Teen Hero Names

[hooligan x]

What's your take on Teen Hero names? Do you name them the same as any other character or do you try to capture what a teen would think was "kewl"?
I am running a Teen Champs at a con and I am not happy with the character names.

[yamamura]

Give us their concept and current names then we might come up with something.

[DocSamson]

My only experience with Teen Champs was that my group made characters for a game based loosely off of the Teen Titans but set in the mainstream Champs universe. As such, I think we all had "sidekick" style names. For example, my character was named Kid Grond (though he never saw actual play time).

[assault]

It would depend on the character.

That said, I doubt I would play a character "kewl" enough to take a "kewl" name.

[Arkham]

Unless they are assigned a name by their Mentor, Teen heroes are just as likely to try to use a Kewl name as any adult hero.

Its not just the kids that try to go by Karnage Klown, Deathstroke, or Baron Blood.

[hooligan x]

The unnamed teens are an alien female shape-shifter with a Molly Ringwald obsession, a male lycanthope (or caninethope more accurately), a female mentalist, a male brick, and a male Hydroman clone.

[Doomed Prophet]

Most of my players tend to go with names that their character will be willing to use as an adult, not just as a teen hero. Mostly because they don't mind keeping the name recognition that they gained as a teen. There is the occassional player who wants to name their character something 'kewl', and later they tend to pay for it later when they're an adult hero named the 'Poo Man'.

[novi]

I don't think there is any one good answer on Teen Hero names. It sounds like their choosing their own names, and they'll honestly run the gamut.

Having said that, I would expect a trend towards either making a statement and/or displaying a lack of taste/judgement. I wouldn't imagine that to overlap with 'kewl' much at all. And when I say statement, I mean they are going for a codename that shows how unique they are within the tight context of the established social order. An extreme example is the girl who has the exact same model cell phone as all her friends, but her is the only lime-yellow one, proving how different she is.

Also, it it will depend on the personality of the character in question. An emo-kid will make a different choice than a jock than a nerd, etc. Your Hydroman clone may be completely unaware of any double-entendre in calling himself Gusher. Or he saw it right away and has a different name. Or he noticed it, and he likes it that way.

Lastly, one of them should have a codename that is far too clever to work. Maybe the caninethrope is a bit of a francophile, or Quebecois, and decides he'll be Loup-garou, which is just 'werewolf' in French. But who that he runs into will know that? He'll just be remembered as Loopy-Guy, and he'll angst about how life isn't fair and rewarding his cleverness.

[The Arc]

a male Hydroman clone.

Liquid Lad

[MilkmanDan]

the unnamed teens are an alien female shape-shifter with a molly ringwald obsession,

"omg ph33r me, 4 i m siksxtyene kandl3ssss!"

[The Arc]

a male lycanthope (or caninethope more accurately).

Bad T. Da Bone

[hooligan x]

The team line up:

Dot Fusion (public ID;no codename)- Teen genius gadgeteer, daughter of Professor Fusion
Backdraft- Fire-themed energy projector
Gauntlet- Brawler with mystical artifact
Attitude- Punk rocker/brick
Riptide- Wanna-be surfer and water-powered energy projector/metamorph
Unnamed mentalist
Unnamed alien metamorph
Unnamed were-rottweiler

[Narratio]

an alien female shape-shifter with a Molly Ringwald obsession, In her "16 Candles / Pretty in Pink" days huh? Lord but that's disturbing.

Modern kewl usage I think is more towards badly spelled one word names, you know Havok, Karnaj, Anarkee. Where there is little tie to the Mentor (if there is one)
Stepping back to the 70's & 80's and you get the Kewl sidekick names as variants on the mentors names; Kid Dynamo, Hulkling.
Back to the 50's & 60's and it's the famous lad / Lass, Boy Girl variants on them Man / Woman themes. Superman / boy, Wonder Woman / Girl.

I think it's a lot to do with your game style and theme.

