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Hello my name is Nathan. Nath for short. Why am I called Nathan? God knows, just something that my parents decided and I have no control over it. In fact it turns out I’m named after the manufacturer that made my mums table. Odd. But one thing I can say is that my name is fairly common and not really that weird. So what inspiration are some designers given to make them think such stupid names up as ‘Cloud Strife’ (Final Fantasy VII) and ‘Guybrush Threepwood’? (Monkey Island). Imagine having names like that. Even sitting through the school registered would be embarrassing. So what inspires characters to be given such peculiar names?
In a lot of cases names are already thought up for the developers. Games recreating sports and films are usually the case. If the ugly one with big ears is called Jar Jar Binks in the film of Star Wars Episode I then he must be called Jar Jar Binks in the game of Star Wars Episode I. Same with sports. You wouldn’t expect David Beckham to be called Davey Beechems would you? (Well unless you were playing a poorly licensed game).
But what happens if it isn’t that easy? Imagine the hell a developer goes through looking through the ‘Dictionary Of Names’ over and over until they find a suitable name for an obese alien with large feet and the mental age of a two year old. It must be tough. Yes, sometimes the attributes of a character can help, where as a big tough guy would not have a name like Clarence but something more like Hulk or Hank, maybe. A good example of this is Max Payne. The story goes something like he is a normal man but his family is murdered and then he gets set up for another murder and everywhere he turns people try to shoot him. So his name? Payne as in Pain. The developer wanted the name to portray that he offers pain or indeed receives it and to make it seem even harsher the Max is added as his first name to make it seem like his name is ‘Maximum Pain’. Fits quite well I think.
Another way a developer is helped into choosing the name could be to do with the storyline. Solid Snake was probably named ‘Solid’ because again like Max Pain, Hideo Kojima wanted the gamer to get the impression that Snake was a tough, solid guy. But. Later on in the MG series we find out that Solid Snake has brothers in the form of Liquid and Solidus. You could say that Snake was called Solid Snake so that his name would fit in with this ‘States of matter’ story line, but that would have meant a lot of forward thinking. However it did mean that such characters as Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake could be named accordingly to fit in. Who knows, the next boss in a MGS game could be called Gas Snake, it just depends on what Hideo is on at the time of thinking up the names. Another good example though of the story based naming scheme is Tidus out of Final Fantasy X. The game is very water themed. Tidus sounds like a watery name. After all, part of his name, the ‘Tide’ sounding bit, is to do with the sea, which is water unless I’m very much mistaken.
So we’ve seen possibilities on how some developers are influenced into calling their characters what they do call them, but how can you explain such weird ones as Crash Bandicoot? The Bandicoot bit makes sense because he’s a bandicoot (Duh). But where the hell did the Crash part come from? Unless he’s a stuntman in his spare time or even a Microsoft Operating System then I can see no way that it fits. I’m sure only Naughty Dog, Crashes creators, can explain, unless of course you can. In fact, if anyone knows, send your solutions on the back of a postcard to the following address…actually don’t.
So if I was a character designer and I had to think up a name then I think I’d probably decide to go on strike. It may seem easy thinking up the name for a character but I’m sure it’s not (check the title for proof). It’s got to suit the character, be catchy and not sound daft. God knows where some of the names of our beloved characters come from, but wherever they have I’m sure there’s a sensible explanation behind them. Unless they are named after someone’s table.
Thanks for reading.
Nath.
In a lot of cases names are already thought up for the developers. Games recreating sports and films are usually the case. If the ugly one with big ears is called Jar Jar Binks in the film of Star Wars Episode I then he must be called Jar Jar Binks in the game of Star Wars Episode I. Same with sports. You wouldn’t expect David Beckham to be called Davey Beechems would you? (Well unless you were playing a poorly licensed game).
But what happens if it isn’t that easy? Imagine the hell a developer goes through looking through the ‘Dictionary Of Names’ over and over until they find a suitable name for an obese alien with large feet and the mental age of a two year old. It must be tough. Yes, sometimes the attributes of a character can help, where as a big tough guy would not have a name like Clarence but something more like Hulk or Hank, maybe. A good example of this is Max Payne. The story goes something like he is a normal man but his family is murdered and then he gets set up for another murder and everywhere he turns people try to shoot him. So his name? Payne as in Pain. The developer wanted the name to portray that he offers pain or indeed receives it and to make it seem even harsher the Max is added as his first name to make it seem like his name is ‘Maximum Pain’. Fits quite well I think.
