How to Give Names "Power" (Not Religiously) ?

[Naruzeldamaster]

So I'm talking like. Black Beard, he was a real badass of a pirate, and did many insane things, but people only remember him for his Beard, which was black, and he would tie candles and light them to in order to terrorize his enemies. I'm sure the man was a regular nutcase and was remembered for a ton of other shit. But yep, Black Beard, the bearded pirate who had a black beard. Yup.

Anime do this a lot, a character (Usually an officer or something, or a particular instructor) will have way more clout than they realistically should have. Then protagonists come along and the people afraid of them realize they weren't that terrifying to begin with. (Or they were that terrifying and couldn't do anything about it) Either that, or the character having too much clout than they rightfully deserve, and have just enough strength/skill to back up their hot air, etc.

I kind of want to write a character or two who are like that, like the other characters know to be afraid/concerned just from the name.

Not sure how to go about it. I know Fear is one way, but not all characters I wanna write like this enforce their power through fear.

From my experience with this writing mechanism, the character in question tends to be one of two things: the 'best' at something, or the 'leader' of something, sometimes both.
I'm not sure what else goes into it though.

I'm not just talking about character names either too, Kind of want a few places in my world that have that "one does not simply walk into mordoor" energy. Even if the place itself isn't actually that dangerous if you're strong enough to survive there.

 

[Renè Williams]

Ah, good ole Edward Teach...

Anyway, yes, I am doing this. My big bad's name is Umbra, which means nothing really in the language of my world, but in English and other languages has heavy connotations that also end up being a bit of a red herring...

Almost every 'real' name you might think of is only a nickname, and we know the persons real name, or, conversely, they are a myth (King Arthur) and may have never existed or are a combination of people.

It also depends on population density and actions taken versus what the average bad actions in the world are. IE, Blackbeard was well known in his time but if he existed today we'd never know. But we do know the Unibomber.

 

[pmmg]

I dont think it matters what name you choose to use, cause anyone can be the thing that makes the heroes step back and question their courage. Even the stay puft marshmallow man.

I think an easy way to achieve this is to show that it has power by the reaction of characters who have already earned their stripes with the audience. If you mention the dark marsh, and your current bad ass says...No, I wont go in there...its like instant Whoa factor. Or name....You want me to fight Gorgon? Even I am not so foolish....

If you then back that up with reinforcing scenes in the story, it will take a life of its own.

Those gimmicks, like a black beard, or candles, or flaming candles....those are just attention getters. They make people notice, but the rest is the performance after you have their attention. Its the same reason celebs wear such outrageous clothing, and keep their hair in weird ways. The first trick is to get them to notice, the second is to deliver after gaining their attention.

 

[Queshire]

There's a few routes you can go with.

Now, the first and most important aspect to keep in mind is that the impression your audience gets from a character is going to rely a lot on how other characters react to them.

Admittedly this comes from my D&D experience more than from my writing experience, but there's a big difference between if the protagonists treat an antagonist as no big deal (even if the protagonists are just bluffing their way through) vs if they start bunkering down in their fortress and activating the emergency wards.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I dont think it matters what name you choose to use, cause anyone can be the thing that makes the heroes step back and question their courage. Even the stay puft marshmallow man.

I think an easy way to achieve this is to show that it has power by the reaction of characters who have already earned their stripes with the audience. If you mention the dark marsh, and your current bad ass says...No, I wont go in there...its like instant Whoa factor. Or name....You want me to fight Gorgon? Even I am not so foolish....

If you then back that up with reinforcing scenes in the story, it will take a life of its own.

Those gimmicks, like a black beard, or candles, or flaming candles....those are just attention getters. They make people notice, but the rest is the performance after you have their attention. Its the same reason celebs wear such outrageous clothing, and keep their hair in weird ways. The first trick is to get them to notice, the second is to deliver after gaining their attention.

