Names To Run Away From / Biblical Names

Biblical Names
Names To Run Away From / Biblical Names

Absalom
"O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you—O Absalom, my son, my son!" — David, 2 Samuel 18:33 In Jewish tradition, the name Absalom is considered banned or at least bad luck to give to a child, given that the character led a revolt against his father. Doubles as an Ironic Name since it literally means "father of peace."

Anime and Manga In One Piece there is Absalom "of the Graveyard", a mix-and-match man and one of the main villains in Thriller Bark. Also a pervert who uses his invisibility powers to spy on and harass the female Straw Hats. Comic Books

Absalom the External, an immortal mutant and member of an Ancient Conspiracy of villainous immortal mutants from the pages of X-Force. Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer and protagonist of the Doctor Who spin-off comic of the same name. Harry Absalom, an Occult Detective and title character from the 2000 AD comic Absalom. Literature

Absalom, Absalom!, a 1936 Door Stopper by William Faulkner. The Canterbury Tales has a Butt-Monkey character with this name, but that's probably more in reference to him being "pretty" (as was the Biblical character) than because of ill-omens associated with the name. Cry, the Beloved Country features Absalom Kumalo, son of an African preacher who ultimately ends up killing a man (to be fair, it was something of an accident). Live-Action TV

Absalom the Vampire, a member of the Order of Aurelius and villain of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Myths & Religion

The Trope Namer is a character from the Books of Samuel, son of the legendary Israelite king David. Tabletop Games

Absalom is the name of a state in the world of Pathfinder. Video Games

Absalom the Nephilim, a character from the Darksiders series and the surprise Big Bad of Darksiders II. Absalom the sniper, a randomly-encountered enemy and Crazy Survivalist in Fallout 4. Absol the Pokémon, a third-generation Mon which is considered a bad omen due to its attraction to catastrophes.

Adam
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." —Genesis 2:7 The First Man in the Book of Genesis, his name is often used for apocalyptic villains (to represent the loss of Paradise) or whenever an unsavory scientist tries to create life. (Of course, Adam is a very popular name, even in Real Life, and there are plenty of good guys with that name.)

Anime The first, and by far the most powerful angel in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The mere act of waking up this being wiped out half the population of earth and changed most of the major landmass. Oh, and when Adam woke up it's four wings were large enough to be visible from space. Adam the Treasure Tree from One Piece, known in-series for growing the most durable wood in the world. Comic Books

Adam-One of Wanted is an African dictator and one of the five heads of the supervillainous Fraternity, which secretly controls the globe. While one of the more "benevolent" leaders (as in he wants to oppress the common people rather than destroy them all), he is still the supervillain ruler of an entire continent. His choice of name is very deliberate, as he is strongly implied to be the first man (making him an Expy of Vandal Savage). Adam Strange is a subversion, as he is a good-natured hero and longtime ally of the Justice League of America. Subverted with Adam Warlock, who is very deliberately named and created to be a Messianic Archetype. Adam-X of the X-Men was probably named for this reason, seeing as how he is the first known half-human half-Shi'ar. He's a good guy, but he might be worth running away from anyway due to his mutant power of Bloody Murder. Black Adam from DC Comics is very definitely someone you'll want to run away from when he gets mad, as he has a bad habit of ripping people limb from limb. He also gets bonus Adam points for having a group of followers called the Sons of Adam. One of the first Mutant superheroes in any comic medium was Captain Comet of DC Comics, whose real name is Adam Blake. Film

Adam is the vampire lord ruling over the vampiric hierarchy which controls the Southern states in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Adam Bonner, a wealthy New York lawyer and one of the protagonists of the 1949 film Adam's Rib. Adam Raki is the main character of the 2009 film simply titled Adam. Literature

The monster in the original Frankenstein was named Adam, according to Mary Shelley. Adam Link, titular protagonist of Adam Link and a Ridiculously Human Robot who finds a robot girlfriend for himself named (what else?) Eve. Adam Young, the Anti Anti Christ from Good Omens. Live-Action TV

