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I Have Many Names

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Verence: Are you Death, fellow?
Death: I HAVE MANY NAMES.
Verence: Which one are you using at present?
— Wyrd Sisters

In some stories there are characters with so many names, aliases, bynames, and/or titles that it's hard to keep track of them. An attempt to do so ends up with Try to Fit That on a Business Card. As such, when asked who they are, it is not uncommon for them to reply "I Have Many Names."

Gods and whatnot tend to have hundreds of names. This comes from religious traditions where the Greek and Roman gods had many names, usually with magical connotations, all considered derivatives from their true, secret name.

Bonus points if the character lists these names in the form of a Badass Boast combined with My Name Is Inigo Montoya, in which case some of them are probably Awesome McCoolnames and/or Names to Run Away from Really Fast.

In a comedy, expect one of the names to be noticeably different from the others, and/or somewhat less than impressive.

Polar opposite of No Name Given. Compare The Magnificent and Hurricane of Euphemisms. Contrast Just the First Citizen.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Yuuko Ichihara from ×××HOLiC has gained quite the long list of names over the course of her career, including the Time-Space Witch, the Dimensional Witch, the Far East Witch, and the Girl Witch, and that's just for starters. Even the name she gives Watanuki is just another pseudonym.
  • Baccano!'s Claire Stanfield, a.k.a Vino, Rail Tracer, and a number of aliases that he changes about every week or so before finally sticking with Felix Walken for legal reasons like getting married. His stepbrothers are more than a little annoyed with this practice.
  • Bakemonogatari has Shinobu Oshino, formerly known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade and The Iron-blooded, Hot-blooded, Cold-blooded Vampire.
  • Guts of Berserk is known as "The Black Swordsman" and "The Branded Swordsman" after the Eclipse, but back in the days when he was with the Band of the Hawk, in addition to his official title of Commander of the Hawk's Raiders, he also earned the title of "The Hundred Man Slayer" because of what he did to the Blue Whale Knights around the middle of the Golden Age arc.
  • Bleach: While Aizen's Hollowfication subject was named "White" by Tousen to reflect his soul, as Ichigo's inner hollow, he either claims to have no name or calls himself "Zangetsu". When he fuses with Tensa Zangetsu, he takes on the name of Ichigo's Bankai. Post time-skip, it's confirmed that he really is Zangetsu.
  • Several characters in A Certain Magical Index have multiple nicknames or titles.
  • Lelouch of Code Geass uses different names/aliases/titles in his life known as Lelouch vi Britannia, "Black Prince", Lelouch Lamperouge, Alan Spacer, Zero, Julius Kingsley, "99th Emperor of Britannia", "The Enemy of the World", "Demon Emperor", and L.L.
  • Coyote Ragtime Show by Mister, who has so many aliases and false identities that "Mister" is the only thing he can reliably be called.
  • Hei (a name which in itself is an alias) from Darker than Black has a number of them, including Li Shenshun, BK201, the Black Reaper, and (thanks to one of his slashfic-writing Loony Fans) "the masked man with delicious collarbones"...Hey, he had no control over that last one, okay?
  • L from Death Note definitely counts. L isn't his real name (It's L Lawliet). His aliases include Hideki Ryuga (for when he goes to Light's college), Ryuzaki (how the Kira Investigation force refers to him), Eraldo Coil (the second greatest detective in the world), and Deneuve (the third-greatest detective in the world).
  • In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, as a working girl, and a demon, Daki had several names throughout her life, the known ones are: Daki, her demon name, Warabihime, her current name as a Oiran; Yatahime, her past Oiran name; Ume, her former human name, and Shiraume, her former human prostitute name; these five are just the known ones, Daki's settled in Yoshiwara's Red-Ligh District for at least a century as a demon in disguise, it is implied she had more Oiran names in the past.
  • Chiyo of The Elder Sister-like One has accumulated a few handles in her endlessly long life as an Elder God: demon, evil goddess, black goat, and the Black Sheep of the Woods Rearing a Thousand Young, or The Sister of the Woods with a Thousand Young. Yuu momentarily pisses her off until she realizes he's serious when he asks her if she's an angel.
  • Both Kenshiro and Raoh have at least two titles on Fist of the North Star: Raoh is known as both Ken-Oh (Fist King) and The Conqueror of the Century's End, and Kenshiro is called The Man With the Seven Scars and The Savior of the Century's End.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist:
    • The Truth, an apparition who guards the Gate of Truth within every human's being.
      Truth: Who am I? One name you might have for me is the World, or you might call me the Universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So of course, this also means that I am You.
    • The Philosopher's Stone also has many names: "The Sage's Stone... The Stone of Heaven... The Great Elixir... The Red Tincture... The Fifth Element."
  • Van from GUN×SWORD has a large amount of nicknames, and is referred to by a different one in each episode. The two most frequently used are "Van of the Dawn" and "Van the Nice Guy", although others that people known him by are downright insulting (i.e. "Garbage Can Van"). Another frequent one is "Van of a Thousand Conquests" though, as the supporting cast is quick to correct, it is actually "Van of a Thousand Naps".
  • Exaggerated in Hellsing. Both Alucard and Alexander Anderson have a ridiculous amount of nicknames that they are referred by many times in the series. Among other names, Anderson is known as: Father Anderson, Paladin Anderson, Executioner Anderson, Bayonet Anderson, Angel Dust Anderson (Dust to Dust Anderson in the OVA), Off With Its Head Anderson (OVA only), Assassin Anderson, Regenerator Anderson, Killing Judge Anderson, and Judas Priest (Alucard often calls him this). Three of the five times Anderson has shown up somebody says ALL of them.
  • If we are going to go very technical here, in Hetalia: Axis Powers, nearly everyone would be this. Justified as they are Nations, after all, so they would have their names translated into dozens of languages, or more; and even in one language, they would have different variations of it, like nicknames, full names and former names (names they had gone by in the past but it's 'history' at present day). And that's not counting the human names, and their variations.
  • Kill la Kill's Uzu Sanageyama, a man with so many titles that introducing him has eaten up an entire episode preview.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Char Aznable, as he is most commonly known, was born Casval Rem Deikun, but goes by many names over the various Gundam series, including Edward Mass, Quattro Bajeena, or the nom de guerre of "The Red Comet", while "Char" itself was originally the name of an Identical Stranger who he pulled a Dead Person Impersonation with after the real guy got killed in his place. It's no wonder he has a bit of an identity crisis.
  • Monster: While most people who know of him call him Johan Liebert, it's far from the only name he has gone by, and his real name is never revealed to the audience.
  • Tobi from Naruto has also been known (through personas) as Madara, the Mizukage, and Obito.
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
    • Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell gets more and more of these as time goes by, usually uttered by other mages to emphasize how casual the main group has gotten with her — and just how much of a figure of terrifying darkness she is to everyone else. Her known names are: Evangelina Athanasia Ecatherina MacDovell (on her semi-official Pactio card), Dark Evangel, Maga Nosferatu, The Queen of The Night, The Doll Master, The Apostle of Destruction, The Tidings of Evil, Puppet Master, Dreaded Vampire, High Daylight Walker, The Girl Queen of Darkness, The Visitation of Woe, Evil Sound, The Disciple of Dark Tones, Disciple of Catastrophic Noise, The Gospel of Darkness, The Strongest Invincible Vampire (from the Negima Bible). Her classmates call her Eva-chan, Negi usually calls her Evangeline-san when not in a master-student context, and Albireo Imma calls her Kitty. Then Jack Rakan calls her Loli Grandma, which really pisses her off.
    • Rakan (who gave Eva the last listed nickname), he too has earned a few nicknames of his own, like "The Thousand Blades" and "Legendary Hero" among the common people. He is also known as "The Invincible Idiot" and "That Damn Guy You Can Stab with Swords All You Like and It Won't Do a Thing, Damnit" among those who actually know him.
  • Rebuild World: The relic thief and Warrior Poet Nationalist rebel Kain, also known as Nergo, has the catchphrase of "I gave up my name for the cause". Being a Cyborg, he only needs to switch bodies to assume a new identity. With the Cyberpunk setting's Brain Uploading technology, he can even take over a dead person's brain.
  • D of So I'm a Spider, So What? has many titles given to her by the other gods as none know her actual name; even D is just a nickname she used for a conversation. She is alternately known as the Nameless God, God of the End, Death God, Evil God, Absolute Paradox, Bald-san, and Wakaba Hiiro.
  • Sonic X: In the Japanese dub, Chris’s Uncle Sam Speed had a different name every time he appeared.
  • Slayers: Lina Inverse, who has among her titles: the Bandit Killer, the Enemy Of All Who Live, Lina The Pink, and the Dragon Spooker (in the dub). Dragon Spooker is also translated as "One who, when dragons see, grimace in disgust and step aside". In the dub, it's explained as actually being Dragon S.P.O.O.C.R. (Steps Past Out Of Clear Revulsion).
  • Trigun: Vash The Stampede is only really named 'Vash,' although he seems to have accepted 'The Stampede' as a legitimate surname since it became his most common epithet. He's also known as 'The Humanoid Typhoon,' 'The Walking Disaster Area,' 'The Demon of July,' and 'The First Human Act of God,' though the latter is only for insurance purposes.
    • (And technically inaccurate, but so is the demon one.) Has also gone by 'Ace Gunman' and on one occasion introduced himself as "Valentinez Alkalinella Xi'hak Sicidabohertz Gombigobella Blue Stradavari Talentrent Pierre Andre Charlton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III" just to be annoying. Usually avoids aliases and gives his real name despite its notoriety. Apparently hates lying.
    • Wolfwood's also doing pretty well here. He also generally gives his real name, which is an understated Awesome Mc Cool Name in its own right. Manga Wolfwood, however, has also been known by the professional name 'Nicholas The Punisher'. Also Chapel, but only after he shot his predecessor for it.
    • Meryl and Millie only have one stylish nickname each. Like most of the Gung Ho Guns! It's kind of a thing they do on that planet.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!:
    • Yugi's alter-ego recites this line in the Yu-Gi-Oh! dub (which shouldn't technically count); but he's been referred to as Pharaoh (sometimes Nameless Pharaoh), Yami (for a few dub episodes, this is more often a Fanon name), Spirit (also for a few episodes), Mou Hitori no Boku (what Yugi calls him in the Japanese version, "the other me"), and his true name, Atem. Perhaps more importantly, he's also known as Yu-Gi-Oh, which translates to "King of Games."
    • Bruno, from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, is known by a total of five different names; Johnny (his actual name according to the director's Twitter), The Mysterious D-Wheeler and Dark Glass/Vizor (both refer to his Split Personality), and Antinomy (his code name while working for Z-One). Bruno itself is only an alias he chose after he lost his memory.

    Audio Plays 
  • In "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger", when Roccoco is quizzing Nick about the woman, he has to go through several of her names ("Melanie Haber?" "Audrey Farber?" "Susan Underhill?"). It isn't until he says "Betty Jo Bialosky" that Nick remembers: "everyone knew her as Nancy."

    Card Games 
  • Magic: The Gathering: Over the ages, the ancient guardian spirit of the lands around Lambholdt been known by a variety of names and titles — Aval, the Vine Lord of the Hearth, Macath, the Destroyer — and has most recently come to be remembered as Old Stickfingers as the old legends fade.

