Oct 15 2007
How to Name Your Character– Superheroes and Otherwise
Hello, I'm an assistant editor providing writing advice. SN specializes in superhero writing advice, obviously, but most of the advice here applies to fantasy and sci-fi as well.
This article will cover how to name characters effectively and how to avoid the most common naming problems.
Character names serve several important roles, like differentiating characters and evoking an emotional response from readers.
Readers use names to tell characters apart, obviously. Authors sometimes complicate this by using the same letter to start character names, using similar-looking or similar-sounding names. We will keep John and Hideyuki apart in our minds, but maybe not Clinton and Cliff (or Kevin).
As a rule of thumb, once you have used a given letter to start a character’s name, you can’t use it again. If your work is long enough that you name 15+ characters, then you can start sharing the letters of minor characters who appear in completely different parts of the book. Also, try to mix up the number of syllables in your character names.
Names also serve to define characters. A character’s name should establish or at least suggest a defining trait of the character. If you’re writing a superhero story, you may be able to get away with a wacky name like Captain Carnage or Devil Dog, like Superhero Nation does.
Obviously, most writers have to be more subtle than that. “Neville Longbottom” is a great example of a name that suggests a trait without being too ridiculous. However, giving effeminate and insufferable guys names like Percy is annoying and over-done. It’s like his parents knew he was gonna be a wuss!
Finally, names evoke an emotional response from readers. If your character is a hero, an excellent name will make readers feel he is heroic. This is usually subconscious and relies on word sounds. For example, if you want to associate a character with energy and activity, you’d want to use a firm and short name. Typically, protagonists are active go-getters– otherwise the story would be pretty boring, right?– so they have firm, short names.
When you name main characters, you should also consider whether reading the name 25-75 times an hour will annoy readers. Because of a cold ‘br’ sound, Brian will probably grate readers more than Harry or Gary. Another consideration is the syllable count. Single-syllable names are fine, but not all are created equal. If you compare Joan to Jane and Joe to John, Joan and Joe are usually stronger because they end more pleasantly.
Some other elements of sound you can consider:
- K, V, X and H are harsh. Korvax and Havoc are probably not nice people. (On the other hand, if Korvax is a pleasant newscaster, that could be hilarious).
- B, J, M, F and R are examples of letters that sound firm without being menacing. Frank, B. Mac, Brad, etc.
- L, U, S and O are smooth, soft and sometimes sensual. (Did you like the alliteration?)
Characters immerse your readers in your world. Names help make the audience feel like they’re on your page, that they get what’s going on. For example, we aren’t meant to understand Judge Dredd and The Punisher as even-headed men of justice. If those guys were named John or Mike, we might feel confused and disorientated.
Alternatively, the use of several names for a character can indicate authorial ambiguity to the reader. For example, my Agent Black is also known as the Manhattan Mangler. If I gave you only one of those, you would probably reach a different conclusion about how just, unique and proper he is. Readers would also visualize a different character. The Manhattan Mangler is probably a loose cannon with tattoos, long hair, leather jackets, etc. Agent Black is more kempt, septic and fits more with what we imagine a federal agent should be like. I hope that readers subconsciously associate respectability with conformity.
Common Naming Mistakes
- Using “exotic” names like Xsdajk’Uiopds is completely unacceptable. Generally speaking, extraterrestrials and orcs won’t have names like Dave, but that’s no excuse for randomly stringing together letters. A better approach is stringing together familiar sounds to make new names. For example, your readers are comfortable with Brad and Darian, right? Together, they make Bradarian. If that isn’t alien enough, you could add a prefix or cut out letters to make Bradar, for example. Tim and Milly could make Imilly or Intimilly.
- Names that are too long irritate readers. Generally, I’d recommend limiting a character’s name to three syllables. Maybe five if you often use a tag, like Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Fantastic.
- Naming a character for reasons your readers can’t appreciate is ineffective. I’ve seen writing guides (plural) suggest that you name characters based on the literal meaning of the names. For example, “Sophia means wisdom in Greek, so name a wise character Sophia!” That advice is awful. Your readers have no clue that Luke means high-born in some language they’ve never heard of. There are drastically better ways to show that Luke is noble, like giving him a corny last name (Skywalker, anyone?)
- Naming a character in an attempt to pay homage to a favorite author is a lose-lose proposition. Let’s say I name my superhero Clark or my dragon Kazul. At best, the name is a lame in-joke. But these scenarios are far more likely.
- A reader picks up the Superman reference and it distracts him whenever he sees Clark’s name.
- He picks up the Superman reference and he thinks I’m a hack.
- He misses the Superman reference (and I wasted an opportunity to give my superhero a name that’s effective for my story).
- My dragon named Kazul is such a blatant ripoff of copyrighted material that I get sued.
- Foreign names may cause readers to stumble. Keep in mind that your readers probably don’t speak Tagalog or Farsi or French or whatever. A good example of a foreign name is Temeraire. The word nicely suggests a consistent pronunciation (TEM-eh-rare). French people might not pronounce it that way. But that doesn’t matter! Your readers will feel they are pronouncing it correctly, even if they aren’t. In contrast, something like “Huitzilopochtli” will bewilder your readers. Is Huit pronounced like Hewitt or Hwit? Is poch pronounced liked poach or pock?
- Last names lead to overcapitalization. Sometimes your characters need last names, but often they don’t, particularly in the beginning. It’s easy to overwhelm Readers by hurling Capitalized Noun Phrases at them. If you do include a last name, either keep it to one syllable or make it easily readable and memorizable. For example, in the story Barbara Bloodbath, everyone will remember Barbara’s last name.
- Using different names to refer to characters often confuses and disorients readers. This can apply to secret identities or titles. For example, if a character is Mrs. Smith at the beginning, she should be Mrs. Smith as much as possible, unless we can easily understand why someone would call her something else. Her kid will call her Mommy, which is self-explanatory. But if someone addresses a line to “Candace” or “Dr. Smith,” we won’t necessarily know if they’re talking to Mrs. Smith. Even if you mentioned that Candace Smith got a medical degree, readers may have missed or forgotten that.
Wow, thanks. I had been having a lot of trouble naming my characters. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the advice… Thanks a lot!!!!
Ok. I’m writing a superhero novel about a character named Jamal Yager. I think that’s ok. But I’m having trouble coming up with his superhero name. The story uses a phoenix-esque bird and genetic manipulation as a driving force behind his abilities but I don’t want to call him Phoenix. Any thoughts?
I like Jamal Yager for his regular name. For his super-identity, I think genetics sounds like an interesting source of inspiration. I’d be a bit more cautious around a phoenix-based name both because X-Men got there first and because phoenixes are a slightly overused, two-dimensional symbol.
I’m not sure what the tone and atmosphere of your story are, but I can offer some generic suggestions. What do you think about Vector or Helix? (A vector is an agent of genetic change). Alternatively, you might try some variation of seed to tie into the phoenix-like cycle of rebirth.
I could probably offer more satisfying suggestions if I knew what kind of story you were writing. Could you give a few details about the character and the plot? What is the main character’s main reason for being a superhero? In the story, who gives the character his super-name?
For a slightly harder sci-fi feel, you might want to try Operon or Plasmid, assuming you are a fan of using single real-life words as superhero names, like Carnage and the Hulk. Which superhero names have you found the most impressive?
Thanks, Jacob. My story is still in the planning stages so I’m experimenting with plots. The basic gist I’m thinking of using is that Jamal is hanging out with a friend whose dad is a military researcher on a base in a made-up city. The genetic researcher father notes that Jamal is of exceptional build and could be a possible test subject for genetic experiments. Jamal agrees and has his DNA reconfigured, which gives him superpowers.
Jamal is an inner city kid growing up in the projects. At first, he uses his powers recklessly and ends up putting his mother into a coma. After realizing that he has amazing gifts for a reason, he decides to put them to good use.
That plot’s pretty workable, but Jamal feels like a chosen one. He gets made into a superhero because he was born with the right physique. It might be more dramatic if Jamal gets selected for the experimentation because he wins some sort of competitive process. That would probably give you a great opportunity to showcase his talents and shortcomings. (It would also probably also help you characterize the friend’s father, and maybe even the friend if he’s also in the running).
I also have some questions about the story’s mood. What are the readers of the story are meant to think about the research project? Should we regard the military experiments as a great opportunity for Jamal to “make it” (like Captain America) or a callous attempt to perform dangerous and unethical tests that would never be approved for soldiers? Or something else entirely? What does the military hope to get out of these experiments?
Thanks, Cadet Davis. I don’t know about the mood yet, but I don’t want it to be about the military making the perfect soldier, because I think that plot has used enough in comics, movies etc. I was brainstorming and thought that it could be a secretive branch of the military. An accident might happen and, since the military is testing on a number of people, all are altered genetically so they become metahumans or something.
Yeah, I think the ship has sailed on both the warm-and-fuzzy Captain America military experiments and the cold-and-sinister-military-project. If you write that the secretive branch of the military has an accident, that would probably work.
I like that the character isn’t military. I vaguely remember that the television adaptation of The Six Million Dollar Man failed miserably in part because it made Steve Austin from a civilian into an airman. Rigid command hierarchies are excellent for many things, but they aren’t typically dramatic. (I think that the writers for police shows like to include ludicrous scenes where the protagonist mouths off to his boss to demonstrate that the hierarchy isn’t very rigid).
Ooh, also. Readers will probably give you a lot of leeway with military details, given that there’s a lot of material for a civilian author to attempt to take in. However, I would suggest against describing the secret military agency as a “branch of the military.” Could I suggest “office” or “agency” instead? (Typically, military branches are pretty enormous, like the Army and Navy).
Using mass genetic experiments for the hero’s origin story will make it easier for you to write in villains. In contrast, Superman’s stories suffer because the writers can’t easily create new villains and sometimes stretch to make a supervillain out of a character that would hardly count as a minor villain in any other series (like Lex Luthor). So I think that plays in your favor…
Thanks. Now I just need to write the story. You guys do beta-reviews, right?
I’m having trouble naming my hero and villain. Both are psychics. The synopsis for the story is that Paul Evans is a superhero that gave up in his prime to become a loner. When killings become more and more frequent, he sets out to determine who is responsible, only to find out that it is a person he trusts. It gets revealed that the villain, who the hero locked up before he quit, is mind-controlling him.
I have some generic suggestions, but I think that I could probably do better if I knew what kind of mood you have in mind for your story. Also, have you decided on an origin story for the character?
I am brainstorming some superhero names but can’t decide on one. My superhero is a psychic mutant that works as an assassin.
Hmm. Are you a fan of real-word names? If so, I’d recommend the anti-heroish Renegade or, if you’d like to be more direct, Hitman or Psycho.
If you’d like to use a name that isn’t a real word, you could use something that has a mental sound, like anything that starts with Ceph, Psy/Psi or Cer/Ser). If your character is an assassin, I’d recommend ending it with a hard sound. Maybe something like Cephite or Seros. Some other permutations include Cephil, Cerid and Serran.
If any of those are up your alley, I could probably offer similar suggestions.
Thanks, that helps a lot.
I’m writing a book and the main character’s full name is Alexander Leonhart Tafari, but his full name is rarely used. Most characters (with the exception of his parents) call him Alex. Your comments? I’m also considering having him go by the alias Wildfire.
Readers will be able to easily understand that Alex and Alexander are the same person. In contrast, nicknames like Chuck (Charles) and Jack (John) sometimes confuse readers. So I think that will work out nicely.
I’m not really sure what ethnicity Tafari is, but it sounds OK. I like Leonhart better. Are both names necessary? If possible, I’d recommend cutting out one or the other.
I like Wildfire. If for any reason you decide that Wildfire is not quite right, Blaze or Inferno might work, too.
I used three names because Alex is biracial. His last name is inherited from his father, a human. (His father has a specific lineage which is important to the plot.) His middle name comes from his mother’s side. She is elvish (again, her specific lineage becomes important to the plot.) As long as I mentioned elves (even though it’s irrelevant to this article), I read your article about how using Tolkeinien races can kill your book. In light of this, I have gone to great pains to differentiate my elves and dwarves from those found in LOTR. My elves, or Jianai as they prefer to be called, are one people, but exist in three nations with three independent rulers, who will meet together only when deciding something that will affect the entire race. Also, rather than Tolkienien “pale” elves, I have made my elves more cosmopolitan, and they have a variety of “shades” or skin colors as well as eyes, noses, hair etc. Also, rather than having them assume the stereotypical “elf attitude” they vary greatly in outlook depending on their background, especially which nation they come from. Elves are crucial to my plot, but I have tried to minimize their appearance as main characters so they don’t become cliche.
I have tried to differentiate my dwarves by basing them slightly on medieval/pre-Britain Scotland, rather than Norsemen. I make this clear by their speech, and their fierce loyalty both to their individual clans, or “kins” as they call them, and their High Chieftain. Also, I have decided to make my dwarves not so much gruff as talkative and argumentative (often in a friendly way). I also wanted to make them jolly (picture a mini-Santa, only not so much) Ironically, I have a she-dwarf who really does not say much except in the way of sarcasm. My dwarves also wear plaids to represent their lineage. Comments? I was searching for a way to make my Giants individual as well. Could you help me out?
(This all sounds like too much to cram into a book, and that’s absolutely true. I’m planning to develop a series, which is why the scope might seem a bit large. Especially when you consider that this is the tip of the iceberg.)
Maybe your book will be uncomfortably crammed. But I think your could comfortably handle three nations of elves and assorted dwarves, humans and giants. For example, the first Harry Potter book introduced us to four groups of Hogwarts wizards, developed the relationship between wizards and nonmagical humans and included a variety of goblins and half-giants and guard-dragons. Of course, Rowling also managed to craft impressive locations (like Hogwarts, Diagon Alley and Gringotts) as well as one of the more compelling fantasy plots of the last 50 years.
So I think the issue probably isn’t how much content you have, but how well you can pace it. Can you pace it slowly enough that readers can understand everything you introduce, but not so slowly that we get bored? I recommend that you try to introduce things as separately as possible. For example, instead of introducing all three types of elves at once, it would probably be easiest for readers if you introduced one and then moved on to the next only after we had a good grasp of the first.
Then it’s pretty easy to overcome the main remaining problem: readers might not be able to remember the first breed of elves when they’ve moved on to the second and third. You can help them keep the elves straight by giving evocative names for each breed. If one breed of elf were particularly belligerent, say, you might call them something like the Bloodbringers or an imaginary word that sounds harsh (Jaggen, Mylon, Pilth, etc.) I’d recommend using names that are rooted in English words (like Bloodbringers) because it’ll probably be easier for readers to keep track of the groups you’ll be throwing around. (That’s not an ironclad rule, though. Rowling successfully used many imaginary words like Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Griffindor, Hufflepuff, Hogwarts, Gringotts, Diagon Alley, Muggle, etc…)
I like the idea of your dwarves being jolly and argumentative rather than gruff. Jolly-and-argumentative sounds like a really interesting combination of character traits. As for your giants, I think the standard giant is violent-and-stupid. The easiest way to tweak that would be violent-and-philosophical. Or violent-and-urbane… aggressive-and-sensitive… pleasant-and-stupid (like hobbits but bigger)… friendly-but-oblivious… etc.
If I had to voice one concern with your book, it would probably be that your plot and world-building do not seem tightly wound together. I think Harry Potter does a great job of linking the two. For example, Diagon Alley is more than just a cool location: it advances the plot by introducing Harry (and the readers) to the magical realm. What is the relationship between the plot and, say, your three breeds of elves?
The Elf-Clans are important to the plot because they are part of Alex’s heritage, and so the way Alex interacts with Elves gives us glimpses into his personality and how others see him. They also introduce key plot points.
Examples:
1- Alex is dogged by elvish nobility triplets who dislike and persecute him because he’s only half-elvish, and therefore an insult to the race (they overlook the fact that his genetic variability technically makes him superior, even though Alex himself doesn’t know this). Throughout the plot, Alex has to deal with this, as well as the emotions that spring from it. Later it is revealed that Alex is actually successor to the throne of the same Elf-clan, which is ironic considering that they’ve been abusing their ruler, which makes it interesting. They aren’t pleased, but they don’t have a choice. Alex does rub it in for revenge of course, but after a while he gets bored with that, and tries to make friends of them.
2- Alex’s main love interest, Amorelia, is pure elvish. This creates a barrier because of the obviously high rejection potential (complicated by Alex’s emotional unsurety). Eventually, he finds out that she is also a princess, which makes her even more unatainable. They do become close friends over time, but he continues to struggle with his feelings for her.
3- Alex has to deal with a political conspiracy within his elf-clan that involves not only him, but also the “shadowy master villain” character, who is not quite as much a person as he is an elemental force. I’m still working on that.
4- purposes of comparison. once I’ve established the elves, I can use them in contrast with other races, or to describe the difficulty of a task. For example, a task that “a Zhudai elf warrior would shrink from” is going to be insanely difficult, because Zhudai are known for their fearlessness.
5- The reason for the creation of three elf-clans rather than one elf-state are related to the origin of the World and the conflict that has been raging since its beginning.
I’m trying to write a book. I have my characters and story plotted and ready to go, but I feel like my writing style is too fast paced. The characters escape from trouble too quickly and easily, I can’t think of any filler for scenes and other annoying things. There’s one scene where a character is in hospital waiting for her mother to arrive, but I don’t want to bore people by repeating why she’s there, or how she drinks a cup of coffee as she watches TV. It’s boring.
So I’ve taken a break and started fleshing out every detail of my five main characters by describing their bedrooms and habits etc. Will it actually help me, or am I being subconsciously lazy? I write down the colour of their bedroom walls even though it will not do a thing to aid my unskilled flow of events. How can I slow it down a bit without boring readers?
I have the characters in my mind and described in several worksheets I both found and made up. Though, for some reason, I cannot write about them the way I want to. There are lots of exciting parts, but I haven’t gotten up to them yet and I’m getting frustrated because I know I can’t write them until I have written up to them. I feel like I’m a kid in a sweet shop and I’m just one dollar short of buying a huge lollipop.
Then there’s the other problem I have with my choice of viewpoint. I don’t know whether first of third person is best, because the story switches regularly between two characters. I’m afraid it might annoy some people. It is also about a diary, and I’m not sure whether switching from third to first person for the diary entries would be best.
I know what I want but can’t get the right words out. It sucks because I’m normally very creative and even make up metaphors.
Sometimes I can look at things and rearrange the letters to make a new word that someone else might not see. For example, I was looking at a storage crate just this morning and realised that with an added C it was an anagram of escargot. I could read almost before I could walk, so what’s stopping me in my tracks when I try to write?
I’m not new to writing at all. I have written original stuff before; ever since I was ten. Why is it that I’m stuck now? Am I lazy?
So, you see how much trouble I’m in. I’m probably a pretty tough case, with all my problems. I would be so grateful if you could just answer one or two of my questions. I’m not necessarily inexperienced, but I’m young compared to other aspiring authors and I need a different perspective and opinion. Anything will help me.
Hello, Pretty Colors!
“I have my characters and story plotted and ready to go, but I feel like my writing style is too fast paced. The characters escape from trouble too quickly and easily…”
Don’t make it too easy on them! Here are a few ways you can make their struggles more intense and flesh out the story.
–Add complications. Your characters might solve one problem, but they end up causing or revealing another. For example, in the Ironman movie, when Tony Stark learns how to make his powersuit, that’s only the start of his journey, not the end. Building the suit and escaping from the terrorists brings him to an epiphany about the morality of selling weapons, which leads him to become a combatant in the Middle East, and finally propels him into conflict with the profiteering Iron-Monger.
–Add and toughen external obstacles. What sort of villains and antagonists are you working with? Perhaps the villains should be tougher.
–Maybe the heroes should be weaker than they are already. If the objective is freeing hostages from heavily armed terrorists, it would be pretty easy for Superman or Rambo to save the day. But it would be pretty slick for an unarmed police negotiator and downright heroic for a pacifistic priest. Frequently, the less direct path– in this case diplomacy rather than kick-down-the-door violence– is more dramatic and interesting.
–Differentiate your characters more and develop their relationships. With five characters, you could do your very own opera. In fact, the potential for developing the relationships between the five characters is so strong that it might even be overwhelming. If you feel like the challenge of developing five characters is daunting rather than exhilarating, you might want to consider getting rid of one. It sounds like your story is very ambitious.
Fleshing out the details by describing their bedrooms might be a good characterization exercise, but in the context of your story it’s likely filler. I like the idea of developing their habits more. For example, if one of your characters were deeply religious in an almost anachronistic way, you might have him do the sign of the cross whenever he hears anyone take the Lord’s name in vain. A ridiculously geeky mechanic might start fiddling around with electronic equipment whenever he sits down, even if he’s talking to someone. As long as the habits bring the characters to life and develop important character traits, they’re definitely useful.
Plotting your story might be easier if you regulate the level of urgency. For example, is there much urgency as a daughter waits for her mother at the hospital? If that’s all there is, probably not. Listening to a daughter idly muse that she wished her mother were nearby is probably not very interesting. But let’s add some details. The daughter is scheduled to have a dangerous (potentially fatal) operation today. Her mother has known this for weeks but still hasn’t shown up today for what might be their last conversation together. The daughter doesn’t know whether her mother is just late or still at work. Alternately, the mother might be SO overwhelmed by the prospects that this would be the last day her daughter is alive that she can’t bring herself to come because she doesn’t want to admit that.
In any case, let’s try to imagine a conversation between the daughter and the father about the mother’s absence, or a phone-conversation between the daughter and the mother about why the mother isn’t coming. Either one would be pretty intense and dramatic, I think, even if they didn’t devolve into shouting matches. (“I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think she’s coming…”).
“I don’t want to bore people by repeating why she’s there, or how she drinks a cup of coffee as she watches TV. It’s boring.” That’s an astute observation about pacing, I think. I’d recommend giving the characters more ambition, something to hunt for.
“There are lots of exciting parts, but I haven’t gotten up to them yet and I’m getting frustrated because I know I can’t write them until I have written up to them.” Let’s say scene A is where you are now and scene B is the really juicy scene at some point in the future. If you wrote a page or two describing what happens between scene A and scene B, fleshing out scene B might really help you jog your creative juices and get a better feel for where you’re taking your story. You can fill out the period between A and B later.
Personally, I’m a fan of third-person, particularly for beginning authors. It’s so tempting for first-person characters to slip into melodramatic exposition (“her rejection slammed me in the stomach”). However, it’s really a personal choice. Sometimes first-person is done really well. If you would really like to work the diary into a third-person story, I’d recommend showing us a scene where the character makes his entry rather than just reading the entry. That will help clear up the first-person issues and will give you a chance to show us their thought processes more. For example:
Sprawled out on his couch, the author jotted notes onto his legal pad. “I saw her face, and it was like nirvana. I finally understand women,” he wrote. The Bears-Packer game cut to an ad for Sex and the City. “Almost understand women,” he amended.
“I could read almost before I could walk, so what’s stopping me in my tracks when I try to write?” Perfectionism? Gifted readers often hold themselves to almost impossibly-high standards. The trick is getting something out that’s good enough. No one writes perfectly on the first go—write something that’s remotely decent and rewrite it into something worth reading later. When I write, I aim for a literal telling on the first write. No description. I try to weave the description in on later rewrites.
“Why is that I’m stuck now? Am I lazy?” I don’t know you, but the fact that you’re willing to look into writing resources like this website suggests that you’re ready to work at writing. If I could offer an armchair analysis, it’s possible that you’re afraid of failing to meet perfectionist standards. If that’s the case, I would recommend trying to loosen up a little bit. For example, take an hour and try to write a scene in your book. It doesn’t need to be great. It doesn’t even need to be good. The mere step of thinking about your book for an hour might help you figure something out about where you can take the book.
Good luck!
B. Mac
Thank you for your help! I was really freaking out over all this.
I’ve got to start doing some work on it today, because I have two full weeks off school for holidays. How many hours would you recommend I work for on my book each day? I want to make some progress on it without doing too little or too much.
Quoting from Brett…
“Alex is dogged by elvish nobility triplets who dislike and persecute him because he’s only half-elvish, and therefore an insult to the race (they overlook the fact that his genetic variability technically makes him superior, even though Alex himself doesn’t know this). Throughout the plot, Alex has to deal with this, as well as the emotions that spring from it. Later it is revealed that Alex is actually successor to the throne of the same Elf-clan, which is ironic considering that they’ve been abusing their ruler, which makes it interesting.”
I really like the born-into-discrimination angle. The idea that his human heritage adds something that they do not appreciate also has a lot of potential, I think. My main concern is that he appears to have born into a position of great power (the successor to the throne). That may make him a “Chosen One,” a problem that dogged Eragon.
Generally, readers sympathize more with characters that make their own luck. For example, maybe he rises to power among the elves through his own actions rather than some accident of birth and lineage. That would give you an interesting opportunity to develop how your elven society picks its leaders. You’d even have the option of pulling a Solomonic-twist ending: let’s say that he and one of the purebreds are the finalists in the leadership competition and it looks like a large portion of the elves would be completely unable to accept a partly-human leader (because humans are thought to be too selfish, arrogant, etc.) Alex reluctantly withdraws after concluding that staying in the competition would cause unnecessary strife. Then you could have the contest administrators (like King Solomon) decide that anyone who would come that close and withdraw for the good of the kingdom is obviously not too selfish or arrogant to rule. That still wouldn’t resolve the issue of the bitter hold-out elves, but I’d really like to see him win them over with his diplomatic and leadership skills.
As for the love angle, I like the idea of Alex as a suitor that isn’t completely confident and has to overcome a dating liability (being half-human). I think readers will relate that both of those details. However, it might help to flesh out the love interest character in a slightly different direction. Looking back to Eragon, I wrote a short article about why Eragon’s love-interest is not remotely as effective as Lois Lane…
Usually, fictional stories write love interests as cardboard characters designed to show that the protagonist has “arrived.” The love interest is usually a status symbol without any endearing traits. If the love interest is developed at all, it will be in terms of how desirable a status symbol she is: she’s really beautiful and super high-class! Enter Eragon, stage right.
