The Name Game

[Kaspian]

The Armchair Empire (http://www.armchairempire.com/) has posted a new feature (http://www.armchairempire.com/Features/name-game/main.htm) that examines the real life origins of various videogame characters, focusing on Astaroth (Soul Calibur), Hattori Hanzo (Samurai Showdown), Bahamut (Final Fantasy), Amaterasu (Ookami), and Goemon (Legend of the Mystical Ninja). The article discusses the historical, mythological, and religious figures with whom these characters share their names.

[Abash Alarmist]

Hmmm...While those are cool and all, I think they should of done more more famous characters such as Dante and his brother Virgil (Divine Comedy and Devil May Cry fame), also Beowulf (Various vampire video games), Loki (BattleTech/Mechwarrior), and some more that I cant think of.

[DanAmerson]

Musashi would have been a good one. Also, a lot of weapons tend to be named after weapons of gods or fictional heroes. That might have made a nice page or sidebar. Durandal, hrunting, gungnir, mjolnir, etc.

Maybe they'll do another article. I like this one.

dba

[SMES]

I recognised Hanzo's name immediately from Kill Bill.

"If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut. "

Yeah, I'm an American with no culture. Thank you Quintin Tarantino for your wacky escapades in the land of 70's cinema!

[frederec]

Hmmm...While those are cool and all, I think they should of done more more famous characters such as Dante and his brother Virgil (Divine Comedy and Devil May Cry fame), also Beowulf (Various vampire video games), Loki (BattleTech/Mechwarrior), and some more that I cant think of.

I don't know about you, but the origins of the ones you listed were all well known to me from junior high and high school history and literature. But in the article, I hadn't really known any of that information beforehand. So I'm glad they picked stuff that was a little more unusual and educational (for me, at least).

[captainspankypants]

Nearly every character in the original Samurai Shodown is based on a historical figure or a pop culture icon. Here's (http://db.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/samurai_shodown_characters.txt) a pretty good explanation for most of them.

[Sazime]

Someone needs to start a wiki on the historical backgrounds of VG characters.

[Paltry]

awesome article and wiki indeed