Jugdral Localization (Wank Optional)

[mark_asphodel]

So.  We'll hear no more about Latka and Scrabblebits 'round these parts.

And not Luchtaine and Scathach, either.  Despite the mythological bent showed in the localization overall, Ayra's mini-me daughter has been localized as... Larcei.  I think I like it.  Meanwhile, NoA completely and utterly punted on the raving mess of a name that is Sukasha/Skasaher/Scathach and came up with... Ulster.  Despite the fact that they've been assiduously erasing real-life place names from the game script overall (x-ref Leonster, Silesse, etc).  I'm guessing this means that if Shanan gets localized in anything ever he will indeed be rendered as "Shannon" to go with his cousin.

"Ulster" is not a very good name but I have to laugh about it, as it just seems like NoA looked at "スカサハ" and went, "Fuck it. Where's a map of Ireland? Pick something!" 

Anyway, first we have the FE5 names.

Dadga --> Dadgar.  OK.
Marita--> Mareeta.  Eh.  Not my favorite spelling but w/e.
Evayle--> Evyel.  Again, I had my own preference but I'll get over it.  I was half-expecting "Yvelle" or something out-there.
Olwen is unchanged.
Seiram--> Salem.  Yes!
Cyas--> Saias.  It's a palindrome.
Reidrick--> Raydrik.  Eh.  Don't care for it but again w/e.  I kind of like how Google Translate makes him the double-barrelled menace of Ray Hendrick.

Oh, and Fiana remains Fiana.  Marita Mareeta mentions it.

Then we have the FE4 gang.

Ardan--> Arden.  OK.
Jamka-->Jamke.  I dunno if that's better or worse.
Aira-->Ayra.  I'm just glad they didn't go with "Ira," which reminds me of old European dudes (same way "Serge" was a bad name for Cherche.)
Arthur is unchanged
Julius is unchanged
Fee is still Fee.  Good.
Altenna-->Altena.  Eh.  Looks better the other way.
Ethlin-->Ethlyn.  Very pretty and I totally expected this.  NoA likes their "y"s these days.
Aless-->Ares.  Always preferred "Aless" but not gonna cry over it.  He makes a better God of War than "Mars" does anyway.
Alvis-->Arvis.  Never liked his name to start with and dunno how I feel about this.
Levin-->Lewyn.  The vaguely Jewish bard becomes a Welsh bard, and after I got over the shock I decided I liked the name.
Sety-->Ced.  I am probably in the extreme minority here, as I'm fine with this.  Crusader Sety and his Holsety spell always struck me as a little weirdly coincidental so I don't care if the similarity has been expunged.
Cuan-->Quan.  Holy shit.  I have seen this spelling on one, count that one, piece of Japanese fanart.  Ever.  I expected either a full-on mythological correctness with "Cian" or a 4kids-style "Quin" and wasn't sure which way the wind would blow here.  Yikes.
Lachesis-->Raquesis.  Huh.  Funny that this time they chose to dump the mythical reference.  I'm just glad it wasn't "Rackesis," which sounded like either a bone disease or a parasitic infestation.  "Raquesis" kind of has a Raquel Welch sex-bomb ring to it.  I guess she's the new L'Arachel in terms of "Well, I guess you can do that with those syllables."

Maris and Roro are Malice and Legion.  Very cool. 

I'm reeling from "Quan" and "Arvis" and "Ulster" but I'll get over it. 

Comments

[amielleon]

The first time I faced Legion I thought he was a reference to the FE11/12 nameless reinforcements, especially given his death quote.

The second time around I was like "wait, isn't that ... Roro?"

I think my least favorite change this round is Levin, just because I quite liked the name. Most of the changes read sort of like "making up our own localizations for the hell of it since Japan can't make up its mind anyway" which is fair in about 90% of these cases.

Though that doesn't mean I like it deep down inside.

(Incidentally, the other day I was trying to decide how to most attractively (yet faithfully) render the mess that is Rufure, and I think my favorite candidate is Loufleis. But I definitely agree with Robin for that round.)

[samuraiter]

Ulster: "... fufufu, no one will ever suspect my true identity as $k4r88l3z ..."

[zyriex]

I'm not too stoked about Raquesis, since I liked that mythological reference.

