Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Bad Guy Song!!

Only the parents of small children have a shot in heck of guessing where the title of today's blog comes from.*

Nevertheless, I have a couple of bad guys in the WIP, and these slime balls need names. HELP!

I have names, of course. Bad guy names usually come from people I've known and, frankly, didn't care for all that much. Sometimes, it's just a name that conjures up awfulness for me. This isn't to say that there aren't nice people with bad-guy names, but for me, these are not hero names.

Bad Guy Names:

1. Frank (Franklin is fine, Nanner!)
2. Burt
3. Red
4. Darryl (Just the first one. His other brother, Darryl, is just fine.)
5. Mort
6. Beau (I know, I know--Beau is a 'typical' romance hero name. I don't care. I don't like it.)
7. Cecil
8. Arnold
9. Lester
10. Victoria (whenever I think bad girl, Victoria is always the first name that pops into my mind. Vicky isn't a huge improvement, but I have several nice neighbors named Vicky, so I'll let it slide.)

But honestly, I don't know that many bad guys. So I need your help. What names invoke irritation, awfulness, or panic for you?

*Disney's The Three Musketeers - the narrating turtle sings "The Bad Guy Song" and we can't get enough of it. Did you guess?

7 comments:

TinaFerraro said...

I am a fanatic for finding the right sounding character names, so this drew my attention from Facebook. :)

When I create bad guys, I usually go with strong, single syllables for first and last names. They feel raw and abrupt to me, and the "chewier" the better. Like Clyde Blunk. Zeke Potts. Blaine Werts.

Have fun!

Shay said...

Jabez! Or Count Fosco.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Zeke--that's a good one. Excellent tips, Tina!

Um, Shay, Jabez might work, but my westerns are perilously thin in the Count department.

Shay said...

AWww, come on! What's scarier (or more hated) in the West than an English Count. Also, he could be a Vampyre!

Hannah @ The Nanner Republic said...

Frank isn't scary.

Cletus!

like the new setup around here!

Kaki said...

Hey, I just found you! What a great blog!

How about Boyd, Junior, Simp, Bubba, Woodrow, Monte, Hondo, Clayton, Harlan, or initials in whatever combination you want (except R.D., since I'm using that one). Also, double names (except Joe Bill)--Jim Bob, Joe Ray, Billy Jack Fool. Or just use the last name.

Sarah M. Anderson said...

Kaki, Thanks so much! Boyd is a great one, but I have mixed feelings about Harlan, as that's the guy on Justified. Harlan's not exactly a bad guy, but he's not exactly a good guy, either.

Cletus! Nanner, that's brilliant!