Significance of names **HEAVY SPOILERS** (also rampant speculation)

[Gwynhwyfara]

One of the things that I enjoyed throughout both TTP and RtG was the naming conventions and how symbolic/appropriate they were.

I feel like the names that have appropriate meanings can be divided into two categories, the "deliberate" and the "coincidental" (although it's clearly no coincidence by the writers). I just wanted to explore all of the names we find that can be construed as symbolic and appropriate. Most of this is just digging up mythological history and significance along with my rampant speculation.

Deliberate:
El0him - this was deliberate in that it was a name that the DM program chose for itself knowing what it meant, that it meant God. It could be construed as originally coincidental, as EL-0, HIM, and EL-1 were chosen for Extended Lifespan-0, Holistic Interface Manager, and Extended Lifespan-1, but I feel like EL-0 HIM was probably noted by the scientists and approved as a sort of nod to the fact that it fit.

Talos - chose by the researchers for the application to the fictional "Talos Principle", which meant much to Alex Drennan, it also applied to the greek "man of bronze" created by Hephaestus at the request of Zeus to protect Europa (whose name, in turn, can be construed to mean intelligent or open-minded, which very much ties in to the themes of the game). I also find it interesting that a lot of the Athena texts we read also refer to her taking up the mantle and hammer of Hephaestus; did Athena equate to Alexandra, shaping Talos to safeguard mankind's intelligence?

Soma - a greek word meaning "of the body"; there's like more to this relating to the Iranian ritual drink and other origins of the word, but I also feel Talos fits the main character better. Perhaps Talos can be seen as the program and Soma as the shell?

Gehenna - it's been gone into in much more detail in another post, but Gehenna was a city outside Jerusalem, a destination for the wicked, those who did not worhip the true God. It's pretty clear that's the same purpose this place serves; those who defy El0him or his word, or who cannot stay in his land (his Jersalem/Garden [of Eden]), be it because they lost faith, defied him, or merely broke the rules he (and the process) enacted.

The Garden (El0him's worlds) - Clearly representing the Garden of Eden, it is also referred to at times as Jersalem, which is the city to which Jesus was brought as a child.

Uncertain:

Uriel/other messengers (S4phiel? Azrael? I think, but blanking on their names, don't have an easy save game from which to check) - This can go either way, depending on whether or not Blessed Messengers get assigned a new name when they "Transform". If so, then it's deliberate, as El0him was choosing the names of Christian mythos angels/messengers for his Blessed Messengers. If those are the names they had upon creation, then it's coincidental.

Uriel also deserves more mention in that he is often portrayed as the Angel of Repentance, which is clearly his role in Gehenna, but he was named Uriel before he was sent to rescue those in that place.

The Shepard - I originally thought that The Shepard was a username that he did not choose, but many of the QR codes speak as if he had already visited the tower (where he is now imprisoned). This makes me wonder at the timelines, as it's been mentioned before that everyone possibly exists both sequentially and at the same time. I wonder if Sheep became The Shepard. The Shepard, both in word meaning and Christian mythos, is the name for someone who leads and aids, as he does in the game.

Coincidental:

Lamb - the fictional user created by Admin and others to help them keep control over the message boards of Gehenna; can be tied in with the "lamb of God," but I see him more as the sacrifical lamb.

Admin - I've mentioned before that Admin to me is reminiscent of "Adam", who was banished from the Garden and who then had a hand in shaping the world that came after. I doubt his original name was "Admin", and I feel he chose Admin from "Administrator" and not for its resemblance to the Christian Adam, which (if he defied El0him) he might even not want to be associated with.

Orc - again, Orc did not choose his name, but even Admin comments that he is "militant"; this ties in well with most of the fantasy species of orcs in fiction.

Sheep - as with a sheep, he followed the rules, but eventually did his best to break out and climb the tower. I wonder, however, that you never see a logic dump QR for Sheep, nor do you see him in Gehenna. Did he become The Shepard?

Samsara - it's clear from a logic dump that Samsara was created from a prior platform ID, so I'm pretty sure that's the name s/he was assigned at creation. Samsara (Tibetan word) is a concept found in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and other religions that represents the eternal cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth, and the ultimate goal is to some day break free of that. The whole game can be seen as a large samsara cycle. It's also worth noting that I'm pretty sure I saw the name Samsara as a child program on more than one logic dump QR codes, so I wonder if perhaps there haven't been several.

Borg - also a shortening of "cyborg", the borg are commonly known from Star Trek as (to quote wikipedia) "a cybernetically-enhanced pseudo-race which forcibly assimilates other sentient beings into its structure and hive-mind." If my memory serves, Borg was one of the admin programs that originally confronted you on the Gehenna boards and attempted to throw your conversation into a negative light and to convince others you were kidnapping them.

Alexandra - this is my favourite, and it's probably a longer stretch than the others. You see many references to the Library of Alexandria; it's probably, historically/intellectually/scientifically-speaking, one of the biggest tragedies, ever, where we lost so many centures' worth of knowledge, culture, history, achievements, and discoveries. Given the Talos/Soma project and what it was meant to achieve (and did achieve), I think it's safe to say that humanity lost the Library of Alexandria, but managed to save the Library of Alexandra?

(Gehenna residents I don't necessarily have a theory on at the moment, but whose names all bear interesting connections)

MrMulciber - Mulciber is another name for Vulcan, Roman god of the forge, patron saint of blacksmiths.

The_Blacksmith - While I'm unsure of whether he ties in with MrMulciber, there are several Christian parables concerning Blacksmiths.

Lilith - in Hebrew/Christian mythology, a lilith is a type of female demon, and she was also Adam's first wife who then left him when she refused to become subserviant to him.

Belial - a name meaning "worthless" that later became associated with the Devil.

Asmodeus - a king of demons.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share this, since I find it all pretty fascinating. I welcome any input or insight!

[Solais]

Sheep: Actually, on the third or fourth floor of the Tower, you can see the termination message for the Sheep, where he decided to shut down himself to become The Shepherd.

Admin: Btw, it is worth mentioning that he was a Beloved Messenger, but was cast out. So all he wanted to be loved again.

Samsara: It is mentioned in logic dumps and other QR codes that she is someone who never terminates but gets reborn again and again, just with a higher version number, just like the player; and she remembers that.

[ChaosAdvanced]

Originally posted by Gwynhwyfara:

Sheep - as with a sheep, he followed the rules, but eventually did his best to break out and climb the tower. I wonder, however, that you never see a logic dump QR for Sheep, nor do you see him in Gehenna. Did he become The Shepard?

Yes he did. You can see the QR dump on the fith floor of the tower.

The names become even more interesting if you look at the relations of all the programs:
1w/Faith is the parent program of sheep, samsara and @. So The Shepherd and Samsara are actually something like siblings (or cousins or whatever).

So when 1w/Faith finaly realised that his faith in Elohim wasn't getting him anywhere his three descendants went on in three different directions.

Sheep became the sceptical guy but was still looking for a purpose in life. So he set out to find the answers himself.

Samsare was deemed to realise that life was going on in a big cyrcle coming to the conclusion that everything is pointless and that the only way to be free is to stop careing.

@ stopped seeking for a purpose at all and rather just enjoyed the beauty of the world he was allowed to be in. He was eventualy terminated probably because the simulation noticed that this approach wasn't leading anywhere. (The message says "Fatal flaw in series".) This is the point where D0G is created who is zynical and disappointed with the world. His constant disapointment and lack of purpose finaly lead him to suicide by going out of the borders of the map. %§&$§/$&(#() is the last one in that line and seems to be fighting reallity itself slowly going insane over time to be finaly terminated without any progeny programs.