History Main / SelfAppliedNickname

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. When Thea Queen joins Team Arrow at the end of Season 3, she wants to be called Red Arrow, only to find her brother Oliver has already told everyone to use her childhood nickname of [[MythologyGag Speedy]]. She eventually comes to like the name and refuses the offer of [[TheNicknamer Cisco]] from [[Series/TheFlash2014 Team Flash]] to think up a better one.

-->'''Thea:''' Oh! I thought I told you guys to call me Red Arrow.
-->'''Diggle:''' A red arrow just means you can't make a left turn.
** Oliver has better luck getting people to stop calling him "[[InTheHood The Hood]]" in favor of "The Arrow". In this case he gives the new name to his FriendOnTheForce and it apparently filters through the police and later the media. Villains he's already acquainted with from Season One still tend to refer to him as The Hood though.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Peter Quill calls himself Star Lord. Nobody else uses the name apart from him; Dey keeps calling him Star Prince or something similar. [[spoiler: It's actually in fact a nickname his mother used to call him.]] At the near end of the film, Korath does end up calling him Star Lord, which pleases him. The anger in the villain's tone as he snarls the name at his sight makes it all the better.

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', Rimmer attempts several times to attract a cool nickname, without success. In "Kryten", he claims that his nickname at school was "Ace"; Lister retorts that he doesn't believe anyone called Rimmer "Ace" unless they followed it with "hole".

-->'''Diggle:''' A Red Arrow just means you can't make a left turn.

--> Student 1: We call him the Blue Thunder?
--> Student 2: News to me...

* Okabe from ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' often refers to himself as Houoin Kyoma the MadScientist. Frequently insist to call him Houoin when others call him by his real name, even making Kurisu cried in one instance because of this.

-->'''Calvin:''' I have an announcement. As of today, I will no longer respond to the name "Calvin". From now on, I wish to be addressed as "Calvin the Bold".
-->'''Calvin's Mom:''' Calvin the Bold?
-->'''Calvin:''' Right. That's my new name for the rest of my life.
-->'''Calvin's Mom:''' How about Calvin the Deranged?
-->'''Calvin:''' Also, Calvin the Bold will begin referring to himself in the third person.

-->'''Ms. Wormwood:''' Calvin, will you do the next problem, please? Calvin?
-->'''Calvin:''' Who??
-->'''Ms. Wormwood:''' YOU!
-->'''Calvin:''' '''Calvin the Bold''' demands that he be addressed by his full title for any response.
-->'''Principal:''' Back again, hmm, Calvin?
-->'''Calvin:''' Who?

-->'''Calvin's Dad:''' Calvin the Bold!
-->'''Calvin:''' Yes?
-->'''Calvin's Dad:''' Kneel.
-->'''Calvin:''' Huh?? What? Kneel?
-->'''Calvin's Dad:''' By the finite patience vested in me, I hereby dub thee "Mud". You may rise.
-->'''Calvin:''' My name is MUD?!
-->'''Calvin:''' Mr. Subtlety drives home another point.
** In a one-off strip, he asks his mom to start introducing him to people as "Calvin, Boy of DESTINY!" and wishes they had a pair of cymbals to crash after it.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Agnes Nitt engages in {{Chuunibyou}}, renaming herself as Perdita X. Dream (or as the depressingly down-to-earth people of Lancre know her, Agnes what calls herself Perditax) and giving herself a [[ADarkerMe skinnier, wittier and interestingly pale personality]] (which comes in useful when vampires control Agnes, letting Perdita take the wheel).

* ''Series/TedLasso'': While conversing with manager Jose Mourinho over the phone, Ted comments on Mourinho's nickname, "The Special one", asking how he got it. Mourinho says he gave it to himself. Lasso is impressed, and comments that in elementary school he tried to get his classmates to call him "Turbo". At the end of the call, Mourinho obliges Ted by calling him "Turbo".

* In ''WebAnimation/TheChampions'': Thomas Muller insists on being called Raumdeuter, which means Space Interpreter or Space Investigator.

* One episode of WesternAnimation/RegularShow revoled around Rigby legally changing his name to Trash Boat, because he thought it made him seem cooler. Not only does it not work, [[ItMakesSenseInContext it almost gets him killed by time-travellers.]]

* ''Film/PitchPerfect'' and it's sequels has the character Fat Amy. She calls herself this so people wouldn't be able to do it behind her back, but there's more to it- as she later reveals, her ''real'' name is ''Patricia'', making "Amy" just as much a nickname as the "Fat" part is.

-->- ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''

->'''Rhomann Dey''': Peter Jason Quill. He's also known as Star-Lord.
->'''Nova Corps Officer''': Who calls him that?
->'''Rhomann Dey''': Himself, mostly.

!Examples

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'': Daryl, the owner of a law practice is [[OneDropRule 1/8 Native American]] and damn proud of it. When title character Rebecca joins the practice, Daryl mentions that people around the office call him "Chief." She innocently asks him who calls him that to which he replies that no one actually does and he'd really appreciate if she would get the ball rolling on that.

* This trope is one the cardinal rules of ''[[Series/JimRomeIsBurning The Jim Rome Show]]'': Never "gloss" yourself. One of the sure-fire ways for a caller to get run is to give themselves a nickname that has not already been applied to them by Rome or other callers. This is as true on the TV version begun in 2018 as on his 25-year-old radio show.

* A boxing commentator on ''Series/SportsNight'' insists on being called "Cut Man" - and blithely refuses to respond to anything else at any time.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** Joey comes up with a few nicknames for himself and Chandler but no one uses them.
--> '''Joey''': It's like the end of an era! No more J-Man and Channy!
--> '''Chandler''': Okay, I gotta ask, who calls us that?!
** Chandler refers to himself as the Chan Chan Man but it doesn't catch on.
** Ross comes up with the nickname Ross-A-Tron for himself but the rest of the gang hated it.
--> '''Ross''': Hey, y'know what nickname never caught on? ''The Ross-A-Tron!'' (Monica shakes her head in disgust.)

* Fan convention attendees may choose their badge name to be different to their real name, usually something appropriate to what they plan on wearing/doing at the con. If their hall costume, masquerade entry, or participation in con events is memorable enough, they may become known to most of the membership by their badge name. They then usually retain the badge name at subsequent attendances, even if it has nothing to do with anything they're wearing/doing, and eventually become OnlyKnownByTheirNickname
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'' episode "The World Next Door", Harry Kelly, the youngest of the Red Panda's agents, claims the mystery man calls him "Eagle Eyes Kelly" because of his skills as a lookout. When asked if that's ''really'' true, Harry sheepishly admits it isn't. However, the adult agents humor the kid and the name ends up sticking over the course of the series. Towards the end, it even [[spoiler:becomes half of his own superhero name, the Black Eagle]], when Harry's an adult himself.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaAction'', Izzy decides she'll be called Kaleidoscope or E-Scope for short and [[InsistentTerminology insists]] everyone refer to her as such, even going so far as to not respond unless called by that name.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Peter Quill calls himself Star Lord. Nobody else uses the name apart from him; Korath keeps calling him Star Prince or something similar. [[spoiler: It's actually in fact a nickname his mother used to call him.]] At the near end of the film, one villain does end up calling him Star Lord, which pleases him. The anger in the villain's tone as he snarls the name at his sight makes it all the better.