The character I'm writing now for the current chapter is one of these characters, his proper name isn't mentioned at all until like the last leg.
He has nicknames (The barmaid calls him 'mister wolf' because of his comically ornate wolf pelt armor, it's also comical that he wears it to begin with, since he lives in a desert region) and some characters are well aware of him. (That same bar maid also says that last time he fought someone (like a bar fight) in her town they spent a month repairing the damages) The only part of the show he's missing is how people react to his presence in the room, but that's kind of the point. (They do actually react to him, but it's less 'terror' and more, 'oh god he's here' ) People already know to avoid him because he's mostly unpredictable, even though he's not really dangerous unless you legitimately get on his 'bad' side. A lot of the narration describing him paints him as potentially dangerous, rather than someone criminal/evil in that sort of way.

He has no need to flaunt his clout, nor any desire from it. He knows how space-y he seems to people that don't know him and plays off of it, to the point where it's part of his fighting style/technique. But he's not shy about showing his strength when he needs to. The character that actually challenges him to a fight, challenges him because she's overconfident in herself.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Yeah, like everyone else is saying, the power of the name isn't communicated through the character in question and definitely not in the name itself, but rather in how you choose to have the other characters react to them. Are they fearful, envious, worshipful, etc.? The stronger the reaction, the stronger your character. Think about someone like Darth Vader. He's not stomping around telling everyone to fear and obey him. He's secure in his own skin... what's left of it, anyway. He doesn't shy away from violence, but when he does use it he uses it decisively. But it's not his actions or his size or his voice that tells us he is something above the norm. It's how the characters around him react to him, even the ones who stand up to him.

In our series the preternatural world is ruled by a council of five ancient vampire magicians called The Eldest, and those who act on their behalf are the Servants of the Eldest. Brilliant naming, I know. Our protagonists know of the Council, of course, but have never seen an Eldest in person. We do hear about how they can impact their world, though, and we see them being regarded with fear. Through their Servants we see them in action, sweeping in to take control of situations before they can blow up and expose them all to the attention of the humans all around them. The first Eldest we meet, Lady Himiko the Jómon, is referred to by her husband, a prince of Unseelie, as his 'dread lady,' and through his interactions with her we see that even he who loves her and is trusted by her still has the sense to tread carefully around her. Here's how we show them interacting.

~~

In the crib lay a much smaller baby, arms and legs thin and frail, black hair wispy, eyes swollen red from crying and huge in her thin face. While Carrick would have been standing in his wobbly fashion, clinging to the side of his crib to demand his infant due, Keiko lacked the strength to sit up. Aodhán reached down and picked up the delicate baby, Carrick’s twin, and cradled her close to the bare skin of his chest. He rocked her and gently stroked her back, but her distress would not be soothed.

She was starving.

He emerged from the nursery with Keiko tucked tight against him. “Himiko, how long has she been crying?” he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.

Himiko looked up in irritation at the increased noise level and waved a negligent hand. “It woke poor Carrick up. He was very distressed.” She cast an annoyed look at the frail girl and returned to stroking her son’s back as he fed.

Aodhán hesitated, but Keiko’s cries and failure to thrive pushed him yet again to desperation. “Himiko… my love… please, just this once…”

Himiko looked at him quizzically and then her eyes widened slightly as she understood his meaning. Her face hardened, her dark eyes turned to ice. “You wanted her. You feed her,” she said, her voice deepening with cold warning.

Aodhán stepped back and bowed slightly, his starving daughter wailing in his arms. Feeding her was one of the few things they came close to fighting about—close, because Aodhán feared Himiko taking her legendary temper out on the baby. Himiko could kill her in anger and then blame him for enflaming her. He had no doubt she would. Only love for him kept her from killing the girl in cold blood—Himiko in a rage was capable of anything. In cold blood, Himiko had already abandoned Keiko to an orphanage once. Fortunately, Aodhán found out and had been able to retrieve her.

 

[Finchbearer]

I’m not sure what you’re asking. Do you want to write a character who seems scary, but actually is not?

