History Main / NomDeGuerre

*** One apparently nameless, German-speaking child soldier was nicknamed "the frank hunter" due to his battle tactic being to lure enemies in with beguiling childlike innocence and then stalk and slaughter them with a knife - this eventually became his legal name, "Frank Jaeger". As a soldier in the San Heironymo conflict, he was used in something called the Perfect Soldier Project, becoming nicknamed "Null" due to having his memories wiped. When he joined FOXHOUND he became known as "Gray Fox", and in capacity as a double agent to Snake in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' he used the name "Snake's No. 1 Fan". In the Shadow Moses conflict everyone, terrified of him, called him "the Cyborg Ninja", but in his capacity as a double-agent to Snake he used the name "Deepthroat".

* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has no CanonName, instead being called by [[HelloInsertNameHere a first and last name of the player's choosing]].[[note]][[Anime/Persona5TheAnimation The anime of the game]] and [[VideoGame/Persona5DancingInStarlight the dancing spinoff game]] both use "Ren Amamiya" as this character's name, but that isn't so much as suggested anywhere within the main game.[[/note]] Instead, he's more commonly known as "Joker," his code name in the Phantom Thieves. When the character appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a GuestFighter, he was referred to exclusively by his nom de guerre.

* Many of the ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' mercenaries have callsigns, rendered like "Carl '[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Reaper]]' Sheppards" or "Kyle '[[ColdSniper Shadow]]' Simmons". If the mercs ever have lines that refer to other mercs, the callsigns are almost exclusively used in favor of the given names.

* Jeff Moreau a.k.a. Joker in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series received his nickname in flight school from an instructor as an IronicNickname since he was a grim young man due to the disorder that made his bones incredibly brittle. Perhaps the first time he smiled was when he graduated top of his class and became the snarky AcePilot that we know and love.

** Of course, in "Code Blue", when a bad guy in a hospital demands that he identify himself, he claims his callsign is "Zapper". [[IncrediblyLamePun And then zaps the guy with]] [[ImprovisedWeapon a defibrillator.]]

-->--''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''

* In ''LightNovel/BenTo'', to have a nom de guerre is considered a sign that a "wolf" fighter has achieved notable status in the eyes of their peers. Some are given for obvious reasons (Monk, Brunette), some are awe-inspiring (Monarch, Oroubos), some ''sound'' awe-inpsiring but actually have dumb origins (Ice Witch, Beauty by the Lake), and some are just dumb (Pervert).

** The agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon are assigned numbers as call signs. [[spoiler:Callie and Marie]] are knownw as Agent 1 and Agent 2, while the player characters have been Agent 3 in [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 the first game]], Agent 4 in ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''[='=]s Hero Mode, Agent 8 in ''Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion'', and... a different Agent 3 in ''VideoGame/Splatoon3'' (the previous one got promoted and you inherit their callsign).

* ''Film/{Zulu}'': Due to the regiment at Rorke's Drift being the South Wales Borderers, there are too many Joneses to use surnames, so they address each other by their service numbers instead. Afrikaaner Corporal Schiess is not amused: "Haven't you rednecks got names instead of numbers?" 716 Jones sets him straight.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has a few, including:

** The series has this for many player characters and bosses, often times not learning their real names. Noteably, different units have different naming conventions. [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 The Cobra Unit]] are named for the emotion they bring into battle (i.e. The Fury, a guy with a [[KillItWithFire flamethrower]]), [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid FOXHOUND]] are named for an aspect of themselves plus an animal (i.e. Vulcan Raven, who is an inuit shaman with a [[MoreDakka minigun]]), and [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2 Dead Cell]] uses nicknames in reference to their profession (i.e. Fatman, a MadBomber). The [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 B&B Corps]] use the emotions of the Cobras and the animal name of [=FOXHOUND=], while using the weapons of Dead Cell (i.e. Raging Raven, who wields a grenade launcher and a flight harness). [[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance The Winds of Destruction]] are named after winds (i.e. Mistral, a half-French half-Algerian woman is named after the cold regional winds along the Mediterranean coast of France).

*** Revolver Ocelot was known as just "Ocelot" in ''Metal Gear Solid 3'', and brags that in war in Afghanistan he was known as "Shalashaska" (Russian for "prison") due to his specialisation in torture.

*** One soldier with the real name of Jack was known in the Liberian Civil War by the nicknames "The White Devil" and "Jack the Ripper". In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' he is assigned the codename "Raiden", which in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' he is using as his main name (much to the confusion of Snake, who had apparently learned his real name at some point between the two games and liked to call him by it). By ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', he is still using the name Raiden but the "Jack the Ripper" identity has become a dissociative personality, capable of guilt-free [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge righteous slaughter rampages]] when Raiden's shame is pushed too far.

* ''{{Film/Fury}}'' has all of the older members of ''Fury's'' crew given such names: [[AFatherToHisMen Wardaddy]], [[TokenReligiousTeamMate Bible]], [[SouthernFriedPrivate Coon-Ass]], [[TokenMinority Gordo]], and [[PosthumousCharacter Red]]. [[NewMeat Norman]] eventually earns the name [[spoiler: Machine]] by the film's climax.

