Oregon now has a real-life superhero: Captain Awesome.
Douglas Allen Smith Jr. officially changed his name to the cartoon-style moniker last month after a Lane County judge approved the switch.
His awesome new name is no joke – he now refers to himself by the first name "Captain" while "Awesome" is his surname, according to The Register-Guard.
The man formerly known as Smith says he chose his new name after watching NBC's "Chuck," which features a character called Dr. Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb.
"I just thought it was really funny that Devon's father always called him Captain Awesome because 'a poor nickname builds good character,'" he told the paper.
Awesome, an unemployed cabinet installer, had to work hard to get the name change granted, because the first judge who reviewed his application thought it was a prank.
That judge told him to hire a lawyer to make his case in court, but Awesome chose to go it alone, representing himself after studying up on name change cases.
His first hurdle: taking some heat from Judge Douglas Mitchell about ditching their shared name.
"The first thing he said to me was that he thought Douglas was a perfectly honorable first name," Awesome told the Register-Guard. "I thought, 'Oh my goodness — I'm screwed.'"
After making sure Smith was sincere about wanting to switch his name, Judge Mitchell consented, pronouncing him Captain Awesome.
Awesome also got permission to change his signature to a right-pointing arrow, a smiley face, and a left-pointing arrow, but said his bank rejected it as being too easily "forgeable."
Read more:
Man changes his name to 'Captain Awesome' in honor of character on NBC's 'Chuck'