    Comic Books 
  • Alpha Flight founder James MacDonald Hudson has been known as Weapon Alpha, Vindicator, Guardian, and Dark Guardian. His prototype exosuit was given the codename "Groundhog", though he never wore it under that hame. His wife Heather often refers to him as "Mac"; Wolverine sometimes calls him "Jimmy".
  • Marvel's Hank "Ant-Man" Pym has been known as at least Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath, Yellowjacket, and Wasp, usually with a slight variation in powers associated with each. The first two times were plot-based, but on occasion he's apparently just decided "I'm going to be Yellowjacket today". This was lampshaded in Kurt Busiek's Avengers run. After Hank unveils a new costume and states his intention to take on the identity of Goliath, Iron Man mutters that it's never a good sign when he starts switching code names.
  • Astro City:
    • In "Waltz of the Hours", it is said the Dancing Master has "a thousand thousand" names, including Al-la-lil-il, the Morning Brother, Xitu of the Evening Light, The Nurturer, The Spark Blower, The Robed God, Pendifisiarni, and the Fisher of Hearts.
    • Likewise, the Hanged Man has hundreds of names, including The Dark One, Tereth-Il, and Kerem the Wise.
    • A low-key example is Rex of the First Family; since the naming convention of Western civilization differs from that in Monstro City, he has alternately been called Rex Zorus, Tyranos Rex, and Rex Majestros at various times.
    • The hate-based villain known as The Master has had multiple names over his extended lifetime, including The Overlord, The Judge, and the White King.
  • Victor Mancha has been nicknamed a lot of things throughout his heroic career, but in Avengers A.I., he keeps trying to find a codename for himself, each more painful than the other.
    Monica Chang: Hey, "Wolf-Bro".
    Victor: What? It's "Skull Boss" now.
    • He even tries one that had been taken before:
      Vision: "Devil-Slayer", Victor?
      Victor: I'm trying out new codenames. You like it?
      Vision: No, I don't.
  • Azrael: Jean-Paul Valley had "the Agent of the Bat", "the Punishing Angel", "the Avenging Angel", and simply "Az". Michael Lane, on the other hand, has "Death's Dark Knight", "the Dark Knight of God", "God's Sword of Justice", and "the Angel in the Dark".
  • Batman:
  • Nathan "Cable" Christopher Charles Summers Winters Dayspring Askani'Son Soldier X. Deadpool suggests that he just go by Priscilla. His birth name is Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. When he was raised in the distant future, he was Nathaniel Dayspring, with or without "Askani'Son" appended. Cable is his most common code name, and after reconciling with his father Cyclops, he started using a combination of his two "real" names, calling himself Nathan Dayspring Summers. The rest are a variety of aliases he's gone by in a variety of combinations over the years, including "Justin Thyme". He even states this trope to Moira MacTaggert when he first time travelled back to the present:
    Moira: I think that we shall be great friends. Err... but what's yuir name? I presume ye have one.
    Cable: Oh, I have many, Mrs. MacTaggert... I have many.
  • Captain America/Steve Rogers. At various times in his career, Cap has also gone by "The Captain" and "Nomad" (among others), while his civilian aliases have included "Grant Rogers", "Buck Jones", "Roger Stevens", and "Brett Hendrick".
  • Daredevil: Since Bullseye keeps his real name a secret, he has used several aliases over the years. Benjamin Pointdexter, Shelton Pendergrass, Matt Hobson, etc.
  • The DC Comics Bombshells universe version of Hawkgirl has a multitude of titles jokingly granted to her by Vixen, ranging from the basic, like Chief Engineer, to the purely comedic, like Chief Hit-Things-With-A-War-Hammer-Officer.
  • Although God appears in DC Comics fairly regularly, he never uses any of his many, many canonical names. So far, he's been referred to as The Presence, The Voice, The Hand, and The Source, and, according to at least one account, Rama Kushna (though He was a She in this case). Depending on who's writing it, The Voice (associated with The Spectre) may or may not canonically be intended to be big-G God. In the early stories, it was kind of tacitly assumed; later it was specifically disavowed, then semi-officially embraced (with adjuncts like Michael - yes, that Michael — showing up, and the Spectre him/itself being specifically referred to as the Wrath of God), and then kinda sorta disavowed again.
  • Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Scrooge McDuck was known by many (alliterative) names in his prime (nicely demonstrated on this page◊ of chapter 8 in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck).
  • Caged Demonwolf from Empowered has many names, The Other Wiki listing at least 72 at the last count, although he made up most of those himself. Empowered herself has a fair number of names applied to her as well. Unfortunately they are along the lines of "Useless Lass" and "Captain Kidnapped".
  • As immortals, The Eternals have all used numerous names over the millennia, but The Forgotten One, aka Hero, aka Dragon-Slayer, aka Gilgamesh, is the grand champion; he has a ton and can't decide which one to use (though during his stint with the Avengers, he stuck with Gilgamesh for simplicity's sake). Hercules even got into a spat with him for using his name. Meanwhile his real name is still unknown, making him No Name Given as well.
  • Fantastic Four: Galactus is said by the Silver Surfer to have many names. Something of an Informed Ability, though. We know one other name for him, Galan, from when he was a normal person in the universe before this one. Presumably all the other names for him are the names given by other cultures he has destroyed over the millennia — except the name "Galactus" has no meaning particular to Earth, and we've heard one alien's name for Galactus, and it's just "Gah Lak Tus." That's in the Ultimate Marvel universe, but still, Galactus probably has the fewest known names on this page.
  • Licensing issues have necessitated this for Fu Manchu in the Marvel Universe, in which he first appeared as Shang-Chi's father. Marvel can't actually call him Fu Manchu anymore, so they renamed him "Han" when he showed up in a Black Panther storyline, and later "Zheng Zu" when he showed up in Secret Avengers. It was stated in the latter appearance that he likely has a long list of aliases that he has used over the years.
    Shang-Chi: Fascinating... he's always gone by many names...
    Prince of Orphans: Probably to protect himself. Magic and names never go well together.
  • Hack/Slash villain Emily Christy was briefly known as Ms. America and in her second major appearance as Ouroboros.
  • Hero Hotline strongman Sturgis Butterfield has been Mister Muscle, Muscle Man, Brother Bicep, Mister Mighty, and Flex.
  • Jhonen Vasquez parodies this with Senor Juan Diablo complaining about all the foolish names humans keep inventing for him, and insisting on his real name. He then compromises and lets Johnny the Homicidal Maniac call him Mister Satan. And his son, The Dark Messiah, The Unholy Son, The second coming of evil... His mom calls him Pepito. His doggie's name is woofles.
  • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does this with a few people, combining several characters from established fiction into a single person.
    • Orlando is Virginia Woolf's Orlando as well as Roland, the Mona Lisa, Orlando the Marmalade Cat, and "O" from The Story of O.
    • Robert Kim Cherry is Bob Cherry from the Greyfriars stories, Harry Lime, "M", and "Mother" from The Avengers.
    • Oliver Haddo, an Aleister Crowley analogue, is known as Simon Iff, Dr. Carswell Trelawney, Adrian Marcato, and Hjalmar Poelzig, all names of fictional characters heavily based on Crowley.
  • Lucifer Morningstar, The Morningstar, Atse'hashke, The Lightbringer, Star of the Morning, Satan, Sammael, The Devil, Light Of The Morning Sky; surprisingly few really.
  • The Martian Manhunter has had a number of secret identities outside of his "John Jones" one. Infamously◊, one of these is named "Rei Hino".
  • Demons in the Marvel Universe often have Many Names, at least when it comes to Big Bad ones. It goes without saying that most of these are Names to Run Away from Really Fast.
    • Dormammu, Dread Dormammu or The Dread One, The Black One, Eater of Souls, Lord of Darkness, Lord of Chaos, Lord of the Dark Dimension.
    • Shuma-Gorath, He-Who-Sleeps-But-Shall-Awake, Lord of Chaos, The Great Old One, The Withering Devourer, The Unclosing Eye.
    • The Elder God Set, Father Set, The Great Devourer, Set the Great Destroyer. As an example of the Hydra Problem, Set literally Has Many Names — Set, Apep, Ophion, Tiamat, Lotan, Leviathan and Apocalypse, one for each of its seven heads. Presumably a case of Julius Beethoven da Vinci, with each name forming the basis for varying mythical great serpent monsters (though the Egyptian god Set, in Marvel, is a separate character, albeit one who took the name of the Elder God).
    • The Elder God Chthon, The Other, The Great Shadow, He Who Holds the Darkness, Demon of the Darkhold.
  • Recurring Marvel Universe Crisis Crossover Time Traveller villain Kang the Conqueror has also gone by the names Pharaoh Rama-Tut, Immortus, and the Scarlet Centurion. His real name is Nathaniel Richards.
  • Outside of the original Captain Marvel, various Marvel Universe characters that take on the title of 'Marvel' in their superhero title at some point wind up changing their alias multiple times.
    • Monica Rambeau: Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar, Daystar, Sceptre, Lady of Light, Monica Marvel, Spectrum
    • Genis-Vell: Legacy, Captain Marvel, Photon
    • Phyla-Vell: Captain Marvel, Quasar, Martyr
    • Robert 'Bob' Grayson: Marvel Boy, The Crusader, the Uranian.
    • Carol Danvers: Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, back to Ms. Marvel again and Captain Marvel as of summer 2012-present.
    • Noh-Varr: Marvel Boy, Captain Marvel, and Protector
    • Vance Astro/Astrovik: Marvel Boy, Justice, Major Astro, Major Victory
    • Jean Grey: Marvel Girl, Phoenix, no code-name, Phoenix again, no code-name again
    • Rachel Summers: no code-name, Hound (she understandably really hates that one), Phoenix, Marvel Girl (also changed her real name to Rachel Grey), Prestige, Askani.
  • In The Mighty Thor, facing the Midgard Serpent when it does not know him, Thor identifies himself with an authentic reeling off of his names from mythology.
  • The Sandman (1989):
    • Dream is a prime example of this trope since he "collects names as others collect friends" (To wit, Morpheus, Dreamlord, The Sandman, Oneiros, Kai'ckul, Lord L'zoril, Shaper of Forms, Lord Shaper and on at least one occasion, "Tall, Pale and Interestin'"). Many of those names have different appearances as well, while the reader usually sees him as a pale emo man in a black coat the Martians who know him as L'zoril see a skull wreathed in black flames, the extinct African civilization that knew him as Kai'ckul saw a warrior prince, and a Kitsune saw a fox whose coat was the night sky.
    • Dream's siblings, the Endless, also tend to have many names, though aside from maybe Death they aren't as well known.
    • The Three-in-One have accumulated too many names to count over the eons they've existed. They're not only Hecate, The Three Faces of Eve, and the Fates; but the Furies, the Norns, and the Charities, among many many others.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Robotnik is known as nearly every name he's been known by in all other media except for "Ovi"; there's Warlord Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, plus his replacement being known as Robot-Robotnik, Robotnik Mach Two and Dr. Eggman... lampshaded in several post-200 issues (after his Villainous Breakdown) when he introduces himself as "Warlord-Doctor Julian Ivo Eggman-Robo-Kintobor Mach Two" and later muses on how he gained each of his names, which causes him to "remember" who he is and regain his memory.
  • Spider-Man has "wall-crawler", "web-slinger", "webhead", and "Spidey".
  • The soul of the pre-Crisis Supergirl appears in Peter David's Supergirl comics issue 48 and 49, and said this to the then-current Supergirl Linda Danvers: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"
  • Superman kind of fits. Although he has two real names ("Kal-El"/"Kal-L" and "Clark Kent") and one main codename ("Superman"), he has gone by other names, such as "Nightwing" (no relation to Dick Grayson, although he took the name after hearing the stories from Superman), "Gangbuster", "Jordan Elliot", "Nova", "Superboy". Then you add all the nicknames, such as "The Man of Steel", "The Big Blue Boy Scout", "The Big Blue Cheese" (a Shout-Out to Captain Marvel), just "Big Blue" or "Boy Scout", "The Last Son of Krypton", "the Red-Blue Blur" (in Smallville), the "Man of Tomorrow", "Son of Jor-El", "The Metropolis Marvel", the "Action Ace," and "The Big Red S"; the "Boy of Steel", the "Boy of Tomorrow", and "the Smallville Sensation" as Superboy; and others not listed. note 
  • Many of the members of the Teen Titans:
    • Victor Stone: Cyborg, Cyberion, Robotman
    • Donna Troy: Wonder Girl, Troia, Darkstar, Wonder Woman
    • Gar Logan: Beast Boy, Changeling, Menagerie
    • Mal Duncan: Guardian, Hornblower, Herald, Vox
    • Roy Harper: Speedy, Arsenal, Red Arrow
  • Five of the original Thunderbolts have picked up their fair share:
    • Helmut Zemo: Phoenix, Baron Zemo, and Citizen V.
    • Karla Sofen: Moonstone, Meteorite and Ms. Marvel.
    • Erik Josten: Power Man, Smuggler, Goliath, Atlas
    • Norbert Ebersol: Fixer, Mr. Fix, Techno, Ogre
    • Abner Jenkins: Beetle, Mach-1, Mach-2, Mach-3, Mach-4, Mach-5
  • James Howlett, better known as Wolverine, but also known as Logan (sometimes with a "Jim" appended to it whenever the situation demanded... or that time when he infiltrated the Pentagon with a fake military ID that hilariously gave his full name as "Logan L. Logan"), Patch, Weapon X, Death (when he was one of Apocalypse's Horsemen, though that's not something one can leave behind as Archangel and Gambit can attest), The Ol' Canucklehead and so on and on.
  • Wonder Woman (1942): Trickster god Tezcatlipoca says this word for word during his first meeting with Wonder Woman, though we are not provided a list.
  • X-Men:
    • Kitty Pryde has gone by Sprite, Ariel, Shadowcat, and an assortment of pet names specific to her fellow X-Men; Nightcrawler called her "Kätzchen", Storm "Kitten" (which means the same thing), and Colossus calls her "Katya". Her Days of Future Past counterpart is called Kate.
    • Mister Sinister, real name Dr. Nathaniel Essex. Since for most of his existence nobody knew his real name, he felt quite comfortable using a variety of aliases incorporating "Nathan", "Essex" and/or "Milbury" (the name of his estate in Victorian London) without worry of being found out. During World War II, he was also known as the Nazi Mad Scientist "Nosferatu". When he infiltrated the Weapon X program, he used the alias "Dr. Windsor".
  • Guy Smith in X-Statix started out as Mr. Sensitive, then changed his name to the Orphan after he was emotionally affected by an adventure involving an orphaned child, then went back to Mr. Sensitive after he found out that he wasn't really an orphan and that his parents were scum.

