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* In ''ATaleOfTimeCity'' by DianaWynneJones, the legendary founder of Time City is named John Smith. Residents usually use the [[ThisIsMyNameOnForeign Latin translation]] in order to make it [[AltumVidetur sound more impressive.]] [[spoiler: The man himself claims that people ought to be impressed by his name anyway due to the etymology.]]
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* In ''ATaleOfTimeCity'' ''Literature/ATaleOfTimeCity'' by DianaWynneJones, the legendary founder of Time City is named John Smith. Residents usually use the [[ThisIsMyNameOnForeign Latin translation]] in order to make it [[AltumVidetur sound more impressive.]] [[spoiler: The man himself claims that people ought to be impressed by his name anyway due to the etymology.]]
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* In ''TheCabinInTheWoods'' there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
* Done with an entire planet in ''Film/TitanAE''. The name of the new planet, future home to the remnants of humanity? Bob.
* Done with an entire planet in ''Film/TitanAE''. The name of the new planet, future home to the remnants of humanity? Bob.
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* In ''TheCabinInTheWoods'' ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'' there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
* Done with an entire planet in''Film/TitanAE''.''WesternAnimation/TitanAE''. The name of the new planet, future home to the remnants of humanity? Bob.
* Done with an entire planet in
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* Bob, [[spoiler:the demon]] from TwinPeaks.
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[[folder:Religion]]
* Every single Saint. Justified, as most people in Europe and America are just named after them.
[[/folder]]
* Every single Saint. Justified, as most people in Europe and America are just named after them.
[[/folder]]
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* The immortal "[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-06-25 Jerry]]" from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''.
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* The immortal "[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-06-25 Jerry]]" from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. He even lampshades this while simultaneously poking fun at his peers who chose more pretentious names.
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** Pretty much all of the agents, really. ''Reloaded'' introduces Agent Johnson, among others.
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* Done with an entire planet in ''Film/TitanAE''. The name of the new planet, future home to the remnants of humanity? Bob.
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I go and edit a different wiki for a week and see what happens? I forget half my coding skill.
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* In TheCabinInTheWoods there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
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* In TheCabinInTheWoods ''TheCabinInTheWoods'' there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
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* In CabinInTheWoods there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
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* In CabinInTheWoods TheCabinInTheWoods there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
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* In CabinInTheWoods there is evidently some sort of evil, never-seen thing buried deep in the facility but named... Kevin.
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* In ''ATaleOfTimeCity'' by DianaWynneJones, the legendary founder of Time City is named John Smith. Residents usually use the [[ThisIsMyNameOnForeign Latin translation]] in order to make it [[AltumVidetur sound more impressive.]] [[spoiler: The man himself claims that people ought to be impressed by his name anyway due to the etymology.]]
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added musical reference.
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[[folder:Music]]
* Flight of The Conchords "Did Steve tell you that?" "What kind of rapper name is Steve?"
[[/folder]]
* Flight of The Conchords "Did Steve tell you that?" "What kind of rapper name is Steve?"
[[/folder]]
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* Clark Kent in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. Sure, his birth name was [[AerithAndBob Kal-El]] but it's very rare for anyone to call him that, and they never [[SecretIdentity call him]] {{Superman}} until the very last episode. Dude can bench press a glacier. His name is totally ordinary.
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** On the other hand, since One Piece uses the Japanese name order, Edward is actually his last name. Newgate, however, is not really a normal first name to have.
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* [[OnePiece Whitebeard]]'s relatively normal name is Edward Newgate. Yes, the [[spoiler:former]] WorldsStrongestMan is called Edward.
* {{Claymore}}s; most of them have quite plain names by occidental standards, examples are Clare, Teresa, Priscilla, Helen, etc...
* {{Claymore}}s; most of them have quite plain names by occidental standards, examples are Clare, Teresa, Priscilla, Helen, etc...
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the Namespace stuff, yeah
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* In ''ElfenLied'', the massive, floating head, BodyHorror oracle that is kept in the pool under the research facility is just called "Anna". But to be fair, she was born as a mostly normal girl.
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* In ''ElfenLied'', ''Manga/ElfenLied'', the massive, floating head, BodyHorror oracle that is kept in the pool under the research facility is just called "Anna". But to be fair, she was born as a mostly normal girl.
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* [[TheMatrix Smith, Brown and Jones.]].
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* [[TheMatrix [[Film/TheMatrix Smith, Brown and Jones.]].
