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For human characters who are not from a fantasy world (and for furries who have human names), I try to avoid using the same name twice, at least for major characters. (I actually keep a list of all the names I’ve used.) I think this helps make my stories more interesting. For whatever reason, sometimes I like to give sexy female characters names that I don’t think of as sexy at all, like Geraldine, Enid, and Mitzi.

For main characters, I put more thought into it. For side/background characters, I’m more likely to use a random name generator for guidance. (Trouble is, I’ll use create a side/background character, and *THEN* decide to center a story around them, well, I’m generally not renaming them.)

For me, it depends on my setting. My original fantasy settings seem to work best when I use Irish or Welsh names. I’m also not above using Quenya or Sindarin for naming elven characters. For anything original with a contemporary setting, I try to use contemporary names without sliding into the overly unique. There is nothing at all wrong with a simple name. Fandom just means I need to stick to the ‘verse as far as naming conventions. As a caveat, my fandoms tend to revolve around CRPGs that I enjoy, so it helps to know what influenced the devs of the game. I’m pretty sure no one in the Dragon Age universe is going to have a Japanese name, although the Forgotten Realms game of Baldur’s Gate 2 does have one particular NPC from Kara-Tur named Yoshimo.

Hello, all. For what it’s worth, If I’m writing fanfiction, I try to follow the naming rules and conventions of the series, if I don’t outright hijack a named “background” character and bring them to the forground. For example, if writing in Naruto/Boruto, I would be far more likely to write about Uzumaki Kenshin than Ebeneezer MacPhalus. Likewise, were I to write a Manwha fanfiction, I would only use Korean names, reserving Japanese names for villains. If I write a James Bond fanfiction, the names of the principal villains and love interests could get more intriguing, because the source material itself makes this okay. If writing Nero Wolfe, I would tend to use names common to the Northeastern United States, with the ability to use names from almost any real “anywhere else,” since it is New York City where the fabled brownstone with the rooftop orchid garden is located. Iin the Rowlingverse, I never name Hermione’s parents “Dan and Emma,” even if I make Ron Weasley Lord Voldemort’s more intelligent BDSM sub slave MPREG love interest (and I think i just puked in my mouth writing that.) While in the Rowlingverse, I also use names in common usage in the United Kingdom during the time the story takes place for non-Wizarding-Culture raised, and names in semi-common usage in the United Kingdom roughly fifty to one hundred years earlier for the Wizarding Culture wizards except for families with their own naming convention such as the Blacks. In original fiction, the names of the characters should fit the time, location, and social station of the character. “Stripper names” are generally used for strippers. Likewise, if a character receives a name that is “less fitting” to their times, they can certainly go by a different nickname, or at least make some note of their naming dissatisfaction. Sometimes, whether and how a character shortens their name is a clue to their personality, or at least their “comfort in their own skin.” Someone attending Harvard in 1801 would likely not share the name of someone attending high school in Harvard, Illinois in 2001. Likewise, unless they hot-wired a TARDIS, Dwezel and Moon Unit would not be named participants in any battle of the US War for Independence. Different countries also have their own societal quirks. You are more likely to encounter a full-Anglo Ichigo in the United States than you are a full-Yamato Herbert in Japan. In an “fantasy original” fiction, the names need to make some sense within that universe. Even in such a universe, an “odd” name can find a place, though it will be questioned by the readers, and perhaps should be questioned by the other characters themselves. The Dark Elf whose elven name translates in the the “common” “He who sodomizes bull whales” should frequently be asked, “But does the whale actually realize that you’re there? And what should happen should your new friend return the favor?” Of course, in a parody or farce, going absolutely the opposite way of normal naming conventions can also make sense. For example, in Bleach your super-villain could be Elisabeth Henry, with her plot to hasten Ragnarok by forcing all the Quincys and Hollows of Huecho Mundo to actually drink the water without boiling it first for at least three minutes, followed by eating the worm and licking the toad. Cheers!

