Names to Run Away From Really Fast/Notorious Killers

A form of Names to Run Away From Really Fast: If a character has either the first or last name of a noted criminal, real or fictional, it's a good sign they're headed towards a life of crime themselves. If their name is followed by "the" and a violent-sounding verb (like Jack the Ripper or Barry the Chopper), then they're almost certainly a Serial Killer. See also The Butcher, Name of Cain.

There were enough people named Cain and Abel or variants that it even got its own article.

Examples of Names to Run Away From Really Fast/Notorious Killers include:

Adolf Hitler

"Hitler" almost never appears per se, being an already very rare variant of "Hiedler," but variants such as that, "Hiller," and "Hibler" are. "Adolf" (and its 'slightly' less stigmatized variant, "Adolph") of course, is still seen, especially in period pieces, to evoke a kind of Retroactive Recognition.

Literature

• Averted: In the children's book Heidi, written long before World War II, Heidi's kind, lonely grandfather is named Adolf.
• Adolf is actually used in the novel Evil Genius. One of the villains is named Adolf Hauser. To make matters worse, he's actually nicknamed "The Fuhrer" and teaches at the Axis Institute, a school for future supervillains. May be a case of Refuge in Audacity. Oddly enough, he's not the Big Bad.

Live-Action TV

• Distortions of Hitler's name, especially "Hiller", are featured in works ranging from Whos the Boss to Isaac Asimov's The Martian Way. In these cases, these people are shown to be Hitler Expys either in-universe or by Word of God.

Other

• There is a clothing line called Adolfo

Video Games

• Dolph from Suikoden V may qualify, though.
• The video game Vandal Hearts pulls a double whammy with the Big Bad Dolf Crowley. In fact, Vandal Hearts is full of these--it also has an antagonistic character named Hel Spites and his son, Kain.

Western Animation

• Dolph, one of the bullies on The Simpsons.
  • Interestingly, Dolph is Jewish. He's even in Hebrew school.
  • Also, one of Mr. Burns' vicious hounds is named Hitler.
• Dolf The Crow, the sort-of Big Bad from the Dutch TV-Show Alfred J Kwak was a halfbreed of a crow and a blackbird, spoke in a German accent, turned evil, started a political party with a banner obviously similar to the Nazi flag. He also attempts world domination a few times, and all this while wearing a Napoleon-like attire.

Real Life

• Before the end of World War II, Adolf was one of the most popular names that German parents chose for a baby boy. After the end of World War II, nobody in Germany named their son Adolf any more. (And many German men suddenly started to use the nickname "Adi".)
• Dolph Lundgren, too, maybe.

Brutus

Certainly a name to watch out for. Anyone named this will almost always be covered in muscles and/or weapons, and extremely prone to violence.

Literature

• Brutus, the handsome but idiotic King of Bebba's Town from the sequels to The Sea Of Trolls.
• Subverted with prison guard Brutus "Brutal" Howell in The Green Mile. A big man, but not as dangerous as his name or nickname implies. (Unless you're a recalcitrant new inmate.)
• Brutus Malfoy, referenced in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Someone had to pave the way.
  • And Brutus Scrimgeour, cited in Quidditch Through the Ages as the author of The Beaters' Bible.

Video Games

• In World of Warcraft, Brutus the Golem pirate.

Western Animation

• Brutus/Bluto from the Popeye cartoon.
• Brutus, the psychotic, hulking guard rat from The Secret of NIMH
• Bruticus, a particularly, um, brutal Combining Mecha in Transformers
• Brutaka from Bionicle.
• In The Rescuers, the villain has two pet alligators named Brutus and Nero. See above.

Real Life

• The original Brutus (Lucius Junius), who ousted Tarquin the Proud, and his descendant Brutus (Marcus Junius the Younger), who betrayed Caesar. At the time, the name only meant "stupid" (or of course by the latter's time, "icon of democracy"), without the connotations of cruelty it would take on in later centuries.

Hawley

Was the first name of Dr. Crippen, a murderer famous in Britain.

Comic Books

• In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore gave this name to the Invisible Man, identifying him as Hawley Griffin. Not only is this a Punny Name kind of like Jackson Ripper, but it foreshadows "dangerous to women" - Crippen murdered his wife, while Griffin is a serial rapist and general Complete Monster.

Theatre

• Hawley was the name of the villain of the musical Rose-Marie.

Web Original

• Survival of the Fittest's Hawley Faust.

Film

• The villain in Red Eye is named Jackson Rippner. He even notes the connotations; and why he never goes by the name Jack.
• General Jack D. Ripper, in Dr. Strangelove is even more directly based on Jack the Ripper.

Live-Action TV

• Don't forget Ripper, who, even 30 years later and much more mellow, is still quite dangerous (technically, he killed Glory/Ben, which means he killed a Hellgod).