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* Subverted in ''The Curse Of MonkeyIsland''. Guybrush asks one pirate his name, to which he is told "Bill". When Guybrush comments that this doesn't sound very piratey, Bill interjects with, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Cutthroat Bill"]].
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* Subverted in ''The Curse Of MonkeyIsland''.VideoGame/MonkeyIsland''. Guybrush asks one pirate his name, to which he is told "Bill". When Guybrush comments that this doesn't sound very piratey, Bill interjects with, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Cutthroat Bill"]].
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* While Solid Snake from ''MetalGearSolid'' certainly has a cool-sounding code name; his real name is just "David".
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* While Solid Snake from ''MetalGearSolid'' ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' certainly has a cool-sounding code name; his real name is just "David".
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* ''PhineasAndFerb'', episode "The Chronicles of Meap":
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* ''PhineasAndFerb'', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', episode "The Chronicles of Meap":
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the namespace stuff!
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[[folder: Comics]]
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[[folder: Film ]]
* [[SomeCallMeTim Tim the Enchanter]] in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
* [[SomeCallMeTim Tim the Enchanter]] in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
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* [[SomeCallMeTim Tim the Enchanter]] in
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[[folder: Religion ]]
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[[folder: Webcomics ]]
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[[folder: Religion ]]
* Every single Saint. Justified, as most people in Europe and America are just named after them.
[[/folder]]
* Every single Saint. Justified, as most people in Europe and America are just named after them.
[[/folder]]
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** Possible subversion. While Lucy is admittedly a fairly normal name, it could also be a feminine form of LouisCypher
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Formatting, forgot to preview >_<
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--> ''Cyclops:'' "Everyone, Jean and I have an announcement to make..."
--> ''Jubilee (off-panel):'' "Don't tell me, she finally got herself a real code-name?"
--> ''Jean:'' (Rolling her eyes) "Nothing quite THAT exciting, I'm afraid!" (For the record, they were getting engaged)
--> ''Jubilee (off-panel):'' "Don't tell me, she finally got herself a real code-name?"
--> ''Jean:'' (Rolling her eyes) "Nothing quite THAT exciting, I'm afraid!" (For the record, they were getting engaged)
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--> ''Cyclops:'' '''Cyclops:''' "Everyone, Jean and I have an announcement to make..."
-->''Jubilee (off-panel):'' '''Jubilee (off-panel):''' "Don't tell me, she finally got herself a real code-name?"
-->''Jean:'' '''Jean:''' (Rolling her eyes) "Nothing quite THAT exciting, I'm afraid!" (For the record, they were getting engaged)
-->
-->
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[[folder: Comics]]
* {{X-Men}} gives us Jean Grey. She's had a number of names over the years (Such as Marvel Girl and Phoenix), but nothing ever really stuck. Across various media and incarnations, Jean is just... Jean. Lampshaded in one issue:
--> ''Cyclops:'' "Everyone, Jean and I have an announcement to make..."
--> ''Jubilee (off-panel):'' "Don't tell me, she finally got herself a real code-name?"
--> ''Jean:'' (Rolling her eyes) "Nothing quite THAT exciting, I'm afraid!" (For the record, they were getting engaged)
[[/folder]]
* {{X-Men}} gives us Jean Grey. She's had a number of names over the years (Such as Marvel Girl and Phoenix), but nothing ever really stuck. Across various media and incarnations, Jean is just... Jean. Lampshaded in one issue:
--> ''Cyclops:'' "Everyone, Jean and I have an announcement to make..."
--> ''Jubilee (off-panel):'' "Don't tell me, she finally got herself a real code-name?"
--> ''Jean:'' (Rolling her eyes) "Nothing quite THAT exciting, I'm afraid!" (For the record, they were getting engaged)
[[/folder]]
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* Inverted in ''{{Down Periscope}}''. The name of the electrician is Nitro, but he's working on a nickname: Mike.
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* Inverted in ''{{Down Periscope}}''.''Film/DownPeriscope''. The name of the electrician is Nitro, but he's working on a nickname: Mike.
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* Somewhat justified in {{Farscape}} since aliens are expected to have stranger names than humans. Still, ThePowersThatBe were presumably invoking this trope when they decided to name the main character "John".
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* Somewhat justified in {{Farscape}} ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' since aliens are expected to have stranger names than humans. Still, ThePowersThatBe were presumably invoking this trope when they decided to name the main character "John".
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* Somewhat justified in {{Farscape}} since aliens are expected to have stranger names than humans. Still, ThePowersThatBe were presumably invoking this trope when they decided to name the main character "John".
