Impotant note: if you want a name that can be used in-game, remember that the character limit is 19, spaces included!
Here's the in-depth step by step guide for creating lore-friendly asuran names:
Keysmash!
Play around with the result!
Keep the single name to 1 or 2 syllables! (3 are fairly rare)
Double letters are encouraged!
Check Wiktionary and Google the name!!! (to make sure it doesn't have any accidental meaning you don't like)
Make it unique by adding a title, krewe name, honorific or whatever you like!
Alt versions for step 1
1a. Use Guild Wars 2 Name Generator to get starting ideas!
1b. Pick a word or name you like!
1c. Pick a random word!
On a more serious note, here's the info we have, taken from the Asura page on the GW2 Wiki
An asura's name often consists of a short, sharp first name with one or two syllables.
Feminine asura names typically end in -i or -a vowel sounds, but are not required to do so.
Masculine names often end in a consonant sound.
Both male and female asura often have two of the same letter in a row somewhere in their name, this being a cultural norm, but it is certainly not required.
Asura do not have a last name, instead opting to use job titles, a krewe name, or honorifics to differentiate themselves.
Those who choose to take a last name of a style similar to humans are rare and are considered eccentrics, and their surname is often ignored by other asura.
To recap:
• Short and sharp names made of 1 or 2 syllables. 3 syllables are possible but quite rare (Batanga, Belanna, Edella, Jordekka, Ikkita, Nicarus, Maroola, Viraddi, Rowloona, etc).
• The indicated norms for gendered names are usually respected (most female asura's names end with -a/-i vowel sounds, and most male ones end with consonant sounds), but absolutely not mandatory (Kudu, Zee, Gyra are male asura, while Trixx, Blinx, Mordd are female asura).
• Having 2 of the same letters in a row (Snaff, Zojja, Arkk, Gorrik) is culturally encouraged, but not required (Taimi, Blish, Phlunt, Ludo).
• Job titles, krewe names, honorifics and whatever else are the way to go to make the name unique (and let's be real, good luck finding an available short name in-game).
• Human-like last names are seen as weird (I can't find any in-game, but word of god mentions them).
Last-minute Addition
There is one case (that I found) of an asura with two names, Davo Zes, a Collector of Unusual Coins in Bava Nisos's starting area.
However, given he appeared so recently and is likely a member of the Astral Ward, his name is probably a quirky exception and does not signify much for asuran naming schemes as a whole.
The only other double-named asura is in Gw1, Gni Neproc.
For all we know, one of the two words could be a title in asuran, but objectively it was just a reference to one of the devs.
Resources
Asura NPC list (contains ALL asura NPCs in the game, so it's very long
GW1 Asura NPC list
Disclaimer: what is written here is derived from attentive observation of what's seen in-game and strives to be as lore-compliant and close to canon as possible.
Impotant note: if you want a name that can be used in-game, remember that the character limit is 19, spaces included!
FIRST NAMES
Can be pretty much anything you want, though there are some general guidelines.
Traditionally, first names are usually:
- of Latin or Greek origin (Crecia, Galina, Vitus, Scylla, etc)
- regular nouns (Ember, Rage, Talon, Flint, Snarl, etc)
- simply made up for the sound (Rytlock, etc)
Exceptions are pretty common nowadays, with names taken also from other races, as a charr named Simon Blackgut is poked fun at for his human-sounding name.
Masculine names tend to have sharper sounds, while feminine sound smoother.
WARBAND NAMES
The name is picked when the warband is formed.
While that usually happens in the fahrar, warbands can form and dissolve for any reason and at any point.
Any charr who later joins the warband must change their last name to one that includes the warband's name.
On certain occasions (death of the Legionnaire, their removal from the position, or events of importance to the warband), the name can be changed.
Warband names are not unique, and multiple warbands can have the same name even within the same Legion.
Warbands' names tend to indicate either their primary skills or line of duty (Net for fishers, Pick for miners, Welder for builders, etc), but some can be more generic or refer to different aspects shared by its members (Dawn, Paw, Heart, etc).
Some warbands formed to fulfill a highly-specific duty might pick an otherwise "incorrect" name directly related to it (Ogre is a warband tasked with pushing back ogres).
