Great advice. I have a few suggestions of things to add if you want to. Since the costume is always completed before the naming is done, it can be a great place to draw inspiration from. And combining multiple strategies often pays off too. Two of my recent named trials are as follows:
I had an ice/mind dominator to make. I wasn't sure what to use to combine the two, and figured, something cold that works on your brain. Maybe a pain reliever pill. Aspirin sounded lame and Baer did as well. So I headed over to wikipedia and searched for morphine and found multiple prescription drug names to look through. Pethidine just sounded neat and became the name i went with and every time I think about the name I like it more and more.
When making my thug MM I already had a backstory built into each one of the pets and the MM having a name from the seven deadly sins and they'd be a gang called the Seven Deadly Sinners. After finding that all seven sins in english were taken I was slightly sad. Then I tried them in Latin and found the good ones to be taken as well. Pride in spanish is Orgullo, and it hadn't been taken, so my gang suddenly became a gang from mexico based on the seven deadly sins.
Liberty
My 50s:
Hero: Armor Assassin (scrapper), Cross Dresser (scrapper), Surly Seaman (blaster), Defensive End (Tank), Rad Rhino (Cont)
Villain: Beast Infection (Corr), Sweet Zombie Jesus (MM), Milk Weasel (Stalker), Orgullo (MM), Agent Eris (Crab)
#9 my good man. Excellent testimonial though. 
Any suggestions and advice will be taken into account assuming I make a second version.
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.
EXTREME TAUPE PANTHER
Major applause. Should be required reading.
[ QUOTE ]
EXTREME TAUPE PANTHER
[/ QUOTE ]
Nice, but if you are going that route, how about:
"Mr. EXTREME TAUPE PANTHER OBGYN"
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.
Wait, if he's an OBGYN, the wouldn't it be Dr. EXTREME TAUPE PANTHER OBGYN?
He should be a lawyer too.
Dr. EXTREME TAUPE PANTHER OBGYN Esq.
And I bet no one has it. 
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.
On the one hand, I appreciate what youre trying to do here. But on the other, I object. If every N00b follows this advice, how am I going to be able to tell that he/she is a N00b at a glance? Its easy to avoid teaming with R0xxzorz R4c00n, or XxxB74d3xxX. If everyone starts using the common sense herein, Ill actually have to team with these id10Tz. Thanks for nothing!
My only objection is that I feel it is ok to use "leet" if it's part of your chaarcter's story/look/theme. If I make a cyborg or a character from a videogame given life, then why not use "H4CK3R"?
Great guide!
Another tip that I use is using a another language. I wanted to make a name for my Fire/Dark Corruptor. Tried at least 15 different names and Google searched a translator. I'm partial to Latin so that was my first choice. My Corrutors name is Nox Incendia, which means Dark Fire!
Rising to the Challenge: Spines/Willpower
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Great guide!
Another tip that I use is using a another language. I wanted to make a name for my Fire/Dark Corruptor. Tried at least 15 different names and Google searched a translator. I'm partial to Latin so that was my first choice. My Corrutors name is Nox Incendia, which means Dark Fire!
[/ QUOTE ]
A rose by any other name #6. one of my personal favorites.
I am glad to see the interest that has been taken in my guide. I do want to point out that though I have given tons of ideas to many, so many more facets of inspiration are lying around in wait. I do not claim to hold the market on naming guides, as this is simply one man's method. Other very well written guides with other methods are out there, I would also recommend those for your reading, as they have diferent methods or diverse conventions for naming. They can be found in the Guide to Guides by Zombie_Man . Direct links to them are as follows:
Naming For Noobs: A Guide To Originality! by: Tyrantula
Naming your Character by: Speed_Bump
A Guide to Creating a Name for New Hero Characters by: tpull
And...
MrMarvel's Quick-and-Dirty Guide to Naming Heroes by: MrMarvel
Enjoy your time in Paragon City.
~Uncle Harry
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.
Just adding my own naming convention to this: Singular names work great, too! You can come up with one off the top of your head that sounds nice, or you could go to 20000-names.com and find them by meaning. For example, 'Cinder' might become 'Celosia', which is a Greek flower named for it's burnt color.
