I need help deciding on my inspirations.

[ProtoAce]

Okay, here's the story:

In my Fantasy story, I created a whole continent where the story will take place and after a lot of headaches trying to think of a name for it, I named it "Arceus" and yes, it is a reference to Pokemon. I am a big fan of video games and my intention with this name was that it was just make a reference to the game, but because this continent is something very important to my story, I started to develop a fear that maybe people would not see my true intention and misunderstand me. Coming to think that I would be "stealing names" or something worse. Then I started to remember a case that happened in 2019, where DC Comics was suing Mattel just because their characters shared the same name: Bumblebee. And i don't that to happen with me.

I want to know what you guys think. Should I change the name of my continent? Should I explain right off the bat that the name is a proprosital reference because of my love for Pokemon? Or should I just go ahead and continue the way it is? Please help me!

My other question is about an element I've been thinking about putting in my story (But which isn't implemented, so please don't kill me! It's just an idea!).

In my story, almost all people on the continent have magical powers, and to use such magical powers, they need to channel their Magical Energy (Manna) out of their body in the form of the power they received at birth. And my new take would be that not only do humans possess magical energy, but the Planet would also be completely full of it, and that humans would have found a way to extract and use it as an ecological energy source, using it to light ovens, turn on the TV, charge cell phones and so on. Not to mention that because it is an ecological energy, the cars that use it would not pollute the planet in any way, because their cars would not release smoke.

But now I'm afraid that my idea has become too similar to the concept of the Lifestream of Final Fantasy VII, or the Orbal Energy of the Trails/Kiseki franchise, so I'm in doubt if I should really put or if it is better to continue with the good old electricity for my world and characters.

[Morgan--Grandmaster]

General concepts can't be copyrighted. For example, a book with the synopsis of "Almost all people on the continent have magical powers, and to use such magical powers, they need to channel their magical energy out of their body in the form of the power they received at birth" is general enough to be protected. Heck, I'm writing a fantasy story with similar worldbuilding (just set back a couple hundred years). And if you're not publishing commercially, I doubt you need to worry about copyright at all. It's all in the context.

As for the continent's name, You should probably explain right off the bat that the name is a proprosital reference because of your love for Pokemon, since Arceus (as with all other Pokemon) is a specific name and creature that are most likely subject to trademark. The whole point of it is to avoid someone becoming confused and think the quadruped Pokemon creator deity is in your story. Again, this only applies if you plan to publish your work, say outside of fansites. The best I can say is to have a backup.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Morgan--Grandmaster

[Armchair General]

52 minutes ago, ProtoAce said:

Then I started to remember a case that happened in 2019, where DC Comics was suing Mattel just because their characters shared the same name: Bumblebee

That's hilarious.

54 minutes ago, ProtoAce said:

And i don't that to happen with me.

I want to know what you guys think. Should I change the name of my continent? 

But at any rate; if it's not public domain, you're essentially painting an target on your back if you go through with it, especially if you intend on publishing it for profit.

[3PercentCrit]

Normally I'd say you're fine, but this is Nintendo we're talking about, so yeah, you probably want to change that. If you borrowed a name from something Nintendo doesn't really care about (Old Fire Emblem and that stuff) you'd be fine, or you could just try to us some sort of name generator.

Edited November 14, 2022 by 3PercentCrit

[Benice]

It may be worth noting that such an on-the-nose reference could kind of provide a strange feeling to the story: Arceus is a recognizable name that is more closely associated with Pokemon than your own story. It'd be sort of like naming a country in your story Oz; it's something people already think of as belonging to something else, regardless of the legality of it. I'm not a copyright lawyer, so I can't speak to whether or not you'd realistically get away with it in a published work, though.

