Weapon name length in correlation to their power.

Paul_Tromba

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In modern-day fantasy, we usually attribute an attack name or a weapon name to its power and/or special abilities. Though in recent years, many weapons that are incredibly OP have long and arduous names that rarely roll off the tongue easily. However, in older literature, there was a noticeable trend where the shorter the name was, the more powerful the attack and/or weapon. In martial art stories especially, the names needed to be yelled out, so the shorter but louder the name, the more powerful of an attack, while the longer(slower) and calmer names would be weaker. Now, it's the opposite with stuff like bleach having slow, soft-spoken names that just obliterate their enemies but that's something that has been ingrained into the story itself, not just some random person naming a sword. It doesn't make much sense to me personally as I would be more scared of a sword named "Glam" than I would a sword named "Bringer of destruction blade, Baphomet." That isn't to say that the latter isn't OP but I think the former would overpower it every time. Anyways, what are everyone else's thoughts on this?
 

Gryphon

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"The Throngler" is infinitely more scary than "Mayhem of Destruction - Evil Hand God Demon Blade."


Also yes I took this from Twitter. 99% of the stuff on there is garbage but there's those 1% that's actually funny.
 

Paul_Tromba

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"The Throngler" is infinitely more scary than "Mayhem of Destruction - Evil Hand God Demon Blade."


Also yes I took this from Twitter. 99% of the stuff on there is garbage but there's those 1% that's actually funny.
Albeit, I didn't get this from Twitter as I had it on my phone from a reddit meme I saved in 2014, the "The Throngler" is infinitely more scary than "Mayhem of Destruction was what caused me to bring this discussion up.
 

Ilikewaterkusa

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In modern-day fantasy, we usually attribute an attack name or a weapon name to its power and/or special abilities. Though in recent years, many weapons that are incredibly OP have long and arduous names that rarely roll off the tongue easily. However, in older literature, there was a noticeable trend where the shorter the name was, the more powerful the attack and/or weapon. In martial art stories especially, the names needed to be yelled out, so the shorter but louder the name, the more powerful of an attack, while the longer(slower) and calmer names would be weaker. Now, it's the opposite with stuff like bleach having slow, soft-spoken names that just obliterate their enemies but that's something that has been ingrained into the story itself, not just some random person naming a sword. It doesn't make much sense to me personally as I would be more scared of a sword named "Glam" than I would a sword named "Bringer of destruction blade, Baphomet." That isn't to say that the latter isn't OP but I think the former would overpower it every time. Anyways, what are everyone else's thoughts on this?
Just give it a Polish name. But a sword you should be afraid of is “Orphan Opener”
 

Camgfd

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Make up the name of a legendary mineral, explain that this mineral has incredible abilities, and just name it as

Weapon + ore name

The mineral itself already gives that legendary touch to aram
 

Syringe

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I tend to agree as well. Shorter names should be the standouts. Even a two word name will suffice. But I'm also an avid believer of cooler names = better weapon/power, or the name of the weapon itself implying size or power.

E.g Galaxy Lance vs World Lance. You can tell right away which one's better.
But Demon Blade vs Angel Blade is hard. In this case, lengthening it with a prefix of Arch will probably make it sound stronger.

At least this is how my monkey brain works, even though I LOVE shorter, simpler, more iconic names.

Imagine the slippery slope though.

Demon Blade.
Arch Demon Blade
Super Arch Demon Blade
Super Arch Demon Blade of Sins
Super Arch Demon Blade of Ultra Sins
Super Arch Demon Blade of Ultra Sins w/ Red Dot Sight
Pack A Punched S.A.D Blade of U.S w/ Red Dot Sight AMD 7000 16 Core Processor
 

Tempokai

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It all comes to mentality. In the west, it's more like that shorter = better, and in the east in reverse. It's all because of the structure of the words, about information density. I can write four long words that will be tiresome to speak, or with four hieroglyphs I can write something profound (lol) and leave it for readers interpretation.

Of course, there are exceptions, everyone has subconscious understanding that The Throngler in whatever language sounds terrific in nature.
 

Auratic

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Names should come from what the weapon/tool has achieved or what their intended purpose is or who it is that wielded them to achieve its fame. More things it has done, more aliases you can tack on to it. Simpler more to the point names have higher likelihood of it sticking and being memorable. On the other hand you can make a nickname or a shorthand for the long spaghetti name to retain the attention of the ADHD riddled brains. Though names themselves do not have any inherent meaning if you do not explain it, this ambiguity can both be a help and hindrance depending on how its handled.
 

Paul_Tromba

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Names should come from what the weapon/tool has achieved or what their intended purpose is or who it is that wielded them to achieve its fame. More things it has done, more aliases you can tack on to it. Simpler more to the point names have higher likelihood of it sticking and being memorable. On the other hand you can make a nickname or a shorthand for the long spaghetti name to retain the attention of the ADHD riddled brains. Though names themselves do not have any inherent meaning if you do not explain it, this ambiguity can both be a help and hindrance depending on how its handled.
What about in worlds where you have to yell the name of the weapon or ability in order to use it's full power?
 

Auratic

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What about in worlds where you have to yell the name of the weapon or ability in order to use it's full power?
Very carefully weigh the pros and cons of reading out an essay or just walking up to the guy stab him and make sure the other guy doesn't stab you while you're reading them a bedtime story.
 

