Hammerhead
Explorer
Hiro Protagonist is, by far, the best name for a character. Ever.
You'll never forget it.
You'll never forget it.
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Poorly thought out names in Fantasy/Sci-fi
- Thread starter Branduil
- Start date
John Q. Mayhem
Explorer
Klaus said:
Minor nitpick: That wasn't his name. He had just been stabbed, and was in pain. Hence all the rearing back, the clutching at the chest, the pain and stuff...
Not trying (hard) to be rude, but it was pretty obvious.
drnuncheon
Explorer
WayneLigon said:
Glen Cook's Black Company books had similar namings.
All I have to say is, "There's no way humans would ever name places things like 'Mississippi' or 'Bangkok' (stop snickering) or even 'Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch'. That would be completely unrealistic."
J
Dagger75 said:
I kind of like the fact that a fictional world is not necessary made to be all neat and pretty. Having two guys with similar names makes the world somehow more "real." After all, I work with two Daves, a David, and two Scotts, and my friends include two more Scotts and two more Davids.
From that point of view, the bad guys should have had the same name and actually so should a hero or two. Sauron searches to destroy the ring of Sauron (no the other Sauron), while Sarumon betrays Sauron (a third guy) to Sauron (that second guy). Or maybe not.
Jeremy Ackerman-Yost
Explorer
Realism and good storytelling are not necessarily the same thing.
It may be realistic to have 6 guys named John and/or Johnny in a story, but it doesn't help its readability in the slightest.
It may be realistic to have 6 guys named John and/or Johnny in a story, but it doesn't help its readability in the slightest.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Hiro Protagonist reminds me of a character from a Kara-Tur/OA adventure our DM adapted for the 3.0 Oriental Adventures.Hammerhead said:
The NPC was an aged Samurai and our characters helped him on some of his lasts quests. His name was "Minhiro". In our ears it sounded like a mixture of Plattdeutsch (some kind of dialect that is spoken in East Frisia, a part of Germany - and also in some parts of the USA, where East Frisians immigrants settled) and English, with the meaning of "My Hero".
I guess, with all the languages around on this world, it is unavoidable that most names sound funny to some people. Though still an author could avoid unintended funny names in his mother tongue.
Mustrum Ridcully
BiggusGeekus
That's Latin for "cool"
Fajitas said:
Except for Hong Ooi.
...
The 'Sword of Truth' series has some pretty bad names. The Red Dragon "Scarlet" ranks up there. A friend of my rented that on books-on-tape. They gave her a southern-US accent. You know? Like from Gone With The Wind? Scarlett? Get it?
Sigh. At least there's nothing in that series I liked so I can't say that the names ruined it for me.
Jordan gets a pass from me. He's doing some loopy things with time in that novel. Randland takes place in Earth's past AND future ("time is a wheel") so the nameing conventions are going to be a little wacky.
Oh, and Neal Stephenson as at least three Divine Ranks. There is nothing wrong with "Hiro Protagonist"!
Dragonblade
Adventurer
I'm surprised no one mentioned "Pug" from Raymond Feist's series. One of the most powerful Sorcerers to ever walk Midkemia and his name is PUG!!!?!?
I love the books but hated that name.
Also, Robert Jordan's names are all carefully chosen to reflect famous literary, historical, or mythological people from the real world.
If you have the time, read through the Wheel of Time FAQ. A search on Yahoo or Google should pull it up. Its absolutely fascinating and more proof to me that Jordan's work is brilliant. A worthy successor to Tolkien. Despite all the Jordan bashers that hang out in this forum.
