Your video game naming conventions

I usually pick something juvenile enough to be considered immature, but quote unquote subtle enough to not be distracting (Teates, for example)

edited 10th Aug '13 6:30:37 PM by eternalNoob

I stick to canon names whenever possible.

I nickname my Pokémon pretty descriptive names (like Tyler the Machamp).

Character naming conventions? Well first I would try and make it a name that is realistic enough to be credible but unique enough to be memorable. Examples?

Jessica Evan: that's a pretty common name and would be something you would expect of an aboriginal police officer.

I would try and make it fit the character, so there's a character I'm looking at who is Latin, Mexican or Venezuelan or Brazilian. Carlita Francesca.

If there's a character or name that I like then I would try and use that for my own. Using the above example Francesca is the name of a minor character in the 2003 MTV Spiderman series. My character is much different, but I liked the name Francesca, I liked the character so I use it for my own.

If I want to be clever then I will try for a name that would have some link to another real or fictional character. Glenn Packer is one such character, after the Australian entrepreneur, nothing is made of the name but the reader might make the link. Another obscure one is David Shepard. Now you might be thinking Shepard...actually, no. The name is based on someone called Davis Seecamp. Who's he? He's someone local who is a big mouth on politics and current events, someone who I might base a character around, but Shepard would be more someone Australian actor William Mc Innes could play. Not a rip off of his character Nick Schultz but based on that role he could play Shepard.

I am a sucker for Claudia Black, so I call most of my female characters some version of her most famous character, Aeryn Sun. Because she fricking rocks, dude.

Funny how I am not all that big a fan of the show she is from, eh?

My World Of Warcraft characters mostly got names from Cardcaptor Sakura. My New Vegas toons all get called Courier because it just fits the game better than anything I can come up with.

I generally stick to canon names when possible.

Weirdly though, for character appearances, males are usually blond, and females are almost exclusively redheads.

Character appearances is an interesting point. If at all possible, I give my characters scars and/or tattoos.

I tend to name my characters after my own name on my first run, then canon names on my second run.

Except Cody from Robopon, who will ALWAYS be Cody.

I normally recycle Fire Emblem or other video game names. Maybe occasionally one from a random FFTA(2) character that I liked.

With Pokemon, I tend to mix and match words from different languages, based on the background and inspirations for said 'mon, until I get something that clicks. Alternately, I lift names from anime and other V Gs when it makes a good (and/or punny) connection. I.e., A male Ponyta/Rapidash will be named Roy.

Oh, yeah, I name my items in Team Fortress 2 in reference to other stuff or as a joke.

I have some inexplicable urge to use as many "elegant" and "old money" names as I can in almost everyone I name (regardless of social class), be it in a video game or things that I write. So there are loads of "Victor Rothschild"s and "Natalia Sinclair"s running around. The only exceptions are for ethnic names, names I can twist into something really awesome (Dragon Age II has a preset last name of Hawke, so my two P Cs are named "Rocket Hawke" and "Beretta Hawke" because they sounded like FOXHOUND codenames), and names for intelligent non-humans, which are usually pulled out of my ass.

for unknown reasons, whenever i have to name a creature, the name ends up sounding like something out of Ben 10, like this elephant creature i had in Kingdom Hearts 3D named Stompout, and a rabbit named Breakrbunny. but i'm not above an old cartoon reference either. from the same game, i have a t-rex named Sharptooth, and a dragon named Wild Wing.

edited 12th Aug '13 12:32:42 PM by crimsonstorm15

I generally do not give canon named characters new names unless I come up with a joke that I think is too good to pass up. (When I was 13 this meant naming Red Link and Blue Ganon, though I did not know they had canon names anyway and refused to play as Ash).

Beyond that I try and give them names that are relevant to the setting and failing that names that reflect on what they do or who they are.

