Hero High Design Journal #5: Teen Rituals
Claremont Academy’s study hall was packed and filled with the low drone of a dozen hushed conversations. Dictionaries both English and foreign, history books, magazines and encyclopedias of religion, mythology and animals covered every table top. Students quietly rattled off a litany of codenames from their lists to one another, check-marking some for later consideration and crossing out others according the reactions. The naming ceremony deadline for tomorrow was in an hour, and everyone was in full panic, second-guessing their chosen names now that they’d discovered Lady Liberty was attending. Anthony Andrews, however, was calm. He leaned back on the chair’s rear legs, continued tossing the ball up in the air and listened to the names being thrown around.
“What about Liberty Gal?” Theresa Songridge asked.
“Sounds like major brown-nosing for Lady Liberty,” Anthony replied. “And I bet there’s a ton of other kids using Liberty in their name tomorrow.”
Theresa sighed and flipped through her history book.
“I got it!” a young man said. “I’ll call myself… Razorfist!”
“They’ll call you Razorface,” Anthony said, shaking his head.
“Look,” Theresa said, “you’re supposed to be helping us. Instead you’re playing ball and shooting down everything we come up with… except for Markus. You told him The Homo-Sapien was a good name.”
Markus perked up from behind his books. “It’s not?”
Anthony giggled.
“Actually,” Elite replied, walking up to the table, “the question is why are you listening to someone who calls himself ‘Whoop-Ant’?”
Anthony stopped tossing the ball. “Dude! Whoop-Ant is an awesome name.”
“My group’s finished,” Elite said. “So far at our table we have Night Guard, Warfire and Starstriker. Anyone here need help with a code-name?”
All the hands at the table shot up.
“Oh, sure,” Anthony muttered, sulking in his chair, “go for the obvious, cool-sounding names.”
Question 31: Rituals? Like a cult thing?
No, no… there’s nothing wrong with your Kewl Aid, so drink up. We’re talking rituals here, rites of passage that celebrate the transition from being a youngster to being an adult. Old tribal customs required things like sending you on a walkabout/vision quest or inflicting some body scarring to mark you as a fully fledged member of the tribe. Modern day culture, however, frowns on sending the kiddies off into the brush or drawing blood to celebrate your birthday… go figure. So instead they have tamer rituals for hitting certain milestones. It might be getting your driver’s license, or having your Bar Mitzvah or First Communion, or hitting the age of consent.
That said… here’s an interesting take on ritual in the teen hero community. What if teen heroes celebrated their own rituals to mark themselves as heroes and heroines? What if donning the costume was only part of a step. We’re not talking cult activities here or frat house hazing, though that could be an option, but something to make the experience of becoming a hero memorable. The blood part of that ritual comes with the first time you go crime-fighting. So what if there’s more to it?
Blankman: Naming Ceremony
A naming ceremony works for large hero groups and for hero-schools. The principle reasons behind its creation is that the naming ceremony is meant to prevent name overlap in a society with many heroes, to force teens into considering their name careful, and it’s a way of giving the hero ownership over their name. It’s something they worked for and it’s a name they earned.
Most naming ceremonies happen after the power trials, as a kind of reward for “surviving” them. If power trials were the classes, then the naming ceremony is the graduation. The names might also reflect how well you did in the trials, making the name a fusion of your powers and qualities. The name may simply be something you choose or perhaps, it’s assigned to you based on conduct, psych evaluations/probes or powers.
The point is, the naming ceremony is based on the principle that the hero must do something to earn their name. It isn’t as simple as just splashing several words together, it’s a matter that the name reflects action and purpose. Anyone can call themselves “The Supreme Fire,” but can anyone live up to that name? The naming ceremony is a way of saying you deserve your namesake.
That said, the names are not set in stone. With heroes, few of them ever keep the same name after transitioning from teen to adult — especially true if you originally decided to include Kid, Boy, Gal, Teen or Young somewhere in your moniker. Heck, even teenagers are allowed to change their mind after going through a particularly grueling or testing event. Save the world once too often and “The Leet Scorch-Dude” may not be the way to go any more. In this case, heroes may go through another naming ceremony or simply change their name as a right of their experience.
Naming ceremonies can happen in several ways:
Fight For Your Name
In this variant, a school may allow you to choose a name, and then fight for your right to keep that name (lest they choose one for you… not good). This is a possibility in military and paramilitary organizations, as well as gangs and heroes in a world that hunts them.
Fish Week
Some schools, to make their new students (or fish) feel welcome and a part of the establishment, may allow students to pick their code names upon arriving. It could be part of a ceremony where they showcase their powers to their peers while someone announces their chosen handle.
Graduation Day
You’re not allowed to choose your name until the day you graduate or complete training. At that point, the naming ceremony is your graduation right and it’s a name you choose. This is an option in hero-exclusive school and even supers boot camp.
Nickname
Your name is chosen for you, the way you earn a nickname in real life. This is usually picked by your peers and friends, making the name special as a mark of friendship as well. This option is available for a wide variety of groups, from military cadets to powers school to the ritual of a youth-oriented team.
Reading Your Destiny
In this unusual twist, the school/organization/team has someone or something that foresees your destiny. It won’t say anything about that destiny, but during the naming ceremony, its choice in name may give you a clue as to your direction in life. If you’re given “The Championator” as a name, you can be assured of an interesting and potentially gratifying career. If you get named “Captain Silly String” or the “Avenging Llama,” well… at least you have your health.
The names can be goofy or temporary… like nicknames, but it doesn’t mean the destiny envisioned for you is the one you can expect. Being a hero is all about making your own destiny and forging your own path. Maybe the name was picked to push you into trying harder. Maybe the name is one of many possible futures. Heroism is about personal choice… if you claim that your destiny is irrefutable, then you also say that choice and action don’t matter. Choice matters, therefore the future is what you make of it (very important and inspired words… feel free to use it during pep talks to sports teams, supergroups that just got la beat down les big time, etc.).