Personally, I would advise a reference more subtle than simply naming your continent after a character from a work you're passionate about. Depending on the nature of your narrative, it could be part of a gag, such as this reference to the song Karma Chameleon or this reference to One Piece (Or maybe Hunter x Hunter), or a subtle nod to another franchise that could be as small as a weapon's appearance or an item's description, or even a location similar to said franchise. Elden Ring and Dark Souls have tons of references to Berserk in that way, for example. There's nothing wrong with being inspired by a variety of works- Almost every classic was in itself inspired by another classic or something else recognizable. I do think that a bit of subtlety can go a long ways, though.           

 

Regarding the magic thing, nobody'd take you out to court for that one. And yeah, it's not the newest idea in the world, but it's definitely one you can do interesting things with. I personally think there's nothing wrong from being similar to another series' magic system.

[ProtoAce]

Wow! I did not expect to receive good responses so fast. Thanks guys!   Your responses certainly gave me things to think about(In a good way, of course), thank you all, really. Who has more things to add or suggest, bring it on!

[vanguard333]

4 hours ago, ProtoAce said:

In my story, almost all people on the continent have magical powers, and to use such magical powers, they need to channel their Magical Energy (Manna) out of their body in the form of the power they received at birth. And my new take would be that not only do humans possess magical energy, but the Planet would also be completely full of it, and that humans would have found a way to extract and use it as an ecological energy source, using it to light ovens, turn on the TV, charge cell phones and so on. Not to mention that because it is an ecological energy, the cars that use it would not pollute the planet in any way, because their cars would not release smoke.

But now I'm afraid that my idea has become too similar to the concept of the Lifestream of Final Fantasy VII, or the Orbal Energy of the Trails/Kiseki franchise, so I'm in doubt if I should really put or if it is better to continue with the good old electricity for my world and characters.

The thing about the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII was that it was a very blunt metaphor for non-renewable power sources such as coal; Lifestream was non-renewable and extracting it and converting it into electricity as Shinra does in the game directly harms and pollutes the planet.

The idea of having magical energy be something that's not just within people but also within the world itself is extremely common across various fantasy stories; the first example that came to my mind was the anime Black Clover until you mentioned using it as an energy source. In Black Clover, everything created from magic is distinguishable from the substance itself (for example, lightning magic is distinct from real electricity since it's made from magic even though it uses all the properties of lightning) and eventually returns to being magic, so the amount of magic in the world is never at risk of depletion. In Black Clover, magic is used as a metaphor for ability/material authority; royals have insane amounts of magic while peasantry have very little, with the amount of magic one is born with reinforcing a classist and elitist system that the protagonist: a random peasant orphan with no magic whatsoever, seeks to tear down and replace with a fairer system.

The point that I'm trying to make is that what matters is less the general concept and more what you intend to do with it: magic systems aren't just flavour for worldbuilding; they also help illustrate themes, character struggles, etc., and those are the things that help make a magic system more unique. So, think about this: what are you trying to say with your magic system? What are you trying to show? For Final Fantasy 7, it was a message of environmentalism, while for Black Clover, it's for character journeys and themes of overcoming classism/elitism and the difference between talent and hard work. Thinking about this will help make your magic system more unique and also make it tie in better with your world and narrative.

 

These are things I've had to think about when writing my own fantasy novels (I too am an aspiring writer).

Edited November 14, 2022 by vanguard333

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

11 hours ago, ProtoAce said:

I want to know what you guys think. Should I change the name of my continent? Should I explain right off the bat that the name is a proprosital reference because of my love for Pokemon? Or should I just go ahead and continue the way it is? Please help me!

Could you make it a similar name without compromising the integrity of the work? Something like "Archeus" or "Arkeiss" could be pronounced basically the same as the Pokemon. Or you could go a little further out, such as "Archeon" or "Ercyos". As a Pokemon fan, if I see the name "Arceus", I'm always going to default to the Pokemon. It'd be hard to think of it as anything else.

Of course, it's all at your discretion!

