History Main / MadLibFantasyTitle

* ''TheLordOfTheRings'': The in-universe final title of the book decided on by Frodo is ''The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King''.
* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'': ''A Game of Thrones'', ''A Clash of Kings'', ''A Storm of Swords'', ''A Feast for Crows'', ''A Dance With Dragons''

* {{Neverwhere}}.

* ''Slaves to Armok, God of Blood; Chapter II: VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. Actually makes use of Mad Lib names in game: proper names are randomly generated, which can theoretically result in names like "Bloodfist the Scourging Fire", but more commonly ends up with you managing a fortress called "[[WordSaladTitle Seethebritches the Blistering of Whelks]]" or "LetsPlay/{{Boatmurdered}}".

* {{Dragonforce}}'s songs tend to embody this trope.

* {{Bal-Sagoth}} take this trope UpToEleven with songs like "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire, Part II: The Dark Liege of Chaos is Unleashed at the Ensorcelled Shrine of A'zura-Kai".

* Dang near the entire SierraOnLine catalog, starting with VideoGame/KingsQuest, the success of which caused them to shoehorn the word "Quest" into all of their franchises possible, even when it wouldn't really make sense (''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'', anyone?). In fact, the were sued when they named their second fantasy series Hero's Quest (Already the name of a fantasy board game), before changing it's name to VideoGame/QuestForGlory. A few series managed to avoid it, but the only long lasting one was the VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry games.

* ''TheDarkCrystal''
* ''ReignOfFire''

** Also by Weis and Hickman, ''TheDeathGateCycle'', comprising ''Dragon Wing'', ''Elven Star'', ''Fire Sea'', ''Serpent Mage'', ''The Hand of Chaos'' and ''The Seventh Gate''.

* Mystical concepts - Curse, Chaos, Omen, Prophecy, Destiny, Oath

* Time and space on a grand scale (Age, Eon, Epoch, Sun, Moon, Star, Infinity, Eternity

* Gems and precious metals (Diamond, Gold, Mythril)

* Time and space on a grand scale (Age, Eon, Epoch, Sun, Moon, Star, Infinity, Eternity)
* Extended table of magical elements - Fire, Air, Wind, Lightning, Stone, Life, Death
* Emotionally charged words (Heart, Tears, Sorrow, Wrath)

* Metafictional descriptors aiming to present the book as something more epic: Adventure, Quest, Journey, Chronicle, Saga, Legend, Tale, Fable, Song, Ballad
** Dramatic events: Beginning, End, Rise, Fall, Conquest, War

* Weapons (Sword, Dagger, Blade) or other assorted McGuffins (Ring, Crown, Amulet, Throne)

* Adventure, Quest, Journey
* Assassin
* Castle, Fortress, Tower
* Chaos
* Chronicle, Saga, Legend, Tale, Fable
* Curse
* Dark, Light, Shadow, Night
** Dawn, Dusk, Twilight, Eclipse
* Death/Deadly
** Life
* Demon
* Dragon (or any other mythological beast)
* God, Goddess
* House (when not referring to a house in the modern sense)
* Hunter
* Kingdom, Empire, Realm
* Knight
* Lost, Forgotten
* Oath
* Prophecy, Destiny, Omen
* Phantom, Ghost, Spirit
* Rise/Rising
** Fall/Fallen
* Secret, Hidden, Veiled, etc.
* Song, Ballad
* Sorcerer/Sorcery; Wizard/Wizardry; Witch/Witchery/Witchcraft; Magician/Magic; etc.
* Sword, Blade, Dagger
* Tears
* Thief
* Wrath
* [[Main/ElementalRockPaperScissors Classical elements]]: Fire, Air/Wind/Lightning, Water/Ice, Earth
* Precious metals and gems: Gold, Silver, Emerald
** Jewelry: Amulet, Ring
* Titles of authority: King, Prince, Emperor, Lord, Master
** As well as monarchy-related objects and concepts: Crown, Throne, Reign
* Fictional country names
* [[MacGuffinTitle The name of the]] MacGuffin
* [[FauxSymbolism Vaguely Biblical-sounding names]]: Genesis, Exodus, Testament
* Heavenly bodies: Sun, Moon, Star(s)
* Really long time periods: Age, Aeon, Era
** Also infinite ones: Eternal, Ever
* Similarly, letting us know a bit where we are in the time period: End, Beginning, Source, Last...

* Creator/StephenRDonaldson's ''ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'': ''Lord Foul's Bane,'' ''The Illearth War,'' and ''The Power that Preserves.''

Due to the prevailing view that using English in the title is cool, a fantasy mangaka find it difficult to not lean to this trope.

