Naming characters in games

[Spuuky]

Do you name the main character after yourself? Do you leave default names in place? Do you name characters after real people you know, or EoFF members, or celebrities, or random object words?

Specific sub-question: Do you rename TERRA to Terra and LOCKE to Locke?

I name all of my male leads in games Lars, in a longstanding tradition dating back to my first childhood Dragon Warrior playthrough. It's a name that always fits and is cool enough, and works in any 'feel' of game for me. DQ games often only showed 4 characters of the name on combat screens and it always fit there, too.

The rest of my party consists of mostly people I know, especially squad-based games like XCOM. Occasionally some EoFFers slip in (mostly eestlinc and Del Murder) if I run low or have a particularly large squad. I personally am always there as the "second guy" after the main character in games. I'm never a Warrior/Strength-type, and Lars always is. Just tradition! Of course, I don't always use "real" names. I'm usually Spuuky, for instance.

Also, I never rename Final Fantasy characters, and I'm not sure why.

[Del Murder]

I usually name the main character Tmoney or T-Money. For other characters I tend to have a theme. I've used Greek gods as a theme, Simpsons characters, EoFFers, people in my life. Just depends on how many characters I have to name.

[Jinx]

I name them real-life names that seem to fit them, or just things that seem right. Like in FFIX:

Zidane - George, for Curious George (because of the tale)
Vivi - Ghostie, because he's just this black blob with eyes
Steiner - Emo, because he has dark eyeliner
Freya - Minnie, cos mouse

etc etc

[Ayen]

When I was a kid I used to just name the main character after myself and kept the others default. Nowadays when I play a RP I based names on all the fictional characters I made over the year. The character my namesake is based off of has been used in a lot of the recent RPs I've played in. A little redhead with green eyes named Tori Jacobs. So far she's been a Jedi, Starfleet Captain, Dragonborn, Spectre, an undead zombie that kept dying a lot, a DC superhero, a professional wrestler and a video game developer.

I ended up having my whole freaking cast on Star Wars The Old Republic.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I always keep the default names in place whenever possible there is one. The only game in which I use my name is probably Pokemon. My exception to this is when I'll play an RPG with a friend, then we usually come up with silly names that make conversations more amusing, and I think I've only done that with FF VII.

[Denmark]

In Zelda/Pokemon games I'll usually use my real name, or the name "Spim" which I randomly typed into Ocarina of Time one day and really liked the way it looked, so I've been using it for the last 13 or so years in various games, usually on a second playthrough (after using my real name the first time).

In FF games, on my first playthrough I'll use whatever the default names are, changing TERRA to Terra if necessary. On subsequent playthroughs, if I change the names, I'll use a group of names that all go together. For example, on one playthrough of FF6 I used names of Futurama characters (Fry, Leela, etc), trying to pick names that sort of matched the FF6 characters. Sometimes I'm just lazy, though.

[Elskidor]

I never do it. I may have done it a few times when I was much younger, and one time my brother-in-law named Garnet Dickgal when I wasn't looking, but it's usually too distracting for me.

[The Man]

I usually just use the defaults, although I do rename TERRA to Terra etc. I did have one playthrough of FFVI where I used EoFFers' names for all the characters.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I will name all my characters using a common theme on a game like Faster Than Light, I should say. Those would range from the names of my four roommates in college to various characters Arnold Schwarzenegger has played as over the years.

[escobert]

First time through I generally leave them as they are. After that anything goes.

[Aulayna]

I generally don't rename characters except in single play games where you generally control the same character for the entire game and are given some degree of flexibility in creating that character (i.e. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Kingdoms of Amalur, Pokémon etc) Beyond that I just use the default names the game provides. Even in Zelda games I always call Link, Link.

I think the only real exception to this is XCOM where I named everyone after colleagues, friends and forum goers.

[Spuuky]

Here's a follow-up question: what do you guys name factions/organizations/etc that you get to name in games?

I guess some people just might not play games where you can do things like this, but you can name things like your religion in Civilization, or your guild in Etrian Odyssey, or your guild or clan or whatever you call them in WoW, or your army/clan/etc in Total War games.

[Dr Unne]

On a first playthrough I keep the default names if characters have them, to avoid breaking the immersion of the game. After that all bets are off. If there are enough letters, my main character is Bolt van der Huge. Tank characters are always Meat Shield. Last time I re-played FF6 all of the characters had food names. Locke = DONUTZ, Edgar = CARROT, Celes = BAGEL and so on. At some point I thought it was a good idea to name all of my FF7 characters Sephiroth. In Link Between Worlds, I'm playing as Lonk. Also a fan of the name BAGU. My characters in Guild Wars were Florbp and Frazzrocket.

