Hey! This is a very nice guide! Well done, and much needed!
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
There's one category you might want to add, if you're willing to go there:
Bad puns - A cat-girl empath defender named Feline Intervention. Sometimes the pun is a name plus costume pair, like a skimpily clad/sexy female (or male, I suppose) earth-themed character named Subduction. Bonus: combines well with the other suggestions above when your pun is taken!
Warning: example names may already be taken on some servers!
I think naming has a lot to do with the type of game/character you intend to play. In that I mean are you playing with the intention of becoming an actual hero/villain or is your intent to create a "Homage" character, a joke character, or simply want something to get you into the game.
"Samual_Tow - Be disappointed all you want, people. You just don't appreciate the miracles that are taking place here."
You forgot the #1 thing to remember when creating a name.
CAPITOLIZE IT! This is just a blaring sign of laziness an may be a turn off by others when it comes to teaming. If you cant be bothered with capitalizing your name, how much effort will you put in a team?
"Samual_Tow - Be disappointed all you want, people. You just don't appreciate the miracles that are taking place here."
I am one of those people who suck at naming my characters. Literature/Writing was never one of my strong suites. I'm more of an artsy person, so I make really cool costumes (IMO) and then my names usually suck. For example, my main Scrapper Konflict- ... I hated having to use the - at the end of the name and it still bothers me when I look at it to this day. And my lastest kick has been just throwing Lord in front of every name I want (as shown in sig lol).
So thank you for this guide! I'll make sure to remember to look at it before I roll my next alt lol.
As a public service, I am always willing to come up with names for any character from the most general of concepts. I guarentee no (.)'s or (-)'s and most of all the name will make sence.
"Samual_Tow - Be disappointed all you want, people. You just don't appreciate the miracles that are taking place here."
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As a public service, I am always willing to come up with names for any character from the most general of concepts. I guarentee no (.)'s or (-)'s and most of all the name will make sence.
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Awesome! I will take you up on that as I just found out we will be able to do name changes soon for a small fee.
This is a nice guide. I have played now for 34 months, and it has truly become diffucult to come up with names for certain themes. I will give a few tricks I use.
Lord and Lady are truly nice because then you can use the last name to take whatever name you probably would have used otherwise. I have a character named Lady Deadshot. She is a TA/A defender and originally I wanted to name her Deadshot. Once I added the Lady title, my bio included how she had royal ties to old English Archers that used to protect British sovereignty since ancient times.
Adding descriptive first names helps too. Blaze is a good first or last name for example that indicates fire.
Anyway, just a few extra tidbits.
I like what NightSable said, and the original guide. I often use alliterations, like Captain Crisis. However, i seem to stick to a theme, i like the dark brooding hero & villains, so even though Captain Crisis is my potshot at a golden age healer-hero, he is illusion/emp controller, so i came up with an excuse to give him a dark costume, he gets his illusion powers from a demon, a la i now have a secondary demon costume for him. Or my lowbie tank, BlackTower. Dark bouncer -with newyork accent- look. I recommend if you can, use alliterations, or use words that describe the character. CaptainCrisis looks like a Captain(e.g. America) and Crisis defines what he does, he heals. Makes sense. And a demon inside him, well, that fits with Crisis too. BlackTower, tower fits with being a bouncer, black fits his costume and attitude/humor/speech.
Some examples;
Vicious Vendetta
Cinder Smash(in this case meter and Cin-Smash works)
Legion Legacy
Rage Raven
Rabid Knave (all about the theme in this case)
Fire Crow
JaggedTrust
BladeJaguar
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Random Names really, but all fit in one way or another, and usually you'll find you can picture a hero/villain that would fit the name. That is how you know you have a good name-- when you can easily picture the hero/villain, and it sounds right.
Anyways. Good Guide./
Just a quick laugh.
I've never read this guide before today, but it struck a cord with me since my PB is named Centinull Ascendant and his partner in crime is another PB by the name of Nexus Reborn
Centinull
Do remember, a matching set of colors, costume patterns, a name, and even powersets can speak volumes. I'll get back to this later tonight and post a screenshot of my Magic origin Brute, The Tained Manhunter (The prefix is done via the 'none/the' option at creation).