Some warbands pick their name as a way to honor fallen soldiers or pay tribute to historical figures (the Scorch warband with Kalla Scorchrazor, Bhuer Goreblade with the Gore warband after his sire cleaned the tainted legacy of the name Gore).
Ash, Blood, Iron and Flame are not strictly off-limits as warband names, as there appear to be at least a Blood warband and an Iron warband seen in game.
Regardless, individuals regularly pick them for their personal part of the last name.
[Note: the lore about the "Primus warbands" and Imperators needing to be part of them (or descendants of the Khan-Ur) seems to have been completely abandoned, other than the High Legion's names being implied to be derived from the warbands of the sons of the Khan-Ur]
LAST NAMES
The last name of a charr belonging to a warband is made of two words.
One is the warband's chosen name, while the other is more descriptive of the individual (personality, appearance, ideals, history, occupation, etc).
Important: nouns, base form verbs and adjectives only.
No adverbs, no comparatives.
The two words can be in either order, though they have to make grammatical sense and "sound right" (Shotfierce and Keepersoul don't really work, while Fierceshot and Soulkeeper do. Stoneglow and Glowstone work in either case.)
Nouns and verbs can be used in either position, while adjectives tend to be used for the first word (Fierceshot, Crimsonfist, Heavyblade, etc).
Most verbs can also be used as suffixes in their derivative noun form (chase/chaser, crack/cracker, gut/gutter, etc), and they can also be warband names.
Note that the word used for the warband can't be altered in personal names (a member of the Welder warband can't change it to Weld, and so a member of the Weld warband can't use Welder).
Words used in warband and last names are singular.
There are rare exceptions, usually for things that come in pairs or multiple (Haunteyes).
Last names can be compound words (Brimstone is both another name for sulphur and brim+stone), but compound words can't be used as part of surnames (Brimstoneblade wouldn't work, as they're effectively 3 words).
Words tend to be short, usually not longer than 7-8 characters.
Given their martial and industrial culture, charr are unlikely to pick peaceful, cutesy and weak-sounding words for their name, especially when combined.
However, such words can still be worked with depending on the warband name (Sweetflower wouldn't be used, but both Sweetpoison and Flowerblade could be chosen by the right charr in the Poison and Blade warband respectively).
Likewise, names related to food, other species (animals or races), plants and the "beautiful/nicer" parts of nature are rare, usually coming down to the individual's duty or particular skills (there's a charr named Drakecatcher who could be part of either the Drake or Catcher warband, while Hawkslayer and Skaleslayer are found in the same map and could be both part of the Slayer warband).
[Note: titles and names like those are more typical of norn and kodan.]
Despite their military-based culture, words that indicate ranks (both inside and outside of the Legions) are not used, likely due to the risk of mixing them up with actual ranks (boss, master, rookie, captain, general, soldier, tribune, etc).
Words used should be things reasonably known by the charr and especially Tyria as a whole (things that don't exist in Tyria like "horse", "bleach", "digital", etc).
That said, some charr might end up using previously "off-limits" words after certain discoveries ("Holo" is unlikely to be used before the tech spread around Tyria after Personal Story, while "Jade" can be used for its other meanings but never in reference to Canthan tech prior to EoD) or mingling with other races ("Cable", "golem" and "aether" are common words for asura, but charr are unlikely to pick them unless they specialize in that kind of tech).
While not a rule per se, charr are quite unlikely to use technical or "fancy" words for their name, instead opting for more common and generic ones ("Coal" is more likely than "Carbon", "Salt" instead of "Sodium", "Iron/Steel/Metal" instead of more specific metals, etc).
It's important to note that not all charr regularly use a last name tied to their warband or even feel the need to have one.
Some stick to their titles (Smodur the Unflinching, Erracus the Wise, Howl the Brazen, etc) or only their first name (usually gladia who renounce their previous last name or those born outside of the Legions who never had a warband).
Last but not least, keep in mind that most charr decide their names when they're cubs or teenagers, so don't be afraid to have fun and be cringe with them! :3
Other useful resources
→ Charr Name List ←
Made by me. Hopefully includes all words used for names found in the game, plus a whole lot more that make sense for the average charr.
I'll try to keep it updated/adding to it.