Here is some interesting info and speculation from the Wheel of Time FAQ regarding the origins of Jordan's names (this is only a small sample. The actual FAQ is very extensive and covers more of Jordan's obscure references to all sorts of myths, cultures, literature, etc):
Asmodean: A demon described in the Old Testament book of Tobit, which is included only in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canon of scriptures (you won't find it in Jewish or Protestant Bibles; it's considered apocrypha in those circles). In the book of Tobit, Sara had been married seven times, but Asmodeus had slain all of them before they could consummate their marriage (Tobit 3:7-8). Sara eventually married Tobias, the son of Tobit, who was able to banish Asmodeus by burning the heart and liver of a special fish given to him by the angel Raphael in their bedchamber (Tobit 6:16-17, 8:2-3). Asmodeus fled to Egypt, where Raphael caught up with him and bound him up. [Rafael Sevilla]
Ba'alzamon: Ba'al, Baelzebub, or Ba'al Shamin (literally, "the lord of the heavens," an appellation of Ba'al). Baelzebub, Lord of the Flies, was an ancient Canaanite fertility deity that competed with worship of Yahweh in Old Testament times. Later became a euphemism for the devil from the time of Christ on (see Matthew 10:24, 12:24-27, Mark 3:22, and Luke 11:15-18) from its similarity to the Aramaic word beeldebaba ("enemy"), and from the fact that many ancient pagan gods were demonized in Christian times anyway. [Rafael Sevilla]
Be'lal: Belial, literally means "worthless" in Hebrew; "sons of Belial" is used throughout the Bible to denote evil men. Eventually becomes the name of a demon in Medieval times. [Rafael Sevilla] Belial was often noted as commanding legions, and has been referred to as the general of Hell. Be'lal was one of the noted generals of the Shadow. [John Novak]
Lews Therin/Lord of the Morning: Lucifer, "the morning star". The literal translation of Lucifer is "bringer of light" [Matthew Forrester].
Lothair Mantelar (Founder of The Children of the Light): Martin Luther?
M'Hael: Michael the Archangel who was Lucifer's chief opponent. The derivation of Michael is "Mikha'el" from the Hebrew meaning "who is like god". [Michael Schmidt] Michael was the great prince of all angels and leader of the celestial armies. [Encyclopedia Mythica] Amnon Wenger adds that the Hebrew word "m'nahael" means "principal" or "person in charge".
Sammael: A member of Lucifer's host, often incorrectly identified as another name for Lucifer himself. Jeremy Yoskowitz tells us that "Samael" is an earlier name for Uriel, the angel of death from the Kabbalah. Some versions of the Lilith legend name Sammael as her husband (after Adam spurned her), and general of the army of demonspawn they birthed together. Their goal was to replace Eve's children with Lilith's.
Shayol Ghul: Sheol: Hebrew for hell; Ghul: Gol or Gul, Arabic for Demon
Tarmon Gai'don: Armageddon
Amyrlin: Merlin/Myrddin, Arthur's chief advisor/magician, etc.
Moiraine: Morgaine/Morgan Le Fay
Morgase: Morgause
Tigraine: Ygrainne, King Arthur's mother, seduced by Uther Pendragon with Merlin's aid.
Egwene al'Vere: Guenever/Guinevere
Artur Paendrag: Arthur Pendragon
Callandor: Excalibur, the sword in the stone
Galad: Galahad the Pure
Gawyn: Gawain
Green Man: Green Knight or Green Man
Sa'angreal: San Greal (Holy Grail). An alternate spelling, Sang Real, translates to "holy or royal blood" [Robert Mee].
Nynaeve: Nyneve/Vivian: who was Merlin's lover and cause of his imprisonment in the enchanted cave in Cornwall.
Perrin: Perceval?
Merrilin: Merlin again (advisor to a Queen).
Lan: Launcelot?
Damodred/Demandred: Mordred? Mordred was Arthur's bastard son by his aunt Morgawse, and his slayer.
Elayne: Elayne/Elaine: The first Elayne is sister to Queens Morgawse and Ygrainne (King Arthur's mother). Another version of Arthurian legends (not Malory) asserts that she is one of the three women in Arthur's funeral boat to Avalon... The second Elaine is Sir Galahad's mother, by Sir Launcelot.
Luthair Paendrag: Uther Pendragon (Now Artur's son, instead of his father)
Tar Valon: Avalon
Caemlyn: Camlaan (where Arthur fought his final battle against Mordred) or Camelot.
Ji'e'toh: Bushido
I love the books but hated that name.
Also, Robert Jordan's names are all carefully chosen to reflect famous literary, historical, or mythological people from the real world.
If you have the time, read through the Wheel of Time FAQ. A search on Yahoo or Google should pull it up. Its absolutely fascinating and more proof to me that Jordan's work is brilliant. A worthy successor to Tolkien. Despite all the Jordan bashers that hang out in this forum.