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* LucyTheDaughterOfTheDevil
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* [[TheIncredibles Bob Parr]]. It helps when you're trying to live a normal life, if involuntarily.
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* Played with in [[http://www.desent-audio.com/images/MIB%20vhs.jpg the poster]] for ''MenInBlack'' (as the characters go by OneLetterName, but [[WillSmith the]] [[TommyLeeJones actors]] have Plain Surnames).
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* Played with in [[http://www.desent-audio.com/images/MIB%20vhs.jpg the poster]] for ''MenInBlack'' ''Film/MenInBlack'' (as the characters go by OneLetterName, but [[WillSmith the]] [[TommyLeeJones actors]] have Plain Surnames).
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**Don't forget the sinister demon mastermind Ruby.
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** Big Boss' and Ocelot's real names are also rather plain (John and Adam).
*** Actually, Ocelot's real name is "Adamska". He says it at the end of ''MetalGearSolid3''. In fact, he asks Naked Snake what his name is and then gives his own. When Naked Snake answers simply, "John," Ocelot replies, "Plain name, but I won't forget it."
*** Actually, Ocelot's real name is "Adamska". He says it at the end of ''MetalGearSolid3''. In fact, he asks Naked Snake what his name is and then gives his own. When Naked Snake answers simply, "John," Ocelot replies, "Plain name, but I won't forget it."
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** Big Boss' Boss/Naked Snake's and Ocelot's real names names, revealed during ''MetalGearSolid3SnakeEaters'', are also rather plain (John plain: John and Adam).
*** Actually,Adam -- or rather, Ocelot's real name is "Adamska". He says it at "Adamska", the end Russian form of ''MetalGearSolid3''. "Adam" (it makes sense, since Ocelot is Russian-born). In fact, he Ocelot asks Naked Snake what his name is and then gives his own. When Naked Snake own; when the latter answers simply, "John," Ocelot replies, "Plain name, but I won't forget it."
*** Actually,
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[[AC:{{Anime and Manga}}]]
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[[folder: Anime and
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[[folder: Video Games ]]
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[[folder: Webcomics ]]
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[[folder: Western Animation ]]
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----
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----
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->''"Bill? Vampire Bill?"''
-->--''TheSookieStackhouseMysteries''
In real life, most people have very common and completely ordinary names. But not so in fiction. If a character is to have any relevance to the plot, he has to have a name that sounds either cool and tough, or ominous and evil. But sometimes they don't. Everyone else does, but not these characters. Their names are just so ordinary and common that it really sticks out.
This trope is the middle ground between AwesomeMcCoolname and UnfortunateNames. Compare with AerithAndBob, when characters with completely made up names appear side by side with others that have completely mundane names. Might overlap with MrSmith. See also FluffyTheTerrible, TomTheDarkLord, SesquipedalianSmith, SomeCallMeTim, and OddNameOut.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime and Manga}}]]
* In ''ElfenLied'', the massive, floating head, BodyHorror oracle that is kept in the pool under the research facility is just called "Anna". But to be fair, she was born as a mostly normal girl.
* The BigBad undead evil sorceress in ''RecordOfLodossWar'' is just named "Karla", being about the only character in the entire world [[AerithAndBob with an actual real world name]].
* The high priestess of the temple in ''RuneSoldier'' is named Jenny. Just "Chief Priestess Jenny".
* As ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' mages tend to have extravagant names, several fans understandably did a double-take when [[TheRival the main rival]] and [[LesYay possible love interest]] in ''[[SpinOffspring ViVid]]'', who also happened to be the female [[TechnoBabble sort-of]] {{reincarnation}} of a [[WarriorPrince legendary king and hero]], was revealed to have the name of... "Heidi". Cue short-lived [[Literature/{{Heidi}} Girl of the Alps]] jokes.
** Subverted, as everyone in-series calls her for her second name, Einhart.
* ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'' starts with a pilot named Jiro Yamada, the Japanese equivalent of John Smith. He's so upset his name isn't awesome he insists everyone call him Gai Daigoji.
* "My name...is [[BigO Roger Smith]]."
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* [[SomeCallMeTim Tim the Enchanter]] in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
* [[KillBill Bill]].
* [[TheMatrix Smith, Brown and Jones.]].
* Inverted in ''{{Down Periscope}}''. The name of the electrician is Nitro, but he's working on a nickname: Mike.
