Sdrawkcab Name

[[quoteright:300:[[Film/{{Troll 2}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nilbog_4622.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"It's Goblin spelled backwards! This is their kingdom!"]]

"Sdrawkcab" is spelled backwards. Some writers like to invent names this way. There a few different reasons:

* To create an unusual name: "Trebor" seems more exotic than "Robert".
* To reference a real person's name, usually an actor's or writer's name.
* To barely avert ADogNamedDog: instead of a robot named Robot, here's a robot named Tobor.
* To disguise a MeaningfulName: "Rotiart" is less obvious than "Traitor".
* To pair two characters, as [[Literature/WheresWally Waldo]] and Odlaw. One of them may be the EvilCounterpart.

This is a SuperTrope for:
* {{Alucard}}: This reversal of "Dracula" is so prevalent as to [[StealthPun count]] as its own trope.
* SdrawkcabAlias: A character reverses his or her own name to disguise his or her identity. Of course, this fails as soon as someone thinks to reverse the pseudonym.

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 "[[WhoWantsToBeASuperhero 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 LostInTranslation. This includes palindromes, such as "[[LoveHina Maeda Ema]]" (spelled Ma-e-da-E-ma) and "[[InfiniteStratos 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" -- as "st" and "ck" are common digraphs in English, which makes it look more believable as a word.

Compare StevenUlyssesPerhero. SubTrope of SignificantAnagram.