What a great essay on superheroic names. And remember its never to late to support your local superhero game publisher by purchasing a name change token. 
All the metaophors have been taken waaaah! There's no more words! EEEK!
Please fight My Brute: http://2hero.mybrute.com
Mission Architect 54161 - Michael Mundano, Megan Malloney and the Secret Senate.
Mission Architect 91838 - Constantinople Jones' Family Secret. A One Mission Story arc.
...and remember, Proper Nouns, like, for instance, NAMES, START WITH A CAPITAL LETTER!!
Even if you have a brilliant bio that explains why your superhero doesn't have a capitalised name, most people will think less of you if your name isn't CAPITALISED!
(No, that doesn't mean all caps, either, those are just for angry emphasis.)
�How do I like my MMOs? I like them the way Paragon Studios used to make them.� - a fitting tribute from kiasa.org
EU, Union mostly.
Good point Toerag. I sometimes accept blind invites if I am at a loose end but never from any character with a name that involves use of the so called "leet speak" or silly use of cAPslOCk.
I always feel sorry for the people who picked a fairly cool name but spelt it wrong. Like some poor soul in the Hollows who had "cheif" in their name last week.
I never have the heart to tell them.
[ QUOTE ]
I always feel sorry for the people who picked a fairly cool name but spelt it wrong. Like some poor soul in the Hollows who had "cheif" in their name last week.
I never have the heart to tell them.
[/ QUOTE ]
-Surreptisiously checks his three characters with Chief in the name-
OT, Thoroughly decent little piece, simple enough for even the most block headed brute to grasp (And god knows theres a few ) and...yeah, its good.
Although a bit cheeky, sneaking your own name in twice 
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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[ QUOTE ]
...and remember, Proper Nouns, like, for instance, NAMES, START WITH A CAPITAL LETTER!!
Even if you have a brilliant bio that explains why your superhero doesn't have a capitalised name, most people will think less of you if your name isn't CAPITALISED!
(No, that doesn't mean all caps, either, those are just for angry emphasis.)
[/ QUOTE ]
What if the avatar is called "lower case" or "small letter"?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
[ QUOTE ]
What if the avatar is called "lower case" or "small letter"?
[/ QUOTE ]
Puns in the name only work if you don't need to explain them elsewhere.
(Although my main has his name unconventionally capitalized, and you have to either read the bio or remember something quite obscure to get it... Then again, I don't pretend to be paragon of style either )
I am currently enjoying my TA/A defender - a scientists attempt to remake the legendary Cupid in female form but with a nicely modern tech-type name of Qpd...
Golden-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Fire/Fire Tank
Oodja Nikabolokov - Lvl 50 SS/WP Brute
Baby-Phoenix - Lvl 50 Peacebringer
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?
Heh @ Daft Wullie.. I'm guessing he's not very tall, blue of skin, red hair, wears a kilt and his battle cry is "Crivens!"?
@SteelRat; @SteelRat2
"Angelina my love, I'm a genius!"
"Of course you are darling, that's why I married you. Physically, you're rather unattractive"
http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/SteelRat
Hehe, we had a couple of Nac Mac Feegle running around...it didn't last, sadly but it was fun while it lasted.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Heh 7 Feegles and a normal height female storm troller / defender? Now there's an idea for a superteam
@SteelRat; @SteelRat2
"Angelina my love, I'm a genius!"
"Of course you are darling, that's why I married you. Physically, you're rather unattractive"
http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/SteelRat
Managed to rescue this one from the archives so reposting:
A Treatise On Nomenclature
We are incredibly lucky in that we speak one of the richest and widest known vocabularies in human history: English. It is diverse, glorious, flexible, precise, multi-faceted and beautiful. Few other languages have such a varied lexicon, nor the ability to convey such a precise meaning with a seemingly minor variation.
Its therefore sometimes frustrating to see the lack of imagination given to names in such an excellent game as City of Heroes and Villains, and does no credit to the game, or the progenitors of such misnomered soubriquets. With such a rich and varied panoply to conjour with, the single syllable Donk or Bob lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. It falls flat before it begins.
