Doll Names : Orginality vs Characters

I haven't got a doll yet...But my first doll which I'm saving up for now is based on a character. ^^ Personally, I think I did it because I like that character a lot. But after that, the other 4 dolls I plan to own will be my very own originals~ Not revealing names in case people get inspired! xD LOL jk jk~

 

I've never had a desire to have a character doll. I can understand where other's might like to have them, but they've never really appealed to me.

I guess I am a little odd. When it came to choosing my first doll (who just arrived a few days ago! hurrah!) i set out a couple of characters that she could have been. one i chose was based very loosely on a concept of an Arthurian character out of a book that is yet another take on the legend. Then, on the fly, I made up another character who was pretty interesting but was just a stand alone character with no story or anything. What I ended up getting was something entirely different. Since i ordered something I hadn't seen before the visit to the site to pick her out, I didn't have a single idea in hand. Still, she isn't really a 'character' per se. I don't feel compelled to create a background for her, I'm just content to have her in the house.

As far as naming goes, since this is an 'off the cuff' doll, I had to do a bit of scrambling to find a name. I found one in a baby name book that breaks down the names by style lists. I went through a while back and highlighted the names i liked so i did a little computing and calculating and lining up and figured out that of the names i highlighted on the lists, more names shared a list with the name Sage than any other. I like the name Sage, but not well enough to highlight it. So my doll became Sage. It's no unheard-of here on the forums for there to be a doll named Sage (male and female) but I do not feel like i've stolen it. In fact, the other person i've found here who has a Sage enjoyed the fact that we both have excellent taste.

If i ever get another doll, I know that I will get another female doll and just to be a geek, I'll name her Rosemary. I figure I've got a theme, i might as well run with it.

 

Haha, I totally haven't read all the posts in this thread but I'm gonna have my say anyway. XD

I have no problems with fan dolls whatsoever, I think they can be really awesome. Of course I'm talking about dolls named after and resembling characters from books, TV shows, manga, what have you.

And I think it's inevitable that two people on the board with the same doll will name them the same thing, eventually- especially if it's either a fairly common doll or a doll that really looks like a specific character or has something in common with a very popular character (i.e. naming a vampire El Lestat or Armand or something, or an elf Lishe Arwen- they don't necessarily look that similar but they're very popular dolls, and there are some iconic vampire/elf/fairy/whathaveyou characters out there), or if it's a very common name (i.e. two people naming their SD10 4 sisters dolls Anne).

But, if it's more than just the name, if it's a non-character based doll and someone has a doll that has the same or similar name, and also the same colour of hair and style of wig, same colour eyes, same type of personality, same clothing style, etc. If the doll is basically a copycat of someone else's original doll character, then that leaves a bit of an unsavory taste in my mouth. I know that in some ways there is little difference between a character that someone on DoA comes up with and a character that an author or screenwriter comes up with... but in other ways there is. For most people, their doll characters are very personal to them, and the only exposure most people have to those characters is in a few photostories. Movie, book, video game, etc. characters are so well-known to so many people who avidly follow those books, movies, and whatnot that in some ways they are cultural figures. Not public property, but in a way they are part of the public mind. These characters are no longer something private and personal to the creator, but have become, in a way, celebrities. And they are celebrities that aren't BJDs to begin with. You'll never make an exact copy of, say, Johnny Depp (or one of his characters) because he's human. But you can make an almost exact copy of a doll "celebrity", which... makes it creepier in some ways. ^^;

Anyway, for myself I don't really have any character in mind when I buy a doll- not a character I'm a fan of and not a character of my own either. I might, at some point, buy a doll with one of my own characters in mind- I won't rule it out. But for now, my dolls come to me with no names or personalities attached, and I just wait until I feel I have a sense of them to give them a name. Right now, one of my dolls is named and the other isn't. I suspect the reason that I haven't been able to pick a name for the second doll is that I have another wig and eyes coming in the mail or on order for her, as well as a bunch of clothing (right now she is just wearing some Barbie clothes that don't really suit her). I think once I've got her looking a way that looks right to me, I'll be able to figure out a name more easily. : )

 

I can see the appeal of a character doll and I've thought of a few that I'd really love to have, but most would have so much money invested that the end product would easily go into quadruple digits (namely the Faun from Pan's Labyrinth I had in mind a while back). I do, however, admire anyone who does take a doll and make it look like a character very well.

