An interesting battle of wits story is told in Death Note . Names are very important in it, but names also have similar situations in other fields. For example, the ancient Egyptians believed that mastering the name of something also gives you the power to control it. Writing the names of dangerous animals or evil spirits on pottery and smashing it symbolizes the elimination of evil.
Legends about the power of true names also appear in Egyptian mythology. Isis learned the true name of the sun god Ra, which gave Isis complete control over Ra. Therefore, Egyptians seemed to have two names, one for social identification and the other was a true name that was never revealed to avoid harm. (It seems that the ancient Egyptians were already playing Death Note at that time)
In many passionate works, the names of the moves are shouted out loudly during battles. Although it is not very common sense, it also reflects the power to some extent. There is a more detailed manifestation in Fate/stay night . The heroic spirit’s treasures are very powerful and have the function of reversing the battle, but to exert their power, the true name of the treasure must be recited to “release the true name” of the treasure.
“True Name Release” also appeared earlier in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away . The witch Yubaba stole Chihiro and Haku’s names to control others. When Chihiro and Haku regained their names, they regained their freedom. Miyazaki’s inspiration should have come from Ursula K. Le Guin’s works.
Guin’s work The Rule of Names (Earthsea series) describes that residents of a small island must give up their names after adolescence and use their true names, but they must keep their true names secret to prevent them from being controlled by unscrupulous magicians. Later, Miyazaki, a fan of Guin’s books, also obtained the production rights from Guin to produce the animated film Tales from Earthsea . (However, the director was Goro Miyazaki, and the original author Guin was also somewhat disappointed with the work.)
Many online communities now advise against using real names. This may be due to the online disinhibition effect on the Internet. Because of anonymity and the lack of pressure to communicate offline, the probability of cyberbullying is higher than that of offline bullying. So anonymity may protect you, but it may also lead to a lack of inhibition and turn you into a bully…In the end, there are almost no real-name people in such communities.
P.S.: The True name entry on Wikipedia contains many interesting folk knowledge. For example, in Jewish tradition, when the mortality rate of children in a family is high, the youngest child will not be named. In this way, the angel of death may not take the child away (is it considered an undocumented immigrant?).