History Main / EarnYourTitle

-->Vimes: "Well, that's an unusual name."\\
Prince Khufurah: (deadpan) "No, the name Ahmed is actually very common where we come from."

* Ninja in ''Franchise/Naruto'' often earn names for their prowess in combat.

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': [[TheRedBaron The Lifemaker]], also known as The Mage of the Begining, [[spoiler:created the Magic World together with its native inhabitants.]]

* Lyra Belacqua in ''HisDarkMaterials'' gets dubbed "Lyra Silvertongue" (and occasionally just "Silvertongue") by Iorek, because of her ability to beguile and fool people with her words, and her ability to "talk her way" out of anything.

* Among the ''HeraldsOfValdemar'', Firestarting is one of the rarer PsychicPowers, and Lavan Chitward is dubbed "Lavan Firestarter" by the King for being better at it than most. He becomes known to history as Lavan Firestorm after conjuring one in a war.

** Kharn the Betrayer earned his title after slaughtering his way through two [[TheCorruption Chaos]] SpaceMarine legions, one of them his own. We're not sure if he refers to himself that way, since he usually only says things like "[[MadnessMantra KILL! MAIM! BURN!]]," "[[BloodKnight BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE]]!" or "[[TheBerserker RAAAAAAGGHHH]]!!!"

Related to TheMagnificent but the title tends to describe the person and more often than not gives at least a little backstory. Sufficiently awesome ones are the RedBaron. AwesomeMomentOfCrowning is often earned, but earning a formal title of nobility is a significantly differnt concept.

* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''The Hallowed Hunt'', we meet Jokol Skullsplitter -- who, as it turns out, did not earn his epithet in the way one would expect.

* The Didact and Librarian from ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''. The Didact was a teacher at a War College, and the Librarian was known for browsing through great stores of knowledge

* Common enough among the upper ranks of the titular female warriors in {{Claymore}}, usually after a signature technique or ability. The exception is 'Theresa of the Faint Smile' for the fact that she never changes expression in battle. The warrior with the greatest skill at sensing ''youki'' also gets designated 'The Eye.'

* ''{{Exalted}}'', [[RuleOfCool naturally]], has quite a few of these. Probably the most prominent is the god known as the Unconquered Sun. [[CaptainObvious Guess how he earned the name.]]

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', warrior-class Skrall are not allowed to have ''any'' sort of name unless they are awarded one for their deeds.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', two of the Andalite characters earn titles. Alloran is Alloran the Hork-Bajir killer because he was the one who released the virus that killed so many, an attempt to prevent the Yeerks enslaving them all. And Seerow is referred to as Seerow the Fool, because he gave the Yeerks the technology that let them become planet-conquering enslavers in the first place.

** [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that he earned it by killing a guest in his house one hour before the three day period of SacredHospitality was up. He'd amassed enough evidence to determine that the man had poisoned a well in a desert and killed several dozen people, waiting the extra hour would have allowed him to escape.]]

* Guts from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' is known as the "Hundred Man Slayer" due to his [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome single-handed massacre of a hundred Blue Whale Knights at the midpoint of the anime]].
** This is also Manji's nickname in ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'' for much the same reason, although in his case he earned the nickname in his backstory.
** Guts also gets the nicknamed "Black Swordsman" after the Eclipse, due to wearing a black armour and leaving a trail of destruction on his wake. Most people don't even know the Black Swordsman and the Hundred-Man Slayer ar the same person.

* In ''{{Series/Animorphs}}'', two of the Andalite characters earn titles. Alloran is Alloran the Hork-Bajir killer because he was the one who released the virus that killed so many, an attempt to prevent the Yeerks enslaving them all. And Seerow is referred to as Seerow the Fool, because he gave the Yeerks the technology that let them become planet-conquering enslavers in the first place.

** France's Emperor Charlemagne (Charles the Great), who started the Carolingian renaissance and whose regime ended the Dark Ages and lifted Central Europe off from centuries of barbarism. His title, ''Charles le magne'', has ''become'' his name in English: his buddies called him Carolus.

[[quoteright:347:[[ComicBook/TheGatherersSaga http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1800.jpg]]]]

* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Agent Melinda May is referred to as "''TheCavalry''" (a name she despises) based on a particular case where she came to the rescue of a S.H.I.E.L.D. team, single-handed.

* ''{{Series/A Song Of Ice And Fire}}'' has many:

** Part of the Tayledras usename custom - while they are chosen by the individual (at least passively, by choosing to respond to an appellation or ignoring it), the names are often associated with some great act they have done or some trait they are proud of e.g. Steelmind for a man who has a prodigious memory who once during an academic debate gave a full speech on one side and then cheekily gave a full speech defending the other side, Frostfire for a Healing Adept who saved a family from dying of frostbite (called "frostfire" in Tayledras language), Darkstone for a cold, impassive individual.

* Most people called "[[TheMagnificent the Great]]" got their title for killing lots of people and conquering lots of land (famous examples including Greece's Alexander and Rome's Pompey), but in the Middle Ages, Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus) got his for knowing lots of stuff. Guess they were just not very civilized back then.

* In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Agent Melinda May is referred to as "The Cavalry" (a name she despises) based on a particular case where she came to the rescue of a S.H.I.E.L.D. team, single-handed.