Cannon Fodder Name FAQ

Cannon Fodder Name FAQ

                    by Rob Browning (pluvius3 @ gmail.com)
                         v1.00 (Written June 6, 2010)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


*TABLE OF CONTENTS*
 -----------------

I.    DISCLAIMER
II.   VERSION HISTORY
III.  INTRODUCTION
IV.   NAMES
V.    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS


**************
I.  DISCLAIMER
**************

This FAQ is copyright 2010 Rob Browning, all rights reserved.  All trademarks
and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective
trademark and copyright holders.  Redistribution for profit is prohibited.
Free distribution is allowed provided that this FAQ is left intact and
unchanged, with credit given to the author, and that any sites distributing
this FAQ update it regularly.  Personal, private use of this FAQ is allowed
with no restrictions.


********************
II.  VERSION HISTORY
********************

v1.00 (06-06-10):  First release.


******************
III.  INTRODUCTION
******************

Q.  What is this FAQ for?
A.  This FAQ contains a list of the names of the recruits that fight for your
side in Cannon Fodder, a game developed by Sensible Software for many
different systems including the Commodore Amiga.  This FAQ is based on the
Sega Mega Drive version, but should apply to most of the others as well.

Q.  Why did you write this FAQ?
A.  One of the most noticeable things about Cannon Fodder is that each of your
squadmembers, most of whom die horrible deaths only to be replaced by others,
have individual and non-random names.  This is a pretty neat touch as well as
one that drives home the point that war treats soldiers, each of whom are
unique beings with unique histories and families and such, like interchangeable
parts in a machine.  I wanted to see what this list of names was, as well as if
there were any Easter eggs included.  I thought some other gamers might be
interested.

Q.  How exactly did you dump the list of names?
A.  First of all, I used a nice little hex-editor called Thingy to do a
relative search in the ROM.  A relative search allows one to find a line of
text anywhere in the ROM, even if the line of text isn't encoded in ASCII (the
standard method of digitizing text); for example, I searched for the name
"Jools" which led me to the area of the ROM where the list of names could be
found.  Since this list was encoded in simple ASCII, all I had to do from there
was dump the list to a standard text file and edit it manually.  It was
actually pretty easy; Sensible did not use multiple methods of encoding the
text, nor did it use any tricks to make the ROM size smaller (which would've
made dumping the list consequently more difficult for reasons which go beyond
the scope of this document).

Q.  Is the list complete?
A.  Yes.  There are 360 recruits that show up by the end of the game, and there
are 360 names on the list.

Q.  So are there any Easter eggs in the list?
A.  Yes, there are several:

-The first five or so names are nicknames for members of Sensible Software and
the Cannon Fodder development team.  Jools programmed the game, Jops designed
the levels, Stoo did graphics, and RJ and Jops both wrote the music.  Ubik is
also a reference to a Sensible member, though I'm not entirely sure about the
next few (there were a Chris and a Pete, but I don't know about a CJ).

-The last few names are negative and insulting, since you'd have to be very
wasteful of men to get to them and your chances of beating the last mission
would be fairly low as a consequence.

-There's a pretty interesting mix of names; some of them are dead normal such
as Greg and Frank, while others like Killer and Pizza are more bizarre.

-The names do unfortunately repeat themselves on occasion.  Most notable is the
fact that Steve pops up once, then once again, then a third time almost
immediately after the second.

-Wizkid was the name of one of Sensible's other games, a sequel to their
popular Wizball game.

-There are some famous pairs and groups on the list.  These include Mario and
Luigi; Ali and Tyson; Iceman and Goose; Bono and the Edge; Crosby, Stills,
Nash, and Young; the crew of the starship Enterprise; and a horde of Biblical
characters.


*********
IV. NAMES
*********

Here's the whole point of the FAQ, the list of names:

