Well, originally, I got into the habit of using nicknames when I used to chat on IRC, back in the mid-90s. Never anything based on my real name, as my real name (Will Anderson) is horribly generic and boring. I've never been fond of my first name, and my last name is a lame, meaningless, patronymic fossil. (Nothing against my great-great-great-grandfather Anders. I'm sure he was lovely. But the dude's been dead for one hundred and thirty fucking years, already) Also, I find it easier to remember people by their colourful nicknames than by their real, dull, every day names. This could just be because I'm "bad with names." But, especially with common names like John, Sarah, Mary, Peter, Steve, Bill, etc., without a face, they all just meld into one person for me. And adding the initial letter of the surname to the nickname just makes it sound like pre-school, IMO. I try to give others something a bit more memorable to work with than "WillA." I know, I'm incredibly considerate. You're welcome.

Anyways, using nicknames just sort of crossed over with me from IRC into other sorts of online communications, forums, etc. And, as the years have passed, I've stuck with "Lepus Rex" mainly because it ties together most of my online activity from the late 90s (when I started using the name exclusively) to the present. I'll often use my real name alongside or instead of "Lepus Rex," especially when conversing with people I know in the flesh. But, like I said, I like to tie it all together. So people know that asshole Lepus Rex who used to post on the Mudcat Forum is the same asshole who used to bitch about Sergei Bodrov on the IMDB forums. Or whatever.

Jesus, I've given this far too much thought.

---Lepus Rex