Naming Dragons after Bad People/Things

[Shadlok]

So following a debate that began in the Tiny Little Questions thread, what is your take on naming dragons after bad people?

 

The example that was brought up was Adolf Hitler. Should dragons be permitted to be named after characters such as Hitler, Genghis Khan, or Mussolini? Or what about after terrible things such as Homocide and Murder?

 

What is your opinion and why?

[Zero_Photofox]

I don't see why not. People like to name their dragons after historical figures - and of course not all historical figures are good people. Additionally, your dragons can be whatever you want them to be. Some people develop long stories and histories to go with their dragons, and not all of those dragons are always nice. In short, I hate that we'd want to limit creativity in the cave, and because our creative bounds are not limited sometimes we create bad or evil things. It's alright

[Herk]

Like I said there:

 

That said I personally don't like the name, but I certainly won't take offense as long as the dragon doesn't get a description saying, that she killed millions of dragons and is awesome because of that. Maybe this person wants to have a fitting name for a cruel and insane dragon - as long as she not openly says 'Hitler was cool' somewhere I won't get offended (and I'm German, btw - just for the statistic)

 

Not all dragons are nice, so I think it's wrong assuming people named them after 'bad' persons because they adore those people.

 

For example some of my Magis are power-hungry jerks because they were named after fictional mages/wizard/witches who were power-hungry jerks, that doesn't mean I think Malificent or Fistandatilus are rolemodels. And yes I DO realize that fictional characters are a bit different, I just try to clarify my point.

 

I name my Mints after Noble Peace Laureates, so I can't find fault if someone named their HFW after Hitler, Mussolini et all - it's just another theme.

 

[KishaRa]

Without an action, a word is just a word, with only the power you give it.

 

Why shouldn’t people name their dragons after historical figures, even if they were considered ‘bad people’? I expect that many people we now regard as interesting in history, or even as great leaders, were considered unmentionable closer to their time.

 

As for ‘bad words’: what constitutes a bad word? I know some people on this site are not even comfortable with the name hellfire wyvern for one of the dragon breeds. To me a bad word is something my mother would not want me to say in public, and I would not name my dragons with those words, even if they were allowed. However I do not consider a word, such as murder, on its own, an offensive word. You can make it into an offensive or threatening sentence but is a phrase like ‘screaming blue murder’ an offensive saying? No, it just means someone was making a lot of noise.

 

Overall I think things should be taken in context as a perfectly innocent word can be used in a suggestive or offensive way, and a word that’s usually considered offensive can by innocently used in a context (like that chicken I’ve heard of).

 

Plus let’s not forget that we can describe our dragons in many ways, including making them ‘bad’, without recourse to a single offensive term.

 

Edited for spelling fail.

Edited March 1, 2013 by KishaRa

[Keolah]

Slippery slope. Where exactly do you draw the line? I'd really hate to see people randomly getting their dragons killed because they had no idea "assassin" or the like was considered "bad". Or then if we considered weapons to be bad, start with bombs? and then wind up running into all the dragons that have been named after swords and the like... And poison's bad too, right? etc.

[sparkle10184]

I have no problem with people naming their dragons things like 'Adolf Hitler'. Some dragon breeds are nasty or cruel, and people should have the right to give the dragon a fitting name!

[PointOfOrigin]

Without an action, a word is just a word, with only the power you give it.

This. Words have a meaning only because we give them one.

[Siliskor]

A dragon I'd gifted in a FFA was recently given the name of one of the world's most infamous terrorists. It's no longer my dragon & I have no say in the matter, but I'm still not happy about it.

[Umbee]

I actually have a number of vampires named after infamous murderers, for example Erzsebet Bathory de Ecsed. I feel the names fit the breed, and while I don't look up to these people at all, I do find them awfully interesting. Maybe some people will take offense, but it's practically a rule of the universe that if something exists, someone will be offended by it.

[Blindstar97]

Like the general consensus, I don't think naming your dragons after "evil" or "bad" people is wrong or says that you "adore" said persons. And what's the definition of a "bad" thing? Is naming a dragon Magnum bad since magnums are a type of weapon?

 

Dragcave gives us a lot of creative rights, and people are allowed to utilize these rights. You can't punish or shun someone because they just named their dragons after a controversial person in history or a weapon. I say as long as they follow the rules already in place for names and descriptions, then they should be left to their own devices.

