Is naming your protagonist after yourself egotistical?

[CheertheSecond]

Just something that popped up in my mind at 3am.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Unless you name your protagonist CheertheSecond, nobody's gonna know


But even then, it depends on your story.
If your protagonist is a masochistic cuck who gets sodomized by bullies regularly in your story, "this author is very narcisstic" will definitely not be the first though that will cross this great witch's mind

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I name my villains after myself, coz yeah, I love to be evil sometimes.

 

[Rhaps]

I named a character after myself, he died off-screen.

 

[Corty]

I avoid it because I know later on, when reading it back, I would cringe.

 

[LORD_SHAXX]

Depends if you write the character named after you as some Chad McShaggger. Who is always right and is the Maryiest of sues. It could be seen as egotistical.

If you right them as a dude who never gets a break who entire existence is just pain then I wouldn't say its egotistical

 

[Jerynboe]

It seems like it would be bad form to me. I write in first person, but I definitely want my MC to be a very different person than me. I’ve never killed anyone OR brainwashed a single woman after all, and would like to think I’d avoid doing so excessively if given the option. Giving my MC my own name might cause the streams to get crossed occasionally.
Egotistical? I agree with the Mary Sue comments, but even having your MC be a set upon loser that you expect the reader to sympathize with might still be a bit egotistical depending on your attitude.

 

[HelloHound]

considering how I treat my protagonist, no, but I would get questions about my self-esteem

 

[Deleted member 113259]

I name my villains after myself, coz yeah, I love to be evil sometimes.

Hans lets his neighbors haggle him into granting big discounts because he's evil.

 

[CheertheSecond]

Unless you name your protagonist CheertheSecond, nobody's gonna know

View attachment 21014
But even then, it depends on your story.
If your protagonist is a masochistic cuck who gets sodomized by bullies regularly in your story, "this author is very narcisstic" will definitely not be the first though that will cross this great witch's mindView attachment 21015

Now I am curious. What are the second and third thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 113259]

It's not necessarily narcissism, it's clear self insertion.
What you do with that self insertion is up to you. If your protagonist is largely righteous or competent, it's narcissism.
If they're complex it's using yourself as a tool to make his experiences easier to convey.
If he's getting thrashed around by the story or is a total loser, you likely have issues.

 

[SailusGebel]

No.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I’ve never killed anyone OR brainwashed a single woman after all

uh-huh

What are the second and third thoughts?

Iirc, second thought is a rad communist youtube channel, and third thought is I am not sure what.

 

[RinDes]

Whatever the reason behind using your own name is, it's in no way egotistical. And using your own doesn't automatically means same personality or characteristics; a name is just that, a name.

Now, if you're using both first and last names, then perhaps there's a bit more going on behind the decision, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways. But when writing, don't we all put a bit of ourselves into the story? Be it from a personality trait, a past experience, or from a dream of some kind...

 

[Tempokai]

My name is so unorthodox that English speakers probably will misread it, so no

 

[dummycake]

gonna name the villain that dies pathetically after my high school bully

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Nope.

 

[Ellen_Dunkel]

It's fine, it's not like you're hurting anyone. (besides, readers can probably tell whether or not the main character is a self-indulgent author insert either way). Make sure you don't dox yourself though, some people online are assholes

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Nope, but people will speculate as to whether it is a self insert.

 

[ManwX]

Well in my case i used the characters with my name that literally becomes the centre peice of all my stories. He literally created a omniverse in a fanfic by accident and represents god in the cosmology of every single story I have and will create. Although I didn't even bother with continuing the fanfic after chapter 17 lol. Though he is a constant and the absolute in the cosmology of my stories. It doesn't matter to be honest. I could have made him a side character but I just used him to be the god for all fictional world's I make. Like Tori bot from Akira toriyama or something. He just is like the one above all for my fictions. You could can do literally anything with a named character weather he has your name. It's a name and it doesn't mean your

egotistical​