Adam, Frankensteinian Magitek demon-bot on Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Adam-12, an NBC Police Procedural, and the call sign for the patrol car that the protagonists were assigned to. Adam Adamant, main character of The BBC's 1966 series Adam Adamant Lives! Adam Baylin of Kyle XY, Sole Survivor of a breeding program intended to create super-geniuses. Adam Carrington, a villain from the Dynasty soap opera. Adam Goldberg, Adorkable main character of ABC's The Goldbergs. Adam Kane, a scientist in Mutant X who oversees and cares for the titular New Mutants. Adam Milligan, Long-Lost Relative of the Winchester Brothers in Supernatural. Adam Mitchell from Doctor Who, the second companion of the Ninth Doctor. Adam Monroe/Takezo Kensei, of Heroes, who, true to his name, ends up being the forerunner of all of the other superpowered people. Adam Park from the Power Rangers franchise, who bears the distinction of being the third-longest running ranger in the franchise's history. Adam Rimbauer, only son of Ellen Rimbauer in Stephen King's Rose Red. One of the favored aliases for the (oldest known) immortal Methos in Highlander is Adam. Real Life

Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard), a British musician and actor best known for his work with the defunct rock band Adam and the Ants. Adam Baldwin, an American actor known who is best known for the role of Jayne Cobb in Firefly. Adam Beach, a Canadian voice actor best known in the present day for the role of Slipknot in Suicide Squad (2016). Adam Cadre, an American writer best known for 1998's Photopia. Adam Carolla, an American actor/comedian/radio host/podcaster (hey, the guy keeps busy) and former carpenter and amateur boxer from Los Angeles. Adam Curtis, a British filmmaker famous for his famous for documentaries on "power and how it works in society". Adam DeVine, an American actor, comedian, voice actor, singer, screenwriter and producer. Adam Driver, an American actor who is best known for the role of Kylo Ren in Star Wars. Adam Howden, a British voice actor who is best known as the voice of Anders in Dragon Age II. Adam Levine, an American singer who is best known for his work with the pop-rock group Maroon 5. Adam Rose (born Raymond John Leppan), a South African pro wrestler known for his time in the WWE. Adam Sandler, an American actor known for his many starring roles in Hollywood comedies. Adam Smith, 18th century Scottish economist and the Trope Namer for Adam Smith Hates Your Guts. Adam West, an American actor who is best known for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the the classic 1960s Batman series (and for being the Trope Namer on this wiki for Adam Westing). Sir Kenneth Hugo Adam, OBE, a British filmmaker best known for his work in Dr. Strangelove and for credits in no less than seven of the James Bond films. Tabletop Games

Adam is the name of Dr. Mordenheim's monster in the Ravenloft setting, a far more evil Expy of the Frankenstein's Monster. Video Games

Adam is (rather fittingly) the name of the Player Character in Lost Eden. Adam the Nasod King from Elsword, who rules alongside his Nasod Queen who is named (of course) Eve. ADAM and EVE, a pair of artificial genetic substances in the BioShock games. Adam Jensen, augmented human and main protagonist of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Western Animation

Prince Adam is the traditional name for the alter ego of He-Man from the Masters of the Universe.A

Ahab
"Ahab, son of Omri, did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him." —1 Kings 16:30 A wicked king from the Book of Kings, Ahab went down in infamy for wantonly killing his own followers, as well as allowing his wife Jezebel (an infamous Biblical villain in her own right) to lead the nation of Israel into idolatry. He was not a sailor or a proponent of Revenge Before Reason, although a certain Ahab by one Herman Melville would firmly ascribe these qualities to the Ahab name in pop culture. Expect fictional Ahabs to draw mostly from Melville's Ahab, with maybe the odd reference to the Biblical Ahab here and there. He probably won't be a good guy in any form, though.

