r/TopCharacterTropes • u/dream_monkey • 11h ago
Lore (Loved Trope) Aptronyms
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.
- 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 .]
Darth Vader (Star Wars series) His name means Dark Father, which cleverly conceals one of the biggest reveals in cinema history.
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.
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u/Dripledown 9h ago
The ones I can come up with easily:
Konrad Kurze - Kurze sounds like curse and he is cursed with the gift of precognition but only for people's death, which drives him mad. Konrad sounds like Comrade, a term used in pop culture with Soviets speaking English. He and his legion are often given Slavic accents in the audio books.
Sanguinius - From sanguine, meaning cheerful or optimistic; also, a shade of red, blood red. He is a well-liked charismatic vampire.
Ferrus Manus - Butchered Latin (as is a lot of what is called High Gothic in 40k) for Iron Hands, he has metal hands.
Angron - affectionately called "Angry Ron" by the fanbase, has implants that make him angry and bloodlusted
Mortarion - Mort is the latin prefix for death, later serves the god of sickness and decay, legion is based around being very hard to kill and being very resistant to poison. Legion's special weapons are scythes called "Man Reapers".
Horus Lupercal - Lupus is the latin word for wolf, his legion's initial name is the "Luna Wolves". Horus comes from the Egyptian god of the same name who was the god of kings, Lupercal is named as the Warmaster by the Emperor and leads the great crusade prior to his betrayal.
Lorgar Aurelian - Lorgar sounds like Lore, he tries to preserve knowlege and spread word of the Emperor's divinity, like a Lore Keeper. Aurelian means "Golden" in Latin, not sure what this would mean outside of his golden tattoos.
Vulkan - sounds like Volcanic, he was raised on a volcanic world and is master of the forge, legion specializes in flame weapons. Legion is also called Salamanders, which in ancient myth and in 40k are a type of fire breathing lizard. Also, (more obscurely) for time (pre-20th century) there was believed to be a planet called Vulcan that sat between Mercury and the Sun (i.e. REALLY close to the sun so would be really hot) due to Mercury's strange orbit. Wasn't fully disproven until Einstein's General Relativity could account for the orbit's deviation from classical physics.
Corvus Corax - Primarch of the Raven Guard who's name is literally just the scientific name for Ravens. His legion also prefers the Corvus pattern power armor, which feature's a "beak" on the helmet. When he goes into the warp to chase Lorgar post-Heresy, he shed's his human form and manifests as literally just a giant flock of ravens yelling "LORGAR!" as they hunt for him. Ravens and crows are also known to hold serious grudges and will assemble a flock to attack someone that does them wrong.
Alpharius and Omegon: Alpha and Omega are the beginning and end of the Greek alphabet respectively. Potentially a reference to a verse in Revelations: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." It is not common knowledge in universe that Alpharius and Omegon are 2 people so the assumed individual is referred to as Alpharius-Omegon. The legion specialized in information gathering, spreading disinformation, sabotage, and long convoluted plans known only to select members of the legion. Combined with the fact that pre-Heresy members of the Alpha Legion would undergo surgery to have nearly the same face as the Primarch(s) and would then impersonate Alpharius-Omegon (legion motto is "I am Alpharius") it gives the impression that he is everywhere, all knowing, all seeing, and nearly omniscient, which is what the verse in Revelations was meant to convey about God. Most convoluted one here, as is to be expected of him.
Clearly, 40k is very silly.