I'm currently outlining a thriller project. It contains a shady global company which has a very powerful, corrupt and dangerous board of directors all of whom are involved in a kind of powerful secret society/organisation based loosely on the Bilderberg group. Thing is I am struggling to come up with a name for them. I want something cold, blunt and short. I thought The Darhma Group but it is extremely close to the name Dharma used by the creators of Lost. Any ideas on what to call them or suggestions on ways to come up with a good name?
Well I can't exactly just feed you a name, as only you will be able to pin down the perfect name that fits them adequetly. What I can do, though, is give a few tips on how to find this name yourself... Think about what the group is doing....what's their goal? Then, come up with a name that fits it...in my current novel, there's a conspiracy group called The Feeders, and everyone calls them that b/c they think they're this wonderful governmet entity giving them resources, but it turns out they're feeding everyone propaganda...I just came up with this today so it's my fresh example haha.. Really though - is this along the lines of "Operation ___," "Code ____," "Department of ____," or just the "___ers" (like birthers, truthers, feeders, whatever have you). Or, as another alternative, you could go with a number or a jumble of letters. Something like "Organization 637790BGC." This adds to the ambiguity, non-transparency factor that adds a whole new level of creepy : you know, what you don't see is scarier that what you do see and all of that. After all, George Orwell's torture room was simply called "Room 101." It really depends on the nature and purpose of this group -- the more you can tell me, the more I can help you! By the way, I like your profile pic!
Thanks very much. I like the numbers idea, I could weave that into their profile somehow. Numbers are cold and don't give much away if you use them right. Their goal really is unrivaled power, they control a lot in the financial world, global pharmaceutical markets and defense contracts as they are but they want more, they are kind of puppeteers of the world pulling strings behind the scenes. Puppeteers doesn't sound sinister enough though. I want them to have a company name to hide behind but have been racking my brains for weeks.
Wow, you and I are sorta in the same boat here. The name I'm giving my company is Spectrum. It's probably temporary until I come up with a better one. Also "The Management", but again, both temporary. Mallory's right that we'd need some more information with what exactly they do. What kind of front do they hide behind in the public?
Also, what kind of control do they want? All companies want to grow and expand their businesses - that's not creepy, that's just the free market (I find an out-of-control government much worse than an out-of-control business, but that's just me). You could give it a slant like the Resident Evil series where they do something to totally warp humanity or unleash something terrible..... Not that I'm encouraging you to rip off the overdone zombie stuff, but you know, they could be in on something scary... What's their most disturbing aspect? (PM me if you don't want to give it away on the boards). Think of a fittingly creepy name from there. The creepiest names are the ones that are the most euphamistic, or the most robotic. The ones that leave the most unsaid.
Why not go with an anagram of their shady practices. e.g. They're a bunch of cowboys - Bowcoys Group.
No legit bad guy is going to embrace their label. They wouldn't call themselves "The Fascist Group," "The Bioterrorist Group," or whatever they may be. An anagram is stilll using that name and accepting it as their own. A better mask would be that of a euphamism...say, "The Hazardous Materials Containment and Proper Use Bureau." It's all glittery and evasive, but it raises some red flags. (Proper use of hazmat usage? haha)
Like I said they are a global business group with branches in Pharmaceuticals, defense, software and the media. The board of this group are made up of the leaders of a secret society who were founded in 1907 and received a massive boost from Nazi blood money. The control they want is absolute. they already hold many politicians in their pockets, control high levels of the American NSA, CIA and Military. I don't want to reveal exactly what their cause is but they want more power than they could ever handle.
I think "funny" names for organizations are cheesy and stupid in a 007 and (some) comic books way. SPECTRE? H.I.V.E.? S.P.I.D.E.R.? Seriously? Names usually show what the organization does or who founded it. For example, Weyland-Yutani or Wayne Enterprises or Cyberdyne Systems or OCP (Omni Consumer Products) are, in my opinion, much more professional and realistic than the above. If the organization is criminal or a front for organized crime, it will definitely not be obvious about it.
It should be a name that tries to automatically engender trust, not as corny as Helping Hands Inc. but along those lines, The Tao Group? Warm & fuzzy names.
Even something like "Helping Hands, Inc." might work depending on the type of business the company performs -- if it's primarily healthcare, childcare or insurance, okay, but if it's something random like defense or software then it's pushing satire.
Here's a corny but clever idea: Try using an anagram. I love anagrams so I made one for you. I started with World Domination and tried to make it into some innocent-sounding company names. I came up with... IT Minor Download (a software company) Mild Row Donation (a charity?) Own Mild Tandoori (a curry house LOL!) Milt And Ironwood (a solicitors or banking agency) Mild Wonton Radio (a broadcaster)
The curry house made me laugh I'll admit Anagrams are not a bad idea though, I'll see what I can find. All these ideas are a great help guys
I like Mallory's post a few steps back. Giving them a group name, rather than a bureaucratic name may be you'll have to write in the characters as consciously evil - are they? You could stir your nugget and omit the name altogether, articulating the story in a way that never mentions any name atoll and yet keeps them a clear knit group
