Funny story , an old writer I use to work with asked me for my characters name . I didn't have a name so on the spot I made up the name "Isani" and it was a coincidence because Isani means possession and she has the power to possess people
Something like that happened to me too. I thought up the name "Idun" on the spot for a nature deity in a story I wrote, and only much later found out that it not only was a real name but was in fact the name of, go figure, a nature deity from Norse mythology.
I have kind of an opposite problem. There are so many cool names that I want to make a character for each of them XD. And when I try to name a character, I have like 5 name ideas for them and don't know which one to choose lol.
Imo character naming becomes a lot easier if you study sacred texts such as The Bible, Quran, Hindu texts, Shintoism and so on. You might not belive what they say to be true but damn are the full of cool names and ideas. You can also adapt some of those characters attributes/traits to your ocs, thus directly referencing where you got the idea from.
I am latino and the characters in the story I am writing are named in Spanish and they have 1 or 2 names then the father's surname and the mother's surname. There is a character called Virtud (Virtue) and the rest of her name always begins with V, thus, there is a recurring joke with another character that calls her full name and adds an extra word that begins with V, my favorite part about this is that all the words are related and could perfectly form a sentence
i don't usually give the names meaning lol. Because their design is what comes to my mind first (maladaptive daydreaming in a nutshell) so i only name them based on what kinda suits them lol. I came up with the surname "Mitchswinger" and the name "Ookafoobi" there are also names "Gabriella Winters" "Esteavo Balzarini" "Milad Moore" and my MC is "Ylvin" there are also names that based of their powers "Boomer" she's a sniper. and "Dice" he cuts enemies into cubes. "Kariko" basically came from Calico cat
My OCs are usually named by translating words into the language of the character's home language or the opposite, i give them a name, learn the meaning and build off of that 2 in particular are characters named Benedict Cladem, which means Blessed and Defeat as the character has a duality with Nicole Mallory, who's name means Victory and Curse, making then opposites and also related, as the theme of the entire story is basically yin and yang, how to things seem different are actually related, i did my home work with this one
The thing that seems even harder to me is to find out how to create a nickname to some of my characters. Like, my MC is supposed to have a "title" earned with bad reputation, called like this by random Japanese people living in Tokyo. I want this name to refer to what the mob sees when MC "fucks things up" with his abilities. I tried to use simple words for color or natural elements or for some kind of demigod in Japanese but... it still feels kinda weird. Idk if it would be better to come up with an English nickname instead (since I assume my story won't be seen by Japanese people anyway). I also thought about researching some nicknames for serial killers named in specific way by mob irl - in this way I found a story about a nurse who killed plenty of her patients and she earned a specific name in this way. Would it be a better idea?
It is always a good idea to see what was used in the past. There are definitely names that already exist that should fit what you're looking for. The easiest example I can think of is how the nickname "Deku" (means "useless") became popular from My Hero Academia. As to whether or not the nickname should be Japanese or English, it is entirely up to you and what you prefer. When I was talking about editors and submissions with japanese names, I was mostly referring to applicants who come off as "fanboyish" and amateurish. Japanese mangaka make stories in Japan with Japanese characters because THEY live in Japan and know the culture. That's why it comes off weird when people NOT from Japan try to immitate that even though they don't know what they're talking about
@@MonitorComics I agree that there's a lot of fanboyish / amateurish works made by those who know way too little about Japanese culture. But some Japanese mangaka also don't shy away from making stories based on Western culture, AoT, FMA in example. But ofc they do lots of research so they know what they do. In the end, everyone just tries to do their best :) and it's always possible to self-publish our work, when it doesn't reach traditional publishers' expectations.
I've spent my whole college career preaching the importance of good names in a story (either for characters, places, special moves, or the for the story itself), so it is very nice to see a larger platform discuss this. Here are some tips/suggestions that I've learned that you didn't mention: - A character's first name was always given to them by their parents (or circumstance) in the story, so you should consider what their parents were thinking when naming them. Perhaps their parents had big aspirations for them that the character is wary of, or they didn't value them and now the character has a chip on their shoulder. I generally like to have the first name play into their personality/skill, and their last name to play into their more general role in the story. - Having a character who goes by a name other than their birth name is a very fun way to explore their personality. Perhaps they have a girly name that they've never liked (a la Megumi in JJK), or perhaps they've always wanted to have a girly name. Maybe they suffer from middle schooler syndrome and use a very edgy name. Maybe it's a nickname that they earned through their actions, allowing you to squeeze more character building into them. Having a character change their name essentially gives them a built-in characterizing action, which is very useful. - To write foreign names, a simple but time consuming way to go about it is to find some kind of directory of foreign names and just look up the meaning for ones that sound good. Eventually, you'll have a good sounding foreign name with meaning. If you have a cursory knowledge of the language, you can even shield your wider ignorance of the language with a crude and simple pun. I have a character named Torabisu "Travis" Hayakawa, and he tends to inject the word 'screw' into his dialogue since his first name contains the character for screw in Japanese. - A very ripe area for finding inspiration are categories of items that themselves have names. Minerals, flowers, geography, all of these fields have plenty of things that are named, and the meaning can be more organic than some ancient Germanic or Hebrew name. - Pronouncing and writing the possessive form of a character's name that ends with S isn't that difficult. In English, whenever an apostrophe s is needed on the end of the word, you ditch the s if that word already ends in s (i.e. where are the cows' food / let's head to Chris' house). It can be a bit tricky to pronounce, but readers don't have to pronounce the character's name while reading. Their brain just skips past the tricky part. If you have enough readers to the point where you are concerned of their ability to discuss one of your character's names in the possessive form smoothly, then you should look into avoiding names that end with s. Otherwise, it isn't a deal breaker, just a bit of a snag. Thanks for reading my tips. Please preach the importance of good names to all of your friends, and their friends too!
@@MonitorComics That's great to hear, but thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about this. If I think of anymore I'll be sure to stick them onto this comment via an edit.
The names that I give are mostly just descriptions of them in either, Hebrew, Chinese, or whatever other languages if I happen to feel adventurous. Fore example- the name of the main character of my second book is Shual Adom of the Redfox family. Shual adom means red fox in Hebrew
I am using names from my favorite Japanese film, Legend of the Eight Samurai. Its a Sonny Chiba movie starring a young Hiroyuki Sanada. Blew me away as a kid. I found the Japanese names to be so alluring and the story so cool, that I want to give a nod to it. I'll be sure to research and ask my Japanese co-creator if there may be any issues. But so far she really likes the names.
My protagonist has had a lot of changes but the name has always stuck. I went through 3 protagonists before I made this one. He was based off of aiga from beyblade and some of that inspiration stuck. He then became darker and donnes a headband.l and black clothes as well as a spellbook and a sharp tooth that stuck out. From there he developed into a bun rather that a ponytail. Then he dropped the jacket and croptop, then he took inspiration from tengen uzui and I added gems. The only things that stuck were his red and yellow high tops, his eyebrows (which were introduced in draft 2) and his name, which u later found out can be translated into Spanish which is cool because the main story takes place in a Spain esque world. So yeah, cool.
