Hey, guys! I’ve lurked for quite some time but I haven’t ever posted until now. I am just utterly stumped on my problem, so if you can help me out that would be great!
Genre: [name_f]Fantasy[/name_f] (pretty generic swords-and-sorcery style)
Time Period/Location: My fictional country is currently called Istrelan, though this could change.
Plot: A group of heroes has been working to counter the threat of a villain known only as the Shrike of Istrelan (a shrike is a bird of prey, by the way). In one battle, the villain is hit REALLY hard on the head, and the heroes don’t want to outright kill him so they take him back to their base to question him. However, the villain wakes up with no memory of being a villain, and he actually turns out to be quite nice as an amnesiac.
(Plot Twist: The villain regains his memories about a week into his stay at the heroic base, but instead of fleeing or spying on them, he finds that he kind of likes how nice they are to him when they think he’s not a villain. And he’s been questioning his lifestyle for some time now, so part of him wants to give this whole “being a good person” thing a try.)
Names of Current Characters:
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I’ve got all these guys pretty well nailed down, but I’m having problem with my reforming villain. Here’s some basic information about him:
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Who named him: His parents. Their names are [name_m]Byrne[/name_m] (father) and Asli (mother). He’s an only child. He came up with the “Shrike of Istrelan” bit all on his own.
Immediate family: see above.
And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for, the names I’ve been considering:
[name_m]Alasdair[/name_m] (nn [name_f]Dair[/name_f])
Aravind
[name_m]Domhnall[/name_m] (nn [name_m]Dom[/name_m])
Faris
[name_m]Fox[/name_m]
[name_m]Ilias[/name_m]
[name_m]Isidore[/name_m] (nn Iso)
[name_m]Jabin[/name_m]
[name_m]Leander[/name_m]
[name_m]Lev[/name_m]
[name_m]Macaire[/name_m] (nn [name_m]Mac[/name_m])
[name_m]Oskar[/name_m]
[name_m]Peregrin[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Perry[/name_u])
[name_m]Pike[/name_m]
[name_m]Priam[/name_m]
[name_u]Rafe[/name_u]
[name_m]Silvanus[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Silver[/name_u])
[name_m]Tadeas[/name_m] (nn [name_m]Tad[/name_m])
[name_m]Tavish[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Tavi[/name_u])
[name_m]Uri[/name_m]
[name_m]Wilder[/name_m]
[name_m]Zephaniah[/name_m] (nn Zeph)
The names I’ve been using for other characters are either versatile enough to work in a fantasy genre, or I’ve tweaked them to suit (for instance, Neliamne is a portmanteau of [name_f]Nellie[/name_f] and Mariamne, both actual names). I’m not opposed to using one of the names on the list, but I do like either a short name (like his parents) or one that has good nickname potential.
One more thing: because his birth name isn’t going to be super dignified, he’s come up with a false identity that he uses with the few members of his army who are permitted to know him as someone other than their fearless leader. I haven’t really made any decisions about that one yet, because I want to know what his real name is first. I want it to be long and ostentatious and vaguely aristocratic sounding— like his second-in-command, Vespasien. If you have ideas for that then I would be very grateful.
I think that’s about it. Let me know if you come up with anything!