The detail that she’s (secretly?) an elven princess gives me pause. One way you might try tweaking her background is by making her poor. The drama would come less from him trying to attain her than the couple trying to overcome the snickers and scorn of high-bred elves. To the purebreds, it would surely seem tremendously presumptuous for such a half-human to try to become their leader– he doesn’t even know enough about elven culture to court one of its finer specimens. (They might also insinuate that he went for a lower-class girl because he knew he wasn’t good enough for the princesses).
Pretty Colors, I’d recommend writing 2 or 3 pages a day. That’s probably somewhere between 60-120 minutes, which I think is very doable and productive. (It would take you 3-4 months to finish a manuscript at 3 pages a day– by comparison, we’ve been working on and off for 2+ years on ours). I have some other suggestions…
1) Don’t worry too much about how polished the writing is. It will probably be easier to fix details like grammar, punctuation and word-choice later because you’ll have a better sense of where you’re taking the story. If you know more about the trajectory of the plot, you will probably emphasize details that are more pertinent to the flow of the story.
2) The 2-3 pages you write each day don’t have to be continuous with the previous day’s pages, but try to keep as few arcs going as possible. It will probably be harder to work a collection of vignettes into the story than a few chapters.
3) If you’re stuck on the direction of the story, as a last resort you can post your chapters to the Critters Online Writing Workshop and then ask your readers/reviewers to help you brain-storm possible plot arcs. I’d say that’s a last resort because your piece will wait on a queue for 4-6 weeks* before you start to get reviews. It is however a highly useful resource if you’re prepared to use the 4-6 weeks productively while you’re waiting. Also, your piece will receive more reviews and comments if it is well-written, so you might find it worthwhile to spend some time polishing the work if it isn’t quite so good that you’d feel comfortable to (say) read it aloud in a writing class. But don’t second-guess yourself. If you’re ready to read it aloud, it’s good enough to submit.
*You can cut the 4-6 weeks to 1-2 weeks by winning a “Most Valuable Critter Award,” which requires you to do at least 10 critiques of 300+ words in one week.
4) Try to avoid distractions when you write.
Thank you, and your comments have spawned another idea. I believe I can successfully meld our ideas. I’m not sure it’s feasible to give up Alex’s royalty entirely, but consider this:
1. Alex is not the only one with a claim to the throne. Another eligible relative exists, but he is farther away on the family tree while Alex has a direct line of descent. In contrast, this other family member has pure blood and is greatly respected. Alex knows however that he will either become totally selfish and corrupt or become a puppet figurehead for corrupt politicians. Enter point two:
2. Valshion Markheris, said corrupt politician, is scheming to control the nation for himself. He served as Mirkaton (regent) when Alex’s grandfather died, and has no desire to relinquish power. He will even enter into league with the dark forces if neccessary.
3.Alex does not really want power for himself because he knows that he is power-hungry. He fears he will abuse his authority. He does however, want what is best for the elves, and knows for a fact that he IS the lesser of two evils.
Alex must struggle against all this (and maybe his first villain) in order to triumph and even when he does, he chooses not to stay and rule, but rather to return to his studies and he leaves the kingdom in the hands of someone he knows he can trust. Alex’s character is vindicated and there is no luck involved. (I may use your Solomonic angle. I kinda like it.) Also, this is decidedly different from the story of Aragorn, though it bears some of Tolkien’s influence.
As for Amorelia, suppose she rules threough a proxy (like Padme). That way, she can conceal herself as a commoner, revealing her true identity only to Alex and a few close friends. Also, I’ve bent over backwwards to give Amorelia interesting characteristics of her own besides being royal so she doesn’t become another Arya. I made a list for your evaluation:
somewhat spoiled (she even knows it, which is why she sometimes chooses to live as a commoner), honest, intelligent quick thinker, kind, has good social skills (unlike Alex), very opinionated (often opposite Alex), stubborn, compassionate, somewhat sarcastic, tries to change people rather than writing them off, does not enjoy combat and only kills in self-defense/defense of others, trusts people until given a reason not to trust them, fiercely loyal, wants whats best for her friends, she has many arguments with Alex (which both secretly enjoy), oh yeah and her power rivals and may even surpass Alex’s so impressing her with pure strength and force is NOT an option.
I try to make her as human and realistic as possible, unlike the stiff, yet noble Arya. For example: she actually has emotions, and therefore, friends. She also helps Alex with his social skills. (Well she tries anyway.)
I really like the idea of the succession struggle. Adding a competitor should ameliorate the Chosen One aspect by establishing that the throne is something Alex earns rather than passively receives.
It also gives you the chance to develop two villains, the more obvious puppet-master and the less obvious figurehead (the pureblood relative). I think the pureblood relative is the more interesting of the two because his motives are probably deeper. The puppetmaster can’t really have much motivation beyond his own self-interest, but the pureblood might think that his succession would represent a great boon to the elvish kingdom as a whole. Readers probably wouldn’t sympathize very much with this, but he’d probably reason that the human’s accession would jeopardize his clan’s cultural heritage and honor. (If you were to go down this path, developing his clan’s honor would make him more interesting and sympathetic).
I think your characters look pretty good, but they don’t seem to have many genuine flaws (ie something that readers and you would find distasteful given their situations). For example, “Alex does not really want power for himself because he knows that he is power-hungry.” How power-hungry is he if he doesn’t want power for himself? It would be quite interesting if he were genuinely power-hungry, but that doesn’t seem to be consistent with the actions you’ve laid out for him. I think a more plausible flaw would be that he is frosty or even contemptuous to elves, given that they don’t seem to be very keen on him or humans in general.
As for Amorelia, it’s not clear that her flaws are really flaws. For example, she’s very opinionated and sarcastic, but is she sarcastic in a spunky way or an obnoxious way?
She’s somewhat spoiled, but she’s so aware of herself that she chooses to live as a commoner. Then how spoiled is she?
I would recommend making her sarcasm acrid and snarky, which would probably be consistent with someone who is spoiled and extremely elite in both skills and upbringing. If anything, I think her main flaw might be that it’s virtually impossible for her to relate to anyone because she’s so elite (in skills and rank). She’s probably not inherently nasty, but she has such freakishly high standards that it’s virtually impossible for anyone– friends, family, boyfriends– to meet them. One way in which that relationship might manifest itself is that, if they were ever in school together, she might spend the better part of the year savagely mocking his work and then suddenly offers crucial help on the final project. When he thanks her for that unexpected act of kindness, she might say something that is simultaneously nasty and friendly, like “I just couldn’t bear to see you fail so badly again.”
Thanks! What i meant by the power-hungry thing is that Alex almost burned his brother when he learned of his powers. The worse part was that he enjoyed it. He hated himself afterwards, but he still enjoyed it. He doesn’t like that side of him and doesn’t want to see it again. It’s like avoiding a desert buffet because you know you’ll eat too much. However, I do see that this needs developing, and won’t make it definitive until I have all the kinks out. I will however, adopt this new flaw, as well as think of some new ones for Amorelia. I think I will make her a bit more sarcastic and attitudinal. Her real life model behaves like that anyway. (and she also made up the word attitudinal, or so I believe.)
Hmm. I think that’s an interesting angle, that he simultaneously enjoyed and regretted burning his brother. It feels very believable.
Good luck with Amorelia as well. I would recommend being careful about using a real-life person (particularly a friend or family member) as a model for a character, though. It might create social obstacles (if you fear that the person will think you’ve portrayed them unfavorably). More likely, it may impede you from developing the character in the direction that the story calls for, particularly when it comes to giving the character flaws.
I definitely don’t want my story to be set on a single planet. I want the heroes to be like vagrant heroes going from planet to planet to help fight the Cyborn Moon, the main villain. I know it has a lot of sci-fi sounding aspects, but I didn’t want it to have a very sci-fi feel. My three main characters are
Mz. Corpse, Emerald, and the artist. What do you think of my plot?
Well, since we’re talking about the logistics of your projects, my story in a nutshell is this. Aadrello Tegee, a poor and gifted young artist, stumbles upon a mystic, empty book full of blank pages. He instantly thinks “awesome– new sketchbook” and draws in it. He gets freaked out when his drawings begin to come to life.
The Cyborn Moon, a factory the size of a small planet that drains planets of their resources and destroys them, then comes and begins to drain and obliterate his home planet. Using his new powers, he escapes from his planet and is stranded on a nearby planet.
After getting rescued, he meets Irabella Grey (Mz. Corpse), who likes Aadrello despite being extremely depressed. She makes it clear he’s completely oblivious. The two pair up and go to the royal planet to complain about the Cyborn Moon, because this planet has a strong intergalactic army. They meet the rebel prince, Jornai Emera (Emerald), who is running away. He explains that he is also upset about the Cyborn Moon but his family refuses to do anything. I plan to add a large epic “first trio” battle before they leave the planet in Jornai’s ship.
That’s going to be the beginning. There will be more to it but those are the basics of my first few chapters. What do you think?
That plot seems very functional. The main weakness I can see– and this doesn’t seem major– is that the discovery of the sketchbook and the arrival of the Cyborn Moon don’t seem related. You may be able to draw the plot together by having the Cyborn Moon target the world because it’s looking for this sketchbook.
Also, as a minor formatting note, if you write a synopsis for a publisher, it’s typical to use the present-tense. Again, that’s not a huge deal. I doubt publishers will reject an otherwise attractive synopsis because of that, but a synopsis will seem more attractive if it’s in present-tense.
When you say present-tense, do you mean the time frame we’re in now? Or do you mean that I should explain it like I’m telling what’s going on in my futuristic setting as though it were happening right now?
The second one. In your synopsis, you’d describe the plot as a series of events in the present tense, even if the story takes place in the future. For example: Novelist B. MAC,* a struggling MFA candidate, signs on with the mob to get into Iowa. Shortly afterwards, the mob realizes that there is actually no money in publishing and decides to tie up its loose ends by killing him. After an explosive chase-scene, B. Mac saves the day and gets the girl and whatever. (It’s the 105% true story of my life!)
*Capitalize the character’s name the first time you use it in a synopsis.
I understand
I understand completely where you’re coming from; I realize that I do have a tendency to try too hard in retrospective. Now I do realize that my names that I come up with are a little etchy so I will work on that. Conversely, I’d like to keep the two names Aadrello and Jornai for other reasons. In addition, I’ll work with my mechanical issues. Don’t think I’m lying when I say I’m a good writer! Currently I’m working on character design and costumes, I have a pretty good idea of what I want each of them to look like:
Aadrello (Sketch-I thought that would be a good name to show his artistic prowess and it sounds youthful like the character) He is a thin kid, lanky and energetic with purple-skin. Now visualize this with me, his costume is a black full-body suit with orange and white trim, he also wears beige cargo shorts (over his body suit) cinched just below the knees to express him nature to stand out.
Irabella (Mz.Corpse). She is tall, pale, well developed, and beautiful (looks most like a human) with long or short blood red hair (varying according to her powers). I think crimson and black would be great colors for her but as for the costume itself, it would definitely need an emo feel but still be sexy maybe horizontal stripes or a corset.
Jornai (Emerald). He is lean and muscular, shorter than the other two, regal and upright despite his rebelliousness, and has a tannish, orangish color. I’m not sure what his costume would look like, but it would definitely need green in it… possibly light armor with green cloth hanging out, like a scarf or sash.
What do you think?
I love the name Sketch. Purple skin would definitely be unusual, but it worked for Mewtwo. However, I don’t think that the orange trim and beige would complement the purple. I think the colors that would go best with purple are black, white, blue and possibly red trim. If the purple is dark, you may be able to slip in yellow as well– it worked pretty well for Static Shock. The New Orleans Saints use purple/gold and that looks pretty clean.
I’m not too familiar with emo clothing, let alone how you might adapt emo clothing into something that feels like a superhero would wear it. However, if you’re just looking to use emo clothes straight-up, with little “epic” adaptation, maybe something like this shirt would work, just with crimson-and-black stripes. Alternatively, you could take a black shirt and add a crimson logo (perhaps her superhero emblem?) or add a black logo to a crimson shirt.
I’d recommend making Jornai’s skin more tan than orange. As for the build of his armor, if you’re looking for something with a fantasy feel, you might try this or this or this. Green’s pretty easy to complement. If you wanted a sash, I’d recommend gold, navy blue or black. If it were a scarf, it would be complementing his tan/orange skin as well as the green, so I’d probably recommend just black.
Good luck.
Thanks, I’ve got a really good idea of Jornai’s armor now.
Also, I can probably come up with a new color scheme for Aadrello’s costume.
Oops, sorry for my grammar in that last reply I wasn’t paying attention.
Originally, I had a continent named Makeris with two smaller countries. Should I merge the countries or keep them separate?
Hello, Brett. I responded to your comment here.
–B. M.
The giants are unsurpassed in their love of questions, riddles, and above all, answers. They have keen minds and can unravel even the greatest of puzzles. Though they are fierce, their savagery is tempered with intelligence, civility, and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Books are worth more to a giant than gold, and you are more likely to bribe him with information than with money. Giants have some skill in mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences, but their true passion is philosophy. Their knowledge often grants them access to unseen worlds and forces that even the elves cannot decipher.
I like it. It’s very unexpected.
Hehe, those giants sound a bit like me! Except for the mathematics part.
Thanks.
It looks like your giants immersed a reader even before you actually used them in the story. Well done!
I’m a giant compared to others my age. Most people I know are about two inches shorter than me. Haha! Tell those giants that I want to join them!
That’s how one of my alien races were going to be muscular, hostile-in-appearance yet intelligent and well-versed. The leader of the IPO (Intergalactic Protection Organization) in my story was going to be this race of alien. His name is Carim Bloquette.
Damn you Brett, beating me to the punch, but honestly your story sounds quite cool.
I’m quite flattered.
I’m working on a character with super speed but can’t think of an original name, have any ideas?
What kind of mood and style are you looking for?
What do you mean?
What kind of tone? Serious, comedic, 30’s pulp fictiony, sci-fi, fantasy, realistic, fantastic?
I would recommend Bolt, but after the Olympics, that may not be safe. Try something like Haste, Dart, Headstrong, Slapdash, Impetus, or Momentum. If you don’t want his name to be a pun, you could use words that just sound fast, like Slash, Strike, Knifehand, or Spitfire. A prety cool/funny name for your character would be 25, because that’s how many seconds you have before he catches you.
If you’re going for an outright Flash parody (like the Incredibles) I’d try for The Brash.
For an example, I named my superfast character Sprint. It’s a pun but it doesn’t feel like one. You could take this name seriously.
Some examples of moods are serious, whimsical, gritty, cheerful, bleak and nostalgic. The mood is the atmosphere(s) that you want to evoke with your name.
As for style, this would include genre (futuristic sci-fi vs. present real-world vs. medieval fantasy) and the types of name that you like the best. If you give a few examples of superhero names that you’ve found really impressive, that will help.
By the way, Brett, I love Sprint.
Thanks
Asking for my friend Steven (he has VERY limited internet access), he has a character named Fizzicle Ed. Obviously this is a pun. Ed is not a superhero, and does not have powers. He’s just built his body to the point where it’s ridiculous. Your thoughts on the name? I told him it was funny, but its a tad on the corny side. Is there a name that will imply his sheer bulk while also implying his ethnicity (black)?
Steven also thinks that the main villain of his story can be a “nice guy”. He says “nice guy” villains are a Japanese thing. I don’t get it. your thoughts?
I’m kind of blanking on names that imply blackness, partially because they’re sort of rare for the black heroes I’m familiar with (like Static Shock, Steel, Storm, John Stewart/Green Lantern).
Maybe Hood, Street, Detroit, or Hoodlum. I think those would imply a tough physical demeanor and blackness (in a mostly politically incorrect way, I feel). I don’t like those names as much as something generic like Rampage, Brick, Tank, Trainwreck or Turbine.
As for “Fizzicle Ed.” The pun on “Physical Ed” is probably too cheesy for most audiences. Is he writing this as an over-the-top jab at superhero stories?
As for nice guy villains… what do you mean? If you mean a villain that’s mostly honorable, I think that could work. For example, in His Majesty’s Dragon, Napoleon has trapped a German army at an important city. Instead of taking them all prisoner, he says that the men of the army are free to leave as long as they surrender their weapons first. Napoleon does so because the Germans are already running desperately low on arms and food. By letting the German troops go, he forces the German military to come up with some way to feed and rearm them– in contrast, if he had taken them prisoner, he would have had to feed them himself.
On the other hand, a villain that’s simply a misguided hero probably won’t be someone we love to hate. Effective villains typically have at least some element of the sinister. Darth Vader choked Admiral Tarkin, for example.
By “nice guy”, I man he doesn’t strike you as evil. He strikes you as “Oh, he’s a cool guy, why is the hero being such a jerk?” and then all of a sudden, “Where the he** did that surge of evilness come from?”
He said he’s writing this story in the vein of “Afro Samurai”.
Some questions of my own:
1. My genius, Tony Martin, may be codenamed Agent Q or Agent Enigma. Which is better? (Knights have codenames so they won’t be targeted for assassination. This is most common among human Knights.)
2. Would codenames be appropriate for my nonhuman Knights? Amorelia for example. Most of the time these guys will be in an atmosphere where their identity is not threatened. They would only use codenames on missions. (Ex. “I am the embodiment of terror and vengeance. You will soon learn to fear the name Surefire.”)
3. Would it be okay if Alex’s royal rival was Amorelia’s boyfriend from earlier? Or would that be too contrived? I thought it might provide a personal motive for him to align with the corrupt politician.
A villain that comes off more sympathetic than the hero? Unless the main character is actually the villain, that story sounds like a bomb that could blow up at any moment. (Unless, maybe, it turns out that the villain was a red herring and the real obstacle was something impersonal like cultural misunderstanding or distrust). In any case, I could see the story being improved in any of three different ways.
1) Make the villain the main character (for example, this was partially done by Soon I Will Be Invincible). He could be an antihero or just a normal guy boxed into an absolutely horrible predicament.
2) Make the villain more genuinely evil and less likable.
3) Dragonheart it. The hero (knight) and the “villain” (dragon) realize early on that they share a greater enemy. By the end, the knight and the dragon may come to realize that they never had to fight each other in the first place, but that’s a little bit cliche. The easiest way to subvert it would be to have the more heroic of the two (the knight) sacrifice himself to save the dragon as a way of confirming to the audience that he has come to understand that the dragon was never evil to begin with.
Ooh, a “surge of evilness” is a problem. It’ll probably feel like the character isn’t very well fleshed-out (ie Suresh from Heroes).
I love Enigma. In fact, you’d know the style of your book better than I would, but if it feels like a medieval setting, I’d recommend going with just “Enigma” rather than Agent Enigma. My impression is that “agent” feels like a more modern title.
OK, so your nonhumans won’t have their identities threatened most of the time. Even so, they may take on a code-name for other reasons. (Some examples: They want to fit with a partially human team; they want a name that humans can pronounce easily; they want something more epic and stylish; for magical reasons, giving away their true name is dangerous; they don’t want to get fan-mail or adoring mobs, so they want to protect their given names as a way of protecting their privacy).
Analogously, one of our characters uses Agent Orange as his name because the humans on his team use fake names to protect their secret identities and he wouldn’t feel like a member of the team unless he did, too. (He’s a mutant alligator). He attempts to take on a secret identity, too, but is very surly to discover that not even glasses can protect a mutant alligator’s secret identity.
I think it would be OK if Alex’s royal rival was Amorelia’s ex. That would probably integrate her into the succession plot in an interesting way by giving her a perspective into the competitor’s character. However, it may seem strange that Amorelia goes from one heir of the kingdom to the other. She may think that Alex is flirting with her as a way to get back at the competitor. Alternately, she may be flirting with Alex as a way to get back at the competitor.
Genius.
You can tell that I’ve been a part of WAY too many dysfunctional relationships, haha.
lol
Okay, I’m new and I want to throw some names out there from my comic that I’m making. There are some of them, most of these names are Japanese.
The name of my comic is “Chaos.” It is my first comic.
Zaan-Main character
Tamikito A.K.A Steele
Geiko
Geiana
Great White- Shark person
Dr. Kaos-Main Villian
I’m working with Ragged Boy, but we are doing two different stories.
Ah, good luck.
Chaos is a great name for a character. I think it’d be OK for the series, but I’m not sure. Traditionally, a series will be named after either the main hero or main group of heroes. (For example: The Amazing Spiderman, SHIELD, etc.) Who or what is chaos referring to?
I’m not at all familiar with your marketing plans for this book, but I’d venture to say that the names would be very Japanese for a Western market. If you’re Japanese and want to sell in Japan, that’s entirely fine, but otherwise I would recommend tweaking the characters so that they look a bit more familiar. (For example, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a series heavily infused with Japanese culture, named the turtles after Italian Renaissance painters).
For example, Zaan could be Zan. It’s still a highly unusual name, but it avoids the awkward ‘aa’ sound. As for some of the other names, I’m not quite feeling a strong emotional vibe off them. For example, Dr. Kaos doesn’t have quite the same emotional strength and rhythm as, say, Dr. Octopus or Dr. Strangelove or Dr. Zhivago or Professor Moriarty.
Great White makes sense for the shark-guy but could probably be more rhythmic. What do you think about Tiger or Hammerhead?
Two of your characters start with ‘Gei.’ As a rule of thumb, I wouldn’t recommend giving two characters names that start with the same letter unless they are both really minor. (That will help your readers keep them apart).
Can anyone help me? I need two names, a heavenly one and a devilish one.
For the devilish one, I recommend something that starts with a really strange, unpleasant letter… let’s say X or Q. For example, Xeno, Xalbador, Xanthus, Qaad, Quarrel, Qaiser, Jasper, etc.
For the angelic name, I recommend something that starts with S or A. Serra (or variations like Serran, Serros, etc.) Alabaster, Avon, Anoles, etc.
I’ve just made a few characters for a new idea a friend and I were working on. (If you want to hear about the story, I’ll post it soon, but it’s not really complete yet).
The first character is Deon Porter, a young African-American high school student about 16. He has the ability to heal himself, superspeed, and he can control fire. Using these powers makes him more vulnerable in battle. Healing himself causes his body to become more fragile. With each time he heals himself, his body takes damage more easily. When he uses superspeed, he gets fatigued. His fire powers will burn him and cause his body to get progressively more burnt. The healing ability will take care of that after the fight, though. The fire elemental abilities are risky both for himself and bystanders. Once Deon goes into his super mode he calls himself “Flare Dasher”
The second character is Antwon Kellman, a young American attending high school also around 16. His abilies are supersenses, the ability to see into the future, and animal-morphing. He can only use his supersenses for so long. When he uses his power to look into the future, it makes his eyesight worse until he becomes blind. When he does the animal morphing ability it puts a large strain on him.His body can only take that so long and pushing himself past his limit will cause him to become like the animal he last was in his regular appearance. He calls himself Sensation.
That’s all I have now. I’ll put the rest on later.
Those sound pretty good. I have a few minor suggestions… I’d recommend spelling their names Deion and Antoine rather than Deon and Antwon– I think those two are slightly more conventional spellings. Additionally, it may help if you tweak their powers so that they have an overarching theme.
I think Sensation’s powers are a bit random. Supersenses and seeing the future go together smoothly, but animal-morphing sticks out quite a lot. I think that’s a problem because morphing will probably be his main combat ability. It’s also a good deal more exotic than the other two. (It’s usually more OK for generic powers like healing to fit in less, but an exotic power should probably fit in with the hero’s theme). One way you could fix this is by removing the ability to see the future and just having him go as an animal morpher. Then you could explain his supersenses really smoothly as an offshoot of his morphing ability (for supersight, he uses the eyes of an eagle, or the hearing of an owl, or the taste of a shark/snake, etc.)
Flare Dasher’s powers were a bit more coherent. Superspeed and fire-control sort of, kind of go together (superspeed should create sparks/heat and he controls fire), but I think it would help if you made the connections a bit more explicit. For example, you could change his name to something like Jet or Afterburn (jet engines are powerful and feature fire prominently). It’s also a play on words because jet is a synonym for “black.” As for the healing, that’s not too much of a problem because it’s just a minor ability and one that makes sense for evolutionary reasons. If your body were exposed to fire a lot, you’d need something to keep your body from melting away.
I like Sensation’s supername quite a lot. Flare Dasher seems a little bit more flamboyant and maybe not as effective. I’d recommend going with Afterburner, Jet, or Nitro. I think those are a somewhat more sober combination of speed and fire.
Also, if you’d like to post a rough outline of your story so far, I can offer feedback on what you have so far. It’s OK if you haven’t fully developed it quite yet. When I’m workshopping, I frequently introduce ideas that are still evolving.
There were three young boys in the 11th grade who attended Terry Parker high school.The school is really old and it’s been up sense 1969(who would want to go to a school that old).Well these three boys were really close they hung out alot and stayed after school for activites(the normal things that teenagers do).Well it was one of the boys 17th birthday and it was a day that would change all three of their lives.The three boys were out at night sitting looking at the stars and the 17 year old made a wish.He wish that he could help people that were in danger there was so much crime in the city that he lived in that there was hardly ever any peace.After he made the wish a commet flew pass the boys and and landed on their schools football field.They rushed over to see what it was,and when they got there they seen the commet and when they got there it was the size of a car tire.They all touched it at the same time,but soon as they did a shockwave sent them flying towards some bleachers.When they got up they didnt fell normal they all had been given their own super powers that matched their personalities.After they known what they’ve had they couldn’t let anyone else find out about it or,the whole world would be walking around with super powers.They took the comment and hid it in the schools basement so no one would ever find it(who would do into the basement of a school that’s been up sense 1969,not even the janitors wouldn’t go down there.)
So they thought it was safe.
One day a student at the same high school as the three boys(who also hates two of the boys) tryed to do something with a girl in the school basement.While he was down there he saw the commet and walked upon it.He touched it and a shockwave threw him agaisnt the one of the storage tanks.The girl ran out and went straight to class(if she would have said something to someone about being in the basement she would have got in trouble for skipping).When he got up he had super powers and he thought he was the only one he said he’d keep it to him self,and that gave birth to the boys arch enemy.
I haven’t made a name for it yet and if body could help me with a name that would be awesome ,but for the moment I think people should tell me if it’s good.
Flare Blade, I don’t understand. Isn’t this the same question you posted on our Plot Structures page? I already responded to it here.
I just give my characters names I like, or pick a random one from a naming website. I also used the link to Seventh Sanctum for one or two. None of their names really reflect their personalities, but if any do it was unintentional.
