So, I Heard You Wanted To Know Rocka's First Name?

[Dorek]

I'll tell you one of my BZP pet peeves: that nobody seems to be paying attention to this forum. Seriously, this topic should have been closed months ago.

One of the people I chat with online has the first name Aiden, which is an alternate spelling of Aodhan, but I don't make a big deal of him sharing a name with a Po-Matoran.

That's "Aeden" with two e's, thank you very much =P.

Um...if this is a new discovery, then how did I already know his first name was Daniel before seeing this?

As Lyi said, there was some hubbub before much was known about Rocka when some unsourced Wikipedia edits (which have already been traced back to a BZPer) were mistakenly given credibility, and noted as "official" on some fan sites. Since no source could be found for the name, he was eventually settled as "Rocka" until this DVD showed up, mysteriously giving him a first name. We've had it confirmed that it was not the intention of LEGO to give him a first name, and thus we assume the issue came from the DVD manufacturers.

[Devorath]

Daniel? That's interesting. NOT! Just adds to the argument that FF names are lame.

What does FF stand for? Best I can guess is an infantile mockery of the name Hero Factory, like "Fail Factory" or something.Anyway, Daniel isn't even his official name, if you'd read more than the first post.

Yeah i did it's Jacob right? At least Bionicle names are interesting and mystical. IMO Robots shouldn't even be named. Or they should have names like 3.0TS-X or something.

Wow, you're cynical. No, he has no official first name. So far his name is just "Rocka". Is that "mystical" enough for you?As for BIONICLE names being "interesting and mystical", that's a definite matter of perspective. In 2001 most of the names were just words from various polynesian languages, and no more inherently "mystical" than if Tahu had just been called "Flame". In 2003 it went further, as many of the Matoran in the MNOGII had actual names from various world languages. To a person from Finland, there's nothing mystical about the name "Kivi" or "Pekka". To a person from the Czech Republic the name Damek is no more mystical than its more formal counterpart, "Adam". ("Damek" is a Czech diminutive form of this name, which is derived from a Hebrew word for earth or soil-- but I doubt many Czech speakers would know its origins any better than most English speakers would!)Meanwhile, a lot of people started to feel names in BIONICLE began losing that mystical quality after TLG stopped plucking names from foreign languages and instead began modifying English words into more obvious puns, like "Carapar" or "Mutran".One advantage of Hero Factory using actual names is also pretty clear: it makes the characters more relatable. Plus, common English names make much more sense to some people. My dad always thought that many BIONICLE names were just silly, like "Takanuva". Who knows how many potential BIONICLE fans might have chosen not to buy a set because they felt the same way?There are plenty of robots in fiction that have names beyond simple numeric classifications-- especially if they're intelligent robots with personalities. It's not like numeric classifications make any more sense for intelligent robots than proper names do, particularly in a world pretty much entirely populated by robots. This is just one reason I hope Rocka someday gets a first name.

I know all about the use of foreign language in anmes. In fact, when i build a MOC, th first thing I do is look up on Bing Translate for a cool name. The very foreigness of the names appeals to me.

That actually gives some meaning to the names. I liked how the foreign names described a character's nature. The names William, Daniel, Duncan, Preston, Mark, Julius, Natalie, etc. essentially mean nothing, except for random name origins, and are quite boring. If you had a classmate named Tahu, then you would instantly recognize the name and start pestering him about it. But if his name was William, you wouldn't assume he was named after Furno, now would you?

Furno actually means grill in Maori, the indigenous language of New Zealand. Also, Taka was named Takanuva as a cross of Takua Nuva (As he was turned into a member of the Toa Nuva)

[Lyichir]

Daniel? That's interesting. NOT! Just adds to the argument that FF names are lame.

What does FF stand for? Best I can guess is an infantile mockery of the name Hero Factory, like "Fail Factory" or something.Anyway, Daniel isn't even his official name, if you'd read more than the first post.

Yeah i did it's Jacob right? At least Bionicle names are interesting and mystical. IMO Robots shouldn't even be named. Or they should have names like 3.0TS-X or something.

Wow, you're cynical. No, he has no official first name. So far his name is just "Rocka". Is that "mystical" enough for you?As for BIONICLE names being "interesting and mystical", that's a definite matter of perspective. In 2001 most of the names were just words from various polynesian languages, and no more inherently "mystical" than if Tahu had just been called "Flame". In 2003 it went further, as many of the Matoran in the MNOGII had actual names from various world languages. To a person from Finland, there's nothing mystical about the name "Kivi" or "Pekka". To a person from the Czech Republic the name Damek is no more mystical than its more formal counterpart, "Adam". ("Damek" is a Czech diminutive form of this name, which is derived from a Hebrew word for earth or soil-- but I doubt many Czech speakers would know its origins any better than most English speakers would!)Meanwhile, a lot of people started to feel names in BIONICLE began losing that mystical quality after TLG stopped plucking names from foreign languages and instead began modifying English words into more obvious puns, like "Carapar" or "Mutran".One advantage of Hero Factory using actual names is also pretty clear: it makes the characters more relatable. Plus, common English names make much more sense to some people. My dad always thought that many BIONICLE names were just silly, like "Takanuva". Who knows how many potential BIONICLE fans might have chosen not to buy a set because they felt the same way?There are plenty of robots in fiction that have names beyond simple numeric classifications-- especially if they're intelligent robots with personalities. It's not like numeric classifications make any more sense for intelligent robots than proper names do, particularly in a world pretty much entirely populated by robots. This is just one reason I hope Rocka someday gets a first name.

I know all about the use of foreign language in anmes. In fact, when i build a MOC, th first thing I do is look up on Bing Translate for a cool name. The very foreigness of the names appeals to me.

That actually gives some meaning to the names. I liked how the foreign names described a character's nature. The names William, Daniel, Duncan, Preston, Mark, Julius, Natalie, etc. essentially mean nothing, except for random name origins, and are quite boring. If you had a classmate named Tahu, then you would instantly recognize the name and start pestering him about it. But if his name was William, you wouldn't assume he was named after Furno, now would you?

Furno actually means grill in Maori, the indigenous language of New Zealand. Also, Taka was named Takanuva as a cross of Takua Nuva (As he was turned into a member of the Toa Nuva)

I'm not 100% confident Maori even has an "rn" blend consonant. And even if that is a legitimate Maori word, it could be adapted from the same root as Furno's name: "Inferno". After all, most words referring to modern topics in Maori are adapted from the languages of New Zealand settlers. BIONICLE's early names came from an ancient Polynesian root language, and similarities to Maori are largely due to Maori being a language that has not strayed far from its roots.