Global - @Proton Sentinel
Jack Devon Crab Spider VEAT; Virtue
Mordigen Earth/Storm on Liberty and Virtue
Technological Terror Bots/FF; Liberty.
50s: Zul Vakirol Thugs/Poison; Virtue. Kiyujin Katana/SR
Some examples of my names:
Anti-Proton
Proton (Villain)
The Human Rhino
Black Hole Sun
The Mad Engineer(Villain)
The Eye of Egypt
The Sleeper Agent(Villain)
The Blind Master(Villain)
Spiritual
Iron John Henry
You get the idea.
"Samual_Tow - Be disappointed all you want, people. You just don't appreciate the miracles that are taking place here."
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Some examples of my names:
Black Hole Sun
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Good song. 
Here's the first tip I give to new players. When you create a character, don't even bother with costume creation - skip right through it.
When you get to name selection, brainstorm for a while to come up with a cool name. Try a bunch of different things. Don't get discouraged when everything's taken - keep trying stuff. Once you find one that works and that you're happy with, you'll be sitting in the tutorial with a generic looking character with a good name.
Logout - go to character selection, delete the character you just made and design costume that matches your cool name.
I firmly believe that the naming part should come before the costume creation - there's a bigger shortage of names than costumes, and nothing is more frustrating than spending half an hour designing an awesome costume for a character you intend to name "Firehawk", then having to name him "xXLord IceCubeXx".
So my advice: Get the name first, then spend the time on the costume. It's a lot easier to come up with a character to match a name than to be put on the spot trying to match a decent, superhero-sounding name to a character. This frustration is why people end up with crappy names that they aren't happy with.
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Here's the first tip I give to new players. When you create a character, don't even bother with costume creation - skip right through it.
When you get to name selection, brainstorm for a while to come up with a cool name. Try a bunch of different things. Don't get discouraged when everything's taken - keep trying stuff. Once you find one that works and that you're happy with, you'll be sitting in the tutorial with a generic looking character with a good name.
Logout - go to character selection, delete the character you just made and design costume that matches your cool name.
I firmly believe that the naming part should come before the costume creation - there's a bigger shortage of names than costumes, and nothing is more frustrating than spending half an hour designing an awesome costume for a character you intend to name "Firehawk", then having to name him "xXLord IceCubeXx".
So my advice: Get the name first, then spend the time on the costume. It's a lot easier to come up with a character to match a name than to be put on the spot trying to match a decent, superhero-sounding name to a character. This frustration is why people end up with crappy names that they aren't happy with.
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This is exactly what I do every time I roll up a new hero. Well phrased.
Also, welcome to the forums.
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This is exactly what I do every time I roll up a new hero. Well phrased.
Also, welcome to the forums.
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Agree 100%. I just came back to the game after a year off and actually got the name Sargeant Justice. Just create a generic toon and try all kinds of names. You never know what you might get.
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At the risk of disagreeing with another guide author, I believe a good way around the name problem is the use of a simple modifier. I don't think there is anything wrong with Dark Whatever or Lord Thingamajig, at least for those characters that are distinctively dark or lordly. Here's a smattering of possibilities that might go before a taken name to make a credible yet available name . . .
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Ahem, you called?
Lots of good ideas in this thread. And it's fun to read too.
As an addendum to the guide, you should note that anyone using random punctuation, stray letters or numbers, ALL CAPS, all lowercase, or AlTeRnAtInG cApS should report to their kitchen, get an icepick, and drive it into their eyes. It's only fair, since they're inflicting an eyesore on all the rest of us.
Luckily there's a name checking feature now, so you don't necessarily have to do the delete and remake trick. One odd thing about it, though... it's greyed out if you have no characters on a particular server. I just went through and made one called "Namechecker" on every server where I didn't have characters.