NGL…even as. Kid I had a habit giving names or just random up or makes sense Greatest Coincidence I did put of all my originals characters old and New ASTRIX is my favourite (rooted from the word Asterisk before I knew the name) and Ohh man baby it suits my Half-angel and Demon so much!!! And my first OC duo Cornilous and Yumi were the best!! (Recommendation helps)
He is right. I was forgetting to subscribe to him after watching a couple of videos he made. I made sure to do so by the end it. Anyway, I now got tips on creating character names. Thank you, MONITOR COMICS!😉👍
The way i write my stories makes me scared of the standards of indie comics. I feel so much smaller and out of place with these other indie comic book writers in comparison because my stories are just slam bam action heroes and robots go BOOM. I already know that everyone's audience is different but i have the feeling my demographic is kinda non-existent (i.e readers who like action stories) I, myself am not a fan of artsy, gloomy, edgy, dark, deep, complex or philosophical clash stories stretched to a whole 'how ever long' series. I myself want to make a simplistic, fantastical, cheesy, cartoony, soft Sci-Fi, cyberpunk action story and by "simple" i meant my world has alien robots, mercenaries, action heroes, unique individuals, rock music, rap songs, vehicles modified for combat, power armor, mechas, retrowave-y neon aesthetic, commandos, over the top extreme action sports and high speed action. But that doesn't mean it's just gonna be dumb, mindless action, i at least want some sort of depth and substance to it but just enough for it to be easy to follow. My stories are heavily inspired by cartoons and games rather than anime and manga like Transformers, The Bots Master, Centurions, TMNT, GI Joe, M.A.S.K, Generator Rex, Avengers EMH, Motorcity, Ben 10, Max Steel, Hot Wheels BF5, Slugterra, Storm Hawks, Ninjago, Megas XLR, Kick Buttowski, SRMTHFG, Randy Cunningham, Tokusatsu, Pacific Rim, Titanfall, Vanquish, etc. The way i see it, not everything has to be super deep, just fun to follow. I don't wanna make masterpieces, i just wanna make a fun time. I just hope that simplicity is still plausible
Simplicity definitely is still plausible! There is always a market for stuff like that! There are plenty of people who don't like the darker, philosophical, edgy stuff that is popular right now
@@adamshafeeq8685 Nah you're not alone, I'm personally a fan of both, but the comics that I tend to make the most often are more on the "simpler side." You need to remember that Slice of Life is one of the most popular genres in anime and manga. It doesn't have any deep meaning or flashy battles or anything
It's also important to make sure you're not accidentally giving the characters names of the wrong gender. Gender neutral names are fine but actually giving an erroneous name to the wrong gender also affects the story. I realized this mistake when naming my mob boss Takeo Okabe. Before then, I had him named Taeko without realizing that Taeko is a female name until someone pointed it out to me. With Western and European names, it's a little easier but with African, Asian, Middle Eastern and tribal names, you have to do research and dig a little deeper so you don't end up putting the name on the wrong gender.
Honestly, that isn't that big of a deal anymore. There are plenty of times where a character is teased for having a feminine name. For example in the series Free, the main cast, Haruka Nanase, Rin Matsuoka, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rei Ryugazaki all have "very girly names." This contrasts well because they're all muscular athletes. The main girl in the series, "Go Matsuoka" is also teased because she has a manly name. There are other examples as well in other stories, but I wouldn't say it is a huge dealbreaker
@@MonitorComics I understand that. 🙂 I think what I mean is that if it's done accidental and not intentional on the author's part, then it becomes an error. If it's done intentional, then yes I think that's fine and could work for the story.
I usually go to a website that has a list of names and their meaning for characters in my stories. Not only that, I want to have names for the characters that best fit their role in the stories.
I have a few "pop out" names. One of my character's surnames is Diamondorio (he has diamond related abilities.) And on chatacter is named toad. He has the ability to bounce off of objects and has a few frog like features.
My main oc that I’ve been drawing since I was 15, is based in Japan in the 90s. I already have the name picked out since forever but can’t think of a good last name for him and his brothers. No I never been to Japan and no I wasn’t alive in the 90s so I’m here struggling
For me I often default to naming characters after people or concepts from history/mythology/classical literature. In some cases the characters are meant to be my own fictitious reinterpretations of them (think historical figures in Fate or Clone High; or legendary monsters/mythical creatures like Dracula or Nurarihyon), but most of the time I want to allude to things that symbolise the character in a certain way. Like naming a character after a special tree/plant But sometimes I feel a bit silly and go the Ace Attorney route of naming characters with wordplay lol. Alternatively if I want to attribute a specific number to them (like a birthday or a serial number), I might base it off goroawase :)
I am so sorry, this is like incredibly long. I was mostly writing this for me. so those who actually made it to the end I apologize again and say wow. I can happily say that I have all that is mentioned here. Maybe not use a phonebook but I met so many different people that I simply use their names and alter them accordingly. It got worse when I read MHA Horikoshi sensei naming style is something I really like so now I do tons of research on a particular name for my characters. Another way I come up with names is to design the character and show a part of their backstory or a defining personality. That makes me remember them, and I give names according. So if a character is charismatic and is prone to making bad jokes I might give them a name that meaning is a joke. I also think of who is giving the character the name. So not me, the author but another character in the story, maybe a grandmother who wanted to name her first grandson after a once famous individual. Or maybe the father named his son after his uncle. Things like those also determine my character names. And their environment, also character silhouette, there are times when I might give a tall person a short name. or a scary person a cute-sounding name. It depends. Here are some examples, all these characters are for a novel I'm writing so I would rather someone not just usurping these names I put thought into. I would also state what I perceive from the characters' names. (I'll use about 5) Notice: I don't properly understand the culture of the names but I really placed a lot of effort into all of them. To me, names are precious and are... magical if you want to be corny. 1) Nasuki Horike At first, her name was "Natsuki Hori", however, I added the 'ke' later to add more meaning to the name as well as to remind me of what her parents' relationship with her may be. Natsuki doesn't actually have a surname as she's an orphan, and even her mother is an orphan. She only gets the name 'Horike' when she's 12. She's also my protagonist, and the book is a summer theme. Note: Natsuki Horike means, Natsu; ‘summer’ - ki; hope or tsuki; ‘summer moon’ or suki; ‘summer love’. Hori; ‘moat, ditch’, ke (家); ‘house, family’. Together it means, Summer hope / summer moon / summer love, moat, ditch, house, family. I decipered it as "a child born under summer’s moon hopes to be loved - a house that guides this summer daughter, who secretly holds an advantage over people, (water manipulation) how to hope again through their love and protection." In this case, there are two descriptions. The first one is when Natsuki was a child, as she didn’t have a known surname then. The second one is after Natsuki got adopted by the Horike’s and how they influenced her, and what their objectives are. Which is to be a guiding figure that can protect their child. 