Woolseyism / Role-Playing Game

Chrono Trigger/Cross

• The Goldfish Poop Gang in Chrono Trigger were named after condiments (Vinegar, Soysau, and Mayonne) in the Japanese version. This was deemed not very intimidating, so they were changed to rock stars (Ozzie, Slash, and Flea) instead. However, the name scheme is quite common for their designer, Akira Toriyama, whose work was still obscure in the U.S. when the game was released. Fans argue over whether this was actually a good change or whether the names would have been left alone had Dragon Ball been more popular in the U.S. at the time.
  • This created something of a problem when the Japanese version of Chrono Cross actually included a main character named Slash that was supposed to be a rock star, which could have been handwaved if they hadn't also included an optional boss fight with the aforementioned Goldfish Poop Gang in the same game. This led to his name being changed to Nikki, a reference to Nikki Sixx, in the English version.
• The Chrono Cross team deserves a medal for how well they handled translating some incredibly long names in the face of space constraints. "Snakebone Master Jakotu", for one example, was changed to the similar "Lord Viper" (just "Viper" on the character menu).
  • More dubiously, the Chrono Cross localization used an on-the-fly accent and dialect generator. Instead of writing actual dialog for all the characters, they wrote it once and ran it through the generator. (Given that the game had numerous characters, this saved a lot of time, effort, and disc memory for the localization, but this also resulted in some cringe-inducing accents — for example, Poshul's terrible, terrible lisp.)
• The gurus in Chrono Trigger were originally named Gasch, Hash, and Bosch. Woolsey changed them to the biblically influenced Belthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar, much more appropriate for three old wise men.
• Magus leaps to mind. His original designation in Japanese was "Maou" (魔王 Maou, "Demon King"), denoting his position of leadership over the Mystics ("Demons" in Japanese, natch). You'll notice it isn't a name (since you later find out it's Janus); it's a TITLE. Due to Nintendo of America's rather puritan rules for translation requiring the removal of any religious references or references to alcohol, his "name" was changed from "Maou" to "Magus", Latin for "Magician". Obviously, still not his name, and perfectly encapsulates his role in both his society and the party (he's the most powerful user of Black Magic in the game, and the only one who knows magic without having to be taught beforehand). The DS version splits the difference by giving him the title of "Fiendlord" (as the Mystics are called "Fiends" in the DS version) while keeping "Magus" as his personal alias.
• The way Frog speaketh. In the original, he spoke in normal Japanese, and in a rather blunt manner. In the DS version, he lost his accent, but remained quite polite. It was quite baffling that no one else in 600 A.D. talked like this, and that he used to speak normally before his transformation. However, many old-school fans mourned the loss of the accent.
  • The sudden accent could be interpreted in a Watsonian way as Frog overdoing things slightly in his attempts to become a great knight to avenge Cyrus.
• The DS version corrects one of the less enjoyable "Woolseyisms" — the conversion of "Kamaitachi" to "Slash", mucking up the solution to the Puzzle Boss Masamune/Granleon (the move interrupts its charge, because it's the wind, whoosh!). This was quietly retranslated to "Wind Slash".
• "Masamune," indeed. Which brings up the peculiar notion of a famous Japanese swordsmith crafting a distinctly European broadsword. The change of the sword's name from "Grandleon" mystifies to this day.
  • The sequel establishes that the Masamune is such a powerful weapon of destiny that it's in fact a Swiss-Army Weapon that adapts itself to the style of its chosen user, hence why the "Mastermune" is such a radically different kind of weapon from the original Masamune/Grandleon.
• According to Chrono Cross translator Richard Honeywood, several lines of expository dialogue in Japanese created plot holes (not entirely surprising for a game with an insanely complicated plot and tons of dialogue), and so were changed for the English version with direct input from writer/director Masato Kato.

Final Fantasy

• One for the series as a whole: The knightly job class noted for wielding Blades On Sticks, doing a lot of jumping, and having a prominent dragon motif is named in Japanese 竜騎士, Ryuukishi lit. Dragon Knight. This, however, does violence to the character limit, and thus translators opted for the Punny Name of Dragoon. Granted, real military dragoons were light cavalry who made extensive use of firearms and didn't come into play until long after the armoured lancers depicted by Final Fantasy Dragoons were obsolete, but even then, it's fitting, as the Dragoon's main benefit is being able to deal the same damage from the back row and avoiding counterattacks by remaining out of reach from the enemy... very much like the idea behind firearms.
• The Hero of Final Fantasy II is one フリオニール, lit. Furioniiru and usually romanized as "Frioniel". However, he has always been localized as "Firion", which has the twin benefits of fitting within the game's character limits and not sounding bizarre, awkward, and unwieldy to an Anglophone.
• Final Fantasy IV's original English translation is usually remembered as being something of a fiasco.^note Contrary to popular belief, Ted Woolsey was not involved with the game and was in fact hired by Square because of the shoddy translation. However, this translation did have a diamond in the rough that actually became a series mainstay: in the Japanese version, the recurring enemy/summon of the Magus Sisters were named Dogu, Magu, and Ragu. This was changed to Sandy, Cindy, and Mindy for the English version.
  • Replacing Tellah's angsty question, "And just what do I have wrong!?" with the famously terrible insult, "You spoony bard!" was, in fact, a Woolseyism. It just wasn't a very good one. But exactly for that reason, it became one of the most memorable and beloved lines in the series.
  • In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, the way they handled the names of Cecil's brother and Cecil's son probably counts. Despite what some fans think, the name is actually not the same in Japanese — Golbez's is rendered as セオドール, Seodooru, and Ceodore's as セオドア, Seodoa. Neither of these map to the "standard" Japanese rendering of Theodore, which is シオドール, Shiodooru, though Golbez's is the closest.
• Final Fantasy V Advance has a fairly ridiculous English translation, fitting the lighthearted tone of the game (and being a massive improvement of the previous translation), with things such as Gilgamesh saying "Inconceivable!" after being defeated, or Bartz commenting that a defeated enemy crab has been served.
  — Gilgamesh: "Enough expository banter! Now, we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men! For Gilgamesh...It's morphing time!"
  • In the Japanese version, the name of the protagonist is "Battsu" (バッツ), but the first popular fan translation turned this into "Butz", which is how he was known for quite a while. This was changed to "Bartz'' in the English PlayStation version for obvious reasons.
  • There is also a nameless NPC scholar who comments, "Take a look, it's in this book!" And then there's Homer's "I Am So Smart" song from The Simpsons being paid homage to by one of Bartz's childhood friends. There's also the Gladiator's special attack, which "when successful, hits [enemies'] weak points for massive damage". The "Whip" weapon features the description "Best used when problems come along." The description for the Dancer class mentions Blood on the Dance Floor.
• The most famous example of Woolsey's handiwork is probably Final Fantasy VI. It's also his most effective example. Unlike the GBA re-releases of Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V, Square Enix chose not to redo the English script from the ground up, but rather expand upon Woolsey's work.
  • Terra Branford was originally named "Tina" in the Japanese version. While "Tina" no doubt sounds sufficiently exotic to Japanese speakers, it's not very evocative to English speakers, so Woolsey changed it. The earth connotations of her new name also unintentionally created a parallel with the other heroine, Celes.
  • The game's antagonist, Kefka, was given dozens of new lines, many of which were absolutely hilarious and excellently established his character as a misanthropic nutcase. (Notably, this got him Rescued from the Scrappy Heap in the West — he was perceived as a laughing idiot in Japan, but became one of the game's most popular characters in the U.S. and Europe, mostly due to the Woolseyisms.) Recurring comic relief Ultros got a similar treatment.
  • The Final Fantasy VI Advance remake for the game, released twelve years later, contains an NPC who takes a shot at RPGOne's Fan Translation of the game which was far more literal — and not nearly as entertaining. The Advance version also changed a few of Kefka's lines, giving him wisecracks he did not have in the SNES version. Though a bit more contested, Kefka's line "son of a submariner", to "son of a sandworm". Both work in the context, but there are no submarines in the game. There's also Kefka's "HATE HATE HATE" speech, which oddly enough, was referenced in the English translation of Dissidia Final Fantasy several years later, since in the Japanese version, he says "dammit dammit dammit" instead of "hate hate hate", making the leap pretty easy.
  • Perhaps even more well known than the 'Son of a submariner!' quote was Darryl's grave, in the World of Ruin. Viewed backwards, the headstone read, 'The World Is Square,' which was Square's advertising slogan at the time.
  • The Woolseyisms to Kefka's dialogue made his lines, in addition to more hilarious, also a lot more horrifying and creepy. For instance, in the scene where he kills General Leo, due to obvious restrictions at the time, Kefka remarks that, when reporting to Gestahl about the success, he'll also mention that he merely had to "exterminate a traitor", making the delivery a lot more creepy than simply saying dispose. Similarly, when the Esper reinforcements arrive at Thalmasa shortly thereafter, Kefka remarks when they arrive "I'd say you're all charged up, boys and girls... or whatever... Say, remind me to show you my Magicite collection someday! You might see a few familiar faces!!!", which makes what he does to the rest of the Espers shortly thereafter enter horror territory, as he's basically telling them that after killing them that he'll show them the other Espers that he also killed. In the original script, as well as the Advanced Remake's script, Kefka merely reacts to their arrival in a similar fashion to a young child's reaction to a surprise birthday party.
  • The name of "Espers" for the summoned beasts was another Woolseyism — in Japanese, they were called genjū (幻獣), which roughly means "phantom beast"^note ("phantom" as in "imaginary" or "a figment"), a term used in many other games in the series. You wouldn't generally find this word in a Japanese dictionary, even though it is used in several other fantasy/sci-fi contexts; it may have itself been a Woolseyism coined for Jorge Luis Borges' Book of Imaginary Beings. Though the actual reason for the name change was to get around the six-character limit (five for menus), the new name was appreciated for being unique. Later FF localizations have similarly deviated from the Japanese term to great effect on the script (Eidolon in particular, which was even used in later Final Fantasy IV translations) and Final Fantasy XII re-used it as a homage.
