Slang terms for Archetypes - Adventures in world Fluff.

[steriaca]

Japanese honorifics and superheros and YOU!

 

-sama and -hime: Basically "lord" (-sama) and "lady" or "princess" (-hime). Fans of the character will usually shorten the character's name and add one of the honorifics at the end of it to demount that they really, really like them (perhaps enough to stalk them).

 

-kohime and -sempai: Tells who has been in the team longer than the others. The older member is refered to as -sempai, and whoever joins later is referred to as -kohime (regardless of gender, even thoe -hime is only for females). It is possible for one character to be both a -sempai and a -kohime, depending on joining order.

 

-sensei: "Teacher". Usually given to any superhero (or well liked supervillain) who calls himself "Doctor", "Professor", or something similar. Hench, Doctor Silverback is known as Silverbacksensei in Japan, while Doctor Destroyer is known as Doctor Destroyer in Japan (because Doctor Silverback is respected, while Doctor Destroyer is feared).

 

-san: Similar to "sir", "mister", "miss", etc.... Used to note that you know of the hero/villain, and have no feelings for them either way.

 

No honorific: Denounts either two characters who are really close (and this, no honorific is needed), or more likely someone despised by the speaker (making it an insult by using the name without a honorific).

 

Enjoy.

 

Teriaca-san.

[Mister E]

Non-Targets can attack w/o reprisal:

1) (Sniper) an invisible weapon master w/ invisible power FX

2) (Brain Mole) a tunneling mind-scanner

3) (Poltergeist) a desolid w/ affects real world

4) (Submarine) an X-D mover w/ trans-D

 

Squishy: not a brick. A simple straightforward build. Tactics w/ no surprises. Non-threatening.

 

Crunchy: a brick. A complex out-side-the-box build. Surprising tactics. A threat if not taken seriously.

[bubba smith]

non targets who can attack w/o reprisal ?

[Mister E]

in the sense that they are largely free to attack & not be attacked back for some particular reason

[Tom Cowan]

in the sense that they are largely free to attack & not be attacked back for some particular reason

LOL I would call them lost targets

[薔薇語]

First and foremost, I want to say as someone who understands the difficulty in learning a second language, I am commenting not to be confrontational, just to help better add understanding. I think there is a lot of confusion when it comes to translating Japanese "honorifics" into English - a language which doesn't really utilize them and certainly not in the way Japanese does. But I want to hit on a few things you said, Steriaca.

 

Edit - I know I just typed this response, but as an important point that should be stated - I do not know if this topic is relevant to the discussion at hand. Knowing honorifics in a foreign language is not needed when just thinking of "nicknames" for various types of supers.

 

 

First, "Sama" and "Hime" are not pairs. That is to say, they are not like "Mr." and "Mrs." / "Ms.". Indeed, while "Hime" is gendered towards women, Sama is not. Indeed, Sama is often used towards women in daily life.

 

Next up, while "Sama" is used in daily life, you will almost never actually hear "hime". If it is used, it is more or less exclusively used for actual princesses or other such figures. Indeed, there is a litany of other suffixes that, like "hime" have rather particular uses in modern times and thus will likely not be heard or read outside of limited situations in daily life. Others include "-chi", "-shi", and "-dono".

 

When thinking of the difference of "Sama" vs "san", imagine the English difference between "sir / ma'am" and "Mr. / Mrs." While "Mr" is polite, "Sir" would seem to be a slightly more polite phrase and helps to distinguish one's relative station compared to the listener. This is why we call Military Superiors and Restaurant patrons sir and ma'am and not simply mister and misses.

 

Shortening names is little different than English nicknames. If I call my friend James "Jamie", I am just showing that we are at least a little friendly with each other. That alone doesn't indicate any particular obsession with James.

 

Senpai is loosely translated as "senior" and you got that one nicely. I have, however, never heard of Kohime. I believe you are thinking of "kohai" and it means "junior". In day to day speech, people will say things like "Kouki-Senpai" (talking about Kouki) or "Senpai" (talking to Kouki) but are unlikely to ever say "Kenta-Kohai". Rather they would just neglect to say "kohai" since it doesn't impart any particularly useful knowledge.

