Doug McCrae Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 I'm not sure about Yankee Poodle, Rubber Duck or Pig Iron - they were all members of the Amazing Zoo Crew Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew - 'The funny animal book for people who hate funny animal books'. They should also have marketed it for people who like funny animal books. I bet it would have been more successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 Horse Smackdown Gaunt Man, The Dread Alkali Motorised Algernon Lingo Goo, The Secret Leader, The Naiad Formic Acid Man Fortissimo - Italian: very loud Mobius Man Bugaboo Puzzler, The Blood-Red Blade Lobster, The Flaming Fury, The Ruby Consciousness, The Targeteer Virtuoso Ropedancer Plastic Titan Stellarina Gymnastic Master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blood-stone Posted March 15, 2003 Report Share Posted March 15, 2003 some names from My gaming Red Nova Lilly Cat Black Fury Spirit Shout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Originally posted by Balok Wow! Many of mine made it. You've got Ripper in there twice. Damn, that quick I forgot what numbers, but they might be 3929 and 3930. Out of curiosity, what didn't you like about "The Surreal McCoy"? Thanks for going to the trouble of compiling these lists. Thanks for spotting the extra Ripper. It's out of the master file and won't be in the next round up. Surreal McCoy got the axe for a compound reason. First, it's more than a bit silly, so it was already red flagged. A moderate degree of genre-inappropriateness pushed it over the edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 16, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Originally posted by Doug McCrae I'm not sure about Yankee Poodle, Rubber Duck or Pig Iron - they were all members of the Amazing Zoo Crew. It's my policy to accept any reasonable claim of originality, including:"I came up with it first." "I hadn't heard of the original when I came up with it." "I created that published character." I can vouch directly for Rubber Duck, since I created and played him for a few months in a Fuzzy Champions game in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Too General/Nebulous or Specific Part 1 Dave, I'll post more on the German bit when I do a list of completely new names. Here are the first batch of names which are perhaps too nebulous, too specific or too general. Included are reasons for inclusion, references or non-inclusion. 101 (after George Orwell's book 1984. Rm 101 contains your worst nightmare) Alcibiadies (Athenian Greek General) Andarra Anti-Drugs Crusader Anti-Pope Anti Vigilante Apt Pupil Aqus Arab Arabia Arabian Arak Arch Foe Armed Robbery Attorney General Backstabber Bad Guy Bad Man Badge Barramundi Belle of the Ball Bells, The Big Boss Big Business Big Chief Bigot Black Belt Black Hat (trad. The bad guy) Black Rod (British Parliamentary official) Blonde, The Alcibiadies was a Greek general who fought against Sparta. See The History of the Peliponnesian War by Thucydidies (spelling may be a little off). The leader of Athens at the time Pericles is mentioned more often and is the subject of a play by Shakespeare. Alcibiadies was exiled from Athens. Bizarrely you had Alcibiadies down as an Asian Shangri La beforehand. The Anti Drugs Crusader was a vigilante who went after drug dealers and faked psychosis, so that people thought he was a driveling gun toting loon. He killed criminals to mask his vendetta against a Mafia family in the UK. The Anti-Vigilante was a specially trained policeman sent out after a rash of costumed vigilantes hit London, such as the Anti Drugs Crusader. Arch Foe, Bad Guy, Bad Man, Big Boss and Big Chief could be claimed as names by anybody in addition to the normal name and might fail the filters as a result. I can confirm that Black Rod is a Parliamentary official. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Johnny Radar ESP Maiden Deflector Costume, The Myth Weapon Symbol Mobster From Saturn, The Extra-man, the Man With Extra Powers! Masked Blaster President Hate Silicon Soldier Automatic Dragon Tree, The Plutonium Worm Chaos Secret Sphinx Archaeopteryx Mesmerine Duke Nihil - 'Nihil' is Latin for 'nothing' Xenon Crescent Knight War Boy Electric Coma A-Man RoboGo Tantric Jupiter Slam Freestyle Head, The Uberfly Toxin Volcano Roach Fever Dream Sabbath TNTeen Bullet Big Boom Dittolad Ghostdance Organik Bronco NRG Gravity Cannon Boneyard Clockwork Furnace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Re: Too General/Nebulous or Specific Part 1 Originally posted by death tribble Here are the first batch of names which are perhaps too nebulous, too specific or too general. Included are