• Final Fantasy VII:
  • There's an urban legend that the two principal characters in Final Fantasy VII were originally named "Kuroudu" and "Arisu" — somewhat incorrect supposed Japanizations of the English names "Claude" and "Alice". As the story goes, the translation team re-Anglicized the Japanese names to arrive at "Cloud" and "Aeris" so they would sound less prosaic in English. Of course, they were meant to be Cloud and Aerith all along; the developers wanted to evoke the English words "cloud" and "earth". But the fact that the rumour still survives makes it a strong example of the original Woolseyisms' impact on later games and their fans.
  • Cloud's ultimate attack was called "Chōkyūbushinhazan" which translates as "Super-Ultimate War God Supreme Slash". This sounds absurd in English and murders the character limit, so it became "Omnislash". Interestingly, "Omnislash" may have been referenced in the Japanese Dissidia, as before he executes the attack, Cloud yells out "Subete o tachikiru!", literally meaning "Slash through everything!"
  • Cloud's penultimate Limit Break, "Finishing Touch", is one to its original Japanese name, "Garyou Tensei", an idiom that means just that, putting the finishing touches on something.
  • You can say a lot about the quality of the game's translation, but the game does a decent job of translating Japanese speech patterns to equivalent English ones. Cloud's egotistical pronoun use and tendency to rely on verbal clichés is turned into 90s disaffected understatement; Aerith's Totally Radical city-gyaru speech is turned into blunt but girly dialogue; Sephiroth's formal speech is translated to him using a wider and more precise vocabulary than any other characters; Cid's hickish accent and depressive attitude is turned to fluent, curmudgeonly swearing; and so on. Red XIII starts off talking in pretentious Spock Speak and ends up talking in the blunt tones of a little boy, a decent representation of his pronoun switch in the original Japanese. More extreme overhauls were making Yuffie talk in Valley Girl slang and Barret talk in occasionally ill-judged AAVE.
  • The notorious swearing that was shocking when the game first came out was added by the localisers.
  • At the end of the game, before facing Sephiroth, Cloud says "Let's go" in a kind of blunt, passive, weedy-sounding way ("Iku yo."), causing Cid to yell at him for sounding weak, and Cloud to correct himself to the imperative ("Iku ze!") to sound tougher. Since English lacks the tricky little politeness nuances which make this possible, in the English version, Cloud instead says "Alright everyone, let's mosey," preserving the Bathos while also working in a reminder of Cloud's hickish background. English speaking fans of the game often quote this scene as a favourite just because of its sheer quirkiness; Japanese ones tend to regard the scene as a mildly cute character beat, if that.
  • During the storming of the Shinra building, Cloud and Barret share a dialogue in which Barret admits he misjudged Cloud and apologises, and Cloud isn't particularly impressed. This sequence appears in either the elevator or staircase depending on whether the player had chosen to sneak into the building or break in, and the Japanese version used the same exact text for each. The English version, while translating the scene fairly accurately, did so slightly differently depending on player choice, so that Cloud came off as more passive and detached if you chose to sneak in ("Who cares if you're impressed...?") and more aggressive if you'd chosen to break in ("Who cares what you figured?!").
• Final Fantasy VII Remake, in order to give the impression of the game being done as if it were a brand-new, modern game (rather than relying on Nostalgia Filter), features purposefully radical re-localisations of things that have been consistent in all prior VII media. Attack names have been changed to give them a more dramatic and serious tone (e.g Climhazzard is now Ascension), a lot of weirder enemy names have been fixed (such as Chuse Tank becoming Terpiscolt), and Cloud's Catchphrase has been changed from the traditional/literal "not interested" to "nope", said in a distinctive, rising tone to express the playfulness of the original Japanese formulation. It's worth noting that this last tweak would not be possible in the non-acted original game.
• Final Fantasy VIII translates Fujin's single-kanjii speech into her speaking single word sentences in all-capitals, making her come off as an odder and more amusing character, as it seems less natural in English for someone to reply to something just by saying "RAGE."
• Final Fantasy IX localized the protagonist's name from Jitan to Zidane. The origins of the name are unclear (it was most likely supposed to be "Gitan", French for gypsy, and with his last name Tribal it would have been a Punny Name).
  • Incidentally, his name became Djidane in France to avoid the confusion. Probably because djinns are not far from gypsies in the French imagination.
  • The Spanish translation also changed it to "Yitán". If we keep in mind that Zinedine Zidane was playing in Spain during the time the game was released in Europe, Eduardo López (the game's Spanish translator) probably thought it was better not to distract the players imagination.
  • The Italian translation of the game changed his name to "Gidan" for the same reason, as Zinedine Zidane played for several years for Juventus FC
• Final Fantasy X had several notable ones.
  • The localization changed the protagonist's name from Tiida to Tidus. Tiida is Okinawan for "sun", but it doesn't sound masculine to the Western ear, and the ocean connotations of "Tidus" are hardly inappropriate.
  • The English version had many other changes made to fit the lip movement of the characters — thanks to that, "shibito" (corpse — though in context, more along the lines of "zombie" or "ghoul"; the Siren Games uses the word in the same manner) became "unsent" (which is a very good word given the setting of the game), "inorigo" (Child of Prayer) became "fayth" and "shokanju" (summon beasts) became "aeons", among others. The words chosen by the English version were very well accepted though. The lip problem also led to many sentences ending with "You know?" in the English version, among other small line changes.
  • In the game's finale, originally Yuna just thanks Tidus (for protecting her), while in the English version, she says she loves him (since "I love you" fits the lip movements for "Arigatou" better than "Thank you"). Saying "I love you" fits far more with the story and relationship between the two, and also causes Yuna's desire to see Tidus in the sequel to be more fitting.
  • Since most of the game is framed as Tidus recounting everything from the start of his journey up till Zanarkand, his character development is supposed to be seen slowly throughout the game in his attitude towards the world and setting. In the English version, James Arnold Taylor has Tidus narrate in a deeper sounding voice, having thought originally that Tidus' narrations took place in some form of epilogue or timeskip, not aware that it was Tidus during the game still. Many like this however, feeling that it helps contrast Tidus at the start of the game to how he was at the point where his recounting ends, where his voice is a bit closer to his narrations.
  • Originally, Wakka didn't have a Jamaican accent at all in the Japanese version. John DiMaggio began talking like that when he began voicing him, resulting in Wakka getting his now iconic accent.
• Final Fantasy XII in Japanese is perfectly ordinary modern Japanese. Final Fantasy XII in English is in pseudo-Early Modern English, which lends the entire thing a much more dramatic air. "Higashi Darumasuka Sabaku" is literally 'East Dalmasca Desert', but in English it's 'Dalmasca Estersand'. Except for Vaan and Penelo, the rest of the game's cast speak in Antiquated Linguistics (the Occuria go further and speak in Flowery Elizabethan English). Thanks to excellent translators and actors, however, they never sound cringy or awkward.
• Final Fantasy XIII:
  • The names for the classes in the Paradigm shift are described from more of a gameplay standpoint in Japan. In Japanese, they translate to Attacker, Blaster, Defender, Enhancer, Jammer, and Healer. In English at least, they're translated to appear more like military roles, so they're Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Synergist, Saboteur, and Medic (respectively). The French version use both literal translation and Woolseyism for the Paradigm: Attaquant (Attacker), Ravageur (Destroyer), Défenseur (Defender), Tacticien (Tactician), Saboteur and Soigneur (Healer). A lot of the character's lines are also Woolseyied in order to make the characters sound closer to each other (dropping a pronoun, using a French pun or expression...).
  • German translators decided to do.... something completely different! You get to choose a 'Brecher' (Breaker), 'Verheerer' (Devastator), 'Verteidiger' (Defender), 'Heiler' (Healer, both close to the original for once), 'Augmentor' (something nobody ever uses) and 'Manipulator' (means pretty much what the English word means). Oh and for the record, the thing with Orphan being a... well, orphan? The translators made him Orphanus.
  • The Spanish localization changed, to varying degrees, a lot of words in the game. Most of the classes' names are completely different, and all end up with -or, making them sound like positions in a squad: 'Castigador' (Punisher), 'Fulminador' (Fulminator), 'Protector' (the same word in English), 'Inspirador' (Inspiring, a bit creative), 'Obstructor' (Obstructive, somewhat fitting for the role) and 'Sanador' (Healer). They also renamed a lot of enemies and objects to make them sound less of a mouthfoul, like Baldanders (Barthandelus) or Minerva (Menrva). And there's totally unrelated names with interesting reasons, like 'El Piasa' (translated name of The Proudclad, based on a Native American mythical creature) or 'Lanza de Nimrod' (translated name of Taming Pole, one of Fang's weapons, based on the biblical hunter).
• Twice now, Square Enix has used the word "éclair", French for lightning, as the name for something. And in both instances it was changed to something that wouldn't bring to mind pastries for the English version. In Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days it was Larxene's signature knives, changed to Foudre, French for thunder. And in Final Fantasy XIII it was Lightning's real name, changed to Claire. The latter change becomes even better when you consider that, as a Genius Bonus / Bilingual Bonus, the name "Claire" means "light", which Lightning asks the others to call her once she starts growing closer to them. It's a touching, if somewhat subtle, way to emphasize her character growth throughout the storyline, while still contributing to the translated script in a positive way. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII took it and ran with it through Lumina, whose name is the plural form of "lumen", the Latin word for light. Because Lightning and Lumina have the same name, just in different languages, the latter's name foreshadows her true nature as Lightning's Enemy Without.
• A Kefka-related woolseyism also occurred in Dissidia Final Fantasy. After Zidane beats Kefka and demands to know where Bartz is, he originally states in the Japanese version that "the mouse [Bartz] is in the... [face closeup] PAWS [face zoom back] ...of the enemy!" The dub makes the line a lot more hilarious by having Kefka say "I'm afraid the mouse is [face closeup] SMACK! [face zoom back] ...dab-in-the-middle-of-enemy-territory!"