I also think it's interesting to have an original character based off of one from a movie/game/etc. My Cherishdoll Eileen happens to be inspired from a character from Wolf's Rain who was very pretty, and I think other dolls that nod gently to a character like that are nice because you can still be original with it.

As for other dolls having the same name as your dolls, it's really just inevitable unless you make up a name on the spot, and even then there's a chance. I admittedly try and think of names that might be uncommon, but ultimately choose something because I like it and it suits the doll.

 

While some of their names and parts of their personalities are inspired by other sources, both of the dolls I have plus the others I have planned for the future are all originals.

I actually don't think I'd like to have a doll who is the embodiment of someone else's character. I doubt I'd feel as close a connection to a doll like that versus one who came directly from my own imagination. If I did have a character doll, I think it would be more of a tribute to the original character and not really as "alive" to me as my own creations. Think $600+ action figure.

However, I'm sure none of my dolls would mind cosplaying as an already established manga/anime character once in while.

 

Why do you enjoy character based dolls?
--Because I love the characters themselves. I have two at present, there will at the very least be one more, possibly more.

Have you also had a character based doll that ended up turning into an original?
--I would argue that "character based" means, at the start, that there are original twists on the character. No one could say either of my character dolls are exactly the way their originator wrote them. Where's the fun in that? They'd never be able to interact with the other dolls in my mind, you know? But no, neither of my character dolls stands a chance of turning completely original any time soon. While they are MY takes on existing characters, they still retain their original personalities.

Why do you enjoy original dolls?
--Because a fair bit of this hobby involves imagination, friend.

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.
--I'd be sort of skeeved if someone yanked my dolls' full names. For the most part they have fairly uncommon first/middle combinations. Of course, it's always fun to stumble across someone whose doll has the same uncommon name as yours. For instance, my Irian. There's another doll on this board named Irian and I'm pretty sure he had it first. But I'd never seen him before, so I didn't copy or anything. As I recall, the owner thought it was neat our dolls shared a name. But I'd look much like this O_o if someone had a doll named Carolina Vitae who was fifteen years old, for example. That'd be too close for comfort, and if it turned out the person really wasn't copying me, I'd probably change Caro's age or something just to feel less doppelganger-y.

In short, names aren't really an issue. Names and general personality/age/concept? Yeah...but take it on a case by case basis, there hasn't been anything new under the sun for ages. It's all in how you use your imagination.

EDIT: Oh! I have been pecking away at writing a novel for a few years now. I intend to get dolls of the main two characters. I may possibly "protect" them more, simply because I WOULD be peeved if their concepts/names were ganked, simply because I want to try and actually market the novel. I don't know if that makes a difference in the general debate, but there you go.

 

All of my dolls are original characters. I've attempted to make their names unique, utilizing names I've had from roleplaying characters or literary characters I've made stories for in the past (though their actual characters are different, the names are just ones I really like).

I also try and search for the names here on DOA before choosing them for my doll. If its apparently too popular, I won't choose it; mostly out of respect for the other doll owner. If there's another doll of the same sculpt as mine, I definitely would want to find a different name- I wouldn't want mine confused with theirs.

 

I personally prefer originality. I've seen a lot of "fan dolls"...some make the cut and others are just plain sad. With character dolls...I think you are very limited to what you can really DO with that doll. If you stray even a litle bit from that character, then it's just a sad imitation...I dunno, I just don't get the point of buying such an expensive doll for something that you could maybe use 5% creativity with.

As for originality and naming... I try to be as original and unique as possible. I don't want my dolls named something that another doll has been named if I can help it. I spend a lot of time picking unique names, and I would be upset if I saw another doll named the same as mine because they might've seen it and been 'hey, that IS a cool name'. As far as I know, Macabee is he only macabee...and i'm proud of that The closest i get to unoriginality is naming after my favorite musicians--or if i come upon someone with a cool name... lol like hopper jack XD It's a celeb's child's name but I liked it and it's not another *insert generic name* running around.

