RP/Appropriate Hero/Villain Names

[markofantares]

Naming is the biggest hurdle (besides leveling) for me. If a character doesn't have a good name, I just don't want to play them.  People that play Stoney McStone Hands or whatever just annoy me.  It's a game where you play a superhero or villain: Don't you want to immerse yourself in a great concept with a good name? This is why I prefer RP servers in MMOs.

 

For example, my Kin/Nin Scrapper is called Steelshadow. I rolled him a few times with different names and just wasn't into them. I also created a Sonic/Dark Corr named Shadowsonic I play (Shadow theme going on here).  I have a DP/Dark Blaster named Grim Tracer.

 

Currently trying to think up a name for a G-Man Man in Black type character who is a Beam/Kin Corr but I can't think up a name that isn't on the head (like G-Man or Agent G-Man).

 

Anyone else have issues with names?

[Izuela]

Names along with costumes are super important. I need to feel inspired. But I am not above going for something goofy.

[OEM61]

I generally prefer the more "classic" naming conventions myself, but I am not beyond going with something a bit on the silly side now and then.  I have one character made (but not played) that you would probably think had a silly name, but I think it's about the character and the general vibe, right?

If the character is a mutant that is rather unhappy with their powers;  That understands and feels obligated to do something (or that is recruited against their will into assisting Arachnos) but that would rather they had not gotten powers at all, just how much time do you expect them to spend on thinking of a "great name"?

 

And if in the real world a bunch of people started getting super powers and were coming up with "code names" for themselves, do you honestly not think that there would be someone that decided "Stoney McStoneHands" would be a good name, or at the very least would think that they were incredibly clever for thinking of it?

 

Ultimately the difference between the two is entirely in the mind of the reader.  I might think "This is a really good name.  I like it" and then someone else see it and think ""What a stupid name".

 

There may be more people thinking the former than the latter, or vice-versa, but the only names I can control are mine.

And I am okay with that.

 

If I see something that I think violates the rules then I can report them.  If I see something that I think is truly off-putting then I can ignore the player/character.

 

But mostly?  Live and let live.

[NekoAli]

Names in super hero comics are known to drift into the silly at times. Look at you, Legion of Super Heroes with Matter Eater Lad and Arm Fall Off Boy. Even a lot of classic villains started off with goofy names and their reputation grew into them I don't think most of Batman's old rogue's gallery had a lot of serious thought put into their names originally. And given the in game lore that there is a supers registry that keeps track of assigned names so nobody duplicates it's been a frequent gag that new heroes go through increasingly absurd versions of their preferred name, each one taken, until they find a variation they can claim. Or just people who wanted absurd hero names like Stoney McStonehands or edgy teens calling themselves xXxShadowKiller420xXx.

 

I mean me, I go for what is best for the character in question. Some are more traditional hero names like Galactrix or Widowbyte. Some are names and possibly appropriate titles like Ashya, or Arbiter Cross. Some were just made to be silly like Cheesy Grits, who gained  her powers after being drenched in radioactive grits. In the end  you don't know why someone chose the name they did. It could be just whatever randomly came to mind because they wanted to play a power set and had no concern beyond that... pick powers, random costume, silly name and go. Or they might have particular reasons for having a name you might consider silly.

 

As far as your Man in Black style character, why not stick with the naming convention and call them Agent G or something similar.

[PaxArcana]

Even a lot of classic villains started off with goofy names and their reputation grew into them I don't think most of Batman's old rogue's gallery had a lot of serious thought put into their names originally.

 

The Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, and Batman's signature arch-nemesis ...?

 

Was originally intended to just be a one-off character, appearing and disappearing with no fanfare at all, in only a single issue.

 

...

 

Boy, that didn't go according to plan, now, did it?  :D :D :D

[Generator]

I always have an issue with my own names.  Stoney McStonehands, yeah that's not how I'd do it but I can't expend energy trying to "correct" everyone into my way of doing things.

 

My newest character, I had a name I was not 100% sold on, but I let fly and took her into the Isles.  The feedback I've gotten from randoms on the street, though, has me thinking I did well.  (Ann Ionic, an Elec/Elec Sentinel.)

[Trademarked Name]

"Good name" is relative. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What one guy thinks of as very attractive woman, another may consider a hard pass. What I think is a fantastic name you might thinks is lame or a bad simulacrum of a marvel property. I've seen people with char names like "Sup3rP00per$kyNite" and I'm like...."Great name!" But I'm just trying to be nice. What *I* really like in other people's names is something easy to type so if I want to find them or chat to them without clicking on their name or scrolling through the chat window to find a statement that they made....So, to be completely honest, when I see a name like "Puck" I get all warm and fuzzy.