My rule is usually pretty simple – is it a fucking stupid name? If so, I’ll probably use it.

My process varies depending on what exactly I’m writing. For some of my original fiction, I tend to use a blend of “words from nature,” “elaborated words from nature,” and “take parts of actual words or names, mash them together with other syllables from other words and names, and boom, insta-name.” It’s gotten some pretty interesting results like Anabreth, Kessenjer, and Benekeed. It fits for a fantasy-setting culture in another world but it would not fit for most stories. Fanfiction and other fiction? That process is more...complicated. Sometimes with some characters, a name for them literally just pops up as I’m building the character and sticks. Other times I scour baby name directories, popular media, and websites, and choose what works best for the time. Usually I follow a precedent my family (unintentionally?) set: “Every girl needs an adult name and an old lady name, and one of those names needs to be adaptable into a cute nickname for when they’re kids.” Some fandoms (or families) also have trends for naming – characters in a lot of anime have names based in nature, especially food, and sometimes families follow naming customs passed down. Heck, I know of a person who has several kids, all of whom have an X or Y somewhere in their name. (Yes, he’s white.) Overall, I think, if you’re worried your OC name will sound Sue-ish or too unusual, there’s an easy way to figure it out. Imagine you just met a new friend and you’re introducing them to someone. Could be your parents, your Nana, or even just that fusty granny who lives next door and always gets up in your business. Imagine yourself saying the character’s name to this person. Did they cringe? Did their eyebrows disappear into their hair? Did they snort under their breath, imitate a codfish, or otherwise react impolitely? If so, the name’s probably going to stand out and maybe too much. Sometimes having an outlandish name can be a good thing – ie, recurring jokes or character reactions to their names – and likewise for excessively bland names. Whatever you choose, just be sure you make it work.

Contrasts also work great. If the world is pessimistic but the character is staunchly optimistic. Or in a world where everyone doubts themselves. That one character just straight up loves themselves. Humanity is so wonderfully diverse. having characters answer existential stuff can provide that blissful breath of life that makes your character far more real. A microcosm in an macrocosm. Do we shape existence as existence shapes us? Are we alone in the universe because we perceive ourselves to be alone in the universe? What if death is as limited as life? The question of I The ramifications of the meaning of life being different for everyone What if there is no glory in war? The massive implications of single individuals decisions helping shape history. Why is apathy worse than death? Etc...

How about things like struggles with addiction (Smoking, drugs, alcohol, gambling), is not good spouse but is a great friend and/or parent. Someone struggling to make ends meet yet is terrible with money that opens them up to exploitation. A crooked cop that believes the system is fucked anyway so they’re just going to look after themselves (or perhaps some loved ones). A soldier that enjoys killing a bit too much, but has learned to channel it to the battlefield.

I’m amused that my thread about flaws turned into a thread about redemption. Just to clarify what I meant by ‘redeemable’, it’s not so much that they kill some one and go off and pray it away. I meant more balance within their ongoing traits rather than a pivotal redeeming event in the story (which is great too). For example, he’s a killer, but he’s also really good at flower arrangements. He’s got a major flaw, but he’s also got a major strength that makes him likeable despite his flaw. My interest in this topic hasn’t waned mostly because my love for ugliness is going strong and I’m aware it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve gotten more than enough reviews that told me so. “OMG U NED 2 MAKE UR CHARS LIKEABLE STOOPID!!” And yeah. Of course I do. Mr. Murderous whoreyface is totally likeable, so I dunno what they’re talking about. As much as I intend to keep my chars flawed when I wanna, being aware of the expectations of the audience and finding some semblance of balance helps sometimes.

