Poorly thought out names in Fantasy/Sci-fi

[Klaus]

Lucas is perhaps the WORST namer in history...

Tatooine -> It's the name of the city where the desert scenes of Episode IV were shot...

Count Dooku -> Means "Count From-the-Arse" in more than one language

Queen Amidala -> Just call her Amigdala...

Ewok -> The original draft for Ep. VI would take place in the wookie home planet of Kashyyyk*, and wookies would tear loose on the stormtroopers. But then Lucas decided whe liked Chewbacca a lot as a handyman, so the battle between the low-tech wookies and the high-tech Empire was a no-go. He then decided to cut the wookies' size in half and changed the syllables of their name: Woo-kie -> E-wooki -> Ewok...

Kashyyyk -> c'mon...

Luke Skywalker -> So you're hiding your worst foe's son from him. Here's a genius idea! Give it to his brother to take care and (here's the catch) don't change his last name!!!! Why not have him be Luke Lars (after Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru)

 

[Quasqueton]

Actually, the Star Wars movies has THE most misunderstood lines in any movies I've watched.

Ep IV:

Ben is trying to sneak away from the tracter beam control. He gestures to make the stormtrooper guards look away.

ST1: What's that?

ST2: It's nothing. I'm gassy. Don't worry about it.


Quasqueton

 

[mmu1]

The names of the Dwarves come from the Dvergatal, part of the Elder Edda - Tolkien drew those names directly from Norse myth.

That's even worse - he didn't come up with the bad names, he stole them.

Wherever they came from, they're Dr.Seuss names.

 

[drnuncheon]

Keven Landwaster from the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Worst. Name. Evar.

"Landwaster" is an epithet, not a last name, so it's not as bad as all that.

J

 

[DanMcS]

Not book fiction, but movie: Underworld had the worst names. The main villain was named "Craven". One of the 'good' guys was named "Victor". That one wasn't so slap-me-in-the-face bad, but every time the villain came out, I laughed at him, his name was synonymous with coward.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Any one remember a short lived fantasy TV show, early 80's, the villian was named Dirk Blackpool but it had others but that one has always stood out.

I don't know if I mind as I have a terrible time coming up with names.

 

[Tewligan]

The latest Star Wars movies have had some pretty uninspired names too. Jar Jar Binks? Count Dooku? Please.

Heh. Some of my friends and I use the euphemism "I'm going to battle Count Dooku" to mean going to the restroom for an extended period of time. We're idiots, you see.

 

[Dirigible]

Robert Jordan. Grr.
Artur Paendrag? Grrr.
Sheol Ghul? Grrr.
Dhoom? Grrr.
Trollocs? Grrr.
Arad Domon? Grrr.
Names of the Forsaken and Trolloc bands? GRRRRR.
Angreal, sa'angreal and ter'angreal? GRRRR-RRR-RRR-R-RRRR!
Tarmon Gaidon? GRAAAAAKKK-UNNNNGH-RRRR! (hulk out)

Also, I have the sneaky suspicion that 'Seanchan' is a joke waiting for a punchline.

Bad names can ruin a series. And Jordan don't need no help in that department.

However, for every crappy name he turns out, he produces one or two excellent ones.

 

[Chain Lightning]

Yeah, it wasn't until I was in high school (and I first saw Star Wars on the big screen in '77 when I was three years old) that I realized that the X-Wing leaders said "Lock S-Foils in attack positions." Up to then I always thought they said "Luck as falls...attack positions."

I'm so glad I wasn't the only one lost on some of those lines. Heh heh.

Although, you're version of "Luck as falls...attack positions" is better than what my friends and I thought it sounded like.

Which was, "Lock a$$h*les in attack positions"


Speaking of naming skills. I've been told by one or two of my players that...while they like my stories and DMing in general.....my naming skills suck big time. I'm really trying to correct it, but I'm not sure how to. I hate to use real world names too much and I don't have enough time to Tolkien out several languages of my homebrew world. I admit, I usually just throw random vowels and consonants around till it 'feels' okay.

Example: I'll call some town Aldoras or something. Then one player would exclaim, "Aldoras?!?" Like he can't believe what he's hearing, but then afterwards doesn't tell me why he thinks it sounds weird. I have suspicion though as to what it might be. I think he likes to use real world sounding names. In his own homebrew world, each kingdom has themes. Like, he'll use French like names for one country, Russian like ones for the other, etc.

Another player that was in another group of mine reads a lot of fantasy. He likes sticking to the general formulas for naming. Which I kinda agree...but really, I don't like spending that much time doing this. I'd rather concentrate on preparing stories, art, maps, etc. Anyways, he would say Aldoras doesn't sound like a human city. Human cities should be like, "Greyfalls", "Windhaven", "Northfork", "Yellow Fields"....simple names peasants come up with that basically describe what the area or town is about. I agree, but sometimes I just run of names or they end up too similar to names in books we've read. Like Emon Fields ..or Whispering Wood.

What makes names acceptable? I think its mostly the tastes of the people hearing them. Mostly. But what makes some of my players think Amn is okay, but Aldoras isn't? I dunno.....

Anyways, it always bugged me that it was my weakness. If I had time I'd try to make my names cooler. But I don't...barely any freetime as it is. Now, if I was a full time novelist...sure, I'd have no excuse.

 

[s/LaSH]

Robert Jordan. Grr.

Actually, I suspect all those names are carefully chosen - you can make stuff up, or you can suggest a bond to our world that's not immediately visible. Some of that stuff is awfully obscure, too - but it's all pretty specific. I just find it hard to believe that all that isn't just a huge hint that, once the world's broken again, we'll be looking at the ancestor of ours (and thus ours is the ancestor of the Age of Legends).

Or he's really lazy, in an obscure sort of way. But I like to think it's a theme.

Unless you're complaining about the mellifluity, rather than originality, of the words, in which case I take it all back. All of it. And there's no excuse for Dhoom in either case.