Poorly thought out names in Fantasy/Sci-fi

[Pants]

The problem is... a lot of those names don't coincide well with the characters or places in the books by those definitions
Not that I'm complaining...

 

[Dragonblade]

The problem is... a lot of those names don't coincide well with the characters or places in the books by those definitions
Not that I'm complaining...

You are absolutely right. But I have noticed that all of the origins of the character names imply or state something about that character.

For example, even though Artur Paendrag and Egwene Al'vere never knew each other and lived hundreds of years apart, there is something of their namesake in their characters. For example, being named after Arthur Pendragon fits a character that ruled over an "enlightened" and civilized empire.

Likewise Egwene, much like Guinevere, originally loves the man hero/king, but finds out later that she loves someone else. Furthermore, she is effectively a "queen" of the world if you consider her position post book 6.

And then there is Galad, my personal favorite character. He is just like his namesake, only not quite so innocent. But he is pure and good, albeit ruthless. One of the best literary portrayals of a paladinesque character I have ever read. And of course, I don't mean the watered down holy social worker the paladin class has devolved to in 3rd edition. I'm talking about the smite-the-infidel badass based on the Knights Templar that Gygax gave us in 1st Edition.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

And then there is Galad, my personal favorite character. He is just like his namesake, only not quite so innocent. But he is pure and good, albeit ruthless. One of the best literary portrayals of a paladinesque character I have ever read. And of course, I don't mean the watered down holy social worker the paladin class has devolved to in 3rd edition. I'm talking about the smite-the-infidel badass based on the Knights Templar that Gygax gave us in 1st Edition.

Except his moral barometer is completely wonky. He always does "what he thinks is right." (emphasis mine). But as far as I can tell, what he thinks is right is generally not consistent with standards of morality in either our culture or those of the books.

That makes for a pretty poor paladin, IMO.

 

[Dragonblade]

Except his moral barometer is completely wonky. He always does "what he thinks is right." (emphasis mine). But as far as I can tell, what he thinks is right is generally not consistent with standards of morality in either our culture or those of the books.

That makes for a pretty poor paladin, IMO.

Ah but thats what makes his character interesting. Of course, I don't always agree with Galad's actions, but his character is fascinating. All the good characters in Randland look at the context of the situation they find themselves in and try to do what is right given the circumstances and their own needs.

Galad always does what he thinks is right, regardless of his own needs or the context of the situation. His moral code is absolute, in sharp contrast with those whose moral code is a bit more objective (or even subjective). Galad will do the "right" thing even if it kills him and those around him. Its almost like all those paladin threads about narrow-minded paladins being stupid good or lawful stupid because they slavishly follow their code like a robot. Yet, Galad's character manages to deftly avoid all those pitfalls while still being devoted to his absolute moral code.

I also enjoy the parallel between Galad, Rand, The Dark One and Padan Fain.

The Dark One is pretty much LE, while Padan Fain is CE. Rand is CG, while Galad is LG. At least this is my opinion of where they stand. Arguments could be made that Rand is more NG. But its interesting how these four characters are these moral polarizing elements in the story.