Most jobless thread ever

My first thought? Tarzan. Vine-swinging, loincloth-wearing ape man.

Second thought: It's a cool name.

Totally neutral. I don't get off on character names, I get off on what the characters do, how they act, all the keys to the literary development of that character. His name could be Earl for all I care if the characterization is intriguing and pulls me into the story.

Arguments at science fiction conventions over how the name is pronounced, no matter how the author insists it should be.

He's a guy on AW.
Probably a fantasy genre name.

Beyond that, it's pretty neutral. Except, if I saw it in a book, I'd be reminded of this guy on AW... but the guy on AW's pretty good. It's a good association at this point. ;-)

Darzian said:

What crosses your mind at the first mention of the word 'Darzian?'

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First thing: And how is that pronounced?

As far as the character goes, no reaction at all, but it is close enough to Tarzan to give me a chuckle.

At least it's pronounceable, and I didn't think of Tarzan until I read someone else's mention. It looks like DAR-zian. Like someone from the land of Darzus.

There's 'odd SF' (dunno what to really call it) where alien names have apostrophes where you'd think vowels would go. These cannot be spoken easily, and that's presumably the point.

There's a Larry Niven book titled "World of Ptavvs" that I'd seen jokingly written as "World of Ptooie" because that was the closes pronunciation the person could come up with.

Darzian sounds like it could also be the name of a drug. Now I've got the paranoid idea that you should Google every invented or unusual word you use, just to make sure it's not a trademark. But no doubt some poor child in real life has been named Paxil.

pokemon

And a guy who plays word games well
And labors under the delusion I am a guy

Sounds like alien boy from the planet Darzia.

Darzian said:

What happens if my MC is called X and X also happened to be a trademark? If I'm arrested for that then this world is just insane. Perhaps my agent will let me know, after I get one.


Darzian is the equivalent of the 'Devil' (aka Lord of Hell etc) in my Fantasy WIP. I thought it sounded weird there and wanted opinions (I shall not call him Dark Lord, Dark One, Nameless One, He Who Must Not Be Named, Ancient One - or any other name that doesn't give his name).

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X was 70's/80's punk band
actually Darzian sounds like ancient Sumerian. I like it

I wouldn't worry what people think of your name here as a reflection on what they will think of the name in the context of your story. The name people use, at least for me, becomes their name. So when I see the name I associate all the qualities I have learned about you. But in the context of your book you can make your name as impressive or pathetic as you want, by its context. For example, when I first read Voldemort, I thought that was the stupidest name for a villain ever. But as the name began to represent such a heinous character, one that instilled much fear in the populace, it stopped being ridiculous to me.

Heck, I've been using the handle "Toothpaste" for two years now, and it's got to the point that if I see an ad for Toothpaste, or see it referred to somewhere else, I think people are talking about me. It's all about context.

I'd go along with the needing context concensus. Darzian by itself has no meaning to me. No connotations. No associations. Nothing. I need to read the story.