Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

Weighing in from the side of someone who has two animanga character dolls and keeps kicking around the idea of getting a third -- honestly, the level of creativity, attention to detail, and just general effort that goes into getting them Just Right(tm) is enormous. I'm still searching for exactly the right eyes for Shirou, and only just found them for Kiyo -- finding the precise right shade of bluegreen is every bit as challenging, in its own way, as solidifying the physical appearance of an original character. (When you add in that I am a horribly notorious nitpicky perfectionist, it just gets worse. *facepalm*) I adore my OC dolls, but I don't consider either one 'better' than the other. JennyNemesis had it dead right; I see dolls based on anime/manga/game characters that just blow me out of the water with how perfectly accurate they are. It's stunning, and inspiring. I think my OC dolls are less work; I don't have to search endlessly for, like I said, the perfect teal eyes for Kiyo/the perfect white wig for Shirou/whatever. I can mess with things until I get what I like, and I'm not working within boundaries already set down. But then again, those very boundaries are what make fandolls so damned much fun to me.

With regards to the whole idea of 'taking' names based on original characters -- er, well, two of mine are simple enough that I would actually be surprised if there weren't other dolls with the same names. Lian is short and simple and sweet; Grey is...well...a color. Value, if you want to get that technical. XD Katen's a little more unique, and I'd be more than a little shocked and startled if someone had a character just like his, but I know I've seen similar names before. Some names are entirely up for grabs. I'd look at you really funny if you swiped a really shockingly unique name (Xi-feng's crew is the first example I can think of), but for ones like mine...unless it's a direct rip of the character (which, I believe, is a totally different debate thread) then I think at least two of the names are 'public domain' so to speak.

 

I base my dolls off of Red vs Blue characters, mostly -- but since they're always wearing armor in the show, I get to style the doll however I want. The only thing the same is the name.
(ie: Sister, Grif, and(soon) Simmons.)

My first doll was named Daniel, because, well, the name just jumped at me when I took him out of the parcel xD and it stuck.

 

Interesting thread!

My DZ Shoyo's name is Serafima, or Sima. Day of her arrival was the day of my cat's birthday, so I called my girl in honor of my cat. My kitty is not with me now but Shoyo-Serafima reminds me of her and I feel better looking at the girl.

And I named my Unoa Sist Selene, or Ellie. I remember I thought hard at her name but nothing fit her. Once I thought about a new outfit for her and my dad suggested me to sew something familiar to Cat-Woman costume from 'Batman returns' movie with Michelle. What was her heroine name?.. Selena! It was like a flash, I found a name for my girl though I can't say Unoa cosplays the movie character, no, but the exact movie character hint me my girl's name.

 

However, some people (like me) can be extremely fastidious about their original characters, spending a great deal of time and money getting the correct wig and eyes together and making or comissioning an outfit that matches the original character's wardrobe. In this case, I'm not pursuing accuracy because another fan could 'call me out' on my mistakes, I'm pursuing accuracy because my characters are important to me and it would be untrue to them and untrue to my hard work creating them by shoving them into any old clothes and giving them any old eyes and wigs. I wouldn't be representing my characters then, I'd just be dressing a doll.

My original characters exist already in literary and art form, all I'm doing is solidifying that into a BJD personification. It's just as important to get that right as it is to get a fandoll right.

And there are other people with fandolls whose approach is basically 'hit 'n' miss', they want a Professor Snape doll, for example, but any old eyes, wig and black outfit will do. They barely spend any time accurately making observations about the character and the final effect is a doll that is called Severus Snape, but is OC at best and thrown together at worst.

No one's take is better than someone elses. The person with the OC Snape doll who might have to explain every now and again who he's supposed to be is basically in the same position as me with my original characters and someone else with an incredibly detailed Snape. Someone who doesn't know the first thing about Harry Potter isn't particularly going to be impressed by an accurate replica or an inaccurate replica, they're just going to see a doll. And as for my original characters, people won't have the first clue and I don't expect them to. I'm in this hobby for my own satisfaction at the end of the day. If you get enjoyment out of having a fandoll, accurate or not, who's to say that's wrong?

I enjoy original dolls for the same reason I enjoy original characters; I love creating my own worlds and the inhabitants who live there. I've always written original fiction since I was little and I've also written fanfiction, but I always felt a greater connection to the characters I created rather than someone else's characters.

I would find it distressing and upsetting if someone copied my original doll. These characters aren't created solely in resin form, I've been drawing them and writing about them for years, so I would feel very much that someone had stolen my hard work to make a shallow copy of one of my characters. Some names are not terribly important, some names are just names, there are any number of Cynthias, Phoebes, Ruperts in the world, but there is only one Zeelzaroth, only one Gorgonelat, only one Jim-Katy. Those are the characters I'm ultra-protective of because I created those names from scratch and I would know immediately if someone stole those names.