• Final Fantasy XIV
  • There are a lot of Shout-Out references in the game's English version as a result of a very clever and tongue-in-cheek localization team, sneaking in references to Futurama ("Be silent, and take my gil!") and Metal Gear Solid neatly into the setting of Eorzea. It's helpful that the head of localization, Michael Koji Fox, is from America and so is very familiar with American humor, as well as works with the world-building team to create the lore of the game.
  • Haurchefant's interactions pre-Heavensward were filled with Double Entendre, with him essentially trying to get the Warrior of Light to sleep with him. While this was seen as amusing in Japan, the localization team felt it would potentially come across as uncomfortable to players and made the descion to have him be more of him becoming a huge fan of the Warrior of Light and trying to be a friend to them. His flirting was maintained but adjusted to be more playful rather than the borederline obsessive tone his original lines had. This change helped him become one of the game's biggest Ensemble Dark Horse as a result, and when Heavensward came out, his character became solidified as being closer to what he was in the Western script.
  • Late in the Stormblood endgame MSQ, Magnai becomes infatuated with Y'shtola and propositions her after a pitched battle, only for Y'shtola to turn him down. In most languages, Y'shtola calls Magnai "boy" or "child", while in English, she calls him "little sun". This burn hits harder in English, since Magnai is a large man who carries himself as though he was the living embodiment of the Xaela Au Ra's creation deity, the Dawn Father Azim: to be called "little sun" is a devastating blow to him.
• The Italian translation of World of Final Fantasy gets some fun and replaces the bio for the Black Chocochick with a reference to Calimero, playing on the fact that both are black chicks wearing a cracked eggshell on their heads.
  - Black Chocochick (English Mirage Manual entry): A chocochick with black feathers. Even their bones are black, just like a certain rare breed of chicken. For whatever reason, just their eyes are red. Allergies, perhaps?
  - Black Chocochick (Italian Mirage Manual entry): A dark-feathered chocochick. Loves staying outside, playing tag with his friends and going in the woods to play hide and seek. Sadly, everyone hates him only because he's small and black. It's an injustice, it is!
• Final Fantasy Tactics, when it was localized, went through this for almost the entire script due to the way the setting was. In Japanese, the writing and script was fairly normal as far as how things were explained, meaning that while characters might have been written in different Kanji styles, the script was straightforward. When the game was being localized, the script was adjusted to be more Shakespearian and dramatic, resulting in some cheesy lines for sure, but also a script that feels more fitting for the world. When the PSP remake came along, the script was also adjusted again to be more fitting for the times by removing some of the more awkward translations.
• In the Japanese version of Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015), characters simply called out the name of their chosen Summon's signature attack. In the English version, on the other hand, each character has a unique phrase for each Summon.
  Y'shtola (summoning Ramuh): Levin, be the agent of your retribution!
  Cecil (summoning Bahamut): A dragon's fury knows no bounds!
  Zidane (summoning Alexander): Do unto these creeps as they did unto us!

Persona and other Atlus games

• In Persona 3: FES, the two game modes, called "Episode Yourself" and "Episode Aegis" was changed respectively to "The Journey" and "The Answer" in the localized version. Considering the theme of the story, this a much welcomed change compared to the rather Engrish names the original version used. Furthermore, the ultimate Persona, Orpheus Kai, which means "Reborn" or "Custom", was changed to Orpheus Telos. Telos is the Greek word for "goal" or "purpose." Similarly, Lucifel, the Angelic form of the demon Lucifer, had his name changed to "Helel" (the Hebrew name of the fallen angel) out of necessity to differentiate it from the demonic form of Lucifer.
  • Additionally, in the original game, the period of time during which the team fought the Shadows was originally called "Shadow Time" in the Japanese release. The American localization changed this to the much more ominous-sounding "Dark Hour."
  • One of the social links is related to playing an MMO. In the Japanese version, the MMO was based off the original two Megami Tensei games for the Famicom, which were never released outside Japan. In the English version, all of these references were changed to refer to the earlier Persona games (or in one case, Nocturne), all but one of which were released in America.
  • One localized joke occurs when Junpei Iori discusses the disappearance of Fuuka Yamagishi under mysterious circumstances early on in the story. In the Japanese version, Junpei describes the helplessness of the situation by calling it "Oteagezamurai" (お手上げ侍), which can be loosely translated to "Samurai with both his hands up". The joke is that samurai are, by popular culture, expected to never have both their hands off their weapon. Yukari calls him stupid two times in a row. In the localization, the joke is replaced with a pun where Junpei first says that he is an "ace detective", followed by Yukari saying he is "more like an ace defective".
  • In the original work, Mitsuru Kirijo is shown to be well-educated via her Gratuitous English, interjecting with phrases such as "Brilliant!". In the localized version, this is replaced with Gratuitous French, possibly due to her in-universe usage of English... in a work where every character is speaking in English. This is fitting, as Persona 3 is already full of French - The French-speaking Bebe, the French lyrics of some songs, and the French street names of some locales in Tatsumi Port Island serve as examples.
  • The soft drinks in vending machines. What was a Japanese-only drink turns into Starvicks (An unusual blend of coffee and cough syrup), 1up, Fountain Dew (an unusually yellow drink), Dr. Salt, and the BauerBar, which lets you keep going for 24 hours!
• Persona 4 continues the tradition of P3's translation by retaining important Japanese honorifics and certain cultural concepts (though the manual includes a handy glossary), while taking their own spin on certain other things that aren't as essential to plot or characterization, such as:
  • Again, the soft drinks are all reminiscent of American beverages, though there's less variety this time around. Sadly, "Cylon tea" didn't return.
  • The cartoony mascot bear character was called "Kuma" ("bear") in the original. The English translation changed his name to "Teddie," as befitting a cute, cuddly bear. In addition, he originally had a Verbal Tic of ending his sentences with "-kuma," while in the translation, he resorts to un-"bear"-able puns, to the same effect.
    • "Sensei! That was senseitional!"
  • Mr. Morooka, the hated homeroom teacher, is known to his students as "King Moron." Apparently, the nickname he bore in the original Japanese was "Morokin", a play on his full name, Kinshiro Morooka.
  • Finally, your character can benefit from some Woolsefying of his own when he takes a part-time job as a translator. Occasionally, your character will run into a joke he doesn't understand and have the choice of inventing his own joke to match the line, or just do a "Blind Idiot" Translation. There is a chance to be paid double if you do the former...though there's also an equal chance of failing and getting paid half.
  • A sidequest of reading novels added a Take That! to The Twilight Saga.
  • There's a scene where Chie compares Naoto's family to the Kuzunoha clan, who play a prominent role in the Devil Summoner games as well as Persona 2. In the original Japanese release, the comparison was actually to the Kindaichi family. Nevertheless, this off-the-cuff Woolseyism has given fruit to a lot of Epileptic Trees.
  • The extremely Engrish-y Junes jingle "Everyday Younglife Junes" was changed to "Every day's great at your Junes," containing the same number of syllables.^*"Junes" is three syllables in the original Japanese jingle, pronounced "Joo-neh-su"
  • At the end of her Social Link, Naoto asks you if she should continue using masculine pronouns. In Japanese, first-person pronouns are gendered, which wouldn't translate well to English, so it was translated as her asking if she should continue speaking in a deeper voice or switch to her natural voice, which is very different, but still gets the original idea of her speaking in a masculine or feminine way.
• Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth went out of its way to create a new Japanese-language pun to accommodate for the change to Teddie's name mentioned above. During an event where the cast joke about the kanji in eachother's names, the P4 protagonist comes up with a kanji reading for Kuma, since his name is normally written in Katakana. In Japanese it's "scary demon", while the English version uses the kanji for "hand" and "dirt/filth" to get "Te-dei". "Dirty hands" arguably fits Teddie's character far better than the Japanese joke did.
• Persona 5:
  • Some of the very game-y sounding Gratuitous English interface terms were changed overseas: the "Baton Touch" mechanic became the more accurate "Baton Pass", "Co-Op's" became "Confidants", more fitting for the theme that each of them has a secret that you learn over their personal storyline, the "CHANCE!" text that appears when initiating a pre-emptive attack becomes "AMBUSH!", and the command for a basic melee attack was changed from "Sword", a name which doesn't even make sense when only a couple party members use swords, to "Attack".
  • The critical hit cut-ins are accompanied by onomatopoeia kanji that read as "buchi", meaning "to snap from anger". "Buchi" is used often in manga, but English has no real equivalent sound effect (or Unsound Effect, as it were), meaning there's no real way to translate it. Instead, the English version opted to replace the kanji with a pair of stylized exclamation marks, managing to fill roughly the same space on the UI as the original kanji and still slickly fit in with the rest of the game's distinctive art style and menu design.
  • In the Japanese version, Futaba Sakura's codename in the Phantom Thieves is "Navi", short for "Navigator". This is a pretty simple codename compared to the somewhat more thematic names of the rest of party, and it also appears redundant on the Japanese UI: her codename of "Navi" appears right next to the indicator that she's the navigator... which is also "Navi". This was changed in the English version to "Oracle", which not only is a bit more in line with the rest of the party and fixes the UI silliness, it works as a reference to her Persona's advanced scanning abilities allowing her to practically see the future. This also plays into the Egyptian theme of her Palace.
  • The "Ask the Phantom Thieves Channel", a website run by a fan of the party used to keep tabs on sidequests and see how the group is affecting public consciousness, became the "Phantom Aficionado Website" - or as it's more commonly referred to, the "Phan-Site" - in the English version. Besides being a clever pun, the localized name is more accurate to the fact the Thieves themselves aren't maintaining the website.
  • The school principal is unnamed in the Japanese version. While his lack of name makes sense in Japanese due to differences in language conventions and the context of all of the scenes he appears in, him being unnamed in English would have likely sounded awkward. To combat this, his name became Principal Kobayakawa for the dub.