Ahab is not the Trope Namer for Captain Ahab Syndrome (that's Melville's Ahab again) but most fictional Ahabs will invariably suffer from it anyway.

Anime and Manga Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans has Ahab Reactors which produce Ahab Waves. They're apparently the IBO equivalent of Minovsky Physics. Comic Books

Ahab (real name Rory Campbell) is the name of an X-Men villain who draws heavily from Captain Ahab, to the point of being a Hollywood Cyborg with a peg leg. And much like the Melville Ahab, Rory hunts his own "white whale" (the heroine Rachel Summers, who he enslaved in their shared backstory). Film

Ahab of Father's Day (2011) is a very rare example of a protagonist with this name, though he still shares quite a few similarities with Captain Ahab (obsessed with revenge, wears an eyepatch, stays at one point in a motel called the Queequay). Khan Noonien Singh of the Star Trek movies is another character who takes much of his inspiration from Captain Ahab, and in two films (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: First Contact) lines from Melville's novel are even quoted outright to further hammer this home. In xXx there is a waterborne Attack Drone called the AHAB. Literature

There is a Captain Ahab who appears in the third of the Bloody Jack books. The book takes pains to spell out the Shout-Out by also including an Ishmael. As mentioned above, Captain Ahab of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is a major Trope Codifier for Ahabs, to the point of arguably supplanting the Biblical Ahab in pop culture consciousness. Music

Ahab the band, a German Doom Metal band founded in 2004, draws its inspiration (like most of the other examples here) from Captain Ahab rather than the Biblical Ahab. "Ahab the Arab", a 1962 song by Ray Stevens, is unique for referencing neither King Ahab nor Captain Ahab.

Myths & Religion
In addition to King Ahab, there is also a second Biblical Ahab who subverts this trope, an "impious prophet" who is referenced once in the Book of Jeremiah. Video Games

Venom Snake of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is also known as Ahab V, due to his association with an Ishmael (who is actually Naked Snake, later Big Boss). The Ahab is the name of a Cool Airship in Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. Western Animation

One scene in Ace Combat Infinity features a reference to Captain Ahab. The talking book Adventure from The Pagemaster at one point refers to Captain Ahab, calling him "my kind of guy". Captain Koinelius Tunar of ThunderCats (2011) is yet another Captain Ahab Expy who cannot help but quote from the Melville Ahab. The X-Men villain Ahab detailed above makes an appearance in X-Men (1993) as the boss of the fourth level, Ahab's Future World.

Apocalypse Proof that Adaptation Displacement is Older Than Dirt, Apocalypse was originally a term used to describe writings of a prophetic nature (the literal Greek meaning is "uncovering") before being displaced by the Book of Revelation into a term for the end of the world. You can safely bet on any character with this name either being a... well, apocalyptic type, usually a Omnicidal Maniac and/or Straw Nihilist villain bent on The End of the World as We Know It. If not one of those, expect a character explicitly created as a subversion. Comic Books Apocalypse, the immortal X-Men supervillain who wants to transform the world to fit his Social Darwinistic vision. Darkseid of the New Gods lives on a fiery Death World called Apokolips. Film

Apocalypse Now, a (loose) 1979 adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Apocalypto, a 2004 film by Mel Gibson unique for rendering all of its dialogue in a modern approximation of the lost Mayan language. 2004's Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the second film in the Resident Evil film series. 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, the ninth film in the X-Men Film Series and featuring as its Big Bad a (loose interpretation of) the X-Men supervillain described above. Real Life

Two Six Flags roller coasters bear this name, one at Six Flags America in Maryland and one at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California. Apocalypsis is the name of a particular genus of moth. Tabletop Games

The third expansion set in Magic: The Gathering's Invasion Cycle is named Apocalypse, a very fitting name as the story details the arrival of Magic uber-Big Bad Yawgmoth to Dominaria and the climatic end of the Phyrexian Invasion. Werewolf: The Apocalypse, the second Role-Playing Game from White Wolf's Old World of Darkness. Video Games

