Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

My dolls are original characters. They all just have names that I decided suited their characters. My boy's names are Gossamer, Tyco, Baz and Embry. I don't think of their names as being my personal creation - they're just names after all. With dolls, just as with people, there are names that are shared.

I guess it would be irritating if someone else had a doll with the exact same name and exact same sculpt though... It would only really bother me if it was intentional copying though.

 

One of my dolls' names came to my while I was writing a story. I looked up at him sitting on the bar and suddenly his figure, complete with character, tone of voice, likes and dislikes just walked into my story. So this was AFTER I modded his faceup and wig, and made his clothes.
I wouldn't be able to love a prefabbed character as much as I love my original characters, I think. It just takes a while before they become fully fleshed-out.

 

Most, if not all, my dolls were created years before I even got into the BJD world. My SD Luts girl fit the personality and image of my OC Tera Rose. Terra Roosa was a slight alteration to the name. There are many sides and looks to my OC, so I can't wait to finish each look. My MSD girls are my Russian twins. Again, they are my OCs that I created when I was still thinking up stories. They were originally supposed to be a girl and a guy, but I prefer girls a little bit more, so the OCs were changed to fit that. When I get my two tinies after payment is completed, they will fit into another set of OCs that I created years ago.

 

Only one of my dolls is a truly original character. One is a real person- I'm not sure if he's still alive- and the other two are from a Robert Louis Stevenson story. So I only chose the name of one doll- actually one and a half, as I only knew the surname of another. However, while the other three may have begun as outside inspiration, I've definitely changed them enough to make them my own, I think. I wasn't too bothered about originality in this case as I have plenty of truly original OCs who aren't dolls to make me worry too much about any perceived lack of creativity ^^

 

i am sort of a mix on this topic.
most of my dolls are original, but i have maybe 2 that are a mix of anime/original. with these 2 doll i was inspired by anime characters and i borrowed certain characteristics but it is never like BAM! this is Yuki Cross! for me this mix makes it more fun, sure they have aspects of the anime i love but they are also something of my own creation.

 

Let me start off this response with the disclaimer that I'm super new to BJD. I'm not up on "famous" dolls yet.

I had trouble in high school with some of my friends and sharing. Namely, I had friends that felt whoever liked something first was entitled to be the only person who could like it.

Best example: I mentioned I liked an anime called "Record of Lodoss War". I was then told I couldn't like it because so and so already watched it before I did. It ended up that I had actually watched the show first (my 6 years old versus her 14 years old) so I was grandfathered in. Ever since that day, my opinions on owning/liking the same things have been cemented.

I feel that it is unfair to all owners to limit names, sculpts etc. just because someone else had it first. Maybe it's just me, but that seems as sad as my silly little example above. It's just a hair too petty for my taste. I understand the allure of being the only one, but I certainly don't think I'm entitled to claim sole ownership over anything like a name or a sculpt. Besides that, if only one person could own it, the BJD companies couldn't support themselves and we would have no more dolls. I know nobody here wants that.

All that said, BJD is inherently a creative community. If someone makes an purposely EXACT copy (same name, face-up, hair, eyes etc.) of a totally custom doll, they certainly shouldn't claim it as original. I personally plan on having my first doll be factory face-up and maybe even the pictured wig. However, she won't be the same exact doll as anyone else. She'll be unique because of the combination of her style, name, interests, etc.

Long and short: Nobody should be able to claim a name or a sculpt. I just don't think its fair. However, we should all strive to make our dolls special. /rant


Now that I've got that out, I like both original and character dolls. I prefer original dolls because I'm a writer and I love my OCs. Besides that, I feel like I can bond more to my own character than to someone else's.

 

I'm trying to be like the first set of people, but I think I'm going to fall into the second. I think imposing a character onto a doll - a doll I don't even have yet - seems in my case like walking around blindfolded, and thinking I won't bump into anything.

That means that I don't want to create a character, buy a doll that would look like my character, and trust that she'd act like my character. I fear that, if I did that, that maybe I wouldn't be able to bond with the doll well because I'd feel like my character didn't jive.

If I just see where it all takes me once I get the doll, they might become my character, or they might be someone new.