Here is some interesting info and speculation from the Wheel of Time FAQ regarding the origins of Jordan's names (this is only a small sample. The actual FAQ is very extensive and covers more of Jordan's obscure references to all sorts of myths, cultures, literature, etc):
Asmodean: A demon described in the Old Testament book of Tobit, which is included only in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canon of scriptures (you won't find it in Jewish or Protestant Bibles; it's considered apocrypha in those circles). In the book of Tobit, Sara had been married seven times, but Asmodeus had slain all of them before they could consummate their marriage (Tobit 3:7-8). Sara eventually married Tobias, the son of Tobit, who was able to banish Asmodeus by burning the heart and liver of a special fish given to him by the angel Raphael in their bedchamber (Tobit 6:16-17, 8:2-3). Asmodeus fled to Egypt, where Raphael caught up with him and bound him up. [Rafael Sevilla]
Ba'alzamon: Ba'al, Baelzebub, or Ba'al Shamin (literally, "the lord of the heavens," an appellation of Ba'al). Baelzebub, Lord of the Flies, was an ancient Canaanite fertility deity that competed with worship of Yahweh in Old Testament times. Later became a euphemism for the devil from the time of Christ on (see Matthew 10:24, 12:24-27, Mark 3:22, and Luke 11:15-18) from its similarity to the Aramaic word beeldebaba ("enemy"), and from the fact that many ancient pagan gods were demonized in Christian times anyway. [Rafael Sevilla]
Be'lal: Belial, literally means "worthless" in Hebrew; "sons of Belial" is used throughout the Bible to denote evil men. Eventually becomes the name of a demon in Medieval times. [Rafael Sevilla] Belial was often noted as commanding legions, and has been referred to as the general of Hell. Be'lal was one of the noted generals of the Shadow. [John Novak]
Lews Therin/Lord of the Morning: Lucifer, "the morning star". The literal translation of Lucifer is "bringer of light" [Matthew Forrester].
Lothair Mantelar (Founder of The Children of the Light): Martin Luther?
M'Hael: Michael the Archangel who was Lucifer's chief opponent. The derivation of Michael is "Mikha'el" from the Hebrew meaning "who is like god". [Michael Schmidt] Michael was the great prince of all angels and leader of the celestial armies. [Encyclopedia Mythica] Amnon Wenger adds that the Hebrew word "m'nahael" means "principal" or "person in charge".
Sammael: A member of Lucifer's host, often incorrectly identified as another name for Lucifer himself. Jeremy Yoskowitz tells us that "Samael" is an earlier name for Uriel, the angel of death from the Kabbalah. Some versions of the Lilith legend name Sammael as her husband (after Adam spurned her), and general of the army of demonspawn they birthed together. Their goal was to replace Eve's children with Lilith's.
Shayol Ghul: Sheol: Hebrew for hell; Ghul: Gol or Gul, Arabic for Demon
Tarmon Gai'don: Armageddon
Amyrlin: Merlin/Myrddin, Arthur's chief advisor/magician, etc.
Moiraine: Morgaine/Morgan Le Fay
Morgase: Morgause
Tigraine: Ygrainne, King Arthur's mother, seduced by Uther Pendragon with Merlin's aid.
Egwene al'Vere: Guenever/Guinevere
Artur Paendrag: Arthur Pendragon
Callandor: Excalibur, the sword in the stone
Galad: Galahad the Pure
Gawyn: Gawain
Green Man: Green Knight or Green Man
Sa'angreal: San Greal (Holy Grail). An alternate spelling, Sang Real, translates to "holy or royal blood" [Robert Mee].
Nynaeve: Nyneve/Vivian: who was Merlin's lover and cause of his imprisonment in the enchanted cave in Cornwall.
Perrin: Perceval?
Merrilin: Merlin again (advisor to a Queen).
Lan: Launcelot?
Damodred/Demandred: Mordred? Mordred was Arthur's bastard son by his aunt Morgawse, and his slayer.
Elayne: Elayne/Elaine: The first Elayne is sister to Queens Morgawse and Ygrainne (King Arthur's mother). Another version of Arthurian legends (not Malory) asserts that she is one of the three women in Arthur's funeral boat to Avalon... The second Elaine is Sir Galahad's mother, by Sir Launcelot.
Luthair Paendrag: Uther Pendragon (Now Artur's son, instead of his father)
Tar Valon: Avalon
Caemlyn: Camlaan (where Arthur fought his final battle against Mordred) or Camelot.
Ji'e'toh: Bushido
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