reasons for inclusion, references or non-inclusion. *list omitted* Alcibiadies was a Greek general who fought against Sparta. See The History of the Peliponnesian War by Thucydidies (spelling may be a little off). The leader of Athens at the time Pericles is mentioned more often and is the subject of a play by Shakespeare. Alcibiadies was exiled from Athens. Bizarrely you had Alcibiadies down as an Asian Shangri La beforehand. The Anti Drugs Crusader was a vigilante who went after drug dealers and faked psychosis, so that people thought he was a driveling gun toting loon. He killed criminals to mask his vendetta against a Mafia family in the UK. The Anti-Vigilante was a specially trained policeman sent out after a rash of costumed vigilantes hit London, such as the Anti Drugs Crusader. Arch Foe, Bad Guy, Bad Man, Big Boss and Big Chief could be claimed as names by anybody in addition to the normal name and might fail the filters as a result. I can confirm that Black Rod is a Parliamentary official. I tossed out these names for a variety of reasons. A few hit the Dumb Name filter, a few the Silly Name filter, but most hit the Genre-Inappropriate filter. To answer your specific points: Alcibiades: I can't explain the Asian Shangri-La thing. Doing a web search now results in no similar hits. Beats me. Must have been late. However, it's still genre-inappropriate. I cite the dearth of supers named for similarly obscure historical figures with difficult to pronounce names. Historical name inspirations typically fall into 3 categories: well-known figures that carry their own contemporary cultural connotations, cool sounding names regardless of origin, and throwaway comic-relief characters we're happy to forget. Anti-Drugs Crusader: A fine epithet, but otherwise a lousy superhero name. I could see maybe Anabuse the Anti-Drugs Crusader, but I'd probably just shorten it to Anabuse. Anti-Vigilante: It's a job description, not a super name. Arch Foe, Bad Guy, Bad Man, Big Boss, Big Chief: These haven't sounded good since the 50s. They're valid campaign NPC roles (every super team needs an arch foe, a rogue's gallery of bad guys, and a big boss to try and take down), but they just aren't super names. Black Rod: Hooboy... You mean aside from the phallic connotations? Outa dere right along with Gaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 The Tome of Character Names That Don't Bite Dragon #306 (Apr 2003), Dork Tower on pg 90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Too General/Nebulous or Specific Part 2 Dave, Next batch on the General theme. Body Double Bogatyr Breeze Block Bronze Age Buddha Bully Bunyip Busy Bee Cabracan Campeon Cape Caper Carpathia Cathedral Cat Lord CEO Cerval (Asian Cat) Chairman China Boy Churchill Cimmerian Cinnamon Girl Clean Getaway Cleaner, The (Intelligence term for someone who cleans up a mess ie dead bodies cf La Femme Nikita and Assassin) Cold Blood Cold Storage Collaborator Combat Thought Complicity Composite Slayer Consequences Bogatyr is Russian in origin (I believe) Bronze Age is included as various other ages are in the List like Old Age and Middle Age. If you want to fail the one you may wish to yank the others. Bunyip is Australian. Carpathia is another name for the Transylvanian/Romanian area. Cerval is an Asian cat, admittadly not as big as a lion or tiger. But possibly a good name for characters operatin in South East Asia. Interesting fact. Ceval Coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world. The Cat easts the coffee husks and after the coffee beans are passed through its system, the beans are collected for making coffee. Consequences partner Truth has been included in the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbwar Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Here's one I played in a game that I didn't see on the last roundup: American Gothic (dark, vigilante styled patriot hero with phasing powers similar to the vision) Another one I recently came up with is Deathstrike (electrocutes people by touch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 19, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2003 Re: Too General/Nebulous or Specific Part 2 Originally posted by death tribble Next batch on the General theme. *list omitted* Bogatyr is Russian in origin (I believe) Bronze Age is included as various other ages are in the List like Old Age and Middle Age. If you want to fail the one you may wish to yank the others. Bunyip is Australian. Carpathia is another name for the Transylvanian/Romanian area. Cerval is an Asian cat, admittadly not as big as a lion or tiger. But possibly a good name for characters operatin in South East Asia. Interesting fact. Ceval