In my book, the main villain (who is so powerful and evil that he rarely appears in person) has three names right now. His true name is Malevolon. I am considering changing it to: Malevon, Malivoth, Mordex, Mordivax, Mordivath, or something similar because I think Malevolon sounds cheesy. Your thoughts?
He is also often referred to as the Neitshaden and the Dark Phoenix. I am considering scrapping the name Neitshaden because it doesnt do anything except give the characters another spooky name to speak in hushed tones. That, and be hard to pronounce. It flouts all of my pronounciation rules for Elvish, Dwarvish, Giantish, and beyond. Do you think it’s worth keeping? Can it be salvaged?
(and yes, Neitshaden is based on the word nightshade)
Does your website despise me? If it were a person, I’d say it is being surly right now. Post my comment please! Darn these oversensitive filters!
In my book, the main villain (who is so powerful and evil that he rarely appears in person) has three names right now. His true name is Malevolon. I am considering changing it to: Malevon, Malivoth, Mordex, Mordivax, Mordivath, or something similar because I think Malevolon sounds cheesy. Your thoughts?
The word in question that was setting off the spam filter was “pronounce,” which has the string “pron,” which is one leet-speak way to say porn. However, I can see that the word “pronounce” is clearly something useful to our commenters, so I’ve disabled the pron block. Also, I unblocked cock to allow the innocuous cocky and the absolutely delightful shuttlecock (in case anyone wants to discuss awesome sports).
I am very ill now, but I’ll try to answer your questions as well as I can .
1: Generally, I would recommend trying to avoid giving a character more than two names. For example, we can easily remember that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person, and very few readers messed up Voldemort and Tom Riddle, but a third name would probably cause confusion. But that’s just a suggestion. JK Rowling used Voldemort interchangeably with “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,” but each name served a distinct purpose. Voldemort was what he called himself, so it reflected his self-image. HWMNBN was what the wizards called him, which reflected how much he scared the wizards. If you’d like to use more than two names, please have a distinct purpose for all of them.
2: I know “Mal” and letters like x and v typically sound sinister. However, like you mentioned, a name like Malevolon may feel a bit cheesy. Could I recommend something a bit more subtle and unconventional like Solon, Nagel/Nagle or Jick/Juke?
3: Neitshaden is OK, but what would you think about just making it Nightshade? That sounds like something the character would call himself. Then you might want to give him a name that the other characters would call him. That should suggest something unique about how they see him. HWMNBN was a name that was designed to show that the wizards saw him as horribly frightening, but you could shape it in any number of ways. For example, t’d be easy enough to make a name that suggested that they think of Neitshaden as cowardly, sinister, craven, evil, savage, treacherous, stupid, barbaric, a puppet, etc. There are so many ways to hate someone.
Do you think an unconventional name will work for someone this purely evil? I envision his true form looking something like this pic: http://art1.server05.sheezyart.com/image/10/108378.jpg
With dragon underlings: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c327/superslim/EvilDragon.gif
(Disclaimer: I did not draw these, although I am almost as awesome.)
Your thoughts? The lesser name could be his humanoid name perhaps?
Also, for his six sinister serpentine servants (alliteration hehe!) What do you think of “The Spiteful Six”?
Or now that I think about it, the Serpentine Six? Or would that be too obvious of a dragon reference?
I might lower that number to five.
The Spiteful Six might sound a bit cheesy. It sounds a lot like a supervillain group from a few generations ago. (Like the Sinister Six). What would you think about not giving his coterie of dragons a name? (Or he could just refer to them as his dragons without giving the group a real name).
Ok, I think I’ve straightened it out. Later in the story, the Dark Phoenix will free his five greatest and most evil servants from their imprisonment: The Formidable Five. Five evil dragons who fought with him during his rebellious last stand against the Powers Above. They are:
Apollyon The Destroyer -
Most powerful, chief dragon. He is the strongest of all the other dragons, and has a humanoid form. He possesses a unique ability: the deadly “Mortal Shriek” that can pierce even the strongest of defenses. Also known as “The White Dragon”.
Asmodeus The Deceiver –
A silver wind dragon who also takes the form of a serpent. Prefers subtlety, trickery, and deception to brute force. He loves strife and discord and lives by the motto “divide and conquer”. Has the power of suggestion and invisibility, making him an excellent spy. Apollyon’s lieutenant. Also known as “Silvertoungue”.
Tartarus The Deathbringer –
A dark red fire dragon with a hot temper. Has the power to disassemble inanimate objects, deal damage with his long tail tipped with razor-sharp stinging spines, and fire bursts of “netherflame” energy that destroy all in their path and can slightly weaken a phoenix. He loves chaos and destruction. He has two heads, but one mind.
Sheol The Ensnarer –
A bronze-colored cave dragon that traps her prey before she kills it and takes delight in the pain of others. She has the ability to cause paralysis with a touch, petrify lesser enemies, and use special venom that can cause individuals to experience their own pain and anguish plus that which they have caused others intensified until they brake and submit to her will.
Abaddon the Devourer- a mysterious blue storm dragon. He is empowered by rage, fear, doubt, and other base emotions. He has the ability to control tempests and storms, manipulate emotions, cause hallucinations, and rob lesser individuals of their power, using it to increase his own. He is most powerful at night.
There is also a much weaker dragon servant who appears in the first book, but is killed off fairly early:
Derivesham the Coward- weakest dragon- grey-green or cyan colored scales, not sure right now. He has no special powers, just a basic dragon. He is called Coward because he ran from the battle, abandoning his brothers, master, and cause, disappearing to uncharted lands.
Note that the most powerful evil dragon is not the cliched black. In fact, his scales are of a pure white color. Irony!
Your thoughts?
Since you say the Spiteful Six is too cheesy, I will assume that Formidable Five is also cheesy. How about just The Formidables? Or perhaps another threatening noun. Could you help me out here?
The Ravagers perhaps?
The Black Dragos comes to my mind
I like the Ravagers.
I’ve always thought that white had so much villainous potential. Between tuberculosis, cauliflower and psychiatric wards, it’s ripe for creepiness. As for introducing five named dragons as mini-villains, I think that may bloat the cast. Readers may also have trouble telling the dragons apart.
They won’t appear until much later, So don’t worry. By that time, the villains I’m writing now will have disappeared. No two threats will ever compete for dominance in the story at once. Do you think that giving the dragons drastically different personalities and styles will make them easier to tell apart? I’ve gone part of the way by giving them different colors and abilities. If I draw on those for personality traits, could they be easier to differentiate?
Ex:
Apollyon The Destroyer- The Shadow’s Darth Vader. He’s the enforcer, leader of the Ravagers, and the only one who can don a humanoid form.
Asmodeus the Deciever- A shadowy background manipulator type. Think of a loyal, competent Starscream with a twist of Satan.
Tartarus the Deathbringer- impulsive, brash, agressive, perhaps slightly whiny a la Christian Haydensen’s Anakin Skywalker.
Sheol the Ensnarer- femme fatale. Like catwoman, only consistently evil and distinctly non-human. I may consider having her flirt with the others, particularly Apollyon.
Abaddon the Devourer- cryptic and enigmatic. He will rarely speak except to say something creepy. Think of a Batman/Dracula/Dr. Doom with dragon sorcery powers.
As for Derivesham, he appears early and is killed off quickly, so he probably won’t be as well developed as his brethren. At least not through dialogue. I may have the other dragons refer to him as “annoying”, or “cowardly” or “good riddance he’s dead.” That would drive home how incompetent he was while also showing that the dragons are so evil and callous that they don’t care if one of their own dies.
Your thoughts?
Well, the colors are an extremely useful way to differentiate characters in a comic book or other visual medium, but you’re writing a novel, right? Visuals probably won’t prove so useful for differentiating novel characters because it’s easy to forget character appearances when you can’t actually see the characters.
For example, I really liked the book His Majesty’s Dragon, but I’ve forgotten pretty much everything the author has used to describe Temeraire’s appearance. The only thing I remember is that he’s enormous (after all, he carries a crew of 30+). I’m not the only one having trouble remembering his visual details. For example, check out these illustrations of him: this, this, this, and this. The artists didn’t even agree whether he looked like a Chinese dragon or a Westernized dragon (his egg came from China).
What weakness would you give to a character that can change his body into a diamond form? He has powers like superstrength, durability, and the ability to make himself invisible by morphing his body and bending light.
Hi, John. I imagine he’d be very heavy, particularly when diamondized. He might also be clumsy. He’d probably have trouble fighting in an area with poor footing, like a mountainside or a rooftop. I also imagine he’d be too dense to swim well.
If he has a secret identity, I would recommend having his powers alter his body in some way that makes it harder for him to have a secret identity. For example, perhaps he weighs 300 or 400 pounds because his body retains special substances to facilitate his transformation.
If you’re planning to write your story as a novel, I’d recommend swapping the invisibility for something else. Invisibility is a cool ability, and I think you have a neat mechanism for it, but it really works best in a visual medium like a comic book or TV show.
And the personality differences, B. Mac?
Hi, Brett. I like the leader and the shadowy manipulator. I think those characters are “sticky” enough that we will remember them. As for the impulsive/brash/aggressive/whiny one, the only one of those traits that I think will make him seem really different from the other characters is the whininess. Her modus operandi seems to be seduction, which is neat. However, I fear she will overlap considerably with the manipulator.
The cryptic one concerns me the most. Crypticness may be a problematic trait, given that a character is cryptic based on what he doesn’t do (explain himself, usually). Crypticness will probably be really hard to use as a defining trait. When you have several characters vying for the reader’s attention, a cryptic character will probably lose out. Almost by definition, this character won’t be in the spotlight often, so he’s probably going to get lost in a scene that has several other characters in it.
My guess is that you could merge Sheol and the brash dragon by giving Sheol brashness for flair. If the sorcerous dragon’s magic is really important to the arc of the story, you could give her that as well. That would free you to eliminate two of the dragons if you so desired. That would give you more time with each of these characters, which seems useful because they’re mostly enjoyable characters.
Also, Diamondhead from Ben 10 was vulnerable to sound waves, which could shatter him, so your hero could be vulnerable to strong sonic and concussive attacks.
I think I want to keep Abaddon, but I’ll try to make him a bit more interesting, perhaps giving him a conflict with one of the other dragons. I think that I will give him Tartarus’s temper as well, and maybe make him a pessimist? Could you suggest other personality traits that that might fit his overall motif?
However, I will take your advice and merge Tartarus’s stronger aspects into Sheol, for 2 reasons:
1. A “cave dragon” is a pointless concept. All dragons live in caves at some point, and techinically, in my univers, if it lives almost exclusively in a cave, it’s not a dragon, it’s a gargoyle. Dragons are supposed to ravage and conquer, you cant do that if you’re always hiding in a cave.
2. Tartarus and Sheol were weaker characters than the others, both in powers and personality. I think I’ll give Tartarus’s flames to Sheol, and give her venom to Abaddon. This and a few changes should help differentiate her from Asmodeus.
Your thoughts?
I think I’ll also give her Tartarus’s title of Deathbringer because Ensnarer is a little weak and synonomous with “Deciever”. Also, “Deathbringer” is very uncharacteristically female. Unless you think “Ensnarer” is a better fit?
Here’s how it looks now:
Sheol the Deathbringer –
a bronze fire dragon that prefers to trap her prey before she kills it and takes delight in the pain of others. She can cause paralysis with a touch, petrify lesser enemies, disassemble inanimate objects, and fire bursts of “netherflame” energy that destroy all in their path and can slightly weaken a phoenix. She is also a seductress, and is quite used to getting her way. (May share an on/off relationship with her plausible mate Asmodeus, from whom she learns the finer points of deception.)
Abaddon the Devourer –
a mysterious blue storm dragon. He is ill-tempered and unpredictable, being empowered by rage, fear, doubt, and other base emotions. He has the ability to control tempests and storms, manipulate emotions, cause hallucinations, and use special venom that can cause individuals to experience their own pain and anguish plus that which they have caused others intensified until they brake and submit to his will. He is most powerful at night.
Also, would it be worth making Abaddon female and renaming him “Kraken”? Or is one female dragon enough? (of course if I did make my blue dragon female, it might look too much like a sapphira parody. “What do you think I am, a talking pack animal?!” lol)
Your thoughts B. Mac?
“What do you think I am, a talking pack animal?” That’d be pretty hilarious.
Erm, what with the mergers and renamings, I think I’m having trouble following everything that’s happened. Could you give me the name/synopsis for all the dragons at this point? Thanks.
For my diamond character any suggestions on a name?
I know this is irevelant to this section, but I want to start really planning and writing my story out now. How should I go about doing this? Seeing as I want to do a comic I’m not sure if I should write it in the comic format you showed me or write it as a book and then transfer it over into the format later. Or should I just hold out and plan more? Is there anything about my story you are unclear with?
Yo, John
I’m not good with names but these are just suggestions for Mr.Diamond, trash them if you want.
Adamant or Adamantine
Crystal
Sheet
Solid (my favorite)
Oh, and Vigor (I like that one too)
Something that sounds resolute and immovable. Maybe Solidus or Stonehead. If you want to put emphasis on his powers, perhaps Roughcut or Hardstone.
Oh, wait. scratch stonehead, too close to diamondhead from ben 10. oops!
Oh yeah I didn’t think of making them in name form haha
Ok.
Apollyon the Destroyer is the most powerful, chief dragon. He has a humanoid form. He possesses a unique ability, a deadly “Mortal Shriek.” He’s also known as “The White Dragon”.
Asmodeus the Deceiver is a silver wind dragon who also takes the form of a serpent. He prefers subtlety, trickery and deception to brute force. He loves strife and discord and lives by the motto “divide and conquer”. He has the powers of suggestion and invisibility, making him an excellent spy. He’s Apollyon’s lieutenant. He’s also known as “Silvertongue”.
Sheol the Deathbringer is a sadistic fire dragon. She can paralyze by touch, disassemble inanimate objects, and cause fire bursts of highly destructive “netherflame” energy. She is also a seductress, and is quite used to getting her way. [Note: She may share an on/off relationship with her plausible mate Asmodeus, from whom she learns the finer points of deception.]
Abaddon/Krakken the Devourer is a mysterious blue storm dragon. S/He is ill-tempered and unpredictable, being empowered by rage, fear, doubt, and other base emotions. S/He has the ability to control tempests and storms, manipulate emotions, cause hallucinations, and use special venom that can cause individuals to experience their own pain and anguish plus that which they have caused others intensified until they brake and submit to his/her will. S/He is most powerful at night. [I think I want to keep Abaddon, but I’ll try to make him a bit more interesting, perhaps giving him a conflict with one of the other dragons. I think that I will give him a short temper as well, and maybe make him a pessimist? Could you suggest other personality traits that that might fit his overall motif?
Also, would it be worth making Abaddon female and renaming him “Kraken”? Or is one female dragon enough?]
Derivesham will be dead by the end of the 1st book.
That’s how it now stands.
Btw, comments like this are just a ploy to keep this page (and my more important comments above) popping up on your recent comments widget so you wont forget it. Please don’t think I’m pestering you. Also, I have read all sample chapters you posted, and loved them for the most part. The best was definitely Stockbroker to the Slaughter. Some of the others could get a bit awkward and confusing sometimes. I’ll reread them to pinpoint how. Excellent work. Once I finish my first volume, could I trouble you for a beta-review?
OK, I have a few thoughts. It looks like you have four characters here (five if you count Derivesham, but he seems pretty minor). Each of these characters has three addresses: a name (like Apollyon), a title (The Destroyer) and an appellation (like the White Dragon or Silvertongue). If these characters are really important, I would recommend giving them at most two names. If they aren’t really important, just one.
If you’re not sure whether each dragon deserves one or two, I’d suggest leaning towards one. Typically a second name is a confusing element that’s justified only if it adds something. For example, a superhero’s name makes him feel more exotic/super and helps him keep his alternate identity safe. Voldemort is distinct from Tom Riddle because Rowling wanted to show that he was very much a normal person before he went bad. In contrast, I’m not sure that The Devourer adds anything that wasn’t already conveyed by Krakken.
As for Silvertongue, I love that name. Let’s see. Silvertongue, yeah. I like that he’s persuasive and cunning, but his power of suggestion might be problematic. For example, if your hero is tricked by Silvertongue, it would probably be more satisfying if Silvertongue did it with just plain words than magically-endowed words. For an excellent example of a crafty superhero stealing the show with well-placed words, please see Batman in part two of the Justice League episode Injustice for All.
I think it would be perfectly OK whether Abaddon is a female or not, although one disadvantage of a 2-2 team compared to a 3-1 team is that with a 3-1 team you can use gendered words like “she” and “her” more clearly to refer to a single member. In contrast, the 2-2 team can’t use gendered words that clearly. However, the 3-1 team would have three male characters bouncing around, so that might make masculine pronouns tricky. I like Kraken (Krakken?) better.
As for a trait to mix up Kraken, have you thought about anything remotely positive? I see your villains have a lot of flaws, which is good, but you may find a single positive trait might make the character memorably creepy. For example, your first three members are a shrieking Darth Vader, a pathological liar and Sheol the Deathbringer. I think something like a cheerful, sunny demeanor would really make Kraken stand out. You could play that in a mildly creepy, low-key way (“I love my job!”) Or you could make it more campy. What do you think?
Also, why would Apollyon pick Silvertongue to be his lieutenant? Loyalty isn’t the first thing I’d associate with a cunning liar.
Thanks B. Mac. And that’s a good question. One could also ask, “Why did Megatron pick Starscream?” I guess that Silvertongue was just the best at his job. Sheol is his pupil, Derivesham’s pathetic, and Krakken was too unpredictable. On the other hand, you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. (Jack Sparrow)
Also, I will try to come up with a more meaningful title for Krakken, as well as get rid of the titles for Apollyon and Silvertongue, and let them keep their apellations instead.
As for your point about the sunny disposition, it may work. Perhaps if he’s emotionally unstable a la The Dark Knight’s Joker (by far the creepiest and most effective version of the character).
If you liked TDK’s Joker, I’d also recommend The Killing Joke. He was also notably creepy there, although without as much of a Saw vibe.
My story I am writing involves and relies on literally hundreds of heroes. I know having too many characters can screw up a story but I can’t change that. I was just wondering if you could give me some advice on some of my superhero/villain ideas, and this seems to be the most active topic.
Here are a few that are less developed than some of my other ideas and can use some help.
Jack Silverman can create solid illusions and project images and thoughts inside of people’s heads.
Vanessa Morra can generate and manipulate ice.
Scott Merit can cover his body in toxic slime and spit acid.
Randall “Sandy” McGraw can manipulate sand and dust. Ironically, he needs water or he will dehydrate.
Akira Sakoya has spikes covering his body. By manipulating his bones, he can use explosive pressure to fire the spikes.
Keegan Draison can manipulate and alter gravity.
Wallace Ganes is covered in lizardlike scales and has a thick tail and claws. Superior strength, durability, speed, agility/reflexes and senses. He can crawl walls and sense danger.
Jesse Karon can convert physical damage into a concussive blast released from her hands.
(None of these characters have ‘hero/villain’ names.)
Hah, I like Wallace Ganes as the lizard-man. It might just be an intensely strange coincidence, but we named our mutant alligator Gain as an homage to the Florida Gators (who play in Gainesville). Even if you’re not a Gators fan and entirely stumbled upon that, I approve.
As for your story, I’d be a bit concerned that you plan to use hundreds of heroes. “I know having too many characters can screw up a story but I can’t change that,” you said. You seem pretty committed to having a very large cast. Could you explain why you’d like so many? I think readers might have trouble keeping hundreds of characters apart. Have you ever read a comparable novel that used so many characters successfully?
On the plus side, I find it refreshing that you don’t give the characters hero/villain names.
Well first off I just chose that name because it felt like it fit.
Second, the reason I use many heroes is because the story is about a place where the people with abilities are trained and taught to defend the human race, kind of like Xavier’s Institute. Most of the heroes are only mentioned briefly and/or die eventually, so to some extent it doesn’t matter that there are that many characters. I write them into the story in a way that the reader knows that they are not as important as most of the other characters.
Another thing is that this is a series (hopefully a big series) that will allow room for the heroes to be introduced at a fair pace. All the characters are obviously not introduced in one book. I have also planned for spin-off teams for some of the heroes so they do not all need to be together all the time.
Oh and some of the major characters do have hero/villain names but not all of them.
Does anyone know why my previous posts were screwed up? The words have been rearranged.
We edit comments for grammar and style. Did we mischaracterize what you wrote?
Oh, okay.
Um, some of what I wrote where I was describing my characters got deleted, but other than that there was nothing important that got changed.
Hmm. If you can think of what substance was removed, I can put that back in.
Also, on the issue of your series and cast, how many main characters were you thinking about introducing in your first novel?
Also, it kind of depends who your audience is (younger readers can handle a big cast because they don’t care as much about character depth), but I suspect a truly epic cast of 100+ characters would probably take 10+ novels.
As a measure of comparison, War and Peace had about 600,000 words and 100 characters. That’s about one character per 6000 words. The typical modern novel for adults ranges between 50,000-100,000 words. If you introduced characters as rapidly as War and Peace, that’d be 8-15 significant characters per novel. I don’t know how many of your characters are significant (important enough to merit a name and show up in more than one chapter), but you’d probably need many books in your series to introduce them all.
The deletion was fine.
Well, I was planning on using 17 heroes in the first novel. But at least 5 die and six more are not that important. So 6 main good guys.
For the bad guys there are only 8 mentioned 1 dies early on and two others are only mentioned for the first half and end of the story(they go on a secret mission). And another is only mentioned as a name.
I do plan on having a lot of books in my series. If all goes according to plan I would like it to have at least 10-12 novels. (Kind of like Redwall.)
I am leaning towards a teen audience.
Hmm. Six main heroes and four main villains are maybe a bit more than I’d recommend for a first novel, but definitely feasible. Just be careful about how quickly you introduce the minor characters, heh. SIWBI’s cast was overwhelming because the first 30 pages threw so many names around (~20 by my count).
I suspect that younger teens (13-15) are well-suited for a large cast. I think Max Ride and Redwall sold up to that age range. Once you start getting past 16, though, I’d recommend being a bit more cautious with cast-size because the readers expect more depth and substance from the characters. The broad brushstrokes that can appeal to younger readers are less palatable to high-schoolers. (High schoolers are also more sensitive to character voice, and differentiating character voices gets exponentially harder as the cast increases in size).
Turning to your character cast, I notice that their descriptions tend to focus on their capabilities and superpowers. As you try to distinguish these heroes from past comic book characters with similar powers, I think that their personalities and backgrounds will prove very, very important.
For example, Akira Sakoya has powers very close to X-Men’s Spike. Vanessa Morra has powers very much like Iceboy and other ice-elementalists. Sandy’s powers are essentially identical to Sandman’s. If the characters feel substantially different in other ways, these power similarities probably won’t be a problem. For example, both Gandalf and Dumbledore were magical mentors, but they feel different because their personalities and backgrounds are not similar.
Wallace Ganes sounds a lot like Lizard combined with Spiderman’s spider-sense. His powers are unusually exotic, so that will put less pressure on his personality to distinguish him, but even so I think we need to know more about what kind of person (reptile?) he is. To some extent I think we could say the same about the other characters as well.
Okay,
Jack Silverman is an older gentleman, a big shot vegas magician. Mild mannered and very polite.
Vanessa Morra is warm and caring unlike her powers.
Scott Merit very rude street kid
Randall “Sandy” McGraw enjoys the finer things in life, does not like violence
Akira Sakoya very lonely and secluded
Keegan Draison very cruel, likes to torture people
Wallace Ganes feels that he is an abomination, and regrets ever being born
Jesse Karon tom boyish, sarcastic
OK. Silverman’s work as a Vegas magician is slightly cliche, but I think mild-mannered and polite has potential.
Warm and caring is good (and unexpected given Vanessa’s ice powers). For depth, I’d recommend working in a negative trait as well.
Scott looks OK.
I like Sandy’s foppishness quite a lot. Along with Scott and Wallace, he’s probably the most interesting of the characters here.
I think Akira could probably use a positive attribute in addition to seclusion.
Erm, Keegan may be very hard to like. Sadism and torture are activities that are very hard to make relatable. (Even if he’s a villain, he might be too twisted, particularly if the audience is younger than adult).
Wallace’s self-loathing seems very believable.
Boyish and sarcastic are a bit cliche but workable.
Thanks. I’ll work on Keegan and Akira.
Sandy is my favorite character out of all of them.
I’ve never talked about the logistics of my comic or novel, whichever I can start sooner. Probably the novel. I’m going to have three main heroes (Aadrello, Irabella, and Jornai), two main evil (Iggy and Gazelle) and an evil “umbrella” (Cyborn Moon), and an array of entering-and-exiting heroes and villains. After all, it’s a big universe. The story will have a slightly grittier twist, but not so much that I need to change the overall theme. Basically death is acknowleded. There will also be another major good, The Intergalactic Protection Organization or IGPO, essentially the “space police.”
The superhero aspects are more an undertone,than an outward cape and tights idea. The costumes are meant to look more like casual, if you can call it that, clothes instead of costumes.
There is an arc where the Hellions are fugitives and are tracked by the IGPO. The main heroes will travel to a number of planets to assist with misconduct and villainy, while in a general context, they plot to stop the Cyborn. I’m aiming at the target audience of older teen (16) to mid twenties (25), the average target range. Along the story there will be many twists like Aadrello finding that he is of the last of his aquatic race and the black family lineage Jornai was meant to follow or the origin for the IGPO (probably my coolest twist, if you email me I can tell you).
I honestly think my story is different and it works, although I do want to better step out of the box and take a risk, but I’m not sure how to. Maybe doing like many superhero comics and addressing modern day issues (racism, gay rights, sexism etc) in an inconspicuous way?
Why IGPO, why not just IPO?
Becuase I said so.
Fair enough.
What do you think of the name Requiem for one of the members of NINE? He’s the twelve year old who sees ghosts.
I like it. It has a fresh sound.
I’ve been renaming a lot of my characters because some of their names are similar. I had two who began with K, so I changed one and tada, I have Requiem. I had a character named Robbie, but then I decided that his surname had to be Banks. Only when I actually wrote it out did I see that there would be a problem! Haha. I considered drawing on it for humour, but it seemed too strange for my story. I changed his first name instead. A brief google revealed that there is a real life guy who shared his name, so I changed it instead to a variant. I give you Tristram Banks.