* Used for many of the assassins in the first ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', with a few exceptions. Averted for the most part in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'', where they mostly go by their real names.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon assigned numbers as call signs. [[spoiler:Callie]] and [[spoiler:Marie]] are known as Agent 1 and Agent 2, and serve as the player's MissionControl, while the player characters in ''Splatoon'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' are Agent 3 and Agent 4, respectively. The protagonist of the second game's ''Octo Expansion'' is also called Agent 8, although they aren't a true member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

'''Captain Sarnova:''' Tell them to report back to their Duchess. That's, ah- that's what they call me.\\

* The ''Wing Commander'' [[VideoGame/WingCommander games]], [[Literature/WingCommander books]], [[WesternAnimation/WingCommanderAcademy cartoon]], and [[Film/WingCommander movie]] give us [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters quite a few]], including [[ShoutOut Maverick, Iceman]], Angel, [[TheAce Maniac]], Spirit, Paladin, Doomsday, Jazz, Bear, Hunter, Vaquero, Vagabond, [[ShoutOut Hobbes]], Flint, Hawk, [[KnownOnlyByTheirNickname Seether]], Catscratch, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Deathstroke, Starkiller]], etc.

** Non-standard ''kunya'' are a tradition dating back to at least the lifetime of Muhammed, with some of his companions' real names being much less known than ''kunya'' based on their favoriate animals (based on the Arabic tradition of using the ''kunya'' form "Abu [whatever]" to mean "the guy with [whatever]"). His best friend and father-in-law Abdul ibn Abi Quhafa is better known as Abu Bakr[[note]]"Father of Camels", or more idiomatically "the guy with the camels" or "Camel Guy"[[/note]], while Abdur-Rahman ibn Sakhr (the most prolific narrator of the ''Hadith'') is known as Abu Hurairah[[note]]"Father of Cats"/"the guy with the kitty-cat"/"Cat Guy". (Significantly, "hurairah" doesn't just mean "cat", it specifically refers to a small female cat, hence "kitty-cat".)[[/note]].

** Non-standard ''kunya'' are a tradition dating back to at least the lifetime of Muhammed, with some of his companions' real names being much less known than ''kunya'' based on their favoriate animals (based on the Arabic tradition of using the ''kunya'' form "Abu [whatever]" to mean "the guy with [whatever]"). His father-in-law Abdul ibn Abi Quhafa is better known as Abu Bakr[[note]]"Father of Camels", or more idiomatically "the guy with the camels" or "Camel Guy"[[/note]], while Abdur-Rahman ibn Sakhr (the most prolific narrator of the ''Hadith'') is known as Abu Hurairah[[note]]"Father of Cats"/"the guy with the kitty-cat"/"Cat Guy". (Significantly, "hurairah" doesn't just mean "cat", it specifically refers to a small female cat, hence "kitty-cat".)[[/note]].

** Non-standard ''kunya'' are a tradition dating back to at least the lifetime of Muhammed, with some of his companions' real names being much less known than ''kunya'' based on their favoriate animals. His father-in-law Abdul ibn Abi Quhafa is better known as Abu Bakr[[note]]"Father of Camels"[[/note]], while Abdur-Rahman ibn Sakhr (the most prolific narrator of the ''Hadith'') is known as Abu Hurairah[[note]]"Father of Cats"[[/note]].

* Practiced by prominent members of the French Army during the ancient regime and still widely practiced by [[LegionOfLostSouls Foreign Legionaries]]. In World War Two, prominent leaders of the Free French (and about every member of LaResistance) adopted Noms De Guerre to protect their families from retribution from the Nazis and LesCollaborateurs. One example is Darius Paul Bloch, who used Dassault as his alias. (Short for "Char d'Assault", French for "Battle Tank".) He legally changed his name to Dassault after the war. His brother took the name as well and used it for his aviation company.

* ''{{Film/Fury}}'' has all of the older members of ''Fury's'' crew given such names: [[AFatherToHisMen Wardaddy]], [[TokenReligiousTeamMate Bible]], [[SouthernFriedPrivate Coon-Ass]], and [[TokenMinorityTeammate Gordo]]. [[NewMeat Norman]] eventually earns the name [[spoiler: Machine]] by the film's climax.

*** This means, of course, that Chappie (in the film) likely got his callsign based entirely on being a [[TokenMinority black fighter pilot]], though he'd have to necessarily be a very ''good'' fighter pilot to be named for Robin [[RedBaron "The Wolf"]] [[FamedInStory Olds's]] [[TheLancer second in command]].

*** This means, of course, that Chappie (in the film) likely got his callsign based entirely on being a [[TokenMinority black fighter pilot]], though he'd have to necessarily be a very ''good'' fighter pilot to be named for [[BadassMustache Robin]] [[RedBaron "The Wolf"]] [[FamedInStory Olds's]] [[TheLancer second in command]].