So the pattern here appears to be that the nickname of the agency branch is named after an informal/disrespectful way of referring to the target of their investigations?
- Assassins/serial killers: The Butcherboys
- International Criminal Syndicates: The Godfathers
- Paranormal/Psychic: The Spook-Show, The Creeps
- Magic/Supernatural: The Freak-Show, Ringling Brothers
- Mad Science: The Teslas, The Brainiacs
- Apocalyptic/End of World Scenarios: Curtains, End-Credits
- Very Large Explosives: Fireworks, Boom-Show
- Aliens [Come on, this one is obvious]: Little Green Men
Edited by DeMarquis on Mar 28th 2024 at 7:41:51 AM
A Self-inflicted Disaster
One pattern is to name agencies or departments by their locations. Examples would be Lubyanka Prison (former KGB HQ), Room 39 (North Korea's racketeering operations), and Bletchley Park (the UK's codebreakers during WWII). So in your case, the agency in charge of aliens might be called Groom Lake
, the department in charge of giants would be called the basement, for example.
Another way would be to refer agencies by their fronts. In my country, it is rumored that intelligence agents call their agency 'the company', because a lot of their field offices are disguised as civilian companies. So, your organization for defending against a zombie apocalypse would be called 'The Hospital', the department in charge of occult threats would be called 'The Chapel' etc...
Another way would be to take inspiration from fictional works that have something in common with your agency. IRL, Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works (their organization in charge of secret projects) got its name from the fictional Skonk Works in Li'l Abner. Then, you could have the department in charge of fighting robots be called 'The Terminator'.
"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow
A few suggestions:
- Magic: "The Twinklers"
- The Undead: "The Graverobbers"
- If there's a department for vampires, specifically: "The Stake Brigade"
- If there's a department for ghosts, specifically: "The Sheets"
- Cryptids: "The Fuzzy Photos" (Often shortened to just "The Fuzzies")
- Superhumans: "The Cape-snatchers"
Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Mar 28th 2024 at 8:57:54 PM
My Games & Writing
Dwar of Helium
More like the Nick Fury Expy referred to them by a certain name, and it just sorta stuck. (Ex. “Someone get in touch with the Haunted House; let ‘em start tagging this stuff.”)
Now, I'm going to ask you that question once more. And if you say no, I'm going to shoot you through the head. - John Cleese
The Read note Room: Records and Archives.
Full of paperwork and stuff.
Edited by MajorTom on Mar 29th 2024 at 5:56:01 AM
Submarine Chomper
For the Fae department, they could go with "The Goblin Jar".
"If there's problems, there's simple solutions."
Like reflections in the glass!
some might be more fanciful than other
- Werewolves and other Therianthopes: Argent/The Silversmiths (Silver Bullets)
- Vampires: The Church
- Zombies and other undead miscellanea: Thanatos/The Reapers
- Aliens: Gaia/The Terrestials
- Fishmen: Fishermen
- Spellcasters: The Silencers (in reference to the idea that magic needed speech to work and the Silence ailment in RP Gs)
- Robots: Ludd/The Magnets
- Lovecraftian Nightmares: Innsmouth
- Faeries: The Butterfly Nets (This one is a Fairy Oddparents joke)
- Demons: The House of God
- Angels: The Circles of Hell
Edited by MorningStar1337 on Mar 31st 2024 at 7:47:04 AM
Alternate realities: The Sliders
In this setting, we have an agency that’s essentially an Expy of SHIELD. There are also various “sub-agencies” designed to deal with specific categories of threat. Most of them have official names/designations, but they’re generally referred to by their nicknames more often. The ones I’ve thought up so far:
Any other departments/nicknames you’d recommend?
Now, I'm going to ask you that question once more. And if you say no, I'm going to shoot you through the head. - John Cleese