Clan/guild will be something to do with ninjas and/or moose. Capital city in Civ usually ends up "Gutpunch, USA" regardless of nation.

[Shorty]

If it's a character with a name already chosen, I leave it. If all the letters were capitalized, I would fix that trout and fix it good because it would bug me.

If it's a game that asks you to choose your own name, I use Zillah for females and Joey Doyle for males.

[Slothy]

I typically name characters after myself and anyone I know who seems to remind me of that character.

Only exception is XCom really since the soldiers don't really have character. Last play through I did (and haven't finished come to think of it) I named them all after EoFF staff. Lost a lot of Raistlin's.

[Skyblade]

I usually just use the defaults, although I do rename TERRA to Terra etc. I did have one playthrough of FFVI where I used EoFFers' names for all the characters.

Ugh, this. I used to nickname every dang Pokémon with their name in proper capitalization. Best change Black and White brought to the series.

That said, I usually use either my own name, or Skyblade (or Lyndis if I'm running a female character, I've really liked the name ever since I saw it in Fire Emblem). MMOs are where I get the most fanciful, as I have several different names I use for different characters and different genders.

[Carl the Llama]

The first time I ever played a breath of fire game, I named the blue haired boy Ryu without any idea that was his actual name... when I eventually went online to find out how to cross that damned desert, I couldn't figure out how the guide had known that my main character was called Ryu >.<

[Mo-Nercy]

I usually leave the defaults other than to correct over-capitalisation.

For Chocobos, pet names, any other minor character, I usually go for a cutesy name or name them after my pets/former pets. Or a joke name like 'Anal' for Angelo in FF8. I did try naming Dagger something equally silly in FF9, but found I couldn't stand it and reloaded the game.

If there is no default, I'll usually go with Mo for a male, Momo for a femaie.

[Loony BoB]

I name my main character BoB more often than not. In XI, I went for Loonybob, and in FFXIV I went for Loony Bob. But most games such as FF games, it's BoB.

For a preferred female romance option, I tend to name them Angela, because that's my favourite name for a girl.

For everyone else, it largely depends on what they look like and how much I like them. The first time I played FFVII, I named Aeris 'Ariel'. The most recent time I played FFVII, I named her 'Bumface'. ^_^ Oh, and other common names I have are Tombo (for large/round characters such as Cait Sith or Tonberry GF), Jax (for a chocobo) and Rastus (for animal-like creatures such as Red XIII).

EDIT: And yeah, I definitely rename people like LOCKE to Locke.

[Pike]

For me it depends on the game. Often I keep the default. If there is no default I'll go with Pike, make up something that sounds good, or (in the case of TES) go full lore-turbonerd.

Names in ALL CAPS don't bug me. Am I the only one?

[Spuuky]

Yes, you are the only one, PIKE. What do you name your XCOMMIES?

[Pike]

My XCOMMIES usually have the default names unless I'm making a THREAD about it or something.

[Slothy]

For me it depends on the game. Often I keep the default. If there is no default I'll go with Pike, make up something that sounds good, or (in the case of TES) go full lore-turbonerd.

Names in ALL CAPS don't bug me. Am I the only one?

They've never really bothered me that much. I suspect it was done to make it more apparent that you're reading a name before the dialogue kicks in so if that was their aim mission accomplished. I could understand not liking it though. I'm actually surprised I don't given how many things I'm a bit OCD about and which make my skin crawl.

[escobert]

For guilds and such it usually has something to do with the game. The guild I created in Guild Wars 2 is called Fort Aspenwood Has a Giant [HAMR] it's made up of various members from other guilds on the server who wanted to team up together and bash people in World vs World with Hammers.WE have around 100 members now and run every Sunday night for a couple hours:)

[Tasura]

If there are default names I leave them as is for m first run through, if not I usually use Tasura, or Tas if the character limit is less than 6. And even in 2nd+ play through I'll usually only rename the lead, I also generally never rename FF characters, unless I'm doing an EoFF themed run like I did with FF1 and started to do with FF2. MMOs on the other hand, since I can never just have 1 character (especially if it's a game that has multiple races/classes) I have a standard set of names I use, more male than female, and if they're already taken/used I kinda just kinda randomly pick letters.

For guilds or what not in a single player game I usually go for some derivative of Shangri-La, for MMOs or games with an online portion I tend to go for something at least partially game related.

