J.C. Please don't!

I don't build anything from scratch with my characters, I almost always start with a stereotype, they may not end up that way but they start out that way.

The kindly uncle, effcient king's valet, rebellious teen boy, bossy teen girl, elegant gay man, my Scotland type country has people who spend a lot of time drinking their national drink, fire and brimstone type Abbot, tough elderly Northern English Gran, the kindly eccentric academic, self righteous eighteenth century vicar etc Their names tend to reflect their basic stereotyped personalities

 

In that case, I want to make it clear that I was opposed to the killing of Osiris from the beginning.

 

I think you'll be in the safe zone no matter what, with that fear-inspiring avatar of yours.

 

It depends what you are trying to do. What you mentioned is exactly what I do because it is fun throwing off the reader's expectations. Plus, I like to try to get the reader to look up where the name came from too.

I started doing this mainly because of a conversation I had with several friends where I mentioned the name Odin and they thought I got it from a summons in Final Fantasy.

 

What if their last name is Penney.....?

*silence*

 

Personally I don't see any problem or issue with using mythological or biblical names in writing. It call comes down to how they are used though. But for the most part I don't pay attention to where names come from. Hell I am more likely not to make the connection until someone else points it out. But then maybe I am just a bit thick headed.


Personally I have only ever used two mythological names in naming my characters. Artemis... mostly because 1) Its a cool name and 2) She is/was a bounty hunter and if I remember correctly she was the Goddess of the Hunt.., along with virginity I think. so the similarities end with the hunting bit. lol That and I just really love that name.

The second is Nemesis. My character takes on the name because he believes he is punishing those who abuse technology. He believes that technology should be only used to better man kind. Its a gift and we should be thankful we have the capacity to use things like the Internet. To abuse such technology should be punishable... so Nemesis sorta felt like a great name for him to use.

If the name fits, I use it. That or if I love the name I make it work.

 

Ah, what I see as the beginning of the fall of the western world culture -- people who think vampires are real and that WoW reflects a historical time period.