2) Junichi Fujiwara Although his name is Junichi, later in the story he is called Jun. 'cause Jun gives off an English summery feel, like "June." His grandfather however calls him 'Junichiro' which means he who takes, rather than Junichi which means pure, obey and he who submits. Junichi doesn't like that his grandfather calls him that, however. Unfortunately I can't find the detailed part to why I named him so. However, I'm pretty sure I gave him Fujiwara because it's a long-lasting name in Osaka. 3) Susuna Guishiken She's a Brazilian child with Asian heritage, which explains her surname. Unfortunately, I can't find her detailed part either. But I'm sure I named her Susuna to give off an innocent feel. Especially since she's just four. 4) Furuya Hase She's a child who grew up in an onsen whose family follows and is run by the female. So it's matriarchal and matrilocal. Not something you would usually see in Japan. She is prideful of her family history and resolves to be as great as her ancestors. Note: Furuya Hase means, Furuya; ‘ancient valley’ and Hase; ‘long valley’. Together, it means, a long ancient valley. I deciphered it as "one whose ancient roots run deep into the valley". In this case, deep refers to ‘long’, and ‘valley’ refers to the family. So it's actually; One whose ancient roots run deep/long into the family. 5) Hana Ishikawa She is a friend of Natsuki, and I really thought of her character silhouette. She's a short, plump teen with shoulder-length hair. She's a very feminine person. who is quite tomboyish at times. She values her femininity a lot and learned a valuable lesson on how to love herself. Note: Hana has many meanings, but I’m sticking to the Japanese version. Hana means; ‘flower’ and Ishikawa means; ‘rocky river’ Together, it means, flower, rocky river (read in the English version), or rocky river. Flower (read in the Japanese version). I deciphered it as the delicate flower that is protected by a rocky river. In this case, I took her personality and added the adjective ‘delicate’ before flower. As well as her brother’s perspective, she needs to be ‘protected’ by her family who all hold the title of ‘rocky river’. again, sorry to those who actually read through this. but it's basically how I think of my characters. I
7:48 so Japanese characters are a no go unless I have a native speaker who works with me on speed dial double checking and signing off on everything I do regarding Japan
I have a random suggestion Could you please do a video on the story arcs for example like in apple black by whyt manga he said that the first arc is almost over and in Naruto there are war arcs. I would just like a video on how to make good and well thought out story arcs for your comics and manga. Also I'm not going to force you to make a whole video on this but even a CZcams short would be very much helpful Thank you
I have an older video that goes into story arcs, but I do plan to make an updated one in the new future czcams.com/video/BfwqGN3CJgQ/video.html The best way to think about story arcs is to think about plot structures like The Hero's Journey, Dan Harmon's Story Structure, or Three-Plot Structure. Usually a story arc should follow those story beats to be compelling. Meaning they should have a inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution etc The easiest arc to think of is the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. It starts as soon as Sasuke leaves the village and ends after the Naruto and Sasuke fight. The resolution is the characters failed the mission
a method that helps me find names is to think of the parents or the person that has given them the name. Do the parents have any hopes for the future or adhere to any supersitions? does a character resemble their father or mother? Maybe they take Thier name. or maybe named after their dead friend they met during a war. The context of who the parents are can be clue to finding a good name. Naruto got his name from this godfather Jiraiya, Jiraiya was Narutos dads teacher, Minato liked jiraiyas book "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" so much he named his then born son after the books protagonist "Nauro Mussabi". but funny enough Jiraiya came up with that name while eating Ramen, One of ramens toppings is "Narutomaki". The name is clever as Ramen is one of narutos favorite things to eat, he rutinely shares this meal with his teachers but also "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinob" paralells with his journey and spunky attitude. This example has a little dominoe effect, but it joins symbolism, the characters personality and a reoccuring aspect into a name that fits so well it's the title of the series.
Since I followed Touhou in the past, I become obsessed with naming character with names that has particular meaning, either their wish, their symbol, or what defines her. Touhou also made me not only consider what kanji that defines them, but also how you spell them. Tonikaku Cawaii MC has name with "Hoshizora" kanji, but because he was mocked due to his name spelled "Nasa", he pushed himself to become someone with very high IQ. Shows with character that uses puns also uses the combination of kanji and how they spelled. Also, I don't think I will agree with "avoid using name ended with letter 'S'", as some culture , especially Greek and Roman, have a lot of names ended up with letter "S". Zeus, Hades, Paracelcus, Heracles, Julius, Venus, Socrates, and others. Heck, even comedy series that parodies Greek or Roman setting literally use "Random name + us" as character's name, like Biggus Dickus.
Honestly, I don't really have a clear answer. On one hand, you want a name that "fits" the character. But there are exceptions where characters have contrasting names, for example they have a girly feminine name but a delinquent and strong personality. It's easier for a name to "fit" when it points towards the characters personality, appearance, or powers, but some names just have nice meanings or messages. It honestly just depends on the character, the comic, and name you settle with. I can't just say it'll work or not work generally
I thought of one of my characters name which are twins, I named them "Novan Van Ark" and "Zephyr Van Ark" I never really thought of what they could mean other than realizing that the end of their names mean, "Van Ark" meaning "From Boat" or "From the Boat". They're twins but Novah was sent away because of favoritism, he was casted away to the mafia where he was taken care there and had a new name "Alexandr Van Sleuth". I never really thought of what the names mean, its just what fits the characters in my opinion but its really cool
In one of my manga projects that goes by the title "My Neighbor is a Parasaurolophus", I named the main male character Misaki simply to have a Japanese version of my actual first name. The other main and side characters (Which are dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in human form) however are mostly named after or reference to either the geological time period they are from, the or their original animal's species with just a few exceptions. For example, the titular Parasaurolophus and main female character''s name Campa is derived from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period. Other names the follow this scheme are Branca (From Giraffatitan Brancai), Noria (From the Norian stage of the Triassic period) and Mira (From Estemmenosuchus mirabiillis)
My characters are humanoids that lives in a planet thats similar to earth so i try to be unique and not have any existing names that ties to America or Japan but i fine myself struggling.