JOOLS
JOPS
STOO
RJ
UBIK
CJ
CHRIS
PETE
TADGER
HECTOR
ELROY
SOFTY
MAC
BOMBER
STAN
TOSH
BRAINS
NORM
BUSTER
SPIKE
BROWNY
MURPHY
KILLER
ABDUL
SPOTTY
GOOFY
DONALD
WINDY
NIFTA
DENZIL
CEDRIC
ALF
MARTY
CECIL
WALLY
PERVY
JASON
ROY
PEEWEE
ARNIE
LOFTY
TUBBY
PORKY
NORRIS
BUGSY
GREG
GUS
GINGER
EDDY
STEVE
HUGO
ZIPPY
SONNY
WILLY
MARIO
LUIGI
BO
JOHAN
COLIN
QUEENY
MORGAN
REG
PETER
BRETT
MATT
VIC
HUT
BUD
BRAD
ASHLEY
LES
REX
LOUIS
PEDRO
MARCO
LEON
ALI
TYSON
TIGER
FRANK
REUBEN
LEYTON
JOSH
JUDAS
AJ
LEX
BUTCH
BISON
GARY
LUTHER
KERMIT
BRIAN
RAY
FREAK
LEROY
LEE
BANJO
BEAKER
BASIL
BONZO
KELVIN
RONNIE
RUPERT
ROO
DAN
JIMMY
RONNIE
BOB
DON
TOMMY
EDDIE
OZZY
MARK
PADDY
ARNOLD
TONY
TEDDY
DOM
THEO
MARTIN
CHUNKY
JON
BEN
GIRLY
JULIAN
GARY
PIZZA
MARK
CIARAN
JOCK
GRAVY
TRENDY
NEIL
DEREK
ED
STEVE
BIFF
STEVE
PAUL
STUART
RANDY
LORETA
SUZIE
PUMPY
URMER
ROGER
PUSSY
MEAT
BEEFY
HARRY
TINY
HOWARD
MORRIS
THOR
REV
DUKE
WILLY
MICKY
CHAS
MELONY
CRAIG
SIDNEY
PARSON
ROWAN
SMELLY
DOK
STEW
DONALD
ADRIAN
PAT
ICEMAN
GOOSE
DIPPY
VIV
FAGS
BUNTY
NOEL
BONO
EDGE
ROBBIE
SEAN
MILES
JIMI
GORDON
VAL
HOBO
FUNGUS
TOILET
LAMPY
MARCUS
PELE
HUBERT
JAMES
TIM
SAUL
ANDY
ALF
SILKY
SIMON
HANDY
SID
GEORGE
JOFF
BARRY
DICK
GIL
NICK
TED
PHIL
WOODY
WYNN
ALAN
PIP
MICKEY
JUSTIN
KARL
MADDOG
HORACE
HAROLD
GAZZA
SPIV
FOXY
NED
BAZIL
OLIVER
RETT
SCOT
DARREN
EDWIN
MOSES
NOAH
SETH
BUDDAH
MARY
PILOT
MCBETH
MCDUFF
BELLY
MATHEW
MARK
LUKE
JOHN
ASLAM
HAM
SHEM
JOSHUA
JACOB
ESAW
OMAR
SAUL
ENOCH
OBADIA
DANIEL
SAMUEL
BEN
ROBBO
JOEBED
ISMAEL
ISREAL
ISABEL
ISARAT
MONK
BLIP
BACON
DANUBE
FRIEND
DARRYL
IZZY
CROSBY
STILLS
NASH
YOUNG
CHEESE
SALAMI
PRAWN
RADISH
EGBERT
EDWY
EDGAR
EDWIN
EDRED
EGGPIE
BROS
SONIC
ZIGGY
ALFRED
SIGGY
HILDA
SNELL
SPARKS
SPOOK
TOPCAT
BENNY
DIBBLE
BENKER
DOSEY
BEAKY
JOIST
PIVOT
TREE
BUSH
GRASS
SEEDY
TIN
ROLLO
ZIPPO
NANCY
LARRY
IGGY
NIGEL
JAMIE
JESSE
LEO
VIRGO
GARTH
FIDEL
IDI
CHE
KIRK
SPOCK
MACCOY
CHEKOV
UHURA
BONES
VULCAN
FESTER
JETHRO
JIMBOB
DECLAN
DALEK
HICKEY
CHOCCO
GOCH
PABLO
RENOIR
ROLF
DALI
MONET
MANET
GAUGIN
CHAGAL
KID
HULLY
ROBERT
PIERS
RAITH
JEEVES
PASTER
ADOLF
DEITER
DENI
ZARK
WIZKID
WIZARD
IAIN
KITTEN
GONNER
WASTER
LOSER
FODDER


*************************************
V.  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS
*************************************

Thanks to:

Sensible Software, for developing this game.

Virgin Interactive, for publishing this game.

CJayC and everyone else at GameFAQs, for their excellent resource (as well as
giving me a place to host this FAQ).  This FAQ can also be found at Neoseeker.

Necrosaro, for creating a great hex-editor specifically for ROMs.

The makers of Kega Fusion, the prime emulator for pre-Saturn Sega systems.

Sega, for making the Genesis (Mega Drive), a system that had so many good
games despite being second-best.

And, of course, you for reading.

Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to pluvius3 @ gmail.com
(without the spaces obviously).  Please put "Cannon Fodder FAQ" or something
similar in the subject line so I will know what the email is about.  If you
mention something that I feel should be in this FAQ, I will insert it in a
future update and give you credit.

Copyright 2010 Rob Browning, all rights reserved.