  • In the Japanese version, each section of sidequest dungeon Mementos is rendered with very literal meanings corresponding to shortcomings of humanity: "Harmony-robbing path", "Temperance-robbing path", etc. These would likely have sounded awkward if translated completely, so instead, the localization uses titles from the Qliphoth. "Harmony-robbing path" becomes "Aiyatsubus", meaning "instability", whereas "Temperance-robbing path" becomes "Chemdah", referring to greed. The changed names sound far more thematic than the simple names in the Japanese version, and it also foreshadows the Gnosticism elements that come into play near the story's finale, along with the name of the final dungeon - Qliphoth World.
• Persona 5 Strikers has the backstory of one of the major targets; Akira Konoe killing his father in self-defense as the root of his trauma, which he later publicly confesses. Japanese laws are a lot less lenient with murder in self-defense, which may confuse some Western players. So in the English version, it was changed to a premeditated murder.
• In another Atlus example, the Japanese version of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, set in the 1920s, had most of the characters speaking modern Japanese (aside from some characters, like Raidou's ancestors, who used very archaic language). The English translation, however, has them using slang appropriate to the time period. Of course, it's English slang. Try not to think about it too hard.

Pokémon

• "Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow": in the French version, Blue's Evil Gloat at the Indigo Plateau ends with the French version of "Hi-yah!", unlike English.
• In the Japanese version Dark Type Pokémon are known as the "EVIL" type, which pretty much goes against the theme that Pokémon aren't evil, only the humans that misuse them are. This is changed in the English version where the type is Dark and literally invokes the Dark Is Not Evil Trope. The generation after the type's introduction ended up introducing a Pokémon that contradicts the "evil" naming, as Absol warns people of disasters before they happen, even if it does tend to take the blame for them once they happen anyway. This did however have the knock-on effect of occluding the reason for why Dark Type Pokémon are weak to Fighting Type attacks: the latter is based on heroic "face" fighters in Professional Wrestling, so it makes sense that they'd be strong against "evil" Pokémon. The loss of this meaning in translation has resulted in a large contingency of western fans believing that a Light Type should be introduced as a counterpart to Dark, interpreting the meaning behind the latter as referring to literal darkness rather than heel wrestlers.
• In all main games, it is possible to purchase medicines for your Pokémon to improve their stats. In the Japanese version, the medicines were compounds like taurine (an antioxidant used in treating blood pressure disorders) and bromhexine (a chemical used in some cough medicines to dispel mucus). These names had no relationship to the statistical benefits of using the medicines (for instance, how would taking indometacin, an anti-inflammatory medicine, improve your monster's Speed?). In the English version, the translator decided to change them to vitamin and mineral supplements, which, as they permanently increase stats, seems more sensible. It also meant the medicines could be renamed to things that made sense with what their effect on the Pokémon was, even if only in terms of association — Protein (which builds muscle) for Attack, Iron (which is a strong-sounding metal used in protein synthesis) for Defense, Calcium (which is needed to build strong bones and teeth) for Special Attack, Zinc (used in homeostasis) for Special Defense, and Carbos ("carbohydrates", energy-giving compounds) for Speed.
• Pokémon Diamond and Pearl:
  • The translator, Nob Ogasawara (a member of the Something Awful forums), edited much of the NPC speech in the game to include Internet slang. The player character is repeatedly called a "noob" by other trainers, "for the win" is used at least once, one Galactic Grunt threatens to hit the player's weak point while another Galactic Grunt complains about getting "owned" by the player, and a clown even exclaims "A winner is you!". This is appropriate, as D/P was the first game to use Nintendo's Wi-Fi service, and most friend codes are traded via the Internet. They also have a few Shout Outs to the Something Awful forums ("My Pokémon is fight!"). And a Shout-Out to a Something Awful forum member as well. A goon did a Let's Play of Pokémon Crystal, starring a character named Roxy, whose main Pokémon was a Wooper. On Thursdays, you can go to the TV station and fight an interviewer/cameraman pair in a double battle. The interviewer uses a Wooper, and the interviewer's name is Roxy. It kind of helps that both the interviewer and the female PC from Crystal both have blue hair. Ironically, half the memes that made it into the games will probably get you probated or banned if you actually attempt to use them on the forums themselves.
  • The same bloke, in a Let's Horribly Break Pokémon Blue thread, said that translating mori no yōkan^note yōkan is a jellied dessert, and also a homophone for the Japanese word for "Manor" to "Old Chateau"/"Old Gateau" was his doing, and, that if he was localizing Gold/Silver/Crystal, he'd call the RageCandyBar ("Rage Manjū" or "Rage Rice Cake" in Japanese) "Cake of Rage" (the latter being mentioned after about half a page of making fun of said item, calling it the "angersnack")^note the RageCandyBar is linked to the Lake of Rage, making it a rhyming pun.
  • And again with Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, there is the case of Fantina/Melissa. Once again, like the Final Fantasy VI example above, is a textbook case of appeal dissonance (Westerner's names sounding exotic to Easterner's ears). It's stated that Fantina is not from the Sinnoh region, or for that matter, whatever country the Pokémon games are set in. So, in the original Japanese, she's given a Western sounding name: Melissa, and uses Gratuitous English in her speech. When localized, they kept the "foreigner" aspect of her personality, but changed it so that she now drops French phrases and expressions in her speech (e.g. "Très bien!" and "___ how you say, ___").
  • Also among the characters of the Sinnoh games, the villain Akagi is changed in most translations to a sun-themed name, usually a sun god, to keep with the celestial theme-naming of Team Galactic. In the English and Spanish versions, his Good Counterpart, the Champion Shirona, is changed to a moon goddess to reflect their duality. In the English version, their names are Cyrus and Cynthia respectively, the latter not only referencing the moon goddess Artemis, but also alliterating with Cyrus' name.
  • There's also the case of Looker's codename. In the original Japanese, his name is the English word, "Handsome". In the English versions, his name still keeps the meaning of Handsome, but also has to do with the fact that he's a detective.
• The names of about 3/4 the Pokémon themselves are Woolseyisms, translated to all sorts of punny names in every language that the games are released in. The exceptions are most legendaries (who the creators try to fit as many languages as possible), and other Pokémon with multilingual puns (such as Pikachu). Another good example is Rhydon, who was named Sidon in Japan: "Si" means rhinoceros, and "don" comes from the Greek word "ὀδούς" (meaning "tooth"), most widely known for its use as a suffix in dinosaurs' species names. Therefore, the translators could make a name with the same vowel sounds and pun.
  • The legendary birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Their Japanese names are rather boring English words relating to their types: Freezer, Thunder and Fire. In fact, a large portion of Generation I Mons have simple English words for Japanese names, which were changed in English and other languages ("Lizard" to Charmeleon, "Ghost" to Haunter, "Strike" to Scyther, etc.) Also, "Zenigame", the water starter, has a name that simply means "river turtle" in Japanese; you may know it better as "Squirtle".
  • Articuno and Zapdos' French names are "Artikodin" and "Electhor", as in the Norse gods, and Moltres' is "Sulfura" as in the Egyptian god; the other part of their names referring more obviously to their element. The last of these is also in a non-optional location in its first appearance (Cinnabar Island can be surfed to from Pallet Town to skip Seafoam Islands, the Power Plant is optional entirely, and Victory Road must be completed to beat the game). Later in the series, it STILL had some sort of difference in location (when it wasn't roaming or obtained through a portal, anyway); in FireRed and LeafGreen, it was in the Sevii Islands instead of Kanto, and in HeartGold and SoulSilver, it still isn't in Kanto, being in Johto. A fan-made Esperanto translation of the original 151 Pokémon names (in common usage by speakers of the language) reuses the French names for the trio but instead translates Moltres as "Bruloki", making the theme more cohesive.
  • In French, Fushigidane/Bulbasaur is known as "Bulbizarre", which is actually a much more faithful translation to the original Japanese (the original name means "Isn't it strange?" which reflects on the fact that no one can tell what kind of animal it's based on), and essentially combining both the Japanese and English names while ignoring the English translation's implication that it's a dinosaur despite looking nothing like one. The unofficial Esperanto translation adapts the name as "Bulbizaro" and derives the whole line's names from the French translation.
  • In German, Charizard is known as "Glurak", which combines "glut" (ember) and "Drache" (dragon), alluding to its design, but the spelling of the latter is corrupted into "drak", a dragon (or dragon-like creature) in Slavic mythology that had a flame at the end of its tail just like Charizard and its pre-evolutions.
  • In most languages, Noivern's name is simply a combination of the respective words for "noise" and "wyvern" (including in English). The German translation is quite a bit more creative by naming it "UHaFnir", a bizarrely capitalized combination of "UHF" (ultrahigh frequency) and "Fafnir" (the dragon from Norse Mythology), which is quite a similar choice to the legendary birds' French names.
  • As of Pokémon Black and White, there is a similar example to the legendary birds' English names — the Dark/Dragon line of Pokémon are called Deino, Zweilous, and Hydreigon, this time counting in German.
  • In Pokémon Black and White, the Pokémon Audino is derived from "audio" (it uses its earlobes as stethoscopes) as well as "I dunno". This is pretty much the same thing in its Japanese name, Tabunne — "Tabun ne" means "maybe", but is also derived from "tabun", meaning "many are heard" (or "mimitabu", meaning "earlobe"). Other translations use similar wordplay, based on an expression along the lines of "maybe" (or in German, "Oh, yes!"; in French, "no but yes", a common expression too) while containing a hearing-related pun.
  • A couple more examples: Ononokus became Haxorus in the English version, which retains ax- and dinosaur-related puns while inserting Leet Lingo. And in the French version, Desumasu/Yamask was translated as "Tutafeh", which not only contains "Tut-" as in Tutankhamun but is also a play on "tout à fait", which means "indeed". Its evolution, "Tutankafer" (Cofagrigus), managed to keep the same syllables and add another pun: Tutankhamun + "tant qu'à faire", a colloquial expression meaning something along the lines of "might as well".