 

Sensei does typically refer to someone who has a particularly treasured job. Teacher and doctor among them. You could use it in other situations, too. I think I have heard people call their lawyers "sensei", for example. But I imagine that is a more person-to-person choice. That said, I don't think I have ever heard of a manga, anime, or live action character called (super hero name)-sensei. So I think "Doctor Silverback" would not change. Besides, Japanese people like to say Japanized English words like "doctor".

 

-San is more about showing a minimum level of respect than not showing any particular connection. So I do not think you would hear a villain called (name)-san. Not unless there is some special circumstance regarding their connection to the speaker.

 

When it comes to people that the speaker and listener do not know, they are likely to not ever use special honorifics. So, if me and Jim are talking about George R. Martin, we would likely just say his normal name. By adding "san" there is a chance that the listener might mistake you for actually knowing the person. Otherwise there would be no need to show any special deference. Likewise, if your partner does know Mr. Martin but you do not, you would still likely use "san" just because you want to show some deference to your friend's friend (emphasis on "Friend's").

 

There are two more "honorifics" that are very common in day to day speech "kun" and "chan". Kun is typically reserved only for men. It shows a slightly friendly relationship or one in which the speaker is obviously of a higher station than the referent. Likely this is the boss talking about a male subordinate. It is almost never used for women. Chan is the cutesy one. It is almost always use for women and children only (and more often female children than male ones). It sounds cute. You will sometimes hear men called -chan but that is an unusual situation. Typically those men are very friendly and want you to think of them as being really nice and open folks OR it is their g/f, sister, brother, other family, calling them that. And that is a way of showing a strong connection to that guy. But again, it is not often used even in that situation.

 

Lastly, we never use "san" or any others when referencing ourselves. It sounds like you believe yourself to be worthy of honor - and thus not humble. Humility is important.

 

 

出蘭

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

For some reason I've always referred to the FISS types as 'rockets.' Not sure where it came from exactly, and I don't use it with others because they don't know what I'm talking about. But I do like it as a flying brick term.

[steriaca]

@Foreign Orchid: True. But it may be of intrest to a world travel game or storieline. Of course the closet thing I have to Japan is my anime collection (which means I'm the last person qualified to do something like a Champions of the Rising Sun suppliment).

[Major Tom 2009]

For some reason I've always referred to the FISS types as 'rockets.' Not sure where it came from exactly, and I don't use it with others because they don't know what I'm talking about. But I do like it as a flying brick term.

 

For some reason I've always referred to the FISS types as 'rockets.' Not sure where it came from exactly, and I don't use it with others because they don't know what I'm talking about. But I do like it as a flying brick term.

 

Is it possible that your term is inspired by the New Mutant character of Cannonball? He certainly qualified for most of

the terms in the F.I.S.S. acronym, and he was most definitely a 'rocket'.

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[Major Tom 2009]

I don't remember where I saw it, but 'nova' is one term that's been used to refer to metahuman beings in the past.

 

 

Major Tom 2009

[pinecone]

maybe in a super-hero world the term "suits" could mean supers as well as /instead of business types

I use "Zoots" because supers date back to WW 2 and a "Zoot suit" was a fancy, kinda odd suit,like supers wear ya know.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Is it possible that your term is inspired by the New Mutant character of Cannonball? He certainly qualified for most of

the terms in the F.I.S.S. acronym, and he was most definitely a 'rocket'.

 

 

Major Tom 2009

 

More likely it was Nova, "the human rocket."

[Black Ops]

From Stackpoles Novel Revenant: Felix (Latin for Lucky one?) for a Gadgeteer/ Trickster

[bubba smith]

Halloween boys

[Enforcer84]

Nice work guys. 

[Christopher]

People who use technology that makes them the equivalent of "real superpowers" tend to be lumped in under Mystery Man or Superhuman, depending on how they present themselves. (Goodness knows how Iron Man would be categorised!)