Sometimes, as in the case with Pokemon where you will be naming a lot of characters you did not create and will not have much prior knowledge of, I hold off on nicknaming them until I have had them around for awhile and actually know what they are like. I may wait for the Pokemon to evolve before I name it, just in case it goes through an extremely unexpected transformation like Magikarp to Gyarados.

As many others, I tend to use the canon names when appropriate.

After that, it varies by game.

In medieval/fantasy party-based games, I use the following names:

• Holver for the front-line fighter
• Mellani for the female healer.
• Zevs for the blasty wizard.
• Jaskin for whatever other role there is. He's been a thief, an archer, a red wizard, etc.

If picking a nickname for a modern or futuristic character, I'll often use Warlord, as long as it's a single player game. Multiplayer, I tend to use either my online name, or Punching Bag as an admission of skill.

Main character:

If the character has a default/canon name, then that's what I'm using.

Otherwise, I'll probably just name them "Kyler" (assuming the character is a dude).

Failing that, just make something up that sounds appropriate for the setting.

Pokemon: I tend to give my party pokemon names that sound like normal people names. I also try to give them a name that matches the personality I imagine they might have.

Canon names when possible. I do not give nicknames to my Pokemon.

When a name has to be supplied, usually random (Raphael, Jacques, Vash, Thomas, Steven) or my own nickname (Atom).

Canine companions tend to be named Fletcher.

Player characters tend to be named after interesting/memorable characters from other works that I like. My Commander Shepard's first name was Ophelia (Hamlet), and my Chosen Undead was Zerek (Medievil).

Only exception is in The Elder Scrolls games. I try to give my Argonian characters (and they're ALL Argonians) in-universe appropriate names.

Canon if possible/suggested. Male main characters are always Heavy, female main characters are usually Lite, and in the case of Pokemon for your rival, Light. The big exception is Animal Crossing, where I'm just Adam.

The protagonist will always be named Buffy Summers, regardless of gender.

I'm not sure where my chosen names came from. Randomly invented, I think. A male in the team, usually the Big Guy, will be called Daros. Another will be Elios. A female will be called Aiola, which I actually really like as a name. My PC just gets Addy. In Golden Sun The Lost Age, since you control a second party that will eventually join that of the first game, I call the protagonist Adam since Addy will eventually join my team anyway.

I am ridiculously uncreative and just use my username.

If there's more than one character I might actually think of something. Otherwise no dice.

• If a canon name is given: Canon name.

• If the character is cute: Chap.

• If the character is completely customizable:
  • If it's an online avatar / used during online (and I'm using the online):
    • RP-ing is enforced and / or encouraged: Garreth.

    • Any other cases: Gary CX Jk.

  • If the character is male: Make him the most ridiculous / ugly motherfucker and call him Clint.

  • If the character is female: Try to at least make the female passable, any name goes.

• Any other instance:
  • You have to create a family: Just go with twin sisters, name them similar and try to make them lesbian for each other (twin incest FTW).

  • There's a random button: Pick the random button.

  • There are classes:
    • Wizard and has wizard specialization (like in Disgaea): Name them with the first letter based on the color / specialization.

    • Bard: Clint.

    • Otherwise: Go with what fits best, or go with the most ridiculous name ever.

  • Otherwise: Go with whatever fits best, or go with the most ridiculous name ever.

I almost always go with Canon Names (assuming that it's not hidden in supplementary materials or I didn't otherwise miss it somehow). I usually don't name characters after myself either.

Pokémon is one of the main exceptions to both cases. I gave the Gen I and Gen II protagonists their actual names (though I used Ash for Red in Yellow since it was heavily based on the anime), but I didn't use Ethan for HeartGold (I kept him as Gold to match up with Silver) and I named the PCs in Diamond, White, and White 2 after myself.

If there's a class that can summon things, I'll always name them Reginald. I'll always name the main character Disembob if I can't go a class that summons things.

Canon names if they are given but if I have another file that is my username. I usually have a theme for naming Pokémon and it is a different theme each game one was Nintendo characters; Another was numbers ending with 7 (07, 17, 27, and 37).