  • Komatana and Kirikizan were modeled after a mix of Japanese bandits known as ashigaru and movie villains known as kaijin and their names are blade-related puns^note "Komatana" comes from "komagire" ("small pieces") and either "katana" ("sword") or "kogatana" ("knife"); "Kirikizan" is a combination of "kirikizamu" ("to slice/mince") and "zan" ("to cut/slay"). Naturally, the localization team knew that western audiences wouldn't be as familiar with this, so instead they gave them a Chess Motif and one that fit perfectly with the family's general behavior. Komatana, a small, weak Pokemon that attacks opponents in large groups to make up for a lack of physical strength, became Pawniard, combining the words "pawn" and "poniard" to keep the blade pun from the original name. Kirikizan, the larger, more strategic Pokemon who leads Komatana/Pawniard hordes and has the highest authority among them, became Bisharp, with not only a fitting chess themed name but one that has an even better blade pun. This also fits the design motif of the Big Bad of Black and White, Ghetsis, who uses a Bisharp and has a cape modeled after the rook chess piece. This continued with the third member of the line Dodogezan, whose name comes from "dogeza" ("Pose of Supplication") and "zan" ("to cut or slash"), referencing its Kowtow Cleave Secret Art. Localized, it became Kingambit, continuing the Chess Motif (since a king is higher ranked than a bishop), "gambit" referring to how it uses Kowtow Cleave to catch enemies off-guard, and "karambit", a blade of Malay origin that continues the blade Theme Naming.
  • The French translators of Black and White seem to have had a field day with some of the Punny Names, which basically mash two words together into a brand-new pun, all related to the Pokémon in some way.
    • The oh-so-popular Stunfisk became "Limonde" in French: "limande" (common dab, a type of european flatfish) + "onde" (wave), combined in a way that sounds similar to "limonade" (lemonade), possibly referring to the color of Stunfisk's fins, and "l'immonde", meaning "the disgusting one".
    • Excadrill had a similar clever translation with "Minotaupe": "mine" + "taupe" (mole), one letter off "minotaure" (minotaur).
    • Finally, Bouffalant was translated as "Frison": "frisé" (curly) + "bison", and one letter off "frisson" (shiver/shudder in fear, since, y'know, a big angry buffalo with an Afro is scary).
  • Even the English translators got in on the act with similar wordplay to the above French examples:
    • In Pokémon X and Y, the Grass starter's final stage is called "Chesnaught", which combines "chest" and "juggernaut"/"dreadnought"/"Argonaut"^note as in a team of Greek heroes led by Jason or the Toronto-based Canadian football team and sounds like "chestnut".
    • Turtonator, introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon, is an explosive turtle. Its name is a portmanteau of "turtle" and "detonator", but sounds like "Terminator". Its German name, "Tortunator", has similar roots but isn't quite as punny with respect to that last point.
  • The French names for Muk and Grimer are Tadmorv and Grotadmorv (Pile 'o snot and Big pile o' snot respectively). Similarly, Finizen and Palafin are Dofin and Superdofin (Dolphin and Super dolphin respectively).
  • Instead of repeating a syllable in Dudunsparce's name like in the Japanese text or in the English localization, the French localization instead took the first syllable of Dunsparce's French name Insolourdo "In" which sounds similar to "Un" ("One") and replaced it with "Deux" ("Two"), giving us Deusolourdo. As a nice side effect, the recurring joke among the fandom of "I can't wait to meet Dunsparce's next evolution Dududunsparce" got a natural French equivalent with the hypothetical evolution being called "Troisolourdo".
• Pokémon Black and White:
  • While the names for most trainers in Nimbasa's sports grounds seem rather random in Japanese and English, German players can encounter Smashers Steffi and Serena, as well as Strikers Mehmet, Mesut and Lothar.
  • As a Shout-Out to the French-Canadian soap opera/téléroman Le cœur a ses raisons, all the nurses and the doctors in the French translation of Pokémon Black and White are named after characters from this show: Infirmière Ashley, Infirmière Drucilla, Docteur Brett... As most of the names are usually random, this is particularly enjoyable, and may have been a nod to French-Canadian fans due to Black and White being the second-ever set of French Pokémon games released in Quebec as well as France/Belgium.^note This didn't help endear the French translation to many of them, though, since it wasn't enough to make up for the stink of names like the above "Tadmorv".
  • Opelucid City is known for having two completely different appearances depending on the version: In Black, it's futuristic and is said to be "a city of rapid change"; in White it's steeped in the past and honors history and traditions. Probably the best name one could give this city in reference to these two aspects is its French name: Janusia. Janus being the Roman god of beginnings and transitions, usually depicted with two faces: one facing the past, the other facing the future.
• In Pokémon X and Y, Xerneas and Yveltal's signature moves are called "Geo Control" and "Death Wing" in Japanese. The English translation changes these to the more poetic- and powerful-sounding "Geomancy" and "Oblivion Wing"; special mention goes to the latter, which may have also been an enforced application of Never Say "Die" and still came out sounding cooler.
  • The Big Bad's name in Japanese is Furadari, derived from "fleur-de-lis," a symbol of France, which Kalos is based on. His English name, Lysandre, maintains the original etymology but also takes on a new second meaning. His name can be interpreted as being a combination of "lys," meaning "break or destroy," and "andros," meaning "man," together meaning "destroyer of man" and tying into his plans for global genocide.
• Pokémon Sun and Moon:
  • Solgaleo and Lunala's signature moves have the fairly prosaic Japanese names of "Meteor Drive" and "Shadow Ray", respectively; the localization turns them into the far more impressive-sounding "Sunsteel Strike" and "Moongeist Beam" (which also ties in to their sun/moon theme).
  • Guzma's memetic way of referring to himself, "your boy Guzma", is actually a rather brilliant translation of his choice of personal pronoun. Ore-sama carries an arrogant, presumptuous tone that this use of slang conveys perfectly.
  • Hala, Olivia, Nanu, and Hapu are originally referred to as the "Island Kings/Queens"; the American translation changes this to "Island Kahuna". Since "kahuna" is a Hawaiian word for an expert in a particular field, it works perfectly for a region that's based on Hawaii. Given that the term often carries religious connotations, it also changes the perception of these four from "rulers" to "spiritual leaders", which fits their connections to the Tapu.
• The Italian translation of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire had a little too much fun with naming some trainers. Featuring people like Mysterious Sisters Bia^note Italian name of Meg and Sally, Ace Duo Lana and Conan, and Worker Ansaldo.
• The Pokémon Pidove and its evolutions are pigeon/pheasant-like birds who frequently have an ability that guards them from defense-lowering attacks, called "Pigeon Breast" in Japanese. Aside from how many kids and childish adults would be snickering at the fact that the word "breast" is in a Pokémon product, the name feels awfully generic too. In the English translation, it was changed to "Big Pecks", which mixes a bird-themed pun with a little Shown Their Work—the pun is that "pecks" (as in, something birds do with their beaks) sounds like "pecs" (as in, pectoral muscles, which are also breasts) and birds in real life do in fact tend to have very large pectorals (this assists them in flight, as it makes flapping easier).
• Destiny Bond, a move that instantly faints any opponent who deals the final blow to its user on the same turn it's used, is known as Michizure in the original Japanese, which directly translates to "fellow traveler." In this case, it means Taking You with Me, but the term also has a second meaning referring to romantic partners, which Destiny Bond connotatively hints at.

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Examples By Sub-genre:

Eastern RPG

• In Bloodborne, the name of the True Final Boss in the original Japanese is Tsuki no Mamono (月の魔物), literally meaning "The Moon Demon" or "The Moon Monster", which sounds rather silly in English. But the Japanese word mamono can also have the more ambiguous meaning "apparition". To capture the ambiguity in the original script, the English translation calls the creature "The Moon Presence", which fits with its depiction as an enigmatic and inscrutable Eldritch Abomination whose true nature is never fully explained.
• Brave Fencer Musashi has several moments of this, especially any time Steward Ribson talks. Many of his lines have added voiceovers, so you actually get to listen to him say things like "Thou art beeth correcteth!"
• Breath of Fire II is well known for its absolutely awful translation, any word with more than 4 letters is either changed or get some letters cut. Thanks to this, some of the main characters got name changes, like, Bosche Doggie became Bow, Rinpoo Chuan became Katt, Aspara Gus became Spar and Eraku Hoppe de pe Tapeta became Jean, and unintentionnally enough, they are even better. Bow's weapon of choice is crossbow, and Katt is perfect for a feline fighter, Spar sounds better and more androgynous than Aspara, and Jean? He presents himself with his long japanese name and then says "But you can call me Jean." You can tell Capcom had no idea how to translate it but they still made a clever joke, the Overly Long Name is funny and fits with his Royal Blood, while "Jean" works well since he is a french guy stereotype.
• In many Digimon games (most notably, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth), the Agumon line's attack names are kept the same as their Japanese counterparts, those being Greymon's Mega Flame^note as opposed to Nova Blast and MetalGreymon's Giga Destroyer^note as opposed to Giga Blaster. However, WarGreymon's attack is still dubbed as Terra Force instead of Gaia Force. While it also counts as an Inconsistent Dub, it also builds a Theme Naming around different levels of bytes, going from a megabyte to a gigabyte, and finally to a terabyte; fitting, as Digimon live in Cyberspace and are made from computer data.
• Disgaea has a few. Most obvious to are their handling of the terms "Makai" and "Tenkai." Their literal translations are the awkward-sounding "Demon World" and "Heavenly World" and they don't have very good equivalents in English — Hell and Heaven aren't quite the same thing. So they translated Makai as "The Netherworld" — although not even close to a literal translation, this does a good job of evoking the appropriate imagery. Similarly, they made up the term Celestia for Tenkai, for the same reason.
  • Another example is translating Maou as Overlord. Overlord is much closer to the connotations carried by Maou than the literal translation, "Demon King", and is a much more familiar and less awkward term in English.
  • The battle cries used during certain attacks. The best example is probably Laharl shouting "Bite the dust!" before finishing his "Overlord's Wrath" attack.
  • Also, Champloo becoming essentially Emeril in the dub, or the Mexican Orcs.