Examples of single names that I use:
Versana
Raura
Cecilia
Ithia
Aurana
Nahira
Celosia
Linali
I think I love you, Uncle Harry. A heterosexual kind of guy-to-guy love. Thank you for bestowing this magical guide to the quarreling super powered masses of CoX. NOT HOMOSEXUAL!
[ QUOTE ]
I had an ice/mind dominator to make. I wasn't sure what to use to combine the two, and figured, something cold that works on your brain. Maybe a pain reliever pill. Aspirin sounded lame and Baer did as well. So I headed over to wikipedia and searched for morphine and found multiple prescription drug names to look through. Pethidine just sounded neat and became the name i went with and every time I think about the name I like it more and more.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not bad. Besides, "Brainfreeze" was probably already taken.
Quote:
It is often those that are the most "homophobic" who indeed... oh, whatever. |
Originally Posted by JJacques2
I think I love you, Uncle Harry. A heterosexual kind of guy-to-guy love. Thank you for bestowing this magical guide to the quarreling super powered masses of CoX. NOT HOMOSEXUAL!
|
Great Guide, but only have one warning. You may wish to stay away from using colors as part of your name. Often you will change colors durring the life of your character. Keeping general tones is good, but specific colors is not unless your want to limit your color choices through out the life of the character.
For example a character may start being all pink and "Pink Diamonds" may seem good for ice using characters for the pink crystaline ice. However, later if you wish to change colors, your stuck. "Crystal Carnation" allows a little more flex later. However if you did pick a name, you can later make the color just a focal point, like leaving a pink diamond on chest, or wearing a pink tiara.
Now that we have control of all our power colors, its very easy to overboard monochromatic at first, untill you get sick of seeing the same color. "Green Energy" sounded great for my electric/electric scrapper, but I am getting real tired of seeing green. He now has a recycling logo (green) and every attack is a different color
i'd like two add two points to this excellent guide.
1/ Combining the advice in 3) Be PC:
a) Be gender specific: Man, Woman, Guy, Gal, Lady, Girl, Lad, Lass, Boy,
b) Can attach He, She, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, or Dr. to front of name.
and 6) A rose by any other name:
b) Use other languages as a source of names. Translation Websites can be found Here http://babelfish.altavista.com/ and Here http://translation.langenberg.com/
You can consider japanese "suffixes" as : -shin, -sama, -san, -kun or -chan (approximatively highest to lowest).
2/ Be prudent with foreigns names, some can possess other senses, contrary to your ideas.
Finding Your Heroic/Villainous Moniker V1.0
UNCLE HARRY'S NAMING GUIDE
Well, you have found your way here, this is probably due to the fact that you either stumbled onto it by accident, you have come seeking help in naming your hero, or you just have to know what that smell is. I know your pain wee ones, I too have suffered from the loss of not being able to name my character Cinder, Turbine, Meltdown, or any number of other common names most likely snatched up in the fervor of the first few hours of CoHs release to the public.
FEAR NOT! Your humble, helpful, generous, handsome, modest Uncle Harry is here to make it all better. I will attempt to use the name Cinder whenever possible to demonstrate flexibility, and to show that you are never truly at a loss if you have your heart set on a name. None of the names mentioned have ever been created by me, and I do not attest to the fact that some names I suggest are free. They are used for demonstrative purposes only (though I suspect that many suggestions are open as of the time of this writing.).
<ul type="square"> 1)Color that name: Cinder becomes White Cinder so easily, but lets say that for the sake of argument you have gone through all the colors you like and it is still taken. The easy fix is to simply find another name for that color. White can become Ivory, Pearly, or even Snowy (Perfect if you have got anything Ice/Fire Snowy Cinder yeah, I like that, and I bet it is not taken somewhere yet.) This alone would allow an entire population of people on a server with the name Cinder Somewhere in their name and not have the same name twice.