Paul_Tromba

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I don't know, I don't really feel like it matters much. But I grew up not watching anime so I wouldn't know.
I would feel more afraid of a demon named Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio rather than a demon called Steve though.
That's a fair assessment. Though if I met a demon named Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio and he introduced me to Steve, I would be more scared of Steve only because it would imply that this demon Steve did something bad enough to earn the scary demon's respect. Especially if Steve's last name is Jobs.
 

TotallyHuman

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That's a fair assessment. Though if I met a demon named Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio and he introduced me to Steve, I would be more scared of Steve only because it would imply that this demon Steve did something bad enough to earn the scary demon's respect. Especially if Steve's last name is Jobs.
I don't know. It's like this: imagine you're in hell, and Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio himself speaks to you (you've been a naughty naughty boy):
"Why hello there! I've been waiting for you! You know, I'm something of a fan of your work! Let me introduce you to a guy I know named Steve, I'm sure you'll get along well enough. This is going to be the crossover of the century!"

Here, I'm still more afraid of Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio than Steve. Because him knowing Steve implies that Steve is just another one of Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio's "guests".
What about in worlds where you have to yell the name of the weapon or ability in order to use it's full power?
Definitely the longer one. An ultimate weapon is no good unless you can milk it for a whole sequence where the enemy is trying to get you to stop chanting while your allies do their best to stop them.
What kind of anticlimactic scene is it, when the final weapon of Destruction is envoked by a single syllable?
 

Premier

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It depends on what the setting values.

A lot of wuxia has a big emphasis that history and tradition are powerful. So a weapon with a long name has a large story behind it and is thus more powerful.

Western Fantasy often leans more on things or people being powerful in themselves. So a short, powerful name is more important. The longer your name is, the more dependent you are on those around you and the weaker you become. One word with no attachments is the most powerful thing: Excalibur, Sauron, etc.

Urban fantasy can go either way. Power comes from being unknown in that setting. A long, confusing name can wield as much power as a small, hidden one.

Since a lot of the Scribblehub stories are emulating LN, we end up adapting their trends. LitRPG the longer name is nearly always better, because a Vorpal Blade is not as powerful as a Starforged Crimson Vorpal Blade of Cutting. Even though the first sounds a lot better to me.
 

Paul_Tromba

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I don't know. It's like this: imagine you're in hell, and Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio himself speaks to you (you've been a naughty naughty boy):
"Why hello there! I've been waiting for you! You know, I'm something of a fan of your work! Let me introduce you to a guy I know named Steve, I'm sure you'll get along well enough. This is going to be the crossover of the century!"

Here, I'm still more afraid of Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio than Steve. Because him knowing Steve implies that Steve is just another one of Lop'germat'an Jer Abetio's "guests".

Definitely the longer one. An ultimate weapon is no good unless you can milk it for a whole sequence where the enemy is trying to get you to stop chanting while your allies do their best to stop them.
What kind of anticlimactic scene is it, when the final weapon of Destruction is envoked by a single syllable?
The enemy, drawing the simple peasant sword from their hip, approached his foe with murderous intent. His foe, whipped out his own blade, a long greatsword forged by sword saints finest craftsmen "Elnokroheim, the True blade of Ranhankmod." "Elnokr-" he began to shout the name to activate it, only to be cut off by a whisper so feint it sent a chill down his spine.

"Die..."​

The enemy simply sheathed his blade and turned around as his foe split in two at the spine along with the true blade of Ranhankmod.
 

Sebas_Guzman

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I personally adore long, convoluted names. I wouldn't use them in all my books... But I love them! Whenever I use them, I do so knowing full well it's goofy for modern readers.

Anyway, people have brought up other things like the role of Kanji in everything. Other things worth considering is also the role of spell chants. When you look at most works with spells, spells are still shown to have long verbal components, with many works still using a casting time as a point of tension. Conversely, some Iseakais have characters that make fun of convention by shortening the casting time. Other works would then show people that can shorten their casting as 'gifted' in the art. Worth pointing out too that casting time is still fundamental in many games.

The point is that if we look at the weapon names/attacks as an extension of spell chanting, we can see that people are still all over the place. Spell chanting in particular is notable because it's also very western.
You could say that the there is a weapon/spell divide based on the idea that physical combat is practical compared to the long chanting of magic, and that may be while practical immediate attacks are seen with shorter names.

The reason chanting becomes important is because you mentioned Bleach. First, Kubo writes poetry, so much so that the anime previews for Bleach have the characters reciting poetry. Second, there is the presense of Kido. Actual spells that need to be chanted. Characters being able to complete the chants can lead to big flashy spells, thus rewarding the casting time. In the case of Bleach, Kubo has a bias toward poetry which explains why the longer names are there, but then, you also have to point out that where you have a name like:
Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness: Withering Pine Lovers' Suicide (Japanese is: Katen Kyōkotsu: Karamatsu Shinjū)
to accompany the Bankai's activation (which is just initiated by "Bankai"), you have the simple,
Reap, Kazeshini to initiate shikai. So, Kubo uses both variants though it's clear that he still has the bias for poetic names.


Another way to consider things is this. You are more scared of "Glam" than X X of Y, Destoyer of X. Honestly, yeah. If you need to say a giant name before using a weapon, it isnt practical. If you need to initiate a chant to use an ability of the weapon though, and its overpowered enough, it turns into a terrifying moment of, will the person be able to interrupt the chant in time?
So, there is a degree of vulnerability to the long names if someone decides to play it that way. I feel that clever writers can bake long names into their worlds and add that nail-biting component to stopping the casting, thereby restoring the fear.

Okay, wrote a lot but those are some thoughts I had on the matter.
 
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