    Comic Strips 

    Fan Works 
  • Bait and Switch (STO): Tesjha "Tess" Phohl is also called Siritesjha sh'Phohlhi on occasion, which is apparently the Imperial Andorian translation of her name (whereas Tesjha Phohl is from her home culture). This causes problems in "Shakedown Shenanigans" when she gives a Vulcan customs agent the name Tesjha Pholhl when her travel papers say Siritesjha.
  • between: Lampshaded when the protagonist uses X-23's many names to describe different facets of her personality. He tries to determine which name is the 'true' one, but never can.
    He stares, transfixed. And he thinks maybe Talon is who she is.
  • Black Queen, Red King: Rex has sixty different false IDs, several of which are opposite genders.
  • Black Victory: Pokemon have four different types of names: The true name which is their real name and their most closely guarded secret and a great source of power, the social name which is what they socialize with, a rough equivalent would be our term of "username", the species name which should be obvious to all of us and finally the folk name, which is a moniker or several that other people grant you.
  • Brotherhood of Shadow, a Game Mod for Knights of the Old Republic, uses this frequently, as many of the characters have assumed new names, identities and lives. "Shadow" (aka Channa Mae, Matilda, Sera Degana) is the most prominent example.
  • but i wrote the words to the swan song: Juliet Capulet goes by many aliases throughout her long-lived life, which has a common pattern of having widely different last names but first names being either the same or similar to her original name such as "Juliet Schnitzer", "Julieta Carvalho", "Juliet Bates", "Mademoiselle Juliette", "Juliet O'Hara", and "Juliet Brontë".
  • Child of the Storm has a number of characters who end up with a lot of names:
    • Most particularly, the Winter Soldier, also known as The Ice Warrior, The Sleeping Death, The Shield Breaker and Europe’s Terror. It's suggested that this isn't an exhaustive list.
    • Doctor Strange has even more; Taliesin was the name he grew up using, after being adopted, and Gwion Bach was the name he was born with, and is lightly dubbed 'the Scary Bugger Supreme' and 'the Sunglasses Supreme'. More ominous ones include the Sorcerer Supreme (of course), the Heir of Agamotto, the Evergreen Man, and the Lord of Time.
    • Harry ends up being known not only as 'the Boy Who Lived', but as the Red Son, the Dark Phoenix, while one alternate incarnation decides somewhat whimsically to use the name 'Nathan' to simplify things when he's talking to Harry (since there's already an 'Other Harry' around).
  • The Darkness Series: Harry Potter uses the aliases Notechis Noir, "Stripe", and Evan Harris.
  • The Elements of Friendship: Trixie has gone by a great many stage names and aliases over the years, and, during the height of her Alicorn Amulet-induced madness, she starts referring to herself by all of them, something the villagers of Ponyville point out. This causes Twilight to decide that, on top of everything else, Trixie has identity issues.
  • The Elements of Harmony and the Savior of Worlds: Besides "the Mag'ne", Megan is also known as the "Giver of Gifts", "Defender of the Stable", "wielder of the Spear of Fire", and "Teacher of Knowledge".
  • Hail to the King (Thuktun Flishithy): Godzilla, Mothra, Anguirus, and Rodan have been given numerous names and monikers over the course of human history in Hail to the King. Some examples include the biblical monsters Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz, as well as the Norse monsters Jormungand, Hraesvelgr, and Fenrir. This is in addition to their usual canon monikers, like King of the Monsters and The Goddess of Infant Island.
  • Harmony's Warriors: Ahuizotl claims that his minions call him "Lord and Master" and the Diamond Dogs call him "the Blue Death".
  • Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: Quirinus Quirrell notes that he has so many names that he doesn't even keep count. Harry realizes that this might mean that "Professor Quirinus Quirrel" might itself be yet another one of these. He's right.
  • To Hell and Back (Arrowverse):
    • Oliver Queen: "Al Sah-Him" / "The Arrow" / "The Hood" / "Green Arrow"
    • Barry Allen: "Al Sa'iqa" / "The Lightning" / "The Streak" / "The Flash"
    • Kara Zor-El: "Saraab" / "Phantom" / "Kara Linda Danvers" / "The Girl in Blue" / "Supergirl"
  • Hellsing Abridged: When Those Wacky Nazis encounter Alexander Anderson, they call him a variety of awesome-sounding nicknames: God's Assassin, Saint Guillotine, The Angel's Dust, and Judas Priest ("Wait, like ze band?" "THEY WERE NAMED AFTER HIM!").
  • Hellsister Trilogy has Teth-Adam, who has been called Mighty Adam, Black Adam, Slayer of Pharaohs...
  • Homecoming: The Sidhe hunter Thalo not only introduces himself that way to his quarry — but implies his prey does as well.
    "Allow me to introduce myself. I am He of the Seven Thorns, the Birdcatcher, the Hunter in the Dark. I am Thalo..." The Sidhe gave an elaborate bow, then shrugged, a knowing gleam in his eyes. "I go by many names... as I wager so do you."
  • The Infinite Loops: Occasionally brought up; whenever a looper really wants to make their opinion known, they will bring forth the ham by announcing a number of the titles they have earned, which can range from the impressive to the ridiculous. At one point, a character tries to address Usagi Tsukino with a list of her own titles; she's memorized five hundred titles, although Usagi cuts her off at fifty.
  • I Woke Up As a Dungeon, Now What? has Maryk Norydd, a Master of Disguise and spy for the Resistance whose onscreen psuedonyms include Olivia, Nailynn, Fiolla, Rhyel, and Serya.
  • The Jaded Eyes Series: Harry Potter is also known as Tristan Stillnight, Tristan Winter, Prince Le Fey, the Prince, "Little One" (that one's courtesy of Alucard), and Dark Lord Le Fey.
  • Kara of Rokyn: Dream of the Endless has been called more names than the embodiment of a cosmic principle can even remember, one for each culture and probably one for each sentient being in the universe.
    Kara: "Who are you? What does your— Dreaming— need me to do?"
    Dream: "There are more names for me than I can even remember. Perhaps all who dream know me by a name unique to them. But I have been called Kaickul, L'zoril, Shaper, Morpheus—"
    Kara: (covering her mouth) "The Dreamsmith!"
  • Little Deceptions features Blank Slate, a Master of Disguise who changes names as often as he changes his attire. When Princess Celestia refers to him by his real name — a name he hasn't used in fifteen years — while he's posing as a guard at the end of The Perfect Crime, and speaks about how "There’s always another chance, always a better way to use their talents," he turns himself in. It is revealed in the epilogue that she had no idea that he was a thief, her kindly but vague offer of a second chance was actually her hoping that more ponies realized they could be better to each other at any time, and her calling him by his real name was because she has a spell to give herself Namedar, so as to be able to personally address her little ponies, as her knowing their name makes them feel special. Ironically, she doesn't even remember his name without the spell. It's heavily implied that this isn't the first time this has happened.
  • A Long Journey Home: Jasmine changed names regularly in the history. She has so far : Jasmine Potter, Girl-Who-Lived, Girl-Who-Won, Wadjet, Muirgen, Morgan le Fay, Morgana, Lily Fakhrani, She-Who-Waits, The Deliverer, Old Lady Ambrose, May, Flower, Mallika, Antheia.
  • Mr and Mrs Gold: Belle has earned many names in the short time she had been married to the Dark One: the Caretaker, the Devil's Bride, the Harlot of Hell, The Chosen One, etc. Add “Rosalind French Gold” to that list after the creation of Storybrooke.
  • My Little Pony: The Mentally Advanced Series's version of Sweetie Belle introduces herself as such.
    I go by many names. Seaty Belt, Sweaty Belt, Treaty Teats... but you may call me THRACKERZOD.
  • The Night Unfurls:
    • Kyril is generally referred to as (the) Hunter or (the) Good Hunter. Aside from taking up his mentor Gehrman's mantle as the First Hunter, Kyril has gained a number of titles throughout the story, including: (Sir) Kyril the Bloody, the Saint of Killers, The Reaper, Bloody Left Hand of the Goddess, and Lord Executioner.
    • Olga from the remastered version has more titles than her original counterpart. Her titles typically allude to her status as queen (e.g. the Dark Queen, Ruler of the Dark Elves, etc.). The remastered version gives her additional titles (Witch-Queen of the Dark Elves, Mistress of a Thousand Curses, Holder of Haughty Garan's Jagged Crown, etc.).
    • The Rat is known as "Lord of Plagues", "King-Spawn of All Vermin", "He Who Feasts On Ambition", "Eater of Men", and "Foul Taskmaster", according to Celestine. In what means did he obtain these titles is currently unknown. Lampshaded by The Rat itself, who admits that it cannot keep track of his many names, and Kyril, who assumes that "The Rat" is just a made-up name.
  • The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: Death itself has more names than can be counted, among them the Pale Pony, the Grim Reaper, the Collector of Souls, the Final Answer, the Great Equalizer, the Unbarginable Griffon, the Reclaimer of Final Breaths, the Stealer of Souls, the Defeater of Empires, the Swallower of Oceans, the Thief of Years, the Ultimate Reality, the Harvester of Souls, the Keeper of the Keys at the End of the Universe, one of the Four Harbingers of Apocalypse, the Terror of the Grave, the Proclaimed First and Final Soul of Creation, and many more that have been forgotten.
  • The Powers of Harmony, like Under the Northern Lights, establishes that Celestia and Luna are known by different names by different cultures. A later chapter reveals this is also true of Discord and his Good Counterpart Harmony.
  • A Prize for Three Empires: Carol Danvers has many names: Miss Marvel, Binary, Warbird... and Ca-Rol, given by Gladiator.
  • A Song of Silk and Saplings: The main antagonist, Father Veritas, introduces himself to Maki by several different titles and names. It's made clear that "Father Veritas" is itself just another chosen of his.
    "Do not presume that you know who I am, Sir Maki, for I wear many names. The Father of Leaves. The Masked One. The Eternal Ash. The Gallows of Níu Heimar. The Everlasting King. Here I wear the name of Veritas, and you stand before me in my domain."
  • Soul Eater: Troubled Souls: Kid and Lord Death are synonymously referred to as Reapers, Grim Reapers, Shinigami, Gods of Death, or Death Gods.
  • Tales of the Undiscovered Swords: Truth in Television regarding the sword Sasanoyuki whose original name was Katagiri Yosaburō. Later, he refers to his past self bearing this name as though it was a different entity from himself, as being given a new name that alludes to his sharpness was a traumatic name change for him and the start of his molding himself into a different personality that fits said new name.
    Sasanoyuki: (Kiwame letter) I was once known as Katagiri Yosaburō, but Katagiri Yosaburō is not me.
  • Thirty Hs: Dumbledore is never mentioned by the same name twice. He's referred to as "Dumbledore" once, then Harry calls him "Gumbledorp", and then he says he is no longer "Scrumblegort" but "Dumblecop, of the Darkmeal" now.
  • The Twilight Child: Sombra has several epithets and titles, all of which are Names to Run Away from Really Fast. Apparently even twenty-odd years after his final demise, the Crystal Ponies were afraid he'd come back to life if they used his real name.
  • The Tyrant and the Hero has Black Alice, also known as Mary, Alicetroemeria, Alipheese VIII or Alice VIII.
  • Under the Northern Lights: Reindeer know Luna and Celestia as Hrimfaxi and Skinfaxi (the horses of Day and Night in Norse Mythology). Stalu call Luna Daggmule ("dewmuzzle"), and the Skoll call the sisters Nattmara ("nightmare") and Dagbränna ("dayfire")..
  • The Weaver Option: Aenaria Eldanesh, the last surviving Aeldari to have fought in the War in Heaven, has gone by many names in the millions of years since. These include Qa'leh, Alarielle Starblade, Vela'ra Delenor, and most recently Lelith Hesperax.
  • What Insertion?: This applies to Sherry, much to her chagrin. Her real name is Shiho Miyano, and after regressing in age by a decade and change she changes her name to Vi Graythorn, but Phibrizzo insists on calling her "Anita Hailey" on top of that.
  • The Will Of The D: Luffy when thanks to the water logia type fruit provided by a time traveling Gold Roger he is able to claim sovereignty over the sea.
    "I have many names and I have no name, for they drift away with the currents."
  • The Wizard in the Shadows: Harry has many names. Not quite as many as Aragorn.

    Films — Animation 
  • Parodied in the opening narration to Minions, in which the expectation that the Minions as a species are known by many names is subverted as the narrator instead refers to the comically mundane names of the individual minions.
    Narrator: Minions. Minions have been on this planet far longer than we have. They go by many names. Dave, Carl, Paul, Mike- Oh, that one is Norbert. He's an idiot.
  • Parodied in Rango: We never find out what the protagonist's name was before he adopted the "Rango" persona, because when asked about it, he just goes on about how many different names he has.
  • Rudolf the Black Cat: Gottalot is dubbed so by Rudolf after the latter misunderstands him saying he has "got a lot" of names, due to being a stray cat on familiar terms with many humans and other cats. His original name was Tiger.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In 200 Motels, Rance Muhammitz is just one of the M.C.'s names. Apparently, he also goes by Opal You Hot Little Bitch...
  • Bedazzled (1967) has its hapless hero express bewilderment at the Devil's chosen name:
    Stanley Moon: That's your name? — George Spiggott?
    George Spiggott: Come along... it's merely one of my million earthly pseudocrims or plom de numes.
    • Another of these million names is Drimble Wedge, the deadpan pop sensation that Spiggott performs as to frustrate one of Stanley's Faustian wishes.
  • The Big Lebowski: "I'm the Dude. So that's what you call me. Or, you know, Duder, or His Dudeness, or El Duderino, if you're not into the whole brevity thing."
  • The man who calls himself Peter Joshua in Charade has a ton of aliases. At the end of the film, he proposes to Reggie:
    Reggie: Oh, I love you, Adam, Alex, Peter, Brian, whatever your name is, oh, I love you! I hope we have a lot of boys, and we can name them all after you!
  • Clerks II: The Desolate One! The First of the Fallen, the Spoiler of Virgins, the Master of Abortions! Let me help you out of your chair, grandma!!!
  • Confidence: Jake, a Con Man, uses enough aliases that on his answering machine, he has messages from three different women who call him by three different names.
  • Satan from Constantine (2005):
    Archangel Gabriel: Son of Perdition. Little Horn! Most Unclean!
    Satan: [nostalgic] I do miss the old names.
  • Deewaar: Anita admits that Vijay's assessment that she's the kind of woman who changes names like others change clothes is correct, but reveals that the one her parents gave her is "Anita".
  • The Devil's Advocate has that immortal exchange:
    Kevin Lomax: What are you?
    John Milton: [chuckles] Oh, I have so many names!
    Kevin Lomax: Satan.
    John Milton: ...Call me "Dad".
  • Irwin Fletcher, of Fletch, uses an extremely large number of aliases, including Ted Nugent, Gordon Liddy, Don Corleone, and Harry S. Truman.
  • Ghostbusters:
    • In Ghostbusters (1984), the Big Bad Sumerian deity Gozer was also known as "The Traveler", "The Destructor", "Volguus Zildrohar" and "Gozer the Gozerian".
    • Ghostbusters II has Vigo the Carpathian. Who also went by "Vigo the Cruel", "Vigo the Torturer", "Vigo the Despised", and "Vigo the Unholy", but not "Vigo the Butch". He claims himself as the "Scourge of Carpathia" and the "Sorrow of Moldavia".
  • Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: When Muriel the dark witch first meets Gretel, she claims to go by many names, but doesn't mention either of them because "[Gretel] isn't worthy of pronouncing them".
  • Heavenly Creatures is the Real Life story about a girl named Pauline Reiper, Paul to her girlfriend Juliet and Yvonne (her middle name) to her parents. She also calls herself Gina, and writes role-playing letters as the fictional King Charles. On top of all that when she's arrested for murdering her mother it's revealed that her parents never married so she's tried under her mom's name, Parker. As for Juliet, she's also known as Deborah and both obviously used pseudonyms once they were released from prison. Also, Pauline renames Bill — her lovesick suitor — "Nicholas" because it sounds better.
  • From Hellboy (2004), after Hellboy shoots Sammael and walks away from the bloody corpse:
    Abe: Red, you need to hear the rest of the information.
    Hellboy: Nah, he's taken care of.
    Abe: No, listen to this. 'Sammael, the Desolate One, Lord of the Shadows, Son of Nergal, hound of resurrection.'
    Hellboy: Now see, I don't like that...
    Abe: What, hound of resurrection? 'Harbinger of Pestilence, Seed of Destruction...'
    Hellboy: [Now fighting the revived Sammael] Cut to the end, will ya? How do I kill it?
    Abe: Hmm, doesn't say.
  • Juan Sánchez Villa-Lobos Ramírez Ramirez from Highlander. He even lampshades it when giving a full list of 8-10 names at a "checking point". Arguably, most immortals (from the series and not only) have many names, since they pretended to die so many times and had to change identity.
  • Live a Little, Love a Little: Bernice capriciously uses different names with different men. When she first meets Greg, she introduces herself as Alice. To the delivery boy, she is Susie, and to the milkman, she is Betty. Bernice is the one that Greg settles on because that's what her friendly ex, Harry, who recurs most frequently throughout the film, calls her.
  • Crossing over into Badass Boast territory, from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior:
    "The Humungus! The Lord Humungus! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!"
  • The TV movie Monster Maker, which was shown on The Jim Henson Hour, has a scene with the following quote: "I have many names. I have many faces. Yours too, Matthew Banting."
  • In Pan's Labyrinth, the faun tells us that he has had many names, "names that only the trees and the mountains can remember," but he doesn't tell us any of them. The film's English title implies that "Pan" is one of them, though the original Spanish title, El Laberinto del Fauno, would be more accurately be translated "The Faun's Labyrinth". Guillermo del Toro has stated that Pan would have been far too dangerous and fickle for the role.
  • Phantom of the Paradise:
    Swan: Oh this is too much. I guess you're supposed to be the devil?
    Swan's Reflection: I go by many names.
  • Used to comic effect in The Santa Clause. After being arrested, Scott delays his interrogation significantly by invoking this trope. Each time the interrogator demands his name, he replies with one of the many names of Saint Nicholas.
  • Michael J. Fox's character in The Secret of My Success only had two: his real name, Brantley Foster, and his alias for faking his way into a position of prominence at his uncle's company, Carlton Whitfield. However, the nature of the business world leads to people referring to him casually as only a first or last name. When, at a party, he's addressed by all four names by various partygoers, he explains to his date that his parents weren't satisfied with just one name.
    "My monogram looks like an eyechart."
  • In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Xu Wenwu has been a feared warlord and later crime lord for centuries and in that time, he has acquired a number of lesser names. His latest name, "the Mandarin", he finds both insulting and amusing as the people exploiting his reputation to terrorize America named him after a fruit.
  • David Ryder from the So Bad, It's Good film Space Mutiny had many cheesy names bestowed upon him by Mike and the 'Bots. "Flint Ironstag!" "Bolt Vanderhuge!" ... "Bob Johnson! Wait..."
  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: Encountering the maveolent entity they initially think is God, Dr. Mc Coy asks the entity if his voice is the voice of God. The entity responds that he has one voice but many faces before showing a few of his faces to them.
  • In the Transformers Film Series, the acronym for N.E.S.T. wasn't defined in the movies themselves. Various books, comics, and even Transformers: The Ride use "Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty", while a promo website used "Nonbiological Extraterresential Species Team", and The Veiled Threat along with the Hasbro and Takara websites used "Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers".
  • In Violent Night, when Scrooge demands his name, Santa rattles off over half a dozen names in various languages — many of them variations of the figure "Santa Claus" — before stating this trope almost verbatim.
  • The eponymous Warlock (1989) uses this trope to trick a professional medium into channeling Satan. When he asks her to channel his father's spirit and she asks for a name, the Warlock replies "he has many names". When she says that she only needs one, he deliberately gives her one of the Devil's more esoteric names.
  • X-Men: Apocalypse: In the teaser trailer, En Sabah Nur claims to have been known throughout history as Ra, Krishna, and Yahweh among others. This upset some religious leaders, so the last two were substituted with Elohim and Shen in the theatrical release.

