Swearing in Fantasy and Sci-Fi
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How should language be handled in fantasy and sci-fi? Naturally, most people have heard the traditional swear-replacements in sci-fi, from “Frak” (Battlestar Galactica) to “Frell” (Farscape), from “Gorram” (Firefly) to “I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle” (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy).
I understand that television shows can’t feature foul language, so we can look over that. But what can’t be explained is “Feth” from the Gaunt’s Ghosts novels for Warhammer 40k. It’s a novel, so why is there any reason to sensor yourself? You have demons bursting out of men’s chests and pretty heavy violence, so why doesn’t a character getting shot with a white-hot las blast shout “FUCK!”?
I remember when I was on deployment and running a Star Wars game, one of my players was talking in character, and told another PC he didn’t “need to deal with this shit.” It kind of threw me off. “They don’t swear in Star Wars,” I thought. But don’t they? It’s not like cursing is inherently linked to anything in this world, any more than the characters in Star Wars speaking English in a galaxy far, far away.
In fantasy, there seems to be even less swearing. The characters may swear “by Pelor!” but you don’t see much else. If you read the Song of Ice and Fire series, however, I can’t think of a single character with a clean mouth, except perhaps Septa Mordane. There is some pretty horrendous language, enough to make a Sailor blush.
I simply can’t see a reason characters in fantasy and sci-fi wouldn’t swear any less than some people do in real life. Naturally, your “goody-two-shoes” in the party wouldn’t, but I think it could lead to a lot of interesting scenes with the party’s foul-mouthed rogue and the paladin.
How about all of you? Do you employ language in your games? Why or why not?
Particular curse words are just so culture and time specific that to hear them in other settings throws me off. I wouldn’t be confused to hear a medieval character say “damn you,” but hearing them yell “fuck” would throw me for a loop, same as any other blatantly anachronistic speech. Why would we still be using the same curse words far in the future as we do now? It just makes sense to me to come up with new oaths for different settings.
There are days I say “fuck” as often as a valley girl says “like”, so swearing in game isn’t something I shy away from. I /do/ tend to refrain from things like “Jesus Christ!” because it makes no in world sense, but on the whole I say what I say and assume that ICly my character is swearing appropriately for their universe….
There is something so subconsciously strong about some curse words that it drags you right out of the fantasy and reminds you of the grittier things about life.
Imagine if Legolas had eyed the cave troll in Moria and yelled, “Fuck!” It doesn’t feel right. Now, if that story had been more about the grim nature of combat rather than a high-fantasy, the language might fit in. Another context that might work were if it was a comedy. The language is just so starkly contrasting to the setting, it could be played off as absurd.
As a side note, I have no idea why they use “feth” in the Gaunt novels. I’m reading one right now, and I expect the Imperial Guard to have a foul mouth. It is a weird situation, because every time I read the word “feth” it is distracting, where if they were to use actual f-bombs it would feel natural.
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I think the answer is: It depends. I’ve played in games where swearing was an accepted part of the game, and others where it was definitely not.
I think in cases like the Gaunts Ghost books, they’re trying to show you that this is a different world. Plus if any kids show it to their over protective moms, they can’t get in trouble. Most of the time, as you pointed out, it doesn’t work very well for that.
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Fictional swearwords do add to immersion, and like the octanuglar playing cards in BSG, draw the viewer in. Now knowing that the 40k Universe has something that is less over the top then “By the God-Emperor”, I suspect I’ll probably find myself using it.
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Swordgleam – According to Wikipedia, which references the Oxford Dictionary, the word “fuck” has been around since before 1500.
As for cussin’ in general, I don’t have a problem with it. My character in my wife’s campaign grew up on the streets, so he has quite a colorful vocabulary. Song of Ice and Fire was probably the series where I first realized that one could use that kind of language and have it work. Before that, it was Jordan’s Wheel of Time and it’s “Ashes, blood and bloody ashes” or “Light!” and things of that sort.