  • The Prinnies saying dood. The original version had them ending the last word of each sentence with a "-ssu" sound (a slurred form of the traditional "desu"), but for some reason Atlus decided that mispelling "dude" would be funnier. NISA tried a similar stunt when they changed Yukimaru's "de gozaru" to "zam" in the sequel, but it never really caught on.
  • In the original Japanese, Laharl's father's death was attributed to choking on a Dark Manjuu. In the English version, the food was changed to a Dark Pretzel, likely attempting to invoke Hilarious in Hindsight with then-President George W. Bush's choking on a pretzel and briefly passing out.
• Dragon Quest: In general, from Dragon Quest VIII onward, the localization attempts to keep the wordplay-heavy atmosphere of the original Japanese rather than the more literal translations of the previous localizations.
  • Dragon Quest II: Laurasia was called "Midenhall" in the original NES port, perhaps to better jibe with the vaguely Saxon/Nordic names used in the first game. Ditto "Sulmatria" to "Cannock". The odd one is actually Moonbrooke, which is consistent across both languages (though the Japanese sources are often a bit inconsistent about whether the final "e" is included).
  • Dragon Quest III: The English name Xenlon goes quite well with the character, as she's basically a Lawyer-Friendly Cameo of Shenron of Dragon Ball Z. They even look similar.
  • Dragon Quest VIII:
    • There is a type of enemy called the "One Knight Stand" and a bar in one town entitled the "Cock and Bull".
    • Hero's boomerang skill increased! Hero is now a baby boomer!
  • The DS translation of Dragon Quest V featured this in spades, with such monster gems as the spear-wielding "Pokesperson," the genie "High Djinnks," the goat demon "Moosifer," and the similar boss "Bjorn the Behemoose." The apparently gratuitous name-changes for actual human characters have gotten rather mixed reviews, though, as this was something American audiences thought we'd long since gotten past.
  • Dragon Quest VII's remake also incorporates the accents into the translation - such as the residents of Gröndal having Swedish accents or L'arca having Italian accents. It also makes Nottagen even more hilarious to hear them speak in Valley Girl speech.
  • Square-Enix even carried on the tradition in Dragon Quest XI. Because Dragon Quest comes off as childish and cartoony to some western audiences for its brightly-coloured and highly stylized visuals, they decided to just embrace it. They even carried on Nintendo's tradition of accents with towns - such as Hotto having haiku, Gondola having fake Italian accents, Snorri having Scandinavian accents, Sylvando having a Spanish accent, etcetera. Additionally they carried on with the puns, even making some of them into shout outs (Such as the monster whose painting becomes more complex with every person she captures named "Dora-in-Grey"). Fortunately it wasn't quite as heavy as Dragon Quest IV or Dragon Quest IX.
• Dragon's Crown has a fair few references in the quotes given off by dead bodies, such as references to Arrested Development ("I've made a huge mistake") and Skyrim (The infamous "arrow to the knee" line).
• Final Fantasy Legend III's translation removes "The" from sentences at times. This makes it seem like a "Blind Idiot" Translation... although in hindsight, the characters occasionally referring to "The Talon" as "Talon" as if it is a person actually makes it a clever form of foreshadowing. Since Jupiah, Arthur's father, has his brain piloting Talon2 — so in a way it is a person.
• In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, the villains have Theme Naming based on playing cards (Spade, Heart, and Ace) in the Japanese version. In Western translations, this wasn't exotic enough, so the villains are instead named after the Tarot (Blade, Chalice, and the Arcana). This caused a second set of renames, as one of the heroes was named "Crown" in the Japanese version, and Crowns are a name for the Tarot suit of Coins, causing potential confusion. Crown's name was changed to Rief, and his sister Noble became Nowell. This created Hidden Depths for one character: Tyrell, who's usually seen as unintelligent, can see the obvious connection between Heart and Spade. In the American version, he suddenly reveals his knowledge of tarot cards to point out the connection between Blados and Chalice. The European version removes this by simply having him comment that their names sound similarly odd.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • Nearly all Keyblades in the Kingdom Hearts series have Gratuitous English names, and while sometimes the name works, often times the name will be streamlined, if not outright changed, into something that sounds cooler to English ears. "Oath's Charm" to "Oathkeeper", for example, or "Gaia's Bane" to "Ends of the Earth". As for the few with Japanese names, there's a Keyblade with a name that translates to "Passing Memories", in English it's known as "Oblivion".
  • Xion's attack at the end of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days had one line which relied on Japanese Pronouns. In the Japanese version, Xion, despite looking like Sora, uses "Atashi" confirming that she thought of herself as female. In the English version, the line was restructured into the third person "Now it's time for this puppet to play her part.", not only keeping the gender implications but indicating the isolation she felt from what she wanted to what role she had to play.
  • The Japanese version Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance] had Sora saying that the Keyblade is the "key to everyone's smiles." In English it becomes "the light in the darkness, a chance to make everyone happy."
• Version 2.00 Deluxe of Live A Live's Fan Translation gives each chapter a separate font, something not found in the original Japanese version, while the kung fu chapter has the names of characters and moves in Chinese instead of Japanese. Some of the chapters were also translated by Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, whose Mother 3 fan translation is one of the most well known and contains several Woolseyisms itself.
• The Working Designs translations of Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar: Eternal Blue were chock full of Woolseyisms. You could run into Austin Powers, have a debate with an NPC on why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and other such malarkey. It gave the games a unique charm, although there is some argument amongst the fanbase as to whether the game would have been better served with a more faithful translation. The pop culture references Working Designs added is usually polarizing with fans, but one thing that is highly agreed on is the English lyrics to the boat song in Silver Star Story. The English version of the song was not a translation, but used brand new lyrics written for the localization, but still got the exact same feelings and message across. If Shii's song is any indication, even some Japanese fans loved the English version. When the song was given a more literal translation for The Remake Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, fans were NOT happy.
• Monster Hunter:
  • In the Japanese versions, a subspecies of monster is called "-monster name- Subspecies". The English translation adds Colorful Theme Naming as most of the time Subspecies are simply color pallete swaps visually, making them more unique from their normal species and helps a lot when diffrentiating between the subspecies of a monster that has more than one. They range from the simple Purple Ludroth to the more unique Stygian Zinogre. Nargacuga, one of the monsters with more than one, has Green Nargacuga and Lucent Nargacuga in relation, though the original Japanese just uses "Nargacuga subspecies" and "Nargacuga rare species".
  • The games also have tons of jokes and references in the dialogue, that are changed to be region specific. 3 Ultimate, for example, even pokes fun at translations, having a Felyne named Neko. Or rather, Neko (Means "cat"). Neko himself makes sure to tell you that it means "Tiger of the Far East" and you might believe him, if his name tag didn't have the translator's note. The captain of the Argosy, who uses Gratuitous Japanese, also gets in on the fun by helpfully informing you that 'keikaku' means 'plan'.
  • In 4 Ultimate, monsters that have overcome by the Frenzy Virus are known as "Extreme" monsters in Japanese. To the Western ear, it just sounds like an attempt to make the series look more X-TREME!!. The localizations instead refer to them as "Apex" monsters, as in apex predators, as in "these things are at the top of the food chain and are going to freaking murder you."
  • The Monster Name themselves run on puns and other meanings to convey certain aspects of the monsters. Naturally, this wouldn't translate well to other languages, so they again have region specific names. Of particular not is one of the times a more, but not completely, direct translation worked. A certain monster had the japanese name of Jinouga, which the localization team went to work as usual to try to come up with a name that works better in English. Unfortunately, a piece of merchandise featuring the monster was already released with an English name, which was an alternate romanization from Jinouga, and they went with it because it worked, gave the monster a unique name and directly translated one of the root words instead of simply romanizing it, making it convey the same meaning it always intended to and bringing fierce, powerful imagery to mind. The monster? The Zinogre.
• From the Mother series:
  • Earthbound Beginnings had all the edits done with Itoi's supervision and approval. Many of the changes were done due to space constraints, but there's a few examples which had changes due to them needing to work better in the English script:
    • In the Japanese version, the towns were named after holidays. This was seen as juvenile rather than welcoming, so they were given different names. Perhaps one of the best examples is changing "Halloween" to "Spookane", which is the name of a city in Washington, and still keeps its theme-naming intact.
    • "Tinkle" (the name of the school where Lloyd is found) is changed to "Twinkle Elementary School", which avoids the unfortunate name in Japanese.
  • From EarthBound (1994):
    • In Magicant, Ness wears a different outfit to symbolize his childlike innocence. In the original Japanese this was no outfit at all, while in most localizations it was his pajamas.
    • One other change was changing the signs of the "Bar" to "Cafe". Kids aren't allowed inside bars in the states, thus it makes no sense for Ness to be going into a bar for items, but a "Cafe" doesn't have such an age restriction due to the fact they don't sell alcohol.
    • The two types of iron obstacle blocking your progress around the world, both of which require a specific device to erase them were changed. In the Japanese version, they are statues of an octopus and kokeshi (a type of Japanese doll), which are removed with the 'Octopus Eraser' and the 'Kokeshi Eraser' respectively. The creator explained that this is an interpretation of being lost and not knowing what to do when your path blocked by an octopus, while the kokeshi was added for a pun. Since Octopus in Japanese is "tako" and eraser in Japanese is "keshi", you get Tako Keshi and Kokeshi Keshi. Since the puns don't work in English, the octopus was changed to a pencil and the kokeshi was changed to an eraser, meaning that you need a "Pencil Eraser" to erase the pencils and an "Eraser Eraser" to erase the erasers.
    • There's a pun about "Alps no Shoujo ___ji" (Hai/Iie) in the Japanese version. Because the joke couldn't be preserved or recreated in English, it was changed with "A Beatles song, ___terday" (Yes/No). Oddly enough, this change fits with the plot and themes of the game: as the series is all about the power of music, and Shigesato Itoi has admitted that the title of the series is a Shout-Out to the John Lennon song "Mother".
  • From Mother 3's Fan Translation:
    • The head of the game's Fan Translation, Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, has a position at Funimation, so it only figures that said fan translation would have a few examples of Woolseyisms. For just one example, at one point in the original Japanese, a sunbaked pig says that the name of a famous Japanese ham company came to him in a dream; in the translation, he says that the words "Oscar" and "Mayer" appeared instead.