a) Use Colors. If you cant think of a good color name, a great list is Here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors
b) Need to simply find another word for colors this is a good resource. http://thesaurus.reference.com/
2) Misspelling made easy: Cinder changes into Cindera, Cinderette, or even Cindertron with just a suffix snapped on there. If you want to add a Prefix onto it, you can create Encinder, Overcinder or Ultracinder. If you think this sounds bad, remember that many common names have just a prefix or suffix attached to them to make many well known Heroes and Villains (Magnet, Infect, Angel, Lion, etc ). As for my opinion on numbers, see #4.
a) Add Suffixes: Things that can be put after a word to change or modify its meaning. A good list can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffix
b) Add Prefixes: Things that can be put before a word to change or modify its meaning. Very useful when trying to think of ways to use a word in a stronger or opposite way. A good list can be found Here. http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/prefixes.htm
3) Be PC: Cinder is OK, but Cinder Lad has more pop to it. Cinder Lass or even Cinder Woman Could be used, but this technique was used heavily by a popular comic book company, and is only used by me as a last resort (Mostly because I dont really remember exactly how many lads lasss, girls, boys they actually had). But for theme purposes, this method could be exactly what you are looking for, as it really captures that silver-age feel. Also useful is putting Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss before the word to me gender specific, and assigning a Dr. or Sr. or any other designation you can think of. Also covers rank, such as Captain (Capt.), General (Gen.), Major (Maj.), etc.
a) Be gender specific: Man, Woman, Guy, Gal, Lady, Girl, Lad, Lass, Boy,
b) Can attach He, She, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, or Dr. to front of name.
c) Can attach Sr. Jr. DDS., etc after the name for character flavor.
d) Rank designation should also be included. This Covers Captain, Major, General, etc.
4) Numbers are for math: I can honestly say that I have never even for a moment thought to use the name Cind3r. Being as I love to immerse myself into any video game environment, I feel drawn out when I see someone run by me with this vocabulary abortion displayed so proudly. For shame! If you want to use numbers, I feel it totally acceptable to make number-words like DVST-8R, Hot 2 Trot, or 4-Tress. Also useful if used to determine numbers in a series such as in clones or robots Cinder 2.0, Cinder 9 (or alternately and frequently used in comics the roman numerals Cinder IX). But to each their own. I will not say not to do it your way, it is just not my way.
a) Use Number-Words: B-4 (before), In 10se (Intense), GR8-1 (Great One). Fantastic for those robot characters.
b) Use to show a Sequence or assigned number from secret project. Cinder-7, Cinder 2525, Cinder 2.5
c) Can use roman numerals if favored number is used. Roman numerals can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals
5) Let them know who you are: Max Cinder, Cinder Ellen, Tia Cinder give your character some zip and personality, while also being personalized to you. It is also totally acceptable to create a simple name such as Bill Preston, Justin Trebourne, or Vince Trueheart. Many heroes have just dropped the pretense and waded into the heroic fray with nothing but their name to hide behind.
a) Tack a name onto a desired name and make it yours.
b) Just create a name that sounds heroic or simply appeals to you and go with it.
6) A rose by any other name: A great man once said, What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; I think it was William Shatner :P. Sometimes a word just seems to keep us caught up, and we dont want to let it go. I have encountered that many times and not being one to give up without exhausting all avenues, I resort to the good old Thesaurus. Unfortunately, in this case, I could not find anything even resembling the word I have been using all along. In the thesaurus site itself, save for Cinder Block. But this is not the end, as we can also dip into other languages for inspiration. Not to worry if you are not bilingual, there is a number of translating websites out there. Ceniza (Spanish-Ash), Cendre (French-Ash), Asche (German-Ash), Cinza (Portuguese-Ash), are but a few possible results I came up with for the word Cinder.
a) Use a Thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms of the word you wanted to use. You may find something better than you started out with. An online thesaurus can be found Here. http://thesaurus.reference.com/
b) Use other languages as a source of names. Translation Websites can be found Here http://babelfish.altavista.com/ and Here http://translation.langenberg.com/
7) The simplest answers are often the most obscure: Some heroes have names that have nothing to do with their powers, or look, but just sound good rolling off the tongue. These people have names that are nothing more than minor common household items or tools. Shying away from my primary example name, these names are just that, a name. Examples include, but are not limited to: Cord, Staple, Rook, Frame, and Bench. It is not as easy to just suggest these without simply giving out a huge list that could go on and on. Needless to say, the best way of thinking up these, is more of a matter of what sounds good to you.
a) Think of some words that have stood out for you. This may have been due to a phonetic sound, or just the way the letters look when viewed together.
b) Objects such as tools, instruments, components, supplies, furniture, clothing, materials, and groceries, are a great source of names and inspiration.