From the GW2 Wiki
- Names section in the Charr page
- List of known warbands on the Warband page (only includes mentioned warbands, leaving out all the NPCs that don't appear with someone who shares part of the name)
- Charr NPC list (contains ALL charr NPCs in the game, so it's very long)
- GW1 Charr NPC list
My fave name site, which has categories (Roman and Greek for charr specifically, but Italian might help too) and provides actual meanings, pronounciations and variants of names!
Guild Wars 2 Name Generator by newms34 (very good generator for all playable races if you quickly want ideas to start from, not extremely varied but still a great aid)
General ramble on my "tinfoil hat theory" of the lost "twin expansions"
[Read: this is NOT canon or insider information, just what I personally headcanon would have happened if the Icebrood Saga had not been canned during development in favor of EoD, leading to the botched rushed ending of my favorite expansion. It's the basis for my Crystal Warband AU's story]
- The twin expansions were meant to be a two-parter, with each focusing on the respective dragon and their relationship, not just Jormag with a dash of Primordus.
The story we got in Champions was the utmost-abridged cliffnotes of the second expansion crammed into the husk of the chopped up ending of IBS.
- IBS as we know it would have been the same up until the end of Jormag Rising, then things would have changed.
After that, Primordus would still stir, causing earthquakes at first and then small destroyer attacks in many places (with dynamic events*), but at a slower rate since he's still sleeping.
The first major attack would still be in Rata Sum, then maybe Brisban (chat with Caithe and Ryland) and Gendarran (confirmation that the attacks are random), but after that it'd slow down to the open world events. Likewise, aside from little encounters with Ryland who is "sent to help" and Bangarphone messages, we'd get little more of Jormag for a while.
Instances around the map would still happen to give context and lead into other regions.
[*I imagine them as "the more enemies you kill/things you do to save the area, the stronger the boss at the end is" with a difficulty cap increasing with story]
- Instead of Champions and DRMs, the next map would have been in the northern regions of Kryta, south-west of Drizzlewood and specifically in centaur land.
Centaurs were already dealing with years-long tensions/civil war of their own, following the centaur alliance imploding after Ulgoth's death (he only held the alliance together through fear). Eventually the tribes increasingly split apart, and the Harathi's deal with the White Mantle caused further issues.
Of course, the recent presence of the Frost Legion in the region stirred it all up to a breaking point, with some maybe even siding with them and giving them territory. Eventually, one of the three tribes (or factions from all of them) called for help, freeing their human slaves as an act of goodwill towards other races (or possibly the slaves themselves offered to broker the deal).
Pact Marshal Logan is too busy playing the politics game along with Jennah to get humans to reconsider their stance on the centaurs, so we go try to fix what we can in the meantime. We see Frost centaurs running around, then we discover they experimented with the Frozen concept on the slaves, and proof of that finally kicks politics into gear.
[This covers the centaur slavers clip in the announcement trailer + the fact we were meant to have centaurs as an allied faction + Lake Doric DRM. Map maybe named after Tamini since they're the less active ones so far? And maybe some tengu live there as well since they were in DW.]
[Map would have no meta for the first release, just little chains of aiding/raiding camps and freeing prisoners kinda like Mistburned Barrens. Maybe a herd of Frost centaurs could be a strike.]
- Charr being the main focus for the Jormag expansion did feel a bit out of left field thematically, BUT that was specifically because we had Frost Legion forming on one side (deserters from the "good" Legions) during the first part of IBS, and then by the end of it a non-reformed Flame Legion (the "bad" ones) would end up submitting themselves to Primordus titan-style to ensure their own survival.
The Old!Flame faction had its own Imperator (maybe an ex-warband mate of Efram, for that juicy drama), and given what Frost Legion had just done, Burntsoul's idea of making the destroyers their own gods was suddenly very interesting again. With their shamans' rituals ensuring they wouldn't just go fully mindless, it was a perfect plan given the circumstances.
And of course, those remaining in the ("good") Legions would have one hell of a time about it all, giving us a bunch of lore to fill in the gaps as they try to keep it together.
[A bit of a substitution of the Fireheart Rise DRM, where "saving old!Flame to maybe change their minds" is still Efram's idea, but then we learn of their Imperator and what he was already doing elsewhere]
- Due to the attack on Rata Sum, the Arcane Council would still end up siding with Jormag as the lesser of two evils.
