Names to Run Away From Really Fast/Ancient Dead Languages
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A form of Names to Run Away From Really Fast: If someone has a name that's Latin, or Mesopotamian, or Babylonian; this probably means they were around back then. A rule of thumb is usually the older something magical is, the more powerful. Expect Ominous Latin Chanting.
See also Foreign Language Names.
General
- Anyone/thing with "Bal-" (Baal) in their name. "El" (meaning "god") is the non-threatening version (Jor-El, etc.)
- Any villain/weapon/organisation etc. called Cerberus; that has the added kick of an animal name (the three-headed dog which is said to guard the gateway to Hell to prevent anyone escaping). Strangely enough, nothing villainous ever seems to be named for the Greek original of this name, "Kerberos".
- That's probably because, amusingly, the original Kerberos is an aversion -- the name is Ancient Greek for "Spot".
Comic Books
- Apocalypse from the X-Men is also referred to as "En Sabah Nur". That's 30th century BC Egyptian for "Kick Your Ass."
- Or "Good morning" or "The First One", depending on who is translating.
Film
- Hannibal. Both that one and that one.
- The Kurgan in Highlander
- Vermithrax Pejorative, "The Thracian wyrm that makes things worse", from Dragonslayer.
- What about Zuul, Vinz-Glortho, or Gozer the Gozarian? Albeit they are more like made up dead languages...but who cares when you are being told to choose the form of the Destructor?
- Fuad Ramses in Blood Feast.
- Elektra: The Dark Chick in The World Is Not Enough, and a film starring the Marvel heroine of the same name.
Literature
- Carcer is Latin for prison (the root of our incarcerate) and is also the name of the villainous murderer-cum-policeman in Terry Pratchett's Night Watch.
- The Big Bad of Kitty Norville, being a vampire from the time of ancient Rome, has a Latin name by which he is known: Dux Bellorum, 'leader/general of wars'. 'Nuff said.
- Harry Potter:
- Bellatrix Lestrange from means something akin to "Female Warrior the Crazy".
- Dolores Umbridge. Dolor=pain or sorrow; umbra=shadow.
- Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy. 'Lucius' is from the same root as 'Lucifer'; 'Narcissa' is the feminine of 'Narcissus', the name of a beautiful, but poisonous flower; 'Draco' means 'Dragon'; 'Malfoy' means 'Treachery.' Considering that JKR got her degree in Classical & Romance Languages, it is not surprising that many of her character's names follow this trope.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Janos is an alternate spelling of Janus, the Roman god best known for being two-faced. It is also the name of the commander of the King's Landing city watch who betrays Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.
Live-Action TV
- Any vampire series; it's the ones with these names you really better watch out for. "Angelus" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer for example, though that doesn't really count since it wasn't his birth name.
- Shows up in Stargate SG-1 a whole lot. When your Big Bad Exclusively Evil race's shtick is stealing the names of the gods from primitive Earth religions, what else would you expect? e.g. Ba'al, Chronus, Sokar, Anubis, etc.
- In one episode of Doctor Who, The Master uses the alias Magister (Latin for "Master"). In another, Thascalos. (Greek for "Master").
Video Games
- Diablo.
- Arcturus Mengsk. More intimidating for political reasons than physical.
- Blizzard finally admitted that "Zera" means oblivion in Khalani. Admittedly a made up language, but do any Protoss heroes with that in their name come to mind? Zeratul!
- In Soul Calibur, Zasalamel's (an immortal) attacks are named after Babylonian gods, sets up the events of the 3rd game for his own benefit, and while heroic in the 4th, is still a jerk.
- The titular planet from Anachronox. "Poison of the past"
- Vanitas. Latin for emptyness. Amusingly enough, an alternate interpretation is "futility".
- Gilgamesh in Fate Stay Night. Considering the fact that it revolves around a war between the summoned spirits of legendary heroes, it's not just a guy named Gilgamesh, it's the Gilgamesh.
- Following from this, you have Ea. The single most powerful weapon in the entire world. It's perfectly capable of, on it's lowest setting, wiping the floor with Excalibur. It's stated that it could destroy the world if Gilgamesh ever wanted to.
- Nex; Latin for Murder, an apt name for a monster that even the gods themselves feared. It took the combined power of four armies to seal Nex and her Zarosian soldiers away, and even then she has broken free twice.
- Mega Man Zero: Omega Zero, AKA the God of Destruction, who singlehandedly killed 50% of humanity and 75% of reploidkind during the Elf Wars. Keep in mind, that is what Dr. Wily wanted Zero to become.
- The first major boss in the arcade version of Strider is Ouroboros (or Urobolos), a mechanical Segmented Serpent. Also the name of The Virus in Resident Evil 5. Both are Capcom games.
- Primagen, the Big Bad of Turok 2: Seeds of Evil.
- Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution, is the name source for Resident Evil 3: Nemesis: Nemesis.
- Zelos, the Big Bad planet-eating Eldritch Abomination in Life Force, and Bacterian, the Big Bad of the main Gradius series.
- Talos, the bronze giant guardian of Crete. Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles features a prototype cyborg Tyrant codenamed T.A.L.O.S.
- Anything named Chimera, such the Chimeras in Resident Evil 1, and the Chimera aliens in Resistance.
- Nitara (Sanskrit for "having deep roots") from the later Mortal Kombat games.
Western Animation
- Semi-exception: Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus are ancient by human standards, but a few million years is pretty standard for a giant alien robot, and they're nice folks.
- But extremely Badass nonetheless.
Real Life
- Nestor. Nestor Makhno, the Anarchist.
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