I'm not sure all of that really flowed the way I thought it would..but, I think I got my point across

 

Oh your dolls name is October! Thats such a pretty name, I really like it for a girl too. My boy is January, he's not based off any of my characters in particular but he shares certain aspects of some of them. What was important for me with January is I give him the most realistic background I could, without too much mumbo-jumbo storylines. I have a pretty good image of him in my head and I can't wait for him to be finished. I just want him to be a regular guy, thats what I think is most original nowadays.

 

i dont mind character dolls, but for some reason i dont like mixing universes.

im sure i posted this somewhere else, but i would love to have an Asuka from NGE dollfie dream...but she wouldnt be in my other characters world. she is her own character with her own world and it wouldnt feel right taking someone elses story and mixing it up...i think it makes the character less of what makes them THEM. but this is just me and i can totally see why people like to mix their characters in

im not so bothered about the characters as i am the story. like someone has this gorgeous Fran from FFXII doll (which i totally love btw) but i dont like it when people, for example, have a doll that doesnt look like Fran named Fran, take the FFXII story and mash it up to their will to write their 'own' story and add new characters and space monsters who fight crime...

lol i digress. but that just feels odd to me

 

I prefer original dolls myself - to me there is more of a personal connection that way. As far as names go, just use whatever fits that doll's 'essence' in your mind. I plan on naming my first girl Ahiru (so far...XD), because I think it suits her - not to name her after the anime character or to mold her personality around that character. I have other dolls in my head as well, some of them with common names, and some not so common.

Of course, people should create their dolls however they see fit ^_^ whether they're based off existing characters or not, it's all about what fits for you - whoever you make, they'll still be yours.

 

I like both character and original dolls, though I have more original dolls. Both types have their pros and cons.

Character dolls are fun, and challenging to create. I personally wouldn't ever want to own a doll that was strictly a certain character (down to the details, no exceptions), but I think that existing characters can be great inspiration or a starting point for dolls. For example, I have a doll inspired by and named after Ryoma from the Prince of Tennis manga. Why? Well, I like that character and he's cute, so why not? I wanted a doll with that type of personality anyway, or I wouldn't have picked him. But my doll may have the same name and general looks, but she (yes, she) has her own character, even though she will always retain some of the traits of character she was based on.

Original dolls are great because you can pick everything about them! There are no restirctions, you an dress them in whatever you happen to like and give them whatever personality you want. ^_^ But, if your original doll does have/develop a certain personality and character (which mine sure did!), then they might be just as limited in their dress and such as any fan/character doll! For example, my first girl will always be blue-eyed and just doesn't wear punk-style clothing, though I certainly didn't plan it like that. In the beginning though they are way easier to create/clothe/etc than character dolls.

Honestly, I'm not too fussed about names for either type. At first, I wanted to make sure the original names I picked for my dolls weren't shared by other BJD's on DOA -- and that worked for a long time. But then the BJD hobby asploded, and I gave up. There's just too many people now to have everyone's dolls be differently names. Kind of like on virtual pet sites like Neopets -- if there's a lot of people, even the most "creative" names get taken. *shrugs*

 

Totally new to BJD lingo so I'm still having difficulty separating character based & original dolls

But I'm working towards my boy doll to be a character/personality I have in mind, this character being generally based on various fantasy characters who all lumped into 1, basically.

 

I just received my first BJD and while waiting I debated what his name should be. I debated on characters I had created in stories and even debated on naming him after my favroite anime or book chars and after all that I decided to wait for him to arrive. Once he had arrived it was as if the name just popped into my head.

He was Rowan. It was the celtic calander symbol for February (My birthday).

Who knows....I could get another doll in the near future and choose to name him after some known char.

 

My Dz Yume, Amara, is and has always been an original character. Her storyline and everything I made up on my own.