[MaggieXawesomeness]

A dragon I'd gifted in a FFA was recently given the name of one of the world's most infamous terrorists. It's no longer my dragon & I have no say in the matter, but I'm still not happy about it.

Yeah... um *nervous laugh*

I would change that (it's actually a placeholder dragon until I get the breed I want for it), but I just saw that one of its sibling's names correlates with it now, and....

 

 

Anyway, I don't really find it bad.

I really like your quote, KishaRa.

Without an action, a word is just a word, with only the power you give it.

 

I say as long as you don't make it more than that, it's not the worst possible thing.

Edited February 28, 2013 by MaggieXawesomeness

[Nine]

Homocide? Sounds like a late-night flick for people of particular tastes, if you catch my drift. =p

 

One of my peeves with DC is the overly sensitive attitude towards names. Adolf Hitler was a person (whether he was "human" can be debated), he lived, died, and was part of a historically infamous event in modern history. Having a dragon named after him is not going to conjure insane, sociopathic ideals, influence any rational-thinking individual, or even solicit a reaction beyond "hm." or "meh." Bringing the name up as a point of concern creates more controversy than simply ignoring it would have.

 

And then that attitude seeps into much more obscure terms and becomes indiscriminate. Really bugs me that I have to worry my scroll will get burned because someone found, for example, the name "cannabinoid" offensive. Because it sounds like cannabis, which is a term for a drug, which is controversial in its legality, which means it's a bad thing, which means I must find it offensive, which means it must be punished. I wish I could say I was being paranoid about that, but I honestly have no idea if a user/mod will one day decide that's worthy of being drawn and quartered. Figuring out good names is hard enough =S

[Sylvan_Moon]

One of my Cave Lurkers is actually named Death-Death-Kill. It's a pun from the anime Soul Eater where they call up the God of Death and his number is 42-42-564. Translated in Japanese, the number sounds like Death-Death-Kill.

 

I thought it was hilarious but I admit I was kind of hesitant to name my dragon that, considering the strict rules in DC. But I went ahead anyway because I couldn't really see anything wrong with it.

 

As for the topic itself, I don't really think its a big deal. I have a friend who names her dragons after Christian demons.

[Dimar]

I personally would avoid naming dragons anything that could become controversial, just because there's sensitive people out there who will get offended and may cause drama. Even if I never intended to offend them. *shrugs*

 

Using Hitler as an example, I'm fine with it in theory. I don't think it's inappropriate or wrong. It's just a name, it doesn't mean the owner is a Nazi or anything. But I don't like hurting people's feelings or causing drama, so when backlash occurs with someone else I tend to think "Couldn't they have picked a safer name?" I forget that not everyone is as nervous as me.

 

/confusing ramble is confusing/

[Keileon]

I have a few really dark names like "Little Midnight Murder" but I usually only do that if I'm in a bad mood. I do keep the names, however.

 

Edit: And I just remembered one of my older Vampires is named JosephStalin, lol.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Kiryu

[DarkEternity]

History is written by victors. In times of war, both sides commit atrocities.

[shovedtbh]

:/ Charles Manson: http://dragcave.net/lineage/U3G9X hehe I just randomly named it this because it popped in my head and I was surprised it wasn't taken at the time. Not meant to offend anyone, in fact I think it is humorous that I have a psycho dragon on my scroll ^.^

Edited March 1, 2013 by shovedtbh

[SnowSherry]

It depends, I think there are rules against profanity

[GhostMouse]

I really don't see any problem with people naming their dragons whatever they please. I understand (though disagree with) banning certain words to keep the site "PG-rated," but when you start banning ideas and concepts, you get into really murky territory. I don't think banning specific names (Adolf Hitler), things (like drug references), or concepts (death, murder, etc) makes any sense.

 

I tend to agree with Stephen Fry when it comes to being offended,

 

'It's now very common to hear people say, "I'm rather offended by that", as if that gives them certain rights. It's no more than a whine. It has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. "I'm offended by that." Well, so -ing what?' —Stephen Fry

 

Actually, I'm slightly offended that I had to censor that quote. Why can't I say exactly what I mean? But I'm not going to make a big deal about it, because that isn't productive, I'm not hurt in any way, and I agreed to follow the rules of the site when I signed up. Like I just quoted, saying I'm offended by that is only me whining that I can't have my way, and nothing more.

