Home Page › Forums › Fiction Writing › Characters › Character Naming Help!!
- This topic has 40 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 11 months ago by Emma Flournoy.
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December 13, 2017 at 12:12 am #56343
The reason I made this up, is because the idea of sentient androids has intrigued and fascinated me ever since… well, basically since Bionicle G1 (2001-2009 set releases) came out. And LEGO Hero Factory added on to that fascination.
Sure, why couldn’t God give a sentient android a human soul? I think an encouragement one of the other main characters need to keep giving them, especially Camille, is that “You’re more than the sum of your parts.” These robots do have free will and sentience. They may have a “personality matrix”, which reacts to how they learn, but it’s unique to them only, and it isn’t just programming. I’m not entirely sure yet what it is, but I know for sure it’s more than just programming.
But ultimately, it’s just a story. And a comedy at heart, too. It doesn’t have to be this deep. It’s like what E. B. White said about explaining a joke. It’s like dissecting a frog. You understand it better, but the frog (in this case, the story) dies in the process.
I agree with you both that the idea, especially applied in real life, is sad. But it doesn’t have to be. These robots are indeed more than the sum of their parts. Why? Because the writer says so! 😀 😛
December 13, 2017 at 12:54 am #56344@emma-flournoy @sam-kowal
There’s also the argument that the human brain is basically an organic computer… What separates animals from insects, and humans from animals? Insects are basically robots. In fact, a creationist (I can’t remember the name) calls insects God’s robots. Animals, especially seen in mammals, have Nephesh Chayyah, or the Spirit of Life. Humans not only have Nephesh Chayyah, but we also have a soul. And without that, we’re basically walking, organic thinking machines. Couldn’t one argue that a robot made with similar designs in mind could potentially have a soul?
But once again, let’s not read too much into this. 😛
December 13, 2017 at 7:18 pm #56409Yeah…it’s an interesting dilemma to say the very least. I think, I don’t think, it would ever really be possible, because only God can make real sentience, and humans, no matter how incredibly complex were their discoveries and inventions, could never reproduce what God does. Subcreation; we can ultimately only ever mimic what God’s done. Whether or not God would actually give a sentient robot, if there were such a thing, a soul or not, I can’t think. My gut feeling says no, because God gave us souls as the ONLY ones created in His image; robots aren’t, as animals aren’t, even though they have the spirit of life, and similar brain-design.
BUT, since there’s really no answer to a hypothetical question like this I’ll have to be satisfied to just let it lie. 😛 And, as you said, it’s just a story, and you’re the author. The author has the say-so. 😀 I was just wondering. About…everything. XD My default reaction is to read too much into everything. I’m working on it. XD. And yes, the dramedy-ness of this would definitely help. That’s a good story-form; I like ones that have the serious but aren’t all the serious and don’t depress you, but actually make you laugh as well. But also the ones that aren’t just purely comedy.
If this were to be a real life thing I’d probably make myself sick worrying about it, but as it stands, it’s the kind of thing you just have to accept as fiction. And I’m purty sure I can trust you as the author to handle it well, because you’ve obviously got a really good handle on the situation. 😀 Have fun writing it.
(And I think with Tristan I’ll still ever-after unconsciously think of him as Lachlan. XD Sorry.)
December 14, 2017 at 2:31 am #56421Yeah, that makes sense. And, as sad as it sounds, that’s probably it. No such thing as Kokoro (heart in Japanese, applied in the 2003 Astro Boy series referring to robots with a heart and soul), or Quaza stone (the stone that gives the Heroes in Hero Factory sentience), or anything like that. As you said, only God can create sentience. And that is kinda sad… I mean, why are there fictional stories that involve robots with sentience? Because we can’t do it ourselves. However, it could also be quite scary too. So, I think it’s a good thing that we can’t. :/
Ah, Miss Flournoy, reading too much into things. There’s a message for all who like to do that too much. 😛 And robots are cool characters anyway, whether they have sentience or not. They can certainly have a personality if anything. I’m thinking of quite a few scenarios in this series that could be very funny, like Camille forms a crush on someone. 😛
Yeeeaaah, don’t. 😛 Really, you think I have a good handle on this? Huhmm… I thank you for your confidence. 🙂 Thank you. I will! 😀
(Lachlan was one that I liked too, but Tristan is still good. Maybe I might rename him. Big maybe though. :P)
December 14, 2017 at 2:36 am #56422Actually, never mind. I like the diminutive form of the name Tristan, Tris/Triss. 😛 So, yeah. 😛
December 14, 2017 at 8:29 pm #56532Ah, Miss Flournoy, reading too much into things. There’s a message for all who like to do that too much.