As for Yoru, DOC U, he is a different story. At first he was going to be character based. First being Sasuke from Naruto and then later Yoru (hence his name) from Sukisho. Neither seemed to work for him so he kept the name but EVERYTHING about him is all him.

My third doll who will be coming home soon, Elvina, a Dollmore Sweet Wind Memory Issac; will also be an original character since I really havn't found much else for her.

Although I am not against character based doll mine just havn't turned out to be the right ones to do so. I will admit that I took part in making a character based doll. I bought my friend a Souldoll Harang and transformed him into Ash from Pokemon.

 

My dolls names came from my mind. (And the calender ^^')
Kaiden = MY compromise between Aiden/Aidan and Kaien.
Hunter = Yup,you guessed it,the dude from A Fire Inside.
October Pierce = First name came off the calender,last name just popped into my head when I was listening to Dir En Grey - Saku

Sadie = LOVE the name.
Tory = Coined from the Luts Kid Delf Ttori
Levy = LOVE the name x2
Kyrie = Sounds rabbit-ish
Sparrow = Came outta my mind.
Robin = Sounds kinda rabit-ish also.
Gabriel = Of course the arch-angel.
Nicky = Sixx. Who else could pull off a Delf Woosoo? LOL

 

The doll I've STILL not got yet (my parents are waiting for me to lose interest like the airhead I am... and it's been almost a year!) happens to be named Guy. Fortunately for me, that's both an actual name and a possible nickname. So when I'm holding him in my arms he might become an Edward or an Ambrose or a Judah or a Lambert, but he'll always be Guy. It seems a bit odd to me to name a doll after a character (for example, something really distinctive or that people might consider fandom- like Orochimaru) and not have it be a doll OF them.

 

Hm...what Rhoswyn just said made me think, how many other people feel it's 'stealing' or that it's strange/silly/whathaveyou to use a name from a well known anime-movie-book-etc. for a doll, but that doll is not even supposed to be the slightest representation of that character? Is that just seen as lazy?

For example, my favorite character and most coveted doll's name is Fakia, where I had originally heard it from the anime Princess TuTu. I didn't particularly pay much attention to the show or to the original character for that matter, I just really loved his name. So I used it. Now, I know I personally would be very offended if someone implied my Fakia didn't have his own strong personality and character, because I was 'too lazy' to think up my own original name. No, my Fakia is not a tribute doll to that anime, he is his own creation, but I wonder if others will see him that way.

That was just an example, btw, not an asking for reassurance, but indeed something I am curious about. Is it just as bad to use a well known name, like Jack Sparrow, Miroku or Hermione and not have the doll be associated in any way with the origional creation the name was used from?

 

I'm both. When my Arlene gets here she'll be Larxene from KH:CoM, as well as a sort of original character; Arlene [Larxene's somebody]... and then there is Satsuki, who is ALL mine. >3

Characters:
To owners of these dolls: Why do you enjoy character based dolls? I think they're fun, because they're recognizable. It's also a nice way to show you're love for a character and/or fandom... and meet others who like them/it as well. Have you also had a character based doll that ended up turning into an original? not yet... Although I always planned Arlene to be two characters.


Originals:
To owners of these dolls: Why do you enjoy original dolls? It's nice to do what ever you want, and make them how ever you'd like, and not feeling as thought you should stay "in character" and such, or that their outfit is wrong or wig isn't good enough or the eye colour is incorrect... Do you find it distressing or upsetting when people emulate your original doll or copy his/her name without asking? It's never happened, but if someone copied my doll to an extreme measure I'd find it VERY weird, and some what annoying... there are better ways to show you like someone's doll. Making a doll dedicated to a character is a lot different than trying to recreate someone else's doll, IMO. Or do you feel names are just names and are up for grabs. I agree, names are NAMES, have at it... but if it were the same sculpt and wore similar things, and had a similar personality, then it's be too close for comfort.

 

Eh, I couldn't even make myself change Sooah's name at all. By the time I got her, I'd been calling her Sooah so long that I felt wierd trying to change it, as if she were a pet or something : P