Sdrawkcab Name: Difference between revisions
→Agnam dna Emina: Adding example
m (update links) |
(→Agnam dna Emina: Adding example) |
||
| (23 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope|wppage=Ananym}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"Hello, my name is Mr. Snrub, and I come from, er... someplace far away!"''|'''{{spoiler|[[Captain Obvious|Mr. Burns]]}}''', ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''}}
Line 7 ⟶ 6:
When someone has to think of a pseudonym for themselves, an oddly popular choice is their own name, but written backwards. You'd expect them to be more imaginative, and smart enough to realize that such a pseudonym can easily give away your true identity. Sure enough, most of the time someone notices, often by exclaiming "(Eman Sdrawckab) spelled backwards is (Backwards Name)!"
The technical term for this is an "Ananym". (And yes, it does spell "My Nana" if written backwards). On a technical note, this trope is much more interesting depending on whether it's the ''sounds'' or ''letters'' that have been reversed, compared with whether it occurs in written or spoken form. For example, compare "[[Who Wants to Be a Superhero?|Rotiart]]" (Roh-Tee-Art) to "traitor" (Tray-Tor); the letters are reversed, but the way English language rules work, the result comes out with noticeably different syllabic parsing and verbal rhythm. You might spot the trope in writing, but it sounds like a genuine name when spoken aloud. Conversely, reversing the syllables instead of the spelling can pass in writing, but may sound obvious when spoken out loud.
Also note that some other languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, assign ''whole syllables'' to each character, so while the names really ''were'' spelled backwards in their native alphabet, their English equivalents got [[Lost in Translation]]. This includes palindromes, such as "[[Love Hina|Maeda Ema]]" (spelled Ma-e-da-E-ma) and "[[Infinite Stratos|Yamada Maya]]" (Ya-ma-da-Ma-ya).
Sometimes, the reversed spelling may be altered to look a little more plausible and/or be easier to pronounce, like "'''st'''raw'''ck'''ab" instead of "'''sd'''raw'''kc'''ab"
Compare [[Steven Ulysses Perhero]]. [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Significant Anagram]]. See [[Alucard]] for a specific example that is so prevalent as to [[Stealth Pun|count]] as its own trope.
{{examples}}▼
''This very trope'' plays with [[Everything's Better with Bob]].
▲{{examples}}
== Gnisitrevda ==
* Old example: Serutan, as its commercials would point out, was "natures" spelled backwards. ''[[Bored of the Rings]]'' appropriated the brand name for its parody counterpart of Saruman. The commercials themselves were spoofed by the chapter title "Serutan Spelled Backwards Is Mud".
** ''[[Mad Magazine]]'' also referenced it in "Gasoline Valley":
{{quote|
"What a dopey kid! Anybody knows that Skizziks spelled backwards is 'natures'!" }}
* Tobor, an imaginatively-named children's toy from [[The Seventies]], advertised during the one and only televised broadcast of ''[[The Star Wars Holiday Special]]''. And [[Viewers are Morons|just in case you didn't get it]], the commercial's narrator helpfully points out, "Tobor is "robot" spelled backwards!" See it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nzARRvoHS8 here].
* Evian (a brand of bottled water) spelled backwards yields "naive", which is too tempting to use as a [[Take That]] in places where you can get clean drinking water off the tap.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''
▲== Agnam & Emina ==
** In the dub version of the KC Grand Prix ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' arc, Yugi's grandpa disguises himself as a duelist named Apnarg to enter a tournament. If [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] were a bit more clever, they could've gone with Nomolos.
** Otes in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS]]'', the [[Mysterious Backer]] to the heroes. His name is "Seto" spelled backwards, as he is clearly supposed to be an [[Expy]] of Seto Kaiba.
* This is what clues Goku in to Uub being the reincarnation of the evil Buu in the final episodes of ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. Considering Uub had no idea he was Buu's reincarnation, this makes it an awfully convenient name.
* Dr. Mashirito, the [[Mad Scientist]] antagonist in ''[[Doctor Slump]]'' was named after Toriyama's editor at the time, whose surname was Torishima. It may not be obvious, but written in the Japanese syllable-alpabet, it is indeed a Sdrawkcab Name. To western eyes, it just looks like an anagram.
* Toriyama loves this one. He recently revealed in an interview that Mr. Satan's (whose [[Family Theme Naming]] involves devil puns) moniker is just a wrestling stage name. His real name? Mark. A bit of a [[Lost in Translation]] pun to American audiences: pronounced with a Japanese accent, it sounds like "Maaku." Reverse the order of the syllables and you get "Akuma," [[Bilingual Bonus|a Japanese word meaning "devil" or "demon."]]
* In ''[[Princess Nine]]'', Nene disguises Kanako by reversing the syllables in her
* ''[[Soul Eater]]''
** Maka Albarn wields a scythe. Fitting, seeing as the word for "scythe" in Japanese is "kama"....
** It's not just
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]''
** Should probably be in "Theater", but it was from the first ''[[Sera Myu]]'' summer special. The young man known as Saito Kun reveals himself to actually be Kunzite.
** In the manga short story ''Ami-chan's First Love'' (and in the anime special based on it) Ami's mysterious rival known as "Mercurius" turns out to be a local geek named Kurume Suuri, and he even explains how he came up with this pseudonym.<ref>His name in Japanese is read ''Suuri Kurume''; reversing the syllable order produces ''Merukuriusu'', which is the Japanese rendition of "Mercurius".</ref>
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' already features Mine Yoshizaki's [[Author Avatar]] (known as Yoshizaki-sensei), but there's also a background character called ''Yoshi Mine''zaki - she's an [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]] who could be easily mistaken for a [[Stringy
* Part of the [[Dub Name Change]] for the American version of ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'' involved renaming characters Kish and Tart to Dren and Tarb. That's a fair (if teeth-grindingly dumb) description of [[Bratty Half-Pint|Tart]], but [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] apparently thinks "nerd" is synonymous with [[Stalker with a Crush]].
