So... what on Earth to call them?

[Jimmy Magnusson]

I'm (trying) to put togeather a SF story set in some kind of alternate universe/galaxy, this because I wanted a current-ish world but with space travel aplenty. It's going quite well, and I've even managed to find good names for my characters, which has always been a major stumbling block for me. I am however struggling to come up with a name for the special elite soldiers that my villain is using.

These soldiers/whatever are created from prisoners and suchlikes that noone misses, and are turned into slaves with the help of brain implants. They also have things like their vision, hearing and reflexes improved, but there's nothing visibly setting them apart from other humans. The bad guys would probably call them Cyborgs or something like that, but the thing is that the good guys have no idea about the cyborg's less-than-human aspects. To them they're just bloody good fighters who you'd face only if you had to.
As for the usage of these "soldiers", I've decided to use them as almost an assassin or a hunter, deploying them independent of any other "normal" troops to hunt down enemies. This I reasoned is because while they are loyal, they don't really have any capability of cooperation or social communication. I've leaned towards the name "Hunters", but I'm not sure. Anyone have any suggestions? The book will be written in Swedish and as such all the suggestions will have to be translated, but I'm happy to have them any way.

[Urlik]

stalker?
I think that translates as skrida, skrida fram, smyga sig, nstjälk

[Ursa major]

It depends what their creators wanted to do, I guess.

• Is the name meant to instill fear in their targets? (Hunter and stalker would fit this need; Pacifiers and Peacemakers would be more ironic versions.)
• Is their ultimate function meant to be hidden? (In this case the name would be something relatively benign or incidental to their purpose.)
• Did their function (and/or existence) evolve out of some historical event? (The name could then be related to that event or the place it happened)
• Are they recognised as being the creatures of the ruler? (They could be, say, "The Emperor's Own Troopers" or be in the "Presidential Guard", or even be "Congressional Enforcers".)

[The Pelagic Argosy]

Maybe something more military sounding, since these guys consider themselves to be soldiers? "Special ops..." or something similar?

[Jimmy Magnusson]

They're not really in a position to consider themselves anything actually. Sorry if the first post seemed a bit rushed, I had to catch a bus. If you want to imagine being one of these special ops/hunter-type soldiers, empty your head of all thoughts, and focus only on your surroundings. I said they had trouble communicating: these guys can't even think. Handling them means giving them an order and then watching them setting off like an animal or a machine. Thanks for the suggestions so far though.

[The Ace]

How about, "The Cleanup Squad ?" Making good the mess made by others.

[Urlik]

the released? befriaren

[TheEndIsNigh]

Zarkunkanan

The language isn't important really if your thinking up a name it dosn't have to be sensable. Think of all the nasties in other SFF. At the time no would have recomended Borg Zilons Cybermen Daleks as particularly inspirational but few now have any problems with them.

By the way the idea seems vaguely similar to the super bady troops in Stargate SG1 though I may be being too picky here.

[WizardofOwls]

Hounds? Seekers? Drones?

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by TheEndIsNigh

Zarkunkanan

The language isn't important really if your thinking up a name it dosn't have to be sensable. Think of all the nasties in other SFF. At the time no would have recomended Borg Zilons Cybermen Daleks as particularly inspirational but few now have any problems with them.

By the way the idea seems vaguely similar to the super bady troops in Stargate SG1 though I may be being too picky here.

Good point. And I wouldn't know about their similarity to the ones Stargate SG-1, as I haven't seen it! I'll read up a bit on it though. The whole point of having them in the story (except for their coolness) is so that I can have my main character's best friend get captured and transformed into one, and then hunt the MC down. If you've got a character named Roderick (=Great King), what is more fun than turning him into a slave without a will of his own? It will be a more interesting motivator for the MC than just having him killed, and it will be harder for her to deal with it.

[Aes]

Glad I'm not the only person who has trouble coming up with good names for "units" such as this. Try to consider their role in the story (how they are made/recruited, what their primary purpose is, special abilities if any, how they compare to other military/enforcement units, and so on. That should get your mind tossing around few related words for you to play with until you find something that jumps out at you.

Easier said than done, I know, as I'm stumbling over something similar myself, but I won't try to hijack your topic for my own gain until you have something.

Edit: Okay some suggestions/feedbacks: I think "Hunters" is a bit bland and should be shied away from, but that's just my opinion. From your description, they sound more like something used for assassinating specific targets or pursuing criminals, so I'd lean more toward words in that area. Now I don't really know Swedish (Bork bork bork doesn't count, I'm sure!) so I can't really say, but as long as it has a nice ring and evokes the theme of your soldiers, it should work.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

I've decided to call them Seekers (Sökare) for now. I think it's a bit more subtle and atleast a bit less bland than hunters, and it also invokes some extra feelings the hunter name didn't bring. That, and I like it, which is a good step forwards! Thanks for the help everyone. And now I guess you can go ahead and hijack the thread, Aes

[The Ace]

Of course, you could always leave the name untranslated, if the book goes into english, just for that extra air of mystery.

[Aes]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

And now I guess you can go ahead and hijack the thread, Aes

Oddly enough, I don't think I need to after all. Here I was, typing out my whole description and all that, and it hit me.

[TheEndIsNigh]

Originally Posted by Aes

Oddly enough, I don't think I need to after all. Here I was, typing out my whole description and all that, and it hit me.

Ooo did it hurt