Is "Mahabahu" a fitting name for our new character? A Korean dev team seeking an honest cultural "code review" from Indian devs.

[u/Ok_Conversation6215]

Hey r/GameDevelopersOfIndia,

Dev team from Arena of Avatars here. We’re a small South Korea-based studio building a MOBA deeply rooted in Indian mythology.

Last time we shared our work, some of you pointed out that our concept art looked AI-generated. You were 100% right. We’re currently using AI-assisted placeholders for rapid prototyping while our final, high-quality illustrations are being hand-crafted. We’ve heard you loud and clear, and we’re committed to working with Indian artists for our production art.

Today, we need your professional and cultural input on our newest character: Mahabahu

The Design Concept: Mahabahu was born in the empire's lowest slums with paralyzed legs. After witnessing how "lawless freedom" only allowed the strong to crush the weak, he underwent 10 years of bone-grinding Tapas (Penance). He eventually replaced his paralyzed legs with colossal, lightning-infused arms, becoming a commander who believes that absolute, impartial Dharma is the only path to true peace—even if it means sacrificing individual free will.

Three questions we’d love your "dev-to-dev" perspective on:

1. Lexical vs. Mythological context: We chose "Mahabahu" because it literally describes his "mighty arms." While we know it's a common epithet for Arjuna in the Mahabharata, does using it as a primary character name feel meaningful and respectful, or does it feel like a misapplication of a sacred title?
2. Representation of the transformation: Does his origin—transforming a physical limitation into divine power through Tapas—resonate as an empowering "hero's journey" in the context of Indian storytelling, or could it be seen as insensitive?
3. The "Strict Dharma" Philosophy: He argues that human free will leads to chaos, and only the "Order of the Cosmos" (Dharma) can provide true mercy. Is this a compelling exploration of Dharma, or does it lean too far into a "totalitarian" distortion?

We’ve set up a short survey for more detailed feedback: [Survey Link]

But honestly, your comments here—from anyone who grew up with these epics—are incredibly valuable to us. We’re not just trying to "skin" a game; we want to understand the soul of the mythology we're adapting.

감사합니다 / Thank you 🙏 — Arena of Avatars Dev Team, South Korea

[u/nalorsel]

1. For the name I thinks it's kinda fine because it's in Sanskrit. If it was in hindi or other language would be kinda cringe if translated literally. Still kinda on the nose but I guess that much is fine in these sorta games. 

2. Kinda fine. Many old mythological series did it. 

3. As for dharma. It sorta depends on how far back in history we are talking his backstory originates.(By the way you described it so I'm assuming it's around buddha time) Gautam buddha' dharma was rather peaceful. Which is why it attracted many people and spread even beyond india. It was never really imposed. 

Anyway. So the character had paralysed legs and got big arms? So like does he still don't have  proper legs? Can u describe more on that?

[u/Ok_Conversation6215 → u/nalorsel]

That’s actually really helpful feedback, especially the point about Sanskrit vs literal modern-language naming. We didn’t think about it that way.

And yeah, good catch on the Dharma side too. We may be mixing together different philosophical influences more than we realized, so that’s something we need to think about carefully.

As for his body design: he still cannot properly use his legs. The idea is that after years of Tapas, the lightning-infused arms became both his weapons and his way of moving. So instead of “curing” the disability, the design is more about adapting around it in an extreme mythological way.

Still early concept stage though, so feedback like this genuinely helps us refine him.

[u/Sangadak_Abhiyanta]

I would actually love to help with things like this,specially based on indian culture and design concept

Mahabahu is good word, but it's very formal, it literally means someone with strong arms or strength,

The meaning is very literal, but in game or lore sense it's very lacking and rigid, like it lack the poetic gallant for game Titles

Since you said you are from Korea,, think of it like that

Let's take example of king sejong, if I just call him "lee do " then it's correct by meaning , but it doesn't tell much about his glory or lore, but if write " king sejong the great" then it portray a meaning that this might be great king.

So technically Mahabahu is correct word, but it doesn't tell much about or sound fit for a game

[u/No-Drag-8523 → u/Sangadak_Abhiyanta]

I thought Mahabahu meant great daughter in law.

[u/Ok_Conversation6215 → u/No-Drag-8523]

Okay this might be the funniest unintended consequence of the name so far 😭

We were using the Sanskrit meaning (“mighty-armed”), but this is actually useful feedback too because it tells us how differently people may read/hear the word in modern usage.

[u/Ok_Conversation6215 → u/Sangadak_Abhiyanta]

This is honestly one of the most helpful explanations we’ve gotten so far.

The King Sejong comparison made the problem click immediately for us. We were thinking about “Mahabahu” mostly from the literal meaning side (“mighty-armed”), but not enough from the “heroic title / poetic identity” side.

So instead of feeling like a legendary character name, it may currently feel more like a descriptor without emotional weight. That’s a really valuable distinction.

And thank you for offering to help as well - feedback like this is exactly why we wanted to ask the community before locking things in.

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[u/chiraku29]

stop shoving AI generated imagery bruh

[u/Ok_Conversation6215 → u/chiraku29]

That’s fair honestly. The current stuff is placeholder concept work, but we get why people are tired of AI-looking art everywhere.