# Reaction to Superhero Alter-Ego Puns
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** comic-books-manga
**Created:** [November 29, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745 "2022-11-29T16:15:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/1 "2022-11-29T16:15:28Z")
Hi SD,
I am curious as to how the general public reacted to superheroes whose alter-egos or “normal names” were most obviously puns. Did creating such wordplay dilute the effectiveness of said superhero?
Examples: Wolverine: James Howlett “howl at” the moon, obvious wolf reference, even though a wolf is different from a wolverine. Maybe I’m overthinking it. Wonder Woman: Diana Prince (she’s a princess, right? Princess Diana reference?) Black Cat: Felicia Hardy (Feline is in her name). Some of these just go for it: Doctor Octopus–Otto Octavius (reference to his octopus-like appearance.)
What’s the purpose of making an alter-ego name based off wordplay? I know I’m missing others. I can’t think of them right now.
Thanks,
Dave
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### Author:  [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/2 "2022-11-29T16:18:27Z")
I think a large part of it is that until the recent trend of huge budget movie hero adaptations, that Super hero comics weren’t considered entirely serious by any means. Yes, there were more serious stories/takes, and certain comics were far more serious than others, but overall? No, they were fun, and fun geared at (in general) a younger audience.
I think the first comic series that I read that treated most of the matter as serious was Frank Miller’s Batman: the Dark Knight Returns (1986). To me, that was a turning point not just for ‘gritty’ comics, but a more serous tone for most of the medium.
So no, it didn’t dilute the effectiveness in any way.
And here’s a link for more examples -
> **[The 10 Most Clever Name-Puns and Pun-Names In Comics | Joystick Division](https://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/02/the_10_most_clever_names_in_comics.php)**
>
> These superhero and villain names hint at the character's power or backstory with a firm knock on the fourth wall -- and here's Topless Robot's 10 favorites.
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/3 "2022-11-29T16:40:27Z")
> [@pianodave](#):
>
> What’s the purpose of making an alter-ego name based off wordplay?
It’s partly a belief in fate. Of course the mad scientist Otto Octavian was going to end up as an Octopus, how could he not?
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### Author:  [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/4 "2022-11-29T16:40:45Z")
> [@pianodave](#):
>
> Wonder Woman: Diana Prince (she’s a princess, right? Princess Diana reference?)
I am not a comic book historian, but I’m pretty sure she was using alias Diana Prince long long long before Charles started looking for a wife. Per Wikipedia, she was using that alias in the 60s.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/5 "2022-11-29T16:44:24Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#):
>
> Yes, there were more serious stories/takes, and certain comics were far more serious than others, but overall? No, they were fun, and fun geared at (in general) a younger audience.
This, for sure. The primary audience was kids, and funny, punny, or alliterative\* names were very common. There was little, or no, attempt to make the names realistic.
\*- Just how many people in Superman’s sphere have the initials “LL,” anyway? 😃
Edit: Also, regarding Wolverine/James Howlett, that alter-ego name was a retcon, given to him in a 2001 comic book, almost thirty years after the character was created. Prior to that, he was always known as/referred to as “Logan.”
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/6 "2022-11-29T16:52:00Z")
“Diana Prince” goes back to the origins of Wonder Woman in the 1940s. It’s not a reference to Charles’s first wife, but it is still a pun. Her given name is Diana, and she is literally a princess (as in, the daughter of the Queen of the Amazons).
Harley Quinn’s real name (“Harleen Quinzel”) just kind of annoys me, as it’s so obviously made up for the sake of the pun. I have never met anyone in real life named “Harleen.” Have you?
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/7 "2022-11-29T16:56:13Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> Harley Quinn’s real name (“Harleen Quinzel”) just kind of annoys me, as it’s so obviously made up for the sake of the pun
I always thought it was a bit of meta humor about that very thing. Of course no one would be named Harleen Quinzell.
It would be more likely for someone to be named Harley, really. I’ve known people of various genders named after the motorcycle.
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### Author:  [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/8 "2022-11-29T17:00:50Z")
Right, things like this. Dr. Doom being named Von Doom. I mean, come one. There’s Thulsa Doom too I guess.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/9 "2022-11-29T17:03:24Z")
> [@pianodave](#):
>
> Right, things like this. Dr. Doom being named Von Doom. I mean, come one.
Again…originally written for kids, for whom silly, non-realistic names were a feature, not a bug. The modern books, films, and TV shows, intended for an audience which includes adults, inherited the silly names.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/10 "2022-11-29T17:15:53Z")
What about alliterative names?
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lpm6TPIZts)
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/11 "2022-11-29T17:18:33Z")
Didn’t Stan Lee admit at one point that he did that in part because he had trouble remembering all those names? Making them alliterative was a crutch.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/12 "2022-11-29T17:18:38Z")
My least favourite: by day, he’s mild-mannered king Blackagar Boltagon, but by night he fights crime as Black Bolt!
Ugh.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/13 "2022-11-29T17:47:53Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> I have never met anyone in real life named “Harleen.” Have you?
Never met one, no. But it’s apparently an Indian name since Googling gives Harleen Deol, Harleen Singh, Harleen Rai, Harleen Chahil, and on and on. Quinzel is also a real name.
I can’t figure out who the “general public” is in the OP. The point of alter egos is that the general public would never know them. Only readers did, and they were like an insiders club who were gleeful to be let into the secret. A very young club. J’onn J’onzz became John Jones in 1955 when DC was pitching books to 10-year-olds after the Comic Code was imposed.
The really punny names came even later, first because of Stan Lee’s sense of humor. That’s exactly why kids up through college age bought Marvel. If you didn’t like the humor you stuck with DC and the names didn’t matter. Most of the names in the OP are from much later because comics became camp and deliberately silly under a violent core.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/14 "2022-11-29T17:50:43Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#):
>
> I have never met anyone in real life named “Harleen.” Have you?
The actress the character was based on was **Arleen** Sorkin.
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### Author:  [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/15 "2022-11-29T18:01:31Z")
I think I remember there was one version of Aquaman with the last name “Waterman.” Pretty lazy, IMO. 🙂
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### Author:  [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/16 "2022-11-29T18:04:43Z")
> [@Horatius](#):
>
> Didn’t Stan Lee admit at one point that he did that in part because he had trouble remembering all those names? Making them alliterative was a crutch.
Didn’t always work. See Bruce Banner becoming Bob Banner.
Hence the later “revelation” that his full name was actually _Robert_ Bruce Banner. Sure, Stan.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/17 "2022-11-29T19:05:12Z")
And Kenneth Johnson, executive producer of the _Incredible Hulk_ TV series renamed him to David Bruce Banner partly because he hatred alliterative comic book names.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/18 "2022-11-29T19:10:22Z")
> [@pianodave](#):
>
> I think I remember there was one version of Aquaman with the last name “Waterman.” Pretty lazy, IMO. 🙂
Although Aquaman’s real name is Arthur Curry (look it up), in an early issue of _Justice League of America_ a couple of the Justice Leaguers find him in a dockside bar under the name “C. King”. Either the writer didn’t know about his real name, or he was going undercover (he was dressed in civilian garb, and obviously not being Aquaman).
But, come on – seriously? “C. King”?
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### Author:  [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/19 "2022-11-29T19:12:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> But, come on – seriously? “C. King”?
“Hey, man, I just invent [helicopters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_CH-124_Sea_King)!”
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reaction-to-superhero-alter-ego-puns/975745/20 "2022-11-29T19:21:38Z")
> [@pianodave](#):
>
> Did creating such wordplay dilute the effectiveness of said superhero?
What?
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