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Author Topic: Mario Localization Weirdness  (Read 4880 times)

The Chef

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« on: May 23, 2012, 03:21:12 PM »
Me and Deezer have been discussing Japanese Mario enemy names and things for a while now, so I decided to spread some of the knowledge I gathered to you folks on the forum.

The localizers of these games have a rather weird tendency to create huge inconsistencies when it comes to things like names and titles. Other times the original Japanese names will be equally weird.

From what I've gathered, it's not uncommon for Mario characters to already have English names before they're localized. However they're typically changed because in Japan an ordinary English name is considered exotic while us stupid gaijin require something a little more substantial to tickle our fancy.

Starting with the original Mario, we have one of my favorite cases: Bowser.

*His name in Japan is 大魔王クッパ Daimaō Koopa, but in English they decided it was now Bowser, King of the Koopa.

No idea where they got "Bowser" from. The original name still sorta persisted around here seeing how he was continually referred to as King Koopa in the Mario cartoons, comics and movie, but remained "Bowser" on everything pertaining to the games.

*Our favorite common green-shelled minion is typically known as ノコノコ Noko Noko in Japan, but Bowser's new title prompted them to be re-named "Koopa Troopas" which makes some amount of sense. From what I understand, the phrase "Noko Noko" means something like "aimless" or "unconcerned". Not sure why they're named that. Could be based on the way they walk.

Bowser's kingdom is typically referred to as the "Turtle Tribe" in Japan, and this remained in the SMB manual. Afterward, any instances of the word "Turtle" was usually replaced with "Koopa", effecively making the Koopa a unique fantasy species in the minds of us Americans. Lots of Koopa-derived enemies typically have some sort of variant of the word "Kame" or "Noko" in their Japanese names.

*When I was little, my grandfather always referred to Buzzy Beetles as "helmets". Apparently he wasn't too far off, because their Japanese name is メット Met, which is short for helmet. I'd also like to point out they even share their name with a certain Mega Man enemy.

*The famous green shoe from SMB3 is commonly known as "Kuribo's Shoe". This is because Goomba's name in Japan is クリボー Kuribō. It's a pun on the word "Kuri" which means "chestnut". Fitting, since the Goombas actually do resemble chestnut mushrooms. Unfortunately, the localizers goofed and the Japanese name remained on Peach's letter regarding the shoe when SMB3 was brought here, leaving many children of 1990 to wonder who the heck "Kuribo" was. The 2nd revision of the cartridge fixed that and changed the reference to "Goomba's Shoe", they were too late: The Nintendo Power Player's Guide for SMB3 refers to the shoe-riding Goombas as "Kuribo's Goomba". X_x

*Similar to the above example, the cloud item in SMB3 is referred to as "Jugem's Cloud". This is because Lakitu's name in Japan is ジュゲム Jugemu. Fortunately SMA4 correctly refers to the item as "Lakitu's Cloud" so no worries there. Deezer and I also recently discovered that the name Jugemu might actually be a reference to this folk tale. Even better, the Spiny's Eggs are known as パイポ Paipo and the spiky balls that Ptooie and Spike wield are called シューリンガン Shūringan. Both of these are names that appear in the story. Why they chose to name a little turtle in a cloud and a bunch of spiked balls after a folk tale is anyone's guess. :P

One more mystery: Where in the world they come up with the name "Lakitu"!? It sounds even more foreign than his Japanese name! I guess it sounds vaguely Hawaiian but that leads me nowhere.

*Speaking of Spike, his name in Japan is ガボン Gabon. This same enemy appeared in Yoshi's Island, but was inexplicably named "Mace Penguin" in English. Yoshi's Story on the other hand got it right, because the name Gabon appears in the English version of the game. :P

*One of the first starters of the tend of giving Mario enemies Engrish names is Hot Foot. His name in Japan is ウォーク, which literally says "Walk". 9_9

*Dry Bones' name in Japan is カロン Karon, which is a pun on "Kara" meaning "dry". His weaker counterpart, Dull Bones is named ホネノコ Hone Noko, a pun on "Hone" meaning "bone" and "Noko Noko".

*Bob-Ombs are typically known as ボム兵 Bom-Hei, meaning "Bomb Soldier". The enemy referred to as "Bob-Omb" in SMB 2 is actually a completely different enemy called ボブ Bob.

*Remember how James Rolfe (aka the Angry Video Game Nerd) called the Roto-Disc an "Atomic Waffle" in his review of SMB3? He wasn't too far off: It's Japanese name is クッキー, which literally says "Cookie". :D

*All the enemies in the giant world were just called 巨 [Insert enemy name here] (巨 means "giant"). The English localizers felt the need to give them all unique names such as "Grand Goomba", "Colossal Koopa Troopa" and "Piranhacus Giganticus". The enemies we know as "Boss Bass" and "Big Bertha" were called 巨大プクプク Giant Puku Puku ♂ and ♀, respectively.

