Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

When I first started getting into the hobby, my Angelregion Cien was going to be my Kyou Sohma from Fruits Basket, but I named him Tohaku Nishihara and was only going to have him cosplay Kyou. But a couple months down the line and after getting poor Tohaku mistaken for a girl, I gave him a much needed makeover. Now Tohaku has evolve into a J-rocker/Goth boy. His vampire girlfriend is also an original creation and I love them both to death.

But then there is my catgirl, Ciera. She is an original character in a way, but she is also based on the anime series, Bleach. So there's a lot of things I can't really do with her cause of her character background. I had made regular clothes for her, but I seem to think she looks best in her shinigami garb and just looks out of place in something else.

So I kinda prefer the original characters for my dolls, but there have been some ideas in my head floating around about making a Sesshomaru doll out of a SD and a Rin doll out of a Yo-SD, but for now....I love my original dolls.

 

I have a couple of character-based dolls, a doll that started as a CB doll, a couple of dolls that are named after characters but not based on the characters, and one "original." So, I'm all over the map.

My first boy (Shiwoo) is a character-based doll, based on a literary character. I think I started that way since (1) I don't have a great imagination , and (2) I came from collecting fashion dolls (particularly Gene Marshall and her "group"), that already had a well-defined story line, and it just seemed easier to not start from scratch.

My second boy (DM Calvin), started as a character doll. He was an impulse buy (I got him "used"), and when I saw his green eyes I immediately thought of Milo Sturgis, a character in Jonathan Kellerman's mysteries. So he was named Milo. However, since then, his eyes have been changed to blue, and he is no longer based on that character.

My Volks Lucas is based on the character who is the long-time friend/factotum of my Shiwoo's character.

My CH Raphael and my Orientdoll vampire Ji are named after hobbits, but they are not based on the characters at all. I just like the names.

Finally, my MNF Elf Shiwoo, Marcus, is a new character, whom I haven't really worked out all the details on.

As for using names others have used, unless it's something really unusual, I don't see a problem (unless that person was using not only the name, but recreating an exact or nearly exact duplicate of someone else's vision-but that's another debate thread). I have to admit I'd be a bit piqued if someone also did characters based on Saint-Germain or Rogerian, but I'd get over it. They are rather well known in vampire fiction, and since I didn't "make up" the characters, I really don't have cause to whine if someone else wanted to do something the same or similar.

Merry, Pippin, and Marcus are too common for me to complain about someone else using them (or for them to complain about my using them). Same with Milo, although maybe to a lesser extent.

 

I do love originals but there is no way I'm not making a Mana doll.

 

Why do you enjoy original dolls? I do. I love all my girls to pieces! I don't really want a character doll because I feel like I'm restricted to that character. It would become so and so wouldn't look/talk/dress like that so neither can the doll. That's not fun to me. The same reason I can't have two dolls of the same mold from the same company, I'm particular like that.

Do you find it distressing or upsetting when people emulate your original doll or copy his/her name without asking? Or do you feel names are just names and are up for grabs. Honestly, I can be a jealous person so it would bother me if someone had the same names as my doll. P'rinka is an original names thought up by me. I've searched the internet to see if those name where out there when I started and it wasn't. Sistole and Tressell are out there, I know but I didn't pick their names from anything. It was kinda a spontaneous thing and I've yet to see them on the board. If I had picked a generic name I wouldn't care so much.

 

I don't create elaborate backgrounds/ characters/ photostories for my two boys and i just let their personalities evolve.

But i thought hard about their names even before they arrived because i want their Kanji characters to make sense to me both in Japanese and in Mandarin. My first boy, Kaito, took after my family name (i'm Chinese) but since he's a Japanese i translated it to "Kobayashi".

I don't know another "Kobayashi Kaito" and "Kuroki Takuno" in the dollie community, but there're real-life Kobayashi Kaitos and Kuroki Takunos out there. Besides, these are common first & last names in Japan, so i guess i won't be too surprised if someone else uses the same first/ last name.

 

To owners of these dolls: Why do you enjoy original dolls?
It's a way to give the characters in my imagination a body. I wouldn't take it to the extreme though, like imagining that they're talking and have complex personalities and histories. But I do plan on having all my dolls from different companies, to give them individuality.

Do you find it distressing or upsetting when people emulate your original doll or copy his/her name without asking? Or do you feel names are just names and are up for grabs.
A name is a name. If I originally had a really unique name that nobody else had and another owner decided to take it, I wouldn't be outraged. It's some stranger that I don't know, who cares?