* In an omake gag 4-koma in ''[[Full Moon o Sagashite]]'', Mitsuki Kouyama wonders what her name would be if she was a shinigami. Takuto thinks up her name backwards, "Mayauko Kitsumi". None of them like it.
Line 47 ⟶ 49:
* The [[Grand Finale]] of the original [[Lupin III]] manga series featured the [[Musical Assassin]] Ataginez. {{spoiler|Turns out it's Inspector Zenigata in disguise.}}
* The Fuji television block [[NoitaminA]]
== Semag Drac ==▼
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'':▼
** [http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=37 Nevinyrral's Disk], a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Larry Niven]] (and specifically to his story "[[The Magic Goes Away (novel)|The Magic Goes Away]]"). To wit, that story contains a magical disk that destroys all magic in the vicinity when activated, and that is precisely what the card does.▼
** The Citanul Druids (and other such) -- "Citanul" becomes "lunatic"....▼
== Skoob Cimoc ==
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]''
** In the Fleetway continuity, Dr. Robotnik used to be a friend of Sonic's, a kindly scientist called Dr. [[Meaningful Name|Ovi]] Kintobor. In one of the novels, Sonic goes back in time before the transformation occurs, nearly blurting out Robotnik's name at one point before realising that, while Kintobor is a little ditzy at times, he's not stupid.
** He was also called Kintobor in the [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Archie Comic series]]. ''Julian'' Kintobor, at that. "Julian Kintobor of the House of Ivo", fully. (In SatAM, he was called "Julian", but no last name was given.)
Line 62 ⟶ 57:
* Another Golden Age villain named "Dr. Doog", in the origin of Starman, was reused in ''[[All-Star Squadron]]''. It was originally supposed to be "[[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Doom]]" and needed to be changed, but the new name happens to be "Good" backwards (in other words, evil).
* In DC Comics, the extradimensional imp [[Superman|Mr. Mxyzptlk]] can (usually) only be banished by somehow tricking him into saying his name backwards.
** Also from Superman there is Htrae, the Bizarro World.
* One story of the ''Turma da Mônica'' (''[[Monica's Gang]]'') comics had Monica, Cebolinha/Jimmy Five and Cascão/Smudge meeting a knight named Rengaw (actually an RPG-obsessed man living in his very own fantasy world) and getting captured by a dragon. At one point, Cebolinha [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this by saying that Rengaw's name is just "Wagner" backwards, implying that this might be Rengaw's real name.
* In Spanish comic-book ''[[Superlopez]]'', the spell destroying the Lord of the Pacifiers is ''Etev la oonreuk'', a slight modification of a backwards ''Vete al cuerno'', which is Spanish for ''Get lost''.
* Zatanna doesn't reverse her name, but her magical spells are spoken through backwards words (but the sentence will still be read right-to-left). For example, if she wanted a nice frosty one she'd say "Teg em a reeb!"
** Her evil counterpart from another universe (featured in Countdown), however, was indeed named Annataz Arataz.
* ''[[Green Lantern]]'' sees a lot of these in the new Lanterns. Many names are simply the names of creators backwards, for example Isamot Kol's first name is Peter Tomasi's last name backwards. Sn'hoj of the Sinestro Corps is clearly backwards Geoff Johns. Duel Eknham for Doug Mahnke, and a number of others.
* An early ''[[Batman]]'' comic had a criminal masquerading as record shop owner "Old man [[The Joker|Rekoj]]". He has also gone by Dr. J. Reko, [[Depraved Dentist|DDS]].
* There is some [[Wild Mass Guessing|fan speculation]] that master of disguise [[Zeroes and Ones|Eno Orez]] from Motter and Lark's ''Terminal City'' is a robot.
Line 79 ⟶ 74:
* [[Mandrake]]'s [[Mirror World]] counterpart Ekardnam.
* A [[Carl Barks]] story featured female creatures called "larkies". When disguised as males, the called themselves "eikrals". Each larkie's eikral counterpart has a name that's the larkie's name spelled backwards. For example, the larkie named Agnes became an eikral named Senga.
* While not strictly a name, per se, the "magic word" which triggers [[Miracleman]]'s [[Transformation Sequence]] is "kimota". [[Alan Moore]]'s [[
== Repapswen -- Scimoc ==▼
* During his tenure as writer on ''[[Dick Tracy]],'' Max Allan Collins was fond of giving his villains last names that were words describing them, spelled backwards.▼
* In ''[[Terry and the Pirates]]'', the Dragon Lady sometimes used the alias Miss Nogard.▼
* In ''[[FoxTrot]]'', Eileen uses the on-line handle 'Sgt. Neelie'.▼
== Skrow Naf ==
* This trope is quite often used in Russian [[Fanfic|FanFics]] because Russian writing is more phonetic based, i.e. each letter codes (mostly) exactly one sound, making such invertions easier.
* In ''Fallen Angel'', The title of the book Katherine is reading is "''Noisull id nanoit peced''" or, fixed, "''Deception and Illusion''" Both backwards and spaced wrongly, but it makes sense when you know who's reading it.
* In the universe of ''[[
* In ''[[It's My Life|ITS MY LIFE!]]'' there is Assirram Strebor, {{spoiler|Marrissa Roberts' [[Evil Knockoff]]}}.
== Mlif ==
* The sorcerer in the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of ''Fantasia'' is called Yen Sid, which is Disney spelled backwards. Similarly, the Disney live-action film ''Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N'' has a story credited to [[Walt Disney|Retlaw Yensid]].
