History OnlyKnownByTheirNickname / VideoGames

** [[spoiler:[[{{PlayedWith|Trope}} Played with]] regarding [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Shub-Niggurath]]'s in-game depiction. The current-day cultists only ever refer to their patron Outer God as the Black Goat, while documents indicate previous iterations of the cult have called her by her true name.]]

* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2024'': [[spoiler:When Jeremy Hartwood is pressed on the identity of the Dark Man, he reveals it to be [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Nyarlathotep]], only to ramble off his full OverlyLongName. Regardless of whether Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood is the player character, both will agree it's better for Nyarlathotep to continue be referenced as the Dark Man.]]

* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'': All over the place: You have Sun On Yee leaders "Big Smile" Lee, "Two Chin" Tsao, "Broken Nose" Jiang, "Pockmark" Cheuk and "Uncle" Po, the exceptions being Winston Chu and "Dogeyes" Lin, who is occasionally referred to by his birth name (Samuel). Outside the Sun On Yee, there's the Big Bad of the ''Nightmare At North Point'' DLC, known as "Smiley Cat" (much to his chagrin, as he'd much rather be known as "Big Scar" Wu), the aging freelance hitman "Old Salty Crab", the two drugs wholesalers "Four Finger" Wu and "Popstar", street racers Ace and Hotshot, the 18K snitch "Naz" Singh and the all-round slimeballs "Ponytail" and "Johnny Ratface". There is also Wei's sometime girlfriend "Not Ping", who owns and runs "Ping's PC" in spite of not being named Ping. She never gives any other name, to the point that Wei has her listed as "Not Ping" in his phone.

* B.B., one of Max's two contacts after he goes undercover in the first ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' game. Max lampshades it when he meets him in person for the first time in the third act:

* ''Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The security guard who sends you pre-recorded messages over the phone is nameless, but has been given the nickname "Phone Guy" by the fanbase. [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2 The sequel]] features a character named [[spoiler:Fritz Smith]], and gives conflicting evidence as to whether or not he is Phone Guy.
** Likewise, "Purple Guy" is another security guard [[spoiler:and, essentially, the BigBad of the series.]] This was eventually [[AscendedFanon adopted by Scott himself]] for ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorld''. However, in the AlternateContinuity that is ''Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheSilverEyes'', he does have a name: [[spoiler:William Afton.]] This name later became canon in the games.

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** John-117 and Thel 'Vadam are better known by their rank/titles: the Master Chief and the Arbiter. In fact, it took until the very end of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' for Chief to be called by his real name in the games; even afterward, he's still mostly called some form of "Master Chief".

* The main protagonist of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is usually only referred to by his Phantom Thief code-name, “Joker.” There is a bit of debate on what his canon name is, (some sources say that it’s Ren Amamiya, while others say that it’s Akira Kurusu), so this is likely done to avoid confusion. In outside material that he appears in, such as ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' and ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'', he is always referred as “Joker.”

* In ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series some characters are given long and unwieldy names, and thus almost exclusively called by their nicknames. For example, in Arland subseries no one calls Rorolina, Totooria, Merurulince and Elmerulia as such. It's [[VideoGame/AtelierRoronaTheAlchemistOfArland Rorona]], [[VideoGame/AtelierTotoriTheAdventurerOfArland Totori]], [[VideoGame/AtelierMeruruTheApprenticeOfArland Meruru]] and [[VideoGame/AtelierLuluaTheScionOfArland Lulua]] respectively.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', [[GuestFighter Joker]] from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is only ever referred to by his codename rather than his real name due to HelloInsertNameHere from his game or any of his {{Canon Name}}s like Ren Amamiya from the anime or Akira Kurusu from the manga.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* Lady in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: From The New World'' is actually [[spoiler: Grace Garland, Johnny's sister]]. Killer, from the same game, would probably be closer to EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep.

* The main protagonist of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is usually only referred to by his Phantom Thief code-name, “Joker.” There is a bit of debate on what his canon name is, (some sources say that it’s Ren Amamiya, while others say that it’s Akira Kurusu), so this is likely done to avoid confusion. In outside material that he appears in, such as ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' and ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'' he is always referred as “Joker.”

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' has its protagonist referred to only as "Starkiller", his codename. This is a plot point in the novelization, as not even Starkiller himself knows his real name until late in the story, where it is revealed as [[spoiler:Galen Marek]].