I think that Fury intentionally named her son after the original crusader, so yeah, one of the many that wished Sety was just changed to Seti or something. Then again Seti is kinda a bit awkward too...

[mark_asphodel]

Except then you just mentally refer to the Crusader as... Ced.

SETI looks for aliens, as far as I'm concerned. :)

[knmc]

I can imagine when the whole treehouse and steve singer(Chief localizator and VP of Japanese Licesing of NoA) facing the whole Judgral Script... that would be messy(i've that script, that japanese is almost academy, for God sake), again localization was decent.

I still wonder myself how would have translated FE3 in 1995 as planned(before being booed in Summer CES 94), that time treehouse was busy with Mother2/Earthbound... that would have Mars as oficcial name or worse.. having new script

[mark_asphodel]

that would have Mars as oficcial name or worse.. having new script

Good point. Fidelity wasn't always key back then.

[raphiael]

I guess now I brace myself for the FE6 stuff. Watch them do something totally bizarre with Lleu at this point. :I

[mark_asphodel]

Hahah.

If they do call him "Ray," watch out.

[scarletmorning]

Wow. Some of those are really awkward or ugly o.O

[mark_asphodel]

To be fair, Lakche, Skasaher, Rackesis, and Jamka were difficult to start with.

[scarletmorning]

I'm actually really okay with Lakche and Jamka. They sound pretty in my head. But Raquesis and Malice and Legion? Wtf. And whats up with the useless Qs and Ys.

And why does Ira remind you of old men? I am curious...

[mark_asphodel]

"Malice" is good IMO because we already have Marisa in FE8 and the alternate translation is "Maris". Also, she's not very nice.

"Legion" is perfect for Roro because he's a clone with a hive-mind.

And why does Ira remind you of old men? I am curious...

Ira is technically a unisex Hebrew name but in the US I've mostly encountered it among really old men. It's very outdated.

[scarletmorning]

huh, would've never thought of that. I would put it in the "clearly female" category.

I guess it's mostly a cultural difference? You'd so not get through here with calling your kid "Malice" or "Legion". People would think you lost your mind or something.

[mark_asphodel]

The US, unlike many countries in Europe, has no rules on names. Actually here in Detroit years back there was an infamous murder trial about a man named Malice Green who died after being beaten by police.

As for "Legion"-- again, he's a clone, raised to be an assassin, in a orphanage of brainwashed child assassins. We're not dealing with a normal village lad here. It works.

[the_geek]

After seeing Quan, I officially decided that my nickname for him would be Quan Carlos. And Ulster, I wasn't sure if that was Scathach or if that was one of the replacement kids. I guess I can't call him Scat-Hatch anymore. ;_;

[mark_asphodel]

I guess I can't call him Scat-Hatch anymore. ;_;

And this is why we cannot have nice... wait, I didn't like the name anyway. Carry on with the poop jokes. ;)

Re: replacement kids. Given NoA's fondness for such joke names as Wymp and Auffle, I'm wondering if they'd actually go with Badney and Roddlebad for the replacements.

[swanchika]

When I saw the name "Arvis", I immediately thought of that old guy you meet at the start of Final Fantasy VI... funny how some references stick.

I really don't know what to think about most of the other name changes (except Raquesis, which I'm sure I don't like very much), but... having a character named Ulster is weird. Especially if Alster is still Alster...

However, "Legion" is way cooler than "Roro". Too bad the biggest FE12 naming "debates" were about characters so minor they weren't included, it seems we will have to wait for the pigs to fly before we see how NoA would have decided on Vergil Belf and Malliesia Melissa Malicia's names.

One last thought, it seems that with Evayle/Evyel, the change in pronunciation is actually pretty big, or am I just reading that wrong ?

[mark_asphodel]

Too bad the biggest FE12 naming "debates" were about characters so minor they weren't included, it seems we will have to wait for the pigs to fly before we see how NoA would have decided on Vergil Belf and Malliesia Melissa Malicia's names.

Hahah.

I think the canon existence of "Malice" rules out "Malicia" in the same game, thank goodness.

One last thought, it seems that with Evayle/Evyel, the change in pronunciation is actually pretty big, or am I just reading that wrong ?

I typed it wrong in my haste. It's been rendered "Eyvel."