 

All my dolls are based on my own existing characters or have characters based off of them. They're 100% me. I prefer making dolls original, not based on characters, but when I saw avalanche, my first thought was "OMIGAW ITS AVIDAN", so my little sorcerer was given a dollidentity XD

But for the most part, my dolls become characters on their own. This is the same thing that happened with my warcraft characters- I had ones named after characters I had already but then they became their own versions of the character... so Paladin Naveen is different from Werewolf guy Naveen. I'm sure doll Avidan will take on a personality of his own too.

 

My first doll would be a rather common named one, but unique at the same time.
Like im hoping no other person will use the name. hehe.
And i know maybe... 80% of people base their dolls on 'characters' usually OCs, so it's unique anyway.

 

hmm I like both but personally I prefer original names and the dolls having their own character vs something already designed or based upon an rp or anime character. I like to hope that my boys have unique names; Nori and Cerul. Nori is very shy where Cerul is cute and out going... I like that in some ways they have a little bit of me in them. o.o kind of like I'm their father... if that's not weird and makes any sense at all.

 

All of my dolls are based on original characters. I'm always looking for the perfect doll to fill the shoes of one of my characters. I don't really like terribly unique names. I don't like being unique for the sake of it. My characters/dolls have normal names over all, or at least ones that aren't totally unheard of. My three dolls I have now are named Avery, Sebastian, and Lettice. Lettice is probably the least common name, but it's out there. I don't care how many other dolls have my dolls names or whatever, it's all about the characters for me.

 

I mostly prefer originals versus character dolls. I think originals are more personal and they're like a piece of yourself. I've found that I become more attached to my originals then any other character out there because they're my own personal creations and I can do with what I please to them. I'm always developing their stories and they're always changing, so it's easy to change them up here and there without having the worry of whether or not they're still going to look like that character you made them out to be at the end of the day. For example, if I were to make someone famous I'd be a little edgy as to how I dress them or how their hair is because I'd be worried whether or not they'd look like that person in the end.

I feel rather...complete when I make my originals. I like having them physically there then instead of in a picture. Though their stories are in writing, taking pictures of them in their elements and going with everything under the sun is more fun for me, since I don't have to worry about sticking to a fandom-based doll's storyline/settings, you know? I think I rambled there. xD Like, my boy is a bounty hunter and he has his secrets. I think a lot of who he is, what he wears, yadda yadda portrays that sense of having a secret and other people wanting to know it but only you, as the doll owner, knows it. As for fandom-based, you can just google their history. xD

As far as modeling after characters that aren't your own, I say go for it. Do what you please. I just don't think I'd ever be able to do it because if I were to mod and shape a doll into a fandom character and then later on in the future not like that character/fandom/band whatever as much as I did when I made the doll, it'd kind of feel like a waste to me, you know? But, hey! What do I know? xD You could always sell the doll, since I'm sure there's someone else who would love to have them!

 

Well, all the dolls appear in a series of stories I wrote about them (though aren't dolls)
I will go threw the list to tell where I got the names and how they fit
Clover - Clover was my first doll, and not named by me, the previous owner was fine with me keeping her name as it was since I adored the name and it really suited her
Sarah - Sarah, being a simple human, needed a human name and I was feeling very uncreative
Syrinx - Syrinx is a nymph from Greek Legend, though I got the name from a Rush song
Ivy - someone on another forum gave me the idea for her name and I liked it
Lily - see Ivy
Piper - See Clover, though she wasn't my first, oddly from the same lady who sold me Clover, so I wanted to keep tradition
Prudence - see Piper
Patrick - Another human doll, another human name

 

I don't have any dolls yet (though I am saving up); however, I plan on making my dolls over to fit the identities of the main characters in one of the comics I draw. This is mostly because I've been drawing this manga in one form or another, or figuring out plot, or at least doing something with the storyline and characters, since I've been in 6th grade, and I'm now a senior in college. ^^;; So I care deeply about these characters.

In the end, I just think that it all comes down to what the doll's owner is most comfortable with. If someone feels close kinship to an already-existing character, it's fine to name a doll accordingly. If someone would rather create their doll's personality, that's fine too.

 

Why do you enjoy original dolls?
I like the freedom to do what I want with my dolls, without worrying about it being "in character" or not. Granted, some things are not in character for my OC's, but I don't feel as guilty or annoyed with myself. Also, my dolls can evolve naturally as various things happen, both in their doll form and in RP or writing form. With a character doll, for me, it feels as though I still have to adhere to the artist's original design, without character evolution which would then put the characters either OOC or into a character-inspired OC.

