OPINION: Why “Funny” Character Nicknames Are a Microaggression We Need to Stop Normalizing

I’ve been in a lot of fandoms. And lately, I’ve noticed something that younger, internet-savvy fans seem to find endlessly entertaining: tweaking character names into something “funny.”

In the EPIC: The Musical fandom, Telemachus is often called “Telemarketing.” I’ll admit it—I chuckled at first. But then I stopped and asked myself: why is this happening? Is Telemachus too long? “Telemarketing” is just as long. Is it hard to spell? Not particularly—it’s essentially phonetic. So what’s the point?

I have a rule about not arguing with people on the internet, so I pushed the feeling aside. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Then I became active in the Chiikawa fandom, and there it was again. Hachiware is frequently rebranded as “Hardware” by fans. That same discomfort rose in my chest. I discussed it with family. I discussed it with friends. And then, one day, it hit me like lightning.

When I was eleven or twelve, I attended a summer camp while my mom was at work. Our group was small—maybe ten kids. I was one of the older ones. There was a young boy from Japan, about half my age, named Keiichi. The other children—particularly one white girl closer to my age—couldn’t say his name properly and decided, unanimously, to call him “Keychain.” Keiichi was a good sport about it. I was not.

I’m Japanese American, so I acknowledge I might have some bias. But Japanese is a phonetic language. “Keiichi” isn’t difficult to say—especially when a native speaker is right there, telling you how. Even with lighthearted intent, deliberately mispronouncing or misrepresenting someone’s name is a microaggression. It’s not hard to try.

I’m sure fandoms don’t mean harm when they give characters nicknames. There’s a difference between a complimentary nickname—like calling Usagi “Usagoat” because they’re the greatest—and completely changing a character’s name to something that sounds nothing like it. One is an affectionate exaggeration. The other is a replacement, and it carries a very different weight when the name being replaced is ethnic in origin.

“Telemarketing” isn’t a nickname for Telemachus. “Hardware” isn’t a nickname for Hachiware. They’re different names entirely. And when the pattern repeats—when it’s always the ethnic names getting flattened into English words—it stops feeling like a joke and starts feeling like something else.

Let’s collectively do better. Be respectful of each other’s identities and cultures. It costs nothing to try.