So. Surnames?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Landwalker, Mar 15, 2016.

  1. Landwalker

    Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

    I'm contemplating a little side project for my own amusement purposes, and realized that it would be a lot more satisfying if I knew the canonical surnames for all of the NPCs. Right now the only ones I'm aware of are George and Evelyn Mulner.

    Do the other NPCs even have surnames? If so, is there anywhere I can find a list of them? I would love to be able to stay as canonical as possible instead of just making crap up...
     
    • DukeOfRiven

      DukeOfRiven Giant Laser Beams

      Are you also asking if I regret giving my character a surname because my character's full name is used every time? The answer is 'yes, yes I do.'
       
      • Landwalker

        Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

        Hah, yes... if a game is only going to ask me for "Name", I know what road that's going to go down.

        I'm just hoping I don't have to make up a dozen or two surnames for characters if 1) I can avoid it, and 2) they potentially already have canonical surnames.
         
        • Landwalker

          Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

          I don't like bumping things, but I'm bumping this because the aforementioned personal-amusement side project draws nearer, and I still don't know if anybody has a surname. :(
           
          • metalax

            metalax Subatomic Cosmonaut

            I believe that a few give surnames during various bits of dialogue. like the Wizard during his intro. I'm not aware of anyone having collected them however.
             
            • Landwalker

              Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

              I approve of your avatar, sir.

              If worse comes to worst, I'll just have to make them up. Still, would be nice to have some canonical ones for it. Right now the only one I've seen through dialogue is George and Evelyn Mulner. (Alex's surname is presumably not Mulner, since the Mulner's are his grandparents on his mother's side.)
               
              • OmegaX123

                OmegaX123 Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                The Wizard's is Rasmodius, it's his given name we don't know (the note summoning you to the tower is signed "M. Rasmodius", and it's not a French language game so we can assume the 'M.' isn't 'Monsieur').
                 
                • Corraidhín

                  Corraidhín Supernova

                  It would be interesting to see if somebody has come up with the Surnames of the NPCs, maybe someone else in the forums had thought of the same name, or something completely different :3
                   
                  • Landwalker

                    Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                    Well, it probably isn't 'Monsieur.' But Rasmodius is also a wizard. Who knows with those guys, eh?

                    I think you're right, though, because all of the characters are generally referred to in the Social tab by their first names. Rasmodius is just "Wizard," so Rasmodius is presumably not his first name.

                    I'm starting to feel pretty secure that there aren't canonical surnames for the characters (absent the Mulners). Which means the SDV characters are in danger of having me make up surnames for them. So if anybody has any good ideas (as opposed to, you know, my ideas) for surnames, I'm not averse to them being proposed. :p
                     
                    • Godot

                      Godot Big Damn Hero

                      Well, considering the medieval european origin of surnames (which is, surnames according to their jobs), it would be logical that it is

                      Willy Fisher
                      Clint Smith
                      Marnie Rancher (+ Jas Rancher + Shane Rancher)
                      Pierre Chandler (+ Abigail Chandler + Caroline Chandler)
                      Robin Carpenter (+Maru Carpenter + Sebastian Carpenter +Demetrius Carpenter)
                       
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                      • Landwalker

                        Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                        Yeah, I had thought about Clint Smith as well. He seems like the best candidate for the medieval occupation surname etymology, since by his own admission he comes from a long line of blacksmiths and would thus be least-far removed from the original, genealogically.

                        I like Chandler for Pierre's family.

                        Remember that Marnie, Jas, and Shane aren't a biological nuclear family. I'm not sure what Marnie's official relation is, but Shane is Jas's godfather. Jas might be Marnie's biological niece, or the "Aunt Marnie" thing might just be a term of familiarity. It's possible that there's no direct relationship between Marnie and Jas at all. Perhaps Shane and Marnie are somehow related, and Shane brought Jas with him after her parents died. Perhaps there's no blood relation anywhere in there at all.

                        It seems most probable, though, that Jas is Marnie's actual niece (although I don't know if that's through Marnie having a sister or a brother... I don't recall that she's ever mentioned it), and that Shane brought Jas to her post-death and ended up sticking around.

