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Question: Dear Dungeon Monkey, I read last weeks column about super heroes and noticed the name you gave the super villain at the end of your column, it seemed, honestly, a bit lame but most super villain names seem to be either weak or pretty entertaining.  Can you give me any suggestions on good naming schemes/tricks to generate more memorable bad guy names for my campaigns.  I don’t need anything that specific but some general tips would be pretty useful.

Answer: Actually one of the most important uses of the name for any major Non-Player Character (NPC) villain is to make it memorable above all else, honestly there is nothing quite as frustrating for players as a named villain that either cannot be pronounced or actually is a name that they will have trouble remembering later on in the campaign.  Part of the reason comic books and cheesy movies go for such horrible names is it makes the villains more recognizable later on to the audience and, honestly, it fits certain genres better then others.  But in any case you wanted some generic naming tips and I will be happy to provide:

Distinctive short name – if you are going for something realistic in setting or something in which you want the players to have a feel it could be real, go with a short name that is easy to pronounce and sounds a bit malevolent in tone.  Hard sounds are your friend here, you want a name that has letters with a strong tone.  Be an adult and actually use a name in the primary language spoken by your group, foreign names sound good in theory but if one player speaks Spanish they might realize that El Sustantivo does not imply an NPC villain with great staying power but instead means “the diarrhea.”  More critically most foreign language names have meanings like those of any other names, they may sound sinister but they might mean something innocent or bland.  So accept this and simply pick a name that has a negative sound to it, if you have to, make something up.  If you do that though be sure it has vowels in it at roughly the proportion of real words – Xymjhkg’thlua does not make a name that roles of the tongue easily.

Give the NPC villain a title as a first name – a classic of comic books and poor fiction it is a trick that works wonders, a title provides players with an immediate shorthand clue as to what the villain does and what they are famous for.  Some classic good ones to consider, based on setting, are “Lord” or “Doctor” or “Professor” because they immediately imply a professional association.  For more fantastical settings something like “Magus” or “Wizard” could work well, for martial NPC villains something implying their ability in battle such as a rank or distinctive combat branch of service.  “Knight” or “General” or “Colonel” works well in this regard and also can often imply rank.  For a more advanced name you might want to use a term that does not imply their real trade but is a comment on their evil nature, “Butcher” or “Bloody” or “Fiend” works well in this regard.  You can also combine them in some cases, such as “Bloody General” or “Butcher King” but that is getting a bit complicated.

Give the NPC villain a distinctive nickname that is part of their name – it can also be something that replaces a last name in some cases, but make it something distinctive.  “Professor Doom” has a great ring to it and implies evil and a profession in one easy to remember package, “General Slaughter” makes a memorable name and implies what this person does and their abilities.  “Sparkles the Tea Master” on the other hand leaves players with a distinctive enough name but it does not really imply what the villain does per say, which may or may not be good.  Notice thought that it does follow the format, it provides a nickname and also provides a clue t the profession or area of expertise, somehow this villain is sparkly and also does something with tea.  To be sure the players realize in the latter case that it is really a villain you might want to throw the word “evil” in there.  That, by the way, should be taken as a general rule of thumb, if your players are not sure it is a villain they are dealing with, toss in the word “evil” somewhere in the name to make sure they get the feel.  If, on the other hand, you want the players to feel sorry for the individual use the word “cursed” instead, which implies they are suffering from something outside their own fate.  But in any case a nickname is a key attribute for a NPC villain name and it should be a nickname that does what a nickname does in real life, commemorates something distinctive about the person being so named.

- Dungeon Monkey

Have a question for the Dungeon Monkey?  Want to seek out some gaming suggestions?  Email Dungeon Monkey at dungeonmonkey@umich.edu and get your answers!