8. Indiana Jones Started Out As "Indiana Smith" - Raiders of the Lost Ark
All right, it's kind of pointless to argue that "Indiana Smith" is a terrible name when the character ended up being called "Indiana Jones," but there's something about "Indiana Smith" that just doesn't work - and Steven Spielberg would agree, given that he was the first one to oppose George Lucas' naming of the now-iconic character. Thinking that "Smith" sounded far too boring, he suggested the equally commonplace "Jones." Okay, so "Indiana Smith" isn't awful, exactly, but you have to admit that it just doesn't have the same ring to it as the name we eventually ended up with. "Indiana Smith" doesn't roll off of the tongue in the same way. George Lucas was originally inspired to grant his character with a commonplace name by James Bond, who he saw Indy as the archaeologist, serial movie equivalent of. See? This is why we need Spielberg: to hone Lucas in.