Seeing that as a betrayal from long-term allies, a faction of norn would push to side with Primordus as the "logical and positive opposite" to Sons of Svanir (Pack of Primordus/Primal Pack anyone? and they summon Ragefire wolves like Braham), and maybe even look up to Braham and push him to do the same as the Norn of Prophecy.
Taimi would still have her DRM discussion with Braham, but with a lot more context behind it, and Braham would have a lot of struggles with his own people directly and the leadership he didn't ask for (wasn't in the Norn of Prophecy's contract when he signed it).
Bonus: reflections between him and Rytlock on how Eir and Dragon's Watch fought champions from both dragons.
- The Frozen thing had shocked Tyria at large, and then Owl's death would be the leading cause of a meta-wide fight against Ryland in a secondary release for the centaur map.
We'd win, partially because the Destroyer-Flame Imperator, now Primordus's Champion, saw an opportunity to attack, but it'd be a bittersweet half-victory: Ryland escaped, we got distracted by the destroyers and many ended up Frozen or as casualties in the crossfire, and the magic-race between the twins had officially escalated.
[Meta starts on a timer or after chains have been completed a certain amount of times. Allies would be mainly the centaurs and locals, plus the Pact and some Seraph and United Legions. Setting like DW, but organized more like Kaineng Blackout and Gang War]
- Epilogue is a "darkest hour" kind of ending, with the world bracing for the twin dragon's fury as political and internal tensions threaten everything built so far.
~~~
- In the sequel expansion, we'd get Primordus and Jormag amping up their magic like in Champions, but with higher stakes and larger consequences, as well as a conundrum: try to keep the twin dragons in balance as they become more dangerous and mad (due to the still-unknown Void), or tip the balance when we (read: Aurene) can handle the aftermath.
- Map-wise and story-wise, everything would kind of mirror IBS (because twins), and we'd get:
1. After the Ebonhawke DRM equivalent, we get to go into Ash territories (not the actual Ash Citadel, but a base of operations important enough) and the developments post-Drizzlewood: lots of Ash grumbling since United Legions means Ash has to be more open (reason why we're right there in the first place), dealing with all of the Dominion prisoners, tensions from Kindleshot becoming Iron Imperator, lots of early talks about a potential new Khan-Ur, signs of alliance-coexistence with ogres, the intervention in Ebonhawke ruffling feathers and renegades/separatists still being a problem, etc.
Overall similar to Grothmar, but much more tense instead of festive due to the multiple crisis at hand.
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2. Thunderhead DRM equivalent happens, then the Dwarves ask us to help clear their base of operations from the ever increasing Destroyers.
They lead us to the Central Transfer Chamber and we help them, maybe with Aurene's help too (we make prisms to communicate if she can't be there).
It acts as a twin hub instance to Eye of the North, has its strike where we clear it.
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3. an asuran capital (Quora Sum maybe), as we get intel from spies that Ryland is leading a Frost Legion squad there to either find old tech/knowledge or to kill an important Primordus champion.
Bjora Marches equivalent, two-parter of investigating both the lost city and what Ryland is doing.
Both of our theories were correct: we find lots of interesting lore (a small group of surviving asura and skritt learned to cooperate and live together for a while, or maybe their descendants are still there), but more importantly we stumble on the champion first.
After a brief fight [strike material], we discover it is not mindless and can actually communicate (in a simple way like Braham did, and maybe the aforementioned survivors had something to do with it).
We're considering the implications of it all and trying to learn what's in the fire dragon's mine, when Ryland jumps in and kills it, awakening Primordus for good and sending him into a rage.
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4. a map in the Ring of Fire that had become the Destroyer-Flame's base (along with the norn who joined them).
Drizzlewood-like meta, but with us interrupting fights between Frost and Flame to keep either from winning, as well as killing equally (gotta kill them at the same time).
In the release, Ryland ends up killing the Imperator-turned-champion of Primordus, but before that it becomes really clear that both dragons are losing their mind to the Torment (aka Void).
Braham does his thing (see below).
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5. Dragonstorm. It all happens similarly, we still gather factions, but it's a much bigger deal and a meta map like Dragon's Stand and Dragonfall.