Web Comics

• In Miscellaneous Error, the main character is named Jack D. Ripper. The first comic that mentions his last name references both the serial killer and the character from Dr. Strangelove.

Live Action TV

• Arnold Judas Rimmer, for a double dose of treachery.

Video Games

• Saduj in Ultima V betrays the party.
• Judas from Tales of Destiny 2.

Web Original

• During her time on Atop the Fourth Wall, Iron Liz had a murderous doppelgänger named "Judas Liz". The name had a double meaning, as the character was both evil and wore a Judas Priest tee shirt (in contrast to the Iron Maiden tees Liz normally wears).

Lucrezia

It doesn't help that the name also means "Insanity".

Anime and Manga

• Lucrezia Noin from Gundam Wing

Literature

• Lucrezia Borgia is a character in Gregory Maguire's novel "Mirror, Mirror".
• In Going Postal, Adora Belle Dearheart's stiletto shoes are in a style called "Pretty Lucrezia." It fits the trope despite not being the name of a person, because she uses them to attack a drunk (and in The Film of the Book, Moist himself, with whom her relationship is more Slap Slap Kiss than in the novel) and delivers a line about how she doesn't know if she can press them straight to the floor, but is willing to try.

Music

• Lucrecia McEvil from an Earth Wind and Fire song. Also an example of Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • Earth Wind and Fire, Blood Sweat And Tears, what's a couple of words?

Tabletop Games

• Lucrezzia Belladona (belladonna is a type of poison), a mercenary poisoner (and husband killer!) from Warhammer.

Video Games

• The Zork parody of Lucrezia Borgia counterpart Lucrezia Flathead
• A slight variation of the name: Lucrecia from Final Fantasy VII

Web Comics

• Lucrezia Mongfish from Girl Genius, if she is the Other.

Real Life

• The original Lucrezia Borgia, usually (but wrongly) regarded as a notorious poisoner.

Victor or Frankenstein

Any variation; it should be noted, however, that while his creation was a murderer, Dr. Frankenstein himself was not.

Anime and Manga

• Frankenstein: Franky in One Piece
• Franken Fran herself may never be referred to as explicitly as her name is given in the title, but...
• Dr. Franken Stein, an obvious reference in Soul Eater

Comic Books

• Victor Von Doom.

Film

• Casanova Frankenstein, who was used as the movie's villain just because of his awesome name.
• It's pronounced 'Fronkensteen'.

Music

• Not to mention Viktor Vaughn, the sinister street criminal and star of MF DOOM's Concept Album Vaudeville Villain.

Video Games

• Victor: Victor von Gerdenheim in Darkstalkers

Western Animation

• Doctor Vicktor (Benvictor as well) in Ben 10
• (Icky) Vicky from The Fairly Odd Parents.

Real Life

• Some hikers remark that "Frankenstein Cliff" was a tough trail. Seriously, people, with a name like that, you didn't see it coming?

Mordred

Who killed King Arthur, does a double whammy, crossing into the Mor names category.

Literature

• Mordred Deschain in The Dark Tower.

Saint-Just

Might not sound like a threatening name, unless you happen to have studied the French Revolution, where the original was the guy in charge of the Terror. You know, where they chopped off all those peoples heads.

Literature

• David Weber has a habit of throwing him into his books, including the Honor Harrington series, and a mention in Crusader.

Literature

• Herod Sayle in the Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker shares his biblical namesake's desire for infanticide.

Live-Action TV

• Retroactive aversion: Ralph Hinkley on The Greatest American Hero was renamed Ralph Hanley after a man with the name Hinkley attempted to assassinate President Reagan.
• The future humans in The Sarah Connor Chronicles really should have known better than to give the Terminator captain of a submarine the name Queeg, even if they thought it was funny.
• Jesse St. James from Glee - named after Jesse James, obviously.

Gunman with Three Names: any character referred to by three names is likely a killer or dangerous sort, based on the examples of John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray, and Mark David Chapman, famous assassins.

Film

• One of the assorted crazy connections thrown out in the movie Conspiracy Theory is noting that successful assassins are remembered by their full names, but unsuccessful ones by just two.
  • One character makes an implicit accusation about a murder to another character by asking what his middle name is.
• Charles Lee Ray - Charles Manson, Lee Harvey Oswald, and James Earl Ray.

Live-Action TV

• For exampe, Alpha (real names: Carl William Craft) in Dollhouse. It's even lampshaded.
• Not to mention the Saturday Night Live episode in which Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat is assassinated (in circumstances reminiscent of the then-recent attempt on Ronald Reagan's life), conferring instant fame upon his triple-named assassin John David Stutts (also played by Murphy).

Real Life

• When a real-life serial killer's identity is finally established, it's common for the news media to report the full name of the killer, including his middle name, even if the killer never used his middle name in his life. Westley Allan Dodd and John Wayne Gacy are examples. Thus, serial killers tend to be remembered as people with three names.
  • Not so when the middle name is an awkward one.