Just created a character name. Arma Telum. Sounds cool until you realise Arma means Weapon in Spanish and Telum means Weapon in Latin. (I used google translate so it may be scuffed). So my character is now called weapon weapon
What if I don't want my names to be related to anything? Is it fine to have names that I think simply sound cool and interesting? Or does every name have to have some sort of meaning to it? In the writing I'm making nobody's name really has much of a deep meaning besides the MC's and their partner's
At the end of the day, as the author, you are free to do whatever you want! Some names naturally have associated meanings, so for example if you named a character Midori, there are going to be readers who know that it means "Green." So they may ask themselves how does "green" relate to this character. Other times names relate to concepts like Mirai means "Future." If you choose a name that has a clear meaning, people may make the connection. As the writer though, it is up to you if you want those to matter. I'm sure there are some authors who choose names just because they are cool. For example, if you give your characters English names, nobody will care why someone is named Tom or Henry or Bob.
@@MonitorComics Bob is a palindrome, a name that is spelt the same even in reverse. Which means that Bob is obviously a double agent working both sides.
In the story I'm writing I literally forgot 1 of my characters name and since he was a melee martial artist I jit named him Bako based off the bakom fighting style.
Im curious can you name a character after an existing character but your character is different from the other character. Is it still ok to use that name if your character is different from the other character with that name because i have a character that has the name of an existing character but is very different from him. Can i still use the name or not?
Technically, yes! Just like in real life, it's not illegal to name your kid a common name The only thing with that is you are bound to draw comparisons. Like if you named your kid Rihanna, people will automatically think of the singer So if you name your character Goku, people WILL always think of Dragonball first. Other names like Ichigo are common in Japan, it's not just a "Bleach" thing.
8:55 A Polish phone book 😆 This is one of my biggest struggles. Honestly, only my MC has a truly meaningful name that I researched (but his family name isn't Japanese on purpose). There's another character who I feel like got a quite meaningful name recently as well... but it's really hard to research Japanese names. I don't create new ones bc I know I would only come up with bs so I try to look for existing ones - even if they may look boring, at least they won't be unintentionally stupid. And if this idea really turns Japanese publishers off then whatever bc I know none of them would publish me anyway 😅 Japanese mangakas use foreign names too and nobody gets mad at them for it.
In regards to the publisher thing, I am mostly speaking from my opinion working with Western publishers. They see people all of the time who make japanese characters with japanese names when they don't know anything about Japanese culture, to a western publisher, that comes off as fanboyish or amateurish. You're pretty much saying "i'm making comics for the japanese market even though I don't live or experience the japanese market." A publishers job is to make money, so they see that as a waste of investment sometimes In regards to character names, every name doesn't NEED a meaning. Most english names aren't known for their meaning. But a name with a meaning could ENHANCE the character if that's what you're going for
@@MonitorComics I didn't say I make my comic for Japanese market. The Japanese market won't even see it, lol. I'm just saying I like Japanese settings so this is what I try to do, trying to reach "industry standard". The names are just hard bc I don't know Japanese. I know some basics about how a name is created but I'm not familiar with it well enough to use it for my comic. English names won't really fit to the story's setting but I appreciate your feedback ❤ I'm in no rush so maybe I'll manage to come up with meaningful names at least for the most important characters in future.
@@MonitorComics here’s a few Niwa(newer), Demi(demo), Lux(luck), Mon(man), Typhon(typhoon). I have a whole list of these but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
6:41 This has to be the weirdest bit of advice I've ever heard. No James' or Katniss'? You literally just pronounce "iz" at the end, what's the problem? 🤔
I don't really like tying either names or the writing to existing material. How many times can you see characters based on 7 deadly sins until it becomes annoying? I'm already annoyed Chinese and Japanese comics can't go one issue without a character referencing or just being straight Journey To The West, like it's the only story ever written there. Imagine if every single manga had a spanish guy based on Don Quixote. It also limits creativity and fantasy when readers recognize a reference and quickly puts it all together, and suddenly they know half the story. Naming based on meaning or reference also removes any connection to the lore and the world. Instead create a whole new species with it's own language. Weehjoghem. Three syllables. And lacking and lacking any quick letters like K or T. More rolling like their mouths are more relaxed. Or names that are pronounced like talking backwards and spelled as such. Give it it's own personality. Or if you want good and evil. DON'T pick angels and demons all the time!
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Funny story , an old writer I use to work with asked me for my characters name . I didn't have a name so on the spot I made up the name "Isani" and it was a coincidence because Isani means possession and she has the power to possess people
That actually worked out perfectly haha. Thanks for taking the time to share!
God was with you
As a friend of mine would say, "it accidentally worked out."
@@bencrooker720 As a friend of mine would say "There are no accidents".
Something like that happened to me too. I thought up the name "Idun" on the spot for a nature deity in a story I wrote, and only much later found out that it not only was a real name but was in fact the name of, go figure, a nature deity from Norse mythology.
I have kind of an opposite problem. There are so many cool names that I want to make a character for each of them XD. And when I try to name a character, I have like 5 name ideas for them and don't know which one to choose lol.
Love that!
Imo character naming becomes a lot easier if you study sacred texts such as The Bible, Quran, Hindu texts, Shintoism and so on. You might not belive what they say to be true but damn are the full of cool names and ideas. You can also adapt some of those characters attributes/traits to your ocs, thus directly referencing where you got the idea from.
That is a great tip! Thanks for taking the time to share!
I am latino and the characters in the story I am writing are named in Spanish and they have 1 or 2 names then the father's surname and the mother's surname. There is a character called Virtud (Virtue) and the rest of her name always begins with V, thus, there is a recurring joke with another character that calls her full name and adds an extra word that begins with V, my favorite part about this is that all the words are related and could perfectly form a sentence
i don't usually give the names meaning lol. Because their design is what comes to my mind first (maladaptive daydreaming in a nutshell) so i only name them based on what kinda suits them lol. I came up with the surname "Mitchswinger" and the name "Ookafoobi" there are also names "Gabriella Winters" "Esteavo Balzarini" "Milad Moore" and my MC is "Ylvin" there are also names that based of their powers "Boomer" she's a sniper. and "Dice" he cuts enemies into cubes. "Kariko" basically came from Calico cat
Sounds awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share some of your character names!
Maladaptive daydreaming is thriving force for all my characters/ stories 😂
@@HexAddams lmao I was in church when the story first came into my mind😭😭😭 it's a murder scene😭😭😭
My OCs are usually named by translating words into the language of the character's home language or the opposite, i give them a name, learn the meaning and build off of that
2 in particular are characters named Benedict Cladem, which means Blessed and Defeat as the character has a duality with Nicole Mallory, who's name means Victory and Curse, making then opposites and also related, as the theme of the entire story is basically yin and yang, how to things seem different are actually related, i did my home work with this one
The thing that seems even harder to me is to find out how to create a nickname to some of my characters. Like, my MC is supposed to have a "title" earned with bad reputation, called like this by random Japanese people living in Tokyo. I want this name to refer to what the mob sees when MC "fucks things up" with his abilities. I tried to use simple words for color or natural elements or for some kind of demigod in Japanese but... it still feels kinda weird. Idk if it would be better to come up with an English nickname instead (since I assume my story won't be seen by Japanese people anyway). I also thought about researching some nicknames for serial killers named in specific way by mob irl - in this way I found a story about a nurse who killed plenty of her patients and she earned a specific name in this way. Would it be a better idea?
