Randomness
Sep. 29th, 2010 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oakenguyI've been wondering what aliens think when they meet superheroes with animal names, like Batman or Spider-Man or Squirrel Girl. It must really puzzle them.
I mean, most of the A-list superheroes have names that your standard comic book Universal Translator wouldn't have much trouble with. Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk, Doctor Strange are all pretty self-explanatory. (The 'Doctor' might be replaced by whatever the local equivalent is, but 'Chieftain of Oddness', say, would still get the essential point across.)
Below that you have folks with names that refer to a specific object or piece of technology, like Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Bullseye, Green Lantern (who technically would be more accurately called Green Ring, but that's a whole other topic)--all things which would give some of our own cultures trouble, but hopefully they'd be able to find local equivalents.
Animal names, though...at best, they're very arbitrary. ("You're called Tigra because you look like a tiger. Got it. You're called Catwoman because you act a little bit like some stereotypes of a cat. Um, okay. You, you're called Black Canary because you don't fly, are not actually black, but you DO sing? Riiiiiight. And you're called Nightcrawler.....um...never mind. Just never mind.") And at worst, well, what would the alien equivalent of Batman be? "I am QUORLMAN. The criminals who haunt our reefs and kelp beds are a cowardly and superstitious lot. By dressing as a quorl and leaping upon them from my camouflaged quorlburrows I keep my sea safe from--oh, wait, you're distracted by the quorlpoon I shot into your appendage. My bad."
I mean, most of the A-list superheroes have names that your standard comic book Universal Translator wouldn't have much trouble with. Superman, Wonder Woman, The Hulk, Doctor Strange are all pretty self-explanatory. (The 'Doctor' might be replaced by whatever the local equivalent is, but 'Chieftain of Oddness', say, would still get the essential point across.)
Below that you have folks with names that refer to a specific object or piece of technology, like Green Arrow, Plastic Man, Bullseye, Green Lantern (who technically would be more accurately called Green Ring, but that's a whole other topic)--all things which would give some of our own cultures trouble, but hopefully they'd be able to find local equivalents.
Animal names, though...at best, they're very arbitrary. ("You're called Tigra because you look like a tiger. Got it. You're called Catwoman because you act a little bit like some stereotypes of a cat. Um, okay. You, you're called Black Canary because you don't fly, are not actually black, but you DO sing? Riiiiiight. And you're called Nightcrawler.....um...never mind. Just never mind.") And at worst, well, what would the alien equivalent of Batman be? "I am QUORLMAN. The criminals who haunt our reefs and kelp beds are a cowardly and superstitious lot. By dressing as a quorl and leaping upon them from my camouflaged quorlburrows I keep my sea safe from--oh, wait, you're distracted by the quorlpoon I shot into your appendage. My bad."
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Date: 2010-09-29 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-30 03:48 pm (UTC)For clarification:
Date: 2010-09-29 08:09 pm (UTC)Clever, I know.
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Date: 2010-09-30 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-01 02:45 am (UTC)