, he likely has titles like this. In fact, the opening monologue in the Japanese version states "People refer to him as 'Yu-Gi-Oh'" (though presumably as a title rather than an actual name).
** Saying he's known as Yami could be FridgeBrilliance, in that he's correct: ''it's the name the fans use for him''. So, he's being meta.
** The Italian intro actually starts with the lyrics "Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh! That`s your name!", and a German kids magazine about Anime constantly called Yami Yugi "Yu Gi Oh" in their commercials.
** It's also far from uncommon to hear those unfamiliar with the series to believe that Yugioh is the name of the main character. Granted, this is somewhat understandable, given his name is Yugi, which means game, although his full name is "Yugi Muto" and not "Yugioh".
* The heroine of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' is named San, not Mononoke. Mononoke is just the type of demon that the residents of Irontown believe her to be. Additionally, she's not actually a princess, either. In fact, ''Mononoke Hime'' started as a very old and [[InNameOnly completely different]] story concept in the 80s in which the title character ''was'' referred to as "Mononoke Hime" because she would be marrying a mononoke. The title was retained on the film that eventually became the one we have today, but since it was so radically different and centered around a different character, Miyazaki wanted to change it to "The Legend of Ashitaka". He was convinced not to over some superstition at Studio Ghibli -- all of his films, in Japanese, contain the character for "no". "The Legend of Ashitaka" was "Ashitaka Sekki". The studio didn't want to ruin their good luck with his films by not maintaining the "no" tradition.
** Perhaps to avoid this confusion, the English dub mentions "Mononoke" only once in dialogue. A few other instances seem to have been glossed as "wolf girl."
*** The back of the 2010 box refers to her as "the brave Princess Mononoke", however. Oops.
* Lum and the other Onis in ''Anime/UruseiYatsura'' come from the planet Oniboshi. The title is a complicated Japanese pun that is partly based on "urusai" and "-sei" (meaning star or planet, the same kanji used for -hoshi/-boshi). The meaning of the title was explained in the Viz manga, so it became widely known, and fans have misinterpreted that as meaning that Urusei is the actual name of the planet. {{Fanfic}} then spread it further.
** ''Urusei Yatsura'' means literally "those noisy guys", but idiomatically refers to annoying next-door neighbors. Combining the idiom with "sei" makes it something like "those noisy other-planet neighbors".
*** You could do roughly the same gag in English with "Annoyliens".
*** Or as Creator/AnimEigo puts it, "Those Obnoxious Aliens", which also has the fun of sounding like a '50s sitcom.
* A misconception about ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is that Alphonse Elric is the character referenced in the title (since he is literally "full metal"), when it is actually Ed who is the Fullmetal Alchemist's protagonist. The fact that in the actual series [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant this frequently happens as a]] RunningGag doesn't help.
** Fullmetal is a pun in the original language. "Hagane" was translated to "Fullmetal" for the English title, but in the original language it means both "steel" and "stubborn", referring to his limbs, his brother and his personality at the same time.[[note]]Unfortunately, something like "Steelborn", while sounding cool, wouldn't have gotten the "stubborn" part across well either, so there's not much they could've done for this one. "Fullmetal" does sound kinda hardcore, though, which you'd have to be to go through TrainingFromHell to learn to use human transmutation while still a kid, so it works in its own way.