It is always a good idea to see what was used in the past. There are definitely names that already exist that should fit what you're looking for. The easiest example I can think of is how the nickname "Deku" (means "useless") became popular from My Hero Academia. As to whether or not the nickname should be Japanese or English, it is entirely up to you and what you prefer.
When I was talking about editors and submissions with japanese names, I was mostly referring to applicants who come off as "fanboyish" and amateurish. Japanese mangaka make stories in Japan with Japanese characters because THEY live in Japan and know the culture. That's why it comes off weird when people NOT from Japan try to immitate that even though they don't know what they're talking about
@@MonitorComics I agree that there's a lot of fanboyish / amateurish works made by those who know way too little about Japanese culture. But some Japanese mangaka also don't shy away from making stories based on Western culture, AoT, FMA in example. But ofc they do lots of research so they know what they do. In the end, everyone just tries to do their best :) and it's always possible to self-publish our work, when it doesn't reach traditional publishers' expectations.
I've spent my whole college career preaching the importance of good names in a story (either for characters, places, special moves, or the for the story itself), so it is very nice to see a larger platform discuss this. Here are some tips/suggestions that I've learned that you didn't mention:
- A character's first name was always given to them by their parents (or circumstance) in the story, so you should consider what their parents were thinking when naming them. Perhaps their parents had big aspirations for them that the character is wary of, or they didn't value them and now the character has a chip on their shoulder. I generally like to have the first name play into their personality/skill, and their last name to play into their more general role in the story.
- Having a character who goes by a name other than their birth name is a very fun way to explore their personality. Perhaps they have a girly name that they've never liked (a la Megumi in JJK), or perhaps they've always wanted to have a girly name. Maybe they suffer from middle schooler syndrome and use a very edgy name. Maybe it's a nickname that they earned through their actions, allowing you to squeeze more character building into them. Having a character change their name essentially gives them a built-in characterizing action, which is very useful.
- To write foreign names, a simple but time consuming way to go about it is to find some kind of directory of foreign names and just look up the meaning for ones that sound good. Eventually, you'll have a good sounding foreign name with meaning. If you have a cursory knowledge of the language, you can even shield your wider ignorance of the language with a crude and simple pun. I have a character named Torabisu "Travis" Hayakawa, and he tends to inject the word 'screw' into his dialogue since his first name contains the character for screw in Japanese.
- A very ripe area for finding inspiration are categories of items that themselves have names. Minerals, flowers, geography, all of these fields have plenty of things that are named, and the meaning can be more organic than some ancient Germanic or Hebrew name.
- Pronouncing and writing the possessive form of a character's name that ends with S isn't that difficult. In English, whenever an apostrophe s is needed on the end of the word, you ditch the s if that word already ends in s (i.e. where are the cows' food / let's head to Chris' house). It can be a bit tricky to pronounce, but readers don't have to pronounce the character's name while reading. Their brain just skips past the tricky part. If you have enough readers to the point where you are concerned of their ability to discuss one of your character's names in the possessive form smoothly, then you should look into avoiding names that end with s. Otherwise, it isn't a deal breaker, just a bit of a snag.
Thanks for reading my tips. Please preach the importance of good names to all of your friends, and their friends too!
AWESOME ADVICE! Thank you for taking the time to write all of that! Even I got some new ideas from your advice!
@@MonitorComics That's great to hear, but thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about this. If I think of anymore I'll be sure to stick them onto this comment via an edit.
@@Kaelicles Sounds good!
The names that I give are mostly just descriptions of them in either, Hebrew, Chinese, or whatever other languages if I happen to feel adventurous. Fore example- the name of the main character of my second book is Shual Adom of the Redfox family. Shual adom means red fox in Hebrew
I am using names from my favorite Japanese film, Legend of the Eight Samurai. Its a Sonny Chiba movie starring a young Hiroyuki Sanada. Blew me away as a kid. I found the Japanese names to be so alluring and the story so cool, that I want to give a nod to it. I'll be sure to research and ask my Japanese co-creator if there may be any issues. But so far she really likes the names.
That's awesome to hear! I enjoyed watching that movie when it came out as well! Best of luck with your project!
Thanks for the critique, Monitor! I shall keep this in mind when drawing more characters!
Of course! Glad this video could help!
My protagonist has had a lot of changes but the name has always stuck. I went through 3 protagonists before I made this one. He was based off of aiga from beyblade and some of that inspiration stuck. He then became darker and donnes a headband.l and black clothes as well as a spellbook and a sharp tooth that stuck out. From there he developed into a bun rather that a ponytail. Then he dropped the jacket and croptop, then he took inspiration from tengen uzui and I added gems. The only things that stuck were his red and yellow high tops, his eyebrows (which were introduced in draft 2) and his name, which u later found out can be translated into Spanish which is cool because the main story takes place in a Spain esque world. So yeah, cool.
Ah someone else watches beyblade burst, good to see >u
@@AutumnBestSeason great show, I grew up on it
Oh my god this was honestly just so helpful for someone who has no names for any of his characters! I love your videos!🥰
NGL…even as. Kid I had a habit giving names or just random up or makes sense
Greatest Coincidence I did put of all my originals characters old and New
ASTRIX is my favourite (rooted from the word Asterisk before I knew the name) and Ohh man baby it suits my Half-angel and Demon so much!!!
And my first OC duo Cornilous and Yumi were the best!! (Recommendation helps)
He is right. I was forgetting to subscribe to him after watching a couple of videos he made. I made sure to do so by the end it. Anyway, I now got tips on creating character names. Thank you, MONITOR COMICS!😉👍
you give such good tips you a W
Thank you!!
2:24 3:24 4:54 5:36 6:22 6:40 7:00 7:26 7:54 8:24 Well Said. 8:47 4:46 Thank You. 5:19
The way i write my stories makes me scared of the standards of indie comics. I feel so much smaller and out of place with these other indie comic book writers in comparison because my stories are just slam bam action heroes and robots go BOOM. I already know that everyone's audience is different but i have the feeling my demographic is kinda non-existent (i.e readers who like action stories)
I, myself am not a fan of artsy, gloomy, edgy, dark, deep, complex or philosophical clash stories stretched to a whole 'how ever long' series. I myself want to make a simplistic, fantastical, cheesy, cartoony, soft Sci-Fi, cyberpunk action story and by "simple" i meant my world has alien robots, mercenaries, action heroes, unique individuals, rock music, rap songs, vehicles modified for combat, power armor, mechas, retrowave-y neon aesthetic, commandos, over the top extreme action sports and high speed action. But that doesn't mean it's just gonna be dumb, mindless action, i at least want some sort of depth and substance to it but just enough for it to be easy to follow.