Now the reality is that this sort of relates to another thread recently about the fact that we're being given 1000 character slots and that people might start "hoarding" good names. Compound that with the fact that I *THINK* I read somewhere that NCsoft had removed the ability to use any of the literal trademarked Marvel and DC property characters from the game (Note: I did see a WonderWoman <-no space)  And I think we know that DC and Marvel have completely run the gambit with names they have used removing probably 10,000+ otherwise good names from the pool. If you bet me that Marvel had a Super named "Kitchen Sink", I would NOT take that bet.

So people fret and have stated that it's not fair that people are going to each be able to hoard a thousand great character names that you'll never be able to use (1,000 people with 1,000 names each is a million). But just be a bit creative, and take a deep breath if someone has already taken G-Man. And throw in a few underscores or extra-hyphens or something else. It really won't break the game for you if you can't be the one and only Dark Reaper, will it? And if it breaks it for them, too bad for them. They can go cry to mommy.

I was in Atlast the other day with a character I woundup renaming later (not because of anything but I didn't really like the name when I chose it: Spell Binder....Spellbinder was chosen), and some toon named Spell Caster (similar right?) ran up to my toon and just stood there for about a minute not saying anything. I'm sure they were either thinking "Damn. Good name." or "That MFer took the name I wanted!" or maybe "Hey, I wonder what belt that is she's wearing!"

 

Maybe you have to use Dark*Reeper* or Shadoe_Reaver or some variation. But darn it, make it your goal on the server to be the BEST damned Shadoe_Reaver there is!

 

Just the other night I wanted to make up 7 character names for a SG backstory and wanted to see if they were already used, and I only had to change a couple of them. It's not that I wanted to *hoard" the names, but more that I didn't want to steal someone else's thunder or steal their story (maybe their character was never a member of a historical supergroup. Maybe they're a loaner...or a Villain! "Hey! Mr. Cuddle-puffs is a destroyer of worlds, not a lame goody-two-shoes cape!"). <-I view this as the REAL issue rather than "He already got the best name!"

I figured I'd be trying to come up with variants for hours, but I think I came up with 7 uniques straight up names in about 30 minutes, a few I wound-up not even using. On my server at least there was no: Canis Lupus (Latin descriptor of Timber Wolf), Capacitator, Silver Silhouette (I specifically did not want Shadow or Shade. I wanted something using alliteration with a more femanine feel to it), and Fugue State (for a mental controller. The first names I came up with were single word "Fugue" and "Phylactery" but then I just build the story around the new name. And the reality is, now that I think about it: Nobody would know what a Phylactery is. and think "This guy's just making up words!" or if they looked it up in a dictionary they'd be like "Box?" Why is this knuckle head named box? And why not just use *_BOX_* you idiot!).

 

Then we get into the discussion of "Why can there only be one SuperMan? What's the harm if you're in Atlas and you see two? I saw 2 Doctor Strange simulacrums the other day on INDOM, and I thought they were both great, personally. I'd have invited them both on the same team they looked so good! So, it doesn't bother me if I see someone with Rocketeer, or Rocketer, or Rickochet that looks exactly like my char build. We're all building that Iliad epic in our story arcs brains, and "living the dream" as far as I am concerned. If they want they can even join my team or SG. The more the merrier, I say! (Though you and I both know.....who the REAL Rocketeur is and the other guy is just a pretender. </EMOTE WINK>)

 

BTW, speaking of duplicates, there's a story arc in the game....Well, I don't want to spoiler it for you. The important thing is to pick a name that you think is the prettiest girl at the ball, and hero like you've never hero'ed or villain like you've never villain'ed before!

 

[markofantares]

I'm watching Young Justice: Outsiders and there was just an episode where the new heroes choose names. One meta-human wanted Hot Lava as a name (But went with (spoilers!) Geoforce). I completely understand that people will use silly names for toons; and silly - like beauty - is in the high of the beholder.  For me, name is as important as powerset. It's all part of the theme.

[mousestalker]

My latest hero name is one I am shockingly proud of, but it isn't a hero name: Human Resources. I smile the entire time I'm playing her.

 

The other name I'm lately in love with is Annie Hero. For when just Annie Hero will do.

 

Hopefully my lame sense of humor isn't ruining other people's days.