XD Well, they’ve got it down all right.
At least I don’t do it on purpose. I don’t like to do it, it just…happens. I’m a regular overthinking machine. I mean, human. I’m not a machine. But you get the point. 😂
Oh I know, totally. Robots have great character potential whether or not they have sentience, for sure. All the Star Wars droids, to say the least (though even they seem an awful lot like they have sentience too. XD). I haven’t seen many things with robots, but they really are cool.
For some reason I didn’t even stop to consider what these robots look like; I was envisioning them looking just like humans, but is that how you have ’em? Or do they still look like robots? That’d be even funnier. 😛 They’re so real I’ve been seeing them as humans. And when you were saying their colors at the start…I took it to mean, mental color association for that character, but now I realize you might actually have been talking about physical robot color. 😛
Aha, well, your lack of confidence at least shows you’re somewhat humble about it. 😉 Always good.
And I hadn’t thought about the diminutive forms of the names, but I like Tristan a bit better now for it. You could hardly say ‘Lach’ as a good nickname.
Thanks. Now I’m going to have that mantra stuck in my head all night. It’s still ringing in my head. XD But hey, maybe it’ll help me just relax.
December 18, 2017 at 12:47 am #56874Yeah, I guess… (what do you mean, exactly? … :/ :P)
Welcome to the club. 😛
Yeah, I know. WHY, though?! :S
Okay, the robots are humanoid shaped, but they have to wear clothes to disguise their cladding and mechanical underneath. They usually wear hoodies that match their primary color when they’re in disguise. Their cladding at certain points (I’m thinking that the boys would have their upper arms colored, and the girl(s – accounting for possible character additions) would have their forearms colored. Both genders would have their shin cladding colored. Maybe palms or silicone grips on their hands and fingers would be as well. And they would have a pattern of thick, hard-edged lines and chevrons, shapes like this…
Or this…
Or even this, only not as dense…
Anyway, thick, hard-edged lines and shapes like those on their heads in their specific colors. Oh, and they need really tinted sunglasses, because their eyes glow. Different colors to their primary color, just to mix it up a little. The rest of the cladding will either be white or mid-grey. Maybe even black for some.
Oh, wow. Thank you. 🙂
XD Yay! Lach, Lachie, Clan… Yeah, Tris is so much better. 😛
You’re welcome 😛 The rest of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 theme is pretty catchy too. 😛
December 20, 2017 at 1:06 pm #57235(They’ve got it down; the people who did the ‘message’, the theme song, they know their stuff. They have a healthy mindset. 😀 My phrase was probably some American-particular thing, unbeknownst to me. XD )
*feels welcomed to the club*
Who can tell? XD
That’s cool! Very neat. I like it about their glowing eyes, too.
🙂
Tris wins. Good for Tris.
I bet. 😀 Good theme songs are quite catchy.
December 26, 2017 at 9:03 am #57669Yeah. Matthew Patrick of Game/Film Theory’s here too. 😛
I think it’s not so much the fact that the characters are robots, but we anthropomorphize the robots. Like, R2-D2 had a sort of stubborn, quick-witted side about him, WALL-E was curious, and the robots in the movie Robots were heavily anthropomorphized.
I’m still mentally working out the kinks with their design though. I recently watched I, Robot, starring Will Smith, and the NS-5 robots were quite inspiring in terms of design. I may go with having their faces similar to the NS-5s, being more humanoid in shape, but still retain the chevrons and lines and glowing eyes.
Yay! ^_^ Good choice after all! 😀
Yeah! I think I can remember most of the TV show themes I’ve heard. XD
December 26, 2017 at 9:04 am #57670Yeah. Matthew Patrick of Game/Film Theory’s here too. 😛
I think it’s not so much the fact that the characters are robots, but we anthropomorphize the robots. Like, R2-D2 had a sort of stubborn, quick-witted side about him, WALL-E was curious, and the robots in the movie Robots were heavily anthropomorphized.
I’m still mentally working out the kinks with their design though. I recently watched I, Robot, starring Will Smith, and the NS-5 robots were quite inspiring in terms of design. I may go with having their faces similar to the NS-5s, being more humanoid in shape, but still retain the chevrons and lines and glowing eyes.
Yay! ^_^ Good choice after all! 😀
Yeah! I think I can remember most of the TV show themes I’ve heard. XD
December 28, 2017 at 8:10 pm #58112Yup, that does make sense. Robots are pretty cool things. 😀
Yeah, there are so many different ways robots could look I can imagine it’d be hard to settle on exactly what you want.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by Emma Flournoy.
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