* Played with in [[http://www.desent-audio.com/images/MIB%20vhs.jpg the poster]] for ''MenInBlack'' (as the characters go by OneLetterName, but [[WillSmith the]] [[TommyLeeJones actors]] have Plain Surnames).
* ''MrAndMrsSmith''.
[[AC:{{Live Action Television}}]]
* The all-knowing prophet "Chuck" In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* [[TheSookieStackhouseMysteries Sookie Stackhouse]] starts giggling when her vampire love interest introduces himself as Bill.
* [[EndersGame The Ender sequels]] feature a one-of-a-kind life form, an artificial intelligence with a soul. The ansible network and all computers linked to it function as her nervous system. She thinks at thousands of times the rate of human thought. The name she gave herself: Jane.
* JamesBond is probably the ur-example. Ian Fleming choose it because it sounded so unexciting, although since then he's given the name an allure of its own.
* [[AnneofGreenGables Anne Shirley]] constantly laments having such a plain name. She wishes to be called "Cordelia", which she believes sound much more interesting. Though, if she must be called Anne, she's sure to remind you that it's spelled with an E, because without it, it looks even more plain and dreadful.
* HarryPotter. In fact, Harry is one of the very few characters in his series to have a completely ordinary name. (Most of the characters with normal first names have weird last names.)
* The {{Nightside}}'s own John Taylor. Of course, in-universe, he's made it into a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Name to Run Away From Really Fast]].
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Subverted in ''The Curse Of MonkeyIsland''. Guybrush asks one pirate his name, to which he is told "Bill". When Guybrush comments that this doesn't sound very piratey, Bill interjects with, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Cutthroat Bill"]].
* [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Ed_the_Undying Ed the Undying]] an ancient mummy in ''KingdomOfLoathing''. Lampshaded in the encounter: "Ed? Not Ed-Ra, or Ed-hotep, or something?"
* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' you frequently run into a strange old lady called Sara Oakheart, wo seems to know more than she is letting on. [[spoiler:It's the perfect disguise, as her real name is ''Amarthiel, the Daughter of Doom'', one of Saurons chief generals and a two thousand year old undead spirit, who had been spying on you the whole time.]]
* While Solid Snake from ''MetalGearSolid'' certainly has a cool-sounding code name; his real name is just "David".
** Big Boss' and Ocelot's real names are also rather plain (John and Adam).
*** Actually, Ocelot's real name is "Adamska". He says it at the end of ''MetalGearSolid3''. In fact, he asks Naked Snake what his name is and then gives his own. When Naked Snake answers simply, "John," Ocelot replies, "Plain name, but I won't forget it."
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' gives us Maxie and Archie, the Magma and Aqua leaders. Unlike most characters, they have no theme nor pun to their names and seem to have been chosen because they start with the same letters as their teams and Japanese names, and sound a little bit alike.
* Inverted in ''{{Thief}}'' with Viktoria, who has a suprisingly fancy and aristocratic name for [[spoiler:a wood nymph]].
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* The immortal "[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-06-25 Jerry]]" from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''.
* Biff in ''Absurd Notions'' names every one of his [[RolePlayingGame roleplaying]] characters "Biff".
* [[LookingForGroup Richard.]]
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''PhineasAndFerb'', episode "The Chronicles of Meap":
-->I am known by many names. Well, two, really: Mitch, and some of the guys call me Big Mitch!"
* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Who is a legendary hero.
----
-->--''TheSookieStackhouseMysteries''
In real life, most people have very common and completely ordinary names. But not so in fiction. If a character is to have any relevance to the plot, he has to have a name that sounds either cool and tough, or ominous and evil. But sometimes they don't. Everyone else does, but not these characters. Their names are just so ordinary and common that it really sticks out.
This trope is the middle ground between AwesomeMcCoolname and UnfortunateNames. Compare with AerithAndBob, when characters with completely made up names appear side by side with others that have completely mundane names. Might overlap with MrSmith. See also FluffyTheTerrible, TomTheDarkLord, SesquipedalianSmith, SomeCallMeTim, and OddNameOut.
----
!!Examples:
[[AC:{{Anime and Manga}}]]
* In ''ElfenLied'', the massive, floating head, BodyHorror oracle that is kept in the pool under the research facility is just called "Anna". But to be fair, she was born as a mostly normal girl.
* The BigBad undead evil sorceress in ''RecordOfLodossWar'' is just named "Karla", being about the only character in the entire world [[AerithAndBob with an actual real world name]].
* The high priestess of the temple in ''RuneSoldier'' is named Jenny. Just "Chief Priestess Jenny".
