Dead Names

[Nickeris86]

I have reached a point in my story where I have introduced one of the mane characters who happens to be an undead minion. His characterization is pretty straight forward since he is more like a very loyal dog in a humans body. His type of undead are constructs made of several corpses molded together, like the Frankenstein monster. My problem is that I have no idea what to call this type of undead. Most of the traditional names, like revenant, don't work because I am using them for other creatures already or they don't inspire the correct mental image for me. The most irritating thing is that I had a good name, but wrote it down in a journal that I unfortunately was forced to leave in the US when I moved out of the country. I am hoping that discussion will reawaken the name or help come up with something new.

[trboturtle]

A Flesh Golem, maybe?

Craig

[DragonEyes]

You could call it a Construct or one of the Returned. Maybe a Draugr. It's not entirely the same concept, but Draugr can adjust their bodies to be much larger than their fleshy selves. There is also the Leich or Lich, but I think DnD has overplayed that name so its original ambiguity is kind of lost. How about a Ghast?

You could also call him an animus, if you don't mind all of the psychology students snickering every time. Animus refers to the latin term for a soul, but its your world. Do as you will.

Then there are the words that deal with what they do rather than are, like calling them Ravagers or Reavers.

Let's see, since you mentioned Frankenstein's monster, he was described as an ogre, wretch, creation and fiend. Not very descriptive or unique, though. You could call him a Promethean, after the name of that book.

All I got for now.

[shades of grey]

What about calling them Mixes as they are mixture of different people, or maybe dogsbodies as an insult?

[Aminar]

Or just make the reference and call them Steins ot Steinies.  Or Franks.

[Snowleopard]

A Frankby - combo of Frankenstein and zombie.

A Zomk - see above combo.

If you have several corpses combined - what about the personality or animating spirit - is that one or a combine of several spirits?

[meg_evonne]

I'll usually work with word translation dictionaries. Some good prospects usually show up. Good luck!

[The Deposed King]

I'll usually work with word translation dictionaries. Some good prospects usually show up. Good luck!

You could call it an undead flesh Reaver.  Or something of that nature.  Or if you're in doubt you could have it named after its creator.  Like Alzheimer disease is named after Dr. Alzheimer the man who discovered it.

So you thing could be an Alzheimer or Gottendamerung or Juju-Smith.  Or whatever.



The Deposed King

[Nickeris86]

I like a few of these suggestions, animus, has promise and I think it would work within the concept I have for undead creation and control.

I may also use ogre as an general term that the ignorant use since these creatures have a small measure of free will and thought.

[belial.1980]

Maybe "Patches" as the name for POV creature. He's a patchwork being and the name calls to mind old school, cliche pet names like "Rover" or "Sparky."

For the constructs collectively you could do a play on the world "amalgam." Maybe Amalgas. Or for something a little more pulp-sounding, Amalgamen. Almalgals for those with the corresponding plumbing...assuming, of course, that the creators make an attempt to bestow some sort of gender identity.

Jigsaw, Jigsaw People, Mash-Ups and Mashers or even Bashers (play off of the idea of kit-bashing) are another few that come to mind. Might be doubly appropriate for the bigger, more physical specimens.

Homunculi, maybe? Or maybe you could even come up with a good acronym. Something along the line of "C.H.U.D." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.H.U.D. that characterizes them and/or their method of creation.

Good luck!

 

[Nickeris86]

I thought of giving him a silly dog like name like that but it felt to similar to a character from a web comic that I read, his name is Quilt.

I gave this character the name Rock, mostly cause it was simple. Other characterizations is that he is incapable of speaking but is crazy strong and durable. He is mostly used to open stubborn jars and haul corpses back to the lab.

[Darwinist]

Ran into the same problem with mine. It was a robotic spider. Tried Spiderbot, but that just felt cumbersome and tacky. Changed to Spibot. Then later Spot (SPiderbOT) out of sheer laziness. It seems to work, though. Fiddle around with some names in the text and see what feels comfortable.

What kind of tone are you setting with this character? Are people to be afraid of this dog or is it still the stereotypical loveable man's best friend. Is it a big dog or a little dog? I like to mess around with genre staples... I would have made it a chihuahua named Monster or Chomper. But I like to write dark comedy into my stuff, so that's just me. A frankenstein's monster like Chihuahua with the vocal chords of a doberman (deep growl/bark). That would be epic. This little stapled up dog runs up to you, it's body shivering like those little dogs do. You're all like "awwww how cute", and then it barks... deep, loud, and throaty... with just a hint of foamy saliva.

Heh, call him Ubu, and then have someone say "Sit Ubu, Sit. Good dog."

.... and it's time for my meds.

[shades of grey]

Heh, call him Ubu, and then have someone say "Sit Ubu, Sit. Good dog."

Lmao.

[Snowleopard]

I wonder how many people caught that reference?

[shades of grey]

I say it at work all of the time.  Luckily my co-workers already know I'm a penny short of a full bag.