From his own point of view he is a "genius, playboy, bilionaire, philantropist with a high-tech prostetic".

Personally I just call him an "Inventor". He invents stuff. Most of the times it is some new Armor, but also the odd comercially succesfull dohicky once in a while.

 

Toaster: Derogatory term for robot. Squishy: Derogatory term by self-aware robots for humans.

Don't you mean, "meatbags"?

As red volcano points out, that could even be the properly inlcusive/politically correct term if you have some non-humans in the mix.

It gets wierd once you add in plant humanoids and non allied AI into the mix. Finding a properly inclusiv yet deragatory term is really hard under those conditions. Maybe something like "Obstacle"?

 

I've always liked the use of "Nats" by supers, especially the villainous ones. It sounds like they're referring to non-powered people as "gnats".

 

To add to the list: teleporters who can take others along get called "taxis" in our group.

 

I've heard battlesuited characters called "tin cans" or simply "cans".

In my old D&D rounds we had a similar wordplay Paladins. But it only works in german (Paladin was transformed to Pala-dose, wich is basically pala-can just with a more direct language connection and some inuendo on them being a bit too female/softish). In both cases it references the metal armor part.

 

 

For female bricks I somewhere on the forum read the term "Brickette". Wich is both a femalised version of brick and a play on the word "briquette".

 

Culutural terms for warriors female/male exist a plenty:

Amazon - warior women in general

Valkiry - for norse based warrior women

Hoplite/Myrmidon/Spartian - greek warriors

Hastati/Principes/Triarii - the there lines in a roman battle formation, originally ordered by wealth. Later by age/combat experience. Might be applicable to all Agents (of vilanious and heroic agencies).

 

Regarding the "-mancer" suffix. The proper term for technopathy would be technomancer.

[Christougher]

While not archetype per se, Capes for heroic types and Hoods for villains.

[DShomshak]

The web serial Worm has some good nicknames for people with various types of super-powers. Here's an abbreviated version of the system description. Note that the titles are arranged to form a little rhyme:

 

Mover, Shaker,

Brute and Breaker,

Master, Tinker,

Blaster, Thinker,

Striker, Changer,

Trump and Stranger.

 

Mover

Has the ability to transport themselves and/or others to other locations, by means of enhanced speed, teleportation, flight, vehicles or the like.

 

Shaker

Can affect a broader area, asserting some degree of control over the battlefield.  May include gas, explosions, forcefields, and ambient or radiated effects.

 

Brute

Has enhanced strength or durability, most dangerous in a melee, typically very difficult to put down.  While the execution may remain fairly stable, the source of this power can vary.

 

Breaker

Has the ability to alter themselves to a different state in which they maintain different abilities.  Appends other powers, but only in this state.  Can also include general altered states.

 

Master

Has the ability to control others.  Can include degrees of control (swaying attitudes or emotions) and a wealth of controlled entities (individuals, animals, objects, created beings).

 

Tinker

Can create devices or alter existing devices well beyond usual restrictions of education, knowledge, resources, and/or physics.

[My personal favorite from the list.]

 

Blaster

Ranged, offensive attacks of some form.  Can include blasts, thrown or moved objects, grenades.  Not always damaging, but generally deleterious.

 

Thinker

Possesses enhanced knowledge, skills and/or perceptions beyond any reasonable norm.  Includes clairvoyance, precognition, skill acquisition, enhanced hearing and enhanced sight.

 

Striker

Has a power that applies on physical contact.  Often applies a changed state, like the breaker classification, but isn't personal.  Melee range, but not strength or durability, as per Brute.

 

Changer

Can alter their form, appearance, and/or natural abilities through some manipulation of their bodies.  Does not include new powers beyond natural weapons, armor, or durability.

 

Trump

Can manipulate powers in some capacity, altering, granting, strengthening, weakening or removing them entirely, or has powers that interact solely with the powers of others.

 

Stranger

Powers predominantly lend themselves to infiltration.  Ability in question might bypass defenses, mislead, or help to avoid notice.