(Loved Trope) Aptronyms

[u/dream_monkey]

Aptronyms are characters whose name is heavily symbolic or represent them as a character. Sometimes it is a subtle play on words, sometimes it’s just a clunky transliteration. Either way, it can help characterize a character and provide more allegorical depth. Authors must be careful not to delve into the realm of cliche, though.

1. Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter series) His name means Evil Dragon, and he tries really hard to live up to his name.

[Many commenters have pointed out that Darth Vader is not a true aptronym. I stand corrected .]

1. Darth Vader (Star Wars series) His name means Dark Father, which cleverly conceals one of the biggest reveals in cinema history.

2. Cthulhu (Lovecraft mythos) Cthulhu may just sound like a nonsense syllable, unpronounceable by a human mouth. The name is derived from the word “cthonic” which means a being that lives under the earth or in the underworld, so an ancient and terrible god that lies dreaming in death at the bottom of the ocean would definitely fit the description.

[u/Strange_Potential93]

Restarting Chou Chang and Kingsley Shackle-bolt discourse

[u/SaltManagement42 → u/Strange_Potential93]

Obligatory argument that a Chinese person dealing with having a stereotypical name, and being the only Chinese kid in the school in the 90's was the most realistic thing to happen in the series.

https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/ryeord/harry_potter_character_cho_chang/

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/SaltManagement42]

Cho is a Korean given name and Chang is a Chinese surname Joanna couldn’t even bother to do anything but pluck stereotypical East Asian names out of the either and mash them together without regards to different languages and cultures, which isn’t surprising for the woman who gave all of Asia, Africa, and South America one wizard school each and gave Europe 3.

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/Strange_Potential93]

Her parents could be different nationals 🤷‍♂️

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/Helota_Keksz]

When you hear hooves you think horses not zebras, why are you being so charitable to a proven bigot?

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/Strange_Potential93]

I was thinking deer.

Also, I get it, there are torches and pitchforks all around Rowling and she's Hitler reincarnated and yadda yadda... But maybe Mr Chang had a Korean wife and she recommended the name Cho for their daughter? Maybe Harry Potter is still not a coded Mein Kampf even if she's beefing with trans people?

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/Helota_Keksz]

No one is saying that she’s Hitler, you are straw manning and obfuscating to avoid the original question, why are you willing to make up head canon to be charitable to someone who has proven she gives little thought to other cultures and ethnicities as demonstrated by her giving all of Asia, Africa, and South America… otherwise known as 90% of the human population one school each. The Brits and the French… so culturally linguistically distinct that they need their own schools (rightfully so) all of the cultures and languages of three continents their fine sharing.

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/Strange_Potential93]

Why is it so far fetched that an Asian family can come from two different ethnic groups? There are at least two characters in the story who are mixed species, for Pete's sake.

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/Helota_Keksz]

Why are you doing extra internal gymnastics to avoid admitting that the author was careless and lazy, especially towards people she doesn’t deem important.

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/Strange_Potential93]

Because I'm already tired of headcanon vs hatecanon at step 0, if there's a plausible explanation, I'll roll with it.

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/Helota_Keksz]

That’s incredibly naive, you clearly just don’t want to cope with the fact that the author of something you are attached to is a knobhead

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/Strange_Potential93]

And you are clutching at literally everything to toot your horn in this context. (But I'm a good sport, so let me give you another tip: under the clothes, that harlot is always naked)

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/Helota_Keksz]

That doesn’t even mean anything but whatever die on this hill, I don’t know why you want to but go ahead and do it.

[u/santaclaws01 → u/Helota_Keksz]

You're not sidestepping that, you're just making headcanon.

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/santaclaws01]

Well fk me, it's a story about wizards and dragons and sh*t, not the British immigration ledger written to appease people who would get pissed off 20 years in the future and grasp on literally everything they find to prove that she's Satan's concubine.

Practically speaking it's also my headcanon that Harry and his family is British, not American, Australian or South African, because Rowling didn't write that "Harry cup of tea'd downstairs bobbily and Trafalgar Squared right to fish n chips".

[u/brionneverysexy → u/Helota_Keksz]

Deer are quiet. You dont usually hear them clopping

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/brionneverysexy]

There are way easier ways of telling how you've never come across a herd of deers in the wild. Or even one.

[u/brionneverysexy → u/Helota_Keksz]

I come across them all the time. I had one that would leave her fawn in my backyard. Prey animals don't survive by being loud

[u/NS-13 → u/brionneverysexy]

Deer are loud af you have no idea what youre talking about lmao

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/brionneverysexy]

Well these folks definitely didn't go sneak mode this Saturday when my dumbass friend said something out loud.

[u/Strange_Potential93 → u/brionneverysexy]

Both of you I was using something called a metaphor, the logistics of hoof acoustics is not actually relevant to the conversation lol

[u/aralseapiracy → u/Helota_Keksz]

Why would a Korean recommend a surname as their daughters first name?

[u/Helota_Keksz → u/aralseapiracy]

"Cho is a Korean given name" - that person I replied to