Basic Trope: A character takes their alias/name from an insult, mispronunciation, or nickname.
- Straight: Alex gets called "a monstrosity" as a result of his unnatural powers. After becoming a supervillain, he adopts "Monstrosity" as his alias.
- Exaggerated: All of the characters get their aliases this way.
- Downplayed:
- Alex chooses "Monster" as his alias, as inspiration from "monstrosity".
- Alex doesn't necessarily mind the alias, but he doesn't use it himself.
- Justified:
- Alex wanted to show that insults don't bother him.
- Someone mispronounced Alex's alias. He realized that people are more likely to understand that word, so he goes with it.
- Alex genuinely liked the name idea.
- Inverted: Alex is vehemently against using the "supervillain name" that the media came up with for him, to the point in which it's his Berserk Button.
- Subverted: Other people start using the term "Monstrosity", but it turns out Alex himself doesn't really like the name.
- Double Subverted:
- It eventually grows on him, though.
- A section on the news later calls Alex "Eldritch". He likes the sound of that one better.
- Parodied: Alex makes his supervillain name "Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head" because the mean kid at school called him that once.
- Zig-Zagged: There are several names that people come up with for Alex. He likes and uses a few of them, but there are others he dislikes.
- Averted:
- Alex doesn't like being called a monstrosity, so he doesn't call himself one.
- Alex ends up choosing the nickname Monstrosity himself.
- Enforced:
- "We're using Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames for our movie, but we should put in a Mythology Gag that comic fans will recognize. How do we establish that Alex is the Monstrosity?" "Let's have someone else in the story come up with the name for him."
- Lampshaded: "Didn't someone call you that as an insult once?"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alex decides that he doesn't want to use this alias, and may even forbid others from calling him that.
- Discussed: "I have never been able to understand the kind of "I Am Lord Voldemort" mental gymnastics… word soup… crap that makes someone decide to use the same slur he's been called every single day for ten years as a sobriquet. I just don't. I never will." "A pretty girl did the wordplay." "It's an explanation. I just don't think it's a good one."
- Conversed: ???
Back to Appropriated Appellation
