I've had a couple of Smash Bros. tags. The first tag I used was probably one of the most original. I dubbed myself "Ain Soph Aur" (or ASA, as denoted within the game). If anyone is familiar with reading Kabalistic texts, they would know that Ain Soph Aur literally means "the boundless light" and it is the light of creation that shines through all the spheres of heaven, earth, and hell. I thought the tag was sheer brilliance incarnate, really; I generally use this Kabalistic term as a screen name for everything else (and, surprisingly, it is taken in some places).
Then I went to a tournament and people got really confused by my tag. Lol.
So, I opted to change my name because of that. It needed to be really simple, yet something catchy. Problem was, I couldn't think of anything off-hand that interested me. The name "IMN" (or I'm in) was stale and derived from a Mudvayne song I really enjoyed; I actually used it for a buncha friendlies and practice sessions, but I eventually dismissed it. I also used **** for a little while; it garnered a couple of laughs, but it didn't have that kinda flair that I wanted. I also wasn't necessarily known for humor, after all. So, I continued to ponder until I started downloading a buncha music for my iPod.
Upon downloading Alien Ant Farm, it hit me. I always loved their rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." It was infectious, light-hearted, and poked fun at the guy in a very subtle way. Though I'm a pretty serious guy, I'm a sucker for this kinda stuff. Hook, line, and sinker the epiphany latches on to me.
That's when my current screen name/tag was born. From that moment on, I was known as Smooth Criminal (or SC) in Smash and in a myriad other games. I couldn't tell you why "Smooth Criminal" fits me, because it doesn't. It just...worked. It had the flair and catchiness I wanted.
As for the issue of ripping off of other people's identities on a forum and beyond, I can't really say that I have had a problem with such a thing as of yet. I mean, I know there's at least one person on the forum that has this very same name (in fact, we exchanged words on a topic about a week ago). His name is decorated with asterisks, tildes, and whatnot; mine's plainly written. He had also been here alot longer than me (he had a couple hundred posts and joined in '05 and I have like, forty and have only been a member since '06). I am surprised that the mods didn't send me a notice to alter my screen name on behalf of the guy who already has it. If they don't, that's fine too; I'm not laying any sort of claim to the person's fame (if they have any). I am who I am, and I'm a modest Smasher who amounts to very little in the eyes of his peers. I'm not a Isai, a Ken, or even a Gimpyfish (lolz).
I'm just me, a guy who happens to have a not-so original name/tag but thoroughly enjoys it.
Smooth Criminal
) and so I used it mostly for Halo/Halo 2 and for forums and such. I can't use it on SSBM cuz the names can only be like 4 chars long :/ but no one has ever taken my name :D
