Player Character Names

Posted by Miles Strange on July 13th, 2007 filed in Saeri, Admiral Darch, Asha, Bha'lan, OOC, Donovan, Viktor Gradenko, Miles Strange, Lady Abrianna Pellucci, Lord Curcio deGrance, Morrigan, Uncategorized

I’m curious. How did each of you come up with the name of your character? I could make some guesses, but I’d like to hear your tales.

“Miles” came from a couple of Saturday Night Live sketches. In 1979, host Michael Palin starred in a lengthy Dickens parody called The Adventures of Miles Cowperthwaite, set in part aboard the Raging Queen, with the memorable line, “Perhaps we can all comfort Miles!” I dimly recall a later sketch in which Eddie Murphy played a kindly porn star named…Miles Long.

Strange is a cool last name, and like Miles, its vaguely French sound seemed appropriate for an Auvergnian. In a sci-fi game a few years back, I played a private eye named Sam Strange, inspired by Sam Space, the eponymous hero of Nolan’s hilarious Space For Hire. My character is becoming a sort of proto-Bond (Pete even promoted him to Commander along with the appointment to an obscure government ministry), and I have this recurring vision of regaining consciousness tied up in a villain’s lair; the bad guy will say, “So good of you to join us, Commander Strange.” The Persian cat is, of course, optional. (”No, Commander Strange. I expect you to cast Dispel Magic, and for the spell to dissipate without effect.”)

My misspelling of “lieutenant” is deliberate, both to ape the British pronunciation in those marvelous Hornblower movies, and to emphasize that this isn’t Earth.