My stories are heavily inspired by cartoons and games rather than anime and manga like Transformers, The Bots Master, Centurions, TMNT, GI Joe, M.A.S.K, Generator Rex, Avengers EMH, Motorcity, Ben 10, Max Steel, Hot Wheels BF5, Slugterra, Storm Hawks, Ninjago, Megas XLR, Kick Buttowski, SRMTHFG, Randy Cunningham, Tokusatsu, Pacific Rim, Titanfall, Vanquish, etc.
The way i see it, not everything has to be super deep, just fun to follow. I don't wanna make masterpieces, i just wanna make a fun time. I just hope that simplicity is still plausible
Simplicity definitely is still plausible! There is always a market for stuff like that! There are plenty of people who don't like the darker, philosophical, edgy stuff that is popular right now
@@MonitorComics is that really? Cuz I can't really find people like that. I feel like I'm the only one
@@adamshafeeq8685 Nah you're not alone, I'm personally a fan of both, but the comics that I tend to make the most often are more on the "simpler side." You need to remember that Slice of Life is one of the most popular genres in anime and manga. It doesn't have any deep meaning or flashy battles or anything
@@MonitorComics are there any simplistic action stories you can recommend? I might wanna take inspiration for the simplicity
@Adam Shafeeq
I feel your demographic is actually very prominent. Why do you think people love dragon ballz??
It's also important to make sure you're not accidentally giving the characters names of the wrong gender. Gender neutral names are fine but actually giving an erroneous name to the wrong gender also affects the story. I realized this mistake when naming my mob boss Takeo Okabe. Before then, I had him named Taeko without realizing that Taeko is a female name until someone pointed it out to me. With Western and European names, it's a little easier but with African, Asian, Middle Eastern and tribal names, you have to do research and dig a little deeper so you don't end up putting the name on the wrong gender.
Honestly, that isn't that big of a deal anymore. There are plenty of times where a character is teased for having a feminine name. For example in the series Free, the main cast, Haruka Nanase, Rin Matsuoka, Makoto Tachibana, Nagisa Hazuki, and Rei Ryugazaki all have "very girly names." This contrasts well because they're all muscular athletes. The main girl in the series, "Go Matsuoka" is also teased because she has a manly name.
There are other examples as well in other stories, but I wouldn't say it is a huge dealbreaker
@@MonitorComics I understand that. 🙂 I think what I mean is that if it's done accidental and not intentional on the author's part, then it becomes an error. If it's done intentional, then yes I think that's fine and could work for the story.
I usually go to a website that has a list of names and their meaning for characters in my stories.
Not only that, I want to have names for the characters that best fit their role in the stories.
That's a great way to go about it! Thanks for sharing!
@@MonitorComics The website is called Behind the Name, which also has another website called Behind thr Surname as well.
@@tunebeat3809 I've used that website before as well! Great tool!
Yes, the best fate for ninjago is unending conflict
When your comment ends up on the wrong video, and you still get a heart
My favourite character name is Nanakusa Nazuna from Yofukashi no Uta (Call of the Night).
one of my characters is literally just named 'Employee'
XD
Love that lol
I have a few "pop out" names. One of my character's surnames is Diamondorio (he has diamond related abilities.) And on chatacter is named toad. He has the ability to bounce off of objects and has a few frog like features.
My main oc that I’ve been drawing since I was 15, is based in Japan in the 90s. I already have the name picked out since forever but can’t think of a good last name for him and his brothers. No I never been to Japan and no I wasn’t alive in the 90s so I’m here struggling
For me I often default to naming characters after people or concepts from history/mythology/classical literature. In some cases the characters are meant to be my own fictitious reinterpretations of them (think historical figures in Fate or Clone High; or legendary monsters/mythical creatures like Dracula or Nurarihyon), but most of the time I want to allude to things that symbolise the character in a certain way. Like naming a character after a special tree/plant
But sometimes I feel a bit silly and go the Ace Attorney route of naming characters with wordplay lol. Alternatively if I want to attribute a specific number to them (like a birthday or a serial number), I might base it off goroawase :)
I am so sorry, this is like incredibly long. I was mostly writing this for me. so those who actually made it to the end I apologize again and say wow.
I can happily say that I have all that is mentioned here. Maybe not use a phonebook but I met so many different people that I simply use their names and alter them accordingly. It got worse when I read MHA Horikoshi sensei naming style is something I really like so now I do tons of research on a particular name for my characters.
Another way I come up with names is to design the character and show a part of their backstory or a defining personality. That makes me remember them, and I give names according. So if a character is charismatic and is prone to making bad jokes I might give them a name that meaning is a joke.
I also think of who is giving the character the name. So not me, the author but another character in the story, maybe a grandmother who wanted to name her first grandson after a once famous individual. Or maybe the father named his son after his uncle. Things like those also determine my character names. And their environment, also character silhouette, there are times when I might give a tall person a short name. or a scary person a cute-sounding name. It depends.
Here are some examples, all these characters are for a novel I'm writing so I would rather someone not just usurping these names I put thought into. I would also state what I perceive from the characters' names. (I'll use about 5)
Notice: I don't properly understand the culture of the names but I really placed a lot of effort into all of them. To me, names are precious and are... magical if you want to be corny.
1) Nasuki Horike
At first, her name was "Natsuki Hori", however, I added the 'ke' later to add more meaning to the name as well as to remind me of what her parents' relationship with her may be. Natsuki doesn't actually have a surname as she's an orphan, and even her mother is an orphan. She only gets the name 'Horike' when she's 12. She's also my protagonist, and the book is a summer theme.
Note:
Natsuki Horike means, Natsu; ‘summer’ - ki; hope or tsuki; ‘summer moon’ or suki; ‘summer love’. Hori; ‘moat, ditch’, ke (家); ‘house, family’. Together it means, Summer hope / summer moon / summer love, moat, ditch, house, family.
I decipered it as "a child born under summer’s moon hopes to be loved - a house that guides this summer daughter, who secretly holds an advantage over people, (water manipulation) how to hope again through their love and protection." In this case, there are two descriptions. The first one is when Natsuki was a child, as she didn’t have a known surname then. The second one is after Natsuki got adopted by the Horike’s and how they influenced her, and what their objectives are. Which is to be a guiding figure that can protect their child.
2) Junichi Fujiwara
Although his name is Junichi, later in the story he is called Jun. 'cause Jun gives off an English summery feel, like "June." His grandfather however calls him 'Junichiro' which means he who takes, rather than Junichi which means pure, obey and he who submits. Junichi doesn't like that his grandfather calls him that, however.
Unfortunately I can't find the detailed part to why I named him so. However, I'm pretty sure I gave him Fujiwara because it's a long-lasting name in Osaka.