    Live-Action TV 
  • American Gods (2017): Mr. Wednesday's Badass Boast in the first season finale.
    Wednesday: Do you know me? Do you know what I am? Do you want to know my name? This is what I am called. I am called Glad-O-War, Grim, Raider, and Third. I am One-eyed. I am also called Highest, and True-Guesser. I am Grimnir, and the Hooded One. I am All-Father, Gondlir, Wand-bearer. I have as many names as there are winds. As many titles as there are ways to die. My ravens are Huginn and Muninn. Thought and Memory. My wolves are Freki and Geri. My horse is the gallows. I am Odin!
  • Andor: Cassian's less than legal activities see him using a plethora of fake names and forged identities such as Clem and Keef Girgo. Even Cassian Andor is a forgery as his real original name was Kassa.
  • Played for laughs in Becker with a patient who, with his red suit and goatee, looks alarmingly like the Devil:
    Margaret: And your name is...?
    Devilish-Looking Man: I'm known by many names... Jim, James, Jimbo.
  • Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad have lawyer Jimmy McGill, also known as Saul Goodman, Slippin' Jimmy, Viktor St. Clair, Charlie Hustle, Kevin Costner, and Gene Takavic.
  • Buffyverse:
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
      • Sweet, the dancing demon from the Musical Episode, claims to have had a hundred names, though he doesn't tell us any of them — even "Sweet" we only get from the credits.
      • The Master. Word of God states that his real one is Heinrich Joseph Nest, though Continuity Drift may mean that's no longer true.
      • As a teen, Anne became attached to a cult led by a "loser preacher" who dubbed her "Sister Sunshine". Afterward, she reinvented herself as "Chantarelle" and became a regular at the Sunset Club. Next, she drifted to Los Angeles and took on the name "Lily Houston". It was during this time that she ran into Buffy, who was herself a runaway and going by an alias: "Anne". Buffy's heroism so inspired her that she decided to adopt Buffy's middle name as her own.
      • The shooting script for "Lie to Me" gives her birthname as Joan Appleby, but this didn't make it into the cut. Ironically, not only did Anne take her name from Buffy, but Buffy briefly and unwittingly takes her name from Anne after becoming amnesiac ("Tabula Rasa").
        Buffy: I like it. I feel like a "Joan".
    • Angel:
      • Connor. He has been known as Connor Angel (name given him by Team Angel at the hospital), Steven Franklin Thomas Holtz (by Holtz) and Connor Reilly (with his new family).
      • The Senior Partners aka the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart have many names, "The Inquisition" and "Khmer Rouge" being among them. It's not even certain if Wolf, Ram & Hart are just pseudonyms. Lilah reports on having met with a "Mr. Suvarta" right before she decapitates Linwood. Though given that Illyria knew them as the Wolf, Ram & Hart during her time, it's likely those are their original names.
  • One UnSub on Criminal Minds was a con man who'd been living under so many false identities that he started to lose track of them all and cracked from the pressure.
  • The Defenders (2017): The Hand leaders have lived for thousands of years and used multiple identities.
  • Doctor Who:
    • The Doctor is a more unusual version of the trope. They have many nicknames, aliases, and titles, but their real and/or original name is unknown to most people, including the viewers. As far as the show is concerned, "the Doctor" is their real name, as it's the one they chose.
      • The Daleks have given their arch-enemy three different titles over the years. The expanded universe gave us "Ka Faraq Gatri" — The Bringer of Darkness/Destroyer of Worlds, the latter of which is also used by Davros. The revival added "The Oncoming Storm", which saw a lot more use, and later "The Predator of the Daleks" in Series 7.
      • "Twice Upon a Time" features a lot of them: the Testimony addresses Twelve as the Destroyer of Worlds, the Imp of the Pandorica, the Shadow of the Valeyard, the Beast of Trenzalore, the Butcher of Skull Moon, the Last Tree of Garsennon, the Destroyer of Skaro, and the Doctor of War. The First Doctor, upon hearing all this, isn't exactly filled with optimism about his future.
        Twelfth Doctor: To be fair, they cut out all the jokes.
    • Similarly, the Master's assumed numerous aliases for their disguises, but their real and/or original name is unknown; the closest we have is their Academy nickname from the expanded universe, Koschei. Much like the Doctor, "the Master/Mistress" is basically their real name now, as the one they prefer to use.
    • Sutekh the Destroyer in "Pyramids of Mars" has also gone by several names, including the Typhonian Beast, Set and Satan.
    • Jack Harkness of Doctor Who and Torchwood is implied to have had many names. Jack Harkness isn't even his real name. In one episode he goes by Captain James Harper. In another, he goes by former team member Owen Harper.
      • This seems to be a habit among Time Agents — when an old colleague meets him, he asks what name Jack's currently "wearing", and promptly dubs himself "Captain John Hart" as a joke.
    • A more standard use of the trope comes from "The Impossible Planet", where the Ood declare of the Beast:
      Ood: Some may call him Abaddon. Some may call him Krop Tor. Some may call him Satan. Or Lucifer. Or the King of Despair. The Deathless Prince. The Bringer of Night. And these are the words that shall set him free.
  • The Farscape villain Maldis has many separate identities and names; these include Igg (a street-corner jester), Haloth (a benevolent old wizard) and Kyvan (a dealer in trinkets).
    Maldis: By the way... my name is Maldis. (in Haloth's reedy old voice) But you can address me as Haloth if you like. (in Igg's broad Cockney accent) I got a lotta names, Johnboy; call me whatever pops your cork.
    Crichton: Yeah, right. You're a regular Laurence Olivier.
  • Firefly has "Saffron", a skilled con artist whose other false names include "Yolanda" and "Bridget." This leads to Mal calling her "YoSaffBridge" at one point. (Fans tend to go with that or the original "Saffron.")
  • The Flash (2014):
    • Eobard Thawne keeps adding aliases to his ever-growing list. He's been called Reverse-Flash, The Man in Yellow, Harrison Wells, and, in Crisis on Earth-X, Dark Flash.
    • The Big Bad of Season 3, an evil time remnant of Barry Allen/The Flash, alternates between calling himself Savitar, Alchemy, and Future Flash.
  • In every The Incredible Hulk (1977) episode David Banner has a different alias—but always as "David" and a last name beginning with a "B."
  • Thanks to the personal modifications he made to the Build Driver, Sento Kiryu/Kamen Rider Build has got an appropriate name for each one of his Best Matches (a total of thirty), not including any form outside of ones which use the Fullbottles.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Galadriel discovers the Lovable Rogue and her close friend Halbrand is far more than he appears to be. She asks his name and he replies:
    I have been awake since before the breaking of the first silence. In that time, I have had many names.
  • From Lost:
    • Cooper: A conman goes by many names, friend. I've been Adam Seward, Anthony Cooper, Ted MacLaren, Tom Sawyer, Louis Jackson, and Paul...
    • Ben Linus, Henry Gale, Dean Moriarty
    • The Smoke Monster
    • Kate Austen, Annie, Joan Hart, Monica Callis, Katherine Dodd, Monica Ryan ,Lucy
    • Sawyer, James Ford, Jim LeFleur
  • The Mentalist's Red John. "I have many names. Some people call me 'Red John'." (Except not. The guy that said this, Timothy Carter, was Actually a Doombot.)
  • Parodied in The Mighty Boosh, where one of the minor characters, Rudi, has so many names it becomes an Overly-Long Gag. In the stage version, most of the names are Adlibbed.
    Rudi: Some call me... Mystery Man. Others know me as the Shadow Dweller. Some call me Secret Peter — where is he hiding - in a shoe, in a bush, in a rock, in a side cupboard, in a lane? No! He is inside yourself. Some call me Miraculous Mark, diviner of mysteries. Others call me... (ullullates)... Smith. Some call me Hammer-ah-ooooooooooooooh Eep... (bangs a bongo drum). It's my surname. Other know me as Domino.... the bounty hunter. Some call me Chilli Chicken Ramen; others know me as Clive. I-I'm sometimes called Peppercorn... by the Dutch. (to Vince) You could step in here at any point here, you know. You don't have to leave me dangling like a tit in the breeze.
    Vince: (chuckling) Go on, do one more.
    Rudi: Some call me Cillit Bang. (audience cheers) I go by many names! But you may call me... Rudi.
  • Tony on NCIS has adopted a lot of short- or long-term aliases, usually stealing them from movies or TV shows.
  • The OA: The main character goes by Nina, Prairie and "the OA" at various points in her life.
  • Odd Squad has a unique example with one of Precinct 13579's more frequent clients. She is first introduced as "Nicole" in "Disorder in the Court" as being a fan of Odd Squad, making up odd problems so agents can solve them and she can tell her friends about how the organization helped her. One season later, in "Three's Company", she re-appears as an eccentric Cloudcuckoolander named Rebecca who gives Otis and Olympia an odd solution rather than having them fix an odd problem, and the credits list her as "Not Nicole" with the same actress. 11 episodes later in "Xs and Os", she appears once more under a new alias, Christine, tricking Olympia and Otis into helping her move her couch into a moving van. However, the credits don't list her.
  • Parks and Recreation's resident Butt-Monkey Garry "Jerry"/"Larry"/"Terry" Gergich/"Gengurch". On his first day on the job, the old parks director called him "Jerry" and he didn't have the heart to correct him. When he comes back to the office after his retirement, he asks the others to use his real name, prompting April to declare his name was "Larry Gengurch". And then in the Time Skip between Seasons 6 and 7, he goes by "Terry" since another guy named Larry joined the crew (and was so bad at his job that he was fired very shortly afterwards). He's finally called his real name in the episode "Donna & Joe" where his banquet seating card has "Garry" written on it, prompting everyone to call him that (albeit in a mocking way).
  • Person of Interest:
    • Harold Finch has many, many alternate identities, most of them Harold Some-Kind-Of-Bird. He has so many that even he admits that he's not sure if Harold Finch is his real name or not; it's just the identity he feels fits him best. It's eventually revealed that his name really is Harold, though his last name is still a mystery. Harold's partner Reese also has a large number of aliases, with his original name being somewhat unknown as well (It's John H. <Unknown>).
    • Root has so many names that even Finch would have a hard time keeping track of them all. Even "Root" is a fake name- a hacker handle that she adopted after abandoning her real name, Samantha Groves.
  • Princess Agents: At different points during the series our protagonist is known as Chu Qiao, Jing Xiao Liu, and Xing Er.
  • Princess Silver: Rong Le has at least three names and identities over the course of the series: Rong Le, Princess of Western Qi; Man Yao, owner of a tea house; and Qin Man, her real name.
  • Cardo Dalisay of Filipino cop drama Ang Probinsyano (2015) has adopted several names over the course of the series. He started as a Backup Twin to Ador (and their given names are even almost Significant Anagram of one another), then briefly went undercover as "Paloma" in one case. In another undercover mission, while with the Pulang Araw rebels, he goes by "Fernan" note , and when he gets accepted into their ranks, he was given the code name, per the Animal Theme Naming of the group, "Agila"/Eagle.
  • The main character from Soviet TV series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He is serving undercover in Nazi Germany as SS Colonel Max von Stirlitz. His "real" name as NKVD agent is Maxim Isayev. His original name is Vsevolod Vladimirov.
  • Jace from Shadowhunters. He grew up thinking he was born a Wayland, but was Happily Adopted by the Lightwoods, whom he considers to be his real family. As it turns out, he's actually a Morgenstern.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • Lwaxana Troi, Daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. She is also Deanna Troi's mother, a chief ambassador for Betazed, and a great thorn in Captain Picard's side. In one episode, Deanna exasperatedly points out that at least some of those titles are obsolete, and "The Sacred Chalice of Rixx is an old clay pot with mold growing in it." The first series of her titles eventually became a Badass Creed in an Expanded Universe novel when Lwaxana beat the snot out of Q. Punctuating each title with a kick or a smack, no less.
    • TNG also had an alien who claimed to be a plethora of devils of various worlds, including Fek'lhr ('Fek-lar' to those who need vowels to pronounce words), the being who prevents warriors from escaping Klingon hell — Worf comments "You are not Fek'lhr." The alien, a woman, then proceeds to turn into a big red man and then Fek'lhr.
  • Star Trek had Flint, whose aliases from Earth history included Methuselah, Solomon, Alexander the Great, Lazarus, Merlin, and Leonardo da Vinci, just to name a few.
    • Star Trek also had the episode "Wolf in the Fold", which included an entity whose names included Beratis, Kesla, Redjac, and Jack the Ripper.
  • Supernatural:
    • The Reapers apparently. When Dean meets a particular Reaper again in "Death Takes A Holiday" who tried to guide him to the afterlife in a previous episode, she restores his memory with a kiss. When he calls her "Tessa", the alias she used while disguised as a human, she simply replies "Yes, that is one of my names".
    • The Winchester brothers have used so many false names when posing as FBI agents working with the Sheriff's Department du jour, that on at least one occasion, Sam makes a return visit to a town from several seasons ago and has to rely on the locals to remind him which identity he used with them the last time.
  • Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms: Bai Qian goes by several names over the course of the series. She uses the name "Si Yin" while at Kunlun Mountain, Li Jing calls her "A-Yin", and Ye Hua calls her "Su Su".
  • The Twilight Zone (1959):
    • In "Long Live Walter Jameson", the 2,000-year-old immortal protagonist has gone by many names during his exceptionally long life, including Hugh Skelton, Tom Bowen and finally Walter Jameson.
    • In "Queen of the Nile", Pamela Morris' previous identities include the Silent Movie star Constance Taylor and the stage actress Gladys Gregory. In his closing narration, Rod Serling implies that her original identity was Cleopatra VII.
  • The Twilight Zone (1985): In "Ye Gods", Todd Ettinger does not recognize the name Bacchus until he looks it up in a book on Classical Mythology and learns that he was the Roman god of wine, known to the Greeks as Dionysus. Todd soon discovers that he runs Olympus Wines in downtown Los Angeles.
  • In The Wire, Spiros, the Number Two man in a large international crime syndicate, is shown on multiple occasions to have more than one identity. At one point he surprises Nick Sobotka (a young associate that Spiros has taken a fatherly interest in), when he pulls out multiple passports, and shows Nick one, which has Spiros's picture but a completely different name. When Nick points this out, Spiros casually responds "Many passports, many names." As might be expected, even the name we know him by in the show is not his true name; towards the end of Season 2 he remarks that thanks to informants the local police know his name, but as he puts it "My name is not my name."
  • World Peace: Occurs during the climax of the "Peanut Arbuckle" sketch:
    Sam: This car right here, they call me the Silver Bullet. They call me all kinds of things. They call me Argon. They call me Darkchild. They call me Nightmaster. They call me P-Body. They call me Peanut Arbuckle. They call me Doorway. They call me Pink Dress. They call me Squeezy. They call me Go-Go Nuts. They call me Pineapple Man.
    • Also invoked in the "Restyle" sketch, though on behalf of another person:
      Trex: From now on, you will be known as Moon Man. But, your secret name, that will be only known only to me, and that only I will call you, is Teenis. And, your super secret name, that neither myself nor Nitro Dubs will call you, will be... David Duke.