Coffee is the most expensive coffee in the world. The Cat easts the coffee husks and after the coffee beans are passed through its system, the beans are collected for making coffee. Consequences partner Truth has been included in the list Most of these lost out to the Genre-Inappropriate filter, though I relented on Cold Blood and Cerval (corrected to Serval, an African wildcat; I couldn't find a reference to a cerval as an Asian feline of any sort). Bogatyr: Submitted along with a bunch of names from a published product. Non-Original filter. Bronze Age: You're right. I've yanked Middle Age and Old Age. Bunyip: If now >< 1980s then Autralian >< cool. No one is going to call themselves Bunyip (or Yowie for that matter). Dumb Name filter. Carpathia: Genre-Inappropriate filter. Just a region with no other name-part simply doesn't work for me. Cerval: Put back in as Serval. Cerval seems to be a popular misspelling of Serval. I had heard similar stories about coffee beans fed to goats, which seems more believable, since cats are carnivores and are thus unlikely to eat coffee beans. See Exotic Coffees of the World. Consequences: Genre-Inappropriate filter. Truth stands alone as a decent super name, but Consequences works only as part of a gag combo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted March 20, 2003 Report Share Posted March 20, 2003 Dave, Next batch Consul General (Diplomatic term) Core Commander Corporate Raider Coup De Grace Covert Operative Crayfish Crime (Punishment's partner) Criminal Emporer Criminal Intent Crook Critical Condition Cruise Control Cruise Missile DA, The Danube Darwin Dartmoor Decoy Delamore Devil Incarnate Diamond Jim Double Agent Double Cross Dover Drill Instructor Dural Dwindler Echidna Egyptian Elf Consul was part of the Criminal Empire set up. Corporate Raider was an idea I got from the Champions business book which had Dr Destroyer on the cover. Criminal Emporer was the name for the head of the riminal Empire. And well, Monarch was taken and IP. Diamond Jim has been used before by various people but not in a Champs context. I believe that Errol Flynn once played a Diamond Jim. Double Cross is one name that I would beg to get included. Way back in 1990 I met a fellow Champions GM at GenCon. As usual when two or more Champs players meet they compare Character Sheets. Double Cross was actually a hero but did not know it. The Hero's DNPC was manipulating them and causing them blackouts. During these blackouts they became the villainous Double Cross. I was really impressed by this as an example of duplicity. And so I would like to shamelessly beg for this one to be included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altamaros Posted March 20, 2003 Report Share Posted March 20, 2003 Originally posted by Dynamo I was waiting for a reply from altamaros so I could clean up some of the French names, but it looks like I'm not going to get that feedback. I'm working up a roundup tonight. Stay tuned. Argh, i totally missed your post !! i'm sorry; i promised i will be flogging myself with freshly cut nettles tonight So : quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0813 - Chasseuse (French: Huntress) --> french for Huntress is "chasseresse" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OK. Does Chasseuse mean Chaser (feminine)? ==> i didn't even know that this term eixsted before checking in the dictionary : apparently it's used to describe a woman practising hunting as a sport. Chasseresse is used more in a "romantic" way; it's the translation for Batman's Huntress. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1587 - Feu Boule (French: Fire Ball) --> Boule de feu. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To my American ear, that sounds clunky. Does Boule de Feu sound like a decent superhero name to a native French speaker, or is it a lost cause? ==> well, i do think it sounds much better in english. Well, to have an spherical/flaming hero (head-itching interruption here) : - Feu Follet ? (Will'o the wisp) ? But frankly it's not because an hero is french that he cannot use a english name. