History Main / NamesToTrustImmediately

*** ''MassEffect'': Commander Shepard (played straight with [[TheParagon Paragon]] Shepard, who tries to solve disputes with diplomacy and uses violence as a last resort; subverted with [[AntiHero Renegade]] Shepard, who prefers to solve disputs with violence and uses diplomacy as a last resort. Both are more or less {{MagneticHero}}es to go along with the name regardless.)

** Something similar happened with Jean-Baptiste (Molière) Poquelin theatre play ''Tartuffe'' (1664) and the disloyal bailiff Monsieur Loyal. {{Older Than Steam}}, I guess.

* Heart Aino from ''ArcanaHeart''.

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* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] on ''{{LOST}}.'' One of the bad guys is known for a while only as Mr. Friendly.

* {{Subverted}} in ''YoungJustice'' by "[[LightIsNotGood The Light]]."

*** ''{{Lost}}'': Jack Shepherd, though YourMileageMayVary

* There are two notable examples in Thomas Hardy's ''[[TessOfTheDUrbervilles Tess Of The D'Urbervilles]]'', though they are both [[SubvertedTrope subversions]]: Angel Clare and Mercy Chant [[spoiler: are both less forgiving]] than their names might suggest. Angel improves eventually.

* Many of the characters in MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic have a MeaningfulName that doubles as this. Who ''wouldn't'' happily leave their kids with a teacher named "Cheerilee", expect someone named "Fluttershy" to be a sweetheart, or imagine good things about a "Princess Celestia".

*** ''MassEffect'': Commander Shepard (played straight with [[TheParagon Paragon]] Shepard, who tries to solve disputes with diplomacy and uses violence as a last resort; subverted with [[AntiHero Renegade]] Shepard, who prefers to solve disputs with violence and uses diplomacy as a last resort)

* RobinHobb plays with this interestingly in her ''[=FitzChivalry=]'' series ([[RealmOfTheElderlings the Farseer trilogy]]): all of the princes are given names like this as part of magic which is supposed to install a corresponding personality in them. It doesn't work perfectly though- the hero is the illegitimate son of Chivalry, demonstrating an ironic application of his name, and Regal is TheEvilPrince. Chivalry was otherwise highly regarded, however, and Verity plays this trope absolutely straight.

* Parodying this trope and CharlesDickens' use of it, the villain of ''Radio/BleakExpections'' is named Mr Gently Benevolent. The cast also includes love interests Ripley Fecund and Sweetly Delightful.

* DeathNote's Light Yagami. Although LightIsNotGood applies in a almost literal sense, this is ambiguous. His personal name is Light (written with the character for 'moon'), but Yagami means 'God of Night'. Certainly a [[NamesToRunAwayFromreallyFast name to run away from]].

* Parodying this trope and CharlesDickens' use of it, the villain of ''BleakExpections'' is named Mr Gently Benevolent. The cast also includes love interests Ripley Fecund and Sweetly Delightful.

* For that matter, [[HarryPotter Luna Lovegood]].

* The Lovejoy family from TheSimpsons is a clear parody/pastiche of this. Reverend Lovejoy is a nice guy mostly, but he's also prone to the same jerkass behavior as the rest of the town and is occasionally too obsessed with the church (though a few episodes show him sympathetically). His wife is the leader of the town's out-of-touch MoralGuardians who often cry "ThinkOfTheChildren!" Their daughter is manipulative and even downright cruel.

* [[{{Pokemon}} Nurse Joy]], anyone?

* "Mother Alice" of ''{{Avernum}} 5'' is a subversion of this, and it is mentioned in her introduction.
** Not really a subversion, more NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast, because her name is M.Alice, or Malice, which is never a good thing.

* The Mother in DragonAgeOrigins is a subversion.

* Dick Tracy's love interest is Tess Trueheart.

** The latter is named Hiro Protagonist. [[LampshadeHanging He chose it himself]].

* Famous subversion: [[DeathNote Light Yagami]].
** This is ambiguous. His personal name is Light (written with the character for 'moon'), but Yagami means 'God of Night'. Certainly a [[NamesToRunAwayFromreallyFast name to run away from]].
*** It's also a possible allusion to Christian belief of the angel Lucifer (whose name means "bearer of light") and whose pride made him try and take the place of God. Describes Light rather well, if you ask me.
*** Also doesn't help that his given name is written with [[FourIsDeath four strokes]].

* [[{{Discworld/Thud}} Mr. Shine, him diamond!]]

* Who ''wouldn't'' trust a guy named [[AceAttorney Apollo Justice]]?

* Parodied in ''{{Discworld}}'' with Adora Belle Dearheart, who is in fact a snarky, badass, chain-smoking BrokenBird.
** And what else could she be with a name like that?

*** ''{{Firefly}}'': Shepherd Derrial Book. An InvokedTrope, since Shepherd isn't his name; it's his title as a missionary in this [[TheVerse Verse]].

The opposite of NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast, this is for clearly heroic sounding names. It seems to be played straight less frequently than the evil version.

** Also parodied by the Carter family of Lancre, whose parents didn't quite get how this was supposed to work. All of the girls ended up named after virtues: Hope, Prudence, Chastity, and Charity. The boys, on the other hand, were all named after vices: Anger, Jealousy, Covetousness, and Bestiality. Ironically, all the kids ended up as subversions of this trope, so Chastity for example ended up as a "[[UnusualEuphemism seamstress]]" in [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]], while Bestiality Carter was always very kind to animals. Covetousness Carter is described as "generous to a fault."

See also: MeaningfulName, StevenUlyssesPerhero, FluffyTheTerrible (A frequent subversion)

** Also parodied by the Carter family of Lancre, whose parents didn't quite get how this was supposed to work. All of the girls ended up named after virtues: Hope, Prudence, Chastity, and Charity. The boys, on the other hand, were all named after vices: Anger, Jealousy, Covetousness, and Bestiality. Ironically, all the kids ended up as subversions of this trope, so Chastity for example ended up as a "[[UnusualEuphemism seamstress]]" ([[IfYouKnowWhatIMean hem, hem!]]) in [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]], while Bestiality Carter was always very kind to animals.
*** Kind in ''[[IfYouKnowWhatIMean what way]]''?
*** I don't think [[FanNickname Pterry]] meant it that way. A better example is probably Covetousness Carter, who is described as "generous to a fault."

* Subverted with the Queen of Hearts from ''AliceInWonderland''. '''OffWithHisHead'''

* Subverted with the Queen of Hearts from ''AliceInWonderland''. '''OffWithHisHead!'''

* Trevor Goodchild, the self-appointed ruler with a varying morality, from AeonFlux.

* The Joy was the The Boss's old special forces name in MetalGearSolid3. She is a hero of the United States and Naked Snake's mentor of 10 years. Subverted because she defects to the enemy's side shortly after the game begins. [[spoiler:Double subverted because she's a double agent and has to sacrifice herself when things don't go as planned for the U.S.]]

** The video game ''Mini Ninjas'' also features a Hiro.

** This is ambiguous. His personal name is Light (written with the character for 'moon'), but Yagami means 'God of Night'. Certainly a name to run away from.

* Dr. Thomas Light from the ''Game/MegaMan''. Of course, [[DubNameChange this is only in the North American versions]]. In the original Japanese games, his name is Dr. Right...which is still a much nicer name than, say, "Dr. Wrong". Of course, the L/R thing makes it hard to know what they truly mean his name to be. Either way, he's a nice guy.

* Subverted with Angel from DigitalDevilSaga.