It's fairly common in TV series to title an episode that introduces a new recurring or main character with Enter (character's name) or Enter the (attribute/title/race of the new character). This has its roots as a stage direction, so it is on the minds of writers more than viewers.
In anime, this can instead be "sono na wa", "His Name Is". (No, not that His Name Is....) Related to I, Noun.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Ranma ½ has a few of those: "Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan", "Enter Ryōga! The Eternal 'Lost Boy'", "Enter Kun#333;, the Night-Prowling Knight" and "Enter Gosunkugi, the New Rival!?", as well as "Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl!"
- Inuyasha:
- "Enter Shippo, Plus the Amazing Thunder Brothers".
- "Enter Sango, the Demon Exterminator"
- The first disc of the Naruto dub-only DVD series is called "Enter: Naruto Uzumaki".
- Digimon dub examples: episodes 1.40, "Enter the Dark Masters" and 2.1, "Enter Flamedramon."
- Magi: Labyrinth of Magic uses this in episode titles quite a bit, at least at first.
- Pokémon:
- Japan has used "Enter Champion Shirona" (Cynthia) and "Enter Contest Master Mikuri" (Wallace). In between those episodes, the episode for Ash's first confrontation with the region's villainous team was called "Their Name is Team Galaxy" in Japan while the dub went with "Enter Galactic".
- Suffice to say, the Japanese titles do this a lot. During the show's long history, this format has also been used for the first appearances of the Squirtle Squad, Bruno, Drake's Dragonite, Gligarman, Morty, Dr. Abby, The Phantom Masked Coordinator, Savannah, the other Drake, Fantina, and Jun.
- Also, the BW episode that introduces Iris is called "Enter Iris and Axew" in the dub.
- Played for laughs in Cardfight!! Vanguard: "Enter the Ninja Fighter", followed by "Ninja Fighter Withdraws".
- Medabots: "Enter Rintaro".
- Paranoia Agent: In English, the title of episode 1 is "Enter Lil' Slugger". This is an approximation of the Japanese title, "Shōnen Batto Sanjō!" or "Shounen Bat Appears!"
Asian Animation
- The official English title for Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: Joys of Seasons episode 16 is "Enter the Little Inventor". The "little inventor" in question is Weslie, who has to build an invention for his schoolwork in that episode.
Films — Animation
Films — Live-Action
- Enter the Dragon
- Enter the Ninja
- Kung Pow! Enter the Fist
Literature
- A chapter of the English translation of The Master and Margarita is called "Enter the Hero," because it's nowhere near the first chapter of the book.
- A Sherlock Holmes pastiche about his brother Mycroft is called Enter the Lion.
- Fran Drescher's autobiography spoofs the trope. It's called Enter Whining.
- A chapter of Moby-Dick: "Enter Ahab; to him, Stubb".
- Whateley Universe: Chaka's origin story, "Enter the Chaka!"
Live-Action TV
- The Lone Ranger: The first episode is titled "Enter the Lone Ranger", showing the age of this trope.
- Dynasty (1981) had "Enter Alexis".
Music
- "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. Several sports teams at various levels use the song as entrance music, but the imagery of the eponymous figure is probably most invoked by the the New York Yankees's PA system blaring this song whenever Mariano Rivera (arguably the best closernote of all time) literally enters the game from the bullpen.
- Album title Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)
Pro Wrestling
Video Games
- The first mission in Star Fox 64 is called "Enter Starfox" and the mission that introduces Star Wolf is called "Enter Star Wolf".
- Disgaea: Hour of Darkness' second chapter: "Enter Flonne".
- In the original Mega Man X Zero's theme is titled Enter Zero.
- Gex: Enter the Gecko.
- In the original Japanese version of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, the third mission of the campaign (called "Joint Maneuvers" in the export version) is titled "Enter Dision".
- Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly
- Spider-Man 2 – Enter: Electro
Western Animation
- The 1980s version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had three such episodes: "Enter the Rat King", "Enter The Shredder" and "Enter the Fly".
- X-Men: The Animated Series had "Enter Magneto".
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series from the 1990s had two: "Enter The Punisher" and "Enter The Green Goblin".
- The second PlayStation video game was subtitled "Enter Electro".
- Gargoyles had "Enter Macbeth", which is appropriately Shakespearean.
- Jackie Chan Adventures had "Enter the Viper" (introducing Viper), "Re-Enter the J-Team" (reintroducing said team), and "Re-Enter the Dragon" (a reference to the Bruce Lee film, as seen under "Film"),
- The Transformers episode "Enter the Nightbird"
, starring the eponymous one-shot antagonistic newborn female giant robot ninja.
- The Bots Master introduced Ninjzz in the second episode aptly titled "Enter the Ninjzz".
- The SWAT Kats episode "Enter the Madkat".
- One of the shorts in The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror sees Bart and Lisa gaining superpowers. Their "first" (only) adventure is called "Enter... The Collector".
- Hotel Transylvania: The Series: "Enter the Nosepicker".
- Mega Man: Fully Charged: "Enter the Wood Man". "S.W.I.S.H." also had the working title of "Enter Namagem".
Examples of "His Name Is":
Anime & Manga
- GaoGaiGar did it repeatedly. First they had "His Name Is ChoRyuJin", then later "His name is GekiRyuJin".
- Code Geass episode 4, which features the debut of Zero, is called "His Name Is Zero". Interestingly, if you look at the first five episode titles, they all introduce the main characters in a similar way - "The Day a New Demon Was Born" (Lelouch, getting his geass); "The White Knight Awakens" (Suzaku, getting the Lancelot); "The False Classmate" (Kallen); "His Name is Zero"; and "The Princess and the Witch" (Euphemia and C.C.). From this, it seems as if they're introducing Zero as a separate character. He ends up becoming a symbol that goes beyond who's behind the mask, but it's particularly poignant if you consider the ending of the series.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Scar's last episode. Its title is "His Name is Unknown".
- Mobile Suit Gundam Wing subverted this translation pattern: Sono na wa Epyon became the ominously prophetic-sounding And Its Name Is Epyon in the English dub.
- Ginga Densetsu Weed had "His Name Is Weed" as its first episode.
- Dragon Ball Z had "His Name is Cell" right after the standard "Who is this new threat" at the end of the previous episode.