 

I don't own a doll yet, but I have 12 doll personalities that I will get some day ^^ All those are original dolls with name and personality that I have come up with by my own. I have been inspired by anime and manga characters tho.

Why do I create my own dolls and not just do my favorite anime characters? Because I feel like an own doll are so much more fun. My doll can cosplay as my fav characters ^^ But I want my own thing ^^ I like to create things and that goes for dolls too ^^ But I will have doll that can cosplay as anime characters ^^

 

Interesting debate,
Character dolls: I never really understood character dolls, they don't seem to have the flexibility of original character dolls, but to each is own.

Original character dolls: My two boys,
Chiwoo, cyber bohemian shiwoo, are very common names I think. Yukke and Sato, obviously. I am am MUCC fan, [have their tattoo and everything] but I dont embody the MUCC boys into my dolls, sato and yukke have very different personalities than that of the band members, I used there names as sort of a name-sake I guess.

I like creating characters, I also have many-a-rpg characters that I have floating around in my head.

 

Interesting debate,
Character dolls: I never really understood character dolls, they don't seem to have the flexibility of original character dolls, but to each is own.

Original character dolls: My two boys,
Chiwoo, cyber bohemian shiwoo, are very common names I think. Yukke and Sato, obviously. I am am MUCC fan, [have their tattoo and everything] but I dont embody the MUCC boys into my dolls, sato and yukke have very different personalities than that of the band members, I used there names as sort of a name-sake I guess.

I like creating characters, I also have many-a-rpg characters that I have floating around in my head.

 

This thread is interesting. XD It seems to actually be two questions in one:

1) How do you feel about (certain naming practices)?
2) Do you prefer to model your doll after an established character or your own?

I don't make character dolls, nor do I wrack my brain trying to come up with interesting names. Like the majority of the posters I've seen, my dolls' "characters" are a product of my own imagination. And mainly, I tend to use namesakes.

One of my dolls shares my very first online username, which sounds bizarre but is kind of sweetly nostalgic for me, lol. A second was named for both a song (first name) and a common namesake (middle name) I've seen many others on this board use. A third was named after a famous painter, whose artwork he somewhat resembles.

 

Why I enjoy original dolls? It's a creative outlet. Some of my dolls are original ideas, and some are not supposed to be but manage to be anyway. I can't help enjoying them as unique and different from each other and other people's dolls. I like the fact that the doll is the only one.

Emulating or copying the name or the doll? Well, most of my dolls have names that are not exactly unique. Given a finite number of names, I would be surprised if other dolls didn't share names with them. However, if someone else got the very same doll, used the very same wig, eyes, makeup, and name, it would depend on circumstances. If the doll behaved like my doll (and I assume for the case of discussion that mine would be the first of the two and that the second is as close a copy as possible) it could be a little flattering and i would hope they had asked permission first. If they just copied and then took the character in a totally different direction, that would make me very unhappy. I would probably avoid looking at any posts with that doll, because in many ways my dolls are a reflection of parts of myself.

 

I have dolls of both Original characters and Manga and Game characters....

My boys Skah and Kollin are both originals... Kollin is a character I created way back in high school and had forgotten about until I had his head in my hands and he told me who he was. Skah was in the plans over a year before I actually bought him...

Kurenai was purchased for a cosplay and he just stuck... his personality is however has changed since the story takes place his historical Japan and it is now modern day America

 

The names of my girls, Akane for one side is a japanese name I like because goes very well with the mold and the history I created for her.

And the other side, my elf name's Eleniel, invented by me xD

 

I have both, on the named after turned origonal side are Jareth, Christopher Walken, and probobly Peter Parker/Spider-Man. All three were made with that specific character/person in mind. With Christopher the change has been the most as he is becoming Dad a strong male presance among the dolls. He gives advice and nurtures the other dolls to an extent. Jareth is a bit neglected by his real mommy but far more laid back than the character in Labyrinth. Peter's fairly new and still working on his personality. As a writer it's natural for me to expand on a character.

Many of my OCs are based on real people. When I'm putting together a cast for my stories I go through my library of people looking for a face and character traits that will work. The same person will often spawn many characters, Xavier, Bram, Brenna, and Corbin come from the same person but none have the same name as him. I never name my OCs directly after a person. There are times the name will be simular, Rian is named after a Brian or after a character they played, Louis and Joe. Bram, Brenna, and Corbin are all raven/crow/black bird names no where near the guy who inspired them. He has seen Bram and knows the doll looks a lot like him and seems to be fine with it.