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As an addendum to the guide, you should note that anyone using random punctuation, stray letters or numbers, ALL CAPS, all lowercase, or AlTeRnAtInG cApS should report to their kitchen, get an icepick, and drive it into their eyes. It's only fair, since they're inflicting an eyesore on all the rest of us.
Luckily there's a name checking feature now, so you don't necessarily have to do the delete and remake trick. One odd thing about it, though... it's greyed out if you have no characters on a particular server. I just went through and made one called "Namechecker" on every server where I didn't have characters.
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I have ALL CAPS on my main character and would never change it. When you look at a comic book cover, what way is that character or book introduced to you? In proper capitalised first letter only? or ALL CAPS ?
Excellent guide.
As an addendum, random suffixes can sound good and get you the name. Like -tron (>.>
or -on, -al, -ar, that sort of thing. It got me Kinetron, Umbron (Dark/Dark), Meteorus (Fire/Fire), Irradian (previously Irradiar) (Rad/Rad) and Echola (Sonic/Sonic).
Seconded on the titles, too. Like my Ice/Cold, Madam Frostheart, or my Tanker Captain Paramount.
Although the name I'm most proud of, out of all of them, is my Blaster, Static Flux.
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Here's the first tip I give to new players. When you create a character, don't even bother with costume creation - skip right through it.
<<SNIP SNIP>>
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I disagree with this. I always go by my powerset or backstory, get a costume that fits, THEN decide on a name. I always seem to find something almost immediatly. Say i want to create a SS/Fire Brute. I grab the sets, make a costume that goes good with flames and uses oranges reds yellows, make it look nice and strong like, then i go to the naming screen. Cinder(fire based) Smash (strong, SS based). easy as that really. Fire, hmm... fire, other names for fire... flames, burn, singe, wick, light, heat... it goes on really, i find a thesaurus is the best tool.
So, i personally disagree, i don't think i could ever make powersets fit the name.
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i find a thesaurus is the best tool.
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Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
--Stephen King
As to the all caps thing, it fits in a few situations where the character's name is an acronym or such. Characters in comics don't have floaty names, and the other characters don't address them in all caps. It just looks lame, like you have some kind of insecurity issue. All lowercase gives the impression that you're careless and lazy. Alternating caps is just juvenile. Being able to handle the shift key properly at least shows that you put a little thought into what you were doing.
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i find a thesaurus is the best tool.
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Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.
--Stephen King
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Yeah... he should have used one when he coined "Langoliers."
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As to the all caps thing, it fits in a few situations where the character's name is an acronym or such. Characters in comics don't have floaty names, and the other characters don't address them in all caps. It just looks lame, like you have some kind of insecurity issue. All lowercase gives the impression that you're careless and lazy. Alternating caps is just juvenile. Being able to handle the shift key properly at least shows that you put a little thought into what you were doing.
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Many comic fonts are all caps. And as for going by an acronym, all I can say is...
SHAZAM!
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I'm not quite deep enough in the game to be informed as to the whole of any power set (or the main storyline.) However, I'm finding my RPG legs now, and I think I've noticed a gap to fill in the naming guides. I agree with what has been written about developing a history and/or utilizing assorted online random name generators.
However, this is a mature game and name availability is problematic on most servers. I understand the temptation to cheese it up with xXxNamexXx or Mr..Superhero after putting a great deal of effort into costume creation. Yet that effort and whatever follows will all be more meaningful if labeled by a non-cheesy name.
At the risk of disagreeing with another guide author, I believe a good way around the name problem is the use of a simple modifier. I don't think there is anything wrong with Dark Whatever or Lord Thingamajig, at least for those characters that are distinctively dark or lordly. Here's a smattering of possibilities that might go before a taken name to make a credible yet available name . . .
Mighty -- Remember to "/e flex" a lot.
