The main characters of Zombieland use the name of their locations instead of their real ones, and only one character could freely use their real name.

The main characters of Zombieland form a strange but effective team thanks to their different personalities and skills, and one of their peculiarities is that they don’t use their real names – but why? Zombie stories went through a great run in the 2000s in both film and TV, and Zombieland seized the popularity of the genre and mixed it with comedy to bring one of the best comedies of the decade. Directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut, Zombieland took the audience to a world where a strain of mad cow disease mutated and infected humans all over the world, turning them into zombies.

Zombieland follows a group of survivors formed by Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a college student who came up with a set of rules to survive the zombie apocalypse; Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a man who looks tough on the outside but is actually deeply wounded, and who was on a mission to find Twinkies in the apocalypse; and sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), who initially tricked them to steal their weapons. Together they fought a bunch of zombies and Tallahassee eventually got Twinkies, but they still kept their real names a secret, even in the sequel, Zombieland: Double Tap, and they had a good reason for that.

Zombieland Characters Used Their Location Rather Than Make Personal Connections

The nicknames of the main characters in Zombieland are based on where they come from, and not even Columbus’ real name is revealed, even though he’s the lead character of the story. Identifying themselves by the name of the place they come from is actually a survival tactic in the world of Zombieland, as survivors are advised to use nicknames when meeting fellow survivors in order to not get attached to them and protect themselves, as anyone could get infected or they could have other, secret intentions like Wichita and Little Rock did at first. However, although the main group applied this rule and stuck to it in the sequel as well, they ended up getting attached to each other, especially Columbus and Wichita, who started a relationship, while Tallahassee and Little Rock developed a father-daughter-like relationship.

The characters of Zombieland using their location as their name rather than their real ones continued in Zombieland: Double Tap, with new characters like Nevada (Rosario Dawson) and Albuquerque (Luke Wilson). However, one member of the main group revealed her real name at the end of the first movie: Wichita, whose real name is Krista. After Columbus and Tallahassee saved Wichita and Little Rock at Pacific Playland, Wichita got back with Columbus, kissed him, and revealed her real name.

Why Bill Murray Uses His Real Name In Zombieland

The only character in Zombieland who used his real name was Bill Murray. On their way to Pacific Playland, once they reached Hollywood, Tallahassee took the rest to Bill Murray’s house, where, to their surprise, they met an uninfected Murray who was disguised as a zombie, but unfortunately, he was killed by Columbus, who thought he was a real zombie. Bill Murray didn’t use a nickname because he was playing a fictionalized version of himself, and everyone knows who Bill Murray is, so there would have been no point in “protecting” his identity when he’s a public figure. In Zombieland: Double Tap, another character used her real name: Madison, played by Zoey Deutch, who was the “dumb blonde” of the story, so it’s understandable why she wouldn’t give herself a nickname.