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2073 - Homme de Gel, l' (French: Frost Man) 2074 - Homme de Glace, l' (French: Ice Man) 2075 - Homme de Magie, le (French: Man of Magic) --> it's syntaxically correct but it really sounds too bad in french. avoid hero names with "homme" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought that might be the case. Can you suggest a way to salvage these? ==>(head itching session but longer) For a frost-based character, words to consider are : - Froid (frost/cold) - Glace (Ice but also Ice cream/mirror) - Gel (Freeze but also gelly) - Hiver/hivernal (winter/wintry) I would suggest 2073 - Pierre-Fendre : means literaly "Stone"+"to crack/cleave". it comes from a old expression meaning " a stone-cracking cold" 2074 - ? - l'Hivernal (the wintry one) - (l')Ange de Glace : (the) ice angel - (l')Ange de l'Hiver : (the) angel of winter - (la) reine des glaces ((the) Ice queen ) those last two are both from swiss/alpine fairy tales 2075 - "Man of magic" ? sorry no idea of what you really want here. a mage ? magician? sorry ofr the late reply Altamaros Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2003 Originally posted by altamaros sorry for the late reply Hey, it's cool. This is good stuff, and I will definitely refer to it when I assemble the next roundup. On more question. European speech, French and German in particular, seems to use determiners much more frequently than American English. Just how necessary is it to include le, la, or l' to make a name sound right to a native speaker? For example, my Cannibal Comics campaign features a Parisian speedster, La Vitesse. Would she be referred to informally as Vitesse, or would it always be La Vitesse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug McCrae Posted March 21, 2003 Report Share Posted March 21, 2003 Originally posted by altamaros For a frost-based character, words to consider are : - Froid (frost/cold) How about Doctor Froid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altamaros Posted March 21, 2003 Report Share Posted March 21, 2003 Originally posted by Dynamo Hey, it's cool. This is good stuff, and I will definitely refer to it when I assemble the next roundup. On more question. European speech, French and German in particular, seems to use determiners much more frequently than American English. Just how necessary is it to include le, la, or l' to make a name sound right to a native speaker? For example, my Cannibal Comics campaign features a Parisian speedster, La Vitesse. Would she be referred to informally as Vitesse, or would it always be La Vitesse? mmh, for german i cannot answer; i think we tend to use determiners if the word is of "too" common use in everyday conversation. and not to use determiners if the word/expression designs something really "specific" but frankly this is really personal feeling; (maybe it just sounds more pompous ?) i can find examples and counter-examples : determiners : Spiderman --> l'Araignée ("the spider") without X-men's Storm --> Tornade (without "la") X-Men's Cyclops --> Cyclope (wthout "le"). i got no special rules for that, just feeling. How about Doctor Froid? If you think about Batman's Doctor Freeze they once tried to translate it as Docteur Frisson (doctor Chill) (in the old series with Adam West) before they realize it sucked and used the original name. i go not "pretty" names for the combination doctor (ice-based them) Maybe Docteur Givre (doctor hoarfrost or doctor rime). ironically it's the name of one of my old teachers (i hope you will make him a villain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 21, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2003 Thanks, altamaros. No Doug, no Sigmund Freud puns. Fresh roundup this weekend. Originally posted by death tribble Next batch *list omitted* Consul was part of the Criminal Empire set up. Corporate Raider was an idea I got from the Champions business book which had Dr Destroyer on the cover. Criminal Emporer was the name for the head of the riminal Empire. And well, Monarch was taken and IP. Diamond Jim has been used before by various people but not in a Champs context. I believe that Errol Flynn once played a Diamond Jim. Double Cross is one name that I would beg to get included. Way back in 1990 I met a fellow Champions GM at GenCon. As usual when two or more Champs players meet they compare Character Sheets. Double Cross was actually a hero but did not know it. The Hero's DNPC was manipulating them and causing them blackouts. During these blackouts they became the villainous Double Cross. I was really impressed by this as an example of duplicity. And so I would like to shamelessly beg for this one to be included. Genre-Inappropriate filter for almost all of these. Consul: Now this variation I like. Consul General doesn't work for me, but Consul would be good for an arch-villain. That might explain why it's still on the list. Corporate Raider: Plural, it would make a halfway decent team name, but singular, it's more of a job description than a good monicker. Criminal Emperor: Good job description, dumb name. Shadow Emperor or Emperor of the Underworld would be better. Criminal Emperor in Latin might sound cool. Anyone want to look it up? Diamond Jim: Entirely inappropriate to the