* King Llort from ''[[A Troll in Central Park]]''. Not as obvious outside of the context of this page as one might think.
* ''[[Troll 2]]''. "Nilbog! It's Goblin spelled backwards!"
* In ''The Last Seduction'', Linda Fiorentino's character has some kind of upside-down, back-to-front spelling obsession. She's able to produce a perfect signature upside down. Having ripped off her husband and hidden in a small town, she wants to get back to New York, and chooses the name "Wendy Kroy". Knowing both her backwards-writing thing and her love of NYC helps her husband to find her.
Line 114 ⟶ 98:
* ''[[Star Wars]]'' has [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tuckerization a few]. For just three, Coleman Trebor (reference to visual effects artist Rob Coleman), Cin Drallig (the stunt coordinator who plays him, Nick Gillard) and a huge in-joke: the canon name for the [[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial|E.T.]] that cameos in ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' is [[Steven Spielberg|Grebleips]]. Not to forget the infamous Ewok (close to "Wookie" spelled backwards).
* "Grebleips" first appeared in Steven Spielberg's first feature film ''[[Duel (film)|Duel]]'', as the name of a pest control company.
* In ''Splice'', the two scientists name their creation "Dren", "nerd" backwards.
* ''Tobor the Great'' (1954) was about a robot designed to replace astronauts.
* Commander of the Soviet spacecraft in ''[[2010: The Year We Make Contact]]'' (the sequel to ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]'') is Captain Kirbuk, a reference to Stanley Kubrick, who directed the original film.
Line 133 ⟶ 117:
* The villain of [[James Thurber]]'s juvenile fantasy ''The White Deer'' is named Nagrom Yaf.
* ''[[Discworld]]''
** Early in ''[[
** ''[[
{{quote|
** The Discworld concept of being "knurd"
** Another example, this time as a parody of "Erewhon/Nehwon": an area in the Hublands called "Ecalpon".
** The
** ''[[Carpe Jugulum]]'': The narration describes vampires' apparent inability to compensate for their well-known weaknesses, and at one point says "Do they really think spelling their name backwards is going to fool anyone?"
** In ''[[
* The eponymous country in ''Erewhon'' by Samuel Butler is an almost-reversal of "nowhere". (An exact reversal would be "Erehwon".) This is a reference to "Utopia", which means "nowhere". The inhabitants (for the most part) have names like Senoj Nosnibor.
* On a similar note, the world of Fritz Leiber's ''[[Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser]]'' tales is Nehwon.
* Damon Knight wrote a short story about a plant-based vampire, called "Eripmav" which was defeated by a {{spoiler|steak through the heart}}.
* A short story for a Russian history class features a group of boys going on a camping trip and being whisked away to the far-off year of circa 1957, where every country is a Socialist Republic and everyone speaks Esperanto. They meet a similar group of boys, many of whom have the reverse of their names: Grisha's counterpart is Ashirg, etc. It's [[Lampshade
* A more elaborate scheme is found in ''Kingdom of Warped Mirrors'' by V. Gubarew. The girl Olya has her counterpart Aylo. Most other persons have names which correspond to their character and/or position. There is the Most Important Minister Gorf, The Very Definitely Most Important Minister (!) Kwah (Hawk, which has negative associations in Russian), the king Topsed 7, the good slave Evals and so on. The book was adapted into a film.
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]] wrote a novel entitled ''Falcons of Narabedla''. [[Frederik Pohl]] wrote an apparently unrelated novel called ''Narabedla Ltd''. Both titles are derived from the star Aldebaran.
Line 154 ⟶ 138:
* ''[[His Dark Materials]]'' doesn't play this exactly straight, but it ''does'' feature a minor character called Sir Charles Latrom in the second book. Spell his last name backwards, then take a wild guess as to what ends up happening to him.
* The Mirror of Erised from ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]] and the Philosopher's Stone'' not only has a Sdrawkcab Name for what its purpose is, but also mirror writing along its edges which essentially describes ''exactly what the mirror does''.
{{quote|
* According to [[Word of God]], [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] did this in her famous story ''The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas''. She saw a sign for Salem, O (regon) and reversed it, based in part by the similar sound of Salem to Shalom/Salam and the fact that when reversed, it gave a similar sound to the word helas (alas). Thus, the effect something like "[[Utopia]] when read forward, [[Dystopia]] when read backwards".
* [[Bruce Coville]]'s goblins correct humans who mistakenly call their kingdom Goblin-land, saying it's rude (they have a point, since human kingdoms aren't called "People-land"). The correct name is, of course, "Nilbog". Muuuuch better.
* ''Racso and the Rats of NIMH'' by Jane Leslie Conly. Racso admits to Timothy Frisby at one stage in the book that his real name is "Oscar", but he much prefers the Sdrawkcab nom de plume he came up with.
* ''Midnight's Sun - A Story of Wolves'' by Garry Kilworth uses Sdrawkcab names for some of his characters. Athaba's mother and father are Meshiska and Aksishem, respectively. Although this is totally ignored in Athaba's case when he becomes {{spoiler|Ulaala's mate.}}
* In ''[[The Abhorsen Trilogy]]'', it's mentioned that the original [[Big Bad]] Kerrigor was born Prince Rogirek, generally known as Rogir. Kerrigor was the nickname Touchstone gave him.
* ''[[X Wing Series]]''
** Child actor-turned-pilot Garik "Face" Loran, left on their stolen ship while [[The Infiltration|infiltrating]] the bad guys, is forced to come up with a disguise and a name to keep a planetary governor from getting suspicious. He comes up with Lieutenant Narol. In later instances of the same basic mission he uses a better disguise with the same name, and we never see him called on it. This might have something to do with the fact that in the Galaxy Far Far Away, Narol is a perfectly normal-seeming name. It also helps that he had previously faked his death.