* Charles Hoffman in ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'' goes by [[RedBaron "The Hoffer"]], even outside his campaign for student council. [[spoiler:He eventually lets the PlayerCharacter call him by his first name or just "Hoffer" if [[GayOption he dates him.]]]]

** They have fun with this in the first game, where a screechy old lady is known only as "old bag" the first few times you speak with her. When she's finally called in to court, she introduces herself as Wendy Oldbag.

* ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'': [[UpToEleven Everyone]] goes by a codename, most of which are historical Japanese figures. It makes sense, since they're all trainee or professional Shinobi and keeping real names out of clandestine dealings is par for the course, but excluding one BigBad who goes by his surname, we never find out what ''anyone's'' real name is. The codenames are so casually accepted by the characters it took until the second game for an offhand mention to be made that yes, everyone's using an alias.

** The protagonists of ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' and ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' are respectively referred to in-game only as "The Rookie" and "Noble Six"; while ''ODST'''s website reveals that the former has the initials "J.D.", the latter is simply known as "SPARTAN-B312".

* Lady in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'' is only called her real name, Mary, by her father [[spoiler:Arkham]] on three occasions. By the end of the game, she's abandoned her name altogether.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* The protagonist of the American campaign in ''VideoGame/BattleZone1998'' is referred to only by his call sign, (Cmdr) Grizzly One, while all the ''other'' characters are named. The protagonist in the Soviet campaign is only ever called "Comrade". The sequel, ''Battlezone II: Combat Commander'' averts this, naming the new protagonist - Lt. John Cooke.

* Four of the seven playable characters in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''-- Marle, Frog, Robo, and [[spoiler: Magus]]-- go by pseudonyms (unless the player [[HelloInsertNameHere gives them their real names instead]]). [[spoiler: They are, respectively, Princess Nadia Guardia, Sir Glenn, R-66Y a.k.a. Prometheus, and Prince Janus Zeal.]]

*** The Iron Bull's mercenary company, the Chargers, are also only known by nicknames - Krem, Dalish, Stitches, Grim, Skinner, and Rocky. Krem, who is the second-in-command, signs formal documents as Cremisius Aclassi, but is never actually called anything but Krem by other characters.

** From their introduction in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', the Reapers are only known by the name that the Protheans gave them during their cycle. Their true name - if they have one - is unknown.

** Tracer - Lena Oxton
** Soldier: 76 - Jack Morrison

** Reaper - Gabriel Reyes
** Pharah - Fareeha Amari
** Widowmaker - Amélie Lacroix
** Mercy - Angela Ziegler
** [=McCree=] - Cole Cassidy ([[IdentityConcealmentDisposal he ended up dropping it]])
** D.va - Hana Song
** Junkrat - Jamison Fawkes
** Roadhog - Mako Rutledge
** Symmetra - Satya Vaswani
** Sombra - [[spoiler:Olivia Colomar]]

** Due to various - mostly out-of-game - reasons, the people portraying Chains and Hoxton didn't reprise their roles in the sequel. Even though this necessitated the (unchanged) masks being inherited by new members to the team - such as Hoxton now being an American - the four aliases don't change.

** The game seems to hint at his full name really being ''The Postal Dude, Jr.''. [[spoiler:Same with his dad - his grave is labeled "T. Dude Sr.".]]

** Nearly every major character has a nickname; notable exceptions include Shiki, and usually Sanae Hanekoma ('Coffee Dude' and 'Mr. H') Some characters are referred to by title, such as The Composer or The Conductor, but usually only before you find out who they are. Even Shiki's stuffed cat, Mr. Mew, is given a nickname of sorts by the main character - 'Piggy'.
* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'': One of the deuteragonists of the game is a masked man who is only known by the name Wrench (occasionally ''The'' Wrench). While a side mission suggests his first name is Reginald, it is left an AmbiguousSituation as to if it is or not. It is not until the ''Bloodline'' DLC of ''VideoGame/WatchDogsLegion'' that Wrench's name was confirmed as Reginald Blechman, and even then when he doesn't go by Wrench he's usually known as Reggie, as opposed to his full name.

** Nearly every major character has a nickname; notable exceptions include Shiki, and usually Sanae Hanekoma ('Coffee Dude' and 'Mr. H') Some characters are referred to by title, such as The Composer or The Conductor, but usually only before you find out who they are. Even Shiki's stuffed cat, Mr. Mew, is given a nickname of sorts by the main character - 'Piggy'.