Do you find it distressing or upsetting when people emulate your original doll or copy his/her name without asking?
"There are no original ideas." There are literally hundreds of vampire dolls, demon dolls, angel dolls, fae dolls, and so on and so forth. Names are also very similar. Seriously, look up "Lucifer" or "Lillith" and see how many dolls you come up with. This is not to say that I have anything against those names/premises (I've used them myself), but just an example.

That being said, I can't honestly get upset or distressed when I find a similar doll or concept.

Or do you feel names are just names and are up for grabs.
Meh, I think I've already stated this.

 

A friend and I like to create fun stories, and it all started when I got my first doll after she showed me hers. My doll decided to name himself. When I pulled him out of his packaging, got him dressed and set him on the table, he said "Hi, my name is Soren!" And that was that Now because my friend and I decided to put a story behind our dolls, Soren had a split personality that named himself Kamui and later got his own body. I'd have to say not all names are based of of anything, so I guess I'd agree when someone says a name is up for grabs? I don't even know where I've heard the name Soren from, all I knew was that my doll looked like one

 

My two current girls (and all my dolls for that matter) are original. I created Gingersnap and Helen as anthro wolves that I use in my artwork. Once I got my two AoD girls I converted my art into resin. I mean if I saw someone copying my doll's exact looks then I would be upset and their names are kind of unique but I'm not too worried.

 

Personally, I find that there are two main issues with having a character doll. The first is that having a character doll - especially one that stays true to canon - is that (I feel) it's very limiting. Most fictional characters are seen in one basic outfit. Some get a few more, and only a few manage to obviously change their clothes on a regular basis rather than the closet full of cloned clothes the rest of them seem to have ([ignoring the Avalon Journey] just how many black tshirts and pairs of blue jeans did Elisa Maza from Gargoyles actually own, and how often did she do laundry since that seemed to be the only thing she wore).

The second one is finding all the proper bits and bobs for that character. My current boy is an original, but I plan on having a few cosplay outfits for him. Eventually I hope to have a generic Leaf Village ninja outfit for him, and a proper Ciel Phantomhive (from Black Butler) costume. My sewing skills are... certainly lacking, so making these is things is (for now at least) way beyond my abilities; do you know how hard it is to find fandom specific clothing/props/accessories? Well, aside from certain Harry Potter stuff since I've seen the robes student uniform shirts/pants/skirts are of a generic enough color/pattern as to be findable, and the sweaters/vests are easy enough to knit up once you find the right pattern. (And if someone does know where I can find msd sized cosplay stuff, please drop me a pm about it; I'll love you forever if you do. Same goes for doll sized geta.)

That said, I can see the appeal of having a character doll. There is a certain joy of having your favorite character in BJD form, and the level of both detail and articulation of a BJD leaves action figures and Barbie-like dolls in the dust (some of the faces on those things make me cringe with how badly done they are).

On the subject of retiring names and the use of such... There will always be doll newbies, like me. We won't know who the famous dolls are. And there is always a chance that we'll end up giving our dolls the same name simply because we don't know. Some confusion would be normal, but really you get that kind of thing whenever a group has more than one 'person' of the same name - although the more unique the name, the less of a chance that this will happen. Hell there's a joke going around my usual gaming store, that if more than four Jareds are in the store at the same time the universe will implode; there's even a sign up about it.

 

Well, most of my dolls are 100% original, but I do have plans to put together a doll based on Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's just so amazing. 3 I would love to make a Tara to go with her, but she's a bit further down on the priority list. (Funnily enough, the girl I have now, who I've had for two years and created before I ever watched Buffy, is also a witch, and her natural hair color is very similar to Tara's. There are some pretty key differences in character though. )

I think it's all just a matter of personal enjoyment. Some people (such as myself) are so in love with a fandom that basing a doll off a character from that fandom is natural. For others, it makes no sense whatsoever.

 

I can't see the appeal of going through all the trouble to have a doll, just to make it look exactly like/be an already existing character. To me, I wonder why not buy an action figure instead? I have three Sora from KH action figures, but I'd never make a doll specifically of him. Although I have seen dolls of him, and they are REALLY cute.

On the other hand, I would have no problem dressing my girl up like a character. Even as far as changing her eyes and wig. To me, it's still my girl. Perhaps she's cosplaying now, but she's not that character. Naming your doll AFTER a character you like, but not MAKNG them that character seems a-okay to me too.