In some ways, I do and yet I don’t really care whether every reader even likes any or all of my characters much less holds out hope for some form of redemption. I will provide the redemption in my own way, even though most will not see it. As with all things, there is a balance most commonly sought between the readers' perception of right/wrong, good/evil, etc. The character traits that I tend to instill within my original works are more along the lines of attitude and personality because it's so much fun to let out the evil now once the reader has 'fallen in love' with the character. Unless of course, they're looking for a goody-goody which is entirely boring! Characters that have the ability to reach out and grab the hearts and minds of the reader should be just as diversified (within the contextual setting) as people are in real-life. People, in my opinion, are like diamonds, there are many facets to an individual personality. Which one sparkles depends greatly on which way you turn the diamond, so it should apply to characters. I’ve read through numerous stories in the archives and honestly, the ones I love the most are the ones that hold my attention because as a reader there is some level of redemption sought, but it’s the fact that I didn’t get my way that makes the story so much more appealing to me.

My characters better not if they know what’s good for them.

Hmm.. maybe I’m just too cynical (I am getting old now!), but I believe that characters, like people, are mostly selfish. That’s the most realistic flaw you can write into any character, whether they’re yours or not. Sure, they all have moments of altruistic selflessness, as do we all, but I really think at the end of the day the great majority of the world goes around thinking about itself. And usually in quite a small way too, rather than master!villain selfishness. ie. worrying what other people think is probably pretty high up there for most people. Sad but true. I don’t exclude myself from that either. Whether a character is redeemable or not (let’s imagine they have a more major flaw for a moment) is an entirely different kettle of fish. I don’t think the two are necessarily connected. Bad things happen to good people, the same as they happen to bad people, and vice versa. Doesn’t mean anything. Doesn’t make them better, or worse, than they were before said event. I like irony. I like it when characters doom themselves in surprising ways, and make traps for themselves, sometimes millennia in the making, and they still don’t see it coming. That satisfies my evil muse. The problem with redemption is that it’s largely a mythical concept. Kind of like: everywhere you go, there you are. You can’t escape yourself. No character is redeemable in that sense. Ok, so a character could maybe stop doing a load of despicable stuff like murder, rape, dismemberment etc. But unless they’ve had some kind of drastic conversion that’s changed them completely into someone else, underneath they’re still pretty much the same dickhead, they’re just.. well.. dry drunk. Sorry, I can’t think of any other easier, short way to describe it. And then there’s the outside world, and how that can interact, because characters don’t live in a vaccuum. I said I like irony. The redemption of characters can be argued for or against, but if they then go and damn themselves via what is generally supposed to be one of their “good” qualities – what then? Or better still, if on the path to some kind of “redemption” they’ve gotten hold of the very instrument of their doom… then what? If the character really deserves their fate, taking into account everything they’ve done, isn’t that kind of balancing? Sorry if I wandered off topic a little. I tend to do that a bit.

Yeah, I could totally dig a rock with a face drawn on it. I’m not being sarcastic either. The underdog (underrock?) is an amazingly sympathetic concept, made all the cuter by things that aren’t supposed to have emotions to begin with. Wall-E anyone? (I mostly just watch animated movies and horror movies so I don’t know any adult examples...) But to make a heinous character ‘redeemable’, you’d need to consider your audience. Some audiences would be more likely to accept a character who raped their ex-girlfriend/boyfriend, while other reader bases would flip out if a writer tried to redeem that character. And maybe that first audience would condemn a murderer while the second audience would totally forgive a murderer who murdered for a horrible selfish reason if he, say, saved a litter of puppies or was a really awesome big brother. I think there are unredeemable characters, but I think what constitutes ‘unredeemable’ varies from group to group and person to person. Hell, some writers might have a reader base that could forgive just about anything when the characters are done right. I used to watch Breaking Bad with my mom. She started out liking Walt but after he betrayed a couple people she liked, she hated him, and the rest of the series, she stayed hating him no matter what he did. I loved him! There were a few things he did that made me cringe and go “aw, Walt! What the fuck?!” but I rooted for him until the very end. Course it wouldn’t help much if your whole audience was mixed like that, as some are, but I think knowing a little about your readers, if at all possible, helps with plotting out the flaws of your villains and heroes. I know, I’m rambling. I do that when I’m half asleep. But I’d like to hear more about these plenty of ways to make characters awful!