[[/note]]
** The name of the country it takes place in is not "Shamballa", despite the name of the film for the first anime; it's "Amestris". Dietlinde Eckhart only thinks that Amestris is Shamballa because... well... no apparent reason, but considering she'd never actually been there, she had no idea what to expect. But really, a Buddhist paradise located in Asia where everyone is enlightened has nothing in common with a heavily militarized nation based off of Europe that [[spoiler:you access by a dimensional portal]].
* In the ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'' manga, the hero's name is Hamel, and he is going north to the Mazoku city Hameln (the name of which comes from the fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin). The anime never told us the name of the Mazoku capital, but kept the title ''Violinist of Hameln'', making it seem like Hamel's name was actually Hameln.
* The main character of ''Anime/DaphneInTheBrilliantBlue'' is called Maia. "Daphne" refers to a subplot involving her grandfather's last words.
* Creator/StreamlinePictures' dub of the ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' movie made it seem as if "Fist of the North Star" was a title that Kenshiro and his brothers were fighting for rather than the name of their martial art style ''Hokuto Shin Ken'' (The Divine Fist of the North Star), which can only have one successor per master.
** It should be noted that the Japanese title, ''Hokuto no Ken'', is an EpunymousTitle. The name "Ken" is a homophone for the Japanese word for "fist" or "martial art". Thus, ''Hokuto no Ken'' can refer to the martial art of ''Hokuto Shin Ken'' (as in the "martial art of Hokuto") or the main character himself, who is named Ken (as in "Ken of the Hokuto school"). This play on words is lost on the English title.
* In the Brazilian dub of ''Anime/KaleidoStar'', the dubbers for some reason decided to change the name of the Kaleido Stage to [[TitleDrop Kaleido Star]], most likely for easier recognition. The term "Kaleido Star" is used in-show as the title to the best artist of the circus. In the Brazilian dub, this term became "Estrela do Kaleido Star" (literally, "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment The Star of the Kaleido Star]]").
* In ''Manga/FrankenFran'', the title character's name is Fran Madaraki. The series name comes from how she's an ArtificialHuman in the vein of FrankensteinsMonster.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
** Kenshin's family name is not Rurouni. (For that matter, "Rurouni" is a {{Neologism}} for {{Ronin}} that never really caught on.)
** When the series first came out in America, the title was often pronounced "Ronin Kenshin". Cue countless newbies asking which one is Roan.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':
** Not a character, but similar, is a situation with ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' and the Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. This is a type of TrainingFromHell in which the trainee attempts to pluck chestnuts from amidst open flames in order to boost their speed, and Ranma later uses this training to develop a RapidFireFisticuffs attack that becomes the keystone of his subsequent battles. He never actually names this in the manga, but the anime and video games evidently mistook the training for the technique and, thanks to CallingYourAttacks, it became an established part of {{Fanon}}.
** There's also the awkward case of Pantyhose Taro. Just like more traditional names like Ken'''taro''', Ryu'''taro''', Sen'''taro''', or Yo'''taro''', his full Japanese name would be "Pantsuto'''taro'''" as '''one word''' (thanks to the perverted Happosai, who baptized him, replacing an ordinary prefix with something more to his tastes.) However, "pantsuto" literally means "pantyhose," making it awkward at best to transliterate his name into "Pantyhosetaro." Thus, for the sake of aesthetics, his name is typically displayed in English (both in official translations as well as Japanese materials) as "Pantyhose Taro." Fans, however, took to referring him by his "first name" Pantyhose or his "last name" Taro, which would be akin to calling some one "first name Ro, last name Bert."
* This happens often with ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. The title refers to the vampire hunting organization which is named "Hellsing" after the family who founded and runs it. The current head of the Organization is named "Integra Hellsing" and she employs a vampire who hunts other vampires named "Alucard". He's the main character who is featured most on book and DVD covers. Almost always, when someone with no knowledge of the series takes a look at it or comments on it, they tend to call Alucard "Hellsing".