    • A lot of the enemy names were made into puns, in keeping with the comedic feel of the MOTHER series. A short list: Einswine (a brain-augmented pig), Navy SQUEAL (an aquatic Pigmask soldier), and the Squawking Boomstick (an exploding chicken head on a stick).
    • Yokuba (one of the game's major villains) was changed to Fassad. Yokuba came from 'yokubari', meaning 'greed', which is something that most English-speaking players wouldn't get. Fassad is both an Arabic word for "corruption" and a misspelling of 'facade', both of which fits remarkably well for the character, especially considering that Yokuba/Fassad is dressed like a stereotypical Arab Oil Sheikh.
• NieR employs Woolseyisms pretty liberally. A few examples:
  • The main enemies of the game are shadowy black and yellow monsters, called "Mamono" (demons) in the original japanese. The localization calls them "Shades" instead, which sounds a lot more unique. Fittingly, the Shades' leader in the original japanese is called "Maou" (demon king), and rendered as "Shadowlord" in the localization.
  • One of the characters in the game is a magical talking book. In the original japanese he is simply called "Hon Shiro" ("white book"). The localization opts for the much more personal and mysterious-sounding Grimoire Weiss (which means the same thing, "weiss" is just german for white). This also led them to having to change a joke; in the original, the book dislikes being called "Shiro" because it is a common dog's name in Japan. The translation instead makes his insistence on being called by his full name a part of his arrogance and self-important attitude.
• Octopath Traveler:
  • The speech of H'aanit and her people is derived from a combination of Old, Middle, and Early Modern English. This is present solely in the English translation of the game, as all other versions (including the original Japanese VO tracks) have H'aanit and others from her village speak modernly. Most consider it to be a charming way of making her feel unique.
  • In the original Japanese, Lianna seems to be the only person Ophilia refers to without honorifics (by comparison, she uses "-san" on her fellow travelers). The closeness Ophilia and Lianna have is conveyed in the English version by having them call each other "Anna" and "Phili".
• The long-awaited official English localization of Phantasy Star Online 2 has some cunning changes to the game's names and dialogue that help it stand out:
  • The Eldritch Abomination species referred to in the Japanese version as "Darkers" are renamed "Falspawn", which not only sounds appropriately menacing, but also helps to illustrate their link to Dark Falz.
  • In the Japanese version, each Dark Falz had a title that is written in both kanji and katakana, with the katakana name spoken while the kanji name is shown on text. The English localization consolidates the two together to form fittingly grandiose names for the Dark Falzes. Dark Falz Elder, for instance, is named "Elder the Gargantuan".
  • The planet of Harukotan is divided into two civilizations, literally translated as "White Territory" and "Black Territory". The highly-lauded English patch that was developed by fans before the official English version's release renamed them to "Shironia" and "Kuron", incorporating the Japanese words for "white" and "black" into their names. The official translation goes in a different direction, naming the civilizations the "Daybreak Province" and "Nightfall Province".
• Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale: The game became a surprise hit and sold over a hundred thousand copies in America (the translators were expecting ten thousand at best) partially due to the high quality of the translation, which was filled to the brim with shout outs while still keeping original game's feel — cute but not cloying — intact. This is pretty much Carpe Fulgur's MO, according to their FAQ. They aim to work closely with the creators to capture the feeling and humor of the games. It also has a rather high rate of people that played the demo deciding to purchase the game. The normal conversion rate is around 10%. Recettear's was over 50%.
• In Riviera: The Promised Land, a number of character and item names were changed by Atlus to reflect the game's overarching Norse influences; for example, main character "Ecthel" was changed to "Ein", and his sword "Excellion" was changed to "Einherjar".
• Sakura Wars:
  • While the first game never made its way to the west, there is an unofficial Fan Translation, which adds its own little touches that help the dialogue stand out. Among the gems in this translation are the pet names some of the Imperial Combat Revue give to Ogami, such as "Chief" for Kohran, "Boss" for Kanna, and "Mon Frere"^note French for "My Brother", from the Japanese "Onii-chan" for Iris.
  • Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love changed two of the characters names for the game's overseas release. Rikarita Aries was renamed to Rosarita Aries (Rosita, for short), which not only is an actual given name in Mexican Spanish, but is also the name of a type of beans, fitting the character's Big Eater traits. Sagitta Weinberg, meanwhile, is renamed to Cheiron Archer, "Cheiron" being derived from a centaur from Greek mythology. The Sagittarius constellation resembles a centaur holding a bow, so the Stellar Name theme still applies. In addition, the Mini-Mecha used by the New York Combat Revue are renamed from the unwieldy "Fenics" to the simple, yet still thematically appropriate, Super Telekinetic Assault Robots, or "STARs".
  • For most of the series's history in English publications, the term for Mini-Mecha was simply "spirit armor". Sakura Wars (2019) spices up the term by rechristening them "Spiricle Strikers".
• In the US and EU releases of the first two Shadow Hearts games, the half-Japanese, half-Russian male lead's name is changed from pseudo-Russian Foreign Sounding Gibberish (the awkward-as-hell "Urmnauf") to Yuri, a name that's authentically both Russian and Japanese... even if the two countries normally use them for differing genders (male in Russia, female in Japan).
• The Tale of Food: Many changes are made when the game is translated and dubbed into the Japanese localization.
  • Some characters make full use of the variety of Japanese Pronouns; case in point Yángzhōu Fried Rice who just uses the mundane wǒ 我 in the original is given the very rare, very stilted pronoun bansei 晩生 in the dub.
  • Mapo Tofu is given a Kansai accent.
  • Eight-Treasure Duck with Glutinous Rice has a Verbal Tic of "quack quack" in the original Chinese versions, but in the Japanese dub it's translated to "kamo", a pun on kamo shirenai (maybe) and the Japanese word for "duck".
• Tales Series:
  • The De-Jap version of Tales of Phantasia is considered as a whole to be this to certain people, mostly older fans, because of the inclusion of adult humour (including the memetic line: "I bet Arche fucks like a tiger.") and for translating "Ragnarok" properly when the official version didn't.
  • Tales of Symphonia: Genis and Raine's original names are "Genius" and "Refill" respectively. The English translators understood these names would sound incredibly stupid in English and changed their names to similar sounding, but not completely obvious, names instead. The English version of the Gamecube release, rather than translate the song, chose to use an orchestral score for the opening instead. Many people preferred the epic, cinematic feel of the English version's opening over the J-Pop, and some were upset the Japanese song was used in the re-release; it helps greatly that the English opening song was orchestrated by Motoi Sakuraba, who is responsible for the rest of the game's soundtrack, making it feel much more consistent. In particular, the heroic version is considered a much better fit for the scene where the rest of the party saves Lloyd from Yggdrasil than the Japanese versions
  • Tales of Hearts: Kohak Hearts' name was changed in her cameo boss battle to the much more sensible "Amber Hearts" in the English release of Tales of Graces (as her name is based off of the Japanese word for amber and "Kohak" is both odd to say in English and sounds masculine). Sadly, this change was reversed in the official English release of Tales of Hearts.
  • The English dub for Tales of Zestiria changed the name of the spiritual beings from Divines to Seraphim, which makes more sense with the messiah elements of the game since Divines is simply too abstract of a term while Seraphim has a direct association with angels. They also changed Hyouma, the name of the evil demonic beings, to Hellion, which better fits with the games themes as Hyouma simply meant something to the effect of Devil, whereas Hellion refers someone causing harm.
  • Tales of Berseria:
    • The name of the Fifth Empyrean was originally Kanonushi, which roughly means "the lord whose name shall not be spoken". The localization team changed it to Innominat, which means Nameless in latin. This fits the naming scheme of the other Empyrean's better, and also helps with the signifiance of the name.
    • The name of the special Daemon's like Velvet was simply kuuma, roughly meaning consuming demon. The localization team changed it to Therion, a Latin word meaning either wild animal or savage beast, which better represents the nature of what said Daemon's are, and helps distinguish them from the normal Daemons.
• Alexander O. Smith's work on Vagrant Story, the first Ace Attorney game, Final Fantasy X is rarely passed over in reviews of the game, usually being held up as some of the most successful Japanese-to-English translations. At least when they're not being criticized for Purple Prose.
  • Apparently, this sentiment is echoed in Japan as well—he was asked to provide the English lyrics for the two vocal songs on The Skies Above, the second album by Nobuo Uematsu's band The Black Mages.
• Several Woolseyisms in Valkyrie Profile. Most notable was the change of Ahly's name to "Hrist," as the latter is a valkyrie in Norse mythology.
  • Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume actually translated the original, modern Japanese into dated English. The result was that the localized version had a very great deal more immersion and atmosphere than the original.
  • Some of the Woolseyisms in Valkyrie Profile were actually correcting a few mistakes. Such as switching Freya and Frey around and changing a few enemies' names. Such as Azuratosa to Akhetamen, which sounds a little more Egyptian, and J.D. Wallace to Genevieve, the latter of which actually means something (without needing to know Old French, that is).
    • For those who are curious, Genevieve is the patron saint of Paris in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Still not quite... accurate (Genevieve is a vampire seductress in the game), but it's at least more evocative than "J.D. Wallace".
• A non-script example. Here's the original intro to Wild ARMs 2. Unfortunately the lyrics were notoriously hard to translate without butchering either the meter or language. Solution? Axe the lyrics altogether and use a trumpet and acoustic guitar instead. It worked out, as many players actulaly ended up enjoying the instrumental version more than the original Japanese version.
• The World Ends with You probably has way more than these few examples, but these are the obvious ones. All the characters use modern American teenage slang properly (i.e. "Totally Radical" is avoided except in one intentional case); Beat goes even farther with a stereotypical "gangsta" speaking style, whereas in Japanese his speech is simply rather rough and impolite.
