The Story Behind the Username

[PorpoiseMuffins]

I thought it would be cool to start a thread where everyone can give a bit of an explanation as to the story behind their online handle (username).

I'll start, seeing as everyone is probably wondering why the heck I go by "PorpoiseMuffins," and I don't believe I've ever explained it before

I have always found the sound of the word "porpoise" hilarious-- even before I knew what on earth a porpoise was (small dolphin with a blunt snout, as I assume most people already know). When I first started using the web back around '96-97, "Porpoise" was one of the usernames I used whenever signing up at a forum. Back in 2002 I signed up on a home recording forum called homerecordingconnection.com. I still remember the day I signed up-- I went to type in "Porpoise," and something just came over me. I'm not sure whether Porpoise was already taken by another user, or whether I just figured I should pick something a bit more unique, but in that moment I threw together the most ridiculous sounding combination of words I could possibly think of: PorpoiseMuffins.

Well, I ended up sticking around and loving that forum. The community there really took to the name, so it stuck and I've been using it ever since just for consistancy's sake.

I used to have a habit of drawing this forlorn cartoon porpoise with nostrils (no, porpoises don't actually have nostrils) on nearly everything (the same image that you see in my avatar). See, a few months back I had an idea-- maybe this porpoise I always used to draw could actually have a name, and maybe the username I always go by could have an actual meaning.... Thus, PorpoiseMuffins the character was born!

PorpoiseMuffins is essentially a cartoon porpoise version of myself. My real name is Michael, and "Muffins" is kind of a joke nickname I've been given on rare occation (and hey, it starts with "M"). PorpoiseMuffins (It's like another way of saying "Muffins the Porpoise," but in his world everyone goes by species:name instead) now has a developed history and personality based around my own. Someday I hope to make him into an Internet cartoon star

So that's the rather lengthy explanation for my username (whew!).

One thing's for sure... It's unique!


EDIT: I just realized... "PorpoiseMuffins" is kind of like "Spongebob"

[Fes]

Cool thread. I've always had somewhat of a fascination with online handles and how they relate to the person beneath. The story is almost never what you expect.

As for me, I've always had great difficulty picking a handle to represent myself online, which is one of the many hurdles that kept me lurking for so long. In the latter half the nineties when I first started to acquiant myself with the marvelous wonder that is the Internet, I went through an extensive series of handles, but none of them felt right so I eventually would get tired of it and change it. Eventually coming to settle upon Fester Blatz, which is a character from the Space Quest series of adventure games. In truth I didn't really find this name any more to my satisfaction than all the previous ones, but after so many changes I decided to just live with it, and I did for years.

In recent months though I finally got tired of how long it was (it stretched the username list in IRC significantly), and of all the fester jokes. I noticed however that all my friends just abbreviated it to Fes whenever talking to me, so I just decided to change it to what they always called me anyway, and there it is.

Who's next? I eagerly await more strange stories :)

[Xtreme]

I don't really know why I chose "Xtreme".
But one thing I've noticed over the years,I love having usernames with X's in them.

[Thony Hedgehog]

Well, my real name's Anthony, but only my parents call me that way. Some call me Antho, Tho, but usually it's Thony. So I past about 16 years will friends calling me Thony, but it didn't change my name. Instead, when I surfed on the internet and saw all those people in Sonic fandom creating fan characters, I decided to create one. Thony the Hedgehog, because of course, my hero was Sonic (was, because I think now it's more Sally than Sonic).

In the beginning Thony was a cool guy with attitude, the one everyone wants to be his friends and all. But as time passed, I became myself a little more wise, a little more...........enlightened by the world. So heaven became Mobius, and Thony the hedgehog became Thony Hedgehog, my soul. As I may look human, it's like I wanted to be partially Mobian, because they were so good to each other, so good to Mobius, I wanted to be like them. As I have two «brains», left and right, I have two parts, Anthony and Thony. Anthony is the human wanting to help everyone around him, while Thony is the Mobian who fought in the war against Julian to defend Mobius and his friends. So, Thony Hedheog is always the one telling Anthony that everything is alright, that he is a good person, he is a support to me even if I know he doesn't exist. Don't call me fool or mad, some say that Jesus or God are their support, so what's the problem?

[Rave]

Man, I didn't see this thread.

Well... I had a hard time in the past finding a good name to go by on the net.

Well... it all started with my e-mail address I made called wzero. For those who know of that show Gundam Wing, I was basically copying Wing Zero.

Anyway, well, I decided to start posting on forums. I wanted to try a new name.