X-COM: Apocalypse, the third game in the X-COM series. X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, a 1994 side-scrolling beat-em-up released by Capcom. As with the film detailed above, it features Apocalypse as its titular Big Bad, though he suffers from Hijacked by Ganon courtesy of Magneto. X-Men: The Ravages of Apocalypse, a 1997 Quake conversion unique for its gimmick of using X-Men characters as the Mooks that your character has to kill off en masse. Like the previous two X-Men examples, its name is no accident as Apocalypse is the game's Big Bad (despite also being Hijacked by Ganon in this game). Web Comics

Subverted/Parodied in this Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal strip. Doctor Apocalypse is actually the hero trying to stop the child-murdering "superhero" Armageddon

Armageddon  u

Delilah "Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee." — Delilah, Judges 16:6 The notorious seductress who betrayed Samson in the Book of Judges. While Samson's name suggests a violent killer, Delilah's tends to suggest a sinister temptress. Despite (or perhaps because of) this, most uses of this name in modern day works are subversions.

See Samson and Delilah for a listing of tropes related to Delilah herself.

Comic Books Spider-Man villain the Rose (Jacob Conover) employed a cybernetic female enforcer named Delilah, both as a bodyguard and an assassin. (Unlike her namesake, she seemed to have Undying Loyalty towards him.) Fan Works

Old West has a female outlaw named Delilah Rangler, also known as the Scarlet Kiss. Her nickname comes from her habit of leaving a bright red lipstick-kiss on the cheeks of her every murder victim. Her origins are mysterious, with one version of the story saying that she shot her unfaithful husband in revenge and became addicted to the killing sensation. Film

Delilah Johnson, a deconstruction of the unfortunate Mammy archetype in Imitation of Life (1934). Lilah, Action Girl and love interest of Jonah Hex in the 2010 film Jonah Hex. Literature

Delilah the Badass Israeli and love interest of Hitman with a Heart John Rain from Barry Eisler's John Rain. She works as a Honey Trap for Mossad, so it's a Meaningful Name, though not for the protagonist. Delilah D'Artigo, a werecat from The Otherworld Series. Live-Action TV

Lilah Morgan is the name of an evil lawyer on Angel. Subverted in NCIS; Delilah, who first appeared in Season 10 as Tim McGee's new girlfriend, has since then proven to be a likable character and steadfastly faithful to Tim. Real Life

Delilah is the name of a particular genus of longhorn beetle. Video Games

Delilah Copperspoon, a witch and DLC Big Bad from the Dishonored games. June A. Delilah, a deuteragonist in Firewatch and The Voice who is communicated with but never seen. Western Animation

In the second season of Gargoyles, Thailog makes a fused clone of Demona and Elisa Maza, naming her Delilah. Delilah Devonshire is one of the two teenage spies and title characters in the Canadian Animated Series Delilah & Julius.

d.

Names from The Bible tend to imposing and vaguely supernatural. Cain is a very popular example, to the point that it has its own page; See Name of Cain. Demons and Angels also have their own page.

his is a subset of Names To Run Away From: Religious Names.

See Biblical Bad Guy when you've actually got the real deal making an appearance.

Bad Guys
Biblical Bad Guy Main Create New

The bad guys from The Bible are well known and as such don't require introduction, and everyone knows they are evil. The really handy thing is that many of them are regularly theorized to be cursed with immortality as part of their punishment for being bad guys, providing a decent reason for them to show up in any time period.

Note: Satan, God Is Evil, The Pharaoh of the Exodus and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse have their own tropes.

Note 2: Simply sharing a name with any of these is symbolic, but not enough for a character to qualify. They have to actually be the same person as the one in the Bible to be this trope. If the name is the only connection, see Names To Run Away From: Biblical Names. See also the Name of Cain and The Descendants of Cain.

Not to be confused with Churchgoing Villain.