3) Susuna Guishiken
She's a Brazilian child with Asian heritage, which explains her surname. Unfortunately, I can't find her detailed part either. But I'm sure I named her Susuna to give off an innocent feel. Especially since she's just four.
4) Furuya Hase
She's a child who grew up in an onsen whose family follows and is run by the female. So it's matriarchal and matrilocal. Not something you would usually see in Japan. She is prideful of her family history and resolves to be as great as her ancestors.
Note:
Furuya Hase means, Furuya; ‘ancient valley’ and Hase; ‘long valley’. Together, it means, a long ancient valley.
I deciphered it as "one whose ancient roots run deep into the valley". In this case, deep refers to ‘long’, and ‘valley’ refers to the family. So it's actually; One whose ancient roots run deep/long into the family.
5) Hana Ishikawa
She is a friend of Natsuki, and I really thought of her character silhouette. She's a short, plump teen with shoulder-length hair. She's a very feminine person. who is quite tomboyish at times. She values her femininity a lot and learned a valuable lesson on how to love herself.
Note:
Hana has many meanings, but I’m sticking to the Japanese version. Hana means; ‘flower’ and Ishikawa means; ‘rocky river’ Together, it means, flower, rocky river (read in the English version), or rocky river. Flower (read in the Japanese version).
I deciphered it as the delicate flower that is protected by a rocky river. In this case, I took her personality and added the adjective ‘delicate’ before flower. As well as her brother’s perspective, she needs to be ‘protected’ by her family who all hold the title of ‘rocky river’.
again, sorry to those who actually read through this. but it's basically how I think of my characters.
I
Im always close to desperation when I have to find names xD
Thanks for this Video
LOL MOOD. I hope this video was able to help a bit!
@@MonitorComics so do I xD
"Don't give your readers an opportunity to be confused"
George RR Martin: Yes I think I will
How about a 'how to choose a name/title for your manga' video? would love to see it and need some help myself
It is on my list! Thank you for the video suggestion!
Hi montiar comics love video always giving best advise and Don’t be mad but I used basic names because somtimes simplicity is better than complexity .
That's fine! Thank you for taking the time to watch!
Great video once again. Keep up the great work
Thank you for taking the time to watch Prince!
7:48 so Japanese characters are a no go unless I have a native speaker who works with me on speed dial double checking and signing off on everything I do regarding Japan
I have a random suggestion
Could you please do a video on the story arcs for example like in apple black by whyt manga he said that the first arc is almost over and in Naruto there are war arcs. I would just like a video on how to make good and well thought out story arcs for your comics and manga. Also I'm not going to force you to make a whole video on this but even a CZcams short would be very much helpful
Thank you
I have an older video that goes into story arcs, but I do plan to make an updated one in the new future czcams.com/video/BfwqGN3CJgQ/video.html
The best way to think about story arcs is to think about plot structures like The Hero's Journey, Dan Harmon's Story Structure, or Three-Plot Structure. Usually a story arc should follow those story beats to be compelling. Meaning they should have a inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution etc
The easiest arc to think of is the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. It starts as soon as Sasuke leaves the village and ends after the Naruto and Sasuke fight. The resolution is the characters failed the mission
a method that helps me find names is to think of the parents or the person that has given them the name. Do the parents have any hopes for the future or adhere to any supersitions? does a character resemble their father or mother? Maybe they take Thier name. or maybe named after their dead friend they met during a war. The context of who the parents are can be clue to finding a good name.
Naruto got his name from this godfather Jiraiya, Jiraiya was Narutos dads teacher, Minato liked jiraiyas book "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi" so much he named his then born son after the books protagonist "Nauro Mussabi". but funny enough Jiraiya came up with that name while eating Ramen, One of ramens toppings is "Narutomaki". The name is clever as Ramen is one of narutos favorite things to eat, he rutinely shares this meal with his teachers but also "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinob" paralells with his journey and spunky attitude. This example has a little dominoe effect, but it joins symbolism, the characters personality and a reoccuring aspect into a name that fits so well it's the title of the series.
tim and tom are perfect
Since I followed Touhou in the past, I become obsessed with naming character with names that has particular meaning, either their wish, their symbol, or what defines her. Touhou also made me not only consider what kanji that defines them, but also how you spell them. Tonikaku Cawaii MC has name with "Hoshizora" kanji, but because he was mocked due to his name spelled "Nasa", he pushed himself to become someone with very high IQ. Shows with character that uses puns also uses the combination of kanji and how they spelled.
Also, I don't think I will agree with "avoid using name ended with letter 'S'", as some culture , especially Greek and Roman, have a lot of names ended up with letter "S". Zeus, Hades, Paracelcus, Heracles, Julius, Venus, Socrates, and others. Heck, even comedy series that parodies Greek or Roman setting literally use "Random name + us" as character's name, like Biggus Dickus.
YESSS Touhou is so good!! Great points!
Monitor what's your opinion on making unique names that mean nothing is that fine
Honestly, I don't really have a clear answer. On one hand, you want a name that "fits" the character. But there are exceptions where characters have contrasting names, for example they have a girly feminine name but a delinquent and strong personality. It's easier for a name to "fit" when it points towards the characters personality, appearance, or powers, but some names just have nice meanings or messages. It honestly just depends on the character, the comic, and name you settle with. I can't just say it'll work or not work generally
I thought of one of my characters name which are twins, I named them "Novan Van Ark" and "Zephyr Van Ark" I never really thought of what they could mean other than realizing that the end of their names mean, "Van Ark" meaning "From Boat" or "From the Boat". They're twins but Novah was sent away because of favoritism, he was casted away to the mafia where he was taken care there and had a new name "Alexandr Van Sleuth". I never really thought of what the names mean, its just what fits the characters in my opinion but its really cool
Been needing this! Thank you 🙏🏾
Of course! I hope it was able to help!
@@MonitorComics it did bro. I appreciate it 🤙🏾
In one of my manga projects that goes by the title "My Neighbor is a Parasaurolophus", I named the main male character Misaki simply to have a Japanese version of my actual first name.
The other main and side characters (Which are dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in human form) however are mostly named after or reference to either the geological time period they are from, the or their original animal's species with just a few exceptions.
For example, the titular Parasaurolophus and main female character''s name Campa is derived from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period.
Other names the follow this scheme are Branca (From Giraffatitan Brancai), Noria (From the Norian stage of the Triassic period) and Mira (From Estemmenosuchus mirabiillis)
After watching this video I have learned that I should be inspired by celebrity names, that is why i will name a character mike kalbijo dan
My characters are humanoids that lives in a planet thats similar to earth so i try to be unique and not have any existing names that ties to America or Japan but i fine myself struggling.
*me using a name generator* very useful information
I love your videos
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch them!!