Xavier is an interesting character because he was thought of before the guy he looks like. For years I wrote about the character without knowing fully what he looked like, then I met the muse, then I sought out a doll that resembled him. Ofcourse everything about Xavier has been other worldly.

 

Er, I really believe there is no such thing as a copyright on names.. Xi-feng, not to be a bother but if you've ever played unreal games or any fantasy game really you'd find names quite similar to those of your dolls.

To me, this is one of the places where the community hurts instead of helps. People are so very quick to call 'copy' on anything. I've heard stories of people getting angry over someone else who bought their doll later having the same name, or even choosing the same hair/eye color combinations as their doll. (Black hair and red or blue eyes is SO original) and it really... well I hate to say this but it disgusts me.

I mean, this is a hobby, isn't it? We are all in this to satisfy a personal need, a want, whatever. If someone spends that kind of cash on a doll, they can name it whatever they want. Just because they didnt buy it before you, and name it whatever your favorite name is BEFORE you, doesnt make them any less entitled to a peaceful collecting experience.

There are some instances of copying, however where the accusations are justified. Using the same name, hair/eye color and style, faceup style, and clothing style as another character is probably wrong. At the same time, maybe they just thought what you had was nice? its not like you are taking this character and selling it. Its not an internet celebrity, its not a copyrighted commodity in households the world over. It is a DOLL that you purchased in a hobby setting.

Copying your original ideas... yes, maybe it is irritating... But with how many people in this hobby, and how many dolls, it is just ignorant to think there wont be overlappings. As far as actual intentual copying being justified, well, who are you to designate what someone else can or can not do in their hobby?


My two cents.. I know I sounded a little rude, I apologize. I have just heard so, so many stories about people being ripped because they 'copied' someone they didnt know existed.

 

Character dolls are awesome in their own way, but my major issue is that I always end up feeling like they have to stick to that character's personality and it's so limiting for me when I want to interact with them or have them interact with my other dolls.
Justin was totally original, and he and I are still bonding and figuring each other out. Mia is based on me (hence the name) and so her personality is pretty easy to work with lol, but her friend Cross who is also original hasnt arrived yet so I'm not sure how I'll work with her, but being an original , I think it'll be pretty easy.

Christian is my one sort of character based doll and he is named for Christian Troy of Nip/Tuck. Christian doesnt look like the TV character, but he does act like him in a lot of ways. Sharing a name does change some of how he acts, but isnt completely who he is to me.

 

As for names... Unless there are two identical dolls with the same name it can hardly be considered copying... a lot of people have the same names, besides... a person can't possibly know all the dolls in the forum to make sure that they aren't "copying" another doll's name.

I prefer to create a personal look for a doll instead of recreating a character, it does give more room to imagination, but character dolls seem like a lot of fun too. Making the clothes, searching for the little details like props, jewelry... that can be fun too. Besides the doll can cosplay at times and at other times have whatever look you want.

 

I don't have my dolls yet, but I've thought about it a lot. I would want my doll to be original.. By original, I mean not based on any existing character, be it from an anime or manga, or one of my OC's. I feel it wouldn't be fair to the doll, and that they should be given the chance to acquire their own personalities.

Plus, it's restrictive.. If it's a character doll, I'd be the type of person who sees an outfit I like but then... "Oh, I like it.. but the character would never wear this..!" And, it's just less fun like that.

As for names, it's damn near impossible to be original.. Even if you think it's original, and you haven't seen it before, if you type it into Google, there'd probably be thousands of results... So I wouldn't mind a doll with the same name as one I've chosen, and I think it's silly to get upset if someone has the same name as your doll.

And I expect it to happen, since I tend to like religious, mythological, and mystical sounding names.. Things like Michael, Gabriel, Voodoo, Taboo.. These are the sort of names I find attractive, and they're definitely pretty common.

 

i'm writing a novel-ish thing in chinese and am incorporating my doll into the story ^^ he's definitely a real character, the name is used in the story but didn't come from there. I picked that name because of the story behind it XD it's Cerberus, from Greek legends.

 

My doll Aria is a original character. I have my second doll on the way and he is going to be another original character. Personal I like to do original characters because I get to pick the name and create a story from them.