* ''Manga/WanganMidnight'': "Blackbird" (or sometimes "The Blackbird") is the extensively-tuned Porche driven by Tatsuya Shima, not the doctor himself. However, his identity is so tied to that vehicle and street racing (Akio and Reina at least ''occasionally'' hang loose and have some fun) that a lot of readers and Maximum Tune players now call both entities Blackbird. This was [[AscendedFanon adopted in the anime adaptation]].
* In a rather odd variant, ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'''s Italy refers to himself as Hetalia in the credit song. This is likely because since "Hetalia" is a portmanteau of "''hetare''" (lovable idiot) and "Italia", he meant something along the lines of "I'm Idiot Italy!" However, his name is still Italy and not Hetalia.
* ''Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'':
** The first cover image of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'''s SpinOff manga ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'' showed Mami, Kyouko, and an unknown green-haired girl. It was initially believed that this girl was the title character. [[CoversAlwaysLie It turns out Oriko is someone else]] and the green-haired girl's name is Yuma.
** The English name of the series is an odd example. It's actually a GratuitousLatin subtitle/translation of the Japanese title, "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica" ("Magical Girl Madoka Magica"). "Puella Magi" appears exactly zero times in both the original Japanese track and English dub; the heroines are always referred to as {{Magical Girl}}s. Nonetheless, this term is often used in the fandom as an alternate name for the heroines, since it's a convenient way to distinguish them from {{Magical Girl}}s in general. However, in the [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion sequel]], the protagonists do refer to themselves as the "Puella Magi Holy Quintet", but only once, and it's during a very strange sequence which can be construed as mocking the fandom.
* ''Manga/{{Kanamemo}}'' lampshades its title on an omake in the manga, also referring to infamous examples such as the ''Film/DieHard'' and ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' examples:
-->'''Kana''': Supposedly it's a pun on the word memorandum, since "Kanadiary" wouldn't catch on, wouldn't you agree, Yume?
-->'''Yume''': I'm just worried that it's gonna have the John [=McClane=] or Na'vi effect.
-->'''Saki''': Ugh, I ''hate'' that.
* ''Anime/PaniPoniDash'' is not the name of the school that Becky teaches at. The school is called Momotsuki Academy. The term "paniponi" is used in-show, but it's unclear exactly ''what'' it means.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father is known as "Inu no Taishou". A lot of fans think this is his name but it's simply a title roughly equivalent to "the Dog General". His name is never revealed.
* The usual Frankenstein flub is parodied in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', where Isaac corrects Miria for making the error: Frankenstein was the ''scientist'' -- the ''monster'''s name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelly.
* ''Manga/AstroBoy'': Has anyone ever actually referred to him as "Astro ''BOY''" in-universe? Astro's name is simply "Astro".
** Actually, depending on the anime and dub you're watching, his whole name is Astro Boy (that's the name Kathy and Dr. Elefun give him in episode 2 of the English dub of the 80's series, The Robot Circus), so once in awhile he'd be referred to as Astro Boy, but more often than not he's simply called Astro for short. However, this trope is played straight in the original Japanese, where the series is called "Tetsuwan Atomu" (Mighty Atom), where his name is Atom, not Mighty Atom.

