villain name

ilookcool · Feb 8, 2010

Hi there! This is my first post here although I've been lurking for a while. I need your help!

I have been struggling with my villain's name for a while. I'm writing a fantasy and the villain is an emperor of absolute power and authority. He's evil in a way that he believes as long as his goal is righteous, any action he takes to attain the goal is justified. I used some online villain name generators. Here are the names that I think might work. Please let me know which one you think is good.

Grimoire
Perfidus
Frostheim
Brutus
Omorthan
Loth

Well, if you think all of them suck, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Thanks!

jvc · Feb 8, 2010

I'll be honest and say I'm not a fan of any of them. Is this a case of we-have-to-pick-one-though-or-all-our-hair-falls-out?

(Brutus, as in Marcus Brutus, Julius Caesar's best chum?)

Pthom · Feb 8, 2010

Welcome to the Water Cooler, cool.

Although this sort of post probably belongs in the forum The Sandbox, I'll leave it here for awhile to see how many responses you get.

Good luck.

Chasing the Horizon · Feb 8, 2010

I kind of like Omorthan. But that's probably because it's really similar to the name of the villain in my first novel . . . whose name I may have stolen from a movie, now that I think about it.

ETA: After banging my head against the wall a few times, I remembered that Omadon is the name of the villain in the movie Flight of Dragons. That's where I got my villain's name (Oberon) and doubtlessly why Omorthan sounds so villainous to me.

jvc · Feb 8, 2010

Chasing the Horizon said:
I kind of like Omorthan. But that's probably because it's really similar to the name of the villain in my first novel . . . whose name I may have stolen from a movie, now that I think about it.

If I were forced to chose, that'd probably be the one I'd go for

ilookcool · Feb 8, 2010

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll have to come up with a better one.

Lyra Jean · Feb 8, 2010

Ike Goodman

Nakhlasmoke · Feb 8, 2010

A villain's name doesn't have to sound evil. LOL.

I mean, who looks at their new-born kid and says "I know! He looks like he's going to grow up to be the next Hitler, let's call him Evil McSatan."

Give him a name appropriate to his background and culture. That'll do.

Chasing the Horizon · Feb 8, 2010

Nakhlasmoke said:
A villain's name doesn't have to sound evil. LOL.

I mean, who looks at their new-born kid and says "I know! He looks like he's going to grow up to be the next Hitler, let's call him Evil McSatan."

Give him a name appropriate to his background and culture. That'll do.

A lot of times villains are portrayed as having chosen a scarier sounding name after deciding to become evil overlords. Like Voldemort in Harry Potter.

Nakhlasmoke · Feb 8, 2010

Chasing the Horizon said:
A lot of times villains are portrayed as having chosen a scarier sounding name after deciding to become evil overlords. Like Voldemort in Harry Potter.

Fair point. Though it's always struck me as ridiculously cheesy.

And while I love HP, I always felt that Tom Riddle would actually have made for a much creepier "villain name" than the loltastic Voldemort.

I like to cover my crazy/evil up with a nice normal suit. I just find that scarier, somehow.

10trackers · Feb 9, 2010

Nakhlasmoke said:
I like to cover my crazy/evil up with a nice normal suit. I just find that scarier, somehow.

This. Me too. Although I think that works better in urban fantasy than in 'straight' fantasy.

Back on topic: I like Loth. It's perhaps the most normal sounding of the bunch, but something about names ending in -th just makes them seem so evil!

(Sorry, people named Seth.)

Annayna · Feb 9, 2010

you could always use Dremis

jerry phoenix · Feb 9, 2010

do it yourself, ive got my own character names to invent.

Z0Marley · Feb 9, 2010

Perfidus is my favorite out of the list. I'm not sure what your book is about so I don't know which direction to steer your names.

shaldna · Feb 9, 2010

The evil guy in my sword and sourcery is called Barry.

I personally don't like names that sound

a) too made up
b) too contrived to sound evil / nice

dirtsider · Feb 9, 2010

I'm another who's not a fan of naming a villian something that sounds too contrived to be real. Tongue-twisters are almost as bad. Try writing a section with the villian and then reading the section out loud to see if the name flows in the writing.

Vomaxx · Feb 9, 2010

"The Villain?"

Perfidion Darkheart?
Lord Loathsome?
Sadisto the Vile?
Lady Nastya Veribadd?

And there's always Snidely Whiplash.....

Mr Flibble · Feb 9, 2010

ilookcool said:
Grimoire
Perfidus
Frostheim
Brutus
Omorthan
Loth

Give him a name appropriate to his background and culture. That'll do.

THis

Which one fits best with the language etymology of the region / time he came from? IE what are all your other names like?

Cos Kevin would sound silly in ancient Greece, just as Griswald the Ugly would sound kinda out of place in modern day Leeds.

So for instance Frostheim is going to sound really odd if everyone else has Arabic sounding names.

Stellan · Feb 9, 2010

Name (and other kinds of) generators can be good when you're stuck, to spark some ideas, but I'd advise you not just use them as-is. That's like eating raw flour and eggs instead of baking a cake.

Say you like the generated name Brutus. Look up related names, play with sounds that call up the same associations, slap it down and see how it works in your story. You might end up with something that surprises you, and fits perfectly.

sohalt · Feb 9, 2010

They sound very much like names generated by an online-villain-name-generator.

Whether this is desireable, depends on the kind of novel you are writing and the place irony holds in your personal aesthetic.

Liosse de Velishaf · Feb 9, 2010

ilookcool said:
Hi there! This is my first post here although I've been lurking for a while. I need your help!

I have been struggling with my villain's name for a while. I'm writing a fantasy and the villain is an emperor of absolute power and authority. He's evil in a way that he believes as long as his goal is righteous, any action he takes to attain the goal is justified. I used some online villain name generators. Here are the names that I think might work. Please let me know which one you think is good.

Grimoire
Perfidus
Frostheim
Brutus
Omorthan
Loth

Well, if you think all of them suck, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Thanks!

"Grimoire"- a sort of magical notebook with connotations of dusty old tomes used by evil magicians, although it’s technically a morally neutral term.

“Perfidus”- a word from Latin relating to disloyalty.
“Frostheim”- basically means “place/home of frost” with Germanic/Icelandic roots.
“Brutus”- I don’t think that needs an explanation.
“Omorthan, it just sounds Horde

- got the name from a name generator, typed in my RL name and there it was.” From http://www.mmo-champion.com/profile/?u=62481;sa=showPosts
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/loth

Now, if that’s what you want, fine, but I’m with the commenters who said not to grab straight from a name generator.

Vomaxx · Feb 9, 2010

Liosse de Velishaf said:
“Brutus”- I don’t think that needs an explanation. [/QUOTE]

My Latin dictionary says brutus means "heavy, immoveable, dull, without feeling or reason". One wonders how a prominent Roman family put up with that for generations.

ilookcool · Feb 9, 2010

Very interesting feedback. I actually don't want the villain's name to sound evil, but instead to resonate with power and authority. Well, maybe a name doesn't really matter that much. Other things are more important. Thanks again everyone.

sadron · Feb 9, 2010

There is The Sevent Sanctum if you need name generator.

Have fun.

On side note. I have problems with my villains names too.

Pthom · Feb 9, 2010

Name them all Bob.

Villains named Bob are really creepy.

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