** Lara
* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' prequel ''Martin the Warrior'', Ballaw the hare [[I Am Not Weasel|poses as a rabbit]] named "Tibbar".
* In Brian Jacques' less well-known work, ''[[Castaways Of The Flying Dutchman]]'', the two main characters get called Denmark and Nebuchadnezzar. This in turn gets shortened to Den and Neb. These then get reversed upon the two's escape to Ben and Ned, the crafty little devils.
Line 169 ⟶ 153:
* Christopher Stasheff's ''[[A Wizard in Rhyme]]'' series features in one of the books' backstory an [[Evil Chancellor]] named Reiziv. It's not commented on as a backwards word by anyone in the story, making it also a [[Stealth Pun]]. (Well, if the definition of "[[Stealth Pun]]" is "pun nobody points out or explains in the story" rather than "pun it actually takes effort to get.")
* In ''[[The Deed of Paksenarrion]]'', Sertig, the god of the smiths, has an enemy called Gitres.
* Taken to extremes and lampshaded in ''[[Young Wizards]]'', where a {{spoiler|dog}} turns out to be {{spoiler|guess}}.
* One Dutch children's book titled ''Lyc-Drop'' features a character called Seuz. He turns out to be a Greek deity, and if you can't guess which one, you just might be an idiot.
** He's not the god of canals, is he?
Line 183 ⟶ 167:
* A characteristic of the twisted magic contained in ''The Book of Atrix Wolfe'' by [[Patricia A. McKillip]].
* The mystery short story "Death by Rubik's Cube", published in the August 2011 issue of Games Magazine, features a police detective by the name of Errol Lorre. The [[Genre Savvy]] suspects realize that his parents loved puzzles a lot and that he himself hates them.
* Alec Leamas from ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold''. (Leamas reverses to [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Samael]].) [[Defied Trope|No, he's not]] [[Satan]] [[Louis Cypher|or any other supernatural figure in disguise]], but a [[Fake Defector]] and [[Reverse Mole]] [[Anti-Hero]] whose moral dilemmas form a major part of the plot.
* Several in ''[[Basil of Baker Street]]'' and sequels; for example, the [[Mouse World]] counterpart to Irene Adler is Madmoiselle Relda.
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''Tunnel In The Sky'' includes a warning to the main character's class to watch out for stobor, the most dangerous creature they willl encounter on their field exam. The students don't realize that "stobor" is "robots" spelled backwards; {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|Stobor are]] [[Humans Kill Wantonly|hu]][[Humanity Is Insane|mans]]; [[What You Are in the Dark|their competing classmates]]}}.
* [[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''[[Amber]]'' series of stories. The Pattern is in Castle Amber, which is located on a mountain overlooking the sea. The Castle and Pattern have a duplicate in the seas bordering Amber, in an underwater world known as Rebma.
* In Jane Langton's ''The Diamond in the Window'', Edward Hall speaks backwards fluently and daydreams about an alter-ego named Trebor Nosnibor. It's stated that he wishes his name were Robert Robinson specifically because he thinks it sounds much cooler backwards than "Drawde Llah" would.
* This is how Wizards dealing with the Darke hide themselves in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'': By spelling their name backwards. [[Played With]] in Septimus's case, as he takes only the last letters S-u-m on Marcellus Pye's advice.
* In [[Brian Aldiss]]'s illustrated poem "Pile", (subtitle "Petals from St. Klaed's Computer") the hero escapes from Pile and it's computer "St. Klaed" to find the alternate world of Elip run by St. Dealk.
== VT Noicta-Evil ==
* ''[[Doctor Who]]: The War Games'', The War Chief's space-time-travel machines are called SIDRATs.
* These work better in real life than one might think. In the reality show ''[[Who Wants to Be a Superhero?]]'', each contestant has a [[Code Name]]. In the middle of the first episode, it was revealed that one of the contestants was [[The Mole|actually a spy]]. The contestant Rotiart stepped forward and proclaimed dramatically, "Rotiart spelled backwards is..." ''(rip off name tag for [[The Reveal]])'' "Traitor!"
* Long-running American soap opera ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'' is well-known for its far-fetched plots, particularly those centered around the arch-villain Stefano DiMera. One plot had several characters leave the show's usual locale of Salem during the Fall of 1995 to attend a wedding in the town of Aremid. Events conspired to make many of the characters stay in Aremid until the following spring, but in that time nobody seemed to notice that Aremid was actually DiMera spelled backwards. The show repeated the trope nine years later when several characters found themselves abducted from Salem and kept captive on the island of Melaswen (New Salem), a place filled with recreations of several landmarks from their hometown.
* ''[[Scrubs]]''
** In the episode, "My Princess", a [[Something Completely Different]] episode in the form of a fairy-tale Dr. Cox is telling his son, Bob Kelso's counterpart is the [[Evil Overlord|Dark Lord]] Oslek (which, on a completely unrelated note, is what Ted calls him when he suffers stress-induced dyslexia).
** Another episode had the Janitor use the name "Rotinaj".
{{quote|
'''Janitor:''' ''(to Indian doctor)'' Mornin', Dr. Rotinaj.
'''Doctor:''' Good morning, Mr. cleanup man! }}
* ''[[Star Trek: The
** An episode mentioned a toxic substance called Selgninaem. One of the show's writers acknowledged this to be a comment on the meaningless nature of [[Techno Babble]].
** In the second-season episode "Where Silence Has Lease", the Omnipotent Being of the Week was named "Nagilum", or "Nagillum," depending on what you read. That second name is important when you consider that the producers originally wanted Richard Mulligan for that role....
