1. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    Name for Villain?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Adam Bolander, Jan 29, 2020.

    I'm making notes for a villain in an upcoming project I'm planning, but I'm having trouble deciding on a name for him. He's the godlike ruler of a country he created by raising it out of the ocean, and thinks his power gives him the right and responsibility to rule the entire world. All that's keeping him from doing so is a lesser god who's been focusing all of her power in creating a barrier that prevents him from leaving his country.

    I want him to have a name that's obviously more of a title (his real name will be a big reveal later), and the title needs to be something that sounds impressive and intimidating but not...you know, cheesy and stupid. Right now, the best I have is Lord Sovereign and Lord Fury. Which do you think is better--or at the very least, makes your eyes roll less? I'm also open to suggestions!
     
  2. MusingWordsmith

    MusingWordsmith Shenanigan Master Contributor

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    Hm. I think your best bet might to go with something simple? "Emperor" or "Sovereign" or something. I don't tend to think about this a lot, but compounding it could run the risk of sounding like a 'try-hard'. I personally wouldn't find just a title impressive and/or intimidating-- the character would have to be written in a way for me to go 'yep that is a scary dude'.

    Don't forget though, that just because his title is, say 'Emperor', doesn't mean people don't have to use specifically that all the time. Could be a lot of 'Your Highness' and 'My Lord' and 'Your Majesty' running around too.
     
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  3. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    Have you ever read Mistborn? I'm going for kind of a Lord Ruler vibe with him...as in, until you learn his real name, his title (The Lord Ruler) essentially is his name. And since he first wanted to conquer the world because he thought that was the only way to bring peace and eradicate evil, I'd really like his title to reflect that too. At first I was thinking something like Lord Judgement but decided that was a little too on the nose...not that my other ideas are any better, haha.
     
  4. Richach

    Richach Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    If he thinks he is powerful and great, he might well derive his own name. In terms of writability and readability, Lord works well. You may want to drop the Lord at times to stop it becoming too wordy. So it just comes down to his actual name, if you are happy with the idea so far.

    I thought of a name straight away that your description evoked: Thulandros. I might be on a completely different tangent here!
     
  5. Adam Bolander

    Adam Bolander Senior Member

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    I don't want to make up a new word for him, since his title is meant to get his vanity across as soon as you hear it for the first time. Maybe The Lord Sovereign Imperium (just Imperium for short) which by definition is literally The Ruler Ruler Ruler. Maybe someone can bring it up, then get turned into a crater in holy retribution.
     
  6. MusingWordsmith

    MusingWordsmith Shenanigan Master Contributor

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    I have not read Mistborn. I do like The Lord Sovereign Imperium though! It does sound like a very vain, stuck on himself name.
     
  7. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    "Imperium" doesn't mean ruler. In Ancient Rome, it meant the authority granted to a ruler. Nowadays, it means "absolute power". The word you want is "imperator". You could call him Imperator Deus - God Emperor. Or Imperator Maximus - Greatest Emperor.
     
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  8. Mish

    Mish Senior Member

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    I think you pretty much have a free reign to chose a name title in your story. In Dune, Frank Herbert used "Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe". That was pretty on the nose too, but it worked.

    Some other suggestions:

    Imperator
    His Royal Highness
    The Giver of Life
    The Black Regent
    The Maker of Destiny
     
  9. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Or go with something short and to the point.

    The One.

    Or

    The Man.
     
  10. Bentley

    Bentley Member

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    A good way to come up with a name for him is to consider the sort of theme, surrounding your project. What does he do other than try and rule the world? What makes him worthy of being considered something to fear? Just think about what he really wants out of life and it may help get you the name you're looking for. . .

    There's also the name generators. I have a few projects I'm working on, and one in particular, I use the generator for in order to get last names and titles for my characters. Just write down the ones you like and match them with other names that you like. It's a great writing exercise, if you ask me!
     
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  11. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Sir Dr. James T. Klammenhammer Esquire P.H.D. :p

    IDK what's in a name, either it will be cheesy
    or so on the nose you can't help but know they
    are the baddy.
    It is more about what they do, and how the do
    it, and how they think about things that are in
    opposition to your protagonist(s).
    See Bob can be just as evil as Lord Killer McEvilstien,
    but nobody would ever suspect Bob. :D
     
  12. Whitecrow

    Whitecrow Active Member

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    My thoughts:
    Kings liked to add a compliment to their names. Three pieces: Title, name, and nickname.