[srmalloy]

Something I started doing back in the original run of the game was to pick names related to the character's powers; this was complicated by the fact that lots of other people appear to do the same thing. Early on in the game, I happened to see "для" pop up in chat, and on experimenting verified that CoH supported Unicode, albeit not for character names. The next character I made after this discovery was Yaderniy Ogon ('Ядерный Огонь', "Nuclear Fire"), a Fire/Rad Controller, who I set up with custom versions of the stock exclamations in Russian. Other characters were given similar foreign-language power-related names, generally with backgrounds that made the language of their name appropriate -- Dunkelkalte, Sovnya (a sovnya was a historical Russian weapon that was a blade on a staff), Tenevoy Ogon, Stal'naya Deva, etc. Going out to foreign languages for names has made it much simpler to get a name I'm satisfied with and appropriate to the character.

[_NOPE_]

Anyone else have issues with names?

 

Nope.

 

[markofantares]

Anyone else have issues with names?

 

Nope.

 

 

I just realized my mistake: Anyone else have issues coming up with names for their characters that capture their character themes?

[nightroarer]

Sometimes it takes me a bit to come up with a name I like if my original thought is already taken. There are no limits to the number of names available, but it can take some modification and imagination to create one that has not already been taken.

 

For myself, back in the original CoH I created synonym and word lists associated with different powers and/or concepts. Now just applying synonyms does not always cut it (if I want Fireball, Incendiary Spheroid is just not a suitable replacement :) ).

 

So I added titles to the list (e.g., The Mighty, the Amazing, Captain, Lord, Lady), or choose parts of words to combine with others to capture the concept. Sometimes the powers don't come into play, but the personality of the character (courage, protection, fighter, etc.).

 

In the old CoH, I wanted to name a character Atomstrike. Somebody else beat me to it. I ended naming him Atomstryke. On Homecoming, I recreated him as Atomstryke right out of the box, not even attempting to name him anything else. It had character (pardon the pun), so I stuck with it.

 

This is a long-winded way of saying there are a lot of options for naming; you might just have to apply a little extra creativity to it (which does not mean one has to get silly, unless you want to. :) )

[Blastit]

Sometimes I make a character just because I came up with a good name. That's why I'm playing a peacebringer now for the first time. A name and a single costume can be such a backbone for a character. Their style is like 80% of why I like Diamond Man and Heavenly Blue. Character concepts that I haven't been able to tie together quite as well with an inspired name tend to receive slightly less playtime, although in fairness the power set combination can do a good job of holding interest.

 

I tend towards names that might be silly but are largely something you'd find in an actual super-hero comic book. If a name is taken and I can't come up with a good alternative I just put the character on the backburner. Rather that than adding an adjective, which I find inelegant.

[NekoAli]

I just realized my mistake: Anyone else have issues coming up with names for their characters that capture their character themes?

 

As far as this goes, yes obviously from time to time. Some were quite easy as they are characters I brought over from live. I knew who they were and I'd already gone through that in the past. Others the naming convention already exists, so again, not difficult to come up with [title][name] or whatever. And in some cases the name comes first. For instance, my Mexican ex-Skull member was pretty obvious la Calavera. I just had to come up the appropriate design and power set which was still easy. My collection of Iron Man like power armored characters has been more of a challenge and they've been through several renaming conventions trying to find a theme I'm happy with.

[AkuTenshiiZero]

My personal pet peeve is the "Firstname Lastname" names, or the "Rank/Title Lastname" names.  Even in the rare cases when I add a rank to my character, the "Lastname" is a codename.  Point being, I need my characters to have a flashy superhero/villain name.  My only personal exceptions were Dr. December, whose real name was in fact Dr. Henry December, following the model of characters like Mr. Freeze or Dr. Strange, and my more recent Johnny Hellfire, but he's a demon so his real name is probably something in infernal tounges.

 

As for the G-Man type character, I'd probably try something like "Agent Nobody" or "Mr. Nobody," something that evokes the idea of a person who "doesn't exist."

[ChairKicker]

Honestly, I was about to say "no", but then I remembered that the last thing I've come up with for most of my toons was their name, and I've got roughly half a dozen concepts waiting because I can't decide on a name (sometimes, but not always, in addition of fiddling unnecessarily with their costume as if I couldn't modify it in-game for free anyway).

So.

Very yes, actually.

