From: Gerthein Boersma (gerthein@worldaccess.nl) Subject: [AICN] Prequel Character Names List View: Complete Thread (11 articles) Original Format Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 1997/10/02 Go to http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/news/970930/1.html for the lowdown. Here's my $0.02. WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!! 5 10 15 THE NAMES: Anakin Skywalker: I would say "Well Duh", but I so hate that expression. Speculation: He'll turn out to be Darth Vader Mace Windu: The only problem I have with the first name is that it validates the Ewok films. The last name sounds like a gass problem, though. Speculation: Anakin's childhood friend. Or Warwick Davis in a suit. Watto: No real probs here. Sounds decent. Speculation: Some kind of alien, obviously. Or perhaps a droid -- you know, "Watt" and everything... Naboo: I'm almost used to it, I assure you. Speculation: I think there were rumors about this saying it was a planet... but this is supposed to be a list of character names, right? Hmmm... Yoda: Jeepers, what a silly name! Oh wait, no-one ever, *ever* says jeepers.. I guess I now know why. Speculation: He'll sound a bit like Grover. Darth Maul: I don't really have much of a problem with this one. Maul sounds a bit like "maw", though, doesn't it? Perhaps this guy has a dental problem. Speculation: One of those annoying Sith guys, of course. Jabba The Hutt: Jeepers, now there's a... um... sorry. Qui-Gon Jinn: Sounds like a cross between Indiana Jones and Don Quichote... that, or one of those strange looking drinks they serve down in Mos Eisley. Not bad, though. Speculation: Liam Neeson? Queen Padme Naberrie Amidala: At the risk of pointing out the obvious, Naberrie sounds like some sort of Ewok fruit. And the last name sounds like that evil woman from the Kevin J. Anderson books (and that can't be a good thing, right?). Speculation: She'll drink a lot of *wine* during her pregnancy. Get it? Wine -- whine...! HAHA... No? Sorry. Gungan: Not bad. Speculation: A bounty hunter. Like Dengar. Senator Palpatine: Can they actually trademark it in this form (what with the Senator and all)? Speculation: He's one of the bad guys. Sebulba: How many RASSMers does it take to switch a Sebulba? Speculation: An alien of course. Sounds a bit huttish. Or perhaps Wookiee... Shmi Skywalker: Please, no "Knights Who Say..." jokes. I like it. Speculation: Vader's mommy. Sith: Still love anagrams, Max? Speculation: War. Darth Sidious: Darn, I was hoping for Darth Disingenuous -- now *that* would've been a scary badguy. Sidious, though? Nah. Speculation: Another of them Sith dudes. Jar Jar Binks: Sue me if you must, but this name has kinda grown on me. So much so that I can even handle "Binks". Speculation: Pink, and decidely muppety. Obi-Wan Kenobi: Jeepers, now th.. . Speculation: Rimrunner oughta like him. OTHER OBSERVATIONS: With a few exceptions, I'm not all that appalled by this list; in fact, there are quite a few names on it that strike me as very Star Wars. I know some of you are, but I honestly think you should compare them to some of the sillier existing names before passing judgment. This is, after all, the first time new "official" Star Wars names are being revealed without us getting to meet the characters they belong to, which makes them subject to all kinds of out-of-place critisism. I maintain that, looked at with an open mind (it is my personal opinion that any list of names would have raised eye-brows, definetly including those from the existing trilogy), these names are not at all bad. Who knows how real this list is, though... it's really little more than a list of names mentioned quite a few times before in other rumors, isn't it? And with some odd things like Senator Palpatine and Naboo in there, as well as the oldies Jabba, Yoda and Obi-Wan, you gotta wonder... Sure, Naboo could be easily explained by stating that this really isn't a list of just characters, but then where's Coruscant, Tatooine or Dagobah? And for that matter, where are Owen Lars, Beru, Boba Fett, Millenium Falcon (is that trademarkable?), Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Krayt and others that may very well be in the film? And what about "Wookiee"? We know *they*'ll be in the film (see the Texas A&M page)... or has that already been trademarked? I don't think so. OTOH, if this was a made-up list, it's been made up with care. Obviously, the writer didn't fall into cuch pitfalls as to suggest trademarking of "C-3PO" or "R2-D2". At the same time, though, he mentions no *title* for the film, something which would obviously be Trademarked at the same time as the characters, so it's rather conspicuous by its absence. Of course, perhaps LFL is just afraid the title would leak (which, evidently, it would have) -- and a title is obviously something you want to *announce*. Still, there are a few other strange things about this list that aren't that easily explained. For example, the list is obviously too long for just the principal characters -- for Lucas to want to trademark a name, the character would have to be of at least "Greedo" or "Wookiee" importance, and there are just too many of them to if that's it. But if the list includes *all* creatures, races and secondary characters, just to be on the safe side, the list is far too short -- where's "Swokes", then? Opinions, ideas, flames? Here's what Harry had to say: "Looks cool. We'll just have to wait and see!!! ". Amen. - Gerthein (-o-) ----------------------- gerthein@worldaccess.nl -----------------------