[BNakagawa]

My current teen hero will not be keeping her name if she survives long enough to be an adult super. Mittens discovered her paranormal abilities while she was quite young...

[AnotherSkip]

My then six year old daughter saw the first Austin Powers movie and decided to call herself Minime.....

Now she is the Unknown

the other daughter was Wondrous Girl (she wanted to be Wonder Girl But that I had to explain to her was allready taken).

She is a keeping the name even at the ripe age of 18....

[Doug McCrae]

For me the biggest factor with names is the time period - Golden Age, Silver Age, Iron Age, etc. Naming styles change a lot through the ages. You wouldn't really have a character called Voodoom the Living Zombie these days, but at one time it was all the rage.

Is your game set in the 80s? It sounds like it might be, with the Molly Ringwald thing, but the name Dot Fusion makes it sound more contemporary.

Teenagers are people too. They might have kewl names if they're kewl or nerdy names if they're nerdy and so on.

Of the names you have:
Dot Fusion - Excellent, do not change this
Backdraft, Gauntlet, Riptide - Yawn. Riptide was used for a Youngblood member.
Attitude - Bad name, this guy should have something both better and kewler.

[Doug McCrae]

My suggestions:

Alien metamorph - Prettypink
Were-rottweiler - Molossus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molossus_(dog)) or Weredog
Mentalist - Lockstep, Trance or Bliss
Fire-themed energy projector - Wicked Burn
Brawler with mystical artifact - Beatdown or Smashmouth
Water-powered energy projector/metamorph - Flood. Punky/rebel alternative - Enema
Punk rocker/brick - Dr F-kk or Munkif-kk

[Arkham]

The team line up:

Dot Fusion (public ID;no codename)- Teen genius gadgeteer, daughter of Professor Fusion
Backdraft- Fire-themed energy projector
Gauntlet- Brawler with mystical artifact
Attitude- Punk rocker/brick
Riptide- Wanna-be surfer and water-powered energy projector/metamorph
Unnamed mentalist
Unnamed alien metamorph
Unnamed were-rottweiler

Dot Fusion : Cool
Backdraft : Decent.
Gauntlet : The artifact is a gauntlet, right? Meh. Good way to advertise your weakness though.
Attitude : Ick. Doesn't sound like what any punks I know would call themselves. I'd recommend something like 'Aggro' for a similar meaning.
mentalist : Daydreamer?
alien metamorph : I got nothin'.
were-dog : Spot? Fido? Spike? Junkyard? What's the character's attitude like?

[bubba smith]

alien metamorph : I got nothin'.

shifty?[shape shifter]

[AnotherSkip]

Slippery Sam or Soupy Sales?

naaah would probably be lost on em.


Hereboy for the weredog

how about "Heyou"?

if he's brainy how about Peritas? (the dog of Alexander the Great)

[novi]

re: teen female alien shapeshifter with a Molly Ringwald obsession:

If she wants to go around in her secret ID as Molly's character from The Breakfast Club, she could always make her hero ID "The Princess".

[TheQuestionMan]

Child Superheroes - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Child_superheroes

Category: Comic Book Sidekicks - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Comic_book_sidekicks

Project Superpowers: The Inheritors by Dynamite Entertainment - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Superpowers

Gen¹³ by Image Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen%C2%B9%C2%B3

Invincible by Image Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invincible_(comic)

Teen Team by Image Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Team

Teen Titans by DC Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Titans

Young All Stars by DC Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_all_stars

Legion of Super-Heroes by DC Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legion_of_Super-Heroes

New Mutants by Marvel Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mutants

New Warriors by Marvel Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Warriors

Young Avengers by Marvel Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Avengers

Harbinger by Valiant Comics - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harbinger_(comics)

Armor by Continuity Comics - Wikipedia
http://www.mightycrusaders.net/continuity_armor.htm


Cheers


QM

[hooligan x]

As it stands now:

Dot Fusion (public ID;no codename)- Teen genius gadgeteer, daughter of Professor Fusion
Flashpoint- Fire-themed energy projector
Gauntlet- Brawler with mystical artifact (legacy hero, actually the 3rd Gauntlet)
Ripper- Punk rocker/brick/Misfits fan
Breaker- Wanna-be surfer and water-powered energy projector/metamorph
Unnamed mentalist (Perhaps Stagefright?)
Unnamed alien metamorph (Variable?)
Unnamed were-rottweiler

[bigbywolfe]

Just a side note. Any teen who thinks it's "kewl" to spell it that way, isn't.;) I'm pretty sure that was a thing for about 5 minutes which is now simply a phase most pre-teens go through....

[DusterBoy]

Well, you can always have someone older and (theoretically) wiser ask them "Are you sure you want to take that name" if a Teen Champs PC comes up with something spectacularly naff.

And there's always the option of changing your name when you get older.

[greenbriar]

alien shapeshifter w/ ringwald obsession. the others may start calling her Bratpack

[SSgt Baloo]

"omg ph33r me, 4 i m siksxtyene kandl3ssss!"

Wow! She even talks in l337!


The team line up:

Dot Fusion (public ID;no codename)- Teen genius gadgeteer, daughter of Professor Fusion

Fusion 2.0?


Backdraft- Fire-themed energy projector

How about Damnager? (From the slang term "damnage").


Gauntlet- Brawler with mystical artifact

How about giving it some color (Red Gauntlet, f'rinstance)? Gauntlet by itself is kinda dull.


Attitude- Punk rocker/brick

Bland. How about Baditude?


Riptide- Wanna-be surfer and water-powered energy projector/metamorph

Akamai (smart or sharp guy) or Kahuna (god of surf-sand and wind) Or Akamai Kahuna or how about Da Kahuna or Big Kahuna? (Did I mention Kahuna?) If he's willing to fess up to his wanna-be status Hodad would be perfect.


Unnamed mentalist

:hush: I got nuthin'.


Unnamed alien metamorph

Other people have mentioned better ideas than I can sprout right now.


Unnamed were-rottweiler

K-18 (twice as good as K-9)? McGruff?

[Doug McCrae]

I got one more for the mentalist - Rapture.

As in, Rapture round my finger.

[SimComm]

Oh, I love teen heroes!

Unnamed Mentalist (if female): Dream Girl (oldy but goodie), (if male): MindScrew
Were-Doggy (if male): GrimFang

Best,
-SC

[Doug McCrae]

MindScrewOr go one step further, MindRape.

Teenagers don't know where the boundaries are. Their names should get right in people's faces, like they do. Tbh if 30-somethings like me aren't offended, it's not a teen hero name.

[SimComm]

Doug McCrae:
:visible wince:
I hope that someone would have told them that the "R-Word" is something you don't want in your hero name.
I always went with the idea that if it could be some kind of cheesy pick-up line, then a boy will make it his super-hero name.

Best,
-SC

[bubba smith]

Doug McCrae:
:visible wince:
I hope that someone would have told them that the "R-Word" is something you don't want in your hero name.
I always went with the idea that if it could be some kind of cheesy pick-up line, then a boy will make it his super-hero name.

Best,
-SCno self respecting super-hero teen or adult would use the" r"word "in a codename

[hooligan x]

Latest Names: (i'm gonna have to decide soon so I can prnt the sheets for GenCojn!)

1. Dot Fusion (public ID;no codename)- Teen genius gadgeteer, daughter of Professor Fusion
2. Flashpoint- Fire-themed energy projector
3. Gauntlet- Brawler with mystical artifact (legacy hero, actually the 3rd Gauntlet)
4. Ripper- Punk rocker/brick/Misfits fan
5. Breaker- Wanna-be surfer and water-powered energy projector/metamorph
6. Variant- alien metamorph
7. Mutt- wererottweiler
8. Unnamed mentalist/telekinetic (?)