    Music 
  • A small example from The Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon":
    Her name was McGill
    And she called herself "Lil",
    But everyone knew her as "Nancy".
  • The Beatles example was referenced by The Firesign Theatre:
    Rocky Rococco: Worthless? Hahaha! *cough* *hack* Not to Melanie Haber!
    Nick Danger: Melanie Haber?
    Rocky Rococco: You may remember her as Audrey Farber...
    Nick Danger: Audrey Farber?
    Rocky Rococco: Susan Underhill?
    Nick Danger: Susan Underhill?
    Rocky Rococco: What about... Betty Joe Bjalowski?
    [musical sting]
    Nick Danger: [internal monologue] Betty Joe Bjalowski. I hadn't heard that name since college. Everyone knew her as Nancy.
  • Sean Combs, a.k.a. Diddy, a.k.a. P. Diddy, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, a.k.a. Puffy, a.k.a. Sean John.
  • Wu-Tang Clan, whose members will use several aliases simultaneously.
  • Dance musicians LIVE off this trope.
    • Max Coveri, famous for the song Running in the 90s (used in the LOL, Internet YTMND), also used the names Casanova, David Essex (and similarly, D-Essex and D. Essex), Niko, 7th Heaven, Kevin Johnson, Mad Max, Marko Polo, Morris, Oda, and last but not least, his real name, Maurizio de Jorio
    • Similarly, the vocalist known as "Cherry" also goes by Leslie Parrish (not to be confused by this person), Suzy Lazy, and previously Vanessa and Linda Ross. Her real name is Clara Moroni.
    • How do you make your fledgling record company look bigger than it is? Release under several different names, giving the impression you've signed more artists than it appears. In its first year or two, Black Hole Recordings, Tiësto's first venture, released music from Control Freakz, Stray Dog, Allure, Clear View, Wild Bunch, Drumfire, West & Storm, Hammock Brothers, and Kamaya Painters — and every one of those is either a solo Tiesto alias, or a collaboration between Tiesto and Piet Bervoets, Benno de Goeij, DJ Montana, and/or Greg van 's-Gravesande.
    • Ferry Corsten. Besides his real name, he has used the names System F, Moonman, Albion, Gouryella (collaborating with Tiesto), Veracocha (collaborating with Vincent de Moor), and a few others.
    • Paul Oakenfold. Sometimes he's credited by his full name, sometimes by his last name, and sometimes he goes by Grace, Virus, or Perfecto Allstarz.
    • Armin Van Buuren has released tracks as Rising Star, Gig, Gaia (with Benno de Goej of Rank 1, aka Benicio, Dutch Force, Kamaya Painters with Tiësto), Major League, Alibi, and Perpetuous Dreamer.
    • In the Groove and Pump It Up Pro staff composer Kyle Ward. Ka W, K Bit, Inspector K, :) (Smiley), Banzai, Symphonious.
    • Japanese happy hardcore artist DJ Shimamura has used 2B4U.D-157, Asian Dugem Foundation, エロティシズム, キャプテンSK-2, DJ Eterni-T, DJ Sin, DJ Unicorn, DJ Wiz-R-D, Dog Styles, Extremist, Fantazista, Far-East Hakke Crew, Geraid, Geriben Ha 2 Densho, Inful-8, Lauryn Hell, Orange Hair, Ravers Anthem, The result of Raverz Project!, SFX, Speed Junky, Twintale and 殺人ビューロランド
    • Ingo Kunzi: DJ Tandu, Ayla, Anakin, Intrance, Voyager, Frozen Orange Project, Flatliners, Tantau, etc.
    • Brian Transeau, in addition to BT, has used the names Kaistar, Elastic Reality, Libra, etc.
    • Norman Cook, aka The Mighty Dub Katz, aka Fatboy Slim, etc.
    • Gianni Coraini was best known by his Italo-disco alias Ken Laszlo, and also sang Eurobeat under the names Ken Hunter, Jean Corraine, DJ NRG, Alvin, Maxx Ducati, Ric Fellini, etc.
    • Eurobeat artist/producer Davide di Marcantonio, the man behind John Desire of "Hot Limit" fame, also has used the aliases Dave Mc Loud, David Bird, Dee Dee, Chemical Boy, Eurobeat Lovers("Yozora no Muko", another translated J-pop cover), Jimmy Bravo, David Kane, and more recently, David Dima and Dreamfighters.
    • Another trance master with many names: Lauren Veronnez, aka Airwave, Cloud 69, Cosmic Junkie, Green Martian, Lolo, Magnetix, Sagittaire, etc.
    • Then there's Garage producer Todd Edwards. The Sunshine Brothers, the Sample Choir, Clever, the Messenger, and the Todd Edwards Project are all aliases under which he has released tracks.
    • Jessa(b. Travis, came out as transgender) Stebbins, whose main artist name is Odyssey, also goes by DNA Team, Ken Blast, Ray Dynamo, Mortimer, and Eurobeat Brony.
    • Alex Christensen usually produces eurodance/techno as Alex C, but has also produced piano house under the pseudonym Jasper Forks, and Elix appears to be another pseudonym of his. He apparently remains best known under his real name, though. He was also formerly the face of U96, to the point where it was occasionally mistaken for a solo project.
    • Full Intention, a UK House Music duo made up of Jon Pearn and Michael Gray, are also known as Arizona, Blue Notes(not to be confused with Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes), Deep Down, Dis-Kutz, Disco Roots, Disco-Tex, Essence, Grade A, Greed, Green Planet, Groove City, High Rise, Hustle Espanol, Hustlers Convention, Met Life, Miami Ice, Ronaldo's Revenge, Sex-O-Sonique(not to be confused with fellow UK DJ-producer Sonique AKA Sonia Clarke), Soul Asylum(not to be confused with the American band of the same name), Storm Life, The Rule, The Voice of Q, and XXX.
  • St Germain is just one of many pseudonyms Ludovic Navarre uses, among them Deepside, LN'S, Modus Vivendi, Nuages and Soofle.
  • Richard D. James (more commonly known as Aphex Twin) has used several different aliases such as AFX, Blue Calx, Bradley Strider, Caustic Window, DJ Smojphace, GAK, Martin Tressider, Polygon Window, Power-Pill, Prichard D. Jams, Q-Chastic, Tahnaiya Russell, The Dice Man, Soit P.P., The Tuss and user18081971.
  • Some people call me the space cowboy. Some call me the gangster of love. Some people call me Maurice.
  • Before founding Shiny Toy Guns, Jeremy Dawson and Chad Petree produced trance music under the names Cloud2Ground, Slyder, RRDS, etc. Two of their Slyder songs, "Score" and "Neo(The One)" were featured on Grand Theft Auto III's Rise FM station; the latter song was also the basis for Shiny Toy Guns' "You Are The One".
  • Pitchfork writer Dominique Leone attempted to but together a list of all Boredoms and OOIOO related acts, as follows: "Akabushi, AOA, Audio Sports, Children Coup d'Etat, Concrete Octopus, Dendoba, Destroy 2, DMV, Dowser, the Dramatics, Elvis Dust, Flare, Free Kitten, the Geisha Girls, Gong Derby, Goonies, Grind Orchestra, Guillotine Kyodai, Guitoo, Dekoboko Hajime/Yamantaka Eye, Hanadensha, the Hanatarash, the Hattifatteners, Hijokaiden, Live Under the Sky, MC Hellshit & DJ Carhouse, Minga & Eye, Mystic Fugu Orchestra, Naked City, Nankai Hawkwind, Nimrod, Noise Ramones, Novo Tono, Oh!Moro Video Series, Shinro Ohtake + Eye, Omoide Hatoba, solo Yoshimi P-We, Rashinban, Rise from the Dead, Roughage, Rovo, Ruins-Hatoba, Alice Sailor, S.O.B.-Kaidan, Sound Hero, Standing Earth & Touching Air, Sun Kich, Tent, Three Day Stubble, Torture Garden, Tribal Circus, U.F.O. or Die, Universal Errors, the Vickly & the Ohdorockanize, Woods, XOX, solo Yamamoto Seiichi, solo Yamatsuka Eye, Yellowhouse, Z-Rock Hawaii and Karera Musication."
  • From the Orange And The Green
    "I was christened David Anthony
    But still in spite of that
    To my father I was William
    While my mother called me Pat"
  • From D.F. by Outkast
    Andre 3000
    a.k.a. Possum Aloisious Jenkins
    a.k.a. Dookie Blossum Gain the 3rd
    Funk Crusader, Love Pusher
    Dungeon Family 1st Generation
    Here to drop the turd
    Go!
    Antoine Andre Patton Sr
    Better known as Big Boi
    a.k.a. Daddy Fat Sacks
    a.k.a. Lucious Leftfoot
    a.k.a. Billy Oldshoe
    a.k.a. Francius the Savannah Chitlin Pimp
    Dungeon Family 1st Generation
    Here to put the "D" in D-Boi
    And still cooler than a polar bear's toenails
    Yeah!
  • Wilhelm Anton "Bill" Leeb, aka Wilhelm Schroeder, who contributed to Skinny Puppy's first album and is also the frontman of Front Line Assembly and its side project Delerium, among others.
  • Dutchman Michiel van der Kuy produced italo-disco and spacesynth in the 80's under the names Laserdance (with Erik van Vliet), Koto, Proxyon, Rygar, etc., techno-rave in the early 90's as L.A. Style (with Wessel van Diepen, later co-founder of the Vengaboys), Eurobeat with various vocalists (in the early days of the genre), and later even co-produced a couple songs with Alice Deejay. In the mid-2000s, he teamed up with Rob van Elijk as Area 51, but has since reverted back to Rygar.
  • The Black Crowes: From their formation in 1984 until 89, they were called Mr. Crowe's Garden. After the name change, and hitting it big, they've done secret one-off gigs under such names as O-D Jubilee (now the name of a Black Crowes tribute band), Blessed Chloroform, and The Thunderbolt Grease Slappers.
  • Akon has stated in interviews that his full name is "Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam", owing to naming conventions in his native Senegal.
  • Hardcore Punk band MDC is most typically known as "Millions of Dead Cops" among their fans, however the band has also gone by "Mariah Death Cult", "Millions of Damn Christians", "MILFS Date Cougars", "Magnum Dominus Corpus", "Millions of Dead Contractors", "My Dead Child", "Multi Death Corporation", "Millions of Dead Children" "Metal Devil Cokes"...
  • Electronica musician Eric Lawrence Chamberlain has released material under at least six aliases, including Airwreck, Coconaut, Skylash, Index, Pixagon, and Telepheriq Chamberlain.
  • Country Music singer Jack Grayson recorded under four names between 1973 and 1984: Jack Lebsock, "Blackjack" Jack Grayson, Jack Grayson and Blackjack, and then just Jack Grayson. As Jack Grayson and Blackjack, he had his only hit with a cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman".
  • Country Music group Schuyler, Knoblock, and Overstreet (consisting of Thom Schuyler, Fred Knoblock, and Paul Overstreet) shortened its name to the much easier S-K-O after the first single. When Overstreet left for a solo career, he was replaced by Craig Bickhardt, and the group became S-K-B.
  • The Godfather of Soul, Mr. Please-Please-Please, Mr. Dynamite, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business, Soul Brother Number One... Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. James Brown.
  • John Mellencamp was forced to bill himself as "Johnny Cougar" when he was first getting started in music, a name he disliked. In a later album, he called himself simply "John Cougar". Still later, he became "John Cougar Mellencamp". Finally in 1990, he became "John Mellencamp" again, shedding the "Cougar" forever.
  • The Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps started as the Holy Name Cadets (after the church that sponsored them), then the Garfield Cadets (when they were based out of Garfield, NJ), the Cadets of Bergen County (when they moved their operations from Garfield), and finally just the Cadets (when they moved out of New Jersey to Allentown, PA).
  • Natalia Noemi Keery-Fisher has released music under the names Candy Rapper, Verbalicious, Natalia Cappuccini, Verse, Natalia Kills, and Teddy Sinclair.
  • Silver Mt. Zion: At time of writingnote  Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Previously: A Silver Mt. Zion, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band with Choir, and Thee Silver Mountain Reveries
  • Rubén Albarrán, the main singer of the Mexican band Cafe Tacuba is known for taking different names at different moments of his career. Among them: Juan, Cosme, Anónimo Intransingente e Intolerante, Massiossare, Nrü, Amparo Tonto Medardo In La' Kech (AT Medardo ILK), G-3, Gallo Gasss, Élfego Buendía, Rita Cantalagua, Sizu Yantra, Ixaya Mazatzin Tleyotl, Ixxi Xoo, Cone Cahuitl, "K'kame" and currently (as of April 2018) Zopilote.
  • JG Thirlwell's project "Foetus" reluctantly added, which took a different name for every new album: Foetus Under Glass, You've Got Foetus on Your Breath, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel...(argueably, those are the album titles, but The Other Wiki agrees with this reading)
  • Prince, also known as The Love Symbol, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, The Kid, The Purple One, Alexander Nevermind, Camille, Jamie Starr, Christopher Tracy, Joey Coco, The Artist, His Royal Badness...
  • Russian singer and YouTuber Olga Zimina, most famously known as Ai Mori, is also known as Olga Redoran, MONADA, and Astafynote . She actually said the trope name in a reply to someone's inquiry about it once.
  • The Russian indie-pop singer born Yeva Ivanchikhina has gone by Eva Gurari ever since moving to Israel, and has used the stage names Eva Krauze, Malyshka Myu, and Mirèle (her current one).
  • Corey Taylor, otherwise known as #8, the Great Big Mouth, the Sickness, Todd Tigger, the Boogie Knight, Neck, Plankhead and CMFTnote .
  • Electronic musician Mort Garson had recorded under the aliases of the Love Strings of Mort Garson, the Wozard of Iz, Signs of the Zodiac, Lucifer, the D-Bee's, the Lords of Percussion, Ataraxia, Z, Captain D.J. and D.J. Craver.
  • Mike Paradinas has recorded music as μ-Ziqnote , Mike, Tusken Raidersnote , Rude Ass Tinkernote , Jake Slazenger, Kid Spatula, Gary Moscheles and Frost Jockey.
  • One example of a song with many names is Pat Cooksey's 1969 versified recounting of the "barrel of bricks on a rope" urban legend. It's variously been released as "The Sick Note" (original), "Murphy and the Bricks", "Dear Boss", and "The Bricklayer's Song". It's also regularly introduced as "The Sick Letter", "Paddy and the Barrel", "The Barrel Song", "Why Paddy's Not at Work Today", "Why Yassir's Not at Work Today", "The Excuse Note", "Paddy's Excuse", "A letter from a bricklayer in Golder's Green to the firm for whom he worked", and "Bricklayer's Accident Report" by various singers and DJs.
  • MF DOOM AKA Metal Fingers DOOM AKA The Supervillain AKA Viktor Vaughn AKA Madvillain AKA King Geedorah AKA Danger Doom.
  • Indio Solari had many pseudonyms across his solo career, to the extent of Once an Episode, using an alias every time he records an album:
    • "El Artista Invitado" in El Tesoro de Los Inocentes (Bingo Fuel).
    • "Monsieur Sandoz" in Porco Rex.
    • "Caballo Loco" in El Perfume de la Tempestad.
    • "El Fisgón Ciego" in Pajaritos, Bravos Muchachitos.
    • "Protoplasman" in El Ruiseñor, el Amo y la Muerte.

