A man from Eugene, Oregon garnered a brief moment of attention from the national media after changing his name to "Captain Awesome."

Is this just a Eugene thing? I know a guy from Eugene whose legal name is "Mister Oo-la-la." (Mister is a great guy, by the way.)

The man, formerly known as Douglas Allen Smith Jr., almost didn't get the name change. The judge who granted it balked at the idea.

"The first thing he said to me was that he thought Douglas was a perfectly honorable first name," said Awesome (nee Douglas Smith). "I thought, 'Oh my goodness I'm screwed.'"

He also changed his signature to a right pointing arrow, smiley face, left pointing arrow. Essentially this: ->:)<-

Apparently, the DMV accepted the new signature.

Here's where the story gets a little less...awesome. It's the reason why he changed his name:

Any reader who — like Awesome — watches the television show "Chuck" will not be surprised to know how he chose his new moniker. It was, indeed, inspired by a character on the NBC action/drama series: 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," said the local Awesome, an out-of-work cabinet installer.

Chuck inspired the name? Chuck? He couldn't have just said, "Why can't I be called Captain Awesome? That's a great name. Yes, from now on I will be Captain Awesome because I'm freaking Awesome."

This is almost as bad the finger-stache tattoo.

Via.