* As ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' mages tend to have extravagant names, several fans understandably did a double-take when [[TheRival the main rival]] and [[LesYay possible love interest]] in ''[[SpinOffspring ViVid]]'', who also happened to be the female [[TechnoBabble sort-of]] {{reincarnation}} of a [[WarriorPrince legendary king and hero]], was revealed to have the name of... "Heidi". Cue short-lived [[Literature/{{Heidi}} Girl of the Alps]] jokes.
** Subverted, as everyone in-series calls her for her second name, Einhart.
* ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'' starts with a pilot named Jiro Yamada, the Japanese equivalent of John Smith. He's so upset his name isn't awesome he insists everyone call him Gai Daigoji.
* "My name...is [[BigO Roger Smith]]."
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* [[SomeCallMeTim Tim the Enchanter]] in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
* [[KillBill Bill]].
* [[TheMatrix Smith, Brown and Jones.]].
* Inverted in ''{{Down Periscope}}''. The name of the electrician is Nitro, but he's working on a nickname: Mike.
* Played with in [[http://www.desent-audio.com/images/MIB%20vhs.jpg the poster]] for ''MenInBlack'' (as the characters go by OneLetterName, but [[WillSmith the]] [[TommyLeeJones actors]] have Plain Surnames).
* ''MrAndMrsSmith''.
[[AC:{{Live Action Television}}]]
* The all-knowing prophet "Chuck" In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* [[TheSookieStackhouseMysteries Sookie Stackhouse]] starts giggling when her vampire love interest introduces himself as Bill.
* [[EndersGame The Ender sequels]] feature a one-of-a-kind life form, an artificial intelligence with a soul. The ansible network and all computers linked to it function as her nervous system. She thinks at thousands of times the rate of human thought. The name she gave herself: Jane.
* JamesBond is probably the ur-example. Ian Fleming choose it because it sounded so unexciting, although since then he's given the name an allure of its own.
* [[AnneofGreenGables Anne Shirley]] constantly laments having such a plain name. She wishes to be called "Cordelia", which she believes sound much more interesting. Though, if she must be called Anne, she's sure to remind you that it's spelled with an E, because without it, it looks even more plain and dreadful.
* HarryPotter. In fact, Harry is one of the very few characters in his series to have a completely ordinary name. (Most of the characters with normal first names have weird last names.)
* The {{Nightside}}'s own John Taylor. Of course, in-universe, he's made it into a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Name to Run Away From Really Fast]].
[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Subverted in ''The Curse Of MonkeyIsland''. Guybrush asks one pirate his name, to which he is told "Bill". When Guybrush comments that this doesn't sound very piratey, Bill interjects with, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Cutthroat Bill"]].
* [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Ed_the_Undying Ed the Undying]] an ancient mummy in ''KingdomOfLoathing''. Lampshaded in the encounter: "Ed? Not Ed-Ra, or Ed-hotep, or something?"
* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' you frequently run into a strange old lady called Sara Oakheart, wo seems to know more than she is letting on. [[spoiler:It's the perfect disguise, as her real name is ''Amarthiel, the Daughter of Doom'', one of Saurons chief generals and a two thousand year old undead spirit, who had been spying on you the whole time.]]
* While Solid Snake from ''MetalGearSolid'' certainly has a cool-sounding code name; his real name is just "David".
** Big Boss' and Ocelot's real names are also rather plain (John and Adam).
*** Actually, Ocelot's real name is "Adamska". He says it at the end of ''MetalGearSolid3''. In fact, he asks Naked Snake what his name is and then gives his own. When Naked Snake answers simply, "John," Ocelot replies, "Plain name, but I won't forget it."
* ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' gives us Maxie and Archie, the Magma and Aqua leaders. Unlike most characters, they have no theme nor pun to their names and seem to have been chosen because they start with the same letters as their teams and Japanese names, and sound a little bit alike.
* Inverted in ''{{Thief}}'' with Viktoria, who has a suprisingly fancy and aristocratic name for [[spoiler:a wood nymph]].
[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* The immortal "[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-06-25 Jerry]]" from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''.
* Biff in ''Absurd Notions'' names every one of his [[RolePlayingGame roleplaying]] characters "Biff".
* [[LookingForGroup Richard.]]
[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''PhineasAndFerb'', episode "The Chronicles of Meap":
-->I am known by many names. Well, two, really: Mitch, and some of the guys call me Big Mitch!"
* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. Who is a legendary hero.
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