Super -- . . . unless your original idea was "man" or "girl"
Hyper -- a natural choice for speedsters
Abiding -- a natural choice for tanks
Arcane -- magic on board
Phantom -- no, not the Phantom
High -- a personal favorite
Military ranks also fit in well here. Sergeant, Captain, Major, and General are all standards in hero naming. Also, some variations may be valid (like a Capitan with Latin American roots or a Serjeant born in the Middle Ages.) Noble titles also may be fitting, and they also may offer variations depending on culture of origin. Then there are a few more vague ways to go here, like Mister/Miss/Madame, Doctor, or Agent.
If sticking something in front of the name you wanted doesn't produce anything with a ring of heroism you seek, consider modifiers that work well at the other end.
Prime -- If you meet the non-prime, you can RP your claim.
Royale -- If Shaft was taken, the real Shaft would be Shaft Royale.
Reborn -- with a subtle "new and improved" implication
Ascendant -- Ooh, almost poetic, that is.
Supreme -- not subtle, but strong . . . very strong
For the sake of thoroughness I'll offer three other categories to help people avoid the cheese . . .
-- Color terms may work wonderfully if they are supported by a bold costume or a distinctive feature. Funky color spellings are usually not a good idea, but the vocabulary of color may offer many choices for a similar concept (e.g. crimson, scarlet, sanguine, cardinal, rose, bloodshot, et al. for red.)
-- Animal terms go well with particular concepts. Commandos or other warriors might be Something Wolf or Whosit Tiger, for example. Winged heroes might try something like Falcon Character or Toon of the Dove. Then there are various alternatives like Lupine, Aquiline, Pachyderm, Insectoid; words that invoke animal concepts but are not the actual names of animals.
-- Substance terms can work in most of the same ways as colors. It could be a literal reference (e.g. the Electrum Sentinel in gold-plated armor) or more metaphorical (e.g. the Quicksilver Bandit who is fast and elusive but devoid of mercury gear.) Again, there may be many words that get to the same idea when using a material to modify a hero name.
Also, don't forget about making up new compound words, such as Demonweed. *fanfare* Characters with Native American roots and/or magical origins might be well suited to such an approach. -walker, -strider, -runner, and -rider often work in this context. (Though I'm pretty sure administrators would frown on Skywalker characters.)
Hopefully these notions will help people generate heroic-sounding names as an alternative to alternative spellings (though occasionally that approach actually is cool) or the addition of numbers/meaningless characters to the name. Yet I did also want to add that it may be for the best not to pounce at the first good combination that comes to mind after mulling these techniques.
Matters of tone and style depend on intent (i.e. some people are into dark and brooding RP, while others are exclusively whimsical in the development of a character's persona.) Thus it is difficult to offer advice that applies in a general sense to name quality. Yet there are a few points worth a mention.
--Alliteration: A huge Brute who was unable to get the name "Tower" might think "Horrible Tower" works well for him. Yet a few more thoughts might take him to "Terrible Tower," which has a cool ring whether it is uttered in an angsty corner of some supergroup's base or shouted in a pre-epic-battle battlecry. You may not feel so bad about adding on to the name you desired if the result involves repeating the first consonant sound in each major term of the final name.
--Length: The longer a name becomes, the more awkward it is both in terms of usage and in terms of justification via background story. If the original plan was for a normal Firstname Lastname character, consider ditching one of those names. For example, Granite Jake and Granite Crenshaw are each a little less cumbersome than Granite Jake Crenshaw.
--Meter: This is a subtle thing, rooted in the music of language. Long and short "beats" (a.k.a. feet) define a pattern that good poets sense keenly. As cumbersome as Granite Jake Crenshaw is, I still kinda like it. I suspect the Xx X xX rhythm of it accounts for that appeal. Silly as it may seem to some, it is probably wise to say a name out loud a few times before committing to its use for a character you intend to spend many hours playing.
There, now however many people read this are well-deprived of excuses for tacking random numbers or decorative ASCII onto the names of new characters. Remember to use this power only for awesome! By that I mean, do not go making trouble with Wolverine Reborn or Lord Spider-Man. The idea here is to promote originality, not to undermine it. If Granite Jake is taken, by all means become Granite Jake Prime. Just don't go telling people you had the same idea when the name "Optimus" was unavailable.
Regards,
Demonweed