* These are are both more frequent and [[WordSaladTitle more mad-libbly]] ''before'' [[GratuitousEnglish translation]]. Currently broadcasting at time of writing: ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' ([[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment now with more magic]]), ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', ''Anime/BattleSpiritsSwordEyes'', and ''[[IxionSagaDT Ixion Saga: Dimension Transfer]]''. Translation gives you even ''more'', like "[[VisualNovel/HiiroNoKakera Scarlet Fragment]]" and "[[ZetsuenNoTempest Isolated Tempest]]."

* Referenced in [[Literature/ThursdayNext ''The Well of Lost Plots]], where the unfinished fantasy novel set apart as a literary wildlife reserve (with many poor abandoned unicorns) is called ''The Sword of the Zenobians''

* Raymond E. Feist avoided this in his earlier works (''Magician'', ''Silverthorn'', ''Faerie Tale'') but his later series are all about this trope. [[TheRiftwarCycle Empire Trilogy]]: ''Daughter of the Empire'', ''Servant of the Empire'', ''Mistress of the Empire''. Serpentwar Saga: ''Shadow of a Dark Queen'', ''Rise of a Merchant Prince'', ''Rage of a Demon King'', ''Shards of a Broken Crown''; etc.
* Stephen R. Donaldson's ''ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'': ''Lord Foul's Bane,'' ''The Illearth War,'' and ''The Power that Preserves.''

* {{Bal-Sagoth}} take this trope UpToEleven with songs like "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneat the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire, Part II: The Dark Liege of Chaos is Unleashed at the Ensorcelled Shrine of A'zura-Kai".

* [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness Both versions of]] [[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness the World of Darkness]] use "Creature: The description" as their titles:

** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''

** The cake however, must be given to ''Return of the Scarlet Empress''.

* ''{{Bionicle}}'' loves these. The three book series were called Bionicle ''Chronicles'',''Adventures'' and ''Legends''. Notable individual titles include ''Reign of Shadows'', ''Dark Destiny'', ''Journey's End'', ''The Yesterday Quest'',''The Legend Reborn'', ''The Fall of Atero'', ''[[MacGuffinTitle The Mask of Light]]'', ''Swamp of Secrets'', ''The Mata Nui Saga'', ''Sahmad's Tale'', ''The Fall and Rise of the Skrall''...

** A lot of Pierce's stuff, actually, including: ''Alanna; The First Adventure, In The Hand of the Goddess, Wild Magic, The Realms of the Gods, The Magic in the Weaving, The Healing in the Vine, [[CircleOfMagic Magic Steps]], Street Magic, The Will of the Empress'' and ''Lady Knight''. Phew.

** And the aversions: ''Ys Strategy'' and ''Ys SEVEN''

Due to the prevailing view that using English in the title is cool, a mangaka find it difficult to not lean to this trope.

Film adaptations of this sort of thing used to avert this trope for fear of [[SciFiGhetto "alienating mainstream audiences"]]. Nowadays, they play it straight using the title of the original work, or even [[ColonCancer err in the opposite direction]]. Examples not mentioned above include:

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

Film adaptations of this sort of thing used to avert this trope for fear of [[SciFiGhetto "alienating mainstream audiences"]]. Nowadays, they play it straight using the title of the original work, or even [[ColonCancer err in the opposite direction]]. Examples not mentioned above include:

* ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''
* ''TheDarkCrystal''
* ''ReignOfFire''

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}} Shippuden'' sometimes translates to ''Manga/{{Naruto}}: Hurricane Chronicles''.
** "Hurricane Chronicles" is the ''literal'' translation of "Shippuuden". Well, "Legend" if you want to be more specific.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} Chronicles'', a Pokemon spin-off with secondary characters as protagonists.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', for trying to pack as much quasi-religious atmosphere into a three word title as humanly possible.
* These are are both more frequent and [[WordSaladTitle more mad-libbly]] ''before'' [[GratuitousEnglish translation]]. Currently broadcasting at time of writing: ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' ([[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment now with more magic]]), ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', ''Anime/BattleSpiritsSwordEyes'', and ''[[IxionSagaDT Ixion Saga: Dimension Transfer]]''. Translation gives you even ''more'', like "[[VisualNovel/HiiroNoKakera Scarlet Fragment]]" and "[[ZetsuenNoTempest Isolated Tempest]]."

