History Main / HeroWithAUniqueName

* In the original ''VideoGame/FZero'', the protagonist Captain Falcon is the only character to have the "Captain" title, as well as sharing his name with his proper vehicle.

* In the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' games, Fox [=McCloud=] is the only member of the Star Fox team with their first name as to what animal they are. (Falco, Peppy, Slippy)

** Marinette Dupain-Cheng, TheHero of the show, has a hyphenated MultiethnicName, which stands out from the other characters.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has the protagonist Ash Ketchum, who's name stands out as a ShoutOut to the series' motto, "Gotta catch 'em all!". Ash also stands out in dubs as being one of the very few characters to have a known [[FirstNameBasis last name]]. It was used to get around the LipLock for his Japanese name (Satoshi).

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' has the protagonist Ash Ketchum, who's name stands out as a ShoutOut to the series' motto, "Gotta catch 'em all!". Ash also stands out in dubs as being one of the very few characters to have a known [[FirstNameBasis last name]]. It was used to get around the LipLock for his Japanese name (Satoshi).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Mr. Incredible is the protagonist and the only one in the family with the "Mr. Name" title (Elastigirl, Dash, Violet, Jack-Jack).

%%* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', the protagonist Lightning Mc Queen stands out as being a racing car and having a unique name in the cast of Radiator Springs.

* Star-Lord, the protagonist from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', is a TokenHuman whose real name is Peter Quill. "Star-Lord" is a name he made up himself and it is hilariously Lampshaded by multiple characters. He is also among a cast of aliens like Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket.

* Implied in the ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon''. Though you can [[HelloInsertNameHere choose your name]], the fact that you're a [[BalefulPolymorph former human]] suggests that you wouldn't be named something like "Bulbasaur" or "Cyndaquil". Every other Pokemon in the game uses [[ADogNamedDog the name of their species]] as their name, switching names if they evolve. They can be [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname nicknamed]] by the player however that isn't their true name. Your teammate lampshades your odd name when you meet by saying it's unusual.

* WordOfGod has confirmed that the official protagonist of ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' is Uniqua. The other four Backyardigans are named Pablo, Tyrone, Tasha and Austin. Taken UpToEleven by the fact that Uniqua is, well, unique to her species and the other four are, respectively, a penguin, a moose, a hippo, and a kangaroo.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': [[BadassBookworm Twilight]] [[PrettyPrincessPowerhouse Sparkle]], the show's protagonist, has a four-syllable name, while the rest of the [[FanNickname Mane Six]] have three-syllable names.

** With ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' the manga decided to name the protagonists "Lack-Two" and "Whi-Two", which aren't even words, never mind common names. Though they are technically their [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname code names]].
** [[DubNameChange Internationally]] "X" and "Y" were given the "It's a nickname" treatment to explain their names and thus they're "Xavier" and "Yvonne". In Japan though, X and Y literally are their names.

%% https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gumball2.png

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%%* ''Manga/DragonBall'' features Son Goku, the only character who has the "Son" before their name. Subverted in ''Manga/DragonBallZ'' when he has two kids, Son Gohan and Son Goten.

%% Please discuss potential replacements in the above thread.

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May overlap with MeaningfulName, AwesomeMcCoolName, OddNameOut, and AerithAndBob. Compare and contrast with SpecialPersonNormalName. If this happens in the dub, it's MascotsNameGoesUnchanged. This trope is used for similar reaons as FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras.

* Played straight with Stitch (Experiment 626), the only experiment with a name, in the first ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' film and then gradually inverted as [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch the sequel films]] and [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries first TV series]] revealed that there were more [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments experiments]] and the goal was to befriend and rename all of the experiments, thus making Stitch less and less unique.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/{{Franklin}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franklin_s1.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ADogNamedDog Here we see Fox the fox, Bear the bear, Beaver the beaver, Rabbit the rabbit, Snail the snail]], and Franklin the turtle. [[OddNameOut Guess who is the main character.]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/{{Franklin}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51bvsjx8bgl_sx940_5.jpg]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Here we see Fox the fox, Bear the bear, Franklin the turtle, Beaver the beaver, Rabbit the rabbit, and Snail the snail. [[OddNameOut Guess who is the main character.]]]]

* ''Literature/{{Franklin}} the Turtle'' is the protagonist and the only one who isn't [[ADogNamedDog named after what animal he is]]. This started when Franklin was the first and only character to be made for a one-shot book. When the author was told to make more stories, she decided to not give the other animals names in order to help Franklin stand out as the main character. Adults are generally given a SpeciesSurname, i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Turtle are Franklin's parents. Siblings are generally given a PunnyName based on the type of animal, i.e. Beaver's little brother Kit and Bear's little sister Beatrice "Bea" Bear. The only other unique names we get are also within the Turtle family - his own little sister (introduced relatively late in the series) is named Harriet after their Great-Aunt Harriet, and his grandmother on his mother's side has the name Jenny. Both of them also still carry "Turtle" as a species surname.
* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', protagonist Bilbo Baggins is the only major character who has a family name, all other characters have either a single name (Gandalf, Bard, Beorn, Elrond, Gollum, the dwarves) or have NoNameGiven (the Great Goblin, the Elvenking, the Master of Laketown). This is justified by the fact that hobbits (and Bree-men, who are not featured in ''The Hobbit'') are the only culture in Middle-Earth where family names as such exist. Similarly, out of the thirteen dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield is the only one with an epithet, as TheLeader of the dwarves and the deuteragonist of the book.

May overlap with MeaningfulName, AwesomeMcCoolName, OddNameOut, and AerithAndBob. Compare and contrast with SpecialPersonNormalName. This trope is usdd for similar reaons as FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras.

* This trope is a staple of RPG games where many games will give players the option of naming their protagonist any name they wish where they can invoke this trope. Also, any game that lets you name your character, or characters where you can give all characters matching names except for the protagonist.