Another way a developer is helped into choosing the name could be to do with the storyline. Solid Snake was probably named ‘Solid’ because again like Max Pain, Hideo Kojima wanted the gamer to get the impression that Snake was a tough, solid guy. But. Later on in the MG series we find out that Solid Snake has brothers in the form of Liquid and Solidus. You could say that Snake was called Solid Snake so that his name would fit in with this ‘States of matter’ story line, but that would have meant a lot of forward thinking. However it did mean that such characters as Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake could be named accordingly to fit in. Who knows, the next boss in a MGS game could be called Gas Snake, it just depends on what Hideo is on at the time of thinking up the names. Another good example though of the story based naming scheme is Tidus out of Final Fantasy X. The game is very water themed. Tidus sounds like a watery name. After all, part of his name, the ‘Tide’ sounding bit, is to do with the sea, which is water unless I’m very much mistaken.
So we’ve seen possibilities on how some developers are influenced into calling their characters what they do call them, but how can you explain such weird ones as Crash Bandicoot? The Bandicoot bit makes sense because he’s a bandicoot (Duh). But where the hell did the Crash part come from? Unless he’s a stuntman in his spare time or even a Microsoft Operating System then I can see no way that it fits. I’m sure only Naughty Dog, Crashes creators, can explain, unless of course you can. In fact, if anyone knows, send your solutions on the back of a postcard to the following address…actually don’t.
So if I was a character designer and I had to think up a name then I think I’d probably decide to go on strike. It may seem easy thinking up the name for a character but I’m sure it’s not (check the title for proof). It’s got to suit the character, be catchy and not sound daft. God knows where some of the names of our beloved characters come from, but wherever they have I’m sure there’s a sensible explanation behind them. Unless they are named after someone’s table.
Thanks for reading.
Nath.
That....didn't work...anyway...names.....What is a Raiden or what does Raiden mean. Ponce? Puff? Nancy Boy?
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Sorry thought it would be nore interesting that way :D
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Sorry thought it would be nore interesting that way :D
Go to the FOG (chat) forum Natbuc!!!!
Hmmmmm....pop?
Hello my name is Nathan. Nath for short. Why am I called Nathan? God knows, just something that my parents decided and I have no control over it. In fact it turns out I’m named after the manufacturer that made my mums table. Odd. But one thing I can say is that my name is fairly common and not really that weird. So what inspiration are some designers given to make them think such stupid names up as ‘Cloud Strife’ (Final Fantasy VII) and ‘Guybrush Threepwood’? (Monkey Island). Imagine having names like that. Even sitting through the school registered would be embarrassing. So what inspires characters to be given such peculiar names?
In a lot of cases names are already thought up for the developers. Games recreating sports and films are usually the case. If the ugly one with big ears is called Jar Jar Binks in the film of Star Wars Episode I then he must be called Jar Jar Binks in the game of Star Wars Episode I. Same with sports. You wouldn’t expect David Beckham to be called Davey Beechems would you? (Well unless you were playing a poorly licensed game).
But what happens if it isn’t that easy? Imagine the hell a developer goes through looking through the ‘Dictionary Of Names’ over and over until they find a suitable name for an obese alien with large feet and the mental age of a two year old. It must be tough. Yes, sometimes the attributes of a character can help, where as a big tough guy would not have a name like Clarence but something more like Hulk or Hank, maybe. A good example of this is Max Payne. The story goes something like he is a normal man but his family is murdered and then he gets set up for another murder and everywhere he turns people try to shoot him. So his name? Payne as in Pain. The developer wanted the name to portray that he offers pain or indeed receives it and to make it seem even harsher the Max is added as his first name to make it seem like his name is ‘Maximum Pain’. Fits quite well I think.
