Greetings, fellow writers. Today the dilemma I face is trying to coming up with a good name for an evil spirit that appears every now and then, a little exposition... Basically in the story, Necromancy is big no,no,no (In the real world too, I guess), those who mess too much with the occult and delve way too deep into Spiritism (Messing with the spirit world, trying to manipulate the properties of one's soul and others', etc.), face punishment in the form of a spirit of a ghostly woman clad in a black cloak (right now that's all got in characteristics) who condemns the offenders of the laws of the spirit world by cursing them... Okay, so I need a good name for this spirit. All I've been able to come up with so far is; "The Woman In Black" and "The Mother of All Curses", which are pretty boring. So I was hoping I could get some advice on how to come up with a compelling name for this monster that doesn't feel too lazy and cliché, but also doesn't sound like that it's trying WAY TOO HARD to sound edgy. Should I go investigate some real life ghost stories? Should I focus more on fleshing the characteristics of the spirit, in hopes of helping coming up with a name? I don't know what to do! Please and thank you.
Go with something mystical that is a bastardization of a real word. One that immediately comes to mind is in the Dragon Age games they often call blood mages "Maleficar" (plural maleficarum). This immediately gives us a sense of badness because its a spin on malevelont/maleficence. I wouldn't name your baddie that for copyright purposes, but "The Maleficar" sounds much better than "The woman in black". There other words such as vile, bale, bane, corrupt that you could use as base words.
It would probably depend on how she was regarded by society in general, and how she operates. Some possible themes to base her name on could include: --Nobody wants to refer to this spirit too directly, for fear of attracting her attention. So something that's oblique and lacking in detail, such as "You Know Who.", "The Lady", "The Cloaked", etc. --Related to the above, people refer to her with a positive-sounding word, much like how you might refer to a gangster as a "goodfella"--you don't want to insult a dangerous being if there's a chance they might overhear you. So "The Merciful One", "The Rewarding Lady", etc. --Something that refers to her role as a judge and a positive (but fearsome) force that guards dangerous secrets. "The Warder", "The Keeper", "Sin-Eater", etc. --Something that emphasises her inhumanity and unnatural nature--not referred to as a person, but as a force of the universe. "The Curse", "The Punishment", "Necromancer's Bane", etc.
expanding on my above thought, combine Mal with a word meaning mother or woman. Progenitor or forebearer could make Malgenitor or Malbearer. If its specifically a woman, she could be the "Maleftress." Words like Witch are good for women that have a negative connotation. Mother Witch? Soul Witch? Try other languages. German is always good for this stuff. Swarzgeist means black ghost, Hexegeist means witch ghost. Even if you don't know what Geist means specifically, it reminds people of poltergeist and we generally are going to assume very bad right off the bat.
Adding on to the other great ideas included here: You might consider location when naming this spirit. For instance providing a city or building name where the apparition is known to haunt in addition to the indicator. Loose examples not specific to your spirit: "The Shade of Cartwright" which can be shortened to "The Shade" in casual conversation. "The Revenant of Stone Quarter" or "The Revenant" Perhaps consider a specific feature of the ghost that it's usually recognized by. "The Night Screamer" generic but has impact. "The Slender Man" a pop culture example, invokes imagery. Although it's unspecific and wholly unremarkable, it has a wide lore base behind it anyway. Sometimes simple is better. My last advice is to consider using words that reference unpleasant and negative things or indicate whatever effects your monster has on its victims. "The Belladonna" a feminine word referring to the poisonous plant of the same name. "The Manraker" targets men, and known for raking her fingerails across the victim's skin. Ultimately, it's going to come down to whatever just sounds right for your particular story, but hopefully some of this can be useful. These are just general examples, so you don't have to take them to heart. Good luck!
All very good advice, thanks a million. I'm going to spend most of the day overlooking your suggestion in hopes of making a final verdict. I'll announce what I went with as soon as I make the verdict.
Oh my god, I just realize what the title of the thread says: "New A Good Name For A Monster..." I'm such a moron!
Lilting Violet for the way she moves when she appears? Other than that I got Black Mamma or Missus Satan.
Using all of the advice I've got (nistly the one about not going into too much detail due to the fear of evoking the malicious spirit), these are the words I've come up with: Dark Black Wandering Chastener Castigator Arbiter.... I don't know, guys, does: "The Black Arbiter" sound good? Or "The Dark Castigator"?
I like Castigator actually, but my personal opinion, I'd drop "Dark". It makes it sound hoaky I think. Just "She's the Castigator" or "The Castigator is coming for me". But that's my two cents worth.
I'm a fan of the old English hag names - Peg Powler, Jenny or Ginny Greenteeth, Black Annis - they just have a dark rustic solidity for me. So Peg, Jennet, Meggie, any of those old contractions together with a nice plain but dark surname (something like Crow, Dark or Nightwood for instance) would be my idea of fun...
Thanks for all the help, all of you, but I think I'm just going with "the Castigator", simple but somewhat threatening enough to be scared of it just by being told it's name. Sorry for any writing errors (I'm writing on a Ipad mini and my fingers are too big, and they suck) Once again, BIG THANKS!
Is this one spirit? As in, a single entity that haunts every person, either through omnipresence or some other force? I'd say don't give her a title at all. Give her a name. If this is one being that punishes everyone throughout time and history, I think her being a named person would be more terrifying than "Mal'detha'hedron". This would make her presence and affect on the world common, and the reality of her existence concrete. This would make her seem like a god, and less like the servant of the god. Gods have names, while most angels are divided into classes.