    Myths & Religion 
  • The foremost example is probably the Hindu pantheon. In addition to having up to 33 million gods, the most powerful gods have a thousand and eight names, with gods and goddesses a tier lower having a relatively paltry 108 names, with other lesser deities having correspondingly fewer epithets. Reciting all of these names — particularly those of Vishnu — is a religious ritual.
  • This also gets bad in the Greek pantheon, where each deity has a wide range of different epithets, regional cult names, and poetic titles. When the gods use each other for names: if you wanted to call on Zeus the warrior, you called him Zeus Ares. Helios, the God of the Sun, was so often called Apollon, "the Destroyer", that he largely merged with Apollo, the God of Light, and both had the name Phoebus, "Shining".
  • Most Egyptian gods have at least a couple names. Re and Amun both have tons. Osiris has 100 in the Book of the Dead. Their true names, however, are supposedly unknown to mere mortals. To some extent, this is at least partially due to conflation. To emphasize that their particular regional deity was a Big Deal, local priests would combine him with one of the core figures, which is why there are so many Egyptian gods with names like Ptepshut-Re.
  • The Mesopotamian god Marduk has 50 in Enûma Eliš.
  • A variant of this, used especially in Norse Mythology, is the "kenning", a descriptive or metaphorical phrase used instead of a regular noun or name.
    • Odin especially was known for his oodles of names, reportedly over 200. Some of these, like Valdr Galga (Lord of the Gallows) or Valtyr (God of the Slain) also classify as Names to Run Away from Really Fast.
      • Odin is definitely not the Trope Maker, as noted elsewhere on this page, but one particular myth has him listing his various names to avoid giving away his real one, possibly originating that particular part of the trope.
    • Grímnismál is a possible Trope Codifier: Odin is kept prisoner by a human king, and lists his many names, until the king finally takes the hint and realizes he's threatening the king of the gods.
    • Freyja has a handful of alternative names, but is said within the mythology to have different name in every land.
  • That Other Wiki lists Muslims' 99 Names of Allah with a hundredth name only known by Him. The name "Allah" itself is merely the Arabic word for "God"; Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to their deity as "Allah".
  • There are posters in Christian bookstores listing the many titles of the Christian God.
  • The Bible on Jesus:
    • Isaiah 9:6: "And he shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..." (Although the Book of Isaiah never mentions Jesus by name, most Christians interpret its prophecy of a Messiah to be about Jesus.)
    • Also, He has a name "that no-one knows but Himself."
    • Other names and titles include: Immanuel, (which means "God be with us") the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Rose of Jesse's Lineage, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Man of Sorrows, King of the Jews, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
    • His original name was actually Yeshua, which only turned into Jesus through a series of translations.
  • The Bible on God. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, which uses diacritical marks rather than letters to indicate vowels. God's first name only appears as an unpronounceable "YHWH" because Hebrew writing typically leaves out the vowels. It's no longer known how that's supposed to be pronounced, so this has led to many different ways to refer to God.
    • A common attempt at pronouncing YHWH is "Yahweh".
    • The Latin Vulgate Bible rendered YHWH as "Iehovah" (remembering that in Classical Latin, "v" is pronounced like either a "u" or a "w".) Eventually, this spelling came down into modern English as "Jehovah."
    • Instead, an alternative term for God's first name is Tetragrammaton, which basically means "four letter word".
    • In many English translations, Yahweh is rendered as "The LORD" (in small caps). Certain Hebrew passages also refer to Him as "Adonai", which literally means lord (without the small caps). This convention runs into trouble with passages that refer to Him as "Yahweh Adonai".
    • In modern times, Jews have taken to replacing YHWH with HaShem (The Name), when they read the text aloud.
    • In Exodus 3:14, God introduced Himself to Moses by saying: "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"
  • Catholics have a huge number of titles for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here's one list: even allowing for doubtful entries ("Basillica of Saint Mary Major"?), it numbers in the hundreds. A famous case in point is the Litany of Loreto, recited at the end of a full rosary. It's basically a recitation of over fifty titles for Mary, punctuated each time with "pray for us".
  • In The Bible, Moses' father-in-law has a different name practically every time that he's mentioned. Traditionally he has seven: Jethro (used during his most notable story, so the one that tends to be used as his "main" name), Jether, Hobab, Heber, Keni, Putiel and Reuel. Due to Ambiguous Syntax, the latter might actually be his father's name.
  • Santa Claus still bears the names of all the midwinter spirits he's assimilated: St Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Yule-Father (see also Odin), Father Christmas, Grandfather Frost, Papa Noel, Kris Kringle...The Captain.
  • Satan has tons of names and nicknames depending on the religion, culture and language. Examples include Satan, Shaitan, Adversary, the Devil, Lucifer, Morningstar, Old Nick, Old Scratch, Lord of the Underworld, Father of Lies, etc. There's also a whole host of demon names that could be equated with Satan.
  • Quite a few deities in Aztec Mythology have several epithets and aspects, but Tezcatlipoca in particular has plenty even by their standards. There's Titlacauan, Necoc Yaotl, Yohualli Ehecatl, Ome Acatl, Tepeyellotl...and those are just some of the more well-known ones.
  • Japanese Mythology has Oonamuji, also known as Okuninushi or Daikokuten, the Japanese name for Mahaakaala, the most powerful identity of Shiva. He has also been variously known throughout history as Omononushi, Miwa Daimyoujin, Ena-Tenjin/Ena-Koujin, Kishimojin/Hariti, Hata no Kawakatsu, Okina, Shukujin, Shinra Myoujin, Ugajin, Benzaiten/Saraswati, Shouten/Ganesha, Inari/Dakiniten, Yashajin, Koujin and Matarajin. He damn near is half of Japan's pantheon, and the half of it that he isn't is instead directly related to him in some way.

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    Pro Wrestling 
  • Back in the territory days of wrestling, it was not uncommon for a wrestler to change names/gimmicks upon going to a new area until he found something that worked for him. Baby Bull and Bull Power were chosen before Big Van Vader (who also wrestled under his real name of Leon White in the AWA) became a thing, and even after that he sometimes switched to Super Vader (such as for the Universal Wrestling Federation.)
  • Many wrestlers have acquired a great number of nicknames, some let them go in favour of new ones, others keep all of them, no matter how inappropriate they become. Shawn Michaels is a notable example, as he's The Heartbreak Kid (used well into his forties), Mr. WrestleMania, The Showstopper, The Headliner, The Main Event, and The Icon. He often made a habit of introducing himself with all of his nicknames.
  • Mick Foley wrestled under three identities in his career, Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind, and occasionally did so as himself.
  • Charles Wright wrestled in the WWF as Papa Shango, Kama the Supreme Fighting Machine, Kama Mustafa (while in The Nation of Domination), The Godfather and The Goodfather (while in Right to Censor). He also used the name The Soultaker when he wrestled in Memphis. (He entered the WWE Hall of Fame as The Godfather.)
  • Because of trademark/licensing issues, a wrestler who moves to a different company may also have to change/add/modify names, either because the company claims it or because the company wants to give them a new name it can claim later. WWE's Christian went back to his former indy name of Christian Cage in TNA, while AAA's Extreme Tiger became Tigre Uno in TNA. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase was known for a while in WCW as "Trillionaire Ted".
  • Los Ben Dejos, or is it Dos Ben Dejos? They are made up of Ben Dejo and Marty Con Dejo. Ben is also known as Jay or Jonathan Cruz, Marty also known as Eddie Rios and Jay Rios. The addition of Lince Dorado makes them Team Lucha, or The Full Impact Puerto Ricans.
  • John Morrison has had many names over the years, including Johnny Nitro, Johnny Mundo, Johnny Impact, Johnny Elite, Johnny Superstar, Johnny Blackcraft, and much more. While essentially playing the same character, he adapts his last name to wherever he is working at the time.

    Tabletop Games 
  • In Changeling: The Lost, to keep from drawing their attention, the Lost refer to the True Fae as the Gentry, the Others, Kindly Folk, and Keepers.
  • Some of the more-detailed Dungeons & Dragons settings include multiple names for the residents' gods, as they are called by in different languages. Most deities also have one or more titles that illustrate their respective portfolios.
    • Vecna had more than most. He was so feared, many mortals didn't dare speak his name, so he had a lot of ominous titles, the likely first one - used while he was a human wizard - being "Master of the Spider Throne". Others included "The Arch-Lich", "The Maimed God", "The Whispered One", "The Dying King", "The Lord of the Rotted Tower", "The Undying King", and "The One Spoken Only in Whispers". While he was the darklord of Caviticus in Ravenloft, he was called "The Chained God".
  • In Warhammer Fantasy, we have Settra, who mostly goes by The Imperishable, but according to the 8th edition Tomb Kings rulebook, he requires a highly literate bodyguard because he has so many titles that it takes "2 hours to say them all."

    Theatre 
  • "The Naming of Cats" in Cats explains that every cat has no fewer than three names: the normal name for everyday use, the more complex name which is unique to that cat, and the secret name which they never, ever tell.
  • Hermanoteu in the Land of Godah has the titular character's introductory catchphrase: "I'm Hermanoteu, from Pentescopéia, son of Oolonéia and brother of Micalatéia".
  • Used as a plot point in L'Aiglon, by Edmond Rostand, when the titular Eaglet prepares his escape from a ball while Metternich is otherwise occupied by a long enumeration of his titles, some of them made up for the rhymes' sake. note  And that's not even mentioning his actual Overly Long Name, Klemenz Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein.