Another way a developer is helped into choosing the name could be to do with the storyline. Solid Snake was probably named ‘Solid’ because again like Max Pain, Hideo Kojima wanted the gamer to get the impression that Snake was a tough, solid guy. But. Later on in the MG series we find out that Solid Snake has brothers in the form of Liquid and Solidus. You could say that Snake was called Solid Snake so that his name would fit in with this ‘States of matter’ story line, but that would have meant a lot of forward thinking. However it did mean that such characters as Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake could be named accordingly to fit in. Who knows, the next boss in a MGS game could be called Gas Snake, it just depends on what Hideo is on at the time of thinking up the names. Another good example though of the story based naming scheme is Tidus out of Final Fantasy X. The game is very water themed. Tidus sounds like a watery name. After all, part of his name, the ‘Tide’ sounding bit, is to do with the sea, which is water unless I’m very much mistaken.
So we’ve seen possibilities on how some developers are influenced into calling their characters what they do call them, but how can you explain such weird ones as Crash Bandicoot? The Bandicoot bit makes sense because he’s a bandicoot (Duh). But where the hell did the Crash part come from? Unless he’s a stuntman in his spare time or even a Microsoft Operating System then I can see no way that it fits. I’m sure only Naughty Dog, Crashes creators, can explain, unless of course you can. In fact, if anyone knows, send your solutions on the back of a postcard to the following address…actually don’t.
So if I was a character designer and I had to think up a name then I think I’d probably decide to go on strike. It may seem easy thinking up the name for a character but I’m sure it’s not (check the title for proof). It’s got to suit the character, be catchy and not sound daft. God knows where some of the names of our beloved characters come from, but wherever they have I’m sure there’s a sensible explanation behind them. Unless they are named after someone’s table.
Thanks for reading.
Nath.
In a lot of cases names are already thought up for the developers. Games recreating sports and films are usually the case. If the ugly one with big ears is called Jar Jar Binks in the film of Star Wars Episode I then he must be called Jar Jar Binks in the game of Star Wars Episode I. Same with sports. You wouldn’t expect David Beckham to be called Davey Beechems would you? (Well unless you were playing a poorly licensed game).
But what happens if it isn’t that easy? Imagine the hell a developer goes through looking through the ‘Dictionary Of Names’ over and over until they find a suitable name for an obese alien with large feet and the mental age of a two year old. It must be tough. Yes, sometimes the attributes of a character can help, where as a big tough guy would not have a name like Clarence but something more like Hulk or Hank, maybe. A good example of this is Max Payne. The story goes something like he is a normal man but his family is murdered and then he gets set up for another murder and everywhere he turns people try to shoot him. So his name? Payne as in Pain. The developer wanted the name to portray that he offers pain or indeed receives it and to make it seem even harsher the Max is added as his first name to make it seem like his name is ‘Maximum Pain’. Fits quite well I think.
Another way a developer is helped into choosing the name could be to do with the storyline. Solid Snake was probably named ‘Solid’ because again like Max Pain, Hideo Kojima wanted the gamer to get the impression that Snake was a tough, solid guy. But. Later on in the MG series we find out that Solid Snake has brothers in the form of Liquid and Solidus. You could say that Snake was called Solid Snake so that his name would fit in with this ‘States of matter’ story line, but that would have meant a lot of forward thinking. However it did mean that such characters as Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake could be named accordingly to fit in. Who knows, the next boss in a MGS game could be called Gas Snake, it just depends on what Hideo is on at the time of thinking up the names. Another good example though of the story based naming scheme is Tidus out of Final Fantasy X. The game is very water themed. Tidus sounds like a watery name. After all, part of his name, the ‘Tide’ sounding bit, is to do with the sea, which is water unless I’m very much mistaken.
So we’ve seen possibilities on how some developers are influenced into calling their characters what they do call them, but how can you explain such weird ones as Crash Bandicoot? The Bandicoot bit makes sense because he’s a bandicoot (Duh). But where the hell did the Crash part come from? Unless he’s a stuntman in his spare time or even a Microsoft Operating System then I can see no way that it fits. I’m sure only Naughty Dog, Crashes creators, can explain, unless of course you can. In fact, if anyone knows, send your solutions on the back of a postcard to the following address…actually don’t.
So if I was a character designer and I had to think up a name then I think I’d probably decide to go on strike. It may seem easy thinking up the name for a character but I’m sure it’s not (check the title for proof). It’s got to suit the character, be catchy and not sound daft. God knows where some of the names of our beloved characters come from, but wherever they have I’m sure there’s a sensible explanation behind them. Unless they are named after someone’s table.
Thanks for reading.
Nath.