Well while thinking, I was messing with my name a bit. Scrambling the letters around. Well, I Finally got it when I ommited the T and the I S from there, and just put an E at the end. Also, cuz I was listening to rave music at the same time. So I guess the name has stuck to me for quite a while. I think I started using it on [Adult Swim].com years ago. I think thats where I first used it.

THe common digits I use after Rave is usually 779. I don't know why I liked using that number, but its something that I stuck with since I was young.Anyway, thats just how my SN is shown nowadays.

[Caswin]

'Caswin' is the result of trying for a full month to think of a good screen name. The end result: A shortening of 'Castle of the Winds', an old computer game from who knows when. Anyone else ever play that?

'Sir Caswin' (my AIM screen name), incidentally, is the result of the original Caswin - a knight character. Thinking about changing that one.

[saxman]

I've had a couple usernames... Rocket, Sega-Master, Tascam312 (really an "undercover" username I've used before), but none compares to Saxman (or Saxman727)!

Saxman was a username my dad came up with in 1995. It was his password for Microsoft Bob (great program!) When we got the internet in 1996, he used it as his username rather than password. With the internet account came an e-mail. I used the e-mail address for telling people how to contact me. My dad rarely used the e-mail address, so it sort of became my own. People got used to calling me Saxman because of the e-mail address.

I tried creating identities of my own (Sega-Master and Rocket), but when my Sonic 2 Hacking Guide took off, it became apparent to me that Saxman was a very 'marketable' name, so I kept it so people would know who I was. I still use it to this very day, though sometimes I wonder if I should use something else so nobody would know who I was...

[RockoFanatic]

'Caswin' is the result of trying for a full month to think of a good screen name. The end result: A shortening of 'Castle of the Winds', an old computer game from who knows when. Anyone else ever play that?

I remember that game! I played that when I was about 6 years old. It was on a game compilation called Galaxy of Games by Saturn Publishing. I still have it.

As for my name, "SonicJeopardy!" was coined when I was looking for a name. My Sony Pictures forum name is "RockoFanatic," and I originally was going to have that as my name, but I wanted to have something a little more Sonic-themed, so I put "Sonic" with the word "Jeopardy!," one of my favorite shows. I still kinda want to have my name as "RockoFanatic" on this board, so I don't have so many different names, but "SonicJeopardy!" is starting to catch on a bit...

[A Knothole Resident]

well, my original screen name since the dawning of AOL was Sonmanic. In 1994, I was hooked on SatAM and when I signed up for a screen name, I excitfully started typing it and when It was registered, I realized that I miss spelled it cause it was supposed to say Sonmaniac.

It wasnt till 2000 when people assumed I was a fan of Manic the Hedgehog from Sonic Underground, which was funny.

Of course recently last year, I retired that name and became A Knothole Resident and the rest is history.

[PorpoiseMuffins]

well, my original screen name since the dawning of AOL was Sonmanic. In 1994, I was hooked on SatAM and when I signed up for a screen name, I excitfully started typing it and when It was registered, I realized that I miss spelled it cause it was supposed to say Sonmaniac.

It wasnt till 2000 when people assumed I was a fan of Manic the Hedgehog from Sonic Underground, which was funny.

Ahh... I was wondering about that.

I still kinda want to have my name as "RockoFanatic" on this board, so I don't have so many different names, but "SonicJeopardy!" is starting to catch on a bit...

Yeah, I love your avatar. Very clever

If you do decide that you really want to change your name, though, I can do that for you-- Just let me know.

[RockoFanatic]

If you do decide that you really want to change your name, though, I can do that for you-- Just let me know.

It's official...I have decided to change my name to RockoFanatic. To keep things...simple. I might have Rocko behind the Jeopardy! lectern, or one of those fancy animated gif files.

[PorpoiseMuffins]

Done.

[RockoFanatic]

Thanks!!

[Seriously Funny]

I don't have much of an explanation for my username, except that it shows a bit of my philosophy when it comes to message boards. I try to be serious by following the rules and being considerate of other people on the boards, but I also try to be funny by showing that I know how to joke around and have a good time. Hence the name "Seriously Funny".

[Keon XVII]

As for me, my nickname at school is Mexico. Most of my classmates didn't know what my name was, so they looked at my red hoodie that had MEXICO written in big, black letters on it, and just shouted "Mexico!" whenever they wanted to get my attention. The name later caught on with some friends of mine.

I also really liked freezing weather such as sleet, snow, and ice storms since it usually gets me a day or two off from school. So I stuck Frozen to the front of my name, as it would have just sounded ridiculous if my screenname was "Mexico Frozen."