Ok here are some characters from my story:
Jiminy The Animal Mystic- Adrian’s master, is his prime he used animal spirits in his magic alots, although he is well-versed in many magic fields. Thusly he titles his students with animal names.
Adrian Gattis- the main character (Boy) when he is assigned animal, he is afterwards called Adrian the Ringtail
Brook Halloway- a final three member in Jiminy’s apprenticeship. Brooke the Blue Jay.
Garrett Freeman- another final three member. Garrett the Taurus.
The Alliance of Gothena- The main evil alliance, worshippers of the fallen goddess, Gothena. A group of 3-4 evil mages, each has a specific magic type i.e time/space or necromancing.
(Name needed)- The entire official mystic society, inhabiting their own realm. This is where the winning apprentices are brought to train in their respective fields.
I know I didn’t include alot of detail about the characters, but I will later, I’m in class hahaha
Tristam Banks sounds pretty good.
Are there any sites you know that have a list of different types of magic? If not, I could always just make them up.
I think Everquest and D&D use 9. You’ll probably want to merge some of these, but it’s an OK start.
Mage: The Ascension used 9 as well. Most MTA spells require the caster to combine more than one sphere of magic.
MTA is a bit more complicated, I think. At the very least, I’d recommend getting rid of correspondence, prime and spirit. Time raises confusion problems of its own…
I like the D&D types I’ll add what I need to the existing groups, and probably combine some fields like divine and abjure.
I think I’ll give Adrian a mix between conjuration and enchantment. (His power won’t be as problematic as Aadrello’s)
Thanks for the help!
Did you see the names I posted above?
Jiminy sounds like a kind of eccentric name. I’d recommend changing his title to the Mystic rather than the Animal Mystic to reduce words.
Adrian is a solid first name. I don’t like Gattis as much. I don’t know what a ringtail is.
I like Brook Halloway, but I’d recommend using a bird that is one word long to save space. Maybe cardinal, crow, oriole or raven?
I like Garrett Freeman, but I would recommend changing his first name to Garret for style. I like his animal the best. Of the three animals (ringtail, blue jay and taurus), it’s the one that characterizes the student the best. A bull is strong, stubborn and probably not particularly bright, but I don’t know what to associate with a blue bird or a ringtail.
I think Gothena feels a bit cheesy because of the “goth” syllable.
Hmm, on a side-note, I’d recommend paying attention in class to get into a kickass college. Being a writer at a less-competitive college really sucks balls because there’s no money for grants, the students in your classes will be less helpful, etc.
A Ringtail is short for ringtail lemur (you know that cute, creepy thing with big eyes). They are observant, small, and active. They embody Adrian well. I like oriole best, out of the birds. I want to use a real word as part of the evil name, any ideas? Oh yeah, Jiminy will just be known as a Mystic, It’s just that in the magic society he is titled The Animal Mystic, so that is his formal title. What about Gaines or Gadson or Gaynor as Adrian’s last name (I like G’s)
I was already finished with my assignment for that class, I study, I did it for homework. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I will get into a kickass college far away from horrid Jacksonville. Preferably NYU, but my mom will never let me go that far. NY would be a good place to pursue my modeling and acting career.
Oh My God. My modeling and acting casting cards just got here. AAAAAh, I’m so happy. Just thought I’d tell you the good news. I can start booking jobs now.
I like Gains, Gadson, and Grant. Good luck with acting/modeling. I can offer you absolutely no help in those fields, but I’m under the impression that they are even more competitive than writing.
It is super competitive, probably the most competitive job there is.
I’m with a good agency, that helps alot.
Yeah… I’d venture to list the following things in order of difficulty (from least to most):
–Going to Harvard University (it accepts 10-20% of its applicants)
–Getting elected to Congress (468 openings every two years for the US Congress! One of my classmates is a state representative, actually)
–Becoming an astronaut
–Becoming a superstar author
–Finding a New York apartment for under $1000 a month
–Becoming a superstar artist
–Becoming a pro athlete in basketball, baseball or football
–Getting elected President
I’d probably put supermodel a lot closer to President than Harvard University.
You don’t necessarily have to be a supermodel to have a good modeling career. Lots of models do good work and earn alot of money doing catalog as opposed to high-fashion couture. Although I think the field is slighty easier for guys. Conversely, a male modeling career can only go so far. That why I want to do acting as well, for one, it’s my dream and one of my only natural talents, and two, because I think it’s less superficial that modeling which is purely looks whereas you can be as ugly as dirt and be a famous actor i.e Danny Devito and Al Pacino.
Haha, I know a guy named Garrett Freeman!
See? That’s why you should spell it Garret, heh heh.
Isaac has a few nicknames. Do you think it would be obvious who the other characters are referring to?
Izz, Izzy, Zack and Zacky.
Here’s a sample: He has just gotten in from a rescue and crept back into his room.
“Zacky!”
I froze mid-thought at the sound of my nickname. I was either gonna get it for disappearing, or I was being called down for something minor and had nothing to worry about.
This is in the morning:
“Izzy, do you want some breakfast?” Mum asked me, as she did every single day.
Your thoughts? Thanks!
The only thing that scare me about NY, is the high cost of living. But I’m not scared.
I think Zack is more intuitive, but almost any nickname is going to confuse some people. If you think that Isaac isn’t something you’d feel comfortable using casually, I’d recommend just replacing the name with Zack.
In New York, the median price of a studio apartment was almost half a million dollars in April. That’s half a million dollars to own a single room. So, uhh, I assume you’ll be renting.
The New York Observer estimates that the average New York studio apartment costs $31,000 to rent. Per year. Maybe you could knock some of that off by taking a two-hour commute by train every day or by taking on several roommates for a bigger unit, but I think it’s still going to be pretty bad.
I may be biased against New York, though. I have an unfortunate crippling fear of skyscrapers that causes my knuckles to get ghostly white and my blood pressure to reach levels more commonly known to 60-year-old smokers. I took a summer internship in Washington before I discovered how poorly my body reacted to cities. It was not a pleasant summer.
I vaguely remember that there was an interesting article by the New York Times on the process of assimilating into NYC life… ahh, I found it! Score.
Hmm, that article was very informative. I still want to live there, I guess I can start saving up now haha. I at least want to visit there again before 20, if not move there. I don’t think the social factor will be problematic for me, I’m used to being alone, being an outcast and a former only child, I’ve gotten used to being by mysel.
I hate this stupid hicks town, Jacksonville, what a waste of a city, the sooner I get out of here the better.
I’ve been working on the idea for a fantasy project (in case you’re confused, this is completely different to any other idea I might have mentioned before), and I wanted to ask your opinion on some character names:
Two teenaged characters, both 16, one male and one female.
The girl’s main traits are confidence, bluntness and her reliability. I was thinking Zoe or Fern. As for last name, maybe Baxter or Ingham. I originally chose Fern but now I’m leaning towards Zoe. The boy’s main traits are arrogance, being easily frustrated and easy-going. I decided on calling him Victor Coburn (Corra or Knaggs also seem decent), but I would like some opinions.
My story also has several Gods in it, some of which are the antagonists. For antagonists, what are your opinons on Allren, Father Shon, Lendirn, Regnar, Rafina and Mayla?
I also have three demi-God protagonists: Kant, Duerth and Greth. The latter two are brothers and will probably have the largest part of all these God figures (there are a lot, I know!). I like the similarity of the names for a brotherly theme, but I think Duerth (Do-earth) might stumble people a bit. Do you think Durth and Greth with have the same sort of similarity?
Just a reminder – I know how easy it is to forget these things.
What! It’s been two hours.
I like Zoe a lot. I like Baxter better than Ingham, but what would you think about Williams or Stockton?
I like Victor as well. Coburn sounds effective, but if his easily-frustrated nature is extremely important, you might want to consider something that sounds a bit more delicate. If it’s merely a pretty important trait for him, I like Coburn.
Father Shon seems pretty solid, and if you were interested in a minor tweak I’d suggest Father Shorn. The two syllables in Allren don’t seem to flow together very smoothly. What would you think about Aldren? Lendirn has a slightly weak closing syllable and shares a lot of the letters of Allren (because it also ends with an “n,” readers may confuse the two).
For some reason, I’m not fond of Regnar. It’s OK, I guess. I’d suggest “Railar,” maybe.
I like Rafina, although the “af” sound is maybe a little stranger than “aph” in English-language names. What would you think about Raphina?
Mayla is OK, but the name uses A’s in a very similar way to Rafina (second letter, last letter). What would you think about Maylon?
As for your demi-god protagonists, I love Kant. However, I’m slightly concerned that Duerth/Durth and Greth sound a bit too much alike (even though they are brothers). What would you think about changing Greth to “Rath”? It keeps the ‘th’ ending but spins it with a substantially different opening syllable.
Hmm. I don’t like Williams, but Stockton is a nice name. Zoe Stockton. I like it. Thanks!
Father Shorn does have a nicer ring to it, too. Thanks again for that one. Aldren is also good. What do you think about Lindt rather than Lendirn?
Railar and Raphina work. I don’t really like Maylon; I’ll go with Maylen.
Hmm. I don’t really like Rath – what do you think about Gath? I think it sounds different enough to Durth that people won’t get confused.
Gah, I forgot to add a few more names: your opinions on General Eldvin, King Orlon and Pettrick?
I like Gath a lot! In fact, I like it better than Rath, and it sounds very different to Durth. Maylen is strong. I’m more favorable to Lindt than Lendirn, but dt is still a kind of strange sound and people may wonder if they’re supposed to pronounce the name like “lint.” Heh heh.
King Orlon is solid. General Eldvin is OK, but the dv sound is a bit unfamiliar. What would you think about Eldin, Elvin, Eldoven, Eldaven, or Eldridge?
I think I’ll just keep it as Lind, then. XP
Eldridge is a great name for the general! Thank you.
Could anyone give me suggestions for Adrian’s Superhero name.
All I can come up with is Aquarian, and I think that’s a little weird.
I did a little research for you.
How about Naiad? In Greek mythology, Naiads were water nymphs who used to live near running water. However, they were all female.
Proteus was a Greek sea god. Names like Poseidon are a bit obvious but it’s more likely that readers will be able to put two and two together.
Lache means “lives near water”. Also written as Lach or Laec.
Ladbroc means “lives by the path by the brook”.
Lage means “from the sea”.
Laidly or Laidley means “from the creek meadow”.
Most of these are pretty obscure, but I like them.
I may be able to use Lage or Lache.
Thanks
No problem.
What do you think of Flux or Flow?
I don’t like the foreign language part. It’s perfectly acceptable to use foreign words as names. Some examples are easy to see.
Inu-Yasha is Japanese for Dog Demon, which is literal, and it rolls off the tongue and sounds sweet.
In Dragonball Z, Goku is like warrior or something, and in my book Vir literally translates into hero.
My main character’s name is Ken Writher AKA Vir. Both names are short, Writher is based on how the character digresses into nothingness or withers (Writher, Wither, see what I did there).
That’s ironic, Adrian’s last name is Gaines, like gains, because he wants to be a great actor and thus, gain fame and fortune.
I didn’t realise this until recently, but Isaac’s full name makes sense when translated into English.
Isaac is Hebrew for “laughter” and Maehara is Japanese for “before the wilderness”. So his name is “laughter before the wilderness”! Haha. It kind of describes him, too. Later on after he’s been a superhero for a while, he becomes stronger and harder to scare.
We didn’t say that foreign names are less acceptable, Dallas. But they are typically less effective and harder to use. All other things being equal, they are usually harder to pronounce and tend to rely more on in-jokes (“Sophia translates to wisdom! Pikachu translates to lightning-rat!”) But virtually none of your readers will actually know that, unless you mention it in your story. For example, you could have Vir tell us that his name translates into “hero.” But you could just as easily have Vir tell us that his name meant “lightning ninja” and pretty much no one would know any better. So it really doesn’t matter at all what a character’s name translates to in real-life. It doesn’t add anything.
I do explain that. But it’s easy to pronounce and short and effective, so it works.
This is probably going to sound counterintuitive for a name that’s only one syllable long, but I don’t think the pronunciation is as intuitive as Goku or even Temeraire. Is it pronounced like the syllable that leads virtue (“vrr”) or the syllable that leads virulent (“veer”)? I think the discrepancy might annoy people if they were to talk to each other about the story. Anyway. I think that all is a pretty minor consideration. I like the name.
I think vrr like virtue when I hear it.
I would like advise on a character I started. This character has insect powers such as the strength of something fifty times his size like an ant and he can also shoot webbing and create a cocoon around himself as a shield. His primary mode of transportation is his wings. Do you think I should give him a sort of “spider sense”?
Would Insect Man be a suitable name? I had his story as genetic experiment to create the ultimate warrior. But he thought that the experiment was too painful for anyone else to endure so he destroyed it. They had him brainwashed shortly after, so he starts out as a villain but eventually breaks free of their command and becomes a hero. Any ideas?
While Insect Man would be a literal name for him, I think it’s a little basic. Maybe Insectoid or Antenna would be better.
I’m not very fond of Insect Man. It’s way too generic and sounds too much like a watered-down version of Spiderman. You may find this article on the conventions of modern superhero names useful.
I’d recommend something that suggests more about the character’s distinguishing traits. I’m not sure what his distinguishing traits are, so I don’t think I can suggest anything at the moment.
I think giving him spider sense would make him feel like Spiderman, but it’s common and workable depending on what insects he’s based after. Some insects spit toxins, secrete sticky slime, and can warp their shape. You may want to do some research on different types of insects.
I think Insect Man is a little bland, nowadays, superheroes don’t really use gender as part of their name. What about just The Insect?
As for his origin, the idea of being a villian than becoming a hero is a little tricky, but workable. I’d suggest making the experiment they were doing insect-related. It seems inconsistent, why does trying to make the ultimate soldier ending creating insect related powers. Maybe they were woking with insect DNA and make a a toxic serum, that the main character accidently got infected with.
What do you think of The Aquarian?
I think it shows that the character is passionate, but it gives off a vibe that makes a reader ponder his sexuality.
I can’t think of any water related superhero names.
Help, please.
I don’t think that gender is necessarily a problem, just that tacking on Man, Boy, Lad, Woman, Gal, etc. is usually cliche and generic. But I think there are a few gendered names that are effective (gendered words like Hangman and gendered names like Thor, Nick Fury, etc.)
I’m not very fond of The Aquarian, but mainly because it doesn’t tell us very much about the character other than that he uses water. (Also, it has a New Age kind of vibe). What are his distinguishing traits?
Adrian (this is where Adrian really differs from me) is curious
outgoing
mischeivous
whimsical
outspoken
driven
impulsive
artistic
Those are probably his most notable traits.
What do you think about Hydro? I think it has more force and style than The Aquarian and also helps you avoid the word “the,” which usually makes it harder to use the character’s name in conversation. (“Hey, The Batman!”)
Hydro, a little obvious, but it will work.
What do you think of those traits do they tie together to make a deep, interesting personality.
Yeah, I agree that it’s a little obvious, but I did a brief Google check and I couldn’t find any other superheroes named Hydro (which astonishes me).
I like that Hydro sounds kind of outgoing/assertive and outspoken isn’t that much of a stretch. It has a protagonistic vibe about it. As a slightly less obvious alternative, I might suggest something like Maritime*, some variation on Benthos*, Geyser or Pump. (I’m quite bad at names).
*–I don’t expect that readers will necessarily know what maritime or benthos mean, but I think that they work on a sound-based level anyway.
Are you attached to a water-themed name? If not, you might consider names that allude to the creative/theatre/artistic side of his character. Mmm… for something flamboyant, whimsical and kind of young-sounding, I like “Showtime.” (If you use Showtime, though, please promise me that you won’t make any bad puns like “are you ready for Showtime?” or “Oh no! It’s Showtime!”) “Broadway” is OK, too, but it may make people wonder why his powers aren’t apparently related to his acting talents. Which I like, by the way. An actor superhero would probably be pretty cheesy if he had stereotypical acting abilities (disguise/body-shifting, deception/suggestion, etc.)
Another possibility (though not a very good one) is the use of a two-word phrase with “Star” or “Moon” (because stars relate to acting and moons relate to the tide). It’d be hard to use a two-word phrase in a conversation, though. “Hey, Silver Star, what’s happening?” You’d also have to use an adjective that’s more interesting than a color, I think.
Let me know if anything here sounds like I’m on the right track.
I really like Showtime too, but when I think Showtime the first thing that comes to mind is light based powers or reality manipulation, but that’s ok, he’ll definitely stand out in the hero world. I think Broadway is a little too close to the line of pondering sexuality.
I think Showtime will work. I’ll be able to include alot of name based jokes with that.
Come on, not one bad pun, just one haha. “You better be prepared, it’s Showtime.”
OK, just be careful with the puns. I preemptively warned you against them!
Is there an art to paranomasia?
I like puns, but name-based puns are usually a bit cheesy.
For example, Agent Orange’s name is a very intrusive bit of wordplay. By itself, I don’t think it’s very funny, but I think we used it well in this scene…
I think that exchange is genuinely funny because it goes farther than “look, his name is Agent Orange!” I’m not sure how you could do that with Showtime, though. For example, I think a line like “Are you ready for Showtime?” would probably make the audience wince.
Hey, Im still drafting my story that I told you guys about a few months ago bt Ihave hit a little speed bump. I am not sure if I want my story to have the traditional sense of superhero, like with a colorful costume or not. Could you guys help??
It depends on the age of the audience. If you’re thinking about 13 and under, I think they’d go for flashy costumes, capes, all that (see Superman and Static Shock). These readers tend to have been exposed less to the superhero genre and aren’t as discriminating about originality. A standard superhero story will probably feel new to them because the names are different.
After around 13, I think that audiences start frowning on very flamboyant costumes and they will demand a plot or style that is genuinely different. Tweaking your superhero’s style can help the story feel more original, but I don’t think that visuals will matter all that much. If you’re going for older readers, you kind of need a hook to distinguish yourself from other superhero stories. For example, Superhero Nation is a superhero story for people that like wacky comedy. That distinguishes us from most superhero stories, which are usually heavy on action and do not try too hard to be funny.
Stylistically, for an older audience, I’d recommend trying something more like Batman (utilitarian) than Captain America (gaudy) or Dr. Strange (ornamental). (However, I’d say that Spiderman’s costume is pretty out-there and older readers don’t seem to mind very much). Color-schemes also matter in a visual work, but I’d recommend staying away from straight black if you can help it. Brown is serious and professional but is less cliche than black and seems less emo.
Okay, this comes from a book I’m working on. It’s set in a post-nuclear war setting, around the year 3700.
My hero is called Joshua, as a biblical reference. Adding to the reference, his mentor is Moses (I think you can work the reference out). Joshua isn’t actually his real name – it’s just what Moses calls him when he comes along. Maybe I should explain more…
During the nuclear war, about 1,000 years before the story begins, the military were working on raising the dead as soldiers. However, there is a rumor that some of them were given psychic powers. Joshua was one of these people who were raised from the dead. However the ship he was on, the White November, was struck by nuclear bombs and all the crew were killed by radiation sickness. Before they all died, the captain of the ship put Joshua into hypersleep for 1,500 years until the radiation was expected to die down.
The story begins when he wakes up, only remembering one thing – that he was brought back from the dead. He decides that he has to get off the ship and steals a lifeboat, but is intercepted by another rescue speedboat, containing Moses. He refers to him as “Joshua” for the first time, and tells Joshua that he came here to find him and rescue him, because he is apparently last of the psychic dead. They decide to leave to try and find help for him, but when they arrive in America they find it partly a bleak, nuclear wasteland still not healed from the amount of bombs, stalked by mutants and ruled with an iron fist by the Lazarus Hunters, an organization dedicated to finding the dead soldiers (“Lazarus Men”) and destroying them all.
As for character attributes Joshua begins the story completely emotionless, almost like a robot. However, the Lazarus Men develop emotions through gradual exposure to humans, and Joshua becomes more and more human as the story progresses. The main traits he develops are unstable, methodical and alien (from the list).
Yea I was thinking about maybe targeting an older audience. Since my story deals with potentially lethal inner city kids with superpowers and a military operation I’m having trouble thinking of a way the government or the news media would explain why all of a sudden guys are running around in costumes and that all types of metahumans are stalking the city?
Hello, Halfbakery. I’m not very good at working with postapocalyptic stories. The main concern is that, after the world has already been essentially obliterated, there’s not much chance for a happy ending. However, other than that the story sounds workable.
Joshua’s progression throughout the story sounds interesting and I think that he become likable as he becomes more human. I think it will help a lot, though, if the main character is likable from page 1. I’d recommend giving him another trait early on to soften the edges on his roboticness. (Duty, selflessness, humor, friendliness, optimism, light-heartedness, etc.)
Joshua is a fine name (although I’m not sure how much the typical reader would know about the allusion. He was one of the Israelites’ spies/commanders, right?) I think Moses is a bit more heavy-handed. Unless the religious allusion is absolutely critical to your book and you’re planning on marketing it as religiously-themed fiction, I’d recommend going with something more subtle.
Hello, Armond.
As far as costumes are concerned, I think you could explain a pretty sober one as a way to protect an identity. So we’d probably be looking at a mask and then maybe a hooded sweatshirt or a catsuit or a trenchcoat or miscellaneous street clothes depending on your style. If you wanted to go more gaudy (like a Superman or Spiderman kind of outfit), then you could explain it if the character is a kid trying to live out a comic book fantasy. It’s kind of flimsy, but I can’t think of any better reason to wear a Spiderman costume.
As for the government’s attempt to explain where all these metahumans came from… have them deny everything and blame it on a chemical spill. It works every time, heh heh. Alternately, they could be more upfront about the government’s responsibility in the project. That would be unconventional and possibly complicated. As for the media, I imagine that they’d certainly be interested in what happened. But if the first few guys that try talking to the media get killed, I think you could have the media investigation kind of stall there if you wanted. It’d be plausible. I’d kind of recommend having the media investigation not get very far because you’ll probably be marketing this book as a superhero story and not a media story. Heh heh.
Yeah, it probably is too heavy-handed. The problem is, I can’t think of anything else, and if you could offer some suggestions, I would be grateful.
No, it isn’t actually religious themed. The whole names thing comes from the fact that Moses never lived to see the Promised Land himself, while Joshua (yes, he is who you think he was) lead them in. But as I say, I would be grateful if you could help me think of something else.
As for the likeable from page 1 thing, Joshua retains a few traits from his human form – something of a sarcastic and caustic personality that can grate with people, yet quite easygoing. However, this is usually just a mask for his main character flaw – he is very unsure of himself and his place in the world.
And that is a good point about “not much potential for happy endings” – with a postapocalyptic story, the ending either tends to be bittersweet or sometimes an outright downer ending. But I am going to try and include a happy ending on this one, or at least more hopeful than your usual downer ending.
What would you think about Aaron instead of Moses? He was another one of the early Israelite leaders, the first lead priest I think. Since he was in Moses’ generation, he would have died before the Israelites actually reached Israel.
I think caustic sarcasm can be likable if played well. However, for a postapocalyptic story, something more sanguine and cheerful may help offset an otherwise depressing mood. I’d recommending playing up his easygoing nature.
As for the happy ending, the easiest way to tie it into the Joshua-Moses biblical arc is that the point of the book is getting their people to somewhere livable. Moses dies maybe halfway through and Joshua has to finish the job. I’d recommend that the destination be something other than a Eden-like utopia (which would be too syrupy), but just some place with a chance at a better future. Clean water, fresh air, etc.
If a postapocalyptic Earth is kind of depressing, you may be able to recast this story as a kind of space opera set on a single planet or, if you’d like a broader scope, it could be a bunch of nomads searching through the universe for a suitable home.
Yeah, the more cheerful nature is what is was going for for Moses (now Aaron – good suggestion!). He believes that humanity will always survive, and can always find someplace else to live no matter how grim it seems. That is the whole point of his journey, in finding somewhere else to live. In fact that ending was what I was going to go for.
Aaron was intended to be not like the traditional Gandalf-type mentor, by the way. Unlike most he doesn’t teach Joshua his powers himself, just the principles of focus and control that they require, mainly because he doesn’t have any powers – he is just extremely physically fit, and skilled with many varieties of weapon. He also regards it as his quest alone, with Joshua being just a hanger-on and sometimes an annoyance. Despite this, he remains optimistic, despite Joshua’s many doubts of what he has seen of the world that things can get better and Joshua’s belief that he and Aaron alone cannot help the world.
Also, more about the Lazarus Hunters. Along the way Joshua and Aaron have an encounter with Captain Ryder, a Lazarus Hunter who found out the ultimate plan for improvement of the Earth (they basically rule as government in the wasteland, keeping the nomadic tribes under control) – they are going to build a space station containing 20,000 of the best examples of humanity and take it away to build a new home on other planets, and use a tractor beam to bring several enormous asteroids into the planet, destroying it, because they feel nothing more can be done on Earth. Some are simply well-intentioned extremists trying to improve the world, but some are complete monsters like the one who came up with the plan.
Well Im writing a novel that has a Kingdom Hearts theme where other worlds (stories) come into one big plot. There are two protectors of all of these worlds called Mithro and Ceasar.
So do you think Mithro and Ceasar are good names for this type of characters?
They sound good to me.
Mithro looks a bit strange, but I like the sound. I’m not as fond of Ceasar. For one, it’s spelled very unusually. It might stick out less if it were spelled Caesar or Cesar, but those names are both a bit awkward. What are the character’s main traits?
Well Mithro is a very kind and caring person, especially when his family/race gets killed by his brother. So he is very sensitive when they ask him anything related to his past, but opens up later on.
Ceasar or Caesar is also very kind and will do anything to protect the ones he loves. Hes a person who will never break a promise to someone.
Does Caesar have any major flaws?
Yes, his one flaw is when he doesnt use his dark powers. If Caesar doesnt use his dark powers his personality changes and the dark energy consumes him, changing him completely.
Just wondering if you could help me with naming my character. He needs a superhero “first” name.
He is a 14-16 year old kid and ‘defends’ his city from other people like him(unsure of origin story and how they all got their powers). His powers are similar to that of the Green Lantern’s(although his powers do not originate from a lantern like object) where he can project blue beams of energy from his hands, that he can manipulate in different ways and use to construct objects or just fire energy beams/blasts.
