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The Life and Mind of DamnBlackHeart
This is to help me stay actively writing. So expect to see rants, tips on writing, thoughts on subjects, me complaining of boredom, reviews, anime, movies, video games, conventions, tv shows and whatever life throws at me.
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A mononymous person is an individual who is known and addressed by a mononym, or "single name". In some cases, that name has been selected by the individual, to make it simple and easier to remember. In other cases, it has been determined by the custom of the country or for some other reason.
There are a couple of fictional characters out there that have only one name, not even a surname. In the West, celebrities use a single name to go by, such as Madonna, Prince, Sting, Enya, Beyonce, Adele, Rihanna, Shakira, Cher, etc. The way I see it, Dante from Devil May Cry doesn't have a last name and it's never confirmed whether or not it's Sparda. He's always known as Dante and/or Dante, son of Sparda. I always put Dante Sparda because I personally believe that it's plausible for it to be a last name for him.
The Japanese are known to do the family name, also known as the surname first and then given name last. Considering that this game was developed/created in Japan and by Japanese people it's possible that Dante's father, Sparda wasn't his actual first name. Even if the game doesn't take place in Japan, it's still proper to call someone by their last name, not just for respect but for someone older and/or has a powerful social standing. For example, when people talk about the US Presidents they say Obama, not Barack.
Though, it's also possible that Sparda was his real name. Or maybe it was just a title and not an actual name at all? Sparda is derived from "spada", the Italian word for sword. His weapon was a sword and it was just as well known as him. Maybe Sparda was a name given/adopted by him for being who he is, a demon knight that wield the sword? Like back in the ancient times, people were known by want they do or want they were known for. For example, if someone wanted a blacksmith they would go to someone with the surname of Smith, which became a popular last name for those with this occupation. Or if they wanted a baker of bread, they would find someone with the name, Baker.
Either way, many of the DMC characters don't even have last names. Lady, who's real name is Mary doesn't have a last name. Trish doesn't have a last name. Nero, Mundus, Lucia, Eva, etc. Actually it's quite common for video games characters to not have any, for example Ryu, the main character of Street Fighter. But that tends to become a pain when a person is writing fanfiction and has a difficult time in creating a believable last name for them, especially for those AU stories.
In short, I like using Dante Sparda. I have yet to come up with a last name that makes sense or seem more likely for him. But so far, I've done an excellent job in avoiding even mentioning or needing a last name for him.
 DamnBlackHeart · Tue Jun 19, 2012 @ 11:05pm · 0 Comments |
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