    Examples:
    King Alexander the Great.
    King Henry the Conqueror
    Lord Perish the Mighty.
    Lord Weisen the Defender.
    Lord Banish the Divine
    Queen Daenerys Targaryen the Breaker of the shackles.
    Etc.

    So you should succeed. The character will have a common name, but he will still have an acclaimed nickname for himself. So it’s not we who come up with a silly nickname for him, this is what the character does on his own.
     
  13. Some Guy

    Some Guy Manguage Langler Supporter Contributor

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    Luminos Imperium Mundis.
    Something about light or enlightenment. Something about ruler. Something about world, as in he created the world or he is the world.
     
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  14. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Rulers didn't add those epithets themselves. Other people called them "the Great" or whatever, not them, and usually long after they had died.
     
  15. OB1

    OB1 Active Member

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    These days you have proceeding names to your title for example, in engineering you might have

    Joe Bloggs, PhD, MEng, MIMechE, CEng.
    Which denotes the accomplishments of said engineer

    And as previously mentioned in GOT Daenerys Targaryen her title is:

    Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, The rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Queen of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons,regent of the realm

    You could do something similar for your godlike character. So they may have a given name and then a load of spiel proceeding which describes his acomplisments or why you should be terrified and submit to him. Whoever introduces him will use this title, however when people interact directly with them they'd use something like "Supreme Lord" or your magnificence. Something that glorifies them.

    President Donald Trump, builder of walls, bomber of Iran, master of puppets, defiler of freedom, bringer of war.

    Not sure Prime Minister Boris Johnson, deliverer of Brexit, leader of conservatives, sacked from a newspaper, prince of liars, bumbling knitwit, has the same name to it though!

    Oh I do love a bit of Satire!
     
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  16. Whitecrow

    Whitecrow Active Member

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    This is not entirely true. Among the monarchs were those who did not come up with nicknames and allowed history to give them nicknames. But the other half of the monarchs, on the contrary, created nicknames for themselves and engaged in self-glorification.

    I remember that there was such a French monarch that he loved to be associated with the sun. He had a nickname associated with the sun. So in this case, everything depended on the monarch himself.
     
  17. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Those aren't accomplishments. They're qualifications.
     
  18. OB1

    OB1 Active Member

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    True, but one could call them accomplishments no? I have achieved a PhD, I have gained entry into the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, I have achieved chartered status in engineer.
     
  19. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Louis XIV, the Sun King.

    He simply chose the sun as his personal symbol. Many monarchs have a personal symbol, a coat of arms. The nickname was given to him by other people.
     
  20. Whitecrow

    Whitecrow Active Member

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    Ludovic XIV de Bourbon, born at birth the name of Louis-Dyodonnay, also known as the “Sun King”
    What are his achievements related to the sun?
     
  21. Whitecrow

    Whitecrow Active Member

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    He was called so during his lifetime, and so he was usually addressed at official balls and dinner parties. So for me, it is somehow doubted that he simply allowed them to call himself that. Most likely it was originally from his hands.

    Since we are dealing with a man with megalomania, the villain will also engage in self-glorification.
     
  22. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Those are two entirely different things. One are letters one is entitled to, the other is simply a nickname or an epithet other people call you.
     
  23. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    So Louis was vain, and liked the nickname. It doesn't mean he gave it to himself.

    By the way, do you have any sources for the fact that he was addressed that way at official balls and dinner parties? I am not very familiar with French history.
     
  24. Whitecrow

    Whitecrow Active Member

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    My thoughts.
    I understand that it seems to you that kings were these noble modest and noble people.
    But in fact, about half of them were greedy selfish and self-centered people. Considering themselves above all this mob, saying that "the Kingdom is me!".

    Although there is a lot of evidence, you probably won’t believe me until I bring him to you by the hand, so there’s no point in a further dispute. We will remain with our views anyway.
     
  25. Naomasa298

    Naomasa298 HP: 10/190 Status: Confused Contributor

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    Don't be silly. I don't believe for one minute that kings and rulers are noble people. I'm simply asking you to back up your claims that these epithets were self-bestowed, that's all.

    Even "l'état c'est moi" is disputed as to whether Louis actually said it or not and it refers to the fact that the monarchy administrates the kingdom and holds all the politcal authority, not that he considered himself above the mob.

    Here's a real example of a grandiose title. Idi Amin, dictator of Uganda, gave himself the official title "His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular".
     

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