Line 214 ⟶ 197:
* In ''[[Dark Oracle]]'', Cally's {{spoiler|[[Baleful Polymorph|pet frog]], Nemo}}, turns out to be the Season 1 [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Omen}}. Justified in that he was named by someone else, as a joke ({{spoiler|Nemo translated to "nothing"}}).
* On ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'' principal Grace Musso had a devoted flunky called Lemmer; in a few episodes, her rival Norman Pankow had a flunky called Remmel. Remmel was visually an anti-Lemmer: while Frank Lemmer was a pale-skinned, dark-haired guy dressed all in black, Remmel was a black guy with blond hair who dressed all in white.
* Archie Campbell's retelling of Cinderella ("Rindercella") on ''[[Hee Haw]]''. (Actually more like anagrams and [[
* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': This exchange from the Parrot Sketch, after the customer is sent to Bolton, is told by that pet shop clerk he's in Ipswitch, and finds he actually ''is'' in Bolton:
{{quote|
'''Customer:''' A pun??
'''Clerk:''' No, not a pun. What's that word that spells the same backwards as forwards?
'''Customer:''' A palindrome?
'''Clerk:''' Yeah!
'''Customer:''' It's not a palindrome. The palindrome for "Bolton" would be "Notlob"! }}
* ''[[Happy Days]]'': In "They Call It Potsie Love," Joanie develops a crush on Potsie and nicknames him "Dren" (backwards for "nerd").
Line 230 ⟶ 213:
* A variation on ''[[CSI: NY]]'': Stella's psycho ex-boyfriend named a sculpture he made for her the Aresanob, which was her last name, Bonasera, spelled backward. He then uploaded a sex tape to Aresanob.com shortly after.
* In an episode of ''[[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit|L&O SVU]]'', an innocent man who Olivia had helped to convict had been released from prison and was out to get revenge on her. As part of his plan, he set up a phony company named "Aivilo" or "Olivia" backwards.
* During the All-Star season of ''[[America's Next Top Model]]'', each of the girls had to write lyrics for, record and make a video for a song, and they were required to use the phrase "Pot Ledom is Top Model Backwards" someplace in the song. The "Pot Ledom" thing was reinforced in the videos when they would cut away from the model to show Tyra in a "Pot Ledom" shirt and repeating the full line.
* ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' features a sketch in which Lew Zealand and Rowlf sings "Owt Rof Aet" ("Tea for Two" backwards).
* The [[Shout-Out Theme Naming]] of the main characters in ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'', has Tomoko Nozoma, who was named after ''[[Kamen Rider Amazon]]''.
== Cisum ==
* The B-side of the classic [[Sanity Slippage Song]] "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV is "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT". It's credited to "Noelopan VIX", and is in fact the A-side played backwards. [[wikipedia:File:Napoleon Xiv B side Original Issue.jpg|Even the label of the b-side was almost entirely in mirrored writing]].
* Rapper [[Kool Keith]], a.k.a. Dr. Octagon, has also released an album under the name Mr. Nogatco. The title of the album? ''Nogatco Rd.''
* [[Dream Theater]]'s first album featured a song called The Ytse Jam, which was their original band name, Majesty, spelled backwards.
Line 249 ⟶ 231:
* For legal reasons, the Melvins album ''Prick'' was credited to Snivlem.
* The song "Dinner at Deviant's Palace" by Cradle of Filth is actually the Lord's Prayer recited backwards.
* After vocalist Lynn Strait's death, Snot eventually reformed as Tons.
* The [[Bloodhound Gang]]'s ''One Fierce Beer Coaster'' ends with a short sketch consisting of someone doing a [[The Simpsons (animation)|Homer Simpson]] impression and [[Don't Explain the Joke|explaining the joke of the album title]] - to avoid potential copyright issues, it was titled "Reflections Of Remoh".
* [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]
** The end of the 1966 tune "Rain" (B-side of "Paperback Writer") has John repeating the first line of the song backwards.
Line 259 ⟶ 241:
* [[Eels]] "Efil's God", sort of: It's based around a backwards sample of an earlier song of theirs called "Dog's Life".
* After [[KMFDM]] temporarily broke up in 1999, members Sascha Konietzko and Tim Skold started a new project with Lucia Cifarelli and called it MDFMK.
* Sort of done with [[Daft Punk]]'s "Funk Ad", which is a backwards reprise of "Da Funk" - if it were fully backwards, it would of course be "''Knuf'' Ad".
* The name of the [[Folk Metal]] band, [[SuidAkrA]], is the guitarist/vocalist's first name "Arkadius" spelled backwards.
== Aidem Wen ==
* The official web site for the film ''[[Memento]]'' is [http://otnemem.com http://otnemem.com/].
▲* During his tenure as writer on ''[[Dick Tracy]],'' Max Allan Collins was fond of giving his villains last names that were words describing them, spelled backwards.
▲* In ''[[Terry and the Pirates]]'', the Dragon Lady sometimes used the alias Miss Nogard.
▲* In ''[[FoxTrot]]'', Eileen uses the on-line handle 'Sgt. Neelie'.
== Gniltserw
* Former [[TNA]] wrestler John Hugger, also known before that as Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli in [[WCW]]/[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], worked under the gimmick of the monster RelliK (with a backwards K). Rellik is Killer spelled backwards. [[Memetic Mutation|Rellik is killer spelled backwards!]] He also went by Redrum in indy promotions. Mike Tenay '''always''' mentioned that "[[Rule of Three|Rellik is Killer spelled backwards]]" whenever he appeared. Hugger created the gimmick during his indy days between his [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] release and signing with TNA. The gimmick was originally called "REDRUM".
