Basic Trope: A character has a name that describes them.
- Straight: A master of swordsmanship is called Sword Dancer.
- Exaggerated: The same person is called Black-Haired Swordsman Who Goes Around The Country Killing Monsters And Has Once Slain A Dragon, Also Likes Pickles.
- Downplayed: A master swordsman is called Sword.
- Justified:
- In Sword Dancer's culture, people are named after their characteristics or qualities, with names changing over time.
- Sword Dancer belongs to a telepathic species that uses images or concepts as names. "Sword Dancer" is the closest spoken-language approximation to his actual "name", which is an impression of him performing a particularly elegant and dance-like sword maneuver.
- Sword Dancer was born without a name and adopted moniker people gave him as his own.
- Few still understand the local Lingua Prenomen, but 'Sword Dancer' lucked out on what his parents thought was a good sounding name.
- Inverted:
- A swordsman is called Hunts With Bow.
- Sword Dancer is a professor.
- Subverted: People expect Sword Dancer to be a master swordsman, only for him to turn out to be a professor.
- Double Subverted: At night, though, he's The Cowl who punishes criminals with sword.
- Parodied: A boy called My God, Why Does He Drink So Much Cola (And Eat So Much Chocolate)?
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: A master swordsman is called Joe.
- Enforced: "We can't spend too much time on this pesky exposition! And 'Sword Dancer' sounds... badass, doesn't it?"
- Lampshaded: "So how's this guy called again?" "Sword Dancer." "...His parents weren't very creative, were they?"
- Invoked:
- Sword Dancer's parents name him like this in hopes of the boy living up to the name.
- Meaningful Rename.
- Exploited:
- People trying to get info on Sword Dancer need only hear his name to extrapolate the rest.
- A nameless hero goes on a quest to attain his own name.
- Defied: Sword Dancer changes his name to James to avoid being "typecasted".
- Discussed: "So what am I supposed to do, search for 'master swordsmen' in a phonebook? Who am I supposed to look for, someone called 'Sword Dancer' or maybe 'Fights Like A Pro'?"
- Conversed: "The guy's name's Sword Dancer, so you can guess what kind of a hero he's like."
- Implied: An academic professor has a photo of himself as a young man with a sword, signed "Sword Dancer".
- Deconstructed: Sword Dancer's name makes it impossible for him to get a job in any business other than fighting.
- Reconstructed: He simply changes it to Loves Cats as he moves to work in an animal shelter.
- Played For Laughs: "My name's Sword Dancer, my mother's Deadly With Knives, father's name's Cooks Nicely, my brother is Boar Killer and I don't think I have to describe you any of them, do I?"
- Played For Drama: The story is about a boy named Weak Coward and his struggles to overcome the stigma and earn a better name.
