Random Characters Whose Real Names You Never Actually Knew (18 items)

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  (#9) Pepper Potts

  • Iron Man: Armored Adventures, Iron Man 3, The Invincible Iron Man, The Avengers, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Marvel Universe

  Few CEOs of multibillion-dollar corporations are known by a nickname, but Pepper Potts is an exception to the rule. Whether it's in the pages of Marvel Comics or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pepper is only rarely referred to by her real name of Virginia. "Pepper," as it turns out, was a childhood nickname based on her red hair and freckles.

  And, apparently, Tony Stark makes a habit of hiring the permanently nicknamed. In addition to Pepper, there's also Harold "Happy" Hogan to consider - with Happy being an ironic moniker from his professional wrestling days due to his frequent grumpy behavior.
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  (#17) Lex Luthor

  • Smallville, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, Batman vs. Superman, Superman, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Superman: Doomsday, Superman II, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Superman Returns, All-Star Superman, The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, DC Universe

  Lex Luthor, like countless other notable comic book characters, has a name defined by its pleasant alliteration - something he inherited from his father, Lionel Luthor. But Lex had to do some serious shortening in order to achieve that desired effect, because it actually says Alexander Joseph Luthor on his birth certificate.

  Alexander actually went by the nickname of “Albie” as a child, but by the time he was ready to create the LexCorp brand, he was going by “Lex” full time. Other versions of the character from throughout the DC Multiverse occasionally use Alexander, including a more altruistic Alexander Luthor from Earth-Three.
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  (#18) Bucky Barnes

  • Ultimate Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel Universe

  Everybody knows Steve Rogers's best friend and sidekick as Bucky Barnes. In fact, the moniker is so ubiquitous that it ends up being used as his codename, too, as in Captain America and Bucky. But it’s quite obviously short for something, and that something is Bucky’s middle name.

  Born as James Buchanan Barnes, Bucky was probably named after the 15th president of the United States. Even as an adult - and even after a half-century of suspended animation - he still goes by his childhood nickname, and only rarely answers to James.
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  (#12) Indiana Jones

  • The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Disaster Movie, The People vs. George Lucas, Indiana Jones franchise

  Indiana Jones's true name is Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr., but that’s not something audiences found out until Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when they met Henry Walton Jones Sr. - Indy’s father, as portrayed by Sean Connery. And Jones Sr. was even kind enough to inform viewers of the origin of the nickname while he was at it, when he tersely noted, "We named the dog 'Indiana.'"

  The full heartwarming backstory involves young Henry Jr. falling so in love with his pet dog that he ends up taking on its name as a tribute. It's also a nod to the fact that George Lucas named the character after his own dog, an Alaskan malamute - who just so happened to provide the inspiration for Chewbacca's appearance as well.
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  (#3) E.T.’s Real Name Is Zrek

  Everyone in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial refers to the central alien figure as just “E.T.” - that’s even what he calls himself when he infamously insists, "E.T. phone home." But that’s just an acronym for extraterrestrial, which is what he is, and surely he had some other moniker before he made his journey to Earth.

  According to an unused script treatment for an E.T. sequel written by Steven Spielberg, the alien’s actual name is Zrek. That’s something Elliott would have found out when evil albino versions of E.T.’s race came looking for him with ill intentions - so, perhaps he’s better off having never found out.
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  (#2) Cookie Monster

  • Sesame Street, Big Bird in China, Elmo's Christmas Countdown, Cinderelmo, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Don't Eat the Pictures, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Sesame Street

  Even monsters have names. Even... Cookie Monsters. But for decades, no one thought twice about the fact that other Sesame Street stars like Oscar, Bert, and Elmo got regular people names - and Cookie Monster was only ever referred to in terms of his gluttonous appetite.

  It wasn't until 2004 that Cookie Monster first revealed that, before he developed his dietary compulsion, he was named Sid. Six years later, Cookie Monster tweeted the full truth: "Me wasn't born with name 'Cookie Monster.' It just nickname dat stuck. Me don't remember me real name... maybe it was Sidney?"

  It's nice to have confirmation, but the tweet also seems to suggest that Cookie Monster is so lost within the throes of his baked-goods habit that he no longer recalls his own name - and that's pretty tragic by Sesame Street standards.

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