I get inspired by all sorts of names and I find that human names are pretty much up for grabs a lot of the time, but specially created names are not. I would definitely not use the name Horse (the name of MadamMauMau's IP Akando) or Ke'jadiannyé (the name of Xi-Feng's Volks Emma) because those names are pretty much unique to those characters even though one is a common noun for a common animal It would be quite obvious where the inspiration had come from if I used either of those names.

 

Definitely true. Liam's gone through three different wigs and I'm still not happy with the results : P If one of my original characters is off, it bothers me because I know what they're supposed to look like. I've had very good luck finding appropriate sculpts, but nailing down all the details is sometimes easier said than done. (of course my one character doll is still having some wig issues too--it's now the right style, but the color's a little off. Go figure).

 

All of my dolls are original dolls... I don't think I would feel right having a character doll. I dunno haha. If I did I would be compelled to just have it on display all the time like a figurine...

As for naming my dolls, I have a hard time doing that haha. I can't name them any name that someone I know has, or a name that reminds me of someone I know haha OR the name of someone's preexisting doll (but only if they are the same mold lol). Does anyone else do that?

 

My DS Hound is Peter Grey. [joke]omgIt's spelled the same!![/joke]
If your Grey is a baker, too, I am going to laugh until I fall over.

Ann in CT

 

I wanted some thing kinda different and some kind of culture-specific sounding, but with spunk and punkiness to it. so I went to babynames.com and made a list and then narrowed it down, though honestly I was pretty darn sure of the name when i first saw it - which was "Fritzi"

I might do a character doll some day, but I tihnk that will require quite a bit of practice on modding and sewing on my part first.

if you see a name of another person's doll, so long as its not copyrighted in some way, I dont see the harm in using it. so long as its a name you can find in a name book, a novel, or babynames.com, its pretty much free game. but if its entirely made up by the person through playing with sounds and letters, then I think it might be a bit rude to just use that name as your own.

 

Nope, it's not an issue for me. A lot of my characters' names really aren't that unusual (I know for a fact there are other dolls around named Liam and Aiden), and if you look at real people there are lots who have the same names--dolls are no different.

 

Like Jescissa and Taco said, I think OC dolls can be just as difficult when it comes to finding the "just right" accessories. One incoming doll is based on a character I created ten years ago. I've written multiple stories about her, and done quite a few art pieces of her. I know exactly what color, style, and length her hair should be and can't seem to find a wig anywhere that's "just right". When I do her faceup, I know exactly what her expression should be, what colors to use. I have a whole "vision" for the finished product and it won't be complete until I find the perfect accessories. She has a specific dress style and color preferences that makes searching for clothes tricky.

Even for my more fluid character concepts (dolls whose characters come into being after I get the doll), at some point the idea will solidify and I'll have to find the right items, sometimes trying many before getting the right one. I was bound and determined for Loki to have a particular shade of violet for his eyes, and finding them in 12mm was a chore. (Eventually settled on some gorgeous RuddyPeach Orchid eyes.)

As for the naming thing... none of my dolls have particularly "innovative" names. Iris, Hue, and Chroma are all based on the concept of color. Izzy and Doyle are just regular old human names. Loki, Morrigan, and Colombine are all named after mythology or other pre-existing concepts (a famous classic drama character in Colombine's case). So I wouldn't get too uppity about anyone having a character with the same name unless it was a complete replica of my doll down to sculpt, personality, etc.

For that matter, I wonder just how many "Loki" dolls there are on the boards... I've seen a few, but it would be interesting to know the number.

 

Well my doll is not character-based because it would then mean you'd have to put a frame on his personality, which i think has limited the fun (for me)
I made Clavis a background but i'd let him influence me with his style, which he nor i have decided yet

 

I never copy living or in someway existing persons through dolls. Just myself or people I know and have their word for it.
I think that it may capture a part of the person's soul and that you have to be careful with that. Also sometimes you don't know how a person is in certain situations. It's like fan-fic, you have to know your character in and out.
So I invent new characters and personalities. And I like that much better. ^^

Laoky

 

I suppose, maybe, that 'less work' wasn't quite the wording I was after. I'm as picky about my OC dolls as I am about my fandolls, but in a different way, perhaps; it's more like...with the OCs, the image is only in my mind's eye and if I see something that perhaps wasn't quite what my mental image was originally but on second blush fits the character perfectly, I can go for it. With the fandolls, I'm working off someone else's image and the challenge and work goes into matching that image exactly (because I'm anal like that). Did that make a lick of sense? It makes sense in my head.

Maybe what I really meant by 'less work' was 'more freedom'. I find it more 'work' to be bound by the strictures of certain features that have to be duplicated. And I am probably making absolutely no sense at all because I need coffee.

ZOMG. NOWAI. /bad chatspeak joke

Hah. No, Grey isn't a baker. He's the world's worst thief.

