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File:Superman animated 1 1492.jpg

So... um... is the show about Batman?

The Character Title is one of the easiest ways to name a work of fiction. Just take the name of a character and use it for the name of the series. The eponymous character is usually, but not always, the protagonist. A possible downfall of this trope is that if the show is a live-action, should the actor playing the title character decides to quit, it could spell the end of the show.

See also Antagonist Title, Secondary Character Title, and Role Called, which takes it further, inserting the character's title too. Another variation is Character Name and the Noun Phrase. If two people are in there, see Name and Name. If the eponymous character doesn't appear until the end, this character is The Namesake. Biopics are especially prone to this for obvious reasons, often in the form of Mononymous Biopic Title.

Compare Job Title, which is where the work is named after a character's occupation; and The Place, in which it is named after a location. It may change over time due to Spotlight-Stealing Title. Contrast I Am Not Shazam, where people assume the series' name is the character's name. See the Protagonist Title Fallacy for the false assumption that only protagonists' names are used in Character Titles. In literary circles this is called an eponym, a term also used to refer to The Namesake. Also note that you won't see Media Research Failure.

Examples (by original medium):

Anime and Manga[]

Comic Books[]

99% of all comic book superheroes fall into this trope. Notable exception, however, is Shazam, which of course leads to a different trope...

Nonetheless, Gotta Catch Em All, so...

Supervillains[]

  • Joker (Not a comic series so much as a Graphic Novel; not to be confused with The Joker, which was a short-lived series from the Seventies. Three guesses who it features...)
  • Venom (Although his miniseries titles often had sub-titles such as "Lethal Protector" or "The Hunger".)
  • Harley Quinn (Not many issues of this series; it's become Harley-based stories in the main series now as far as I'm aware...)

Non-superhero characters[]


Fan Works[]


Film[]


Literature[]


Live Action TV[]


Music[]

When bands do this with their albums, it's a Self-Titled Album.

Songs titled after the person they are about:

  • Alex Chilton
  • Andy Warhol
  • Angie
  • Aqualung
  • Billie Jean
  • Charlie Brown
  • Delilah
  • Della Brown
  • Eleanor Rigby
  • Jack and Diane
  • James Dean
  • Jesus of Suburbia
  • Jimmy
  • Jolene
  • Layla
  • Lola
  • Lump
  • Mr. Crowley
  • Mary Long (a No Celebrities Were Harmed Deep Purple stab at Mary Whitehouse)
  • Tom Sawyer
  • Ziggy Stardust

Newspaper Comics[]


Theater[]


Video Games[]


Western Animation[]


Web Animation[]


Web Comics[]

  • Axe Cop
  • Bug
  • Checkerboard Nightmare
  • Dominic Deegan
  • Erma
  • The Fourth takes it's title from Lord Tiberius Skarva IV.
  • Gene Catlow, though it focuses on secondary characters much more often... Gene probably has plurality of screen time, at least.
  • Jack
  • Keiki (Same name as the smart girl among the main characters, who herself is named after the Hawaiian word for "child." Thus, the title could refer to any of the Hawaiian children among the main characters, which is convenient since Keiki's prominence has decreased over the years.)
  • Poharex
  • Problem Sleuth
  • Ratfist
  • Rice Boy
  • Wigu (although the character's name is derived from the acronym of a former strip, When I Grow Up)
  • Zap!
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