It behoves us to consider the question whats in a name? The answer is quite simply everything. The ancients, and some occultists even today (not to mention certain religions) believe that names are power. Even if a name isnt of itself powerful, then it should convey a sense of the power held by the owner. This is, after all, an environment of super-beings, whether for good or ill, the denizens of this domain are blessed with awful and awesome abilities the like of which the real world has never seen, and the names of those inhabitants should reflect that. Names can (and should) describe a little bit of the owners talents.
Lets go back to basics: Superman, The Fantastic Four, Batman, Spiderman et al. They really convey what the protagonist is all about. Superman well hes a bit good really isnt he? The Fantastic Four tells you all you need to know. Theres more than three, less than five and they are rather jolly splendid. Batman is a man who is also into cricket oh wait, sorry But you get the picture: The name carries a very important message it is critical to the character. Spend as many hours as you want working with Sexy Jays finest costumery, and come up with something astounding in terms of look, with a powerset to match, but call him or her Snurflepants and the toon is gonna be in the end, well, snurflepants. The expression of the name is uninspiring and does a disservice to him that hell never recover from, even at 50.
But how to get that good name? Something that reflects what your characters concept is all about, his or her power sets, any past history or RP opportunities etc?
There are no rules but some key guidelines are as follows:
Alliteration, Colour, Puns, Personification, Metaphor and Evocation, in no specific order. (and no I dont advocate the creation of a unique acronym just cuz.) Autonyms and Antonyms are also useful, but NOTHING beats a decent dictionary and thesaurus. Yes, the free online ones are passable but youll be amazed at the value either book gives you in everyday life, regardless of this game. If you value language and words, dont skimp.
Lets deal with the above sequentially:
Alliteration; typically means a series of two or more words, each commencing with the same letter. The Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Scarlet Shocker, Reed Richards, Peter Parker all good examples of alliteration in the superhero genre. Its main effect is to give you something that rolls off the tongue mellifluously.
Colour: Always valuable. Stuck for a name? Stick a colour in there. Works well for the Silver Surfer (see above) the Blue Beetle, and Scarlet Shocker. Oh and guess what gives you a nice alliterative tool too. That said, the Red Skull might tell you that hes got a good colour and doesnt need alliteration. Nor does the Black Knight Or Green Lantern come to think of it. But, sticking a colour into a name gives an additional option.
Puns are a great tool, although less common in comicbookland than many other forms of names. A couple of examples Ive conjured up are a dark/zombie MM who wears raggedy clothes. His name is Doug Graves. Or theres the Illusion/Sonic controller called False Alarm. But the pun is that the name again gives a bit of a clue as to what they actually do.
Personification: Spiderman, Batman. Nuff said. Men who take on properties similar to creatures. But be careful. The names have to evoke a sense of threat or danger. Nobodys going to be scared of Sparrow-man or Bush-Baby (well, they might be, but for the wrong reasons.)
Metaphor is often used as a comic book heros strap line. Superman is the Man of Steel, Batman the Worlds Greatest Detective, Hellboy; The Right Hand of Doom etc. But if youre stuck you could be the Deadly Diamond Dog, or Iron Mage etc. Metaphor means youre using a parallel to describe your character. What does your toon do? Instead of calling him Man who does Damage by punching hard you could call him Iron Fist or Sure, its been done but you get the point.
Evocation and Metaphor are very close in result, if not concept. Metaphor means using a word that does not directly apply to describe something, such as he was built like a brick outhouse. No he wasnt literally made from bricks but he was strong and sturdy. In a similar way the phrase build like a tank doesnt mean somebody covered with 10cm thick boiler plate (well in City of, of course it can but lets not go there right now) but it evokes a sense of imperviousness. Lightning quick well lightning is pretty damned fast, but we all know what it means, as another example. Perhaps the best example of an evocative name is Dr Strange, but Quicksilver of the Flash also do what they say on the proverbial tin.
There are no hard and fast rules here. This is incredibly subjective and it finally boils down to what you want for your character but if this small piece helps inspire you to something more imaginative than simply Bill the Newt then it has served its purpose.
Thelonious Monk