                        Sebastian probably has a different surname than the rest of his family: Either Robin's maiden name, or her surname from her first marriage (depending on the circumstances of his birth, most likely).
                         
                        • Indigo Rose

                          Indigo Rose Scruffy Nerf-Herder

                          Pierre isn't a chandler, though. He's a grocer...
                           
                          • Landwalker

                            Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                            Another thought: Robin is an anomaly in her family for going into carpentry, so even her maiden name is probably not Carpenter (unless by sheer coincidence). Assuming she took Demetrius's last name when they got married, it's even less likely to be her current surname.
                             
                            • metalax

                              metalax Subatomic Cosmonaut

                              Do we even know for certain that Robin and Demetrius married rather than just living together? Or if Robin is Maru's biological mother?
                               
                              • Landwalker

                                Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                                That's true... I think it's always been assumed that Maru is the biracial daughter of Robin and Demetrius, but I don't know off-hand if Robin ever specifically refers to her that way, or if any other family members do. She could be Demetrius's pre-Robin daughter, and Maru and Sebastian could be step-siblings instead of half-siblings.

                                As far as Robin and Demetrius being married, there's a book in their bedroom titled something to the effect of "Making a Successful Second Marriage." Which strongly suggests that they are married, and that (at least) one of them had a first marriage.
                                 
                                • PerkulatorBenny

                                  PerkulatorBenny Orbital Explorer

                                  I think Sebastian at some point refers to Maru as his half-sister, but I can't remember where/when.
                                   
                                  • Landwalker

                                    Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                                    Ah. I also checked the wiki, and it designates Maru and Sebastian as step-siblings (and Maru as Robin's daughter). I assume whoever made that designation was operating on something other than "hunch".

                                    So for that family, at least, we (probably) have Robin X, Demetrius X, Maru X, and Sebastian Y. (That's assuming that Robin took Demetrius's last name after marriage, which would be common but not necessarily automatic.)
                                     
                                    • Landwalker

                                      Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                                      Initial proposals based on nothing more than gut/winging it:

                                      • Haley and Emily Carter
                                      • Harvey Becker
                                      • Pierre, Caroline, and Abigail Chandler
                                      • Demetrius, Robin, and Maru Wright
                                      • Sebastian McCarthy *
                                      • Linus Paulson
                                      • Kent, Jodi, Sam, and Vincent Freeman
                                      • Marnie Jones
                                      • Jas Taylor
                                      • Shane Anderson **
                                      • Marlowe Rasmodius
                                      • Leah Richards
                                      • Clint Collins ***
                                      • Elliott Reed
                                      • Willy Cutler
                                      • Gunther Jackson
                                      • Gus Wells
                                      • Alex Blanton
                                      • George and Evelyn Mulner (known)
                                      • Pam and Penny Pierce
                                      • Marlon White
                                      • Gil Howard
                                      • Sandy Summers


                                      * Sebastian, being Robin's child from pre-Demetrius days, probably has a different surname than the rest of the family (further contributing to his "outsiderness").
                                      ** The exact relationship between Marnie, Jas, and Shane is unclear. Shane is Jas's godfather, not a direct blood relative, but that doesn't preclude him from being an indirect relative (like a cousin to one of her parents). Jas calls Marnie "aunt", but it's unclear if that's because Marnie is her actual aunt, or if it's just a term of familiarity/endearment. Even if Jas is Marnie's biological niece, we don't know which of Jas's parents was related to Marnie. As far as I know, it's also unknown whether or not Marnie has ever been previously married. Which all conspires to result in me giving them three different surnames, because who the hell even knows?
                                      *** "Smith" would be the obvious one, and Clint's family background would support it. But it's just too obvious.
                                       
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                                      • Godot

                                        Godot Big Damn Hero

                                        My wife Maru repeatedly has called Sebastian her Half-Brother (when mentioning that present x or y would get me on his good side) ... therefore yes, they definitely both are children of Robin
                                         
                                        • Landwalker

                                          Landwalker Pangalactic Porcupine

                                          Ah, good to know. Thanks for the confirmation.

                                          So we are, assuming Robin took Demetrius's surname, in a Robin/Maru/Demetrius X, Sebastian Y situation.
                                           

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