Unofficial Tex Murphy

I noticed something curious back when I was playing MM.

Marshall Alexander is somehow a strange name. Marshall is a given name, but usually is a surname. Alexander is also a surname, but primarily is a given name.

Between "Marshall Alexander" and "Alexander Marshall", it seems like they picked the least likely order of elements! At least according to my POV that is.

What is equally interesting is the name of Lowell Percival. Again, both Lowell and Percival are both given names and surnames! However I would rather expect the other way round.

Another curious name was "J. Saint Gideon" from MS. "Saint" is a strange middle name. Does "Saint Gideon" refer to Gideon the Judge?

As for UAKM and novelization, there are some names. The backstory mentions that the Docetists wrote the doctrine of the Brotherhood of Purity. I think they picked this name at random as they were just a Christian heresy, not some cult or anything related to eugenics.

The Moon Child seems to be named for being a satellite of the moon, but I have heard the name associated with occult eschatology.

I found no meaning in the name of the organisation CAPRICORN. Seen always in capital, I thought it might be an acronym. Other than that they don't seem to be astrology-conscious.

Why is the chip designed by CAPRICORN to destroy the Moon Child is called "Winter Chip"?

Finally, the novelisation mentions the bird statuette as the "Habuh". It seems semitic (quasi-Arabic, quasi-Hebrew) but I found out it is an ancient german word for hawk!

And I never understood why the Colonel is named Dobbs in the game (no name given) and Roy O'Brien in the novel.

Rebus wrote:I noticed something curious back when I was playing MM.

Marshall Alexander is somehow a strange name. Marshall is a given name, but usually is a surname. Alexander is also a surname, but primarily is a given name.

Between "Marshall Alexander" and "Alexander Marshall", it seems like they picked the least likely order of elements! At least according to my POV that is.

What is equally interesting is the name of Lowell Percival. Again, both Lowell and Percival are both given names and surnames! However I would rather expect the other way round.

I have personally known people that have had either the first name Marshall or the last name Alexander, so that's not weird. As far as Lowell Percival is concerned, it is the reversal of the name Percival Lowell, whose efforts posthumously led to the discovery of Pluto.

Rebus wrote:Another curious name was "J. Saint Gideon" from MS. "Saint" is a strange middle name. Does "Saint Gideon" refer to Gideon the Judge?

Maybe Judge is what the J. stands for

Rebus wrote:As for UAKM and novelization, there are some names. The backstory mentions that the Docetists wrote the doctrine of the Brotherhood of Purity. I think they picked this name at random as they were just a Christian heresy, not some cult or anything related to eugenics.

My understanding is that the Crusade gave the Brotherhood's beliefs a few bizarre twists, but a group of Christian heretics could be considered a cult simply because of their different beliefs.

Rebus wrote:The Moon Child seems to be named for being a satellite of the moon, but I have heard the name associated with occult eschatology.

The Moon Child also received its name by being in orbit of the moon, not the Earth itself.

Rebus wrote:I found no meaning in the name of the organisation CAPRICORN. Seen always in capital, I thought it might be an acronym. Other than that they don't seem to be astrology-conscious.

So true, but it does sound cool, doesn't it?

Rebus wrote:Why is the chip designed by CAPRICORN to destroy the Moon Child is called "Winter Chip"?

Just another clever code name perhaps.

Rebus wrote:Finally, the novelisation mentions the bird statuette as the "Habuh". It seems semitic (quasi-Arabic, quasi-Hebrew) but I found out it is an ancient german word for hawk!

How very fitting, given the Crusade's ties to Nazi Germany.

Rebus wrote:And I never understood why the Colonel is named Dobbs in the game (no name given) and Roy O'Brien in the novel.

The Colonel's full name was Roy O'Brien Dobbs.

Hope these answered your questions!

Hammerhead

That was entirely too thought provoking, and interesting for me to come up with a decent intelligent response.

The only thing I can think of right off the top of my head is that CAPRICORN *is* an acronym I believe. I can't remember what it stands for, but you hear it when you converse with their representative in the Overseer game.

Hammerhead wrote: The Colonel's full name was Roy O'Brien Dobbs.

Is this some logical deduction or is it mentioned somewhere officially?

I believe that CAPRICORN = Civilian Agency for the Protection of the Rights of Individuals and the Creation of Order, Reason and Neutrality.

Rebus wrote:

Hammerhead wrote: The Colonel's full name was Roy O'Brien Dobbs.

Is this some logical deduction or is it mentioned somewhere officially?

It's come up in a few Q&A's with Aaron Conners over the years.

Hammerhead

Bosworth Clark is an interesting one. According to http://www.josephsmithsr.com/wiki/BOSWORTH, Bosworth has to do with immigration. Also Clark could be in reference to Lewis and Clark. Judging from the location of Bosworth's lab you could say he is a traveler.

I'd love to break down more names, but life is calling me.

Lowell Percival is derived from Percival Lowell, a famous american astronomer who was convinced that Mars was teeming with life and claimed to have observed the infamous 'canals':

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Lowell

Just remembered a new one: Collier Stanton's name is another example of a strange usage of a surname as a name.