Line #32 PlayingWith/OneSteveLimit


1	'''Basic Trope''': No two characters in a work have the same name.
2	* '''Straight''': The story has only one Steve, one Alice, one Bob, and so forth.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': Every person, place, and thing in the work has a highly distinctive name.
4	* '''Downplayed''':
5	** Occasional minor characters share names and are referred to by full name for clarity, or their first names are the same but their [[LastNameBasis last names]] are different.
6	** The story has a Steve, a Stephen, a Stefan, a Stefanos, a Stepan, and a [[DistaffCounterpart Stephanie]], an Alice, an Alicia, an Alyssa, and an Alistair, and a Bob, a Bobby, a Rob, and a Roberta.
7	** The story has a Margaret and a Peggy, as well as a Dave and a David - while they do technically share a first name, it's distinctive enough for them to be told apart.
8	* '''Justified''':
9	** The law requires everyone to have an original name.
10	** The story has a MinimalistCast of only 7 people, making the odds of a name being shared between two of them slim.
11	* '''Inverted''':
12	** Several names, including some exotic ones, are shared by multiple characters.
13	** PlanetOfSteves.[[note]][[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus ...or Bruces]][[/note]]
14	* '''Subverted''':
15	** There are two Steves, but all mentions of them are deliberately misleading; the reader doesn't discover until later that they're distinct.
16	** There are multiple Steves in the setting. To tell them apart, [[TruthInTelevision they are given nicknames/identifiers]]. The three Steves are known by [[YouAreNumberSix Seven,]] Curly, and [[GlurgeAddict Stuwu]].
17	* '''Double Subverted''':
18	** Later still, the reader learns that one of the Steves was the secret identity of the other.
19	** When their first names are revealed, they too are all used exactly once.
20	** The Steves want others to [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname referred to them as their distinctive nicknames instead]], so the shared "Steves" is abandoned.
21	** The Steves change their names to other distinctive ones, so the shared "Steves" is abandoned.
22	** It reveals that the other "Steves" are actually ForeignExchangeStudent that use the alternative English names to avoid the FunnyForeigner NationalStereotypes.
23	* '''Parodied''':
24	** The characters are set in a school project, to research the most popular names. They are surprised to discover that there is no such thing as a popular name because every name on record is used exactly once.
25	** Two characters meet and learn that they have the same first name. They immediately decide that ThereCanBeOnlyOne and start fighting.
26	* '''Zig Zagged''':
27	** Some locations have more people with similar given names than others.
28	** Some Steves ''have'' the forename Steven or Stephen, others have it as a middle name but use it because they prefer it to their first given names.
29	* '''Averted''':
30	** [[TruthInTelevision At least some common names are used by multiple characters.]]
31	** [[NamelessNarrative No names are mentioned.]]
32	* '''Enforced''': The creator(s) of the work wanted to avoid confusion revolving around who is who.
33	* '''Lampshaded''':
34	-->'''James''': You know, I've just noticed that no one we know has the same name as any of us. I wonder why that is?\
35	'''Kate''': Just lucky, I guess.
36	* '''Invoked''':
37	** There are two Steves at first, but one changes his name to Horace in order to avoid confusion with the other Steve.
38	** The government gives its citizens unique names, so that no two people share the same name.
39	* '''Exploited''': The detective is able to figure out that Steve is the killer, because the victim wrote Steve's name moments before they died, and the detective knows that there's only one Steve in town.
40	* '''Defied''':
41	** Bob suggests using [[YouAreNumberSix unique identifiers]] for the two Steves, but both refuse to adopt a nickname.
42	** By law, everyone needs a namesake; inventing original names is never allowed.
43	** A group of characters band together, all of whom are named Steve, and none of whom change their name from Steve.
44	** [[PlanetOfSteves All characters rename themselves to Steve.]]
45	* '''Discussed''':
46	-->'''Chrissy''': Do all your friends have different first names?\
47	'''Ryan''': No. I know two Daves, two Johns, and two Janes.
48	* '''Conversed''': "Another show where no two characters' names are the same? I understand why they do that, but it's unrealistic."
49	* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': Several writers cooperate in naming the characters, but check their name suggestions with each other to avoid duplicate names.
50	* '''Deconstructed''': The demand for originality in naming means that people are saddled with [[AerithAndBob increasingly unwieldy and unpronounceable monikers]], and the parents are derided for giving their children names that other, more conventional, people consider [[WhoNamesTheirKidDude New Age-y nonsense]], a GhettoName, or even an OverlyLongName that allow inventing the new name by agglutinatively extending the old names as long as they can.
51	* '''Reconstructed''': The characters live in a small town, reuse the names of the deceased, and use MeltingPotNomenclature. As a result, {{Ghetto Name}}s and {{Overly Long Name}}s are unnecessary.
52	* '''Implied''': Mike is new in the small town where the story is set, but he has no trouble remembering Steve's name even though he looks much like any other male townsperson.
53	* '''Played for Laughs''': Charles starts going by the nickname "Steve", and [[ComicalOverreacting everyone freaks out]] [[FelonyMisdemeanor because there already is a Steve.]]
54	* '''Played for Drama''': The world is reaching a stage where children have to be nameless because it's against the law to name your child the same thing as someone who is or was ever alive.
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Context PlayingWith / OneSteveLimit