Actually, I think feth is perfect. For the Ghosts. Whenever someone says it, rather than deliberately replacing it in my head with the “F-Bomb,” I replace it with “Faith.” In the 40K universe, Blasphemy is a very bad thing in deed. So here we’ve got Tanith, very Irish/Welsh/Scottish, which are very Catholic based. And entire cut off civilization developed mothers who did not like their sons foul language, and so for one, they came up with a compromisarry word But secondly, is if comprommisary? They have never, to my knowledge said, “What the Feth?” They only say, “Oh, Feth.” Or “Feth you!” Thus, it is never used in a sexual connotation, but instead, as a downright blasphemary word. Faith in the Emperor is important, and I tend to see th eword sitting much closer between a Airy version of the F’bomb sliding between the teeth, and “What the heeeellllll.” The “TH” can really be depressing if it comes of the tongue right.
-Monday
Honestly, I swear in my games depending on the story I’m telling. Some of my high fantasy save the world games do not have cursing in them except from the players because there isn’t a need. All is light and magic and happiness with evil looming. But when I run my gritty games that are more realistic, your going to hear the commoner down on the street let loose with a tirade of language. I think of curse words as being part of the setting and I use them based on what I’m trying to do. I don’t curse much in real life. The only exception I make on this is if there are children in the area in which case I might have someone use a fake word “Fark” and “Farkle” being my favorites to represent a curse word in game.
@AJ: I’ve read that in a few places, but I’m skeptical that it was in anything like widespread use until relatively recently.
I think obscene language is (an in)decent enough substitute for actual swear words. Granted, you can’t use them as sudden exclamations, but having phrases like “a face full of dad paste,” or “bowel-spawned excuse for a son” is enough to say well, this is the world uncensored.
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@Swordgleam — the 1972 Supplement to the OED notes that the word was in frequent common usage long before it appeared during the 1500s regularly in print. This page:
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/695/Fuck.html
contains a fairly good summary of its historical use.
It may not sound right to you for use during any particular campaign, but that’s a matter of personal preference — but it’s not at all anachronistic.
Aargh, I forgot to mention — The F-Word by Jesse Sheidlower (an editor-at-large for the OED, among other things) is quite an entertaining read.
I’ve actually read a story in the Eberron setting that used the word bitch if I’m correct. It was on the Wizards of the Coast website in their fiction setting and had the iconic characters in the DDO: Stormreach video. The cleric, at one point, yells out “Sovereign bitch!” when hitting an enemy. Just thought I’d put that informatio out there.
Now, on to the actual topic. I kind of agree with Swordgleam. A lot of curse words are very culture and saying certain ones in a fantasy setting would just make things feel odd for me personally. I will say stuff like “damn you”, “bitch”, or “jackass” in character, but I try to not say other ones. Mostly, if you are going to curse, just try to use words that would feel right for the setting.
[...] While Dice Monkey isn’t the only blog out there to make you stop and think about how you run and play in a game, Mark and Bridget are observant fellows who keep looking at games with alert eyes, regardless of whether they draw inspiration from night clubs or are evaluating the role of swear words in fantastical settings. [...]
Oh yes, we curse. Although most players do it out of character. Some characters swear more than others. I have had my moment of looking at a combat situation and saying, “Ohhh shit, no.” And fleeing. Also, making up your own swears and phrases is a great way to create environment. We have, “God damnit,” but in a world filed with so many god’s taking specific names in vain adds a nice touch.
Hey,
I’m Abby Ryan, an author of the fantasy series called the Light and Dark Chronicles. I specifically don’t use our world’s curse words because I have developed a completely different world that has a completely different history, so the different culture had to reflect in the words my characters say. They can’t say ‘What the Hell?’ because their world doesn’t have Hell. They call it something else. I also chose not to say ‘what the fuck’ either because I want to keep my book readable for all audiences. Besides, I think it’s more fun to read foreign curse words—like the ones in the Dark Language. Albree and Sheva have a potty-mouth. The words they say are even worse than our curse words, so if you lived in Alëunná, like them, and truly knew what the words meant, you would shiver.
So in summary, some authors don’t use swear words because it just doesn’t work with the world of their book. Hope that helped.
@Abby Thank you for explaining that. It makes a lot of sense.