 

Ohhhhh... *lightbulb moment* I see. Actually, that makes perfect sense. I get what you're saying now. With OC's, you do have the freedom to change something if you decide to do so, since it's your character. Whereas with fandolls, you don't have that wiggle room. You're more confined by what someone else has set for the character's appearance.

I guess my problem is just my own stubbornness when I get something into my head.

 

I tend to favor original dolls over character dolls. Like many have said, there isn't much room for error for a character doll. That character was based on someone's ideas, from their personality to the clothes they wear. If anything is different, people will notice, and most likely point it out. That's not to say people with character dolls aren't creative, however. It takes a lot of work to match the right doll, get the right clothes and accessories, and to match even the right kind of pose in photos for them, that's a lot of work. But I'd rather be able to alter and tweak as I go. My favorite part about BJDs is my ability to make them completely my very own, and if at some point I decide something isn't right anymore, out it'll go.

Now, of all my dolls, only 3 of my dolls have common names: Lucifer, Azrael, and Lilith. In fact, I even know of another person who's getting a Soom Amber and naming her Lilith and making her into a demon, just like mine will be. The fun is in making that doll your very own, so that even the same name, the same mold, the same idea, they are completely different. I don't go for the unique names simply because they're unique and little to no people would ever use them, I just really like unique names which definitions also relate the character.

 

I try to have names that are unique as possible. When I got my fiest doll I named him Caleb and at that time I was the only person with a Caleb, now their are may eight other people who have a Caleb ;-; Also I have a male Teagan and he's the only male that I know of, so I'm hoping that it stays that way.

 

But that still depends very much on what type of person you are. If you're a bit of a accuracy nerd, everything has to be exact whether you're creating your own character or recreating someone elses...if you're an 'anything goes' person, your fandolls will be the same. Putting a doll together will be more or less work depending on how strict you are when it comes to accuracy.

 

I like both I suppose

I originally intended to have more character dolls, but when I got my dolls I went originality happy instead. Now I have original dolls who I have cosplay occasionally!

All my dolls have non character based names, except my regular shiwoo. I originally named him Deidara after a Naruto character, but have since put it to Dei, in an attempt to make it more original. I was too used to his name to completely switch out my doll though. However, he has very little in common with the original character.. just the hair and eye colour really, I've changed everything else... he's my clockwork steampunk boy now, haha

I guess I get more joy out of making my original dolls, but that said, I still get a kick out of recreating a fandoll as a temporary cosplay.

I find with fandolls, Im just unable to bond. Original characters I do a lot better, because all of them have been based off of characters I've written and draw for years, in one way or another.

As for one being better than the other, I don't think that's a fair judgement. Opinion is opinion really, though I do think that is what the thread is about, I just wanted to cement my stand on it. When it all comes down to it, whatever makes you happy, go for it

 

Haha~ well, I am a huge name-lover. While I was saving up for Lluvie, I had running lists of beautiful names that seemed to suit her character. But when I met her in person, I knew she was much different from how I'd thought of her before. She's much more of a tom-boy, but no less a quietly mischievous fairy. In the end, I named her much as you do a baby: you don't fully know who they'll be, so you give them a title that's meaningful to you, something you love dearly.
The nice thing about original characters, which I suppose is how I categorize Lluvie, is that she can dress up as any character. I've had more fun than anything designing fun costumes for her to wear, from cosplay ideas to holiday themes like her Christmas elf garb (she is a Dolkot Leaf, so she looks marvelous as a Christmas elf ^^)

(And a little note about naming: I do alot of it, and in my opinion, it's best not to actively attach to "unique" names. No matter what is being named, or the time period, this is what namers are doing, and the results are, typically, the same: unique names become popular (and thereby not so unique...) or people come up with truly outrageous names that no one would ever conceive of (one of my students with the name "Orangello" rings a bell....). For me, the best names aren't the ones that no one else has, but rather the one that just fits the best. I also have a thing for naming things after famous people I like...so yeah, there will probably be a lot of Teslas or Niccolos out there, but the way I feel about the name is unique to me and the character I gave it to sorry for the long ramble!

 

hmm this is an interesting thread, well I'm a bit of both really I suppose, I have a big fascination with Faeries and the Unseelie and Seelie Court, and have read quite a few books so it made sense to me to have a character I liked for my girl to be based on. My fvourite is the Unseelie Court with the Sidhe, basically she's an Unseelie Sidhe Princess, like the charater in a series of books I've read by Laurel K Hamiliton, however my girl is a full blooded Sidhe whereas the character in the books was half Sidhe and half human, so this is how I suppose I'm a bit of both.
My girl is younger though and has a baby Brother and also has her own name that I picked which, has no relation to the Faerie Realm at all in fact it's Finnish ( I have a thing about that too!).
Although (if you were to read the books) you'd find a lot of similarities between my girl and the character in the books, she's not her so isn't really a character doll but is?! If that even makes sense!