"SSJ Unknown"
(...)
As an aside, how do names for newly-encountered ships in FS get assigned? We encounter the Dante for the first time in Universal Truth (1st iteration) but are immediately given the code-name "Dante" for the super-juggernaut. This suggests the naming theme is at least partly randomized (which would be typical of modern-day military code-naming) and as such, the name "Dante" means nothing past the connotations of a particular Italian poet and his most well-known work, which deals with sin and its punishments.
Good point: is the assumption here that names are assigned from some form of omniscient narrator that somewhat gives "clues" by the naming of ships, or is it something that is done by the GTVA itself?
If it is done by the GTVA, how did it name the SSJ unknown immediately after it came to the scene? Some kind of automatic name generator? (I know, I'm just repeating Damage's points here). If not automatic, shouldn't it at least come off something like ???? UNKNOWN ???? at least at the start? Give it a minute or so and then name it? (as if someone on the deck was figuring out what name to give it, they discuss it and decide the name, all this happening out of the camera).
What would make most sense to me is a central name pool with appropriate names to use whenever a random Cain or Moloch appears. It would also be reasonable to keep some names ready for new capital ship classes, and after Sathanas, something bigger should certainly not surprise GTVA. In other words, immediately having a designation for an SSJ is not surprising at all.
It appears the GTVA has a tradition of calling these SSJ as they appear with christian names. Lucifer, then Sathanas. (SSJ Jesus F Christ?) Dante could be worse than it is, it expresses bewilderment on the size of it. IDK, I'm at a loss here.
This is true, but doesn't leave you much choice. There's Iblīs, which is the Arabic equivalent and afaik surprisingly unused. A synonym is Shayṭān, but that is used, for That Sad Excuse of a Bomber you might remember from FS1
I know nothing about Hinduism, but they don't seem big on Devil-figures. I definitely wouldn't go with Shiva (what do you do when an SSSJ appears?), but Kālī is free. Wikipedia says that "she is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her", like this:
~relationship goals~
That said, I still like Ahriman the best, because the meaning seams so appropriate, even if it sounds a bit lame. I especially like the fact that from the external perspective it seems to have started as a generic name for destructive thought, but later becomes reified into a single (even supreme) malign entity. That's such an anima thing to do!