I’ve decided that his future self(who he meets several times) has the nickname of the Blue Mystic, but the name doesn’t have a ring to it which is why I am keeping it just as a nickname. If you need to know what the costume looks like and what the character’s traits are to get a ‘feel’ for the character then just let me know.
I wanted the story line to be like Static Shock’s but not a total ripoff so if you have any ideas on that I would appreciate it. Also even though I would like it to have a Static Shock feel I want to target a slightly older audience and some of my story lines may have a dark edge to it while still subtly introducing the issues of racism, gun control, homo-sexuality etc.
Oh, I didn’t see this at first but now that I look back at what others wrote I see that I am having problems similar to Armond when dealing with how the citizens of my city came to have these powers/abilities.
And this story idea has nothing to do with the previous one I asked about here.
Um, first you’ll have to come up with a stem for your powers, Blue Mystic, sounds distinctly magical. Is that what you want. Alternatively, you could work with a technological base, gloves that redirect natural energy into blue constructs.
I was looking for the powers to be his and not any technological equipment. Like I said I have not really figured out the origin of his powers. I chose the nickname Blue Mystic for his future self because nobody could explain where his powers came from, and until I figure that out myself that’s all I’ve really got. But I’m not sure I want to go with a supernatural angle mainly because there are many people in the city that are ‘affected’ by whatever changes them. The only way I can think incorporating magic into it is by saying that an archaeologist dug up or uncovered some kind of ancient, mystical rune or something. But that seems kind of weak to me.
I agree that a magical origin probably would not work really well for this story. If you want to take this story in a more serious direction (racism/gun-control/homosexuality), a magical origin is probably too far removed from reality.
If the hero is nonmagical, I would recommend changing the name from Blue Mystic because I feel that it’s a red herring to your readers. It is also kind of similar to Green Lantern, which might be problematic because BM’s powers are similar to GL’s (energy blasts and constructs).
For a new name, I’d recommend either picking an origin story and making the name based on that (like Captain Atom or Spiderman) or picking a name based on the impression you want to give of the hero (Wolverine, Mystique, Devil Dog, etc). Either way, if you use an adjective I’d recommend going with something a bit more descriptive than a color. If you were going for an origin-based name, I think Pulse or Flare would probably work well. If you wanted something based on his characteristics, I could probably suggest something. (What sort of traits would you like to emphasize?)
I figure your story kind of needs a mass origin story that can explain lots of random people developing powers. A mass chemical disaster a la Static Shock should work well.
…Does the character have time-travel abilities?
Ok, yeah. I see where your coming from with the whole Blue Mystic, Green Lantern thing.
I thought about the whole Static Shock origin thing but I thought it just might be too much because, to start off with, my character is a sophomore/junior in high school and his partner is a technopath and someone that fights with machines. So I didn’t want it to be like a whole Static and Gear thing. I just felt like it might be too similar.
No, he doesn’t have time-travel abilities. The extent of his power thus far is energy blasts, constructs, and levitation(using whatever his source of energy is). Later he can create force fields too.
Ahh, hmm. I’d recommend differentiating his partner more from Static Shock’s Gear. What would you think about making him more of an agility hero like Spiderman or Captain America or a strength-based hero like Superman or the Hulk? I think those will complement your protagonist in a slightly more fresh way.
Ok I’ll think about that. Thanks.
Perhaps I’m being annoying, but I can’t help but to correct one matter on the article:
It’s Huitzilopochtli (whit-zi-lo-poch-tli, to the best of my knowledge). I’m of Mexican descent, so it jarred me a little that is was misspelled… sorry about that.
Ah, good call. Thanks.
I’m working on a superhero story, either a comic book or a novel (it could go either way at this point) and there is a character who needs naming.
She is modelled on Superman in terms of powers. Super-strength, flight, speed and durability. These come from her main power which is energy absorbtion. She can take everything thrown at her, even kinetic energy, and convert it into the powers mentioned above. The proverbial immovable object, in other words.
She’s obviously self-confident, given the nature of her powers. She’s also one of the most powerful superhumans on the planet. I’m looking for a name that’s suitably epic. She doesn’t operate on a city level. She saves the world from alien invasions and vengeful gods and things, so I don’t fancy a justice-themed name.
This character needs a super-name! I’ve been thinking about using some variation of the world “Wall”, but I haven’t been able to come up with anything good. Can anyone help me?
Hmm, that’s a pretty super-character. I’m thinking
The Goddess
Godforce
Nova Star
I’m not good at names that aren’t for my own characters, but hopefully this helps.
What’s the tone of your novel Stefan? (By the way, I think Stefan The Exploding Man is hilarious).
What about the name Venus? It’s feminine and fits the planetary theme you were going for.
Hope it helps dude.
Variations on Wall – Barrier, Blockade. RB’s suggestions are good, but I don’t like Nova Star. What about just Nova or Supernova?
Alpha is another one that springs to mind.
Alternatively, you might want to check out the names of some old Gods and use those – Greek/Roman, Egyptian, Norse, etc.
If you’re fond of mythological names, you could also try Minerva (the Roman god of wisdom and strategy/tactics) or Nike (the Greek god of martial victory). Aside from that, if you were trying to make your own name for this character, I’d recommend using a prefix like Pro, El, Mar, Gl, Or, Oph, etc. Those have an exotic and heroic sound.
As for the comic book vs. novel… Logistically speaking, the main difference is time versus money. A comic book script can be finished within a few months. A novel realistically will take at least a year to write, probably two. (Also, my impression is that it’s easier to eke out a living as a comic book writer than a novelist).
However, comic books are considerably more expensive to prepare. The typical writer has to hire a freelance artist for several hundred dollars. Only a few publishers will consider scripts that don’t have an artist on-board.
I really like Godforce. Thanks, RB! I don’t really want to go with mythological names because those are already present in a more literal sense. Horus the Egyptian sun god is on the same team.
I want to keep the tone light-hearted and I like to throw action sequences in here and there, which is partly why I’m thinking about making it a comic. I’m currently working on drafts of the first couple of chapters. After that I’ll rewrite them in comic book script form, with a few changes to suit the medium, and then I’ll compare them.
Over all, I am an absolute fan of your site. I’ve never learned so much useful info in one sitting. Hopefully I will be able to apply it all to my novel.
I am having a slight problem with the names of the main characters of my book.
They are twins Aari and Aaia. Very similar names, no? Each has a completely different personality and could never be confused for the other. But I worry that my readers will have difficulty getting to know them during the first few pages because of the similarity.
I’d hate to lose the names because they do mean a lot. To me personally and to the context of the storyline and the character’s history. Their mother, Suzanna, was a recovering junkie when she gave birth to the twins. Kind of explains her crazy naming skills. Furthermore, the twins father (Aaron) had died only days prior. Aari was named for him. Aaia was a surprise and named for her sister.
Aside from Aari’s love interest, August, they are the only ‘A’ names in the book.
Just curious as to what you think.
I suspect that readers will have trouble keeping the names apart. Would you like any of the following instead?
–Aya (same sound, just spelled slightly differently)
–Maya
–Fay
–Faya
–Gaia
–Leia
–Mariah
PS: I’m glad to hear that our website has helped you.
I like your suggestions.
However, I would like to keep in mind that the two of them are twins. Their names shoud be similar. The two or them are very close. Maybe not in personality. But in one portion of my text, Aaia does say “Aaia is Aari. I would not exist without her. Without my sister, my life would cease to function. To lose Sebastian would be like losing my arms and legs. But to lose Aari? It would be to lose my very soul.”
I was slightly intrigued by the last name in your list though. Aari, in my novel, is artistically inclined, both musically and otherwise. What do you think of Mariah, but without the ‘m’ and ‘h’- So Aria. just a simple rearranging of the letters in her existing name but also a name that has meaning. (Aria of course being a musical term.)
So my twins would then be Aria and Aaia. Is that still too similar?
Obviously, I’m very worried about the subject. I love these girls so much that it’s hard to consider the possibilty of them failing just because I screwed up on their name choice.
Thanks for the continued advice.
Ack… still too similar. I know.
How does Chloe and Claire sound?
Is Chloe going to be able to be as tough as my character needs to be? The character of Aari is strong outgoing and independent. She makes hard choices and has seen enough hardtimes to make a wisened hardass out of her. She’s cynical and sarcastic. Will Chloe work for her?
On the otherside, her twin is soft and often silent. She’s tortured by a secret that she’s afraid to let even her sister in on. Aaia says exactly eight sentences in the entire book. Five of those are in one sitting where she is “foretelling” her brother’s future. Is Claire a good fit for my silent twin? It will have to stand up to some hard things and she will eventually learn to speak up.
Just as important, do the names sound like a good fit for twins?
Love to hear your imput. Anyones.
I think Chloe and Claire are a better pair. That said, they do look uncomfortably similar, but hopefully not so much that it upsets a publisher’s assistant.
If the silent twin hardly ever talks, will she be a presence in her scenes?
They are still pretty similar. But they are twins… How else could I name them but similar? It seems counterproductive to do otherwise. I want to re-establish the fact that these two girls are more alike than unalike.
Claire, the silent twin, doesn’t speak for a reason. But that doesn’t mean she’s comatose. She’s active, she participates. She just doesn’t speak. When she does it’s only because to not do so would create difficulties.
She is remarkably passive, but only to make up for the situation she put her family into by using her voice. She’s a seer. Like her siblings, she is among the Gifted. But unlike her siblings, she isn’t all that thrilled about her Gift. She feels it’s cheating. Like playing Clue with the rest of the group when you’ve already seen the cards in the little envelope.
When she first stopped speaking, it was in fear of changing the future too much. Now it’s more of habit than anything else. She still interacts with her scene-mates. Just in a non-verbal way.
I have a pair of twins in my story, but their names aren’t similar; at least not at first glance. They’re called Isaac and Tristram. I realised a few days ago that Isaac means “laughter” and Tristram means “sad”, but it wasn’t intentional. I’m too attached to the names to change them now, even though it seems like one heck of a coincidence, seeing as they were raised apart and knew nothing about eachother for the first 16 years of their lives.
I know two sets of identical twins, and one set has similar names while the other doesn’t. It varies. You could still establish how alike they are by having them do similar actions. For example:
“Chloe and Claire folded their arms, staring Sebastian down with pouts on their faces.”
My character Lonnie only has one line in the whole book, but she doesn’t speak because she hates opening up to people. Even though her bio parents gave her up for adoption when she was six, she’s still afraid hat they’ll get her back somehow, and she doesn’t want to lose any important relationships. Lonnie does open up and talk more often later on. Since both your character and mine are mostly silent, I imagine that you would be describing her actions more than those of the other characters, like I do with Lonnie.
That would be all well and good. I’m glad to meet someone else who has twins.
But my twins are identical. They’ve not spent more than an hour apart their whole life I’m thinking. If they were any more alike, I would give them contrasting names like yours. But because they act SO differently I wanted to use that to reinforce that they are twins.
Sebastian kind of has locked in Claire at around eight. The age she was when she stopped speaking. He doesn’t really treat her like an adult who makes her own choices. In reality, she’s not. She doesn’t make her own choices because she recognizes her own choices to be dangerous. After all every choice she’s willing made up until this point has hurt rather than helped her family.
Chloe on the other hand is rude, course and outspoken. She fights with Sebastian all the time. There isn’t much that can make Chloe shut up at all. In return, Sebastian almost treats Chloe like she’s older than him sometimes.
My twins are so different that I’m trying to remind my readers that they are twins. At least Chloe and Claire are a little different. My original names were worse. Aari and Aaia? One letter difference. Praise be to Superhero Nation for making me see wisdom!
Yes! That’s exactly what I do. I describe her actions a lot more than the other characters. When she and another character are having a “conversation” I make sure to give breaks where her part would have come in and include what she’s doing or thinking at the time. Like I said, she’s not catatonic. She provides feedback in the convo, just not verbal feedback.
Hmm . . . what about themed names for the twins? You could use names that (obviously) have similar meanings, but sounds very different.
I’d agree with that, but I’m reminded of #3 of the text above:
Naming a character for reasons your readers can’t appreciate is ineffective. I’ve seen writing guides (plural) suggest that you name characters based on the literal meaning of the names. For example, “Sophia means wisdom in Greek, so name a wise character Sophia!” That advice is awful. Your readers have no clue that Luke means high-born in some language they’ve never heard of. There are drastically better ways to show that Luke is noble, like giving him a corny last name (Skywalker, anyone?)
Ah, I didn’t quite mean that. I was thinking of something more like Holly and Ivy or Dawn and Aurora – names that have a common theme, not neccesarily reflecting the characters, just the fact they’re twins. I think readers will recognise that the characters were named on a theme because of this.
Oh, lqtm. I thought you were going somewhere else with that.
Well then, what are your thoughts on this?
My twins have time telling abilities. The youngest can see the future until the end of time and the elder can see the past until the beginning of time. In addition they have secondary powers. The youngest can read/control other people’s minds, while the elder can read/control other people’s emotions.
Any thoughts on possible names.
(I’ve found that once I got over losing their original names, I’m now open to switching them around where ever. Strange, huh?)
Kynnaston: I think the example Hollie gave was quite nice actually. Dawn and Aurora.
You’re going to hate me for this.
Becca for B.C. and Aushaud for A.D.
I haven’t read the above comments yet, so I don’t even know if they’re girls.
You were right, Ragged Boy. I do.
Both are girls.
Tom: which for which? Also, I have a tiny objection to that. Neither sounds tough enough to be the older girl. She’s a hardass.
Hmm . . . I think Dawn has a slightly harsher tone because of the ‘D’.
That said, those were just an example. You could use the names of famous actresses, ancient goddesses, etc.
Even with the ‘D,’ it’s still very feminine.
Anyone know anything about time telling goddesses and such?
That suggestion has some great potential…
Instead of Dawn, I’d recommend something like Deidre or Deedee.
Ananke
Ashima
Carmenta
Dalia
Kali
Lauma
Moirae
Porrima
Did a bit of research. Those are all goddesses that have something to do with time. I’ve already taken out all of the absolutely unacceptable names.
What do you think of Dalia and Kali?
I was just joking with Aushaud, that’s my name. Awesome name, isn’t it?
oh.
Sweet.
Sure is.
I was just joking about hating you though. You seem a decent fellow.
Isaac and Tristram are identical too, but they’re totally different. Isaac is more polite, tries to be as normal as possible and constantly strives to repay his foster parents for taking him in as a baby. Tristram is always picking fights with him, offers advice that he knows will backfire, loves being abnormal, and spends much of his time taunting the US government by spamming the President with his hacking skills. He’s not a total jerk though, he’s completely in love with his girlfriend and has a tightly knit group of friends.
The names Isaac and Tristram set them apart from each other, but due to their meanings, I’ve unintentionally shown that they are linked. Oh well. I doubt anyone will pay that much attention. Haha. I didn’t even choose Isaac because of the meaning. I just liked it, ditto with Tristram. It’s pretty weird that the names mean opposite things, and I just happened to give them to twins.
I don’t think I would speak much either if I were Claire. If my decisions hindered instead of assisting, I’d probably just shut up. But unfortunately for my family, I never cease to talk! Haha.
I quite like the name Aaia. It’s pretty. However, Chloe and Claire work a lot better, and will help to avoid any potential mix ups. (“Huh?! I thought it was Aari who didn’t talk!”)
I find myself growing more and more fond of Claire and Chloe as the days pass. Or maybe it’s just because while I am debating major changes to my book, I am putting off writing until it’s all decided.
I’m slightly anxious to get it done. I came up with the idea in June of last year and began seriously writing in September. I have four chapters left to write. After that it’s just a butt load of editing to do…
Even with all of the work ahead of me, I’m still crazy excited. I’ve never written anything over twelve pages typed before. From that to 400? I’m amazed everyday. Especially when I look at my printed manuscript… If any of you are writing a novel and you have pages already, I strongly recommend doing this. It inspired me to write faster than anything else did. I printed it out in sections. The first eight chapters and the then the next eight after I got them finished. I’m told that my first eight were a little slow (which is cool because I already had plans to majorly revise them anyway). Apparently the next eight I “really let go” and “wrote like a professional”.
Oops. Sorry. None of that really had anything to do with names…
You’ve found it. My one fatal flaw.
I never shut up.
I started seriously working on my book on August the 4th 2008.
I don’t have an exact date. I do remember that I was at work, screwing around as usual, and wrote the most amazing prologue. It was great. My opening lines were hugely compelling.
And then my boss decided that all of our computers needed to be wiped. And stupid me, I forgot to save the document to my email. So it was lost forever…
I tried to replicate it, but it sucks. So I’m going to wait until I’ve finished the book (In about another 80 pages) And then I’ll write it again.
Don’t you love that? When the best work you’ve ever done is deleted because of your own stupidity?
Any ideas on how to choose a name for side characters?
There is a random name generator on Seventh Sanctum:
http://seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickname
It will throw some random combinations together for you.
Ask me for names, Kynna. I’m really good with names. ;D
If you’re looking for normal names rather than aliases, try:
http://www.behindthename.com/ (first names)
http://surnames.behindthename.com/ (surnames)
I find these really helpful. I don’t pay much attention to the meaning of names usually, but it’s useful if you’re trying to find a name of a certain ethncity. Alternatively, they have lists of most popular names.
I lost 15,000 words because of a drunken roommate. That was eight days before I had a grant proposal due. Ick. Fortunately, I had saved a rough draft on my home computer two months before that. I still ended up losing hundreds of hours of work, but I got the grant.
Also, if you work as a novelist, it won’t be long before the words on your computer are worth more than the computer itself. That’s when you should start thinking about investing in some flash-drives.
If my professor is correct that I can get between twenty and twenty-five thousand dollars for my nonfiction manuscript, then I’d say that the files on my computer are probably worth at least a hundred times what the computer itself is worth.
Oooh, that’s awful. The thought of losing all my work is painful! I don’t just have partially-written stories on here, I have some plot ideas worked out to. Ack. I’ll have nightmares for weeks. Thanks, B. Mac!
Oh I definitely learned my lesson. Now everything is saved to three flashdrives, my laptop, home PC, work PC, and my email account. lol. I’m overly cautious now. Thankfully, I haven’t lost a single one of my other 18 chapters.
That happened to me about halfway through Showtime. My little brother got a hold of the keyboard and deleted like 1000 words, roughly a fifth of my script.
I was working on a much earlier story a couple of years ago and I lost almost everything when my hard drive crashed. I got so frustrated that I abandoned the project completely. I still don’t use backups, even though I should.
I’ve put all my work onto one USB, and I’m going to email a copy to myself right now. If I lost it all, I would be so angry that I’d probably smash the computer.
I’ve decided to rename Olivia, as her name is very close to the name of a classmate I have. She will be known as Livian from now on. She won’t be written in for ages, but my mind always wanders to details of my later plans.
Okay, so I’ve settled on Chloe and Claire for the time being. If anything else comes up I might consider changing them again.
Now I have a new dilemma. My “villain’s” name is Kiera. Is that too close to Chloe and Claire?
I try to avoid Kiera in general, good guy or bad, similar or no. That, along with any name that can be shortened to ‘Cat’, is so vastly overused in fanfiction that I can’t take a ‘Kiera’ seriously.
That might just be me, though. Anyone else, feel free to argue.
I think there may be too make “ka” sounds. Worst case scenario, a not-so-bright reader confuses the characters. I’d recommend changing Kiera.
I had an archnemesis in real life named Kiera. Originally Kiera was Kieran and he was a firestarter. He had a sister called Tanaka. I loved Tanaka’s character, so when the first cuts came, I gave Keiran’s power and name to her and cut Kieran.
I love/hate Kiera. She appears to be the villain during the entire story, but really she’s just a victim of circumstance. The Sullivan’s just happen to catch her at the most inopportune {spelling is off, i know…} moments.
Anyone have any ideas?
If she’s just a victim, will she be compelling enough to drive the story as the villain?
shh… she’s not the real villain
She appears to be, and yes, she is horrible. When we first meet her, she has just killed her own father. She gets in kind of a stand-off with the Siblings. She is the first one of their own kind that they’ve ever met and no doubt about it, she is a very Dark person.
She just isn’t after them like they think she is. She’s just trying to live her own life, as bad as it maybe.
The real villain comes from a little closer to home.
What does everyone think of the name Nerezza? (did I spell that right, Marissa?)
Nerezza is how it was spelled, you’re correct.
I, personally, love it. But that’s probably because it’s off my list of names, so I might be biased. Haha!
Yeah I think you might be a little biased.
Were there other ideas? My yahoo account was being ridiculous, I finally just gave up on it. With the tempermental internet connection, it gets old really fast.
Secondary comment:
I have another character called Nonah. She’s an old woman and is never in any scenes with the possible “Nerezza”. Is that going to be cool?
I’m really horrible with names. I pity my future spawn. lol
Also, Marissa: I posted my new version of Ch. 1 in my review forum if you are interested…
I’m interested. Gonna read it as soon as I get things done. =D
The only others that came to mind were Imogen and… Well, no, the other one starts with a C, so nevermind.
nah, Imogen definitely isn’t evil enough.
This chick is the epitome of evil for 14 very real chapters for these guys. When I think of Imogen, I think of a children’s book.
Really? Imogen is a name I’d not give to someone who isn’t dark. =/
Wait. What?
I don’t know, I just read a lot of books as a child where the protagonist was a little girl named Imogen.
Really? Wow, I’ve never seen that. It’s all good, though.
Before this week, I don’t think I had ever seen the word “Imogen.” My initial impression is that it does not look very friendly. “Im” has a kind of harsh, unpleasant sound (sort of like imp or Ingrid).
Really? I loved the Imogen books as a child.
Second only to the Amelia Bedelia books and Junie B. Jones…
Imogen has a blue feel to me, though, and you said (to me, at least, not sure if you said it here) that she’s a fire-wielder. So either way, I’m not sure if it fits.
I still love Nerezza. That’s just me. ;D
I still love Nerezza too.
I’m just trying to see if there are any other ideas.
Trying to keep an open mind…
(Although someone once told me that if I kept that up, my brains would fall out.)
(… crap. I think we’ve just discovered my reason for being like this.)
Imogen was the name of the daughter of the king in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline. But the name makes me think of the British singer Imogen Heap.
Eh, not sure if this is all that helpful for coming up with names…
But there is this website I’ve been using to throw names around– to help me think. I’d like to share:
http://www.behindthename.com/
(Of note– On the first box in the search area, you can switch it from “names” to “meanings,” which can help you look for names with meanings like brave or murder).
Just a thought.
Imoen (no G) is one of the protagonists in Baldur’s Gate.
I need help with Ra. Would Raj do for a rename? What else would you suggest?
[...] Mac of Superhero Nation wrote a guide on how to name characters (superhero or otherwise). I must confess that I follow little of his advice, though it’s [...]
i have problems finding names for my characters would you have any suggestion of what to do.
Try this:
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickname
It makes random names based of US census data.
“I’ve seen writing guides (plural) suggest that you name characters based on the literal meaning of the names.”
My sister told me that when I was 8. At the time, it sounded so cool and ingenious. A year or so later, I found myself resorting to foreign gibberish names because they had the right meaning. And I realized that I’d be better off just naming my character “Hopeful” if Gurgahurgaz’qutell was the only name with the same meaning.
The character in question is currently named Pauline, by the way.
I like Pauline for a hopeful character. It has a pleasant feel and isn’t nearly as cheesy as something like Hope.
I enjoy collecting/making a list of foreign names with great meanings though (and the fact they sound so cool). I try to pick ones with meaning and ’sound’ that fit current or future characters.
It’s quite fun. And I just find foreign names so much more cool than “Sarah” or “Heather.” Same goes for the guys “Ronin-samurai without a master” is so much better to me than naming my character “Alex” or “Christopher.” Though if it is set in modern day than I do try to pick nice-sounding ‘normal’ names.
Sup, I have a comic (one that is a comedy and makes fun of almost everything) named ” Brother, Brother!”
My characters are basicly this:
Johnathan “Johnny” Thero: A hyperactive, idiot fox-boy with powers to break the fourth wall constantly, superspeed, turn into a fox, and make random objects appear.
Alekis “Leki” Thero: A level-headed, sedate, girl with bird wings. She is my only character to have rationality and see the strangeness of things. Her power is to fly (obviously). She is Johnny’s sister
Dax Harlan: A supergenius with a kind of evil-ish side. He is dragged into the comic, and hates Johnny (but is in love with Leki). His power is to fly, create forcefields, all those other telekinetic things….
Jessie Keiki: The Blonde cat-girl. She is insane, obsessed with Johnny, stupid, but has a good moral and tries not to make a big deal of things (besides Johnny).
All these people are highschoolers and live in the fictional city of Comic City, Idaho. There lives are controled by the evil super-powered dictator, Kelli.
Hello, James. If you’re thinking about publishing professionally, I think that the talking animals will be a major turnoff to publishers and readers. (Please see #6 here). Do you have a compelling reason why these characters have to be talking animals rather than humans? If not, publishers and readers might get the impression that the book is fetish material of a most squickish variety.
hmm, that does give me something to think about, but I was thinking more along the lines of the anime hanyou; animal ears and a tail on a normal human…. plus it is a comedy making fun of things such as talking animals…
I probably should reconsider the animal parts…
but what do you think about the names? I really have trouble with the naming part…
Johnny Thero… this name doesn’t sound very idiotic or hyperactive. I’d recommend something like Chuck, Skip, Max or Lex.
Alekis Thero… This is pretty effective, but I’d recommend spelling this Alexis instead.
Dax Harlan… I wouldn’t recommend giving this character a last name. Also, I think “Dax” feels too fictional. I don’t think it fits in too well here. Also, what does “He is dragged into the comic” mean?
Jessie Keiki… The last name probably looks too much like Kelli. To keep the book clearer, I’d recommend changing Jessie to something more recognizably feminine.
Kelli… I’m not really feeling this name for a dictator. Maybe something a little bit more harsher and sinister?
“I was thinking more along the lines of the anime hanyou; animal ears and a tail on a normal human…” Hmm… I don’t think it was too creepy in Inuyasha, for example. The wolf ears and claws show us something about the character (he’s as much a demon as a human, his fighting style is brutal and messy, etc). I don’t feel like animal parts show that much about each character if everyone has them.
