Basic Trope: A character has a name that the story considers really cool, made up of unusual components and/or in a setting that would make such an awesome name seem strange.
- Straight: Bob thinks his friend Odysseus Obsidian has an awesome name.
- Exaggerated:
- Everyone calls him "O." because if they heard his true name, their heads would explode.
- His special attack is running to his enemy and whispering his name into their ear causing their head to explode.
- Downplayed: Bob thinks his friend Odysseus Obsidian is a bit interesting.
- Justified:
- Odysseus' family members all have really cool names as a family tradition.
- Odysseus chose that name himself because it sounded cool.
- Inverted:
- In a world full of cool names, there is one unfortunate man named Bob Bland.
- Unfortunate Names.
- Atrocious Alias
- Subverted:
- Odysseus Obsidian is just a nickname.
- Or, everyone confuses Bob Bland for a character with a awesome name because he's looks like him.
- Doubly Subverted: Odysseus Obsidian's real name is Achilles Alastair. Bob gasps when he hears it.
- Parodied:
- Odysseus makes a big show of introducing himself, expecting everyone to fall down in awe at hearing his name.
- Alternatively, the character's name is ridiculously long and used in full every time it is said.
- Everyone treats Bob's name like it's a really cool name.
- Zig Zagged:
- Odysseus changes his name several times, from mundane to awesome and back again.
- Odysseus changes his name every time he introduces himself: Obsidian, Brimstone, Onyx, Mithril, etc. Bob calls him out on this, and reveals his real name: Smith. Everybody laughs it off for a while... but then they start thinking: what is the profession where men work on raw materials to make incredible weapons?
- Averted:
- No one has unusual/cool names.
- No one has a name.
- Enforced: "I've got a really cool idea for a character name! Let's use it!"
- Lampshaded: "Dude, that's such a cool name!"
- Invoked:
- A baby is given a cool name after much discussion between the parents.
- Red Baron
- The character gives themselves a Meaningful Rename to something they think sounds awesome.
- Exploited: Bob uses his friend's cool name to win a bet.
- Defied: A cool name for the new baby is rejected by the parents in favor of something more conventional.
- Discussed: "Did you hear what the name of that new kid is? It's so cool it's ridiculous!"
- Conversed: "What am I going to call him? I was thinking either Xerxes, Ozymandias or Indiana. Which one do you like best?"
- Deconstructed:
- Odysseus hates his unusual name because the other kids make fun of him. He resents his parents for giving it to him and changes it the first chance he gets.
- Odysseus falls into deep depression from the burden of having a name that implies someone far grander and more special than he really is.
- Reconstruction:
- Odysseus' old name was boring and plain, so he changed it to something more exotic.
- Odysseus' name reflects a personal change he went through in his life, prompting him to get a new, cooler name to distance himself from the person he was.
On the birth certificate is your Awesome McCoolname.