* In the aborted ''[[Anime/{{Robotech}} Robotech II: The Sentinels]]'', the Sentinels doesn't really refer to the members of the Robotech Expeditionary Force. It refers to a multiracial group of aliens form Invid occupied planets. The REF assists them in liberating their worlds. Some of the REF members do end up fighting alongside the Sentinels but they were not charter members and were still mostly associates.

* ''[[Manga/FutureDiary Mirai Nikki]]'' doesn't refer to any character in the series. It's Japanese for "Future Diary", which refers to the diaries that can help learn about future events, that are given to each contestant.
* The protagonist in ''Anime/HanaNoKoLunlun'' is called Lunlun, not Hana. This is a understandable mistake to make if you have not watched the anime since Hana is a common Japanese name for girls while Lunlun just sounds nonsensical.

* ''Anime/SherlockHound'' is simply the English title made to showcase how the series is an AnthropomorphicAnimalAdaptation. Sherlock is named "Sherlock Holmes" even in the dub.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Dub example—While making Ikinari dumplings at lightning speed on an assembly line, Angol Mois mentions feeling "just like I Love Lucy in that episode of ''Series/ILoveLucy''".
** A real-world example is Keroro's name. Initially, there was confusion that caused some English readers to call him Sergeant Frog, since even though his name wasn't changed for the English release, that was the name the series got. Most people know better now, though.
* The female lead of ''LightNovel/TheMysticArchivesOfDantalian'' is called Dalian, not Dantalian.
* In the English dub of ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' (known as ''StarBlazers''), the crew is not called the Star Blazers in any dialogue. They are always called the Star Force. In the recap narration for each episode, the narrator, however, does say "a team of Star Blazers called the Star Force...", which does sound somewhat odd.
* There is no character in ''Anime/{{Charlotte}}'' named "Charlotte". The title refers to [[spoiler:a comet, which emits particles into the atmosphere when it transits Earth. Children who breathe in these particles develop superpowers.]]
* ''Anime/ActionHeroineCheerFruits'': The girls' [[ShowWithinAShow fictional]] superhero team is called "Hina-Nectars", while "Cheer Fruits" is the name of their production team. This phenomenon is actually [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in Episode 4, where Misaki mentions that the popular heroine Kamidaio belongs to a production team called Gingers, but most people just use the Kamidaio name because it's far more prominent.
* None of the girls in ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' are named "Azumanga". It's just a ''manga'' written by Kiyohiko ''Azu''ma and published in Dengeki ''Daioh'' magazine.
* The girls of ''Manga/KOn'' are in a band. Their band's name is "Afterschool Teatime", not "K-On." The title is a contraction of "keiongaku" or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_music "light music,"]] a term for less-serious classical compositions. The cast re-forms the school's Light Music Club, though in practice they spend [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything 90% of their time goofing off]] and 10% of it [[NonIndicativeTitle performing pop songs with Western-style rock instruments]].
* The protagonists' idol group in ''Anime/LoveLive'' is called "μ's" ("muse"). "Love Live" is a school-idol contest they participate in. The sequel title ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'' indicates the successor band is called "Sunshine," but, nope, they're "Aqours."
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': There are people who think Pikachu or Ash's name is Pokemon.
** Misty's sisters are introduced in the episode "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City". Their group name is not "The Water Flowers", it's "The Sensational Sisters". The episode title also caused many fans believe that Misty's surname is "Waterflower". It's not. [[OnlyOneName She has no known surname]]. Despite this, you'll be hard pressed to find a fanfic that doesn't call her "Misty Waterflower" (either that or "Misty Williams").
* The team in ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' is simply called the "Science Ninja Team", while "Gatchaman" is the codename for their leader Ken the Eagle, but the way [[AdjectiveNounFred the title is written]] makes it seem as if Gatchaman is the team's name.
* People will sometimes say "LightNovel/KonoSuba is my waifu". There is no character named Konosuba--technically, "Konosuba" isn't even the name of the series, it's an abbreviation of "Kono Subarashii Sekai Ni Shukufuko O"--and they are likely confusing the title of the series with Aqua, the [[POVBoyPosterGirl poster girl]].

* There are two main characters in ''Manga/{{Dororo}}'', one of which is actually named that (the courageous but mouthy thief child). Who most people ''think'' is Dororo, the prosthetics-sporting swordsman, is Hyakkimaru.
* ''Manga/DrStone'' is not the name of that MadScientist holding the flask you see in all the promotional material. His name is Senku (or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Senkuu]]). There's no character in the series named Dr. Stone; the title refers to Senku's use of science to reverse the effects of [[TakenForGranite people getting turned to stone]], him being a scientist living in a Stone Age society, and his nickname for soap, "the doctor stone," as it helps stop so many diseases it's like having a doctor around.
* Believe it or not, there have been some press releases and TV guides that call one of the world's most recognized video game characters Anime/SonicX.
* ''Anime/AkazukinChacha'': The protagonist's OlderAlterEgo in the anime is simply named "Magical Princess", but fans have occasionally labeled her as "Holy Up" since that’s the second part of her ByThePowerOfGrayskull speech, or, in some extreme cases, they use the whole line and call her "Magical Princess Holy Up".

* ''Anime/AkazukinChacha'': The protagonist's OlderAlterEgo in the anime is simply named "Magical Princess", but fans have occasionally labeled her as "Holy Up" since that’s the second part of her ByThePowerOfGrayskull speech.

* Believe it or not, there have been some press releases and TV guides that call one of the world's most recognized video game characters Anime/SonicX.

