Book Report on "Adventures Across the Universe"     Different Backgrounds    

Magic and the Catholic Catechism     Play on Words

Play on Words
                                 

 In the Adventures Across the Universe series, there are several names and places that are actually “plays on words”—meaning that their name describes a lot of about their background and character. Some examples are probably very obvious while others are not. How many did you pick out while reading?

The first and, perhaps, most obvious of these is the name Darkness to describe the mysterious organization that orchestrated the attacks on the Biosphere, Modius, and the Universal Council’s overseers. The term darkness itself refers to dismal, threatening, mysterious, evil, or sinister. These adjectives thoroughly describe Darkness activities and agents. The fact that the yet-to-be-introduced leader of Darkness, the Dark One, is called such is also a major hint to his character.

Another name is Octgoña, the evil Sea-witch of Modius. As described in Episode III, Octgoña is a half-woman, half-octopus who terrorizes the Modiun Sea. The prefix oct, meaning eight, is perfect for the eight-legged monster.

The name Protoshon of Episode I is also important. The prefix proto means first. Protoshon is the first UMDA agent mentioned in the Adventures Across the Universe series. Shon, pronounced as “shown”, is like the English word meaning “was showed”. Putting the two together creates “first shown”, or Protoshon.

Grimis, the second UMDA agent of Episode I, is named after the word grim. Grimis’s personality is much like a bouncer to a club or a bodyguard. His facial expressions and personality can usually make a grim impression.

The name Superior Spirit obviously shows that the character is the head spirit of another world—exactly how God is thought of.

The Emperor of the Robotic Confederation, Visus, sounds similar to the word “vicious”. This word describes Visus’s diplomatic and military principles.

Octgoña’s henchman, Agua, comes from the Spanish word for water: agua. Agua himself is water-related and can swim very well.

The evil Female Magician, Miry, also has a name that is derived from a word. The term mire means deep and slimy while miry means mucky or murky. These terms relate to Miry because of her place in the scheme of things. It is not specified exactly where she comes from, her true purpose, or her true intensions. All that is known is that she is an agent of Darkness. Her murky presence adds to the eeriness of her personality.

Ocenocia, the underwater city of Modius, comes from the word ocean. This is because the city is located near the Modiun Ocean.

So, as you can see, there are many different names that describe their character. From the first UMDA agent to words that sound similar, a name is everything.