This is good advice. I’ve always over thought names; I hate normal names like Sarah and John but I don’t want to be too unique.
Hahah, my names (except for those of my current team of main characters, oddly enough) are always ‘too unique’. I really wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t write about “Sarah” and “John”.
Same here. I crave the outrageous.
i am currently looking for a name for a superhero (hero name), he is a psychic from an alternate dimension sent here accidentally while working on a new energy source.
going to be a comic silver age world. and he is working as a sponsor (teacher) of a superhero school
He is fairly social and is always reading
Ragged Boy, you and I share tastes. Hence the ‘Masquerade’ fiasco. ;D
I try to find names that are unique and easy to spell.
I have a character named Clancy Marion Lovelady. My sister heard the name and assumed he was a girl. Mission accomplished.Slightly more seriously, I’m having trouble giving my antagonist a surname. His first name is Vincent.
…I wasn’t done yet. >.< I didn’t mean to hit “Submit Comment” yet.
You could try something based on a nationality. I like Victor Von Doom from Fantastic Four. I can even look past how cheesy that name is.
The story I’m developing involves a lot of travel through alternate universes, or unknown worlds. I don’t want my characters to all have typical ethnocentric names, or any names that just appear to be ‘cool’(Sable, Raven, Peachblossom…erk…).
I’ve named a shaman character Xo, from the Xduxi tribe. I’m not necessarily satisfied with his name, so I’m open to suggestions. Can anyone help give suggestions of tribal-like names? By the way, just to remind you again, the characters all come from different universes. First Nation names alluding to nature, such as Great Wolf or Glass Lake may not help define the character so well. A few notes about him to help set the mood for his character:
-Xduxi tribe resides in a grassland geographical area. Rainfall occurs irregularly, game is sometimes not enough to feed tribe.
-Xo has panosociobiological linguistics, the ability to communicate with any natural organism from bacterial strains to ancient trees. He is so in-tuned with nature that he is aware of these voices. Granted to him on a ‘vision quest’.
How… how do you pronounce Xdixi? That’s a big issue for people reading books. You might want to go for something that’s more clear on how to pronounce.
Hello, My main problem is that I have a plot with characters, but I’m unable to name them… It is set in Samurai-era Japan, and I want names that sound Japanese, but are not stereotypical…
Plotline: My main character is a married 20-something samurai. He is quick-thinking, loving, and funny; but is also very power-hungry. so much as he goes in search of a power source (like a crystal, diamond, or whatever) so he can be invincible. It works for a while, but he begins to lose control when using it. he accidently kills his wife and most of his clan. The people who are left condem him to commit seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowlment). He -of course- goes through with it, but is foiled when a old medicine-man somehow saves his life. The rest is about him ‘dealing with it’
Any Ideas? I need names for the main samurai, his wife, his best friend, the old man, and (later) his son.
Got a game made by Nintendo?
1. Beat the game.
2. Look at the credits screen.
3. Pick a random name.
4. Find out which gender it belongs to.
5. Use that name.
6. ???
7. Profit.
haha…. thanks!
I’ve noticed that Japanese syllables tend to end in a vowel, and names we might consider feminine are actually masculine and vice-versa. I, U and O are pretty common, so you could get things like Himuro, Eijiro, Mayimo, Kai – just stuff off the top of my head.
Failing a nintendo game, try a Japanese film credits (which you could probably find on Wikipedia), a Japanese novel or maybe a baby-naming site, though those aren’t always accurate. If your setting is just based off Japan, you could probably get away with making names up like I did.
hmm, thank you. I will try all these.
Hey there, everybody. ^_^ I was hoping to get some insight on a few name changes?
These are characters for a fantasy-adventure story, with a target audience of maybe 14 and younger. The heroes are probably all 13 years old.
Originally, I was using this name set… [Candy, Roy, Kimberly, Patrick, and Nick/a.k.a. "Cynical Death"]
Lol, yeah, that last kid is over-the-top emo. >_>
***
Candy may be too cutesy for the outgoing captain of the girls’ soccer team, so I thought maybe “Cassie” instead?
***
I think I like Roy’s name. He’s the arrogant captain of the boys’ soccer team.
***
I may wanna keep Death’s name, too. xD But do you think it’s TOO distracting for a comedically emo character to name himself that?
***
I’m having more trouble with Patrick and Kimberly.
I’m thinking of making Patrick into an “Edward”…? He’s overweight (but becomes quite heroic over the course of the story using his acting talents), but he needs a name that Roy can easily make fun of until the boys reconcile… Like… “Ed-Lardo” or something terrible like that. ^_^;; (Sorry…)
***
And for Kimberly, she’s supposed to be the intellectual member of the group, and she’s Candy/Cassie’s best friend (and Roy’s cousin).
I automatically wanted to call her “Phoebe”.
But is that too cliche for an intellectual character?
Would it not work because Candy/Cassie has that same “ie” sound at the end?
I’m also considering these names…
Nadine, Lydia, Reesa, Tasha, Emma, and Nina.
***
Any ideas…? ^_^;;
Thank you so much!
When I see Phoebe, I think of Friends. Not any sort of intelligence at all.
Maybe you could try calling Cassie, “Cass”? Most of the time, at least. I do like Cassie better than Candy, though.
Thank you for the input, Marissa. ^_^
I haven’t actually seen Friends – I didn’t know there was a Phoebe in there. xD
The Phoebe’s I can think of at the moment are the greek goddess of the moon, Helga’s nerdy/best friend/sidekick girl from the cartoon “Hey Arnold”, and there’s one in Charmed…
As for Cassie, it may be tough to give her a single-syllable nickname to go by most of the time, because her rival/love interest’s name is Roy, which is ALSO single-syllable.
It seems like I should vary the lengths of the names. ^_^
Cassie (2), Roy (1), Phoebe (2), Cynical Death (4, but he usually only goes by “Death”), and Edward (2).
Thank you very much for letting me know what you think so far. ^_^
Phoebe in Friends is like a flaky nature-chick with really warped reality, in a normal way.
This is an example, not sure if it was in the show or not, but like…
A Dude: Pheebs, that squirrel just stole your lollipop!
Phoebe: And it didn’t even say thank you. =/
And she says that in all seriousness. But despite that, she’s got her own air of wisdom. Kinda.
Hey, I just thought of some supervillain names for Cain. (He used to be called Cable, but I changed it)
What do you guys think of Permafrost, Ico or Snowblind?
Thanks!
I think Permafrost or Snowblind sound the best. ^_^
Ico doesn’t strike me as a villainous name.
I like those names , what about Artic? I wouldn’t go with glacier though if I were because that’s sort of a refrence to the titanic and we all know what happened there……
Glacier is a reference to the Titanic? How? The Titanic was hit by an iceberg, glaciers are large bodies of mass that either flow through valleys or cover large areas of land, they don’t float on water.
Though glaciers have other negative connotations, namely being REALLY slow. There’s a reason the trope is called ‘Mighty Glacier’.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MightyGlacier
As for your suggestions, I don’t like Permafrost or Ico, but I do like Snowblind, even though you can probably think of better ones than that. What I did to think of Frostburn’s name was list every word I could think of that I could assosciate with ‘fire’ and ‘ice’. I then tried them in loads of combinations. I’d recommend you do that, think of as many words as you can.
I need a name for three characters:
Sam Berrel – a Morphing character who can change gender, substance, and appearance
Kate Lunarch – a chracter who has the ability of Piper’s song, the ability to use music to make objects/creatures move, possibly called “the Pied Piper
Bocaj Lerrab – a elemental and temporal manipulator, possibly Titan (is that Greek?)
Oh God you’ve really done it now. You asked a question about Greek mythology.
According to Greek Mythology, the Titans were a race of primordial deities who existed BEFORE the Greek ods like Zeus, Hades etc. In fact, they were the ancestors of the Greek gods. The first Titan, Gaia, was the first being in the universe and she created the Earth, she also created her husband, and together they gave birth to all the Titans, who eventually gave birth to some of the Greek gods (who gave birth to more gods).
The Titans ruled the Earth with an iron fist, with the leader, Kronos, in charge, until his son Zeus banded together with his siblings and other allies to overthrow him. They succeeded, and threw him, along with most of the Titans, into the deepest part of the underworld called Tartarus. This war was called the Titanomacy.
And that’s the abridged version of the story!
That’s what I thought, I just couldn’t remember whether the titans were the gods’ parents. Thanks.
Kronos is the god of time, right?
Okay, update:
Time and Elemental Modifier: Chronos
Pied Piper Ability: Pied Piper, but want better name
Morphing: Metaia
How do these sound?
How about just Piper. I don’t really care for the Pied part, it sounds cheesy.
Hey, I have some more potential supervillain names for Cain:
Ico
Permafrost
Snowblind
Samhain, which is a Celtic winter festival
Flashfreeze
Frigus, Latin for “cold”
Absolute Zero
Which do you guys like best? Thanks!
Cool names, but ddoesn’t Samhain have a Halloween connotation? Just wondering.
Samhain is the original name for Hallowe’en, or wherever you put that darn apostrophe.
Also, it’s not pronounced sam-hayne. I don’t know how it’s pronounced but that’s not it.
Hmm. For some reason, RW, I like Flashfrost more than Flashfreeze. What do you think?
I’m not sure Samhain would be too effective. I mean, you’d have to know about the Celtic festival before it made sense, right?
I just Googled winter-related words and Samhain popped up. Halloween is celebrated in Australia, but I don’t, so I don’t know much about it. (Other than the obvious, haha)
I found Flashfreeze on a page about frozen food. Haha. It’s the process used to freeze it. Hmm, yeah, I like Flashfrost better, too.
Thanks for the help!
hey guys i need a littel help here im trying to name the villian in my story currently iv got
Solamh witch in hebriew means peace i thought it would be funny since he is a bad guy
any other suggestions? preferibly something irsh
Heya, David!
Can you tell us more about your villain?
His name should be specific to his personality, or powers, motivations, etc.
I don’t recommend naming him “Solamh” just because it means peace in Hebrew, though. ^_^;;
A lot of people would have no idea what the name means, what language it’s in, or why you named your villain that. ^_^;;
I’ve never heard of “Solamh” before.
I don’t even know how to pronounce it. ^_^;;
And I’m not sure what you’d name an “Irish” villain. O_o
Is he actually Irish, or did you just want something Irish sounding?
Often times, an Irish name/last name has a “Mc” in there.
Like McArthur or something. O_O
I have no idea. ^_^;;
But what is your villain like?
hmm gd point well he is a banshee and banshees are irish so ye hes irish dont worry i shall think of something kl
Somewhat lame question: How necessary it is to give characters last names? Most of my plot is episodic.
Can “Ebenezer” be a surname? I did a quick Google of it and found one person who had it as a last name, but I’m still not sure because I haven’t seen it before.
I really like the rhythm of it, and wanted to use it on my protagonist.
Notsohottopic, it isn’t necessary to give your characters last names at all, unless there’s a specific reason why they need one. ^_^
Recently, I’ve dropped almost all of the last names from the characters in my stories. O_o
It’s less confusing when a character has less names to keep track of.
I found out that nobody really needed a last name anyway. xD
And Banana Slug, I dunno about giving your protagonist the last name of “Ebenezer”. O_O
No matter what you do, he or she will immediately be associated with Ebenezer Scrooge. xD
The name is so common to that character that the chances are, I won’t have to tell you what novel/movie Scrooge is even FROM, heehee.
Anything can be a last name, though.
Your last name could be “Ashley”, “John”, or “Timothy” even, though that’d be a little weird…
But if you name him Johnny Ebenezer, people will automatically think of the Christmas tale. ^_^;;
“No matter what you do, he or she will immediately be associated with Ebenezer Scrooge.”
I guess so…such a pity. I love that name. Scrooge is the only thing keeping me from naming my future son Ebenezer.
…Of course, I don’t ever plan to publish…
If you’re only writing the story for yourself, you can write whatever you want to. xD
And I suppose it wouldn’t be too hard to just change the name later if you decide you wanna publish this story.
That’s hilarious about not being able to name your kid Ebenezer! Hahaha! I’m sorry that Scrooge ruined it for you. ^_^
I’m still having some big naming issues. xD
Is it problematic for the hero and heroine of a story to be named “Holly” and “Roy”?
They’re both competing middle school soccer captains. O_O
Their group is named like this so far:
Holly
Roy
Lydia
Edward
Death (lol, the emo kid…)
Please help? xD
I’ve been working on these name changes for a WEEK now, and it’s not settling in very well. ^_^;;
I could really use some more advice on this!
If the other one became Lydia, I like ‘Cassie’ for Holly, like you’d planned.
Hello again, Marissa. I’m actually not in charge of what Cassie/Holly/etc. gets to be named, since she’s my sister’s character.
That’s part of what makes it tough! Finding a good name to agree on.
But I think there are now too many “y” letters in all these names. We’re trying to work out a reasonable name for “Cassie”, but my sis didn’t like that one, and we both know “Candy” wasn’t a good fit.
I guess I’m just having trouble with this because I’ve never really put much thought into the names before. I usually just pick the first name I like and go with it.
How about “Summer”?
Or Lauren, maybe.
Hi. My friend and I just started making a comic book. Things are going pretty well, but we have run into a problem. We can’t seem to come up with a good super name for one of the main characters. His actual name is Jake. His powers are energy based. He can shoot explosive energy blasts and will eventually learn more energy techniques like increasing his durability by absorbing some of the force of blows with his energy and flying by the use of light repulsing energy waves. More on the personality side, he is extremely troubled by his past and doesn’t trust himself and his powers. He distances himself from others. I would really appreciate any help you can give us in naming him. Also, my friend, Metalk9, will send you some more info on the other characters and our ideas on the story so you can check it out and give us any suggestions.
Ok im in the process of writing a super hero novel. My main characters name is Lincoln Gray, but i cant come up with a superhero name. When he is just Lincoln he posseses super human strength and agility. But Lincolns power also causes him to change at random into a red skinned killing monster. Now he’s not massive and muscley like the hulk he is the same basic build but taller than regular people and a lot stronger than he usually is, his skin is also razor sharp to touch and his finger tips grow long and sharp. He is indestructable, except to anything with the same power he posseses.
Thats roughly the character, please help with the name?
oh yeh and gruntchief what about Ardor as a name. its a different way to say energy and it sounds pretty cool
Id like to know what you think about these civilian names for my heroes.
Alex Harper (Grivitic)
Paris Blake (Pyra)
Howard Ross (Thunderbot)
Christian York (Onyx)
Amari Wiles (Ultra Atom)
Justin Andrews (Quickstrike)
Yesenia Torres (Feline)
Roxanne Fritz (Roxy)
Megan Sanches (Hornette)
Hi all, first-time poster, brief lurker. I’m trying to come up with a better name for a female hydrokinetic than Splasher, which Marissa tells me is pansyful. Plus it alliterates with another of my superheroes’ names. I’ve a few ideas here, but would be glad of more.
Streamline
Rainfall
River
Corriente
Aquamaris
I also have a gravitokinetic called G-Force, which Marissa reckons I should change too, but I’d like to keep it. Thoughts?
I never said ‘pansyful’. Well… Not exactly. >_> But yeah, that was the general sentiment.
Oh, and he rejected ‘Cascade’, so that’s out.
“xnihility: Cascade.
me: For Splasher?
xnihility: mhm.
me: Mkay.
xnihility: It’s less… pansy.”
I won’t hold it against you, though. ^^ Cascade’s not bad, really, but it puts me in mind of the mountain range. I wouldn’t say it’s right out.
Well, the rest of the world thinks of falling water.
And I know I called it pansy, I just mean… I didn’t add the weird suffix. Hahah
I’m all for weird suffixes. ^^
You could call her “Rip-tide”, maybe… Riptide? That’s a current of water mixed with sand in the ocean, and it sucks unsuspecting mammals out to sea. Like me. The lifeguard had to come get me, and I was so embarrassed, haha.
Riptide
Whirlpool
Charybdis (was THAT the mythological whirlpool?)
Aqua
Pisces
Tsunami (nicknamed “Nami”?)
Flashflood
Rush
As for the gravity guy, maybe you could call him Zero, Neutral, 7G, Gravix…? I actually don’t mind the name “G-Force”. I can’t think of anything very good, heh.
Thanks for those! I’d say Riptide is a more masculine name…Whirlpool is an appliance brand, Charybdis is perhaps too obscure (’twas the mythical whirlpool, indeed), Aqua too generic, and Rush reminds me of the band, though it’d be good in conjunction with another word, perhaps. The others are rather good and bear further consideration. Thanks for Pisces especially; I’ll have to look into aquatic animals. ^^
I think that right there might be the issue with all of your name selections. You’re trying to make it sound feminine and no political discussion intended, society has made you equate weakness with feminine. I mean, really? Splasher? Rainfall? River? A splash doesn’t threaten anyone, rain doesn’t hurt anyone unless it becomes a flood (see rejected suggestions of; Cascade, Flashflood, Tsunami) If you just want a name that shouts “She’s weak! She’s here, and she’s a she!” Then just name her April Showers.
I think that from what we know of the character (gender, power) then the two best names suggested so far are Cascade (real name of Cassandra, perhaps? That might make it more feminine.)) It suggests suggests power, highly kinetic fight scenes, and establishes the character as a force of nature, not literally, but as something to be reckoned with. I also think Tsunami is a good name, for mostly the same reasons, plus, you could name her Suzanne and randomly link to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3uaXCJcRrE) without proper reasoning.
Flashflood and Tsunami were among the ones I didn’t reject out of hand, but you raise an interesting point. I may indeed have been matching the name to the personality (or perhaps vice versa?), though since I do have other female characters with “harder” sorts of names to go with their powers and personalities, it is by no means a blanket generalization about females being weak. I will consider this further. Thank you for your thoughts.
I apologize for that mistake, I realized it after I posted but I hate double posting so I didn’t correct myself.
Lighting Man … sorry for getting your name wrong. Since this thread is about names, I suppose this is the best place to apologize without it getting deleted for off-topic-ness.
I kinda like Tsunami, myself. And I love the possible nickname for her. But whatever you decide, Ean.
Quick check to make sure none of my hero names are taken:
How To Save The World and The Apocalypse Will Not Be Televised
Sparks
Titan
Gabriel
Kinetic
Aegis
Nightshade
Frostbite
Oracle
Crimson
Empress
Stonehead
Harbinger
Remembrance
Anima (possible new character)
Pyric (possible new character)
Mirage (possible new character)
Darkstar Rising
Darkstar
Hikari
Synth
Masochist
Hummingbird
Shift
Alcatraz
Scapegoat
Pathos
Just wanted to make sure that none of these names are used – some I’m already sure of but added just in case. If you can help…*places plate of peanut butter cookies and chocolate cookies shaped like Darkstar’s head on the floor*
Thank you!
- Wings
*looks at old post*
Yeesh, I’m asking a lot. Apologies.
- Wings
To Wiiiings,
The only ones that sound like names I’ve heard from somewhere are “Titan”, “Crimson”, and “Shift”, but I don’t think it’s problematic to use them. They don’t sound copyrighted or anything. Um, sorry if this isn’t helpful, haha.
I’m not familiar with large numbers of popular superheroes, but I think your names sound pretty solid.
Since we’re in the “name” forum, I wanted to ask if my main characters’ names sound appealing/work well together. But since they don’t have superhero aliases or anything, would I need to briefly describe their personalities so everyone knows who we’re naming…? I’m worried about writing long posts ’cause people might wanna skip over it. *sweatdrop*
Do the names Rem, Corey, Naveed, Kain, and Vanessa sound okay together?
@Wings: Titan and Oracle are members of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard from Marvel, and Darkstar sounds familiar too. I’m pretty sure they’re all pretty minor characters.
@StarE: For what my opinion’s worth, you might want to watch out for names starting with the same letter. My sister and a couple of my cousins’ names all start with E, and sometimes people get us confused. Our names do sound a little more similar to each other than Corey and Kain, though.
Thanks, Ean.
I know I should be careful about names that start with the same letter/sound, but I thought “Corey” and “Kain” would work okay because they’re different letters, different syllables, and pretty different personalities. I don’t think you could get these characters mixed up very easily. I was considering the name “Edge” for Kain, though, but I haven’t settled on his personality yet, so I dunno which name works… He’ll either the “sinister/charming rival” or the “noble battle maniac”, haha.
On the other hand, Corey is the main character’s upbeat, “class clown” cousin who’s trying to reclaim his talents after suffering from a serious head trauma.
Apparently Darkstar was the name of a character on some show on Cartoon Network…but he was a villain of the week or something , I think.
I also had a feeling that I had read the name Oracle somewhere….
*checks google*
Yup! Both Titan and Oracle were characters in on issue of X-Men. Still, considering how much digging I did to find them, I don’t think they’re major.
- Wings
Mirage was a major character in The Incredibles. (I’m not sure if you’ve seen the film, but that was the name of the white-haired woman who helped them escape.)
Oh….
Ah well, he was only a possible character!
- Wings
Wings – Oracle’s a pretty predominant character in DC Comic books. It’s the alias of the original Batgirl (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon) after she was paralyzed by The Joker. She’s primarily an information dealer now, fighting crime from behind the scenes, and not so much a superhero so you might be okay. The only other one that I recognize is Aegis. That was War Machine (Marvel Comics, a friend of Iron Man that got his own suit) in a new identity after he got a weird alien suit, but only for a small amount of time, so you’re probably free and clear.
Luna Jamnia – Not a problem at all, I just assumed people thought I had misspelled my own name, which in addition to being humourous, makes sense.
Oh…
Okay. Is Seer taken by any chance?
- Wings
How do these names sound: Jeremiah Powers, Emma Sharp, Allie Goodwin, Mai Wise, and Bomani?
These are the characters actual names, not codenames.
Jeremiah is a poor rural kid who gets into fights, usually standing up for someone else, and has problems with authority. He gains enhanced senses and reflexes/agility.
Emma is a brilliant driven socially awkward introvert (original, I know). She gains increased intelligence and technopathy.
Allie is a popular outgoing athlete with Olympic aspirations (see above parentheses). She gains superstrength (10 ton max press) speed (80 m.p.h. max) and enhanced reflexes (not as quick as Jeremiah, but still 3 times faster than human).
Mai is the adopted Lao Hmong refugee daughter of a doctor who worked with Doctors Without Borders, and has become a doctor as well. Mai gains empathy (healing, emotion reading/control) and touch-range telepathy.
Bomani is a child soldier in Darfur, sold to a militia while very young and given his current name. Bomani gains the ability to discharge electricity via the increased electrical impulses in his brain. This also helps him absorb and retain information quickly.
Any comments or suggestions? I would appreciate it. I don’t quite have their hero names, although I am leaning toward more military sounding codenames.
Well, I like that you have so much already planned character wise, and I really think you’re a step ahead with the whole limitations thing. I have serious issues putting the caps on my characters’ abilities (though they’re usually from another planet, even aliens have limits
).
The names? The names are good, I think. I especially like Mai and Bomani, just because I tend to like foreign names for characters better than generic/regular ones-yes, I’m biased. (No! Don’t shoot! Long live … um … English speaking nations … >.>)
I don’t have any suggestions for their hero names, unfortunately–I’m not very good at coming up with those names. But if you ever need names for anything else, just let me know and I’ll send you a link of about … well, a lot.
No searching all over the internet for the perfect name! Which is why I should get the other half typed up. I have a list of over 750 for pets, people, planets, whatehaveyou.
Actually, a list of planet names and alien race names would be wonderful. Since my story takes place in an intergalactic war, not having to come up with names that don’t sound cheesy or ridiculous would save a lot of time. Please post that link, it would be helpful. Thank you!
Here ’tis. Sadly, most of the ones which’d be perfect for planet names and shtuff, I have not typed up yet. I probably should do that soon. The first couple ‘pages’ are mostly all sorts of names for animals.
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/31246.NAMES?chapter=3
Oh wait. The last ‘chapter’ has some good weird names. ^_^
Hmmm … after looking over the names in the third chapter, I do suppose they kinda sound ridiculous? Nah.
Never mind.
All the names I come up with seem ridiculous and then I re-read books like Dune …
my names are fine. ^_^
And really they’re just names I wrote down, most of them already exist.
Starfairy?
“How do these names sound: Jeremiah Powers, Emma Sharp, Allie Goodwin, Mai Wise, and Bomani?”
Hola Jmilb! I really like your character’s powers, they’re simplistic, but interesting. However, I don’t like how their last names correspond with their personalities, it seems kind of cheesy. Although, this is a minor issue and can be easily fixed, if you want.
As for military- sounding codenames, you could go with the agent edge. Agent Powers, Agent Sharp, etc. If you do this I’d recommend making their codenames a little more interesting and relate them to their powers.
What do you think?
I know, B. Mac! >.> <.<
Many of those names are from 7th-9th grade (at least all the pet names and goofy superhero names) during which I was into writing (trying anyway) superhero stories. And talking animals. Yes. That's where it all began. Talking animals. No, actually it began with a really smart Irish setter named Red and a totally awful storyline and laughable spelling and grammar.
Did my last comment (well, one I submitted earlier) have to go through the moderator-approval process? It hasn’t shown …
Just put it through. Some quick tips. Anything that uses any of the following will require a moderator’s approval.
–3+ links
–graphic sexual terms
–unusually creepy terms (mostly about relating a bit too much with animals, if you get my drift).
I have absolutely no idea what the issue was in this particular instance, though.
Thanks Ragged Boy! What do you think about switching the last names around so that the reckless one has the last name Wise, the blunt instrument has the name Sharp, etc.? Or should I just use the last names as part of the codenames (I like the sound of Agent Powers, Agent Sharp, et al). To be honest I just googled common last names and went down the list looking for ones that might fit, kinda like an Adam Strange type deal. Of course, I could switch them up AND make them part of their codenames because they do have a hero-type ring to them. What do you think?
Alright, thanks for the tips B. Mac.
J, either way I love the names you gave them. I do think it’d be pretty cool for each to have a last name opposite who they are, though, kinda like how nobody would expect ‘Peter Parker’ to be Spider-Man, considering where he lived and what he was like and all. Or maybe I just like irony for these kind of things.
