Monster Prom: Creativity and Consideration in Naming Characters
Monster Prom is a dating sim that allows you to form relationships with various monsters, ultimately working toward asking one to attend Monster Prom with you. Specifically looking at the datable characters, Beautiful Glitch put a lot of time and effort into creating their game’s protagonists. Specifically, each characters’ name has references to their personalities or nods toward their type of monster, full of unique quirks and pop-cultural associations. Having noticed some of the connections early on, I wanted to recognize the consideration taken in naming the characters by checking out the names of a few of the Monster Prom’s love interests, especially their origins or inspirations.
Let’s start with Damien LaVey, a demon, with red skin, broken horns, and a spade tipped tail. As a stereotypical interpretation of the devil, it’s no surprise his surname heavily plays up his Satanic relation; the last name LaVey was taken from Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan and author of the Satanic Bible. His given name Damien is close to the word demon, but a more in-depth inspection reveals that the name derives from the Greek word damazo, meaning “to tame”. Picking this name can be interpreted as a satirical acknowledgment of Damien’s rebellious attitude and aversion to authority, specifically his dislike of people ordering him around or trying to tame him. In Monster Prom, you can eventually meet Damien’s fathers: Lucien and Stan; their names are overt plays on different names for the devil: Lucifer and Satan, respectively. Damien’s entire family practically advertises their hellish connotations with just their names.
Next up is Miranda Vanderbilt. Miranda is a pink mermaid princess from a wealthy undersea kingdom; despite some homicidal tendencies taught by her family, Miranda is actually one of the more innocent monsters in the game. Her last name was obviously taken from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a railroad and shipping magnate that amassed a fortune worth billions today. The Vanderbilts were one of the richest and most prominent families in history; this relates to the massive amount of wealth Miranda and her royal family have. It also alludes to the fact that she is part of the highest tier of elites and is most comfortable around the affluent and upper class. Being amongst the commoners of a high school is not a part of her regular social interactions. But Miranda’s name also connotes her virtuous characteristics. Her given name Miranda is a modification of the Latin word mirandus, meaning “to be wondered/marveled at”. As a princess, Miranda’s popularity is a given social status, but I think this might refer more toward her own wonderful and marvelous reactions to the world around her. She is often presented as a naive and innocent teenager, a foil to characters like Damien and Polly, a party obsessed poltergeist. Miranda is genuinely unaware of both the customs of land-dwellers and high school students, excitably learning about and being awed by this unfamiliar environment she’s apart of.
Following Miranda, let’s look at Vera Oberlin. Vera is a gorgon, having hair made of snakes and eyes that can turn people into stone. At first, it may seem odd that her name isn’t one of the infamous gorgon sisters: Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. However, I think the designers took a more subtle approach with Vera’s name. In Latin, verus means verity, or truth, and is recognized as the origin for the name Vera. Because this is considering Vera, the truth could possibly refer to how authentic Vera is in living her life. She is a success-focused businesswoman, ready to do whatever it takes to get what she wants done. Ambitious and unrelenting, she is dedicated to her truth, and nobody can stop her from reaching her goals. For Vera’s surname, I wasn’t completely certain about a singular reason to pick the last name Oberlin, but I have a couple of possibilities. Directly translated from German, Oberlin means “above” or “upper” man. As Vera sees herself above all other characters in intelligence, power, and overall worth, this naming could just be telling of her personality and view of self-importance. Another possibility is it could be a reference to Oberlin College. Oberlin College is the oldest coeducational institution in the US. As she is presented in the game as an overt feminist, Oberlin could be a nod to her strong and passionate views on equality that the college of the same name upholds.
The final love interest to be looked at, Liam de Lioncourt is a 420-year-old vampire, self-proclaimed hipster, and hater of everything trendy; this is somewhat ironic considering Liam’s name comes from two popular vampires from modern media: Lestat de Lioncourt and Angel. As a fan of the books that Lestat de Lioncourt is a main character of, Liam’s name stood out immediately to me because of its clear use of Lestat’s surname, but this one connection caught my interest and inspired me to start examining the other characters’ names more deeply. Lestat exhibits many of the same personality that Liam has. Both Liam and Lestat are egotistical, literature enthusiasts, authors, and performers in bands. The two also care a lot about fashion, though Liam adheres more to alternative looks rather than the popular styles Lestat favors. Moving on, the given name of Liam was inspired by Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, although Liam ironically specifies his contempt toward vampire slayers; Angel was originally an Irish teenager named “Liam” before he was turned into a vampire. Liam even formerly went by the alias “Angelus” sometime in his past. Liam was formerly friends The Coven, a group that defends the world against supernatural forces; they were likely inspired by the Scooby Gang Angel was an ally to and who had similar responsibilities.
In conclusion, although Monster Prom doesn’t really have any references to classic horror movie monsters like one might initially guess, the use of language and pop culture influences in character naming was done very well. Examining each naming choice deeper than a first look reveals in a simple way how much thought can go into developing characters, whether they be characters in video games or any other type of media. Names aren’t just chosen out of a hat; attention to detail goes a lot further than it may initially seem and can really show off how much care goes into any product.
