Algemene Onzin Topic

Ooohh ja ik had deze nog!
 de andere komt ergens morgen ^^

NAME STYLES IN THE WARRIORS FANDOM




There are three naming styles to warriors, to my knowledge: Canon, Lyrical, and Traditional.

Canon names are names that have both parts of a name taken directly from the books. Anything that's shown up there is free game. This form of naming has a lot of possibilities, but stuff that doesn't really make sense. Stuff like Nightwind or Breezeshine.

Lyrical names are names that are either made to sound pretty and poetic or represent only a part of a cat (in a nontraditional way). These names can be things like Moonwish or Featherwing or Birdmask, for a few examples of 'pretty' names.

These names make little sense in reference to the cat or their ablities - and only times they make sense is when they're in reference to part of a cat (or if they have some symbolic meaning, like Brokenwish or something). For example, Redlegs would be for a cat with, well, red legs, though with that logic the rest of their body would (most likely) be ginger as well. Naming for one body part or section of the body can be unreliable and doesn't help one find a cat in a crowd as much as naming for the entirety of a cat.

Traditional names follow a unique style and system when applied to a cat, and make the most sense, though some people argue that the naming style is too restricted. The system can seem repetitive and stale at first, but it's actually rather interesting, since these names give more information at a glance than other naming styles, giving each cat a unique and understandable name.

Traditional prefixes are based on a cat's fur color or size. For example, let's say there's a little black kit. We'd name him Crowkit, for his crow feather-colored fur. (We wouldn't use Bird- here, because Bird- represents any bird; this makes pinpointing the cat's fur color rather difficult.)

Suffixes are based on a cat's skillset, traits, or personality. For example, our Crowkit doesn't show notable skill in fighting or hunting, but he's generally docile and easygoing while being impossible to rile up. His emotions don't change very often, as he's a stable cat. This would earn him the -cloud suffix, which represents a docile and easygoing cat who has a serene disposition and no notable skill in anything else. The opposite suffix to this would be -storm, which represents a cat whose emotions consist of two distinct high/low periods - this one's harder to pull off in a character, generally speaking, but not impossible at all.



At this point, you might be worried about the uniqueness or notable-ness of a name. You may be worried that your character's name doesn't define who they are, or that other people will have cooler names than yours has.
Let me tell you this, though; a good character shouldn't just rely on a pretty or interesting name; traditional naming is built on the idea that a cat earns its name like everyone else and earns one that fits who they are. This means their prefix will be unique in their Clan, fitting to their fur color, and their suffix will reveal their proficient / notable skill or personality to whoever they're introduced to.

Prefixes are not allowed to repeat. if you had two gray kits who had the same skill at battling as the other, they could be named Sootclaw and Cinderclaw, and even if there's very little difference between the two in skill proficiency, their personalities could be totally different, and the prefixes would reflect this (in that they aren't the same cat).

If there's a cat that shares a whole name with your cat in another Clan and you're not sure how to introduce them, you just address them as "Cinderclaw of ___Clan" and "Cinderclaw of ___Clan" to differentiate the two.

Cats rarely share the same prefix, but every cat has a chance at a different suffix than another!

And the best part of traditional naming is that the names are natural and realistic to the setting! These names are based on things the cats would know about and see in regular Clan life, rather than Twoleg things, or things from places the cats aren't from. Most suggestions are given based on the assumption that your cat is in the traditional English setting. If you submit a cat that's *not* in this setting and uses a name from a different area (considering they are from a different setting), please make note of it.

Additionally, a cat can have a 'traditional name' that is lyrical or canon! But they're only traditional if they follow the guidelines. (Ravenfoot would only be traditional if the cat with the name was black-furred and was agile and fast on land, for example. If they're not black-furred or fast, their name isn't traditional.)

(Keep in mind, also, that -eye, -ear, and -jaw are reserved for name-changes/re-naming, and -leaf is reserved for medicine cats, but medicine cats don't always have the -leaf suffix!)