By brownlee, 9:40 AM on Tue Jun 20 2006, 193 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

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Is there any gaming oriented subject a games journalist, desperate to add some substance to his or her trade, can't spend a few thousand words upon? I dunno — ask Wagner James Au.

But over at the Armchair Empire, they put that very question to the test as they make bloody nubs of their fingers clicking through, then summarizing the Wikipedia entries for Liu Kang (Singapore painter), Potemkin (Battleship), Siegfried (Wagnerian hero) and Dagon (Cthulhu god).

"Some characters have some obvious similarities to the people with which they share their name, while in other cases it's little more than a strange coincidence." It is pretty amazing. Both Liu Kangs are Asian! Both Potemkins Russian! Both Dagon's undersea gods! Both Siegfrieds girly Bavarian warriors! Amazing. Florian Eckhardt

The Name Game II: The Real Life Origins of Game Character Names [Armchair Empire]