History Main / SpellMyNameWithAThe

* In Season 10, ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' finally got on this boat [[spoiler: introducing a primordial monster known simply as "The Darkness". She eventually gets the name Amara when she's born into a human baby's body, but before that, she was just "The Darkness", even to Death, who is as old as God]].

** Likewise "The" Real Thing, who in their heyday usually credited themselves as Real Thing - but the one single where they had a "The" became their biggest hit and SignatureSong and they couldn't shake it off after that. Since reforming they've just accepted it and call themselves The Real Thing. For real.

'''Zaphod Beeblebrox''': No, ''A'' Zaphod Beeblebrox. Haven't you heard, I come in six-packs.

-->'''Greatmouth Mob''': Today will see this Major's first clash of Grand Knight on Grand Knight! With the honor of 'the T, the H, and the E' on their titles, that's all you need to hear to know what these knights are about!

-->'''The Flesh''': Same as mine...The!

* The Drummer in ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}''. First name ''the'', second name ''Drummer''.

* The Leewit from ''Literature/TheWitchesOfKarres'' by Creator/JamesHSchmitz. You do ''not'' want her to [[MakeMeWannaShout whistle]] at you, which she might if you call her just "Leewit". Then again, she [[EnfantTerrible might]] whistle at you ''anyway''. As it turns out, the Leewit was named according to a tradition restricting the name to one living person, and that the name is a descriptive word. It ''then'' turns out that the Leewit is the originator of this tradition, and that the word 'Leewit'' means "[[ShapedLikeItself like the Leewit]]".

* In ''Film/{{Jackdaw,}}, at one Jack Dawson refers to himself as "the Jackdaw", later on in the film Bo lists this as [[IHaveManyNames one of Jack's monikers]].

Some people want you to put a "The" before their name. [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Avoid these people]]. (In particular, if the name does not sound like an ordinary name -- say, "the Ice" -- then [[TheMafia do not borrow money from them]], or at least make very ''very'' sure to keep up with the payments and then some.) For two particularly ominous versions, see TheMaster and TheButcher.

** ''Kung Fu Panda 4'' introduces The Chameleon as the BigBad, who is always referred as such by other characters, ''especially'' Po.

* A pretty bad example is ''Film/AttackOfTheTheEyeCreatures''. The title was originally supposed to be "The Eye Creatures", but it was given the prefix "Attack of the" ''without'' removing the "the" that was already there.

** In ''ComicBook/ManOfSteel2018'', Superman runs into Toyman, who resents to not be called ''THE Toyman'':

* In ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheAttackOfTheAnnihilator'', the titular villains insists that his name is "''THE'' Annihilator".

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Characters/LoisLane subverts this when operating as "Stiletto".

* ''Series/WandaVision'': On the deed for the lot Vision bought in Westview with the intent of building a house and settling down with Wanda, his name is listed as "The Vision". Hayward also constantly refers to him as "The Vision" as a means of dehumanizing him, since to him, Vision's not a person but an expensive sentient weapon to use for his agenda.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Played with. The Monarch tells Hank that he is listed in the Guild of Calamitous Intent's books under M, for Monarch. Or possibly T, for The Monarch. This also applies to his wife, nee Dr. Girlfriend, later known as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch.

Another particular use of this trope involves the use of emphasized "the"s -- in text, written in either bold or italic fonts (or both) -- to refer to someone or something that is well-known and/or set the current bar for other examples like it down the line, as if to say "this is the ''real'' deal." In [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wiki]], it is customary to do this with {{Trope Codifier}}s, such as:

* '''''[[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The]]''''' MonsterClown.
* '''''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} The]]''''' {{Superhero}}.
* '''''[[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} The]]''''' {{Kaiju}}.
* '''''[[ComicBook/PlasticMan The]]''''' RubberMan.
* And many more...

** Defied in ''ComicBook/SupermanSmashesTheKlan'' by Creator/DCZoom. When Superman makes his DynamicEntry:

* The original alias of Oroku Saki in ''ComicBook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' was actually "The Shredder". As time went by and subsequent [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles media]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 adaptations]] left their mark on the franchise, he is now more commonly referred as simply "Shredder".

* Most of the Creator/{{CBBC}} presenting puppets have this, with their names actually being Edd ''The'' Duck, Gordon ''T.'' Gopher, and Oucho ''T.'' Cactus. However, since Hacker T Dog and Dodge T Dog's mother is referred to as "Mrs T Dog", it's possible that their T doesn't stand for "the" at all, it's just a part of their surname. Similarly, in TheChristmasAnnual, an interview with Gordon has him specifically state the T doesn't stand for "The" ... although he refuses to say [[EmbarassingMiddleName what it does stand for]].

* The Prophets on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' exclusively refer to Sisko as "The Sisko". Which becomes kind of hilarious when you start thinking about his several no-nonsense kick-ass actions throughout the series.
** They also call Grand Nagus Zek "The Zek," but they only mention him once in the entire series, so it goes mostly unnoticed.
** Also, in the [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]] episode "Who Watches the Watchers?", Picard is referred to as "The Picard"
--->"I believe I have seen the Overseer. He is called 'The Picard.'"
** Starships are frequently referred to as "the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Enterprise]]''" or "the ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Defiant]]''". Only a few rare examples are averted, such as ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' and ''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]'' NX-01. And then ''Series/StarTrekPicard'' gives us ''La Sirena'', which means "The Mermaid".

* '''''[[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors The]]''''' [[TheNthDoctor cross-actor character]].

* Plenty of {{Creepypasta}} [[EldritchAbomination monsters]] and [[HumanoidAbomination Humanoid Abominations]] apparently also like to spell their names with a "The", including WebOriginal/TheRake and [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos The Slender Man]], amongst others.

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", Constantius also goes by "the Falcon". He doesn't insist on the "the" though.

* ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids''[='=]s Madame Tarsa is sometimes known as just "the Interdimensional Toymaker" or "the Toymaker". There is also "the Imperial Imperator" and "the Frost King," for whom [[NoNameGiven no other names are ever mentioned]], although it is less clear that they see these monikers as names rather than titles.
* ''Franchise/TheDarkTower''. Roland Deschain, a.k.a. "The Gunslinger".

--> '''Spike:''' Bird! Pinkie! Sup?
--> '''The Bird:''' It's pronounced ''The'' Bird.
--> '''Spike:''' Right, right.