* Due to the title, there's confusion over the name of the protagonist in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. It's "Negi", not "Negima" (and as of this writing, the author has not given a reason why there is an extra "ma" in there). [[note]]Also, the extra "ma" is written with a ''hiragana'' character, while the protagonist's name is written with ''katakana'' characters "ne" and "gi", which further underlines the fact that this is actually a compound word.[[/note]] The only time it's mentioned is during a TitleDrop. Negi's friends briefly call themselves the "Negima Club" until Evangeline makes them change it. See the manga's FridgeBrilliance page for a possible (spoilerific) reason for the -ma at the end.
* The manga ''{{Rin}}'' isn't named after a character, but is a kanji used to refer to something that gives one shivers of awe.

* The nameless pharaoh from Franchise/YuGiOh is neither called ''Yami'' or ''Yu-Gi-Oh''. The later just means "{{king of games}}" and would refer to the title [[ToBeAMaster everyone who plays the series' card game is trying to achieve]] and the former is a FanNickname stemming from his in-universe nickname of ''Yami Yugi'' (Dark Yugi) which characters often use in order to differentiate him from the "normal" Yugi. Although the English dub tosses around the term "king of games" and "spirit", it also has a scene where the Pharaoh tell Yugi he is known by many names, including Yugioh and Yami.

* In a rather odd variant, ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'''s Italy refers to himself as Hetalia in the credit song. This is likely because since "Hetalia" is a portmanteau of "''hetare''" (lovable idiot) and "Italia", he meant something along the lines of "I'm Idiot Italy!" However, his name is still Italy and not Hetalia.

* The female lead of LightNovel/TheMysticArchivesOfDantalian is called Dalian, not Dantalian.

* There is no character in ''{{Anime/Charlotte}}'' named "Charlotte". The title refers to [[spoiler:a comet, which emits particles into the atmosphere when it transits Earth. Children who breathe in these particles develop superpowers.]]

* There are two main characters in ''{{Manga/Dororo}}'', one of which is actually named that (the courageous but mouthy thief child). Who most people ''think'' is Dororo, the prosthetics-sporting swordsman, is Hyakkimaru.

* The female lead of LightNovel/BibliothecaMysticaDeDantalian is called Dalian, not Dantalian.

* A misconception about ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is that Alphonse Elric is the character referenced in the title (since he is literally "full metal"), when it is actually Ed who is the Fullmetal Alchemist. The fact that in the actual series [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant this frequently happens as a]] RunningGag doesn't help.

* The usual Frankenstein flub is parodied in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', where Isaac corrects Miria for making the error: Frankenstein was the ''scientist'' -- The ''monster'''s name was Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelly.

* ''Manga/DrStone'' is not the name of that MadScientist holding the flask you see in all the promotional material. His name is Senku (or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Senkuu]]). There's no character in the series named Dr. Stone; the title refers to Senku's use of science to reverse the effects of [[TakenForGranite people getting turned to stone]], him being a scientist living in a Stone Age society, and his nickname for soap, "the doctor stone," as it helps stop so many diseases it's like having a doctor around.

** The Italian intro actually starts with the lyrics "Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh! That`s your name!", and a german kids magazine about Anime constantly called Yami Yugi "Yu Gi Oh" in their commercials.

* The nameless pharaoh from Franchise/YuGiOh is neither called ''Yami'' or ''Yu-Gi-Oh''. The later just means "{{king of games}}" and would refer to the title [[ToBeAMaster everyone who plays the series' card game is trying to achieve]] and the former is a FanNickname stemming from his in-universe nickname of ''Yami Yugi'' (Spirit Yugi) which characters often use in order to differentiate him from the "normal" Yugi. Although the English dub tosses around the term "king of games" and "spirit", it also has a scene where the Pharaoh tell Yugi he is known by many names, including Yugioh and Yami.

* There are two main characters in ''{{Manga/Dororo}}'', one of which is actually named that (the courageous but mouthy thief child). Who most people ''think'' is Dororo, the prosthetics-sporting swordsman, is Hyakkimaru.

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' means "{{king of games}}" and would refer to the title [[ToBeAMaster everyone who plays the series' card game is trying to achieve]]. Although the English dub tosses around the term "king of games," it also has a scene where the (originally Nameless) Pharaoh tell Yugi he is known by many names, including Yugioh and [[FanNickname Yami]], a whole other kettle of fish.