Switching the last names would be less cheesy to their opposite, but I’m still picking up something on the cheese-o-meter. Careful with Agent Powers! People may mistake for international sex symbol spy Austin Powers. I was think more along the lines of a supername with “agent” as a prefix (Yomiko Readman is Agent Paper, etc).
That’s a good point on the Powers name. That never even crossed my mind. I decided to go with changing the last name on 3 of the characters (I think I’ll keep Mai Wise, I just like that one).
So now I have Jeremiah King, Allison (Allie) Scott, and Emma Bell. As for superhero code names these are a rough idea of where my mind is going with the characters:
Jeremiah King–Agent King (Wow, I didn’t even realize how that sounded until I wrote it out just now…Ok or not ok in your opinion?)
Allison Scott–something along the lines of Equalizer or Abrams (essentially because she’s the “tank” of the group)
Emma Bell–Interface or something with Tech in it (any suggestions on that one?)
Mai Wise–Dr. Wise
Bomani–Pulse
I saw the point about all of them having last names coinciding with personalities being a bit cheesy, so I decided to use just one like that. Even with her I would describe her as more compassionate than wise (the two aren’t mutually exclusive, but situations arise where the compassionate thing and the wise thing to do are totally different, especially in combat situations). Please let me know what you think, good or bad. I created a NaNoWriMo account and these characters and their story are the one I want to concentrate on. Thank you.
Overall, I like the new names. I like Agent King. The only supername I’m a little iffy about is Allie’s, but I’m blanking on name ideas. I have two female tank characters, (not in my current story, in my Literary Salvage Yard) Rave and Aries. I usually go for names that tell more about the character’s personality than their powers. You can guess from Rave that she might be flashy, wild, and dangerous (even sexually charged) or from Aries that she might be a natural leader, stubborn, and quick-tempered.
What would you think about names that coorespond with the charater’s persona? In fact, what are their personalities?
Jeremiah King is reckless, distrusts authority, and always gets into fights with bullies picking on other kids.
Emma Bell is a know-it-all type, driven, focused on herself and her plans, and socially awkward.
Allison Scott is outgoing, athletic, and egotistical.
Mai Wise is an activist, compassionate, and tends to be overprotective of those in her care (almost to the point of smothering).
Bomani is haunted by his past actions, devoutly religious because he seeks atonement, but he is loyal to those that earn his trust.
This is just a quick synopsis, if you want more I would be happy to flesh them out for you. For Allison’s name, Starpower just popped in my head.
Thank you! Oh, I’ve been writing fanfiction and I can never think of good names for any of my OCs. Now I do! Sort of. xD
Okay, I’ve been trying to come up with a good name but I can’t. He has the ability to control air and make tornadoes. I’ve been looking and I still haven’t found a creative one. I don’t think Air man or Air guy or Air boy makes a good name. I’ve been looking for untaken air names for months with no luck. Is there anyway you can help me come up with a name? Or do you have any name ideas?
&& About copyright names. I don’t want to get sued; I think no one wants to get sued. So is the name ‘ Red Knight ‘, okay? Marvel or DC comics has a ‘Black Knight’ but would I get sued if I still use that name? Since Red Knight is different from Black Knight…
Thanks for your help,
Kay
Kay, I think you’ve got quite a few options for names, but I don’t really know enough about your tone to be more specific. A typical DC comic book universe could do with a hero like that named Supercell or Squal Line. A manga-esc universe could use The Squal, either one could use Derecho. There’s a billion names you could get by just tacking “air” onto another word. Airhammer, Aerohammer, Aerostrike, Airstrike, Swift Aero, Aeroswift, Taylor Swift, and those are just off the top of my head.
I am having trouble thinking of a “superhero name” for two of my characters. The first can manipulate time, but more like The Matrix and not time travel. The second is a psychic who can track people and alter memories.
What are their personalities like? Also, what’s the mood of the book like?
Ok… scratch my last idea…
I’m doing monster college. I have most of what I need, but am stumped when it comes to the name for my “elf.” I really don’t want it to be a way-out-there name, but also nothing that sounds too normal or boring for him. Any suggestions? Or should I go Tolkien-style? He’s not really like the elves of Lord of the Rings, but….
“He’s not really like the elves of Lord of the Rings, but…”
What is he like? What sort of mood are you going for? (IE: what sort of positive reaction are you trying to evoke with this book? Edge-of-your-seat thrills? Tear-jerking romance? Don’t-lose-your-flashlight horror? Laughter? Etc).
The character used to be the king of all demons; because of this he is very noble, old-fashioned, wise, and calm- but when around the other characters (his friends) he’s very goofy, open-minded, and constantly pulls pranks on the current king. (Is this even a good combination of characteristics? Should I turn down his ‘kingly’ side?)
I’m trying to do an action/romance with this idea.
Hmm, I’m not sure how fluidly wise, calm, and goofy will mix, but I do like the idea of a calm prankster. I don’t like that he changes personalities, although, I understand why. I’m blanking on any other advice. More information would help.
More Information… would the background story be good?
Kings only stay in office for nine years, and then the council forces them to hold a tournament to decide the new leader. The king represents his demon group, and the rest send their best competitor. The losers are then forced to abandon their lives to become the new king’s bodygaurds. An elf has won every time, until now when a very young vampire (named Aiden) somehow wins (plot point later) so my elf character gets to return to his normal goofy personality.
The vampires are more violent and harsh, and have a much shorter temper. The elf sometimes feels like he is still in office, and scolds Aiden whenever he takes things too far (which is often)
I guess you could say he’s the guy who plays along with the mean-spirited joke, then grows a brain whenever things get out of hand, automatically taking over the situation.
Do you think Hawkfire sticks in your head as a good hero? (Teenage Girl)
I once named all of my characters after famous scientist, for no particular reason. Months later, I realized that I named a character that controls gravity ‘Isaac’ (after Isaac Newton). I then spent a while trying to make everyone else’s name a pun… it was not fun. Moral is: naming sucks because you’re a random name generator.
I think the trick with themed names is to do it sparingly and subtly. I think naming a gravity-controlled Isaac is pretty slick– a few people will get the reference and they’ll probably appreciate it.
Forsaken -
I’m not sure if I’m the best person to suggest names, but here goes.
From how you explained the time manipulator’s powers, I would go with something like Flow personally… it suggests the way the power set could be utilized to change the flow of combat or any event really, since they’re slowing down their own perspective.
How does El Gato sound?
My superhero is a shapeshifter who can change into different kinds of cats (hence El Gato, which means “the cat”). I realize the article talks about how characters probably shouldn’t have foreign names, but I like it…
Anyway, he doesn’t have the name at the beginning, but someone calls him that at some point in the story and it ends up sticking. I’m planning on having one of the characters pointing out what the name means so the readers don’t get confused, though.
Would that work?
I think that explaining it might be a bit overly condescending, both portions of its name are widespread enough in usage throughout English-speaking popular culture, for the vast majority to understand it, unless you have a very young audience (younger than 10, I’d reckon would encounter problems) in mind.
I think that beyond the slightly wimpy nature of it (no offense intended, I’ve spent my whole life around house cats and they don’t bring terror to mind.) under the guidelines of the guide, it would be acceptable, the phonetic pronunciation is roughly the correct one. The only real issue I could see with it would be the setting, it wouldn’t make much sense for a superhero in a setting without a large Hispanic population, to have that name given to them, especially if they are not so outwardly Hispanic that it would be a natural leap for a journalist or civilian population to leap to.
I meant to add “Of course, this is only my opinion” tagged on the end there, so pretend it is there.
Now on the other hand, in my opinion, I don’t agree. I’ve never heard El Gato before, and immediately thought “Aah, alligator.” By the way, I’m 27, so 10>.
It lacks the similar sounding nature of the French Le chet (or chat, I’m not sure) which is obviously the cat. I doubt many people in the UK will know the meaning, and I’ve never actually come across it in popular culture, to my recollection. I’m both widely watched and widely read yet nothing strikes me.
I think it would need the explanation.
“He called me El Gato.”
“Ah, the cat. Very astute.”
This is going back a bit, bit samhain is pronounced sow (like how) een (like bean).
You might be right about that, I suppose it would come down to the individual’s own experiences and thus warrant explanation even if you could rely on a number of your readers to have prior knowledge of the word. It just seems a very clunky thing to explain, any revelation of “book” knowledge on the part of a fictional character has to be handled carefully so as to not have the character either come off pretentious or pedantic.
All right, thanks you two!
Which country are you trying to get published in? If you’re writing in the US, I think that a lot of Americans, possibly most depending on your target audience, would be familiar with “el gato.” (IE: if your protagonist is Hispanic, I would imagine that your readers would be somewhat more likely to know what “El Gato” means than the median American would). So I think that using a foreign language would not be a problem in this case. For one thing, it doesn’t raise serious pronunciation issues, unlike many words from Japanese or French.
”
That said, if you’re writing for an Australian or British audience, I’m not sure how much exposure they would have to even the most basic Spanish phrases.
However, language concerns aside, is this really the most effective name available? “El Gato” strikes me as pretty bland, particularly to anyone that knows that it translates into “The Cat.” It might help to give him a name that indicates something about him, like a personality trait or a distinguishing trait. For example, if he were an action hero, it might make sense to name him after a particular kind of cat, preferably a dangerous one, because something like Pantera is probably more dangerous and sexy than Gato. (However, I think Pantera is already taken, so I’d recommend finding something else if you try that route). My Spanish is not too good (no lo he hablado por, umm, siete anos), so I bet you’d have some better vocabulary in that regard than I would.
…
Scribblar said: “Now on the other hand, in my opinion, I don’t agree. I’ve never heard El Gato before, and immediately thought “Aah, alligator.” By the way, I’m 27.
Haha. I also saw “El Gator” for a brief moment. (“Alligator” actually derives from the Spanish phrase for lizard, “el legarto”). It reminded me of my webcomic about Don Gato and Don Gator.
If I decided to publish the story, it would be in the US, since I live here. I chose “El Gato” because he can change into different types of cats (lion, tiger, etc.), so “The Cat” would be an all-encompassing phrase. Does that make sense?
Ah, okay, that makes sense. It still strikes me as a bit bland, though.
O.K.
I’m trying to come up with something that can make it less bland without sounding corny, but drawing a blank. Any suggestions (it doesn’t have to be in Spanish)?
Hmm… What’s the character like? (Personality, distinguishing traits, etc).
El gato-hombre. Is this cat man?
He’s kind of a loser, but his powers make him feel arrogant and flashy, which is the kind of person he’d like to be in his regular form. To describe his hair the way your “Common Mistakes” would say, he has a fauxhawk (Google if you don’t know) and loves using (hair) mousse to make himself look taller and more imposing (sort of like a lion’s mane). After he gets his powers, his (wild) catlike tendencies (preference for meat, growling, etc.) creep into his life sometimes. He’s in his early 20s…
More detail or is that good?
Si, el gato hombre= the cat man
Well in my novel, Badazzes. The leader is named Kid Badazz
Kid Badazz? That’s very, umm… unusual.
Does anyone have a name for a guy who can manipulate ink & colors. His real name is Jason but I need a codename.
Sounds interesting, Jaronblaze…try looking for common technical terms relating to ink and colour. Right now, all I can think of that sounds effective is Chrome. Less effective are words like hue, shade and pigment, but hopefully you get the jist.
Or, on the other hand, how about something like Splash? It depends on your character’s personality and such. If they’re quite dark and serious, then perhaps not…but I imagine someone who can mess around with colour and ink to be a bit quirky and mischievous.
Hmm… If you’re looking for a technical artistic term, chiaroscuro and encaustic come to mind. I also looked through an art glossary and found acrylic, fresco, graffiti, palette, pastel, tonk (or tonking), velatura (probably too girly) and vignette. For something more sober (ie less distinctly superhero-like) you could something similar to a last name like hatch or hatching or a name that’s mostly associated with art like Durer or Jasper but not as recognizable as Da Vinci or Van Gogh).
I am uncertain what to say except that I disagree. I find symbolic uses of names to be personally amusing. Some readers will understand and some won’t. That is how allusions and symbolism often work. Foreign names are necessary for characters of foreign cultures. I am not going to give a Japanese character, for example, who was born in Japan, the birth name of Dave. I might go with the nickname view shown in Doom. A Japanese character has a traditional Japanese name that is difficult for those around him to pronounce, so he has a nickname. I think it was Mac. Also, references to others’ writing, such as my comment about Doom. I would not name a superhero Clark. I might name a quirky hero Mike, that people unfamiliar with Stranger in a Strange Land, probably won’t get. Or toss in a “Hello, Dave” joke. A matter of writing style and audience, I suppose.
Just some insight. Writers have drastically different views. I also write articles on writing. I address topics, including naming characters. I am not published, but I have some informal psychological knowledge.
I wanted to specify I disagree. I am not saying the information is wrong. Opinions are like mothers. Everyone has one, even if we sometimes suspect an annoying co-worker was hatched.
Thank you for your comment!
Unless there’s a compelling reason to do otherwise, I’d recommend culturally appropriate names. If a novel had a feudal daimyo named Dave, I’d really hope that there was some sort of in-story explanation.
However, generally I would recommend against naming a character something based on what the name translates to. For each reader that knows that Sophia translates into wisdom, there are probably 50 or 100 that don’t, and you probably could have come up with a name that worked better for them. I’d recommend focusing on sounds rather than translations because they work better for the multitude of readers that won’t get the reference.
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In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose that I should add that I once named a weapons engineer Dr. Darpa because I thought it would be funny if readers knew that DARPA does a ton of weapons research. On the plus side, I think that it wouldn’t jar readers that didn’t get the reference.
I wasn’t exactly sure to put this comment, so I hope it’s okay here.
I am having some problems with naming an organization in my novel. It is an “underground” organization, not governmental. It will end up being villainous, although it doesn’t seem that way at first. The best names that I came up with so far are “The Organization,” and “The Guild,” which are not as creative or as relevant as I was hoping for. I was wondering if anyone could give me opinions, advice on naming organizations, or even how they ended up naming their own group.
Thanks
–Echo–
I had the same problem for a when I was working on my novel just recently. I suggest an acronym using the organizations motives as a basis. It only took me a few minutes with my own, but try brainstorming on it and see what turns up.
Here are some already taken examples:
MAGI
M: Modern
A: Arcane
G: Guild of
I: Investigations
ELITE
E:Enhanced
L: Logistics for
I: Insight and
T: Tactical
E: Excellence
Other than that, I would suggest using rather simple names.
Here are some more taken examples:
The Blades
The Enclave
The Enforcers
If you use this idea, you may want to research it first to make sure it hasn’t been taken. Also, check out the Seventh Sanctum name generator. Some may look like complete nonsense but they can give you some good ideas.
The Guild is a wildly successful web series starring Buffy The Vampire Slayer alum, umm, I can’t remember her name, she was in Doctor Horrible though? Aday? Felicia Day? Maybe. I can’t remember. So you might want to avoid it, if not for that reason, the associations it brings with both MMORPG guilds, such as the show strives for.
In my opinion, evil Organizations and companies work best when they are either a random pleasant-sounding but actually ominous phrase (Black Water, at first it sounds like a place you’d go camping but then you realize it’s a freaking scary name) or oddly ominous surnames, but another good place to look for inspiration, particularly for evil organizations in nursery rhymes, folklore, particularly if they have a racial agenda or specific racial identity, you could look into that racial identity’s folklore and pull something.
I used nursery rhymes when naming my secret evil organization of lawyers and politicians, The Pumpkin Eaters, an eclectic group of similarly built individuals from across the world that have undergone cosmetic surgery and other type things in order to directly resemble an ideal figure, Conan O’Brian.
Thanks for the suggestions! They have given me a lot to think about – I’ve got way to many ideas right now, and no idea how to chose.
So far, what I’ve come up with are Black Virtues, The Seraphists, Sable Messengers, Purest Dusk, Ebony Lights, and Obsidian Relief.
Any of them sound novel-worthy?
–Echo–
Oh, and I love the Conan O’Brian idea, by the way.
–Echo–
Out of those I liked The Seraphists (You may want to research if it is taken or not, though) and Obsidian Relief (I’m guessing you used Lightning Man’s suggestions for this. To me, it sounds like some sort of odd charity.) Purest Dusk sounds a little to cultist in my opinion to be a government organization, along with Black Virtues and Ebony Lights. (Then again, I hardly know anything about the organization to say much.) Sable Messengers sounds utterly mysterious, but not to much like an organization.
Hello,
I’m just a 14 year old kid, I’m not too good but I wanna write a comic series someday, hehee probably won’t be good.. Anyway I was thinking of giving my main character this name at first;
Hatchet Maxwell.. However after reading this article, I can guess it’s not a good name for my main and seems to childish and the actual “hatchet” reference might sound lame or boring to some readers and it reminds me of ratchet (the video game character), don’t want him being referenced to rabit/ bunny, no offense, got nothin’ but love for Ratch..
So I Googled old English names and I’m currently checking… Now I wanted to asked, Does Adam Aizly or Izly, now I know I should avoid names that confuse readers, to the point where they won’t know how it’s supposed to be pronounced I guess, and I hate that too I guess…
I’ll avoid running into other names, like using Bruce or Terry( Terry Mcginnis, Batman Beyond, and Bruce Wayne’s biological son by proxy and son to Warren and Marry Mcginnis). At first I wanted to call ‘em SCYTHE… But apparently a friend of mine didn’t like it I think and check and there’s some Marvel character with the name. I’m basically in need of a name and here’s a bit of his story to build up some structure for his hero and real name;
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Occupation: High school Student and Noodle shop counter boy.
(Name) is a teenage high school student who lives a secret double life as the crime fighting hero; Scythe. He starts out as somewhat of a Bounty Hunter, solving crimes or stopping criminals, while asking for a reward/ fee as compensation for his services, doing so to help his ailing mother with her medical fees, however he turned his leaf around after realizing it was becoming more about the money than trying to help his mother. He now spans the streets of Chrone City as its teenage boy hero, unfortunately unbeknown-st to this young mind, the crime fighting world isn’t as simple as it seems and he’s about to get his money’s worth.
I know not too good and I wanted to call it Chrone city, a friend of mine came up with the name Chronum when I asked him for a fake city name like Gotham and I made Chronum into Chrone, I guess he was thinking of Gotham that’s why they sound alike, or I could be wrong, usually am… Anyway hope ta get some good advice… Also yeah I do wanna work for DC someday but maybe I’ll try to form a comic studio with a couple of people someday or maybe join Marvel.. But I love DC.. Bad ass characters, ya know.
*to a Rabbit/bunny
*won’t be too good
*Now I wanted to ask
*does Adam Aizely or Izly sound nice?
*and I checked and there’s a Marvel…
Just correcting some mistakes, heh.
Note: Who knows I might not be accepted, Marvel & DC deserve better than trash like me… ^_^…
Oh and Jmilb, Powers is kind of been used, DEREK POWERS A.K.A Blight, in the Batman Beyond series, he’s a major character and the guy that killed Terry Micginnis’ father, well had him killed.
But not that many people know the BB series I think and it’s an old series from 1999 to 2001 so I guess Powers isn’t a bad name, hehehe unless it’s a reference to him being some greedy power hungry madman or somethin’ then it’s kinda cheesy… I’m sure someone’s already said this maybe, I wouldn’t know.
Hmm. I’d leave naming issues like these (like “is this name unique enough?”) until after getting published. If the series is otherwise good enough to publish, the editor will not be bothered by a character that shares a fairly generic last name with a character from a fairly minor series. If the legal department thinks it’s an issue, your editor can ask you to change the name later. I wouldn’t worry about it until then.
…
I’m not so worried about Hatchet possibly getting confused with Ratchet. Although they rhyme, the words mean very different things. I don’t think that anyone would confuse a character named Blight with Light, either. But I agree when you called it childish. I couldn’t see anyone naming their kid Hatchet. On the other hand, using as the super-name may be an option, if you’re interested.
Maxwell sounds a bit old-fashioned and wealthy to me. Like Maxwell Lord. Or Jillian Maxwell, if you’re deep into Batman (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special #1). Is that the impression you’re shooting for?
Rather than Aizly or Izly, could I suggest a more modern spelling like Isley? Alternately, perhaps Asley or Aisley?
I think Scythe sounds kind of villainous. (Then again, I bet Stan Lee heard that a lot about “Spiderman” before that hit it big).
I’m not sure what I think about Chrone City. My immediate reaction is wondering whether the author misspelled “chrome.” But your spelling is generally pretty good, so I don’t think that’s it… Hmm. Starting with “CHR” sound strikes me as a bit awkward. It’s not too common in English (Christ, Christmas, chrysalis, etc). Starting with CR or maybe COR might lead to smoother words.
Wow, you’re brilliant I could never compare to you, lol I’m crap..
Anyway Aisly’s a nice spelling, might call him Adam Aisly however that’s a usual name and yeah I’m a Batman fan I guess…
I’m more of a TV person, well while growing, I wouldn’t know but my mom always bought me cassettes and whatnot to watch my shows or movies and I have a couple of batman ones.. I’ll be starting with comics now, I was recently a Manga reader but I like comics more, more of a diverse and versatile story if you ask me…
Oh and as for the Maxwell part, he’s no rich kid, living with a single mother with an ailing disease and chronic pneumonia. He does however have a rich father who wanted Adam (using that name to refer to him for now) and his mother to come live with him in Djibouti, his mother disagreed, saying the boy would receive a higher level of education in Stanson City (New Chrone, like it?)… And you get it from there I think…
The other two rich elements in his life being; Lee Stanson & Arnold Kimbell… His rich step father that his mother meets soon after an anonymous person pays for all her hospital bills, getting her the care she needs… Lee married her to give of a model citizen image, he is secretly a corrupt mob boss and the Mayor of Stanson, his great great grandfather being the city’s founder, crappy story? lol… And Arnold Kimbell is the son of Ronald and Elayne Kimbell and heir to KIMBELL CORP, the family’s billion dollar corporation, he serves as Adam’s Bruce Wayne (Batman Beyond version) to Alfred (normal batman), creating his equipment and weaponry and using the special Bio-chip technology his mother’s company engineered (well his father but his dad’s dead and his mom is in charge, owning 51% of the shares etc.). Elayne is a busy woman and doesn’t keep much of an eye on her son, plus his ace grades and clean citizen & school record doesn’t give her much of a reason to be wary of him..
He had a HQ built through a proxy and spoke to the construction workers and signed contracts through Actors and whatnot… I know I’m just a dumb kid so cut me some slack I might be wrong on how this all works…
Also, it’s funny cos my friend at school instantly told me I should make the city home to some special metal that gives people powers but makes them go crazy or something, or something like I think… so he was thinking of chrome I guess…
And when I wrote it I never thought about, came up with it on the spot, dumb me it came out as; LEE STANSON (sounds like a blatant Stan Lee reference), I’m such idiot but it’s cool if you think so, how is that name and ARNOLD KIMBELL and his parent’s names and Adam Aisly?
And yes, I might wanna make Stanson a big super villain later like the joker was, ah I dunno, with my limited brain I dunno if that would be just too cliche or if it’s cool or if the idea in general of him sucks… And that technology the Bio-chip is a special tech my friend at school’s uncle’s company is manufacturing/ working on…
The chip is injected into you and can read the person’s condition as in tell the doctor about their pulse, blood type, if anything has breached the body; bacteria or a virus etc.. It’s basically a big old info chip tells you all about the patient.. I made it so that he can even communicate with Adam telepathically and read anything, thermal levels etc. I think the original chip can to (thermal levels that is).
Oh and yes he injects into Adam out of the blue without his consent like;
Adam: Hey there Arty, what’s with the weird gun?
Arnold: hehehe, oh this it’s just a modified syringe, my mom’s well parents company’s been working on it, it’s quite an intriguing piece of technology it’ll really revolutionize medical science and doctor patient communication, it allows the doctor to gain readings on everything in the patients system, well almost; blood condition, how the cells function an-
-Adam’s sleeping-
Arnold: Sorry man..
-While kinda a sleep in a low tone says- : W-wha? … W-w-what’re yaa sorry abouu..
- Arnold Quickly injects him..-
-Adam wakes up immediately yelling out-: Oww, what the hell was that?! What did you do to me?!
Arnold: Just injected that bio-chip into you.. oh and if you were listening even a bit, yours is modified with a homing beacon, I have one too, but you can’t track unless you know the password to my laptop or hack it, which I doubt…
Adam: You’re insane.. Whatever sorry anyway, why don’t you try making these things sound interesting, then maybe I won’t fall a sleep..
Arnold: It was interesting.. -odd stair like O_o-
Adam: The only thing that’s interesting is what you find interesting..
…………. I’ll stop there.. But you get it… And my friend says his uncle won’t mind but I’ll ask him formally or get my friend too..
Btw my character was born in the year 2021… And if I can some day although I suck, write for DC comics, I wanna make it in the same era as Batman beyond/ Terry Mcginnis’ timeline he’s 2 years younger than Terry Mcginnis, Terry was born in 2023 btw…
HAHAHA, I mixed it up, I subtracted rather than adding, he’s younger than Mcginnis of coarse.. Anyway it’s 2025, hehee ironically I was born in 1995, we’ve both got fives and no I don’t wanna base him off, me maybe a few life facts but not personality wise and how on Earth can I analyze my own personality, people see themselves inaccurately so he’d just be a fake perfect image of me.. I’m not superhero main character material anyway
Hope to get a response from; B. Mac specifically… You seem quite good and experienced…
Well brilliant not good…
“I could never compare to you…” I hope you’re wrong about that. I’m still unpublished. So, to get published, you’ll have to be better than me. (More precisely, you’ll have to impress an editor more than any of the other prospective authors in the slush pile).
If possible, I’d recommend being more confident. Not so brash that you sound arrogant, but confident enough that editors can envision you as part of the team. No one’s on your side as much as you are, and your ability to get published rests overwhelmingly on your faith that you are good enough (or can be good enough) to pull it off.
I’d recommend tweaking Stanson City to Stanton City. It’s a slightly harder sound.
Hmm. So the kid isn’t wealthy, but I guess that having the rich estranged father is a good reason to give him a wealthy-sounding name.
Please don’t bash yourself. That’s what you have literary agents for.
