abstract
| - A speshul name is exactly what it sounds like: a name that plays a part in making a character speshul. To be more clear, this type of name was intended to provide a special flair or descriptive touch to characterization, but falls flat as a plea for notability or attention instead. There are many types of speshul name, and the most common will be discussed below, but one factor all speshul names have in common is that they bend canon and/or strain suspension of disbelief in the story they appear in. Speshul names are bad not just because they make most readers with sense go 'argh,' but also because they often devalue the name's carrier by indirectly appealing to the readers to judge that character on their name, something that the character (usually) had little to no control over, rather than any true merit or personal strengths. Having a speshul name can be part of the charge of being speshul, but if the name itself is particularly canon-breaking/implausible/otherwise bad, having a speshul name may become a charge in of itself. It is possible to have a speshul name and not be a Sue/Stu, so it cannot stand alone as a defining point of a charge list.
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