Basic Trope: When a person's name greatly contrasts their personality, lifestyle, etc.
- Straight: A notorious outlaw from the Wild West is named Percy Justice.
- Exaggerated: Percy Justice is a Big Bad who commits every crime in the book at every opportunity.
- Downplayed: Ironic Nickname.
- Justified: Percy fell in with outlaws at a young age and liked the lifestyle.
- Inverted: Meaningful Name.
- Subverted:
- Percy got married and adopted a new last name before he started breaking the law.
- Percy is tempted to commit a crime for whatever reason — financial hardship, Toxic Friend Influence, revenge on somebody who wronged him, you name it — but doesn't.
- Double Subverted:
- His new surname means "lovely" in a foreign language.
- He doesn't commit that crime quickly, but he does later.
- Parodied: An eager woman names her newborn baby "Jimmy Loveheart DoGooder, Who Never Had a Dark and Troubled Past Because His Father Never Angrily Beat Him Half to Death with His Belt Especially Since He Would Never Come Home from the Bar Drunk and Mad and His Mother Did Not Scream at Him Around the Clock Because There Was Never a Rough Divorce", along with a complete summation of what she hopes her child's life will never turn out to be. Naturally, her husband gets mad at her for not giving their son a normal name.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Some characters' names reflect who they are to varying degrees, while others' don't.
- A character's name has two meanings, and they fit one but contrast the other.
- The man born Percy Justice uses many aliases, some of which mimic the content of his character, some of which say the opposite, and still others that have no connection to his traits.
- Averted: Percy Justice is a corrupt lawman who breaks the laws he is meant to enforce. Whether or not he is a Knight Templar who believes in his own form of justice, or a cynical profiteer looking to get rich.
- Enforced: Rule of Funny
- Lampshaded: "'Justice'? Are you sure that's your name? I was expecting you to have a much more clearly villainous name."
- Invoked:
- An Outlaw Couple names their son Angel and teach him how to break into houses.
- Fearing their son might become a crook, a couple names their son Evil.
- Exploited: Percy Justice uses his name to impersonate a sheriff and get people's trust to make it easier to steal from them.
- Defied: Percy Justice, a gunslinger known for killing criminals, turns down several job offers to shoot random people.
- Discussed: "I feel I'm not living up to my name."
- Conversed: "All these people have names that don't reflect who they are."
- Implied:Sheriff Bob: Did the varmint tell you his name?Miss Alice: He did and it wasn't a varmint's name. You'd think he was a good man from just the name.
- Deconstructed: Percy Justice kept getting made fun of when he was in school, the other kids constantly teasing him if he would become a cop. As a result, Percy turned to a life of crime when he grew older because he didn't want his unfriendly classmates to be correct.
- Reconstructed: Later, Percy matures further, realizes the thoughts of some stupid kids don't matter, and renounces his ways. He turns himself in, serves his time in prison, and gives pointers to the sheriff about how the outlaws in the area behave and how to catch them.
- Played for Laughs: Someone named Hilary (which sounds close to "Hilarity") tries to pursue their dream in comedy, but they don't realize they are So Unfunny, It's Funny.
- Played for Drama: Percy knows full well that he's committing crimes just out of habit in his advanced age, and as much as he would like to pull a Heel–Face Turn, he fears it's too late for him.
- Played for Horror: At first glance, Percy Justice has a Meaningful Name. He is on the side of the law ... as the local law enforcement's Torture Technician who takes joy in inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.
Back to Ironic Name.