    Video Games 
  • Thaddeus Wishingbone from the Battleborn DLC story operation "Toby's Friendship Raid" is a mysterious leopard seal who goes by many different aliases. According to ISIC, he in fact apparently goes by 27 known aliases. Over the course of the operation's overall story spanning multiple playthroughs, he keeps changing his name to increasingly ridiculous sounding ones as well as donning a different minor cosmetic accessory to compliment each new alias. The aliases he uses in the operation's story are Truffle LeReaux, Milky Grontawnamuss, Pizza Masterson Jr., Flisky Dumpholder, Snutchel Crundledumpster, Dr. Garrius Winglehopper, Bangle Janglejeans, and the Lorrian. Even Thaddeus Wishingbone is just another alias as his real name is apparently Hazel Orion.
  • This trope abounds in BlazBlue and is especially notable when Mu-12 or Hakumen is talking, since they both commonly refer to characters by alternative names and/or titles. Here are a few examples:
  • Tchernobog, The One That Binds, The Dreaming God, The Sleeping God and The Devourer of Souls from Blood (1997).
  • Valvatorez of Disgaea 4 had a number of Red Baron titles under his belt, including Tyrant Valvatorez, the Bloodthirsty King of Fear, the Blood-soaked Valvatorez of Absolute Evil, and The King of Carnage and Atrocity.
    Valvatorez: I had almost forgotten all of those old aliases... Those were cute.
  • This is played for laughs in Dragon Age II. The Witch of the Wilds introduces herself as also Flemeth, Asha'Bellanar, and an old hag who talks too much.
  • The Elder Scrolls:
    • The series' various deities all have many names, often being called different ones depending on the culture and their religious traditions. One of the most prominent examples is Lorkhan, the "dead" creator god of Mundus, the mortal plane, who exists in some form in every culture's Creation Myth. He is Lorkhan for most Mer pantheons (which translates to "Doom Drum" in old Aldmeris), Shor for the Nords, Sheor for the Bretons, Sep for the Redguards, Shezarr for the Imperials, Lorkhaj for the Khajiit, LKHAN to the Dunmer... The list goes on... For a full list for each deity, see the Elder Scrolls: Divine Beings character page.
    • From the backstory, Tiber Septim was the founder of the Third Tamriellic Empire who ascended after his death as Talos, the Ninth Divine. He was known by many names, including Tiber Septim, Talos Stormcrownd, Hjalti Early-Beard, Ysmir Dragon of the North, Wulf, and others. There is even debate regarding which of these was his birth name, as Septim has a Multiple-Choice Past further complicated by Imperial propaganda and even a Cosmic Retcon which may have made his multiple conflicting pasts all true, regardless of the conflicts.
    • In Morrowind, the Nerevarine fits. In addition to the Nerevarine and several variants (Nerevar Incarnate, the Incarnate, the Nerevarine Incarnate — and Nerevarine 'of Four Tribes' in a certain prophetic context), one will pick up the titles of Hortator of the Great Houses, Operative of the Blades, and Hearthfriend of the Ashlanders. And those merely come from completing the main quest. Add in titles from the various Guilds and Factions, as well as some more from the expansions, and it's possible to come away with over a dozen titles.
    • The Player Character in Skyrim. To the dragons, you are Dovahkiin. To people who know the legends, you are Dragonborn. The Graybeards give you the name Ysmir, whom the previous world-changing dragonborn Tiber Septim was given before you. You are probably "Whoever in oblivion is killing all our Justiciars out on the roads" to the Thalmor. And of course, you are whatever you name your character.
  • El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron: Enoch goes by 72 different aliases during his 300-year search for the Fallen Angels in the intro, much like God in Hebrew mysticism.
  • Elohim Eternal: The Babel Code: The Kosmokraters are referred to by multiple names, depending on the faction referring to them. The Jehudans call them Adam and Eve, the Attikans call them Uranus and Gaea, and the Cainites call them El and Asherah. The Cainites also call them DINGIR collectively. In the ending, they call themselves Addie and Eva, though it's ambiguous if those are their real names or nicknames for each other.
  • Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII, princess and later queen of the kingdom of Alexandria and the female lead of Final Fantasy IX. After being kidnapped (under her request), her "captor" suggests that she drop her royal bearing and adopt an alias, which she chose Dagger. Lastly, it turns out that Garnet is not her real name, nor is she the real Alexandrian princess. She is in fact one of the last remaining summoners in the world, and her original name was Sarah.
  • Fairyside: My Name Is ??? of Memory 7, who picks Fifi as her name out of all the ones she's had, specifically because it's a dog's name, as said in Memory 8.
  • Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield goes by a number of aliases or titles. In his time in the Imperial army, he goes by the codename Wyvern. After a time skip, he takes on the name Cid the Outlaw after the original Cidolfus Telamon. When dealing with business associates and wishing to keep his identity hidden, he goes by Lord Underhill. As the dominant of Ifrit, it is not uncommon for other dominants to refer to him as Ifrit, and Ultima refers to him by the mysterious title Mythos.
  • Fire Emblem's Archanea games, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, have the Anti-Villain Camus, often referred to as Camus the Sable as he leads the Sable Order of knights. Then he suffers amnesia and turns up on Valentia, where he's known as Zeke, short for Ezekiel. Then "Zeke" regains his memories and disappears, and a mysterious masked man named Sirius arrives back in Archanea who pointedly denies being Camus despite the resemblance and the suspicions of those who knew him; Sirius then disappears after the War of Heroes, and it's implied that despite remembering his former life as Camus, he decided to live out his life as Zeke alongside the woman who found and cared for him in his amnesiac state.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's:
    • The slender puppet-like animatronic which first appeared in the second game initially had no name, so fans called it either the Puppet or the Marionette. Its Phantom counterpart in the third game went by "Phantom Puppet", but then its (non-canon) Nightmare counterpart in the fourth game went by the name Nightmarionne. The spinoff RPG FNAF World uses "Marionette" for the character, even renaming the Phantom Puppet to "Phantom Marionette".
    • Springtrap, as revealed in Night 5's phone call in the third game, was originally known as Spring Bonnie (and as the murderer, he would've gone by a different name).
    • Golden Freddy was originally referred to in the first game's files as "yellowbear", was officially named Golden Freddy in 2 (though fans had called him that for a long time prior), and in 4 is revealed to have been Fredbear. And if Fredbear was Freddy Fazbear's predecessor (as is implied in the second game's Night 5 phone call), then that would technically mean Freddy himself would be another alias for the character.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ganon - Ganondorf Dragmire, Mandrag Ganon, King of the Gerudo, The Great King of Evil, Dark Beast Ganon, Hatred and Malice Incarnate, The Great Calamity. Whichever way you slice it, the series' greatest antagonist has one hell of a business card.
  • Leo from LiEat is a con artist and therefore needs to operate under a lot of different names. In the first game he's Leo, in the second he's Harold and in the third he's Sid.
  • Live A Live features an antagonist who appears across time and space, always with a name appropriate for his current locale. In chronological order, he's Odo, Ou Di Wan Lee, Oersted, Ode Iou, O. Dio, Odie O'Bright, Odeo, and OD-10. (The spoilered one is his real name, as explained when the metaplot finally kicks in.)
  • April Ryan, of The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, accumulates these as her story goes on, one for each culture she encounters. By the end of Dreamfall her names include: April Ryan; Venar Kan-ang-la; April Bandu-embata of the Banda; Waterstiller; Windbringer; (a) Wave; The Raven; and The Scorpion.
  • The first terminal on "Kill Your Television" in the game Marathon 2: Durandal displays what appears to be a critical piece of text, although who it identifies is still subject to debate:
    "I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh. I have been called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the world goes dim and cold. I am hero."
    • Then there is its hybrid descendant, found in the Mega Crossover Fanfic Neon Exodus Evangelion by Eyrie Productions Unlimited, which starts off as a set of Arc Words at first, and then eventually evolves into a Badass Boast:
      "Know you that I am he who was once Longinus, centurion of the Tenth Legion. I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh. I have been called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the world goes dim and cold. I have been killed a thousand times and every time I return. I fight for truth. I fight for glory. I fight for love. I fight for beauty. I am Hero. I will return."
  • Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC has a variation where the subject willfully changes names/identities to suit the current situation. Namely, she has previously gone by "Rasa" and "Hope Lilium"; Commander Shepard knows her as Maya Brooks.
  • Frank Jaeger from the Metal Gear series has more aliases than any other character in the series (which is saying something considering the number of aliases Solid Snake and Revolver Ocelot have): he has went by "Gray Fox", "Frank Hunter", the "Cyborg Ninja", "Deepthroat", and "Null".
    • Ocelot's real name is Adamska (alias Adam), his Russian allies also know him as Sharashka Shalashaska, his FOXHOUND codename is "Revolver Ocelot", and when he's supposedly possessed by Liquid Snake's spirit, he changes it to Liquid Ocelot.
    • Solid Snake's real name is David (or Dave), but he also goes by the alias of Iroquois Pliskin during the events of MGS2 and is given the codename of Old Snake in MGS4
    • Big Boss also has a few names as well. His real name is John, his nickname is Jack, and his former codename is Naked Snake, he is called by some kids of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake as "The One-Eyed Man", he also earned the title of Vic Boss by the events of Peace Walker, and disguised himself as Ishmael in MGSV, to ultimately being called "The Man Who Sold the World".
  • Bowser's cohort in the Mario Party series was known as Baby Bowser in the first three games, then subsequently Koopa Kid.
  • No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle: As of this game, Travis Touchdown has been bestowed upon the titles of The Crownless King, The No More Hero, and the one everyone apparently forgot, Holy Sword.
  • In Pillars of Eternity, the gods of the Eora have many names. In Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, we find out that they did not come by this honestly. At least some of their alternate names are due to them pretending to be the deities worshiped by other cultures.
  • Pirate101: Captain Boochebeard picked up a few in his long career of piracy. However some of these are borderline Embarrassing Nick Name (ex. The Flying Sloth) since Broochbeard is not the most successful of pirates.
  • At one point in Planescape: Torment, you can find a list of titles the Nameless One has gone by at some point: "Lost One, Immortal One, Incarnation's End, Man Of A Thousand Deaths, The One Doomed To Life, Restless One, One Of Many, The One Whom Life Holds Prisoner, The Bringer Of Shadows, The Wounded One, Misery-Bringer, Yemeth, Adahn]]". His real name is never given.
  • Pony Island: Lucifer Almighty, The Beast, Satan... SystemTech, etc.
  • R-Type's iconic xenomorph-like repeating boss is officially called Dobkeratops, but has also previously gone by Subtom, Subkeratom, Krill, Doppleganger and Gladiator.
  • RuneScape: "Senliten, upon whom Tumeken shines and from whom his glory is reflected. Bearer of the vengeance of Amascut upon the unworthy, mistress of the Stern Judges. Queen of the desert lands and rightful heir to the glory and fertility of Elidinis. Daughter of the divinity through the royal blood of the deity. Reborn through Icthlarin into this realm as has been and will be."
  • SaGa Frontier features "Charm Lord, Merciless King, Protector of Rose, Ruler of Darkness, Pursuer of Beauty, Supreme Judge, Ruler of Facinaturu, Lord of the Castle, Mystic Lord Orlouge."
  • Sands of Destruction has wanted posters with nicknames for your characters that change over the course of the game. Most are fairly absurd, but given that the wanted posters are overall horrible caricatures, it's not so surprising that their names are equally unfittingnote . Morte (probably the only one to deserve her nicknames) overhears a couple of ferals discussing her various names - Beastslayer, Scarlet Plague - and finds the idea hilariously entertaining until they get to "Lady Death", which she finds lame.
  • A certain quest in The Secret World reveals that a seemingly useless and superfluous character is anything but, at which point said character reminds you that they promised you their name, adding "There are so many names." One of which is Lilith. And apparently all seventeen of her names have deleterious effects; the Dragon reports the Child woke up crying for the first time ever and birds started screeching them out before divebombing windows as soon as they heard them over there, and Kirsten Geary tells you the seventeen names set off some very important alarms in her computer and put the entire Illuminati at an alert level she didn't even know existed.
  • In some Shin Megami Tensei games, this can be played with, because in your available pantheon of demons, you may have a couple who are technically the same being, but with a different name depending on their culture of origin. This can lead to some awkward moments if the two should meet in conversation. Shiva and Mahakala meeting in Raidou vs. Abaddon, for instance. Played straight with YHVH; just in the main series, his avatars include Sabaoth, Shaddai, Elohim, Kagutsuchi, and the Ancient of Days, as well as an incomplete form known as the Demiurge.
  • The main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog series is either "Dr. Eggman" or "Dr. Robotnik". Outside of Japan, it's both as of Sonic Adventure games. Said game established that Ivo Robotnik is his true name, while Eggman is an alias. Sonic Adventure 2 also hinted (but didn't outright confirm) that this is true in Japan as well, by giving his grandfather the name Gerald Robotnik.
  • It's pretty vague in StarCraft, but Samir Duran claims to have had many names over the millennia. Then again, the only name we know for sure is Samir Duran.
    • Emil Narud. He's a shapeshifter and it's implied, that he and Samir Duran are the same person. Legacy of the Void confirm it.
  • In Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Sith Emperor was born Tenebrae, was given the Sith title Lord/Darth Vitiate, but at the start of the game is largely known simply as the (Sith) Emperor. Players later come across him under another guise, Emperor Valkorion of the Eternal Empire.
  • M. Bison also says this in Street Fighter Alpha 3 when you face him with Guy. Which is partly true, because he is known as "M. Bison" in America was Vega in Japan and "Dictator" in fan circles.
  • Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World: Emil Castignier, the main character, is actually a false identity constructed by Ratatosk. He's also known as "Aster", whose body Ratatosk is inhabiting.
  • Deathwing from the Warcraft universe. Apart from his original name (Neltharion) and his new name, he is also sometimes referred as Xaxas, Blood's shadow, Lord Daval Prestor, and has many titles.
  • Watch_Dogs Protagonist Aiden Pearce is commonly known by two other names; The Vigilante (sometimes clarified to the Chicago Vigilante) and The Fox. However he also briefly adopts 2 other aliases in the course of infiltration missions; Joe Smith (for a mission to infiltrate a Prison) and Nicholas Crispin (to infiltrate a human trafficking auction)
  • Wilhelm, the Big Bad of the Xenosaga trilogy, flat out tells the party when they confront him that he's been known by many names throughout history. He says they're all names that other people have ascribed to him and while he answers to them, none of them define him. The only one who could name (and thereby define him) is his counterpart chaos. chaos then proceeds to not reveal Wilhelm's true name and just lets the party thrash Wilhelm's Giant Space Flea Machine Zarathustra and technically kill him.

    Visual Novels 
  • Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney has Trucy Wright, the daughter of Phoenix Wright. But as it turns out she is only his adopted daughter, her real father is Shadi Enigmar, otherwise known as Zak Gramarye. So she is Trucy Wright, Trucy Enigmar and Trucy Gramarye.
  • In Double Homework, "Dr. Mosely” is just one of many names used by the rogue scientist running the Zeta program. Dennis managed to find a bunch of them, but one was conspicuously absent:
    Dennis: They’re all there, except the one you were born with. Even I couldn’t find that one.
  • Umineko: When They Cry: There is Yasu who is also Beatrice, Shannon, Kanon, Clair Vaux Bernardus and Lion Ushiromiya in an alternate universe. Also, any witch has both their name and their title, and some like Beatrice, Battler and Ange have more than one title.