[Hollycat]

I never rename anyone in FF, but in rpgs where you control a character I usually play as one of three names if I can only put in one name: Sarah, Holly, or Gwen
Saya Brea if I can put in two.
I rarely play male characters

I give all my pokemon nicknames, but I have a standard party:
Sophia the Gardevoir
Lilli the Lapras
Rarity the Ponyta ( I has a shiny)
Luna the Dragonair
and Bianca the Lopunny

[The Man]

Oh, yeah, I do sometimes rename Link in Zelda games. Frequently used names are Hodor, Desu, EFG and similar.

[Pike]

Rarity the Ponyta ( I has a shiny)

Not Twilight Sparkle?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&docid=v78_hMSsCktP3M&tbnid=rR_cUEOYJGYXsM:&ved=0CAUQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120531231904%2Fpony%2Fes%2Fimages%2F1%2F12%2FTwi light_sparkle_1.gif&ei=BSiiUoKeFYe9rgGd24CIBA&psig=AFQjCNG2Rs3QQ61kPa9H9fseyz0NRgkZrQ&ust=1386445189392339

[Botchmun]

I get mixed when naming guys, some are silly and some are in-universe. I like ruining skyrim lore by naming the dragonborn "Nerevarine." When I started playing Shining Force I named my character "You Cock" so that everyone was insulting the hero angrily. At times I default to Clash or The Clash as a name due to my love of the band.

never, ever look at my pokemon names. I still get yelled at for Windsock the Gyarados.

[Hollycat]

Rarity the Ponyta ( I has a shiny)

Not Twilight Sparkle?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&docid=v78_hMSsCktP3M&tbnid=rR_cUEOYJGYXsM:&ved=0CAUQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120531231904%2Fpony%2Fes%2Fimages%2F1%2F12%2FTwi light_sparkle_1.gif&ei=BSiiUoKeFYe9rgGd24CIBA&psig=AFQjCNG2Rs3QQ61kPa9H9fseyz0NRgkZrQ&ust=1386445189392339
I can't see that picture.

No, Twilight would be a good name for a non-shiny rapidash.

Also, I've actually caught 2 shiny ponyta's, and I will never evolve either because shiny rapidash is ugly.

[KentaRawr!]

In games without defaults, I tend to name the main character after an internet name I've had, and depending on the amount of name-able characters I might name the rest after friends of mine or just other internet names of mine. I do the same thing with games where there are defaults but the characters themselves don't have much personality, like Final Fantasy 3 and Ogre Battle.

As for all caps, it kinda depends. If I'm remembering correctly, in FF5 you can only name Bartz. So, I would love to give him some lower-case letters up in there, but the rest of the playable cast can't be renamed. So in that case I'd just keep him as BARTZ. But I have the worst memory ever, so I'm probably remembering wrong.

[Ayen]

I've been naming a lot of my mains Tori recently.

Tori Commander of GDI
Tori the Nord from Skyrim
Tori the Explorer (lol) from KotOR
Tori the Pokemon Trainer
Tori the Hunter, Dark Souls
Tori the Hero of Time.

Poor guy, not having a fairy and growing up with a girl's name. Life must have been tough for him.

[Fuzakeru]

I tend to use default when available ( we all had that exception with Barrett as Mr. T though, I'm sure ). If I have to name a character like one for a MMO or something....there goes half the dang day.

[Mo-Nercy]

Rarity the Ponyta ( I has a shiny)

Not Twilight Sparkle?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&docid=v78_hMSsCktP3M&tbnid=rR_cUEOYJGYXsM:&ved=0CAUQjBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimages3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20120531231904%2Fpony%2Fes%2Fimages%2F1%2F12%2FTwi light_sparkle_1.gif&ei=BSiiUoKeFYe9rgGd24CIBA&psig=AFQjCNG2Rs3QQ61kPa9H9fseyz0NRgkZrQ&ust=1386445189392339
I can't see that picture.

No, Twilight would be a good name for a non-shiny rapidash.

Also, I've actually caught 2 shiny ponyta's, and I will never evolve either because shiny rapidash is ugly.
I envisage something like Robot Unicorn Attack when I try to think about a shiny Ponyta.

[Calliope]

If I am starting a pokemon game, I always name Gary DICKWAD.

If I get enough letters for my characters, I call them THRILLHO and MILPOOL.

If I've just managed a really excellent score on an arcade game and it wants me to input three letters, I choose KEA.

Hello SPUUKY, I'm posting in your THREAD. I just laughed and you asked what I was laughing at, and I answered "NOTHING". But yeah, it was DICKWAD.

[Jiro]

I like sticking to themes these days, if I change them at all.