Hero /villain names .are they cheesy?

[mariusthered]

is it now considered cheese to give your heroes and Villains power names? I ask because trends tend to change and you don't always notice. I starting to lean more towards just giving them normal names that hint at good or bad

thoughts?

[cleo_san]

ooff... hard to tell, I've never done that to my Mage's powers before @.@

I think it really depends on what kind of story you have, I mean a Magical Girl story wouldn't work without silly attack-names! =) Nor would viddeo games.

I guess it really depends if it fits in your story. =) If your story has a "plausible" explanation für power names, use them (like the spells in Harry Potter - although really good wizards don't have to speak them out loudly), if your hero/villain is a showoff - what better way to show than using a super-super-mega-awesome attack name =)

Guess it really depends on what you prefer =)

[hushicho]

If you're working off a genre, codenames and aliases are a genre concession. Usually when people try to distance themselves from genre concessions like costumes and codenames, for example, it comes off as trying too hard and being embarrassed of what they basically owe their story to, which can appear puerile.

If you're doing it incidentally, there's nothing wrong with that, but I think it can give the wrong impression if you try to avoid something because you want to go with a trend or you think it might be seen as cheesy. Trends are usually short-lived, so I'd recommend just going with what you personally prefer. If you don't want to go with codenames, go with just plain names! But if you like codenames, that's fine too! They have a valid reason for existing, and you can tie that into your story!

Hope this helps.

[shaneoid77]

What's wrong with being cheesy?

[mariusthered]

nothing if your macaroni

[Devika]

Haha, struggling with something similar myself. I have a Phantom Thief who needs naming. This is what I've come up with so far:

Go with whatever feels natural for your story instead of following trends. If you cringe when writing it... You should maybe change it. If it feels completely natural, then go for it. I feel there's a wide variety of approaches nowadays, so there's no one "wrong" or "right".

Maybe try to think of how they got the name. Was it something the public/internet/fanbase invented, à la Beyhive for and by the Beyonce fans (Beyonce -> Queen Bey(Bee)) or Cumberbitches (Cumberbatch fans)? That can turn ridiculous, but still be believable!

Or is it a name that comes with the power, like Garo, Miraculous Ladybug, or the Sailor Warriors?

Or did the hero/villain come up with it themselves? Why? Was it a spur of the moment (which might end up sounding silly to everyone else) or was it based on something that happened, or is it connected to the reason they became a hero/villain? Then that could be all the justification you need for the name.

But honestly, as long as the story is good and entertaining enough, people will swallow most things. I mean, come on. Super man. Bat man. Iron man. Spider man. Those names aren't exactly the height of creativity in today's world, but they still work for new audiences, because they like the comics, games and/or the movies. Or when you get behind the names of the Naruto cast: They must have sounded so ridiculous to at least some of the Japanese readers. Naruto is a fish cake for goodness sake. Or Nara Shikamaru, which pretty much is the same as calling someone Paris Eiffeltowerson, or Sweden Meatballson. But it worked for its context, the characters were modeled around specific traits, from the names, over their appearances and personalities, to their skills.

In the end, it's all about the nature of your story. If you still feel insecure, find someone to read through it and get a second opinion from!

Also, definitely this:

What's wrong with being cheesy?

[KSlinger]

Eeey don't worry about it too much. Loads of the names I've chosen for characters have left people going really? for no apparent reason. It's like when you tell someone what you want to name your kid and they say 'I knew someone with that name once, they were dick. I hate that name.' Nothing you can do. So just pick whatever you want-- what suits you.

The only thing I try not to do when naming characters is do a JK Rowling and call a character 'wulf-wulf mcwolfson' to make a point. THAT is cheesy.

[Alamino]

Cheesy can turn into something amazing though,
think about it:
how lame is the name Batman....
Yet he is so amazing he made that name amazing.
Spider-man, same thing.
A name can be cheesy and silly but if the character plays into it well and makes the name their own, it is suddenly no longer cheesy...

[neonmeres]

I guess it depends of what the author wants:

If he want his villain name to make people laugh he can call him something like potato.
If he want his/her name to give him/her a positive image which hides in reality his true evil nature he can call him something like Heart or Braverie. This is actually interesting because the contrast between the positive image of the villain and his hidden evil side can create great complexity for his chracter.
If he want to go for something more straighfoward or evil he can call him/her Painful or Devour.

There are tons of others things villain names can express (mythological gods, ideology , historical period, cultural heritage , nature elments). I think it best to keep all options on the table and see what works best for you.

[punkarsenic]

i think if its done right, power names dont need to be cheesy. in reality, people have street names and aliases and codenames - you just have to consider context. like, if theres an evil overlord of a fantasy world where everyone else is keith and steve and suzanne, and the overlords not hiding their identity, it would be weird if their name was Galactus the Mighty, and more interesting if it was President(/king/minister/etc) McDonald. but if theres a supervillain, in a world with typical supervillain conventions, hiding their identity, Sinistro sounds cool.

maybe theyre overdone, though. or not thought through enough. i think itd be interesting if you had a villain whose codename had positive connotations - i mean, if you chose your codename, why would you choose to call yourself Evil Asshole The Third and not Golden Saviour or something less sinister and more, yknow, cool. sinistro doesnt sound cheesy, just kinda dumb.

[kyupol]

I give em normal names. It's more of expressions and what they say or do is what makes the reader know if they're good guy or bad guy