8) One Word Two Words!: You get two power sets, use them. Simply look at your power sets and determine what your name could be. Grav/Fire? Pressure Cooker, Heavy Burn, or Hard Cinder. Emp/Arch? Heavens Quarrel, or Healing Sting. The trick here is to find a word that best describes each powerset, and work them together somehow. This process usually involves a lot of trial and error, and is more of an advanced method to use. But is included here for completeness.
a) Figure out a word that you feel best describes each power set.
b) Try to work them together
9) Know Thyself!: For all the suggestions prior, the best names will come to you through the simple forethought of a back-story prior to creation. The character could have received a bio-engineered virus called the Blood Cinder and so you take that name in order to let those responsible know they are being hunted. Or: born in another time, the High-Elf Alastria finds herself in this new place. She has traded her Home-Wood in for a chance to fight the evils lining this smooth-stone city. Taking the name Lost Ranger, she now prowls the alleys of Paragon City looking for a chance to get back home.
a) Know who you are, and where you are from. This is most important. This will help to define your name in a way that no one else has.
10) Hyphenation time, come on!: It should go without saying, that two words and two words hyphenated together are not the same word exactly. Take a well-known comic book companys signature character. There is a hyphen in the middle of the name that will not be mentioned here. this means that the name could be used without the hyphen as long as there was nothing else resembling the hyphenated character. This means that Cinder Gal May be taken, but Cinder-Gal May not.
a) Use this thing: -
11) A Hero Doing Is a Hero Being!: Last but not least in my 10+1 commandments, is what I feel caps off most holes in my naming method; Verbs!. Usage of these fun little bundles of energized vocabulary divinity gives one the power to not only make a hero, but also a dynamic hero. Boo-hoo, someone stole Cinder Did they happen to snag Living Cinder, Walking Cinder, or Raging Cinder? Well, guess what? While they are just being Cinder, You are living the life of a (Living, Breathing, Walking, Raging) Cinder or Cinder (Rising, Burning)
a) Whatever something can do can be a name. Just like those commercials say it is what you do!
b) Whatever something can be can be a name. Not like those commercials it is what you are![/list]
That just about sums it up. One basic name, A multitude of possibilities. I hope that this may help others to find a name that makes them happy. I have been playing CoH off and on since 04. I have seen many people asking for help with names, and have helped some when I could. I have always threatened to make a guide to help people come up with names since I never seemed to have any trouble with it. I have usually gotten names on my first try, and I felt that a bit of insight in to my reasoning would help some of you. Some of the names I currently have are:
1) Strong Box-Virtue
2) Scroll-Virtue
3) HONOR 2-Virtue
4) Loxosceles Reclusa-Virtue
5) Living Junk-Virtue
6) Gun Blue-Virtue
7) Violet Spider-Virtue
8) Pequin-Champion
9) Quagmira-Champion
10) Ubermenche-Champion
11) Gloss-Champion
12) Ultra Freeze-Champion
13) Alpha Sigma-Triumph
14) Human Hot Rod-Triumph
15) She-Blade-Justice
16) Phantom Hawk-Justice
17) Shockpoint-Justice
18) Onyx Titan-Victory
19) Slipshade-Victory
20) Rogue Serpent-Victory
21) Psionic Avatar-Victory
22) Rhinotaur-Victory
23) Polar Wolf-Victory
24) Isotope Omega-Victory
25) Human Iceberg-Protector
26) Plasmia-Protector
27) Several others, I got to have some privacy dont I?
Now thank Uncle Harry .
(*Edit* Forgot to change placeholder name before posting.)
(**Edit**Added to section 3 where additional descriptions were needed.)
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.