  • Impolite speech in Japanese is very hard to translate into English, because the polite and impolite versions literally mean the same thing; however, using the impolite version in an appropriate setting connotes familiarity or intimate friendship (depending on how impolite you go), while in an inappropriate setting, it connotes disrespect, disgust, or hatred. Thus, "gangsta" speech is actually a really good analogue.
  • The entire game was saturated with slang, which may or may not be a good thing for you. Even a certain button labeled simply "run from battle" in Japanese was edited to say "Gotta bounce!"
  • Even the title is subject to this. The original Japanese translates to, approximately, "What a wonderful world this is." It's the typical positive "enjoy life" message with hints of irony indicated by the dangerous setting and the main character’s apathetic worldview. The localized title, in addition to sounding more ominous and dire, becomes a reflection and commentary on Neku's asocial attitude, staying in his own "world," while leaving everyone else out.
    Hanekoma: "Listen up, Phones! The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push your horizons out as far as they'll go."
• Xenoblade Chronicles:
  • The original Japanese version of Xenoblade Chronicles 1:
    • The Faced Mechon follow a naming theme based on the color of their armor with Brown Face (also known as Xord), Silver Face, Green Face, and Gold Face. However, the very first one encountered was known as Black Face, which wouldn't be acceptable in English for obvious reasons. So for the English release, they simply turned it into a similar naming theme based on metals and minerals so that Silver and Gold Face could keep their names, while Brown Face became Bronze Face (which also fit with his blacksmith aestetic and past occupation), Green Face became Jade Face, and Black Face became simply Metal Face.
    • A specific example with the surnames of the High Entia royal family. In Japan their last names are simply Melia, Sorean, and Kallian Ancient, whereas the English translation gives them the much more regal-sounding Antiqua.
    • Subtle, but effective example with regards to the Unique Monster theme. In the original Japanese, the title directly translates to "Those Who Are Given a Name." In English? "You Will Know Our Names," a title that not only gets that point across, but implies that one way or another, either the monsters or the party members are going to leave a lasting impression. It's also a good title to mark an awesome fight in Super Smash Bros..
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 2 uses this to preserve a dick joke, of all things. In the original Japanese, Nia calls Zeke "Turtle Head", which is an innuendo in Japan, but doesn't mean much to the English-speaking audience. So in the translation, she calls Zeke a "one-eyed monster." Note that Zeke wears an eyepatch and has a pet turtle, so both insults are equally correct.
    • The game also went hard on its English voice cast. Unlike the original Japanese, each country has its own regional accent - Gormott is Welsh, Mor Ardain is Scottish, Uraya is Australian, and so on. This extends to the names of characters and locations, such as Gormott having NPCs named Cedwyn and Siàn.
    • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 continues this, aligning characters' accents with their ancestry of the two previous games (for the most part).
• For many, the Bowdlerization of a scene in Xenosaga was this. In the original version Albedo's torment of MOMO included self-mutilation via a knife - cutting his arm and his head off. The American version replaces this with him instead ripping his arm and then his head clean off. This actually manages to make it even more unnerving. The bone-crunching noises, combined with him breaking his neck add to the creepiness.

Western RPG

• Disco Elysium:
  • As the setting of the game first appeared in an Estonian-language book, the name "the Pale" to refer to the Reality Is Out to Lunch entropic field slowly swallowing the inhabitable world is a localization that was invented by the original writers themselves. The term in Estonian means 'Grey' or 'Hall', a word with a connotation of drab end-of-history mundanity, in the sense of a depressing office corridor or a bleak post-Soviet industrial estate. "The Pale" literally means a vague color, but also evokes the phrase 'beyond the pale', in which 'the pale' means 'the normal, acceptable society'. However, the phrase 'beyond the pale' originated as a description of areas beyond the control of British occupiers in, originally, Medieval Ireland, and later similar areas surrounding British empire outposts in India and elsewhere. This adds in a specifically colonialist allusion, fitting in with how colonization of The Pale led to Elysium's version of the Age of Sail and the rise of capital as the only available system.
  • Russian localization:
    • At the beginning of the game, Klaasje refers to your Amnesiac Hero as 'officer', making him first ask if he is a military officer, rather than if he is a Chief Executive Officer. In Russian, the word for a police officer, a military officer and a chief executive officer are totally different words. The localizers eventually went with an old-fashioned word referring to a policeman, which literally means 'chief', can be used to mean 'chief of a business department', but is more commonly used to colloquially refer to a driver - adding an implication that Klaasje is aware that the protagonist drunk-drove his car into the sea before losing his memory, and is teasing him about it. The obscurity of the word also helps explain why it is that your player character doesn't understand what it means.
    • Throughout the game, people insult your cop by calling him a pig. This was changed to the Russian term of abuse for cops, 'musor', meaning 'trash', with small rewrites to suit (e.g. instead of Alain mentioning the cops sniffing around in the mud for clues, like pigs, he says the cops are digging around for some trash on them, because that is their natural element). This works extremely well for The Pigs, a mentally ill woman whose body is covered with hoarded police-themed trash pulled out of disposal, and also with the Non-Standard Game Over where your cop seals himself in a trash container, because it's where he belongs (in the original English version, the achievement for seeing the scene is already called "Real Musor").
    • The name of the Skill "Shivers" is translated as a Russian word that literally means "Trembles", a word that means the response to cold weather (the main way the skill is used in the game), is also the word for the alcohol withdrawal symptoms that in English is usually called 'shakes' (which is also relevant to your alcoholic player character), and has connotations of an old Soviet poetic cliché about the 'tremble of the Revolutionary flag'. As one of the most significant Shivers checks in the game is a vision of an imminent Revolution that Klaasje is trying to bring about, this revolutionary allusion adds some interest.
    • The name of the Skill Savoir Faire is translated as a Russian word that literally means "equilibristics", or an unnecessarily sophisticated name for tightrope walking. This suits how Savoir Faire is both the skill for physical agility (jumping, dodging, evasion) and for flashy acts of social cool and panache (hustling, tricking, showing off) - the metaphor of 'walking a tightrope' meaning to negotiate a tricky social situation is the same in both Russian and English. The needlessly fancy name for the skill is necessary for the joke in the Thought Cabinet Skill "Detective Costeau", where insisting against all logic that your name is actually Raphael Ambrosius Costeau gets you +1 in Savoir Faire because it "sounds fancy... and you are definitely sure what it means".
  • In the original, Endurance's induction into Fascism is based on your hatred of 'wömen... Men of Wö', seeing them as a tribe of hostile barbarian invaders. In Spanish, it's translated as "Fémininas... Minas de fé" ("miners of faith"), and Endurance instead sees them as hostile foreign resource extractors. This fits better with the political situation in Revachol (where foreign governments are exploiting it) and for the way the protagonist conflates his misogyny with religion by imagining his ex as the holy mother figure Dolores Dei.
• An in-universe example can be found in EVE Online, in the backstory of the voice of the ship's computer, which is the voice of a poet who adapted a wholly religious poem for a wholly secular society so perfectly that the original writer declared that he would consider any attempted censorship against her translation to be an attack on the original work as well.
• Mass Effect:
  • The series has a few notable in-universe examples. It's established that the various alien species in the games use translator devices in order to understand each other, meaning that much of the dialogue that the player hears is translated from alien languages. Some of the proper names in the series (which the player hears as words in their language) are stated to be creative translations from their original alien names, selected to preserve the meaning without being literal. To name a few examples:
    • The Spectres' name is an acronym for "Special Tactics and Reconaissance" that also hints at the covert nature of their work. But the Spectres are an alien organization that never had a human member before Shepard, implying that "Special Tactics and Reconaissance" is a creative English translation of their actual name, which was presumably also an acronym with ghostly or secretive connotations.
    • It's mentioned that the space station "Omega" is called many different things by many different species. Every species calls it by a name that reflects their cultural attitude towards the place: the asari name for it translates as "the heart of evil", the salarian name as "the place of secrets", the turian name as "the world without law", and the krogan name it as the "land of opportunity". The human name is, of course, no different: "Omega" essentially means "the end", which accurately describes how most humans view it.
  • The Russian version calls medi-gel "panatselin", a portmanteau of "penicillin" and "panacea" that invokes the Russian verb "tselit'", an archaic word for "to heal".
• Undertale:
  • Whimsun gets a name change in the Japanese translation to "Nakimushi." Nakimushi idiomatically means "crybaby" in Japanese, but literally translates to "crying bug".
  • Snowdrake speaks with heavy Kansai-ben in the Japanese translation, due to the Kansai dialect's association with comedy acts.
  • Mettaton's "cooking show" Cooking With A Killer Robot gets the wonderful translation of さつじんロボのキラキラキッチン, Satsujin Robo no Kira Kira Kitchen. Literally this would mean something like "Homicidal Robot's Sparkling Kitchen," but the word kirakira here pulls double meaning as the onomatopoeia for "sparkling" and the homonym of "killer."
  • Unlike every other main character, Papyrus' dialogue is written top to bottom, right to left, the "traditional" way Japanese is written, most likely to highlight his rather grandiose way of speaking.
  • In Japanese, a common response to a bad joke is to say it's "cold" (samui), meaning the Japanese translation got to add a couple of extra gags in the snowy area before Snowdin, notably during Sans' bad jokes and the fights with the wannabe comedian Snowdrake.
  • Japanese Undertale fans spent a lot of time debating as to whether Sans would use ''boku'' or ''ore'' as a personal pronoun, only to be shocked when previews of the official translation showed him using ''oira'', a lesser known Japanese pronoun among English speakers that typically is associated with characters with rural roots or "country bumpkin" types. This caused waves in the Japanese fandom that came to be known as "oira shock". It also helps that Snowdin, the area he lives in, is rural-ish itself. It also is a clever way of showing how Sans tries to project a loser-ish, slacker image. During the "Lost Souls" fight and segments before he fights you on the worst route, he switches to ore.
• The Witcher: The English adaptation is generally very good (at least the Enhanced Edition), but a truly inspired piece of translation was renaming the characters Jaskier (Buttercup), Magister (Schoolteacher) and Baranina (Mutton) to Dandelion, Professor and Ramsmeat.

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