- Braham still ends up as Primordus' champion after the Flame-Destroyer Imperator dies in the fight against Ryland.
With balance thrown out the window, he decides to take his place in the Prophecy. While we're discussing what to do, he leaves in secret to go and do what he did in Wildfire (he had the talk with Aurene prior to everything, as he sensed our plan to stop Ryland would fail), asking the Pack norn to guide him to the dragon, yet still protected by the Spirits of the Wild to avoid being taken over completely.
---
Every playable race gets something out of this extended plotline: humans get to try to make amends with the centaurs, asura and norn their their share of lore and talks about their respective exodus and grievances, charr get even more lore and attention by being the vector for the whole crisis, and sylvari get to give their honest opinion on what being a dragon minion is like now that most of Tyria has been playing with fire and ice a bit too willy-nilly (with a good dose of very gentle "are you fucking stupid?!").
In all of this, we also get some hints about Soo-Won and the Deep-Sea Horror (we thought of them as one back then, so we'd be surprised of the discrepancies), Lowlanders (centaurs not daring to go west to the delta for more reasons than the ice dragon), Mursaat lore around the Door of Komalie, Astral Ward npcs keeping a closer eye on things (we see them again in the Tower).
We also would get some better continuations, like the ripple effects of Almorra's death (Jhavi taking the role of General of the Vigil, charr society mourning their hero instead of celebrating her like at the concert, etc), Kas and Jory talking at all, more chances for both Dominion of Winds and Olmakhan to deal with Tyria, where Eir's bow ended up (maybe it gets recovered by the centaurs or UL spies, but at that point even Ryland is already too powerful to be more than inconvenienced, let alone Jormag) etc.
"The Destroyer Saga/Epic" and "The Destroyer of Sagas" sound nice, but they all technically lack an acronym that works well with IBS, so I got nothing for the name.
Quick post to point out that every spec always had the same combo of race/gender/color.
(I hid the list in tags in another post, but I think it deserves its own proper post)
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Guardian is portrayed by a human guys.
Colors are the whole blue spectrum (it's all his, teals included).
Revenant is portrayed by sylvari guys (yes, the Herald is indeed a really buff sylvari, look at his face. Yes, I wish we had those options in-game. Yes, we were robbed.).
Colors are pretty varied, but always lots of tinted grays and muted tones (vaguely tied to the specializations), along with reddish/brownish accents like the profession's icon.
Warrior is potrayed by norn guys.
Colors are in the gold, ocher and beige (if it reads as yellow/orange, it's warrior).
Engineer is portrayed by charr guys.
Colors are always browns with (a confusing amount of) specialization-specific accents.
Ranger is portrayed by sylvari gals.
Colors are a whole lot of greens with browns as accents (if it screams nature, it's ranger).
Thief is portrayed by human guys (they get two cakes smh).
Colors aren't that consistent, but are always dark shades with reddish accents (Specter is kind of the exception, but it might be intentional because he's gotta be his own kind of violet edgy idk).
Elementalist is portrayed by human gals.
Colors are pretty mixed and portray at least a couple of elements, though always with a lot of red hues (if it has too many colors, it's ele).
Mesmer is portrayed by norn gals (humans got four cakes total).
[Later edit: the Troubadour trailer had a norn-exclusive hairstyle, so this is no longer a human gal in my book]
Colors are purples, violets and pinks.
Necromancer is portrayed by asura guys.
Colors are emerald greens and blacks (if it screams edgy, it's necro).
The Mist War is both an event and a place at the same time, one that in theory works like a massive Fractal, but in practice varies in particular ways due to its multiverse nature and much bigger scale.
1- The Land in the Mists
>Time and scale
>The Battlegrounds
2- Life and Death, dictated by the flow of the Mists
>Magic surges and resets
>Death and resurrection
>Mist degradation
>Mist anomalies and corruption
3- Ranks and the Enemies
>Ranks and roles
>The enemy
4- Beasts and Denizens of the Mists
>Who else dwells in the Mists?
>Warclaws
What you need:
- a number randomizer of your choice (random.org is my go-to)
- a character/story/whatever you want to subject to randomization
- a vague idea of what you want to find out
- the will to piece info back together
The base idea is that you have to come up with questions to ask as if you were trying to extract info from someone, and this someone wants you to guess it all instead of just telling you things directly (think "Twenty Questions", but with the randomizer as the stand-in for the character/other person you're playing with).
