Worst Named 360 Characters

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There are a lot of different facets developers have to consider when designing their characters.

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Their look, their animation, their character, their voice... how do they carry themselves? Are they nimble on their feet or walking powerhouses? What's their backstory, who are they friends with, who is their sworn enemy...

Not that it matters when they end up with a name like Bob. Or Gillian Thunderseed III. A bad name can undermine a whole character and there are plenty of examples of that doing the rounds on Microsoft's console.

Here are OXM's worst named characters to date:

Seth (Lost Odyssey)

It's a boy's name. Sure, there might be some air-headed rich kid chick on an American rich kid teen-drama show called Seth because it's fancy and it's different and it's cool but we'd tell her the same thing too. Seth is a name for guys, not girls.






DJ Whoo Kid (50 Cent: Blood on the Sand)

This is his actual real name. Well okay, not his real name, but his DJ name. Maybe it sounds tough to his gangsta rap homies but for us, so drearily middle-class and uncool, Whoo Kid just conjures up images of Casper the friendly ghost.






City Swimmer (Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Guess what City Swimmer does? Go on, guess. Oh alright, we'll tell you. She swims! In a city! Holy Lord, who would have guessed that City Swimmer swims about in a city. Hopefully this will lead to further characters in the next Elder Scrolls game like Village Walker, Field Explorer and Tree Climber.



Piccolo (Dragon Ball: Burst Limit)

It's a name that conjures up flea-ridden peasants dancing to medieval music. Instead, what you get is some strange green insect thing with bandages around his head. We'd be lying if we said we understood the first thing about Dragon Ball culture but why the hell is he called Piccolo? Why not have also a giant hippo on crutches called Bagpipes?


Wayne (Lost Planet)

Now before all you Waynes out there email me and call me words I can't poosibly repeat on a family friendly website, there's nothing wrong with Wayne as a name. It's a good name. Hell, there was even Wayne's World, so it must be a good name. But as the name of an action hero? It just doesn't count it.



Sazh Katzroy (Final Fantasy XIII)

Square-Enix has come up with pretty good names for its Final Fantasy cast over the years - Sephiroth, Rinoa, Cait Sith, Vivi. Yet there have been some real stinkers too. There was Zidane (Square-Enix clearly aren't football fans... or maybe they're HUGE football fans) and Tidus (Tide-us? Tee-dus?). Now with Sazh Katzroy, they're resorting to throwing scrabble letters at a wall and seeing what sticks.

OXM Staff