[Blackbird71]

Coming up with the right name is always the hardest part of character creation for me.  Designing the costume is a fun game in itself; thinking of a name is agony.  And if the name isn't right, then the character doesn't work for me.  I am very grateful for the ability to rename characters on Homecoming; on live I could end up playing a character for 10-15 levels and then scrap it ans start over because I decided the name didn't work.

 

And given the in game lore that there is a supers registry that keeps track of assigned names so nobody duplicates it's been a frequent gag that new heroes go through increasingly absurd versions of their preferred name, each one taken, until they find a variation they can claim. Or just people who wanted absurd hero names like Stoney McStonehands or edgy teens calling themselves xXxShadowKiller420xXx.

 

This reminds me of the "Office Visit" short on "Freakazoid!".  I'd link it here, but I can't find it online at the moment.  In short though, the British super hero Lord Bravery discovers that his name was registered by a bakery and he can no longer use it.  He meets with a pudgy bureaucrat who enthusiastically suggests options from a list of pre-approved names that are available, pronouncing each one with all the aplomb and gusto you would expect when announcing the arrival of a hero, while Lord Bravery grows more irate with each suggestion, resulting in this climax to the exchange (more or less, I'm going off of memory here):

 

Bureaucrat:  Southside Medical Plaza!

 

Lord Bravery:  It's a medical plaza!

 

Bureaucrat:  Smoked Meats and Fishes!

 

Lord Bravery:  Are you seriously suggesting my battle cry should be, "Have no fear, Smoked Meats and Fishes is here!"?

 

Bureaucrat:  You could put "Lord" in front of it.

 

Lord Bravery:  What kind of superhero would call himself "Lord Smoked Meats and Fishes?"

 

Bureaucrat:  Ah, one who wants to use the element of surprise!

 

Lord Bravery:  Oh, I've got it, you're a loon!  Where have you escaped from?

 

 

Seriously one of my favorite cartoon episodes of all time.

 

[Charistoph]

As for the G-Man type character, I'd probably try something like "Agent Nobody" or "Mr. Nobody," something that evokes the idea of a person who "doesn't exist."

 

I did one a while back after watching an MiB movie.  He was AR/Energy Manipulation Blaster.  There was no Beam Rifle set at the time.  I just named him "Agent" and put a random letter after the name.  Went well.

 

I just realized my mistake: Anyone else have issues coming up with names for their characters that capture their character themes?

 

As far as this goes, yes obviously from time to time. Some were quite easy as they are characters I brought over from live. I knew who they were and I'd already gone through that in the past. Others the naming convention already exists, so again, not difficult to come up with [title][name] or whatever. And in some cases the name comes first. For instance, my Mexican ex-Skull member was pretty obvious la Calavera. I just had to come up the appropriate design and power set which was still easy. My collection of Iron Man like power armored characters has been more of a challenge and they've been through several renaming conventions trying to find a theme I'm happy with.

 

Agreed.  I have a Resistance > Villain character who is a Savage/Radioactive brute whose body is mostly Bioluminescence.  Yes, he is patterned a little off of Godzilla, especially in one 'costume'.  I was trying to come up with a name, and then went to Google Translate and went Eng > Esp for "Green Claw" and it brought back "Garra Verde".  In his Bio, I gave him a spanish name, experimented on by Neuron, and then dropped, and there you go.

 

Back when playing Dark Age of Camelot I made a Lurikeen Ranger and made his name a modification of the scientific name of cholla, aka jumping cactus.

 

For my Global Handle here, I made the character to be Stone Armor for the strong and complete defense arrays and went with Energy Melee for the low recharge times (boy that worked out later, didn't it?).  I kept trying to think of a theme with pink stone which led me to quartz.  But pink didn't really fit, and I remembered the name Jason Blood from the Justice League cartoon.  Blood was too literal, though, and there was a pirate named Bludd, right?  So, Gabriel Bludd was now a mutant with a stone mutation.  To explain his Energy melee, he lost an arm and both hands in the first Rikti invasion and now has cybernetic hands.  White Stone skin for the quartz and Circuitry to give the veined feel, and voila, Bludd Quartz is born.

 

Powersets = names more often than not for me, and I always try to include them.  The only exception are those who would not have their own personal identity, like aliens who wouldn't blend in any ways (made three pseudo-Protoss, and may add a 4th at some point).

[jubakumbi]

For me, it starts with the name.

The name is the spark for the rest of the character - the look, the powers - it all has to work with the name.

 

Silly names, punny names, double entendre, homage, etc. are all fair game for me.

