Fi Phillips

What's in a name? Does a person's name inform us of their character in any way? Can it make us perceive them in a certain manner? Can Cyril or Sophie ever be a believable villain? Likewise, can Victor or Goneril be cute or loveable? When  we read a book, does a character's name create an expectation? In my plays, I always start with a concept/setting and a list of characters. For instance, Dead Fit began like this: Exercise class at a community centre. Mature, glamorous aerobics instructor Janitor Elderly couple Two young men Two female friends Middle aged woman and her daughter. These are the  bones of the play. At this point, the cast are faceless. I have a silhouette of who they will be but that is all. It isn't until I name them, that I begin to discover their personalities and their patterns of speech. I want the aerobics instructor to be 'mature' and yet glamorous, pretentious even. She's very 'darling'y and dramatic. The name...

Mwahahahahaha... Sorry. An evil laugh seemed apt. I have a problem. Having got past the issue of procrastination in planning my novel for NaNoWriMo in November, I now have another obstacle to tackle. What do I call my villains? I have four. At the moment, they're all rather non descript but giving them a name will help me to begin to paint their portraits as such. So how do you go about naming a villain? Are you ironic, as in the popular American TV vampire Angel? Do you go for the obvious like Stan Lee's Doctor Victor Von Doom from the Fantastic Four storyline? Where do you start? If I look down the list of the Telegraph's 50 greatest villains in literature , I find alliterative names such as Velma Valento (Farewell My Lovely), the White Witch (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and Milo Minderbender (Catch 22). There are names that point out physical characteristics, Captain Hook for instance. There are sinister sounding names like Sauron (Lord of the Rings), Voldemo...