genre. Pulp yes, superheroes no. Double Cross: Very cool character concept. Neat campaign role. Calling this guy Double Cross would only get him killed in any campaign featuring villains with at least three brain cells. ("Hi Double Cross, glad to meet you. I'm going to shoot you now, just in case you're named for your signature move.") However, I will include it, because while I was typing, I realized I could picture a vigilante sporting a crusades cross as an emblem and leaving them as calling cards. Heck, sharpen the post and throw them like stilettos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balok Posted March 22, 2003 Report Share Posted March 22, 2003 A few more... Possibly you already know the following, but in case you don't: The proper spelling of the world for "slaughterhouse" is 'Abattoir'. This would affect 0006 - Abatoir. The proper spelling of the (Anglicized) version of the Hebrew word for 'destruction' is 'Abaddon'. This would affect 0007 - Abbadon. Digging through some more old characters, I came across a couple more: Agni (Vedic god of Fire) ARMOR (Automatic Remote Mobile Ordnance Resource) [1] Cerberus (three-headed, vaguely canine/human hybrid) Dark Druid (evil plant/animal powers) Dark Page (evil wizard) Death's Head (skull-masked assassin) [2] Doctor Darkmind (evil mentalist/psychiatrist) Elemental Tyrant, The (uses the four ancient elements) Grey Man, The (agent for extradimensional monster) Spindevil (spinning speedster) Wrack (strong, tough, induces pain at range) [1] ARMOR is used by the government to capture rogue superheroes, but is strangely never available to deal with supervillains It fills the same niche as Marvel's Mandroids but is largely self-guided with remote overrides. Unknown to the government, even as it builds more, ARMOR has gained a limited self-awareness. [2] WARNING: I created Death's Head many years ago as a skull-masked killer with minor fear powers and a wide range of skills. Since then, I have discovered that there was a "Death's Head" unit of the German SS. If you feel that inclusion of this name might offend anyone, by all means leave it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted March 22, 2003 Report Share Posted March 22, 2003 Here are some that have a prayer of being original: Jack Hammer (two words: his real name!). Pronounced as two separate words, not "jackhammer". Megadyne Mack the Knife Nemesis Starhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 Re: A few more... Originally posted by Balok The proper spelling of the world for "slaughterhouse" is 'Abattoir'. This would affect 0006 - Abatoir. The proper spelling of the (Anglicized) version of the Hebrew word for 'destruction' is 'Abaddon'. This would affect 0007 - Abbadon. Thanks. Fixed. I know how to spell those two. It must have been getting late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirdbase Posted March 23, 2003 Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 Cobalt Crusader Dias - Spanish (day) partner of Noches Grimoire - Book of Spells Halberd - Middle ages Axe Ice - Frozen water Noches - Spanish (night)partner of Dias ShadowKnight Talbot, Larry Talbot - The original Werewolf (God I got tired of explaining this one) These are all characters that I have played. Great list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monday Knights Posted March 23, 2003 Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 Power Charge (extradimensional plasma energy alien) Stalker (subterranean nocturnal race) Overlord (CEO super) Lucy Sky Diamonds (mentalist villain) Witch Doctor Deathgrip 8 Ball Screwball (nutso villain) Myrmidon Jungle Girl Dr. Righteous (crusading priest) Stomper (giant growth) Wild Thang Extinguisher (firefighter super) Desert Fox Slo-mo (speedster- everybody else is in "slow motion") Mindblower (Abigail Headstrom) Stake Crescendo Ground Zero Jester (ego blast- jokes that hurt) White Eyebrow (kungfu fighter) Iron Ox (kungfu fighter) Bullethead (speedster w/move through specialty) Pencil Neck (stretching power super w/Distinctive Feature) If anybody has time and resources, I'd be curious to know what names have been recommended that have already been used in comics. It seems like everything in the Audubon Field Guides has already been used twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynamo Posted March 23, 2003 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 Roundup edit: List deleted. Fresh roundup posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted March 23, 2003 Report Share Posted March 23, 2003 Kewl! Do you think by January, it might reach 10,000!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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