: Re: Using Names for Weaponry used in Actual Games I've recently looked at the chat that talks about the question of referencing actual military weapons in your writing. Since I'm writing a science-fiction

@Vandalay250

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IANAL

Yes you can but you shouldn't.

In-Story Reason

No weapon designer will name a weapon after someone else. Weapons are normally named after the designer/founder/company and then a model designation. So Kalashnikov, Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Heckler & Koch. Even the MAC-10 is actually Military Armament Corporation Model 10).

Weapon systems are occasionally named for some famous military figure e.g. M1 Abrams. But it was designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems). The designation I think is from the Army

Aircraft are named e.g. Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II or F-35 Lightning II which is actually the Lockheed Martin X-35.

So a Mecha or robot based on this reality would never just be a Zenit or Molot unless those words mean something in the language of the combatants like Warthog or Eagle i.e. a nickname.

Out-of-Story Reason

Unless you are pitching to write a novelisation of Robot Wars (or other in-universe tie-in) you are limiting your readers. Non-fans of the game won't know what Zenit or Molot are, but it limits your world for not enough upside.

A bullet-proof, flying, fast, humanoid hero does not have to be called Superman unless I am writing about Superman. So are you writing about Zenit & Molot? Or do you just like some feature(s) of the robots? If you are writing about them, pitch a novelisation to the rights owners.

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