 

I'm sure there are dragons out there with names I'd find offensive, but that's none of my business. They aren't on my scroll, I don't have to look at them. I'd honestly rather see my dragons' offspring given offensive names than not receive names at all.

Edited March 1, 2013 by GhostMouse

[dragongrrl]

 

I'm sure there are dragons out there with names I'd find offensive, but that's none of my business. They aren't on my scroll, I don't have to look at them. I'd honestly rather see my dragons' offspring given offensive names than not receive names at all.

I think this does boil down to being a good neighbor. The named dragon was the child of a dragon of the offended person. Every time the offended person had to go to their dragon's page, they see the offensively named dragon, and apart from asking for the dragon's name to be changed, or never visiting their own dragon's page, or leaving the Cave altogether, they are stuck seeing the offending name.

 

BTW, I really do love the Stephen Fry quote. In most cases, it applies. But I think tempering a word, name, etc. to fit the situation has some merit. I would never have sworn in front of my grandmother. It would have offended her, and I don't want to deliberately offend people who are close to me.

[perzephone]

There's a general assumption that this is primarily a US site. For US users, we're pretty defensive when it comes to our freedom of speech. We like being able to say just about anything we want to, in just about any setting or context. For us, freedom of speech means that people are free to get offended, too - it's not freedom 'from' offense. So if we want to name our dragons after horrible people, events or use language that is generally considered profanity, we feel we should be able to do so without restriction.

 

For users in other countries, though, their freedom of expression may be more limited and restricted than ours, and they may be quicker to take offense at something an American may see as innocuous.

 

I've only ever reported one person's dragon for an offensive name. It was a racial slur. I've also seen some that I've not reported because the slurs are too ambiguous - the dragon named 'Chink' comes to mind. Yes, it's a racial slur, but it's also somewhat appropriate to the nature of dragons since it can mean a gap or weak spot in someone's armor.

 

Generally speaking, unless the person in question is contentious and enjoys shocking other people, most people will name their dragons in accordance with the naming rules and with decent judgment. I don't see a serious need for making things more restrictive than they are now.

[angelicdragonpuppy]

I don't care about the use of negative words as names, because things like murder, blood, killer etc are used so often in movies and stories and such that it's hard to be offended at them. The real things associated with them are bad, no kidding, but not every use of the term is bad. You don't squirm when you see the word murder in a mystery novel, do you?

 

However--I find naming dragons after real horrible people to be incredibly tasteless. Making a reference to people who have done absolutely godless, sick things to others is and should not be considered funny or innocuous. I have evil, nasty dragons too, but you know what? I make up fictional names for them. I don't feel a need to go grab a name that can elicit truly horrible memories for people just to emphasize my fictional dragon's nastiness. You can do that in plenty of other ways without forcing people to recall horrible true events.

[Shadlok]

Just to add in, I was born in Germany (purely because the ferry was delayed and mother couldn't wait), so whilst I understand the whole "I'm German so Hitler is personally offensive to me", I don't think it's really relevant. I live in Britain, does that mean I should be offended by people who think that the British empire was a bit crap?

 

Or should anybody in Italy be offended by Mussolini?

[Charbreon]

i say sure why not. i mean they are just names for dragons. although these people were horrible, it is cool to get a name like that before anyone else i guess. also you could make an epic discription for that dragon

[Umbee]

I'll repeat that there is practically nothing under the sun that doesn't offend someone or worse. Heck, on another site, someone's adoptable has a description that is actually triggering for me. Instead of causing a scene and demanding the description be removed, I closed the tab and got out of there. Because I know that it's unreasonable to ask that my internet experience is tailored to suit my sensibilities, even if that means there's a risk of me seeing or reading something I'd rather not have to deal with. I actually really adore the Stephen Fry quote for that reason.

 

There are things that most people are and should be upset by, like the use of racial slurs. Stuff like that should be banned from use here. But you can't remove everything that might bother someone, because that's just a ridiculous slippery slope. I will do my best to respect people and their wants and needs, but I can't please everyone, so why try? I know that sounds a little mean, but it is what it is. In the case of my vampires, they sit at the bottom of the scroll and don't bite anything. They're extremely easy to ignore if they really upset someone that much.