Jaykob Storey answers “Hiro Protagonist, really? Should I be...”

Sam asked this question about Snow Crash:

Hiro Protagonist, really? Should I be worried about the startling lack of imagination this displays?

Jaykob Storey You get that this isn't his real name, right? The books doesn't spell it out cause it expects just a little more of its readers. It's a nickname, a ps…moreYou get that this isn't his real name, right? The books doesn't spell it out cause it expects just a little more of its readers. It's a nickname, a pseudonym, something he chose for himself as his street persona. This is very common in Cyberpunk fiction. Neo in the Matrix, Molly Millions in Neuromancer, Johnny Silverhand. Every Cyberpunk character uses a fake name and most of the time we never learn their real identity.

It's literally on a business card that also says, "Last of The Freelance Hacker and Workd's Greatest Swordsman." He's a cocky young man that takes jobs specifically because the possibility of death excites him. It's extremely in character for him to dub himself, "Hiro Protagonist."

Not to mention, this is an absurdity world where pizza boys have to wear ballistic gel armour and if the pizza is one second late, the delivery guy gets executed. It's ridiculous. You're not supposed to take it that seriously. It's one step down from Monty Python: Cyberpunk Edition.(less)

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