OMG MENTIONED MY FAV ANJMEE
Easy, name them after food in different languages like they did in jojo vento aureo
Wish Gege Akutami would’ve seen this video.. when he made Gojo & Jogo 🤦🏾♂️ JJK
TRUE
This one-eyed cat is so all over the place sometimes 😂
Just created a character name. Arma Telum. Sounds cool until you realise Arma means Weapon in Spanish and Telum means Weapon in Latin. (I used google translate so it may be scuffed). So my character is now called weapon weapon
a reiminder that one piece has 1000+ named characters
Facts
You can also just give them normal names like Jake, Maria or Bob. The Name of the characters doesn't necessarily have to mean anything.
That is true, but an audience is a lot more likely to forget a name like bob over a flashier name
@@MonitorComics
Well sometimes it is good to give characters names that fit their personality and story. But simple names are good enough.
@@Kuudere_Fanboy true!
This one Chinese game the mc have a name penglaiju jiuxiao and it literally means the savior whose came from heaven
I tend to not like giving my characters "real people names" something about just doesn't sound right
I get what you mean.
Meanwhile DBZ characters be like:
🥕🥦🌰🍏🍇🌽🌶️🍐
now that im looking at it having one guy named Joey and another named Percipitation Man might not work to well
Shanks, Gildarts, Guts
Great choices!
Kuro Kowai how's that 🙂
What if I don't want my names to be related to anything? Is it fine to have names that I think simply sound cool and interesting? Or does every name have to have some sort of meaning to it? In the writing I'm making nobody's name really has much of a deep meaning besides the MC's and their partner's
At the end of the day, as the author, you are free to do whatever you want! Some names naturally have associated meanings, so for example if you named a character Midori, there are going to be readers who know that it means "Green." So they may ask themselves how does "green" relate to this character. Other times names relate to concepts like Mirai means "Future."
If you choose a name that has a clear meaning, people may make the connection. As the writer though, it is up to you if you want those to matter. I'm sure there are some authors who choose names just because they are cool. For example, if you give your characters English names, nobody will care why someone is named Tom or Henry or Bob.
@@MonitorComics Bob is a palindrome, a name that is spelt the same even in reverse. Which means that Bob is obviously a double agent working both sides.
In the story I'm writing I literally forgot 1 of my characters name and since he was a melee martial artist I jit named him Bako based off the bakom fighting style.
That's awesome! Love it!
4:21 A and I are vowels, not consonants.
oh crap you're right LOL I must've zoned out when writing that in the script
Im curious can you name a character after an existing character but your character is different from the other character. Is it still ok to use that name if your character is different from the other character with that name because i have a character that has the name of an existing character but is very different from him. Can i still use the name or not?
Technically, yes! Just like in real life, it's not illegal to name your kid a common name
The only thing with that is you are bound to draw comparisons. Like if you named your kid Rihanna, people will automatically think of the singer
So if you name your character Goku, people WILL always think of Dragonball first.
Other names like Ichigo are common in Japan, it's not just a "Bleach" thing.
@@MonitorComics alright thank you
I need this
Hopefully this video was able to help!
@@MonitorComics I am looking also in powers system can a human become mythical fairy who guards the celestial world
More on power system and limits especially for humans
8:55 A Polish phone book 😆
This is one of my biggest struggles. Honestly, only my MC has a truly meaningful name that I researched (but his family name isn't Japanese on purpose). There's another character who I feel like got a quite meaningful name recently as well... but it's really hard to research Japanese names. I don't create new ones bc I know I would only come up with bs so I try to look for existing ones - even if they may look boring, at least they won't be unintentionally stupid. And if this idea really turns Japanese publishers off then whatever bc I know none of them would publish me anyway 😅 Japanese mangakas use foreign names too and nobody gets mad at them for it.
In regards to the publisher thing, I am mostly speaking from my opinion working with Western publishers. They see people all of the time who make japanese characters with japanese names when they don't know anything about Japanese culture, to a western publisher, that comes off as fanboyish or amateurish. You're pretty much saying "i'm making comics for the japanese market even though I don't live or experience the japanese market." A publishers job is to make money, so they see that as a waste of investment sometimes
In regards to character names, every name doesn't NEED a meaning. Most english names aren't known for their meaning. But a name with a meaning could ENHANCE the character if that's what you're going for
@@MonitorComics I didn't say I make my comic for Japanese market. The Japanese market won't even see it, lol. I'm just saying I like Japanese settings so this is what I try to do, trying to reach "industry standard". The names are just hard bc I don't know Japanese. I know some basics about how a name is created but I'm not familiar with it well enough to use it for my comic.
English names won't really fit to the story's setting but I appreciate your feedback ❤ I'm in no rush so maybe I'll manage to come up with meaningful names at least for the most important characters in future.
@@cynxmanga Best of luck!!
@@MonitorComics Thank you ❤ and thank you for your helpful videos!
What happened if you name a character after a city or town? I got few characters with local town name like “Deepstep” for example.
That works! It will definitely feel unique!
@@MonitorComics Thank you!
3:27 Bakemonogatari
Yesss
@@MonitorComics niceeeee
@@strwbrrycantspel there's a couple monogatari images in this video, 3 If i remember correctly. The manga art is beautiful
@@MonitorComics it really is
(Laughs in creating a language just so that I can bullshrimp a name’s meaning on the spot)
6:36 is this turkish lol
I just use typos I make as names
Ooooh now I'm interested, do you have any examples you feel comfortable sharing
@@MonitorComics here’s a few Niwa(newer), Demi(demo), Lux(luck), Mon(man), Typhon(typhoon). I have a whole list of these but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
@@tVt2000 Awesome!
What is the manga name at 3:30 I read it but cannot remember
Sword Art Online Progressive!
@@MonitorComics thank you and I recognised Asuna but thank you
6:41 This has to be the weirdest bit of advice I've ever heard. No James' or Katniss'? You literally just pronounce "iz" at the end, what's the problem? 🤔
Also, complete disregard for my boy, Guts. I guess his suffering will never end....
Not me using AI name generators💀
That's perfectly fine! In part 1 I mention Name Generators and websites like that! They're a great way to get some quick ideas!
Second
Thanks for watching so early!
@@MonitorComics you're welcome!
I don't really like tying either names or the writing to existing material. How many times can you see characters based on 7 deadly sins until it becomes annoying?
I'm already annoyed Chinese and Japanese comics can't go one issue without a character referencing or just being straight Journey To The West, like it's the only story ever written there.
Imagine if every single manga had a spanish guy based on Don Quixote.
It also limits creativity and fantasy when readers recognize a reference and quickly puts it all together, and suddenly they know half the story.
Naming based on meaning or reference also removes any connection to the lore and the world.
Instead create a whole new species with it's own language. Weehjoghem.
Three syllables. And lacking and lacking any quick letters like K or T. More rolling like their mouths are more relaxed.
Or names that are pronounced like talking backwards and spelled as such. Give it it's own personality.
Or if you want good and evil. DON'T pick angels and demons all the time!