Most of these infamous names have been given because of a defining feature or something they have become known for. Throughout history there are countless examples;

Ivan the Terrible
Ivar the Boneless
Catherine the Great
Edward the Confessor
Aethelred the Unready

Then you have defining features as a name;

Harald Bluetooth
Charles the Bald
Sven Forkbeard

But, most of these individuals have their names because those features defined what they looked like or what they were like in character, so if you have a character called Annie Crack Shot - this kind of has to be backed up by her being a good marksman, or else why is she called Annie Crack Shot?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I’m not sure what you’re asking. Do you want to write a character who seems scary, but actually is not?

Most of these infamous names have been given because of a defining feature or something they have become known for. Throughout history there are countless examples;

Ivan the Terrible
Ivar the Boneless
Catherine the Great
Edward the Confessor
Aethelred the Unready

Then you have defining features as a name;

Harald Bluetooth
Charles the Bald
Sven Forkbeard

But, most of these individuals have their names because those features defined what they looked like or what they were like in character, so if you have a character called Annie Crack Shot - this kind of has to be backed up by her being a good marksman, or else why is she called Annie Crack Shot?

He's scary because of how unpredictable he is, though 90% of the time he's not a threat. (Unless you're an actual villain type of person, then your goose is cooked) Most people still know to avoid him because only a person just as crazy would actually fight him. (He's one of the 'dragons' in my story and he's quite strong) He's garnered enough of a reputation for people to be wary of him (either due to his strength outright or due to how goofy he is) but he's not what you would call evil. He has become well aware of this fact and leans into it for personal amusement. People that actually take the time to know him personally would learn that he's really quite intelligent.

Also I think you're being too narrow with your vision. She could be called Crack Shot because none of her punches miss their mark, like an expert sniper. It doesn't match the idea of the name but still gets the point across.

 

[Jackarandajam]

So I'm talking like. Black Beard, he was a real badass of a pirate, and did many insane things, but people only remember him for his Beard, which was black, and he would tie candles and light them to in order to terrorize his enemies. I'm sure the man was a regular nutcase and was remembered for a ton of other shit. But yep, Black Beard, the bearded pirate who had a black beard. Yup.

Anime do this a lot, a character (Usually an officer or something, or a particular instructor) will have way more clout than they realistically should have. Then protagonists come along and the people afraid of them realize they weren't that terrifying to begin with. (Or they were that terrifying and couldn't do anything about it) Either that, or the character having too much clout than they rightfully deserve, and have just enough strength/skill to back up their hot air, etc.

I kind of want to write a character or two who are like that, like the other characters know to be afraid/concerned just from the name.

Not sure how to go about it. I know Fear is one way, but not all characters I wanna write like this enforce their power through fear.

From my experience with this writing mechanism, the character in question tends to be one of two things: the 'best' at something, or the 'leader' of something, sometimes both.
I'm not sure what else goes into it though.

I'm not just talking about character names either too, Kind of want a few places in my world that have that "one does not simply walk into mordoor" energy. Even if the place itself isn't actually that dangerous if you're strong enough to survive there.

1. People can swap outlandish stories about the character when the character isn't there. "I heard he can vanish at will, in a cloud of red smoke. Laughing. They all say he's always laughing."
2. I do think there's alot of power in name choice. Try using illiteration (King Kron, The Black Blade, The Ghost of Gilhorn) to lend the character a legendary taste (BlackBeard) and make the name easy for the reader to remember.

Try to make the outlandish stories consistent and SOMEWHAT within reason, if they're too all over the place or over-the-top the reader picks up on the gimmick. Blackbeard never "sprouted devil wings and flapped around ships he was attacking," he was known for being cruel and having that one beard thing and that was enough.

I like to use contradiction in the name to lend gravity. If King Kron is a lone-wolf type bounty hunter... why is he called king? There doesn't really have to be a good explanation, it's just a nickname, but the contradiction still sticks around, rubbing against the readers mind, making him memorable.