You ask a question, roll for the answer, ask a follow-up question, roll, and so on until you have the answers you need.
The exercise includes trying to find different angles to get the answers you need to continue, because the questions might have to be more specific than the previous ones to get a useful answer (example: character can answer Yes to knowing how to fight, Yes to having a job that involves it, No to being a mercenary, No to being a soldier, No to being a guard, but then Yes to being a bodyguard).
There's no one set of questions for this, as it all just depends on what you want to find out and how deep you wanna go.
You can approach it from a broad angle and "zoom in" into the specifics, or go directly for the specific questions and then work backwards from there, or go scattershot. You do you!
One fun thing to do is to return on previous topics to "confirm the character's version" or explore things that weren't clear or interesting on the first round of questions.
You'll probably mix types of randomization depending on the most useful kind of questions you can ask.
Also, you don't have to write the questions down beforehand, you can just think them or say them out loud, but I suggest having cliffnotes for them written if you plan to do it with multiple characters.
Still, do take quick notes of the important answers as you go though, before you forget them!
The fun part of this story/character-building exercise is to commit to the results you got.
That said, nothing is stopping you from redoing it if you're not liking the direction it has taken or if it ends up not making sense (sometimes you'll exhaust the possible questions or end up with answers that can't work together, so you either go back and ask things again to find the "lies" in what was said, or you just give up and retry).
You could also just do more than one round of questions to brainstorm and explore different scenarios, so you can pick your favorite!
Type 1 - Yes/No
Set the randomizer to Min: 1 and Max: 2
1 = Yes | 2 = No
Good for receiving cut and dry answers, not much for depth.
Can also be used for A/B questions, especially when one answer precludes the other.
Example of chain:
- Does the character like all food? > No
- Do they hate just one type of food in particular? >Yes
- Is it vegetables? >No
- Is it desserts? >Yes
- Is it just one (or all)? >No (implied they dislike all)
- Is it because they don't like sugary things? >Yes
- Does it apply to fruits as well? >No
- Do they hate something else? >No [technically this was not necessary because it was answered by the second, but it can be good to clarify questions too broad when you use yes/no]
Result: You now know that the character doesn't like desserts because they're too sugary for their taste, but you also discovered they don't mind the sweetness of fruits.
• • • • • •
Type 2 - Nuance
Set the randomizer to Min: 1 and Max: 3.
1 = Yes | 2 = No | 3 = Nuance (pick the most appropriate flavor for the question: It's complicated, Somewhere in between, Both, Unclear, Mixed, Unsure, etc)
This is what I use as default unless I need a direct answer, as it allows for more nuance and a greater range/depth of results.
Example of nuanced chain for two characters who work together:
- Does A like B? >Nuance
- Does B like A? >Yes
- Are they friends? Nuance
- Was there ever something romantic between them? >No
- Was there ever hate between them? >Nuance
- Is A the one who feels mixed things about B? >Yes
- Is it related to their job? >Yes
- Does B feel the same? >No
- Is B aware? >No
- Is it causing issues? >No
Result: You now know that A and B have a neutral relationship, and you discovered that A feels some conflicted/negative way about B due to work-related reasons, while B isn't aware of any issue and actually likes A.
You can fill in the blanks and nuanced parts how you prefer, or continue to dig deeper.
• • • • • •
Type 3 - Options
This is for more complex questions where you want to pick between predetermined options.
Assign a number to your options beforehand (or just count how many there are), then randomize between Min: 1 and Max: [number of options]
Example using GW2's character creation:
- Which race is my character? [by Race Selection order, 1-5] >5 (sylvari)
- Are they using the male or female model? [1-2] > 2 (female)
- Which profession are they? [1-9] >6 (ranger)
- [you can do physical randomization with this method if you want to]
- Which pet is their first? [1-3] >2 (jungle stalker)
- What personality do they have?[1-3] >3 (ferocity)
- What did they dream of? [1-3] >2 (green knight)
- What teaching is the most important to them? [1-3] >3 (where life goes)
- When did they awake? [1-4] >2 (noon)