** Actually, depending on the anime and dub you're watching, his whole name is Astro Boy (that's the name Kathy and Dr. Elefun give him in episode 2 of the English dub of the 80's series, The Robot Circus), but would simply go by Astro for short. However, this trope is played straight in the original Japanese, where the series is called "Tetsuwan Atomu" (Mighty Atom), where his name is Atom, not Mighty Atom.

* The team in ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' is not actually called "Gatchaman". The team itself is simply called the "Science Ninja Team", while "Gatchaman" is the codename assigned to their leader, otherwise known as Ken the Eagle.

* In the Brazilian dub of ''Anime/KaleidoStar'', the dubbers for some reason decided to change the name of the Kaleido Stage to Kaleido Star, most likely for easier recognition. The term "Kaleido Star" is used in-show as the title to the best artist of the circus. In the Brazilian dub, this term became "Estrela do Kaleido Star" (literally, "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment The Star of the Kaleido Star]]").

* "Blackbird" (or sometimes "The Blackbird") is the extensively-tuned Porche driven by Tatsuya Shima, not the doctor himself. However, his identity is so tied to that vehicle and street racing (Akio and Reina at least ''occasionally'' hang loose and have some fun) that a lot of readers and Maximum Tune players now call both entities Blackbird. This was [[AscendedFanon adopted in the anime adaptation]].

* ''Manga/DragonBall'':

** Even worse, Goku and his friends are sometimes referred to as "The Dragonballz".

* While the protagonist of ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' is indeed named "Naruto", his last name is Uzumaki, not "Shippuden". ''Naruto Shippuden'' is the name of the sequel to the original anime series.

** The English name of the series is an odd example. It's actually an AltumVidetur subtitle/translation of the Japanese title, "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica" ("Magical Girl Madoka Magica"). "Puella Magi" appears exactly zero times in both the original Japanese track and English dub; the heroines are always referred to as {{Magical Girl}}s. Nonetheless, this term is often used in the fandom as an alternate name for the heroines, since it's a convenient way to distinguish them from {{Magical Girl}}s in general. However, in the [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion sequel]], the protagonists do refer to themselves as the "Puella Magi Holy Quintet", but only once, and it's during a very strange sequence which can be construed as mocking the fandom.

* There are two main characters in ''Manga/Dororo'', one of which is actually named that (the courageous but mouthy thief child). Who most people ''think'' is Dororo, the prosthetics-sporting swordsman, is Hyakkimaru.

* People will sometimes say "LightNovel/KonoSuba is my waifu". There is no character named Konosuba--technically, "Konosuba" isn't even the name of the series, it's an abbreviation of "Kono Subarashii Sekai Ni Shukufuko O"--and they are likely confusing the title of the series with Aqua, the [[POVBoyPosterGirl poster girl]].

* Nobody in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' is named like this. It's a insulting nickname for {{Bungling Inventor}} Senbei Norimaki; the ''Dragon Ball'' Wiki compares this to nicknaming an author "Writer's Block". Though Harmony Gold's failed pilot did rename him, every other adaption and dub call him by his true name.

* Nobody in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' is named like this. It's a insulting nickname for {{Bungling Inventor}} Senbei Norimaki; the ''Dragon Ball'' Wiki compares this to nicknaming an author "Writer's Block". The pilot of the failed Harmony Gold {{Macekre}} of ''Dr. Slump'' sometime back, indeed renamed Norimaki as "Dr. Slump".

** No character is actually named "Cowboy Bebop". "Cowboy" is an in-universe slang term for bounty hunters, and the ship used by the main group of hunters is named the ''[=Bebop=]''. See also CowboyBebopAtHisComputer. It also doesn't help considering names are rarely spoken.

** Anime fans have a [[MemeticMutation meme]] from the period where Wrestling/WWESmackdown advertised the ''Dark Tournament'' video game with color commentator Wrestling/{{Taz|z}} proclaiming "''Yu Yu Hakusho''! I love that guy!" in each and every ad.

* People will sometimes say "LightNovel/KonoSuba is my waifu". There is no character named Konosuba, and they are likely confusing the title of the series with Aqua.