Is there a reason that Duck is referred to throughout the page as "Ahiru", other than Fan Dumb? It doesn't make much sense to use her Japanese name when she has an official English one that means the same thing.
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Because "Ahiru" sounds prettier, and is easier to take seriously, than "Duck," even if the two words technically mean the same thing. It's essentially the difference between calling someone "Jessica" and calling someone by what their name means: "Wealth." One just sounds better than the other.
So, that's probably why a lot of fans, including the ones who edit this trope page, prefer to call her "Ahiru." If anyone has a better explanation, feel free to correct me.
"Ahiru" wasn't chosen in Japanese because it sounded pretty, it was chosen because it was an actual word that's hard to take seriously. In Japan it just means "duck", and it sounds just as awkward for a name as "Duck" does in English. Naming purism is hard to justify here, because the whole awkwardness aspect is lost if we refer to her using a term that non-Japanese speakers will confuse for a real name.
One of the DVD's has commentary from the English crew that explains why the name "Duck" was used instead of "Ahiru". It's pretty much the exact same reasoning that Marshmello has described, plus a few other points I'd like to bring up; the world of Princess Tutu follows the rules of fairy tales, most of which have characters with names that are very literal or are obviously descriptive, if they are named at all. On a more practical note, there are many duck jokes in the dialogue that simply don't make sense in English without using the word as the character's name and/or the bird. The most obvious example is the scene with Duck and Mr. Cat in episode 5, with the word for duck being used both for her name and the bird at the same time. Also, the story is not set Japan. In fact, it's all but stated that the setting is Europe, specifically Germany. Every character who isn't an animal has a Western sounding name, practically every piece of text we see is in German, and Fakir even SPEAKS German in one episode. This is all the intention of the show's Japanese creators, too, which the ADV translators knew and were careful to stick with.
So, in short, no, there isn't much reason besides Fan Dumb for Duck to be called Ahiru throughout the page.
Edited by queenbean3
The page really assumes that Ahiru definitely 100% fell in love with Fakir. While I love their pairing to death, don't get me wrong, I have to admit that in canon I think it's more of an implied Ambiguous Situation. Unless there's some Word of God I don't know about?
Edited by Astraea802