Describers

[bigbywolfe]

Re: Describers

 

So Mister is a title' date=' but it does imply gender, which could be said to describe the character[/quote']

Not according to Star Trek, Mr. Saavik...

I did say imply. That’s not the same as explicitly state. Are you just determined to argue each thing I say?

[Greywind]

Re: Describers

 

Nah.

 

I'd have made those comments regardless of who typed it...

[Jasmin]

Re: Describers

 

This site is interesting as well as informative. Enjoyed browsing through the site. Keep up the good work. essay.

[secretID]

Re: Describers

 

How many superheroes can you name whose names aren't descriptive' date=' or at least evocative?[/quote']

"Descriptive" is a pretty long way from "evocative." Just about every superhero name is intended to be evocative. The alternative would be "random."

 

"I am 7E9N, master of fire."

 

I agree that very literal names mostly went out in the 70s, but I also think Marvel did much better with more creative, less literal names. Before the 80s, didn't DC sidekicks have more creative names than the heroes. OK - maybe not Superdog...

 

I've never done one in any context. I could see doing one in an ironic or retro tone. You know - cuz I'm a hip kind of make-believe game player.

[Nothere]

Re: Describers

 

O.k. for those of you a tad confused about what I mean.

Take the word miracle now as a character name its perfectly fine, but in dc there is Mister Miracle, and in marvel there is Miracleman. Looking over the public domain characters there was even a Mister Muscles. So I was just wondering if anyone had used names like Mister Shotgun or the Green Ardvark for their charecters, if not would they consider it, or was the whole thing too silly for the modern gamer in general?

[secretID]

Re: Describers

 

I think of all of them, the ________ Man and _______ Boy, etc. names are the corniest - "Jungle Man," "Fire Man," and for that matter, "Aquaman" and one that always struck me as possibly ironic, "Elongated Man." "Superman" would sound pretty stupid if we weren't used to it. Basically, the entire Legion roster sounded ridiculous until the 70s, with Wildfire and Dawnstar.

 

The Dr., Mr., Baron, etc. titles can work for me, but for the most part, they still sound a little campy - which can be OK for heroes.

 

Black _______, for an African American character, is now campy in its own way, but otherwise colors don't hit my ear in any particular way.

 

As someone else said, I put things like "Invincible" and "Amazing" in a different category. I don't think the characters actually use those, except perhaps occasionally in an ironic self-referential way - "Haven't you heard? I'm the Amazing Spider-Man." To me, that's the same as, say, "Zephyr, Mistress of the Winds" or something. Nobody would use that part of the name except in the title of a biography or - y'know - a comic book.

[assault]

Re: Describers

 

So I was just wondering if anyone had used names like Mister Shotgun or the Green Ardvark for their charecters' date=' if not would they consider it, or was the whole thing too silly for the modern gamer in general?[/quote']

 

I played Mister Midnight about 20 years ago. It tended to be shortened to just Midnight. Occasionally he was referred to as Captain Midnight, which is the name I would have used if it hadn't already been taken.

 

Come to think of it, I should have just gone ahead and used it, since all the other references are rather obscure.

 

I would be quite happy playing Captain Wonder, Wonder Boy or even Wendy Wonder.

 

I would even be happy to play Nastyman, although I would probably avoid Nastygirl. Nancy Nasty, on the other hand, could be fun. There just aren't enough punk superheroes.

 

For the record, the first Legion of Superheroes member with a non-Boy/Lad/Kid/Lass/Girl name was Brainiac 5. Not really an improvement. He was introduced in 1961, in one of the earliest LSH stories. (A Supergirl story, as it happens. He was one of her romantic interests.)

[Arkham]

Re: Describers

 

I use quite a few in various spots.

5 Blacks. ( Black Eye, Black Knight, Black Lupine, Black Power and Black Steel )

3 Reds. ( Red Demon, Red Ronin, and Red Rustler )

Only other colors are Luchadores named El Toro Azul and El Gallo Rojo. ( Blue Bull and Red Rooster ) And a Crimson, the Crimson Emperor.

 

I only have three Misters. ( Mr. Clean, Mr. E, and Mr. Blackwings ( Oops, one more Black character... ) )

 

Three Girls, one of which was a PC, so wasn't named by me. ( Barbie Girl, Teflon Girl, and Weather Girl )

 

5 Man names. ( Hollow Man, Javaman, Matchstick Man, Metal Man, Straw Man )

Only one serious Boy name. ( Dead Boy )

Three Ladies. ( Lady Lava, Lady Lexicon, Lady Midnight )

 

Two Madames ( Madame Hex, Madame Macabre )

 

And I seem to be inordinantly fond of Doctors, with 17 total. A couple were made by players though... ( Doctor Devestation, Dr. Awkward, Dr. Bend, Dr. Bleak, Dr. Damascus, Dr. Djinn, Dr. Dweamor, Dr. Nachtpferd, Dr. Halloween, Dr. Kali, Dr. Lexicon, Dr. Martini, Dr. Mockery, Dr. Mystic, Dr. Orichalcum, Dr. Roc, and Dr. Time )

 

Granted most of these are NPCs, but a few were played by players in my games, and a couple are my characters.