    Webcomics 
  • Gunnerkrigg Court: It is eventually revealed that Jones, the mysterious woman who supervises medium training, is an immortal who has lived for billions of years. Over the course of human civilization, she's acquired many names, of which we know only a few. One of the more prominent ones is "Wandering Eye".
  • Homestuck:
    • All the exiles (save for trolls' session Jack and Black Queen) are known only by their job or title, which change depending on their role with only their initials remaining constant. WV has had the most so far, being known as the Warweary Villein, Wayward Vagabond, Wastelandic Vindicator and, most recently, Wizardly Vassal.
    • All the players have at least three names, as well: their actual name, their instant messaging handle, and their mythological title. For instance, Terezi Pyrope is gallowsCalibrator is the Seer of Mind, and Dave Strider is turntechGodhead is the Knight of Time. Some have even more; for instance, John is both ectoBiologist and ghostyTrickster because he changed his handle.
    • The four-eyed cat is named Vodka Mutini (Mutie for short) by Rose and Dr. Meowgon Spengler by John. And the toy bunny is named Liv Tyler by John, Mr Terry Kiser by Jake, Huggy Bear by Dirk and Lil Sebastian by Jane. It seems likely the bunny was also given other names on its various ownerships and trips through time.
    • Trolls refer to the Eldritch Abomination Gl'bgolyb using a variety of pseudonyms and titles, such as the Rift's Carbuncle, the Emissary to the Horrorterrors, and the Speaker of the Vast Glub.
    • Prospitians and Consorts refer to the Genesis Frog as Our Glorious Speaker and Speaker of the Vast Croak. Dersites call him the Great Detestation, King Pondsquatter, Frogger, Speaker of the Vast Joke or Bilious Slick instead.
  • Isla Aukate has a mysterious white cat known variously as Artemis, Azar, Clarion, Mercury, and Three, among other names. That being because she's a dimension-hopping immortal who gave up her original name as part of her exile from her homeworld.
  • Merlu of Juathuur. Other names of him we know are the Second and the god-in-the-tree.
  • Dark Star in L's Empire likes to list off his names to sound intimidating: The Black God of Power, Knight of Five Lights, Endless Umbra, Shadow Constellation, Black Prism, Starlight's Antithesis, Color of Evil, He who calls your mother a fat cow and gets away with it, Master of the Night Sky, Daylight's Requiem, and Almighty Shade.
  • Looking for Group: Meet Richard, Chief Warlock of the Brothers of Darkness, Lord of the Thirteen Hells, Master of the Bones, Emperor of the Black, Lord of the Undead, and mayor of a little village up the coast. It's very scenic in springtime. You should visit sometime.
    • I've seen the village. It's the scariest title he holds.
    • Don't forget Lord of The Dance.
    • And now Mistress of Magma.
  • In Lovesyck many characters have nicknames or titles, however assassin Carver Stucco stands out for being variably known as: The Knife, Red Shark, Dead Lady C, Our Lady of the Inquisition and Soullyss. After losing her eyes she's also mockingly called Dollface, although few say it her in person.
  • One of the main characters in Nightmare Factory is introduced as Emai Kashew, but once she begins to have her memory problems, she and Kreyul go to her local hospital, where they find her listed as not only "Mischa Sazerah," but also as deceased. Then she finds that her I.D card says her name is Emai Kassu. And as of episode 73, her identity may well be Ylantis.
  • From Penny Arcade, a Badass Boast from the Cardboard Tube Samurai: "Will you face me? This tube goes by many names. Some you are worthy to hear. The Waking-Dragon, coiled, as spring dawns. Hawk's-Harvest, seizing prey in the tall summer grass. Autumn-Razor, the patient hunter. The Famine-Of-Winter, that kills the babe at its mother's empty breast. So, will you face me? I, who hold the very reins of the world?"
  • Mr. Sin from Sam & Fuzzy mysteriously disappears and is replaced by a "cousin" with a different first initial and hairstyle whenever one of his plans goes catastrophically pear-shaped. How often has he done this? It's hinted that he uses initials because he ran out of first names.
  • Gabrielle of Sister Claire quotes the trope name word for word before telling Claire to call her Gabrielle.
  • Sluggy Freelance:
    • In "That Which Redeems", on being suspected of being an Evil Weapon, Torg's newly talking sword says that "Unholy Evil Death Bringer" is only one of the things it has been called. Fans and then Torg eventually settle for "Chaz".
    • A certain Career Killer first appears pretending to be a reporter by the name of Nash Straw. Not long after, he's pretending to be "Warren Nashville". Later, he introduces himself to an employer as Reynold Strom, which you might think is his real name, since he's not pretending not to be a hired killer at that point. But it's probably not, because he keeps on coming up with a new alias for every new context. Supernatural creatures watching the unfolding of fate also call him "the Strawman".
  • The Team Pet kitten in Stand Still, Stay Silent. Every member on the Multinational Team has decided her name would be "Kitty"... in their own language. There are five languages in the team, who each have a different word for "Kitty".
  • Strange School: The webcomic's cast list describes the protagonist as such, by the end of the story:
    You seem to have picked up the names ERROR, ROSIE, PINK GIRL, and several others.
  • In The Wotch, Anne's brother is normally named Evan, though he has Punny Names for both of his Gender Bender forms — "Lil' E/Lilly" for his four-year-old girl form, and "Miss E/Missy" for his more conventional female form. Lampshaded when he, as Missy, attempts to introduce himself to Rick, but keeps screwing up which name he's supposed to use, causing Rick to interpret it as "Lilerevermiss" (the first syllable of each name with "er"s in between).

    Web Original 
  • Doomsday Arcade had the Dicelord who went by the names The Creator, The Dungeon Master and Richard Gariot (even though Richard Gariot was in the same room as him).
  • Played for Laughs on the Dream SMP. During the Exile Conflict, when forced to write an essay on what he did that day as part of his probation, Tommy decided to sign it with all of his aliases. His signature takes up about three pages.
  • Epic Meal Time:
    Harley: And we got these custom sauces, 'cause I'm the Doctor of Dressing, aka the Pharaoh of Flavour, aka the Minister of Mixture, aka the Connoisseur of Condiments, aka the Don of the Drippin', aka the Jeff Goldblum of the Internet, aka... [dramatic zoom on the sauces] ...the Sauce Boss.
  • Game Grumps: In the Drakkhen one-off, the Grums cannot read the Japanese text on screen, so they make up names for the characters: Brian, Bill, Langley and Bill (AKA Big Bill). However, Arin and Jon promptly forget the name of the first character, so they spend the entire episode giving him new names. The first character's names, in order, are: Brian, Frank, Steve, Willard, Jonathan, Michael IV, Michael III, Michael Jordan, and Scott.
  • One of the things Tokino Sora of hololive is known for is her ever-increasing list of nicknames, with "Tokino Soda" being the most persistent and consistent.
  • The Lay of Paul Twister: Paul Twister goes by several aliases in different parts of the kingdom, where he has apparently established actual identities for each of them. The names he picks tend to be the secret identities of superheroes, such as Clark Kent and Peter Parker, in the hopes of stealthily alerting other people from "back home" that they're not alone and trying to get them to seek him out. (It actually worked at one point, though it's implied that the person seeking him out has been around a long time, and so he's not the first person from Earth to be stranded there.)
    • At one point in the narration, he remarks that "Paul's not my real name," which apparently he doesn't tell anyone, because real names have power and he's mostly in the business of screwing over powerful magic-users.
  • The Rapture Logs's OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING and sequel story The Cockroach Metamorphosis deal centrally with the eldritch: The insecure gods of planet Earth and the incomprehensible beings that exist outside our universe. As such, everything is given lists of names. Even the non-eldritch characters gain more names as they interact more with the powers that be. Even the stories themselves have multiple names: The former can be called "the Rapture logs," the latter can be called "A Book of Names," "PUT THE SUN DOWN," the double-title of "A Book of Names or PUT THE SUN DOWN," or "Ilmarisen Takomo" so far. As an example of characters with multiple names, the three narrators of The Cockroach Metamorphosis are Eric Taylor (Bones, Thoth, Weneg, Taucherlunge, Paineilmalaitteet/"Painkiller," Tiresias), Jordan Dooling (Rael, Ulysses, Hermes, The X, Trilby, the White Jester), and Seppo Ilmarinen (half of The Musicians, Ptah, Sbomten, The Choir, Hephaestus), with more names coming as the story's still ongoing.
  • SCP-1370 of the SCP Foundation is constantly giving itself new names that are meant to be intimidating, like "Sinister Prime Minister", "ShivaTron, Despoiler of all Mirth" and "Doom-Master Thirteen Seventy, Master Of All Doom".
    • SCP-1845-1, a sapient fox that fancies itself the Catholic monarch of a feudal kingdom, insists on being introduced as "His Royal Highness, Eugenio the Second, by the Grace of God, King of the Forest, Lord of the Plains, Duke of the Grand Fir and the Undergrowth, Count of the Swamp, Margrave of ██ ███████, Warden of All the Streams and Rivers, and Lord Protector of the Cities of Man, Defender of the Faith."
    • SCP-507 responds to Tommy, Steve, Bruto, Guy, Houdini, and Grabnok the Destroyer.
    • SCP-1785 is the anomalous effect of a rose bush which not only forces people referring to the bush to do so with a feminine name, but also forces a new name to be used each time.
    • SCP-4966's object title is "Tubbioca: Devourer of Souls, Consumer of Secrets, Lord of Munchies"
    • Inverted with the inhabitants of that enigmatic forest, which have no names. When talking about those who lost their names, you must only use descriptions, and you can't use the same description twice, or else it will count as a name, and then bad things happen.
  • The Slender Man:
  • Agil's introduction in Sword Art Online Abridged:
    "I am known by many names. 'Mountain Slayer.' 'Thunder Lion.' 'The Chocolate Axe.' But you, you may call me... Tiffany."
  • Whateley Universe example: Billie Wilson, born William Wilson, has the codename Tennyo. She has picked up the nickname 'Disaster Dame' by the security staff, but she's also known by some less amusing names, such as 'The Scourge', 'The Stalker of the Stars', 'The Destroyer', Lady Rashcore, and 'the Captain'.

    Western Animation 
  • Animaniacs:
    Satan: Little fools! I am Beelzebub, Lucifer, the reaper of souls, the really angry one! I AM SATAN! MWAHAHAHAHAA!
    Dot: So, that's nothing. I'm Princess Angelina Contessa Lousia Fancesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca THE THIRD! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAH!! Just a little thing I do.
  • Batman: The Animated Series adapted several elements of the Tim Burton films at first, including the Joker as a mob hitman, even going as far as to identify the Joker by the name of Jack Napier at first. However, the episode "Beware the Creeper" later retconned this into one of many aliases the hitman pre-Joker used before his transformation.
  • Chowder: In "The Poultry Geist", the eponymous spirit possessing Chowder says this and runs through several of his titles before declaring that they can call him "Florentine".
  • In Code Lyoko, Aelita is first called "Maya" when awakened as an amnesiac AI, before finding her true first name. Once materialized on Earth, she went by the name "Aelita Lyoko" at first, then "Aelita Stones". It is finally found that her name is "Aelita Hopper", although her birth name was "Aelita Schaeffer". Not counting her nickname of "Princess" (or "Mrs. Einstein" for Sissi). So all in all, her name is Aelita (Maya) Lyoko/Stones/Schaeffer-Hopper.
  • The Red Guy from Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel has many different names, all relating to the fact he has no pants. They include Mike Hiney, Officer O'Fanny, the King and Queen of Cheese, Larry the Molting Fairy, Dr. Lackslacks, Officer Pantsoffski, Mr. Lackapants, Major Wedgie, Ben Pantsed, Mr. Clearbottom, and in I Am Weasel, I.B. Red Guy.
  • Final Space: In the season 2 episode "The Toro Regatta", the main opponent of the protagonists is racer Rug Yorkvain, formerly Chag Murfblick, formerly Crix Blangdag, formerly Hux Ringscreckai, a.k.a. Tim White.
  • Ninjago: The Overlord says this when introducing himself (first as The Overlord and later as the Crystal King) to both Garmadon and Harumi respectively.
    The Overlord: I go by many names, but you may call me... Overlord.
    Crystal King: I have had many names: Dark Lord, Golden Master, Crystal King. And yes.... Overlord.
  • Ōban Star-Racers has Big Bad Canaletto say the line, his name, and a couple titles.
  • The Secret Show: A Running Gag per episode. Changed Daily is known as such because his name is "changed daily". Each new name tends to make people laugh at him.
  • The Simpsons:
    • Parodied in an episode where Marge has amnesia, Homer attempts to re-educate her, saying "This is the Sun. It goes by many names — Apollo's lantern, Daymoon, Ol' Blazey — but the important thing is never to touch it."
    • On another occasion, Homer prays to the god of the sea for mercy, proclaiming "The Greeks call you Poseidon; the Romans... Aquaman."
    • Lyonel Hutz, Attorney at Law... a.k.a. Miguel Sanchez, a.k.a. Dr. Nguyen van Phuoc...
  • Parodied on Phineas and Ferb, "The Chronicles of Meap": "I am known by many names through out the universe... well, two really: Mitch, and some of the guys call me Big Mitch!"
  • The Spectacular Spider-Man: "In my life, I've been called many names. My favorite...is Tombstone."
  • When the Shredder is put on trial in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we learn that Oroku Saki is only one of several aliases, which include Torrinon, Kako Naso, and Duke Acureds. His real name? Ch'rell. In the movie Turtles Forever, the Shredder lists several of his names as part of his Badass Boast.
  • Trollhunters: Morgana, the Greater-Scope Villain behind everything evil in this series, is also known as the Pale Lady, Argante, the Eldritch Queen, and Baba Yaga.

 
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Call Me Dad

Of his many names, Al Pacino prefers Dad to Satan.

Five-Hundred Vi...

But I've also b...

Epic Meal Time

Alternative Title(s): He Of Many Names, She Of Many Names

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Call Me Dad

Of his many names, Al Pacino prefers Dad to Satan.

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Call Me Dad

Five-Hundred Vi...

But I've also b...

Epic Meal Time