The extensive list of nicknames I’ve had over the years.

Over the years I’ve had many nicknames. Some were more important than others. A friend of mine once said: “Only the devil and you have these many names.” This is a list of all of them, starting with the ones I consider important.

Important ones

Nayru

This was the first name I used when I made my very first email address with my friends. It comes from the video game The Legend of Zelda. Nayru is the Goddess of Wisdom. My best friends at the time, Oscar and Christopher, and I decided to each choose one of the three goddesses and use her name. We didn’t even know they were female; our English wasn’t that good.

Oscar came up with the idea one day and chose first: Din. I kind of wanted that name, but since he already had it, I ended up with Nayru. In the end, it was the best decision. I love Nayru. I love wisdom. I love Princess Zelda (Din = Ganondorf; Nayru = Zelda; Farore = Link). Then we created our first email addresses. I still use mine for Microsoft products: triforce_nayru@hotmail.com

Nayru artwork from The Legend of Zelda.

Nayru

Princess Zelda artwork.

Zelda

Lestat

My main name for a long time. It comes from a character in Interview with the Vampire, part of Anne Rice’s book series The Vampire Chronicles. I always preferred villains and secondary characters. They were always much more interesting to me than the main ones. It’s a shame Lestat quickly became the protagonist of the series, starting with the second book, The Vampire Lestat. I still loved him and used the name for decades.

A photograph associated with my Lestat nickname.

Lestat

Monles

Basically a contraction of Monica (a crush of mine from preparatoria, or high school) and Lestat. I kind of ended up hating that name; it sounds horrible. If I recall correctly, I first used it in Ace Online, or perhaps a couple of months earlier in Air Rivals. That’s where I founded my clan, Vitaahlys.

Zoryth

This was my main name for a long time too. It isn’t mine, per se: I started using it in honor of a long-lost friend whose nickname it was. She was very special to me and is the reason women with glasses spark an instant, deep attraction in me. The last time I saw her online was around 2008.

Just after we met in person, she invited me to a party with some friends. I declined because I was shy, telling myself, “I don’t know anyone besides her!” So she most likely assumed I wasn’t interested. Then, in 2012, I searched for long-lost friends, and of all of them, she was the one I couldn’t find. I have to admit I became obsessed.

So I started using her name in her honor. If I recall correctly, I first used it on the CIT server in MTA:SA, then later in many games. It became my main name for years. I even changed my company’s name from MonlesSoft (2012–2013) to Zoryth Games (2013–2022). I should mention that it’s now called Intellicialis.

Screenshot of my company’s old website.

My company’s old site, in its first iteration under that name.

ZorLes

Another contraction, as if I hadn’t learned my lesson. This time I combined my two main names at the time: Zoryth and Lestat. I used it extensively, even as my main Twitter handle for a few years. Yes, I ended up hating it too. Even my friends told me they preferred Zoryth.

Jill Samus

A combination of two similar characters: Jill Valentine from Resident Evil and Samus Aran from Metroid. As you can see, they look similar in their battle suits. Both are blonde with ponytails, wear tight blue suits, and are strong main characters in their respective franchises. Why did it become an important name, though? Chance, to be honest. I created nine characters in Guild Wars 2, and this one, a Revenant, ended up being my main. So everyone in my clan started calling me Jill.

Jill Valentine.

Jill

Samus Aran.

Samus

Daahrien

This is my main name now. I decided I needed an original name; I couldn’t really keep Zoryth because it wasn’t mine. I thought about the things I liked—characters, movies, games—until I remembered Darien Shields from Sailor Moon. I modified the name a little to make it original, and Daahrien was born. I’ll most likely use it for a long time. It goes along with a complete makeover of my company and, basically, of myself. More on that in later posts.

Darien and Serena from Sailor Moon.

Darien and Serena

Screenshot associated with the Daahrien name.

Darien

Other names

Debonair

It’s my go-to name when I register on a forum or website where I don’t particularly care if people recognize me. It comes from my favorite video game of all time, Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, which happens to have a reference to Lestat.

Debonair isn’t the main protagonist, as you may have guessed; that’s Magnus. Even Debonair’s leader, Destin, was the main character in another entry in the series, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. I just liked Debonair’s design, seriousness, and maturity.

It reminds me of Allen Schezar from Escaflowne.

Debonair from Ogre Battle 64.

Debonair

Allen Schezar from Escaflowne.

Allen

Aoshi/Okashira

The name comes from the Rurouni Kenshin franchise. Aoshi leads the Oniwabanshuu, a clan of ninjas. He’s depicted as unemotional and looks cool as hell—hair, clothes, face, everything. I used his name a little, and it’s still my go-to name for in-game pets, including in Guild Wars 2.

Aoshi from Rurouni Kenshin.

Aoshi

Prince Ali

I used it a little to sell my (low-quality) games on Kinguin. It comes from Aladdin: it’s the name he uses, with the Genie’s help, to pass himself off as a prince and win Jasmine’s love. I like the song from the live-action film a lot, so I started using the name.

Watch on YouTube

Aphrodite

I never used it publicly. I was going to use it as a “hacker” name, but I ended up ditching the whole “project.” It comes from the Greek goddess of beauty. I’ve always liked her. That probably started with the Mitos y Leyendas card of the same name, and later the song “Afrodita” from Destripando La Historia, which I’ve listened to hundreds of times.