* In [[WCW]], [[The Ultimate Warrior]] decided to make a stable to combat the [[New World Order]] (nWo). He called it the One Warrior Nation (oWn). It only had one member besides Warrior, Ed Leslie aka The Disciple. The horridness of everything Warrior did in WCW in general and Warrior's general flakiness as a performer spelled a quick end to it.
== Oidar Teppup ==
* The setting of ''Under Milk Wood'', Llareggub; at the time also a case of [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]].
* In the radio version of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', the Lintilla clones are approached by Allitnil clones with offers of marriage {{spoiler|which are actually agreements to cease existence}}. The name "Allitnil" was pronounced as if "Lintilla" were played backwards on tape.
== Semag Potelbat ==
▲=== Semag Drac ===
▲* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'':
▲** [
▲** The Citanul Druids (and other such) -- "Citanul" becomes "lunatic"....
=== SGPR Potelbat ===
* The dark messiah "Susej", from ''Satanis Unbound''.
* ''[[Dungeons
** In the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' setting; "scro" (singular and plural) are advanced orcs.
** ''D&D'' also has "nilbogs" and "llorts", both of which are [[Revive Kills Zombie|damaged by healing magic, and vice versa]].
Line 287 ⟶ 276:
** Module Q1 ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits''. The names of 5 of the 6 Drow Lieutenants of Lolth were reversed versions of Drow names in module D3 ''Vault of the Drow'', with some minor changes to make them pronounceable. Ardulace (Eclavdra), Anatlab (Beltana), Minolin (Nilonim), Lirdnolu (Vlondril) and Adinirahc (Charinida). Riklaunim (Minualkir?) is the only exception.
** Dragon magazine #96 had an April Fools section which included the joke module ''Nogard'' ("Dragon" backwards).
** Module I12 ''Egg of the Phoenix''. After the [[Chaotic Evil]] illusionist Tuke is defeated by the [[PC
== Syot ==
* Tobor. While this notamotua been off the line forever, it's immortalized for sponsoring the ''[[Star Wars Holiday Special]]''.
== Semag Oediv ==
Line 302 ⟶ 289:
* Legna from ''Drakengard'' 2 -- "Angel" backwards. Coincidentially, the dragon that Caim made a pact with in the first Drakengard is named Angelus.
* Alexandra Roivas, the heroine of ''[[Eternal Darkness]]''. Gains extra points for stealthiness: Roivas is an actual real-world surname.
* Llednar Twem in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'', {{spoiler|the negative emotions of Prince Mewt Randell given form!}}
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]''
** ''Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon'' and its sequel features Draug, the first armored [[Mighty Glacier|Knight]] that joins you.
** ''Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn'' features Danved as a playable character, who has a striking resemblance to Devdan in ''Path of Radiance''. Instead of a full reversal, they swapped the syllables and reversed one of them. Furthermore, in the Japanese release, Danved was known as
* The climax of ''[[Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake]]'' has the scientist Kio Marv supposedly store some secret information in an MSX cartridge. When the cartridge is retrieved and booted up, it displays the MSX BIOS screen, with a visual RAM of 01K - so it reads 'VRAM 01K'. Snake realises that the cartridge is genuine.
* ''[[Ultima V]]''
** The [[Messianic Archetype]] Avatar could recruit a party member named SADUJ; a spy for the Oppression who would promptly turn on you and try to kill you the next time you entered combat. The smart players made him into [[Uriah Gambit|Hairu]] in one particular battle.
Line 327 ⟶ 314:
** In the series entry ''Darkside of Xeen'', there is an order called the Drawkcab Monks. They study {{spoiler|palindromes, and speak entirely in such.}}
** Also in ''M&M VI: The Mandate of Heaven'', there's goblin-infested fort in New Sorpigal, which apparently belonged to these monks. It serves as a hint for solving the password lock inside.
** Also in ''Mandate'', First Mate's Code: KCOPS Navigator's Code: ULUS Communication Officer's Code: ARUHU Engineer's Code: YTTOCS Doctor's Code: YOCCM Captain's Code: KRIK. Not one of these are any good without the proper papers, though...
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]''
** The [[Bonus Boss|Weapon]] attack Aire Tam from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. The key to not getting decimated by this attack is to {{spoiler|unequip all of your materia before entering battle with it. It does more damage based on how much materia you have equipped.}}
** In ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', a rather [[Guide Dang It]] of a puzzle features this. Four tombstones with four "random letters"
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]: The Hymn of the Fayth''. It's Japanese lyrics written western style, left to right in rows, then read vertically eastern style (though still left to right.) The grid is four characters wide except for the last line.
* In ''[[Ketsui]]'', the [[Mega Corp]] that you battle is called EVAC. "EVAC" spelled backwards is "[[CAVE]]", the company that made the game.
Line 341 ⟶ 328:
* ''Dragon Quest Swords''
** The Rorrim Mask, a boss called Draug, and a sword called Rednusadner. Then again, the game does feature a Mirror World.
** Also, all the [[Bonus Boss
* In the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series Noob Saibot's name is in fact the last names of the series' creators written backwards (Tobias and Boon).
* In ''[[The Sims|My Sims Kingdom]]'', there's a robot named... wait for it... T.O.B.O.R., mixing this with [[Fun with Acronyms]].
* ''[[Pokémon]]''
** Three Pokémon: Ekans and its evolved form Arbok from ''Gen. I'', and the ''Gen. IV'' Electric/Ghost-type Rotom.
** And the syllables of Lucario when subjected to Japanization and listed backwards and then re-un-engrished spell (Sound) out Oracle. Ru Ca Ri O -- O Ri Ca
** And Muk... that one probably wasn't intentional, though.
* The final boss in the NES version of ''[[Double Dragon|Double Dragon III]]'' is an evil sorceress named Queen Noiram, who is revealed to be Marion ([[Spell My Name with an "S"|whose name is usually spelled "Marian" in other games]]) possessed by an evil spirit. In the original arcade and Famicom versions, she was actually Cleopatra.