 

The character gets created if the Name can be matched to a Look and Powers.

Many do not make it past this stage, or it takes time, because even our crayons have limits.

At that point, I play it until 22, IO it, play it more with basic IOs, and then decide if it will last.

 

But ... the Name starts is all for me, I don't start with AT or powers, I like to build the Character that fits the name and if fun, min/max it later.

[OEM61]

My personal pet peeve is the "Firstname Lastname" names, or the "Rank/Title Lastname" names.  Even in the rare cases when I add a rank to my character, the "Lastname" is a codename.  Point being, I need my characters to have a flashy superhero/villain name.  My only personal exceptions were Dr. December, whose real name was in fact Dr. Henry December, following the model of characters like Mr. Freeze or Dr. Strange, and my more recent Johnny Hellfire, but he's a demon so his real name is probably something in infernal tounges.

 

As for the G-Man type character, I'd probably try something like "Agent Nobody" or "Mr. Nobody," something that evokes the idea of a person who "doesn't exist."

 

But Praetorians seem to me to use less "super names" and more "normal names".

 

Mot all of them, but enough that if I were to make a Praetorian, using a "firstname lastname" would fit that environment.

 

Everything is in play, for me, anyway.

 

I may imagine a hero as unimaginative or just not interested in thinking of a fancy name.  They may receive a "silly" name.

 

If I make a Praetorian, then going without a codename is very much a possibility.  Not automatic, but absolutely something to keep in mind.  If I do go with a codename then it will probably be more of a nickname that someone else would have given them than a more elaborate "superhero name";  Less "The Human Torch" or "Sun Boy" for a fire character than something like "Hotshot" or "Matchstick", if that makes the point more clear.

 

But for most of my characters, like I said, I prefer the more classic superhero (and villain) naming conventions.

And maybe someone thinks this one sucks or that one is silly, but they are mine, and if I didn't like them then I wouldn't use them.

 

=============

 

And do I have troubles?  Occasionally, sure, everyone that makes many characters using "classic" naming conventions will.

People that use random numbers and letters or that are happy with adding some quantity of "x"es to front and back of their name will not have these issues, and people that use more "real names" won't have as many problems, but no matter how imaginative you may be, there may well be a time that you can't have the name that you wanted at first.

 

Some might be easily fixed by a letter change or changing the language, others might require more work.

 

Titan is taken?  Okay, what color is your costume?  Red?  So how about some adjectives?  Maybe Red Titan is available, or Titan Red if you want to mix it up a little.

It may not have been your first thought, but I think that discarding adjectives out of hand is a bad idea.

 

If I wanted to play a fire toon and none of my "fire names" were available, you can bet that I wouldn't be above re-coloring the fire and trying "The Blue Flame" or whatever as a name.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

when in doubt examine the powers and concept your after, and start looking into the lore for a name and some details that work in synch with what you want to play to really become part of the world.

 

That is how I became bentley berkeley. I wanted to playa doctor strange/ doctor who type. I wanted to be magical, I wanted a long life span, to not exactly be a uber hero type but somone more low key, and as I  explored the lore via the wiki and found bentley berkeley I knew it was meant to be

 

For example what kind of special organizations do we have in coh, well we have the ones clearly  listed in the city hall. META MAGI ETC, Research them, find the name of a hostage, or a name from the history you can adopt and adapt to your idea and power choices.

 

Also named bosses from missions are a gold mine. I recall making a sky raider back in the day I used the name and just gave him a lower rank RPing he had been demoted after losing so badly in the arc the name came from.

[Extor Prime]

I used to obsess over names, wondering whether the ones I picked were good enough. These days I take the One-Punch Man approach. That show is pretty much City of Heroes: The Anime. There is a crapton of costumed heroes with names and costumes ranging from cool and badass to generic to downright goofy. As long as you have some semblance of a theme and a schtick, it works.

[Akinesia]

I use the names of heroes in the pen and paper superhero game i played many years ago.

 

Since the game was a silver age themed game the names tend to be more traditionally comic sounding than some, but as always to each there own.

 

[madpoet67]

I find that it helps to have a few "tricks" up your sleeve when it comes to naming. One that I use... semi-often... is "Primary Costume Color + Theme + a healthy dose of alliteration  = NAME"...

 

Thus, a supernatural character in a green accented costume becomes "Green Ghost." A similar character with blue accents becomes "Blue Banshee"

 

It's a fairly common comic book trope... Silver Surfer, Blue Beetle, etc...