Mikhail Yagupov Sep 19, 2016:

Or you could reverse the logic and opt for something along the lines of "Lightbane" or "Lightsbane" as the equivalent of "utter darkness." Would work as a nickname, I guess.

Mikhail Kropotov Sep 19, 2016:

Is being black / being called black important in any other way in the story / lore? It could be that your hands are tied and it just has to be 'black' to work with other things. For example (and I'm just making this up to make my point), Black demons run a *black* market or maybe they prefer to drink *black* coffee. Then none of this 'nightly' or 'dark' stuff will work. Anyway, just a thought. We don't have all the context, ya know ;)

Mark Berelekhis (asker) Sep 19, 2016:

That's the problem... It needs to match the conversational/informal tone where it's most often used. Like, instead of using the character's name, others refer to him as such. It works well in Russian, not so much in English.

The Misha Sep 19, 2016:

Well, maybe not Midnight then. Unless you want to have an entire Midnight Race. The Born of the Dark race? It's a little unwieldy though.

Rachel Douglas Sep 19, 2016:

FWIW Many fantasy writers have had no problem with "Black Demon":
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q="higher demon"#tbm=b...

And there seems to be a writer named Kim Richardson whose books are populated with "higher demons".
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q="Higher Demon"

Mark Berelekhis (asker) Sep 19, 2016:

Very happy to have such heavy hitters joining the discussion :)

So, the character is part of the demon race, so that part is nothing special. These black demons are special, however. Here's an explanation from the text:

"Высшие – это те, кто смогли совладать с проснувшейся в них истинной кровью. Редко, очень редко она в ком-то просыпается, но еще реже тот, в ком она все-таки проснулась, может обуздать свою ярость и не превратиться в чудовище. Полностью черным в боевой форме становится только высший."

So, essentially, think of being a высший as a higher caste, with greater strength and abilities. And being called a черный is an honorific because these units transform in combat into an especially fearsome all-black form.

The Misha Sep 19, 2016:

Midnight is a good one. Methink.

Rachel Douglas Sep 19, 2016:

Synonyms Mark, is there any reason the second word cannot be "Demon"? Sorry, but I know nothing about the genre you mention. Which is supposed to be a token of respect - "demon", or the color?

Of synonyms not containing the word "black" (like "coal-black," etc.), would any of these be possibilities? - sable, ebon, ebony, midnight, inky, raven; and, some synonyms of dark: darksome, night-mantled, tenebrous, shadowy.