Magic Name

[Rebekah Hanna]

I'm having trouble coming up with a more creative word for magic or superpowers. For example, My Hero Academia has quirks, a show called Epithet Erased has epithets, etc. I'm writing a story where people have powers that contradict their personalities, but I don't want to call them powers. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[sknox]

Why do you not want to call them powers or magic?

 

[Rebekah Hanna]

Why do you not want to call them powers or magic?

I can, but I would prefer to call them something more original, as my story actually takes place on a different planet, where they might have a different term for it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Think about the society they live in. Do they regard these magic powers as a gift, or (because they are at odds with their personalities or for some other reason) as a curse? Are these powers common, or rare? Are they considered inherent, or drawn from nature, or gifted by supernatural agencies, or gained by study and meditation, or [insert other]? Once you have an idea where these fit in with the culture and the environment, their beliefs and values, you might have a better idea what you want to call them.

 

[sknox]

I can, but I would prefer to call them something more original, as my story actually takes place on a different planet, where they might have a different term for it.

Well, all the other words in your book are going to be from this planet, too, so it doesn't seem much of an issue to me. But there's also nothing wrong with coining a word--that's sort of stock for fantasy writers. In which case, I'll echo Teresa's suggestion. Just let things simmer. With names I'll use a name for a character, write some or even a lot, to see if it feels right to me. Then I'll try out another name. It does make for a messy first draft, but first drafts are messy anyway. You could start out calling it a word you've made up. Think of it as an audition.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

How about 'The Force'? I don't think that's been used anywhere else before

Actually, I usually find a thesaurus a great help. A quick look at the synonyms here

Thesaurus.com - The world's favorite online thesaurus!

Thesaurus.com is the world’s largest and most trusted online thesaurus for 25+ years. Join millions of people and grow your mastery of the English language.

www.thesaurus.com

could give you some ideas

 

[tinkerdan]

Somehow this feels like the definition of a....

'm writing a story where people have powers that contradict their personalities

Secret identity.
Mild manner reporter---superman.
Fish out of water(well, not all the time)---Aquaman

And shadow hunters have...

My Hero Academia has quirks, a show called Epithet Erased has epithets

Runes.

To get back to this....

powers that contradict their personalities

It sounds a bit Jekyll and Hyde-ish.
So maybe your have HYDE's

Once a year they all get together in the first week of March--
For the Hyde's of March ceremony.

Of course there is Jekyll's
Then it would be the Day of the Jekyll

Just relax--be creative--it'll all come to you.

 

[tegeus-Cromis]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Bimplesmacks
Grooblenicity
Belek-keleb
Tröngelheidrichnächtrigkeit
Melvin

 

[olive]

How about made-up words?

A person's personality = That person's characteristics => A person's 'charac'.

A person's powers = That person's 'uncharacteristic' traits (Because it is contradicting in your story) = A person's 'uncharac' or maybe, better if written as their 'ancharac' or 'ancharacs' in plural? Or even dropping the h?

I'm assuming the character is developing before the magical power. So they have their Characs and Ancharacs?

Just making things up.

 

[Rebekah Hanna]

How about 'The Force'? I don't think that's been used anywhere else before

Actually, I usually find a thesaurus a great help. A quick look at the synonyms here

Thesaurus.com - The world's favorite online thesaurus!

Thesaurus.com is the world’s largest and most trusted online thesaurus for 25+ years. Join millions of people and grow your mastery of the English language.

www.thesaurus.com

could give you some ideas

Thank you! I've actually used that website for a few other stories. Not sure why I didn't think of it.

 

[Guttersnipe]

knack
glammer
trick
gimmick
forte

 

[.matthew.]

Aspect
Flair
Flicker

 

[Karn's Return]

You could simply call it Kinesis. It's essentially the same thing.

 

[Jesse Harris]

If it opposite their personality then I would prefix it with something to indicate as such:
Counterpower
Contraspectrum
Antimagic
Oppositivity
Shadowforce
Reflective

Just popped in my head: Counterbalance

Or feeding off of what I see in charac and uncharac, maybe Trueself and Powerself, a sort of yin-yang, where you and your power are two sides to the same coin, one opposite the other, like obverse and reverse.

 

[Danny McG]

Tröngelheidrichnächtrigkeit

I reckon you've nailed it there, it just seems so natural and fae

 

[Eric Lewis]

How about Inimic? From Latin inimicus, enemy or adversary.

 

[sknox]

>You could simply call it Kinesis.
Isn't that the plural of kine?
<gdr>

 

[-K2-]

Go old school; Aether Evlogia/Aether Katara, blessing/curse of the incorruptible force...

K2