[ProtoAce]

22 hours ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Could you make it a similar name without compromising the integrity of the work? Something like "Archeus" or "Arkeiss" could be pronounced basically the same as the Pokemon. Or you could go a little further out, such as "Archeon" or "Ercyos". As a Pokemon fan, if I see the name "Arceus", I'm always going to default to the Pokemon. It'd be hard to think of it as anything else.

Of course, it's all at your discretion!

You just read my mind, dude! Thanks for the name suggestions and the ideia, i really liked it!

On 11/14/2022 at 5:06 PM, vanguard333 said:

The thing about the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII was that it was a very blunt metaphor for non-renewable power sources such as coal; Lifestream was non-renewable and extracting it and converting it into electricity as Shinra does in the game directly harms and pollutes the planet.

Yeah, i know that. My goal was that it would be contrary to the polluting energy of FF7, which is why I also compared it to the Orbal Energy of the Trails franchise. Is almost the same.

On 11/14/2022 at 5:06 PM, vanguard333 said:

The point that I'm trying to make is that what matters is less the general concept and more what you intend to do with it: magic systems aren't just flavour for worldbuilding; they also help illustrate themes, character struggles, etc., and those are the things that help make a magic system more unique. So, think about this: what are you trying to say with your magic system? What are you trying to show? For Final Fantasy 7, it was a message of environmentalism, while for Black Clover, it's for character journeys and themes of overcoming classism/elitism and the difference between talent and hard work. Thinking about this will help make your magic system more unique and also make it tie in better with your world and narrative.

Yes, I already have some good things planned involving this energy and the magical powers that exist in the world. Even my main character's internal conflict reigns solely on what these powers are and how humanity's perception of them has impacted her life. Not to mention the very message of the story that also involves her powers.

On 11/14/2022 at 5:06 PM, vanguard333 said:

These are things I've had to think about when writing my own fantasy novels (I too am an aspiring writer).

That's amazing, man! It's great to get advice from someone who is in the same business, so to speak. I really liked your answer, so i will make sure to remember it! Plus, your Black Clover example was great!

Edited November 16, 2022 by ProtoAce

[vanguard333]

16 hours ago, ProtoAce said:

Yeah, I know that. My goal was that it would be contrary to the polluting energy of FF7, which is why I also compared it to the Orbal Energy of the Trails franchise. Is almost the same.

Yes, I already have some good things planned involving this energy and the magical powers that exist in the world. Even my main character's internal conflict reigns solely on what these powers are and how humanity's perception of them has impacted her life. Not to mention the very message of the story that also involves her powers.

That's amazing, man! It's great to get advice from someone who is in the same business, so to speak. I really liked your answer, so I will make sure to remember it! Plus, your Black Clover example was great!

I figured that you probably knew that; I was stating it mainly to set up my main point in the next paragraphs.

That sounds great. That sounds like you're putting a lot of thought into it.

Thanks. Yeah, it is definitely good to hear good advice from others. I myself have been watching a lot of videos over the years from writing and worldbuilding experts as well as a video series by a freelance novel editor, all to get a good sense of how much thought should go into different aspects of my story and how it should all work together, especially since I am a very methodological writer, not an intuitive one; I need a plan and I can't rely on, "this feels [right/wrong]".

My novel that I'm writing is a fantasy war novel with a lot of allusions to medieval history and warfare, so the magic system isn't as... in the forefront... as it is in a lot of other fantasy series, but I've still given it a lot of thought, with the magic system in many ways reflecting the kingdom that uses it, and the absence of practitioners of said magic for a long time being imagery for the exposing of the kingdom's main flaw (in this case, the magic revolves around essentially sharing abilities with other forms of life and working together with them, so its absence reflects that the kingdom's main flaw is its internal division, which was exposed by the power vacuum created by the loss of its last ruler).

I'm glad the Black Clover example was a good example. If you haven't seen the show, I do recommend it; it has a rocky start, but it keeps improving and it gets very good, very quickly.