What does で do in this?


> 弱い冒険者からは階層主という名 **で** 恐れられているように、.....

Is で marking the agent of the passive sentence? I thought you had to use に.




No, this 階層主 is feared by 弱い冒険者, which is marked by から in this sentence. Some
verbs can take から instead of に when in passive voice.

>   * 私は彼 **に** 見下された ＝ 私は彼 **から** 見下された ＝ I was looked down by him.
>   * 上司 **に** 仕事を任された ＝ 上司 **から** 仕事を任された ＝ I was assigned a task by my boss.
>

(BTW irregular prepositions are also found in English passive sentences, for
example "I was surprised _at_ ...", "He was known _to_ ...")

* * *

And this で is not directly related to passive voice, but is a particle which
corresponds to "under" in " **under** the name of 階層主."

> 弱い冒険者からは階層主という名で恐れられているように、...  
>  ＝ 弱い冒険者 **に** は階層主という名で恐れられているように、...  
>  ＝ As he is feared by low-rank adventurers under the name of 階層主, ...




No, this 階層主 is feared by 弱い冒険者, which is marked by から in this sentence. Some
verbs can take から instead of に when in passive voice.

>   * 私は彼 **に** 見下された ＝ 私は彼 **から** 見下された ＝ I was looked down by him.
>   * 上司 **に** 仕事を任された ＝ 上司 **から** 仕事を任された ＝ I was assigned a task by my boss.
>

(BTW irregular prepositions are also found in English passive sentences, for
example "I was surprised _at_ ...", "He was known _to_ ...")

* * *

And this で is not directly related to passive voice, but is a particle which
corresponds to "under" in " **under** the name of 階層主."

> 弱い冒険者からは階層主という名で恐れられているように、...  
>  ＝ 弱い冒険者 **に** は階層主という名で恐れられているように、...  
>  ＝ As he is feared by low-rank adventurers under the name of 階層主, ...