 

[Finchbearer]

He's scary because of how unpredictable he is, though 90% of the time he's not a threat. (Unless you're an actual villain type of person, then your goose is cooked) Most people still know to avoid him because only a person just as crazy would actually fight him. (He's one of the 'dragons' in my story and he's quite strong) He's garnered enough of a reputation for people to be wary of him (either due to his strength outright or due to how goofy he is) but he's not what you would call evil. He has become well aware of this fact and leans into it for personal amusement. People that actually take the time to know him personally would learn that he's really quite intelligent.

Who??

 

[Queshire]

Naru described what character prompted the thread a couple posts up.

 

[Finchbearer]

Also I think you're being too narrow with your vision. She could be called Crack Shot because none of her punches miss their mark, like an expert sniper. It doesn't match the idea of the name but still gets the point across.

I understand what you’re saying here but this was not what I was trying to convey with the example, plus a punch is far more likely to hit a target than a bullet from a pistol is isn’t it?

What I was trying to convey is that people don’t get these names without reason - Annie in this case is a crack shot because she never misses the target, but if she was indeed only mediocre at this, then she’d fall into irrelevance.

Ivan was terrible, Sven indeed had a forked beard and Catherine was great. Otherwise it’d be Ivan the alright, Sven the average shaped beard and Catherine the mediocre.

 

[Finchbearer]

The character I'm writing now for the current chapter is one of these characters, his proper name isn't mentioned at all until like the last leg.
He has nicknames (The barmaid calls him 'mister wolf' because of his comically ornate wolf pelt armor, it's also comical that he wears it to begin with, since he lives in a desert region) and some characters are well aware of him.

So, I don’t read all the other posts. Is this who you were referring to?

There are a few things here that are confusing to me. A man who wear wolf pelts as armour wouldn’t work unless they’re made of metal. The other issue for me is that wearing a wolf pelt in the desert and you’ll likely die of heatstroke. Unless we are talking about high desert where there is a winter, or if he just wears the pelts after nightfall.

Besides those nitpicks, perhaps he is insane, or follows his delusions in an old God who ‘tells him what to do’. Maybe he is ‘mister crazy’ rather than ‘mister wolf’.

 

[Jackarandajam]

Ivan was terrible, Sven indeed had a forked beard and Catherine was great. Otherwise it’d be Ivan the alright, Sven the average shaped beard and Catherine the mediocre.

I partially agree, but tbh if someone told me blackbeards beard was actually brown I'd believe them.
Reputation and legend account for alot more than fact when it comes to nicknames and titles.
Take Bloody Mary for example; while she was responsible for a lot of persecution, the nickname had less to do with reality than an anti-catholic smear campaign in a very religiously-charged time period for england.

 

[Finchbearer]

I partially agree, but tbh if someone told me blackbeards beard was actually brown I'd believe them.
Reputation and legend account for alot more than fact when it comes to nicknames and titles.
Take Bloody Mary for example; while she was responsible for a lot of persecution, the nickname had less to do with reality than an anti-catholic smear campaign in a very religiously-charged time period for england.

I agree with what you’re saying, I was just trying to illustrate that these people really got a reputation and a particular defining feature just ‘stuck’, and we can of course take into account the historical facts along with why they got their reputation. Although I don’t think you can argue with Sven Forkbeard…

 

[Jackarandajam]

I agree with what you’re saying, I was just trying to illustrate that these people really got a reputation and a particular defining feature just ‘stuck’, and we can of course take into account the historical facts along with why they got their reputation. Although I don’t think you can argue with Sven Forkbeard…

I'm sure it's mostly just random chance, whatever sticks, but in the three seeming categories of nickname (Personality, Physical characteristic, Legacy), I wonder why choose one over the other. Did forkbeard not do anything notable, or did he and Sven the Notable was already taken?
If people started calling me "Jack Mediocre-Beard" I'd wonder if I'd made much of impression.