Line 367 ⟶ 354:
* One of the Daedric Princes in ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games is Namira, which is Ariman backwards.
* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' combines this with [[Gratuitous Russian]] with the Dalokohs bar; "dalokohs" being the Russian word for chocolate, "shokolad", spelled backwards.
* Though ''[[
* The [[Fan Nickname
* There is a town called Gorlab in ''[[Ultima I]]''. It also appears in Serpent Island as the Gorlab Swamp (the town itself was pulled into the dream realm). Gorlab is balrog backwards.
* One puzzle in ''[[King's Quest I]]'', Rumpelstiltskin gives you a riddle on how his name is spelled. The clue received is to think backwards. You think it's spelled "Nikstlitselpmur", but you have to reverse the alphabet (A becomes Z and so on) which spells the quite unpronounceable "Ifnkovhgroghprm". This was resolved in the remake by making both solutions acceptable.
Line 379 ⟶ 366:
* ''Fortix'' has the [[Evil Sorcerer]] Xitrof as its [[Big Bad]].
* ''[[The Spellcasting Series]]'' has the [[Atlantis|Lost City of Sitnalta]] in the third entry.
== Scimoc Bew ==
* ''[[The
** Elan's [[Cain and Abel|evil twin brother]] Nale. Apparently, these are their birth names; either the reversal is a coincidence or their parents have a unique sense of humor. Given that said parents were a Chaotic Good barmaid and a Lawful Evil warlord
*** {{spoiler|We eventually meet said father and he is quite [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] indeed
** In contrast to pure fighter and [[Genius Bruiser]] Roy, there's the Thieves' Guild's pure fighter and [[Dumb Muscle]] Yor (the stereotype Roy does his best to avert).
* In ''[[Corner Alley 13]]'', Tsac Tuo is revealed to be {{spoiler|the shapeshifter Drel in disguise}}, and points out that his name is 'just outcast spelled backwards'. The heroine's response? "I ''thought'' it sounded foreign."
* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', Lieutenant Commander [[Red Shirt|Der Trihs]] always manages to get himself [[Only Mostly Dead|mostly-dead]]-ified in one way or another... An added bonus is to add another little t in there and get a name that sounds suspiciously like Detritus.
** Daehremmah - aliens with heads somewhat like that of, well, hammerhead sharks - a double [[Shout Out]] to the "Hammerhead" character in Mos Eisley cantina in ''[[Star Wars]]'', and [[David Drake]]'s ''Hammer's Slammers'' (they have a mercenary company called "Pranger's Bangers").
* In ''[[Looking for Group]]'', the [[Jerkass]] undead warlock Richard named his imp familiar Hctib Elttil; "I was looking for something to define what his role in our partnership would be."
* In ''[
* [http://www.bmoviecomic.com/?cid=312 This] ''[[The B-Movie Comic|The B Movie Comic]]'' strip.
* ''[
* In possibly the most blatant example ever, the opposite of Chris-chan in ''[[Sonichu]]'' is called... Reldnahc Notsew Naitsirhc. This idea for names generally works better when it's simply one name spelt backwards rather than three in a row, but that's the level of unimaginativeness of this comic.
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' has one of the more embarassing versions in [http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/091023 this strip]. While Torg simply goes by "Grot", Sasha has the dubious honor of being "Ass-Ass."
* ''[
* The Drab Lord of ''[[Captain SNES]]''. {{spoiler|Drab as in Bard.}}
* ''[[
== Lanigiro Bew ==
Line 407 ⟶ 393:
* "Retsinif" is "Finister" spelled backwords. No dout another one of Finister2's Internet names.
* Fender, the mascot for ''[[Fur Affinity]]'', has a [[Distaff Counterpart]] named Rednef, originally from an [[April Fools' Day]] joke.
== Noitamina Nretsew ==
* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]''
** Walter ("Pavel Chekov") Koenig wrote a episode featuring a poisonous plant called a retlaw.
Line 423 ⟶ 407:
* In ''[[The Emperor's New School|The Emperors New School]]'', Yzma's alias while masquerading as the principal of Kuzco U. is Amzy. Of course, no-one falls for her [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] except for Kronk, the only one who's ''supposed'' to know. Though this is [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] in the finale when Kronk admits he figured out "[[Medium Awareness|about three episodes back]]" and proceeds to [[Lampshade Hanging|point out everything that made it obvious]] while admitting he'd been [[Obfuscating Stupidity|pretending to remain ignorant]] since the realization.
* In ''[[Gargoyles]]'', the [[Evil Twin]] (so to speak) of Goliath is Thailog... not a precise reversal. Of course, the writers admitted they did it this way because "Htailog" would have been very hard for the voice actors to say.
* During his initial appearance in ''[[Totally Spies!]]'', Tim Scam masquerades as Mac Smit. Alex figures it out when she sees his name tag in the mirror, although the letters are not mirror-image reversed.
* In the "Marge vs. the Monorail" episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Mr. Burns attempts to get his money back by disguising himself with a fake mustache at the town meeting and calling himself "Mr. Snrub". Surprisingly, it fails instantly. Remember, this is ''Springfield'' we are talking about.
** In the "New Kids on the Blecch" episode Bart, Milhouse, Ralph Wiggum, and Nelson are in a boy band that is secretly sponsored by a military force. The main song's hook had the lyrics "yvan eht nioj."
Line 432 ⟶ 416:
** In ''Shaggy and [[Scooby Doo]] Get a Clue'', the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Mad Scientist]] assistant, Dr. Trebla, turns out to be Shaggy's missing Uncle Albert in disguise.