…
If the element of wealth is important to the story, I would recommend against having the mother marry a rich guy. First, I think that it would take away from the drama of having them deal with a lack of money. Putting him in a wealthy family may reduce his relatability. (However, relatability isn’t everything. Otherwise the audience for billionaire playboys, Amazon princesses and aliens would be quite small). Also, it might make her look like a gold-digger.
I notice that Lee Stanson has the same last name as the name of the city he’s the mayor of. Now THAT is a family business.
I’m not quite sure it feels believable that Lee marries the wife just to make himself look like a nice guy. For a slightly different take, you could have Lee marry her to use her as the fall guy when things go to hell. After all, she’s poor/desperate and perhaps she even has a minor criminal record, so maybe the media and police will agree that she was the one doing bad things and not him.
I think that the protagonist sort of feels like a Chosen One that gets some lucky breaks. For example, why does Arnold feel that Adam is better-qualified to become a superhero than anybody else he knows? (For example, perhaps Adam has a distinguishing trait that makes him a really good candidate). Why does Lee choose to marry into his family rather than any other poor family in town? (Maybe there’s something in their background that makes them unusually suitable for his plans).
I didn’t notice the Stan Lee reference. Haha.
If the main character’s name starts with A, I’d recommend renaming Arnold so that it’s a bit easier for readers to keep the names apart.
…
“You seem quite good and experienced…” Hmm. I’ve been working in the industry for around two weeks. Experienced I am not.
Hmm, I see, well for the confidence area, I guess I was recently over confident and threw me into depressed state when things started to go wrong, so I accepted that I wasn’t that good even if in other opinion I was… Just to stay away from that pain and admit that I’m only human and have Human limitations…
Anyway Stanton is cool and I’m gonna change the Arnold theme to a girl named; Eliza Kimbell, same theme and story, merely female now and I can say something like what they see in Adam is that he has an innate ability to connect with others and can change people, basically he knows how to relate to people even when he’s never experienced what they have and she believes his prior martial arts knowledge and odd attractive personality makes him the perfect subject for her Hero project and she finds out he’s the TV bounty hunter by trailing him with a robot (Like a Cambot (made up), records everything it sees and has camouflage and flight abilities)…
You’re right, I wouldn’t wanna make her a gold digger or even reference that, so I’ll keep the drama of them being a struggling family, and leave the hospital bill part of Eliza, however the fact that she paid his mom’s hospital bills does piss off Adam, as it feels like she’s pittying him and his mom, but he gets over it.. As for the Eliza change, it’s cos well; I kinda feel like I was basing it off Zorro (the new animated series, with his deaf bro or whatever as his tech-guy) And a girl in charge of all his crap and somewhat of a female Alfred is pretty unique to me… I could be wrong, but I never encountered such a case before just once in BB, when Barbara Gordon helps Terry out in the movie; Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and that was for like one second and temporary so this is different I guess…
Oh and for her name; which is better; Erika Kimbell or Eliza Kimbell, Erika is softer so I’m vouching for it for now… And yeah she kinda does have a soft theme, but she’s a strong independent girl..
I’ll just have Adam meet Stanton in another way and yeah I live “Stanton”, you’re right it’s more firm and strong..
Anyway I’ll try to be confident and not bash myself, but while also being Human and not going arrogant and knowing that I have limits and can make mistakes and errors endlessly…
Oh and it has nothin’ to do with the section but how does the name ZM COMICS sound?
Either pronounce it the American; Zee way or the British to other countries; Zed way I guess it’s good either way, but Zed is better pronunciation to me… I wanna name my group that and no it’s just random letters no meaning, well the Z symbolizes my mom’s name; Zahra so not so random…
And the M, symbolizes this girl I like; Melanie but I barely know so it’s weird if people ask me what it means I’ll say ZERO MAX… Makes no sense but if it sounds cool people usually forget or ignore the meaning well some do or most….
Oh and lots of big comic writers/illustrators, Mangaka & Novelists, probably got turned down a lot I guess… The woman that made Harry Potter, I think it’s JK rowling (don’ really remember, I’m afraid I might’ve mixed it up with the lord of the rings guy or someone else maybe), yeah she was turned down like 20 to 22 times and wrote her novel in an internet cafe with her daughter (a baby or toddler at the time I think) sitting next to her or on her lap whatever… I’m sure it was sitting next to her…
And the zorro thing might not be that new and it’s a movie series, like two or three movies… not a show… and I might leave the Bio-chip tech, My friend and I aren’t very close now so I wanna cut ties like this… Plus it’s not right using his uncle’s tech in my manga, it’s his idea… He should be the first to release it unless it’s out by the time the comic is if it’s released hopefully….
ZM Comics sounds more like a publisher’s name (like DC Comics) than a series name. For the series name, I’d recommend going with something that says more about the particular series, what’s going on, the mood, etc. Some more descriptive titles that come to mind are I Kill Giants, Cowboy Ninja Viking, my own The Accountant Must Die, etc. I think they give a better idea about the content of the plot.
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I like Erika. It’s not as soft as, say, Erin.
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I don’t think the gender of the techno-sidekick will make a big deal. Readers aren’t as sensitive to the gender of side-characters as they are to the main.
hahaha, those readers are insulting the sidekicks, “WHERE’S THERE LOVE?!” And ZM Comics is for a comic publisher I wanna build up when I’m older, I might start a teen amateur group by the same name very soon as well.
Starting your own publisher is quite expensive. According to Bob Heske, “Skimp, beg, borrow and save no less than $10,000 – but $15,000 is a safer bet. And don’t expect to earn it back in sales. More likely you will ‘earn some of it back’ as a tax write-off.” So don’t quit your day job!
Fortunately, preparing an issue for professional publication is substantially cheaper–the main expense is typically paying an artist to finish five sample pages and perhaps a cover, which is probably $500-600. (Which is a hell of a lot more money than I’ve ever had lying around, by the way).
Hmm, paying and artist? I’m gonna sketch it… I can sketch too, I’m don’t wanna be the writer alone, I want to be both the writer and illustrator and my mom has some good land in Somalia, I can earn around 100,000 for some of it, if she doesn’t waste it on college cash… So money isn’t much of an object and even then my gramps is rich so I might make him a preposition/ to invest in me… And no my gramps doesn’t pay for shit, my life, my mom’s life, my dad’s life is all our problem… He gave my dad a lot and a good education to start him off and my dad blew that/ used it… So that’s all he gets.
NO I’M NO RICH KID! I live a normal but a bit above the average kinda life, but normal, my mom works hard and it’s all thanks to her (hehehe, Adam’s mom and dad or based on mine)
*paying an artist
lol, I always typo an to and nowadays or whatever, how dumb
LMAO!
*typo nowadays…
I’m was the last Anonymous poster
Hmm, okay. Good luck with the art. It is very, very difficult to illustrate or write at a professional level, and there are extremely few people that can do both.
If you’d like to go down that path, I’d recommend hitting art classes hard and doing as much freelance illustration as possible. Like writers, artists tend to suck for the first few years, so hopefully you can burn those years sooner rather than later. Generally, I wouldn’t recommend doing your own illustrations until your art has earned at least a few hundred dollars on its own. If your art isn’t good enough to attract freelance business on even a beginner-friendly site like DeviantArt, it’s probably not good enough to sell to customers as part of a comic book.
That said, some successful writer/illustrators do simple art but execute it very well. Hell, in webcomics, XKCD attracts at least hundreds of thousands of readers with stick figures. Obviously, don’t try Marvel or DC-style realism unless you have the substantial talent necessary to pull it off.
Anyway got any superhero names…
And I’ve settled on Adam Maxwell, with his father being the first series’ main villain/ Joker like character… Well if it’s too cliché or stupid, okay then give me a good idea for a main villain or should I go with the usual comics thing with it just being a constant changing villain theme with just a few villains sticking around and being somewhat prominent…
However don’t worry I’m already searching for an artist/ illustrator to do my work for me and teach me if he or she can that is if I can manage… I won’t be taking classes since the ministry of schools’ or whatever’s consultant told my mom that art schools nowadays aren’t too good in the UAE and are just the usual stuff, like those guys that make scribbles and say its art and earn millions off it… So until I graduate from High school or finish my IGCSEs or whatever I won’t be taking any classes if I make it that long, who knows I just might die lol…
Just one question; “If I get an artist to get me started off, ya know like my the first few illustrations and drafts, once the series/ comic actually does exist if does, would I need to credit he or she as having pitched in something to the story or does it depend on what kind of agreement I reach with them.”
Oh and I’m stumped on a good comic publisher/ young comic writer’s group name… Got any?
Here are Adam’s friends and their names:
Anama Kimbell (referred to throughout the series as Anne by many, I don’t know you decide)
Sahra Maxwell (His mother)
Luke Campbell (the sidekick friend, but not the tech guy, the dumb humorous friend type)
—— (Need a name for Anama’s butler/ housekeeper… He’ll be somewhat of the old man that knows their secret and helps ‘em out type)
Charlie Fisher (Owner of the noodle shop Adam works in)
Now Anama is messed up I know and I might pick the names; Erin, Megan, Amber… I don’t know you’re call I suck…
And I think I’ve heard Luke Campbell before so you work on that to…
As for material for the name, he’s kinda of a mix between the superhero that just does whatever he wants/ does reckless things , and sort of a humorous character like Tony Stark was the Ironman movie… I dunno but I guess Peter Petrelli from Heroes is also a part of him (if you’ve heard of him, if not wiki him/ good em and I want his hairstyle like Peters… Check this pic to see it: http://batatatransgenica.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/peter-petrelli.jpg
I might deviate between and this hairstyle a lot: http://www.heroesrevealed.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/h2c.gif
Well yeah I guess Adam will be somewhat of Peter Petrelli to any other hero, I dunno… But the thing with hair Like Milo Ventigmilia’s (they guy that portrays Peter Petrelli) is that well it can be style in anyway possible I think cos it’s real soft and straight, I’m wrong I’m sure but, yeah he’ll have different hairstyles at times but in big occasions, not makin’ hair and issue here, not runnin’ so fashion series.
And yeah I’ll ask the artist to try to base him off Peter… Or just stick to the eyes and hair and I guess it’s a good nose whatever…
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-orga.php
I tried out their generator and it gave me this with my categories being;
Animal: Bird
Colour: Black
Armored/Protected
The name they gave was Air Wing.
Yeah I want Grey/Black to be every prominent colours in him along with maybe some brown… However Terry Mcginnis called dibs on brown and blue clothing I guess (Batman Beyond’s main character)
“If I get an artist to get me started off, ya know like my the first few illustrations and drafts, once the series/ comic actually does exist if does, would I need to credit he or she as having pitched in something to the story or does it depend on what kind of agreement I reach with them?”
I think it’d depend on the agreement you reach. If you’re just using the person as an art tutor, crediting the artist would probably not be necessary. If you’re farming out the concept art to them, I feel like it would probably be best to say something like CONCEPT ART BY [NAME] unless the artist specifically agrees otherwise. Crediting the artist costs you nothing and removes the outside chance that he sues you or takes some other extreme action to show his dissatisfaction.
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I’ve never named a comics publisher before, but I’d recommend doing 1-2 words followed by Comics or possibly Press. Preferably a noun or adjective + noun. I did have an amusing brainstorming session late one night with a friend about what we would name a comics publisher. By the time we got to “Yankee Standoff” and “Cataclysmic Press,” it was clearly well past time to hit the coffee.
Are you going to answer on the superhero name and the allies name part? I’m going to need that.
Oh, and his fighting styles include: Jujitsu, Capoeira & parkour (freestyle, like how those punks jump from rooftops and do those sick break dance-like moves in combat, I don’t know, I’m wrong I’m sure.)
You mean parkour?
Hmm. If you’re submitting to Western publishers, I’d recommend Westernizing the names a bit. Like Sahra –> Sara or Sarah and Anama –> Anne or Ann.
For the butler, I’d recommend looking at old-fashioned names. Maybe Gideon, Braxton, Cedric, Herbert, Elias, Elliot, Sheldon, Thaddeus, Wilmur, Fabian, Gilbert, Ezra, Alastair, etc. And yes, I did just strip those from a website called Unusual Old-Fashioned Names.
“Charlie” makes the character sound pretty young. Since he’s the boss, it may make sense to refer to him as Charles or Mr. Fisher.
I’m not sure if parkour is a form of combat. While I could see it as a form of transportation, I’m doubting that doing a wall-run to a monkey vault to a step-off backflip will hurt an opponent. Conversely, that same combination could be used to evade attack.
I love Capoeira! It’s my favorite form of martial arts*. Just make sure you portray it correctly or you’ll have one disgruntled fan.
* Whether or not Capoeira is considered a form of martial arts is questionable. While it focuses of improving the body and combative technique many people feel that it’s not effective in real combat situations.
RB, parkour can definitely be used in a fight situation. I saw a French subtitled film where two characters had a brilliant fight using a style/moves that were pretty much parkour, I think. (The movie is District 13, or Banlieu 13 in French.)
This youtube video from the movie has a few uses of it for combat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTyWfbvX0xQ
I’ve also seen that movie, I always thought it was nice of the evil tyrannical government to build a hobo city that happened to be perfect for boffo usages of the protagonist’s skill-sets. The first ever instance of an Eigen City…
I think Gotham City has been an Eigen City for Batman. It’s got all of those gargoyles hanging everywhere, and of course its police force is rampantly useless. It’s like the city was MADE for a lurking, brooding maniac born of awesomeness and forged in badassery.
I think its kind of a catch 22 with superheroes and settings. Do you giving them powers that fit a fit their surroundings, or you make their surrounding fit their powers? In the end, I don’t think the two things are different. Take Spider-man for instance, his powers would be terrible in a place like L.A., so it would only make sense to put him in a city where there is a bunch of tall buildings. I guess sometime the author has to make the setting or power contrived.
Brilliant observations. I have noticed the Spiderman and Batman scenarios too, so I’ve wondered what would happen if the powers and settings didn’t quite match.
B. Mac, I don’t know if you remember the alien girl superhero I’ve mentioned so long ago, but her setting is in the country—with plenty of open spaces—whereas her powers are better suited for high-rise buildings and the like…
(For the general setting, think The Andy Griffith Show).
Hey, Spiderman wouldn’t be TOTALLY useless in Los Angeles. He’d just need to use the Spidercar.
Not that I haven’t wished for a Spider car myself, mind you…
Dforce, I checked your comments back for the past year or so and I didn’t find the alien in question. Could you refresh my memory?
I’m not gonna give him powers, it’s bad ass to not have powers and be able to do anything these so called; “Superhumans can”… If I take Bruce’s suit, gadgets, car and forturne and make him fight Peter Parker with peter lacking his powers or any other of these “superheroes”… Tell me who would have their ass handed to them.
And the Parkour is just to give a dodging and agile theme… I want to basically be one of those quick on their feet jumpy, nimble and well Jujutsu is to make him good at disarming/ subduing armed or non-armed enemies (just good at getting people down and crying fast I guess) and yeah I wanna hire a choreographer or pro martial artist to make sure I get every move just right… If I can afford one…
Are you trying to turn a profit with this? I’m not too familiar with action-heavy titles, but I don’t think the choreographer would pay for himself on a self-published book. My rule of thumb is that every dollar you spend has to sell at least one book or the investment will run a loss.
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That said, I am fond of Rafael Kayanan’s work. If money were absolutely no object, I might hire him as a fight choreographer for a series that places an extremely high emphasis on realistic combat. But if breaking even or (cross your fingers) turning a profit is the goal, I think fight choreographers take (significant) money that I’d rather spend on getting a better artist or on promotions/advertising.
Good point, I said if I can afford it… I guess you’re right if I’m wasting more than I make then it’s a loss but I’m forming a group on Deviant and I wanna gather them all.
Comic Writers, Pencillers, Inkers, Mangakas, Illustrators, Graphics Designers… I want to gather as many of each as I can… I guy like me can’t do this so anyway guys if any of you were born around 1993 to 1996… then holler at me, e-mail; sharingan_madara_101@hotmail.com
My group is called Aeon Comics. and symbolizes the generation from born in the 1990s and grows into adults in to the early 2000s… So yeah if around 2010 after your said birthday in the year, you’re not exactly 14, 15, 16 or 17 years old I guess you can’t join.
If you know anyone or think you’re up for it, thin again contact me, if not well then have a nice day… Seriously I need help and idiot like me can’t pull it off ever…
I think people would be more inclined to work with you if you didn’t call yourself an idiot. Quiet confidence.
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I’m not sure how many professional-grade ~15 year old teammates you’ll find, though. My colorist, Emily, is a 19 year old that strikes me as something of a prodigy and, like me, I think she’s come a long way in the past few years.
Improvement Meme. Weirdness. by *Foxbane on deviantART
What I was writing at 18 or 19 was hilariously bad… getting good takes a lot of practice and I still haven’t gotten published. On the plus side, my readers have expressed interest in buying 200 copies of my unpublished comic over the last five weeks. But if I were self-publishing, I figure I’d need to sell two THOUSAND issues to break even. For a 32 page comic, labor alone would cost me $6000, and I’d also need to cover distribution, promotions, marketing, any printing expenditures, etc.
Now his name’s Adam Maxwell and the girl’s gonna be called; -…..-(need her first name, think of names like Erika, well lol just think of anything and a name for his male sidekick well he’s not the tech guy but the dumb friend that makes lame jokes or whatever I’d say he’d be a ron stoppable but no mission tag alongs/ tag alongs on the field/ he doesn’t help fight crime well physically, or in general, really.
hahaha, I’ve been a leader tonnes of times, I probably wasn’t much I know I wasn’t but everyone I worked with seemed to praise me as a good leader, to me a good leader isn’t a conceited ambitious, strong man, he’s someone that knows he needs the people around him and fulfills his obligation as their leader while keeping the group’s and their interests at heart, no I don’t know if I’ve done this and I didn’t I’m sure… And I don’t have ideals, that Ideal is wrong I’m sure as well… Ideals and confidence are just weights that make it hurt more when you fall down, I’m sure I’m wrong there but whatever, I am idiot after all
lol…
Anyway sorry I need people around my age and I’m sure she’s better than me but I need people that kinda deviate to the comic style of sketching or just good with inkI don’t care if they use pens or pencils, I used pencils at first and moved to pens and now I might go back to pencils, I dunoo anyway thanks for taking a crack it, you’ve been more helpful then I could every be now enough of this conversation and let’s get back to naming my characters the the city or superhero name or do you like “Stanton”…
let’s have a poll, everyone that like’s the name STANTON CITY, post 91
everyone against or just has a better idea post 0, and if you have an idea, post it as well..
and you’d be surprised what kids around 14 to 17 can do nowadays… I’m the litter of the bunch of coarse but trust me, some of these guys can do shit university graduates can’t even do, with all their “education”… I dunno though I’m sure someone that went to uni can beat a teen who learns from books or the web or whatever I dunno but they’re good, I guess, I wouldn’t know
Talented prodigies in fact… Better than me that’s for sure…
-Unnamed Superhero-
Basic Info:
Name: Adam Maxwell
Alter Ego: —–
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Birthdate: February 3, 2025
Blood type: O-
Occupation: High school Student & ——
I need an occupation other than being an HS student, remember the point of this character in his younger years is the financial struggle him and his mother go through due to his father’s reluctance to pay for anything unless they move in with him to Sataroia (Fictional country, that’s weak on technological development and educational structure and well around everything)…
In the year 2040 it’s gonna be pretty high-tech with extremely advanced technology so a job like being a noodle shop counter boy doesn’t work since it’ll all be handle by robots or whatnot… I need a job for him to work on outside of his school work…
Got any?
Now if any of you need a personality analysis on my character to come up with a good superhero alias/ alter ego then just wait, I’m not quite done yet however I need a cool darkish theme and name, like a reaper or kinda like Batman in fact my inspiration is Terry Mcginnis, Batman Beyond A.K.A the Batman of tomorrow! I might add some Bruce Wayne elements but I was never much of a Bruce analyst, I haven’t watched much of the original series, just some cassettes from my childhood and some movies that come on TV every once in awhile or whatever…
So really I think all you need is the theme I’m aiming for but I guess the personality and interests Adam boasts are crucial too, or am I wrong?
And no I’ll try to stay away from the cliche futuristic themes, flying cars and whatnot, so if any of you have great ideas for a modern world with amazing technology then blast away…
Umm, is his bloodtype relevant to the story? I wrote this article about relevant demographic details with novel/comic book submissions in mind, but I think it could help you deal directly with customers as well.
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If the setting is very high-tech, making him something like a mechanic or robot repairman might work. Those mechanical/electronic/computer skills might help him as a superhero, as well.
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If your publisher employs minors, I would definitely recommend consulting with a legal expert about relevant child labor laws in your country. For example, the Wikipedia page for US child labor laws indicates that most US minors cannot work 3+ hours on a school day. If there’s anything similar going on in your country, I think that your work schedule would get very complicated.
Hmm what’re you talking about I’m not gonna work for anyone until I’m older and I wanna try to build my own corporation/ publisher, my parents have always been business people that owned their own companies or establishments even if they were cooks or barbers at some point they owned a restaurant or barber shop (those to are my mom’s), so it’d be nice if I kept it going I dunno though…
But the mechanic part is okay, now please no more on me, this is about Adam Maxwell and his story in general and if you wanna help me out with his background then it’d be good… And what gave off that the blood type was important it’s like a decoration like how a birth date would be ( I referenced his birth date/ month a day to this girl I like, not sure if her birthday is the 3rd or even Feb though so I’ll ask her) and reference to my O blood type.
Again if you wanna help with his background or heck do a lot or most of it just add me on MSN and we can talk it over… Or you can e-mail me your ideas, now let’s not seclude this B.Mac alone, everyone here please try to pitch in… No prob if you don’t though, whatever…
And if you meant how many hours he’d work then I guess I’ll base it off whatever limits are in the real world, I’ll either use a certain countries or gather the average limit worldwide and use it…
But of coarse with his issues he won’t have any problems with working something like over-time or working more than the average limit…
I wanna make him rich after he graduates, inheriting his grandfather’s corporation Max Corp. or whatever it’ll be called, I’m not gonna make a middle class guy that grows to be middle class or a low class guy that grows to be low class or a rich kid that grows to be a wealthy man… I’m gonna make a low to middle class guy that gets rich or maybe I’ll build him up in some way, so he gets rich on his own, we’ll see I dunno for now…
But Yeah I wanna have different time periods, teenanger, early 20s/ young adult, then basicaly still a young adult and then a middle aged man but for now I know I might have it to his second young adult years which is basically middle aged
late 20s to early to whatever 30s… which I don’t think is middle aged but whatever…
Hmm. To get more people to respond, it would probably help if you responded to other people as well.
For example, in the past 24 hours…
–Brett asked for advice on superpowers.
–Becca posted a new chapter for review (you can see the first chapter here)
–Anonymous asked for help with a two-sentence synopsis
I see I suck but I’ll try and anyway, why don’t you give it a try… Please
Surprisingly enough, there are a few superhero-worthy inventions that scientists predict humanity will have in the near future – invisibility devices (Which only work if you don’t move, but hey, if I had something to hide I’d lock it in a safe and put it under the device), suits granting enhanced strength (This one actually exists today), and the ability to regenerate limbs (An interesting fact about this one is the fact that the amputee could theoretically alter his limbs – say, a swimmer growing webbed hands. There was an article online about this somewhere…).
The above aren’t necessarily the most awesome-looking, but they plausibly could exist in the year 2040. Sorry not to be of more help, I’ll keep digging.
- Wings
All of the inventions that Wings mentioned are very much true, but you also must keep in mind that they will most likely not be released to the general public due to their capabilities. (This doesn’t change the fact that law enforcement or some criminal organizations won’t have access to it though.)
I myself am a comic book fan and I once heard from a particular comic (I can’t quite remember the name.) that the flaw that every weapon has is the one that wields it. By that logic, it’s not the tech of the gadget, it’s how the character uses it. (Batman still kicks ass, even without his Bat-a-rang.) So you could simply make your character more adept at the use of certain tools to give him an advantage or make him seem super.
Need a name for Adam’s love interest/ girlfriend….
Got any good ones?
here are some choose which one you like…
Ophelia
Alice
Alison
Andrea
Becky
Caitlin
Zoe
Cynthia
Deborah
Erika
Faith
Heather
Haley
Ivy
Ingrid
June
Kyla
Melody
Molly
Anyway, I know sucky names, I’d like June for some reason though, my mom was born on the 18th of June I think, I’m not sure, I’m an idiot…
I like Becky, June and Heather. Some of these other ones strike me as a bit dated.
I also like Becky and June. I think Kyla or Haley could work, too.
I like June, Ivy, and Heather. I could see these names work a number of ways.
Be careful to make sure you know what your names mean before you choose them. It may not sound important, but many readers will associate a name with something and stick that to your character regardless if it fits or not.
Example, both ‘Ophelia’ and ‘Alice’ refer strongly to insanity. o.O
In fact, if you call the character Ophelia people will be wondering why she isn’t mad!
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheOphelia
I see, well thanks for the input…
But I might go with Alice or Heather they fit her profile, not bitchy or super hottish (which she will be, kinda) but nice and warm and cute but at the same time anyone with the name would come off as some hot chick when you hear it, I’m sure I’m wrong and it’s just me and my idiocy..
Caitlin has the same effect too
I think, again it’s probably just me and my idiocy…
No, I agree, something like Alice definitely makes me think of a pretty girl. <3 It makes me think of Alice in Wonderland- (I know, I know, but that's the most common connotation for that name)- and the whole 'Go ask Alice' thing. Alice Liddell (is it Liddell?) is a pretty girl. However the name also carries a strong touch of, em, madness. Just be careful with that and you should be fine.
And stop calling yourself an idiot, 'cause you aren't.
“And stop calling yourself an idiot, ’cause you aren’t.” Agreed. I think that it’s natural for every writer to have self-doubts from time to time, but it sounds like it’s serious enough for you that it might scare away prospective partners and customers (and publishers, if you head down that route). Quiet confidence!
Two things. If you actually think you’re an idiot, I would highly recommend against self-publishing because it could only end in disaster. (In fact, even for savvy businessmen, I think that self-publishing usually hemorrhages money). If you don’t think you’re an idiot, telling other people you’re an idiot cannot possibly help you. Nobody has as much incentive to believe in you as you do.
Okay, that’s enough pep-talking for one day. Back to crushing dreams and shredding hearts!