 

[Mad Swede]

You know, this isn't about names, it's about reputation. Sure, Edward Teach was known as Blackbeard. But it wasn't his nickname that spread terror, it was his reputation. The irony is that Teach wasn't all that successful as a pirate. But his reputation gave his nickname power. I think that if you're trying to write characters like that you need to think through their backstory fairly thoroughly. What have they done to give themselves that reputation? How do they maintain that reputation? And what happens if they regret what they've done but can't escape their reputation? Then you can think about how others might react to them in any given situation...

 

[pmmg]

The character I'm writing now for the current chapter is one of these characters, his proper name isn't mentioned at all until like the last leg.
He has nicknames (The barmaid calls him 'mister wolf' because of his comically ornate wolf pelt armor, it's also comical that he wears it to begin with, since he lives in a desert region) and some characters are well aware of him. (That same bar maid also says that last time he fought someone (like a bar fight) in her town they spent a month repairing the damages) The only part of the show he's missing is how people react to his presence in the room, but that's kind of the point. (They do actually react to him, but it's less 'terror' and more, 'oh god he's here' ) People already know to avoid him because he's mostly unpredictable, even though he's not really dangerous unless you legitimately get on his 'bad' side. A lot of the narration describing him paints him as potentially dangerous, rather than someone criminal/evil in that sort of way.

He has no need to flaunt his clout, nor any desire from it. He knows how space-y he seems to people that don't know him and plays off of it, to the point where it's part of his fighting style/technique. But he's not shy about showing his strength when he needs to. The character that actually challenges him to a fight, challenges him because she's overconfident in herself.

Uh...I am not sure how that changes the my comments. Whether he's frightening, or comical, or unpredictable its still up to other characters to signal how his reputation plays in the story. Show the how the other characters react, and we get a good part of the story, cause we know what they have been overcoming. If you add to this backstory and lore, it just gets more depth. All of this is sold through the entirety of the creation. It begins on page one, where you get me to believe in one of the characters. From that, everything else branches out.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

You know, this isn't about names, it's about reputation. Sure, Edward Teach was known as Blackbeard. But it wasn't his nickname that spread terror, it was his reputation. The irony is that Teach wasn't all that successful as a pirate. But his reputation gave his nickname power. I think that if you're trying to write characters like that you need to think through their backstory fairly thoroughly. What have they done to give themselves that reputation? How do they maintain that reputation? And what happens if they regret what they've done but can't escape their reputation? Then you can think about how others might react to them in any given situation...

And reputations spread and grow in the telling. This is done by some guys we know from our wanderings. Awesome song and a great example of how reputations take hold.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

He's scary because of how unpredictable he is, though 90% of the time he's not a threat. (Unless you're an actual villain type of person, then your goose is cooked) Most people still know to avoid him because only a person just as crazy would actually fight him. (He's one of the 'dragons' in my story and he's quite strong) He's garnered enough of a reputation for people to be wary of him (either due to his strength outright or due to how goofy he is) but he's not what you would call evil. He has become well aware of this fact and leans into it for personal amusement. People that actually take the time to know him personally would learn that he's really quite intelligent.

Also I think you're being too narrow with your vision. She could be called Crack Shot because none of her punches miss their mark, like an expert sniper. It doesn't match the idea of the name but still gets the point across.

If it were me naming a character, I'd start with simple but effective. I can see your guy here being called "Chaos," or "Trickster," Or maybe just "Dragon." Or we could go the Irish route and flip it around. "Honesty." "The Steady."

I don't like "Crack Shot" mostly because it's a very short jump to "Butt Crack" and you don't want to put that in your readers' brains unintentionally. Also, the term 'crack shot' is very closely tied to sharpshooting, so with guns, in American English and will sound strange on someone without a gun. For a character who's primary weapon is her fists I like "Hammer," or "Sledge," stuff like that.