Who's Afraid of Elmer Fudd?

A character is given a name to make him have an affect. Giving a good name is all that separate a Lex Luthor from a -- well, I can't think of anyone which is part of the point. Anyone I could remember would have a memorable name. But take pate Pot Pete...please! In principle kind of a dumb character, but then again, a smart supervillain might not annouce his powers. They tried calling him "The Trapster," but really, who cares. "The trapster?" Paste Pot Pete has if not more charisma, at least more Q value.

Comics are actually pretty good at naming characters. Lex Luthor has a solid amount of strength to it, if not the Dickensian flair that some Victorian novels inflicted on their characters. I some of the more inane superhero definition discussions I used to have on Usenet, some moron would inevitably propose "codename" as a requirement,missing the fact that Dr. Strange was called that because it was his name. Do people really know the Thing as "the Thing" or is he "Ben Grimm." And what about Reed and Sue Richards. For a while Kitty Pride was just about the most popular X-man. They tried giving her a codename. Repeatedly. She burned through Shadowcat and Ariel and Sprite, and I forget what all else if there even were anymore. But when they spun her off into a miniseries and gave her top billing or Wolvy, what did they call it? "Kitty Pryde and Wolverine." The whole point of the series was the end wherein they call her "Shadowcat." But that name did not really stick either.

Comics are not the sole source of intriguing name. The world of science fiction television has given us a few good ones too, but they tend to follow a rather minimalist trend. "Doctor Who," the venerable British children's show solved the problem by simply not giving the big guy a name. He's the Doctor. They called him "Theta Sigma" in "The Armageddon Factor." But really, not. He's the Doctor. Julius Irving can play him next time. In fact, his namelessness became a central plot point of one of the better episodes of the new season.

My favorite name from the series was the mercenary "Sabolom Glitz," which would make a good name for a rock band, except someone is using it. "Duran Duran" was named after a character from "Barbarella." I'm sure there's a band out there named "Surok" or "kal El" or whatever.

But generic names are part and parcel to the realm of fiction. Dr. Stephen Strange and Dr. Hugo Strange could open a medical practice together. And Victor von Doom really needed to look at the peerage guide. Same with Star Trek. Mr. Spock? Isn't he a baby doctor?