** All of the "Wild Brood" bikers in ''[[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]]'' have these, from smooth-acting leader Odnarb, to Foog and Dren, to the disgusting Gabtraf.
* The second ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' series uses several of these in a non-alias context, the most notable being Mortu the Utrom. There is also a running gag involving recurring character Kluh ([[The Incredible Hulk|"Hulk"]]), where concepts related to him are also backwards names for things related to the Marvel
* A strange example in ''[[The Fairly
* One episode of ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' had Sector V visiting a [[Mirror Universe]]. The KND counterpart was the Destructivly Nefarious Kids (DNK), the Delightful Children From Down The Lane (DCFDTL) were now the Little Traitor Dudes From Childrens Defense (LTDFCD), and the alternate Lizzie was named Eizzil, leading some fans to believe this applies to all names (the DNK operatives are only referred to as Negative Numbuh X).
* Spoofing Superman's "Mr. Mxyzptlk", an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'' has a clip in which Adam West provides "Kebert Xela" as his answer on ''Final Jeopardy'', causing host Alex Trebek to disappear when he read it aloud.
Line 441 ⟶ 425:
** In 1943's ''The Hungry Goat'', the title animal tells the projectionist to run the film backwards so he can re-examine the title card.
** In 1961's ''There's No Space Like Home'', cans of aersol spinach cause Popeye's space capsule to blast off and go the speed of light, causing everything on Earth to go backwards.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* In ''[[American Dad]]'' episode "Dungeons and Wagons", Hayley breaks up with Jeff, but when she tries to get back with him he's too busy playing an [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] with Steve. In order to get Jeff away from the game, Hayley kills Steve's character with a special command: his character's name backwards.
** Later on in the same episode they attempt to revive Steve by taking him to the Castle Roodpart. Haley calls it immature, and when Jeff starts talking about how it probably has some deep plot significance, Haley interrupts with "[[Oh Crap|Crap, it's 'trapdoor' spelled backwards]]."
* In a first-season episode of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', a talisman brings Jade's beloved Gnomekop toy to life. Remember that the G is silent.
* [[Filmation]] ''[[The New Adventures of Superman]]'' episode "Luthor Strikes Again". Lex Luthor's lair is a paint factory owned by the "Rohtul Paint Co."
* ''[[Danger Mouse]]'' episode "The Hickory Dickory Dock Dilemma": DM sends himself and Penfold into the future in the time-traveling grandfather clock where DM sees London is ruled by Dlofnep the Magnificent, a spitting image of and whose name is backwards for Penfold.
* ''[[Polly Pocket]]'' story "Pollyworld" featured two exchange students named Karl and Lark.
* ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'' had one episode where Jade tried to guess the password to one of the safety devices protecting the talismans. Her guess was "Namsilat".
* In one episde of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', Dr. Doofenshmirtz invented a substance he named "Eulg" that works opposite to glue.
* ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' had one episode where Pinky started saying "Troz", which, as Pinky explained, is "Zort" backwards.
* ''Ruff and Reddy'' was a [[Hanna-Barbera]] show in the late Fifties. The very first story arc involved "the dreaded planet Muni-Mula," which the narrator went out of his way to inform viewers is "aluminum spelled backwards." Muni-Mula actually looked more like the [[Star Wars|Death Star]] (almost twenty years early) than a planet.
== Efil Lear ==
Line 457 ⟶ 441:
* One name that has become somewhat popular in recent years is Nevaeh, "heaven" written backwards. It seems to be a rule that if a new parent is telling you that s/he named a child Nevaeh, the conversation will almost inevitably go, in a breathless rush, "We named her Nevaeh -- that's Heaven spelled backwards." It begins to grate after a while.
* Other backwards-spelled names that have come into somewhat occasional use (though not to the extent of Nevaeh, which is in the U.S. top 100 as of 2005) include: Semaj, Senga, Traeh, and Neleh. The last one was the name of a contestant on ''[[Survivor]]'' in 2002.
* [[wikipedia:Suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons|Rehtaeh Anne Parsons]], teen Canadian abuse and bullying victim, now deceased. Her name is "Heather" spelled backwards.
* The transport company "Elddis" is a reverse of its original name, "Siddle".
* [[The Oprah Winfrey Show|Oprah's]] production company is called Harpo, Inc.
Line 474 ⟶ 459:
* Cornish Yarg cheese was created by Allan and Jenny Gray.
* The most popular (though likely apocryphal) explanation for how the town of Levan, Utah got its name is that it's "navel" spelled backwards (because it's in the center of the state).
* The names of certain physical units for quantities that are the reciprocal (that is, one divided by) other quantities are the names of the units of the latter quantities spelled backwards: examples include the [[wikipedia:Mho|mho]] (the unit of electric conductance, from "ohm", the unit of electrical resistance), the yrneh and the [[wikipedia:Daraf|daraf]]. (Note, however, that scientists tend to eschew such levity and use other names for these units; for example, the mho is called the [[Heh
* There's even ''a whole dialect'' of this trope in East Java, called the ''Malangan'' dialect (named after its origin region, Malang). It's a lot like a East Javanese, but some of the words are in fact reversed words of the language. Naturally it leads to [[Heh
** ''kera'', from Javanese ''arek'', which means something akin to 'boyz' in English. {{spoiler|''Kera'' in Indonesian means ape}}.
** ''kunam'', from Javanese ''manuk'', which means 'bird' in English. {{spoiler|'Manuk' is the Javanese slang for male genitalia}}, so arguably it serves an opposite purpose.
Line 485 ⟶ 470:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:This Trope Name References Itself]]▼
▲[[Category:Sdrawkcab Name]]
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]
▲[[Category:This Trope Name References Itself]]
| |||