[[AC:Table Top Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
* [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness Both versions of]] [[TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness the World of Darkness]] use "Creature: The description" as their titles:
** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''/''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem''
** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse''/''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken''
** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''/''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening''
** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheReckoning''/''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil''
** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming''/''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost''
** ''TabletopGame/MummyTheResurrection''/''TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse''
** ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion''
** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheFallen''
** ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated''
** ''[[TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters Geist: The Sin-Eaters]]''
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': ''Arabian Nights'', ''Legends'', ''The Dark'', ''Fallen Empires'', ''Ice Age'', ''Urza's Destiny'', ''Mercadian Masques'', ''Prophecy'', ''Mirrodin'', ''Champions of Kamigawa'', ''Betrayers of Kamigawa'', ''Saviors of Kamigawa'', ''Ravnica: City of Guilds'', ''Lorwyn''
** ''Unlimited'', ''Unglued'', ''Unhinged'',...
** ''Shadowmoor'', ''Shards of Alara'', ''Alara Reborn'', ''Zendikar'', ''Scars of Mirrodin'',...
** ''Dark Ascension'', Avacyn ''Restored'', ''Return to'' Ravnica, ''Dragon's Maze'',...
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Wonders of The ''Lost Age'', The Black and White ''Treatises'', Oadenol's ''Codex'', Roll of ''Glorious Divinity''.
** The cake however, must be given to ''Return of the Scarlet Empress''.
* TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}
* ''LegendOfTheFiveRings''.
* ''[[GraveRobbersFromOuterSpace Berserker Halflings From The Dungeon of Dragons]]'', like the rest of the game series, has this as a game mechanic. Try to make the title as long as you can, because it increases the chances of you holding a title word at the end for extra victory points.

[[AC: Toys]]
* ''{{Bionicle}}'' loves these. The three book series were called Bionicle ''Chronicles'',''Adventures'' and ''Legends''. Notable individual titles include ''Reign of Shadows'', ''Dark Destiny'', ''Journey's End'', ''The Yesterday Quest'',''The Legend Reborn'', ''The Fall of Atero'', ''[[MacGuffinTitle The Mask of Light]]'', ''Swamp of Secrets'', ''The Mata Nui Saga'', ''Sahmad's Tale'', ''The Fall and Rise of the Skrall''...

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* You can count on HeavyMithril bands to embrace this trope lovingly, not only in titles but in lyrics too.
* The song "Magic of the Wizard's Dream" by Rhapsody (aka Rhapsody of Fire) certainly counts. If the title itself wasn't enough, a solid three fourths of the lyrics (ab)use these buzzwords.
** Hell, you'd be hard pressed to find a Rhapsody of Fire album or song title that doesn't. Even more so, ridiculously many of them are in a "[[TheXOfY Noun Of Adjective Noun]]" format, with the nouns and adjectives seemingly randomly picked from the list.
** The band's name itself falls under this trope (especially the "of Fire" version).
* {{Dragonforce}}'s songs tend to embody this trope.
** Cracked has even made a [[http://www.cracked.com/article_15123_five-most-unintentionally-funny-albums-2006.html word count chart]] for their album "Inhuman Rampage". They also had a similar chart for their first three albums on their [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonforce Wikipedia page]] before it was [[ExecutiveMeddling taken down for being "original research"]].
* {{Bal-Sagoth}} take this trope UpToEleven with songs like "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneat the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire, Part II: The Dark Liege of Chaos is Unleashed at the Ensorcelled Shrine of A'zura-Kai".

[[AC:FanFiction]]
* As [[BigNameFan Farla]] points out, this is very common in ''Pokémon'' fan fiction, with the words "Pokémon", "chronicles", "beginning", "[[OriginalCharacter Character Name]]'', "legend", "journey", "story", "quest", "adventure", "saga", "region", "champion" and the names of the series' regions all cropping up in hundreds of different fics.

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the story is about it's about people from various time periods whose influence would change the world if they hadn't died, and they're fighting in a tournament of which the champion would be resurrected to fulfill his world-changing duty. Moreover, said championship is hosted by a being that is composed of the energy of all martial art masters that have ever lived, therefore named the Eternal Champion.

** A lot of Pierces stuff, actually, including: ''Alanna; The First Adventure, In The Hand of the Goddess, Wild Magic, The Realms of the Gods, The Magic in the Weaving, The Healing in the Vine, [[CircleOfMagic Magic Steps]], Street Magic, The Will of the Empress'' and ''Lady Knight''. Phew.

* ''HarryPotter and the''....name of the book.

Time to put some meaningful words in there.

It's not easy coming up with a compelling title for a story, especially if you are trying to convey the idea that the story is big, somehow important. A title that is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin too blunt]], à la ''SnakesOnAPlane'', might work for a comedy, but for drama, high adventure, and anything that tries to be important, there needs to be something else. Something that sounds meaningful.

That doesn't stop people from using them anyway, to try to let everyone know that, yes, this particular adventure is indeed Epic, and you'd better know it.

* ''TheSpiderwickChronicles'' and ''Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles''.

Incidentally, an easier way to come up with a title is "The Dark (Noun)". For instance: ''The Dark Cushion'', ''The Dark Burrito'', ''TheDarkTower'', etc. Compare MadLibThrillerTitle.

* ''TheDarkTower''