Why Comic Book Characters Have Alliterative Names! || NerdSync

Comic books have plenty of alliteration with the names of superheroes and other characters. Marvel has a bunch of characters like Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, and so on. Why did Stan Lee purposefully choose to give his Marvel creations alliterative initials? Today we're exploring how alliteration helps make material more engaging, and how it can help our memory and recall!

Alter Ego takes a look at language and etymology to uncover the hidden meanings and mind-blowing secrets behind the names of your favorite comic book characters!

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———————SOURCES———————

Stan Lee Conversations
Was Superman a Spy?
The Power of Music: Mind Control by Rhythmic Sound
Awesome Alliteration Analysis Posits Power Of Poetry And Prose
Rhyme and alliteration, phoneme detection, and learning to read
The alliteration in Shakespeare's sonnets: a study in literary behavior
The effects of global similarity between stimuli on children's judgment of rime and alliteration

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[niamhlovesmh]

Wade Winston Wilson is portrayed by Ryan Rodney I think not!😏😹

[petertownsend]

I love it when J Jonah Jameson tells Peter Parker to take get pictures of a fight with the Green Goblin.

[rpandya]

Would you count Clark Kent as an alliteration since both make the K sound but are different letters?

[TheJaredtheJaredlong]

This guy's enunciation is incredible.

[CouchTfilms]

Learn something new everyday -- great video as always!

[NerdSyncProductions]

I am so going to change my name on YouTube, as well as all forms of social media I possess to follow this logic. David. D Davidson Esq. Yes that will do nicely. Who else can you guys think of that have alliteration in their names? Matt Murdock, Susan Storm, Reed Richards... I have a feeling we'll be here all day.
David D. Davidson Esq
(Formally Dave J, Comments Guy).

[DKlarations]

Such a script was so strenuous to say!
Thanks for watching everyone!

[invicta]

Just a point about the mnemonics you mentioned, and some of the associated writing devices.

Alliterative phrases and names are both easier to remember, aAND seem more honest and sincere. That's why you'll USUALLY only find heroes using them. Though there's always the odd Lex Luthor or Doctor Doom. Both of whom have worked as anti-heroes before, BTW. The "easier to remember" thing is just neuroscience and pattern recall, like you mentioned. But humans (more specifically, males) also have a bias toward associating aesthetics with honesty. "Truth is beauty, and beauty truth" as Keats said. It's not just auditory, either. Sociologists have studied "The Aesthetic of Truth" a lot, and they've consistently found that physically attractive people (specifically women) are more often judged honest or sincere than less attractive people.

If you listen to any politician with a really good speechwriter, you'll hear a lot of assonance alliteration and established poetic or musical measures. Iambic Pentameter, Sonnet form, limerick, half measures, eighth measures. It's very subtle, but it's there. I know...I write for a living, and I've ghostwritten my fair share of speeches and presentations. There are different applications for each poetic technique. Alliteration is kind of a "hard sell, " used when you really want to drive your point home. Assonance is a soft sell, better for subtly appealing to emotion. Then you can play with different meters and rhythms, do almost anything you want with people's brains. Some are consistent, soothing and smooth. Others climb to be epic and inspire. Some can, INTENTIONALLY, agitate people and piss them off.

It's all about balancing rhythm and discord to achieve the effect you want...that's why most good writers have at least studied poetry. Or started out as poets. The whole thing is fantastically manipulative lol. Getting "that turn of phrase" down is all about screwing with people's brains, and thinking in terms of music and poetry rather than prose. It really does work.

Trust me.

-- Richard Rowe

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[OwenLikesComics]

This is a topic I've always found intriguing, great job DK!

[mikecunningham]

You have a wonderfully soothing voice, even when you aren't alliterating. Please do dramatic readings of random poems.

[haroldjordan]

My favorite is Otto Octavius. Though a fun fact, in Superior Spider-Man #9 they actually make a reference to the Peter Palmer mistake when Otto is erasing Peter's conciseness he couldn't remember his last name and Peter's second guess on what it is was Palmer.

[JimmyGoodYT]

Hey DK! That was great. Really enjoyed this episode and enjoyed getting to know the background on the particular pronunciation of peculiar people in the comics (that's the best I could muster). Keep up the good work!

[peteyandjaydee]

Ms. Marvel, Stephen Strange, Green Goblin, Mindy the Model, Pepper Potts, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Sue Storm, Reed Richards, J Jonah Jameson, Baxter Building, The Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom, The Guardians of the Galaxy, The Future Foundation, The Lethal Legion, The Living Laser, Bucky Barnes, Loki Laufeyson, Curt Connors, Dum Dum Dugan, Gorr the God Butcher, Happy Hogan, Kang The Conqueror, Kamala Khan, Scott Summers, Morbius M. Morbius, Matt Murdoch, Daredevil, Otto Octavius, Ravonna Renslayer, Rocket Raccoon, Wade Wilson. Yeah there's a lot

[RocKnight]

I noticed a lot DC characters alter egos names happened to be two first names like Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Jon Stewart, Lex Luther, James Gordon, Ted Grant, Dinah Lance, Ronnie Raymond, Tim Drake, and Slade Wilson.

[bunkyboy]

I need your voice for all future books I read. Silky smooth

[MICQUIAMBAO]

Riley Reid
Brianna Banks
Asa Akira
Jessica Jaymes
Jenna Jameson
Heather Hunter
Kayden Kross
Stacy Silver
Lorelei Lee
Felicia Fox

[mrsound]

Mine is Matt Murdock too! Daredevil is my favourite marvel superhero!

[Alems]

Hey Scott I was wondering if you could make a video explaining how do superheroes jump so high like Batman and night wing and such. Does the do universe have a lower gravity?

[zZstormgamezXx]

I love his voice it's so calming and soothing

[Crick]

Peter Parker is the son of Ray Palmer from DC (just like Klark the journalist is in Marvel)

ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED