History IAmNotShazam / Film

* An odd and minor example are the ''TheSantaClause'' movies: The title doesn't actually refer to SantaClaus (without the "e") but to the ''clause'' in [[Film/{{The Santa Clause|1}} the first movie]] that requires for protagonist Scott Calvin to assume the role of Santa after taking on the mantle. However, the title led to some people being confused about the question if "Santa Claus" is written with an "e" or without.

* The panda in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' is named Po, not "Kung Fu Panda".

* Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg films and their imitators will often do this intentionally with characters because they don't expect audiences to remember character names while parodying movies. Po is called "WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda", Giselle is called "Film/{{Enchanted}} Princess." ''Meet the Spartans'' and ''Vampires Suck'' respectively feature "Series/UglyBetty" and "Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer."

* The team of supervillains in ''Film/SuicideSquad'' is named "Task Force X". Creator/{{Will Smith}}'s character Deadshot asks at one point if they are "some kind of Suicide Squad" - that's as official as the title goes. However, most general audience as well as the marketing and merchandise would refer to the team as Suicide Squad rather than Task Force X. In the [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad comics]] the movie is based on, the name of the field team actually is the Suicide Squad, while Task Force X refers to the entire government organization that the Squad is a part of.

* The vampire's name is not ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}''. It is Count Orlok. Though according to the film itself, Count Orlok is ''a'' nosferatu, [[CallARabbitASmeerp not a vampire]], as the filmmakers mistakenly believed the word "vampire" was copyrighted. Some people even mistakenly say he's Dracula. Admittedly he ''is'', and Orlok is them WritingAroundTrademarks.

* The protagonists of the [[Film/Scarface1932 1932]] and [[Film/Scarface1983 1983]] versions of ''Main/{{Scarface}}'' are both named Tony (Camonte in '32 and Montana in '83). They are never once referred to as "Scarface", though an officer does ask Tony how he got that "beauty scar" while being questioned at an immigration office in Miami. "Scarface" was the nickname of real-life mobster Al Capone, whom Tony Camonte was modeled on.

* ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' is not the name of the character. It's "Betelgeuse" but pronounced "Beetlejuice," just like the real-life star. And yet, a set of the lyrics in the STAGE musical still prefer to its pronunciation as the proper way to spell his name. Makes you wonder who you're supposed to believe.

* The team of supervillains in ''Film/SuicideSquad'' is named "Task Force X". Creator/{{Will Smith}}'s character Deadshot asks at one point if they are "some kind of Suicide Squad" - that's as official as the title goes. However, most general audience as well as the marketing and merchandise would refer to the team as Suicide Squad rather than Task Force X. In the [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad comics]] the movie is based on, the name of the field team actually is Suicide Squad, while Task Force X refers to the entire government organization that the Squad is a part of.

* Similar situation as [[ComicBook/SuicideSquad in the comic book series of the same name]], the team of supervillains in ''Film/SuicideSquad'' is named "Task Force X". Creator/{{Will Smith}}'s character Deadshot asks at one point if they are "some kind of Suicide Squad" - that's as official as the title goes. However, most general audience as well as the marketing and merchandise would refer to the team as Suicide Squad rather than Task Force X.

* The titular "phantom menace" of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' film ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' isn't Darth Maul; it's his master, Senator Palpatine (secretly Darth Sidious). The term "phantom menace" means an unknown evil; in the film, none of the protagonists are aware that Palpatine is secretly [[BigBad the villain]], and his identity isn't revealed to them until the third episode of the saga.
** In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Canto Bight is the name of the city Finn and Rose visit, not the planet, which is named Cantonica.

* Many people who don't know the franchise think that "''Franchise/{{Saw}}''" or by extension, "Jigsaw", is the name of the franchise's first main villain, or even the puppet that serves as its MascotVillain. The villain's name is John Kramer, and the puppet is unnamed in the movies, but officially referred to as Billy by the producers; Jigsaw is the nickname given to John (and later wanted killers) by the press and police InUniverse, a fact that John himself points out in ''Film/SawII'', adding that he never called himself Jigsaw.

* Many people who don't know the franchise think that "''Franchise/{{Saw}}''" or by extension, "Jigsaw", is the name of the franchise's first main villain, or even the puppet that serves as its MascotVillain. The villain's name is John Kramer, and the puppet is unnamed in the movies, though referred to as Billy in production; Jigsaw is the nickname given to John (and later wanted killers) by the press and police InUniverse. John even points this out in one of the movies when he's addressed as Jigsaw, saying that he never called himself that, only the police did.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' doesn't refer to every cat in the movie - only to the musical alley cats (Thomas O'Malley, Scat Cat, etc.)

* ''Comic Book The Movie'' features an in-universe example of the trope's title example: a woman is condescendingly corrected by her four-year-old that the action figure his father has just bought is Captain Marvel, not Shazam.

* The woman from ''Film/ChasingAmy'' is named Alyssa. Amy, who never appears in the film, is Silent Bob's ex, whom he brings up to draw parallels to the main character's relationship with Alyssa.

* The woman from ''Film/ChasingAmy'' is named Alyssa. Amy is Silent Bob's ex, whom he brings up to draw parallels to the main character's relationship with Alyssa.

* Many people believe that the title character of ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' is that played by Creator/JeffBridges. The plot is driven by a case of mistaken identity between Bridges' character and another character also named Jeffrey Lebowski, played by David Huddleston. However, Bridges' character repeatedly insists that he is properly called "the Dude," and refers to Huddleston's character as "the big Lebowski" several times throughout the film.

* "Xenomorph" (literally: "alien form") was used as a placeholder term to refer to the then-unclassified ''Film/{{Aliens}}'', but the species is never actually named in the films. Within the ''Alien'' universe, "Xenomorph" is a catchall term for ''any'' unclassifiable alien life form. It has been picked up as a fan term for convenience's sake, since "the aliens from ''Aliens''" is too clunky to use in discussion. Taking this to be the actual name is like thinking "UFO" only refers to the flying saucers from ''Film/IndependenceDay''.

* Many people believe that the title character of ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' is that played by Creator/JeffBridges. The plot is driven by a case of mistaken identity between Bridges' character and another character also named Jeffrey Lebowski. However, Bridges' character repeatedly insists that he is properly called "the Dude," and refers to the other man as "the big Lebowski" several times throughout the film.

* Many people who don't know the franchise think that "''Franchise/{{Saw}}''" or by extension, "Jigsaw", is the name of the franchise's first main villain, or even the puppet that serves as its MascotVillain. The villain's name is John Kramer, and the puppet is named Billy; Jigsaw is the nickname given to John (and later wanted killers) by the press and police InUniverse.

* Many people who don't know the franchise think that ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' or by extension, Jigsaw, is the name of the franchise's first main villain, or even the puppet that serves as its MascotVillain. The villain's name is John Kramer, and the puppet is named Billy; Jigsaw is the nickname given to John (and later wanted killers) by the press and police InUniverse.

* Many people think that ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' or by extension, Jigsaw, is the name of the main villain, or even of the puppet appearing in the films, becoming a sort of mascot for the series. The puppet is named Billy, and the name given by the press to the killer is Jigsaw.

* The protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/Encanto'' is named Mirabel. Encanto is the name of the town where she lives.