*The enemies we know as Sidestepper and Shellcreeper from the Mario Bros. arcade game are referred to as カニさん Kani-san (for Crab) and カニさん Kame-san (for Turtle) in Japan. The enemy we know as Fighter Fly is ファイアフライ Fire Fly. However, in the battle mode of SMB3, the turtles were replaced with Spinies while the other two enemies were replaced with identical but somehow completely different characters. Their names are カニキチ Kanikichi (for the crabs) and ハエマル Hae Maru, which means "Round Fly" (for the flies). It should be noted that the enemy we know as "Fighter Fly" in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is actually named Hae Maru in Japan.

*Kamek was the name given to a specific Magikoopa in Yoshi's Island, but the actual Magikoopa enemy is typically referred to as カメック Kamek in Japan. Kamek's Toadies are known as コカメック Ko-Kamek (literaly "Small Kamek"). This created a funny mistranslation in Mario Party 5 where Kamek kept his name but the Toady was mistakenly named "Magikoopa". In addition, the one Magikoopa boss you fight in SMRPG is actually named カメザード Kamezādo. How curious...

*Those round Goombas in SMW are called クリボン Kuribon in Japan. They actually resemble peeled chestnuts.

*SMW has a bunch of enemies with Engrish names. Fishin' Boo is named スプーク Spook, Eerie is named テレサウルス Teresaurus, Torpedo Ted is just トーピード Torpedo, Chargin' Chuck is named ブル Bull, Dino Rhino is named ライタ Lighter (seriously), Mega Mole is named インディー Indy, and Sumo Bro. is named K.K. Wish I knew what the Ks stood for. :P

*Fishbone was フィッシュボーン, which just says "Fish Bone". What a job that must've been. Additionally, SML2 as a near-identical enemy called ホネボーン Hone Bone, which is an obvious pun. Yoshi's Island has yet another similar-looking enemy called ほねプクプク Hone Puku Puku (Puku Puku being the Japanese name for a Cheep Cheep). His given English name is "Jean de Fillet". I [dukar] you not. *_*

*The fireball enemies in Donkey Kong are called おじゃま虫 Ojama Mushi (literally "Trouble Bug"). This is apparently slang for something that gets in the way. The GB version of DK has a near-identical enemy in its place called ドラムカンファイア Drum Fire. The other fireballs on the 100m stage are called ファイア, which just says "Fire." Lame.

*Pidgit is known as ドドリゲス Dodorigesu. The Pidgits in Mario & Wario are called Dodorigesu JR.

*Yoshi's Island has a lot more localization weirdness going on. Pokey is typically known as サンボ Sanbo. The enemy in YI we know as "Spiked Fun Guy" is called Sanbo in Japan. The bouncing cactus enemy that was named Pokey in the English materials for YI is actually called ヘディングサンボ Heading Sanbo in Japan. Additionally, Blow Hard is named 砲台サンボ Hōdai Sanbo and Cactus Jack is named マトサンボ Mato Sanbo (Mato means "target"). It's a whole family of Pokeys! Strangely, the baby cactuses we know as "Needlenose" weren't given a name in Japan.

*As I said before, Cheep Cheep is typically named プクプク Puku Puku. The enemies Piscatory Pete and Flopsy Fish are both named Puku Puku in Japan. It's probably worth noting that Pete actually looks more like a Blurp, which is named ブクブク Buku Buku.

*Porcupo from SMB2 is named ハリマンネン Harimannen ("Hari" means "needle"). The enemy Harry Hedgehog from YI is named スーパーハリマンネン Super Harimannen. Guess they're related after all.

*Grinder was known as おさるさん Monkey-san. The localizers saw it fit to give the bomb and Needlenose-throwing monkeys their own names: "Short Fuse" and "Seedy Sally", respectively. Ugh....

*Gargantua Blargg is named ビッグウンババ赤 Big Unbaba Red. This same enemy was named "Super Big Blargg" in Yoshi's Island DS, so I guess they got it closer the second time.

*Similarly, the Shark Chomp is named ビッグワンワン Big Wan Wan. Again, this same enemy appears in Super Princess Peach and is named "Big Chomp" there. SPP has a lot more direct translations than most Mario games. Even Petey Piranha couldn't escape being named "Boss P. Plant". :P

*A sampling of some of YI's stranger English names:

風船ボム Balloon Bomb became "Baron von Zeppelin".
めかくしテレサ Blindfold Teresa became "Boo Man Bluff".
雪だるま Snow Doll became "Dr. Freezegood". (Good lord...)
プリン Pudding became "Georgette Jelly".
プロペラパックン Propeller Pakkun became "Hootie the Blue Fish" (-___-; )
ハリボンボン Haribonbon became "Loch Nestor" (Seriously, these puns are worse than the Super Show's writing.)
ビッグウンババ青 Big Unbaba Blue became "Nep-Enut" (I kinda like this one.)
空手家 Karate-ka became "Zeus Guy" (Wouldn't "Karate Guy" have made more sense...?)
つぼおばけ Pot Ghost became "Roger the Potted Ghost" (Where do they get these names from!?)

*We have a total of three different enemies named "Spark": The sparks on the third stage of DK Jr. are named スパーク Spark. The enemy we know as Spark in SMB2 is named スパック (which also says Spark, just spelled with different katakana), and finally we have the enemy in YI named スパーク Spark, who was localized as "Piro Dangle". .___.

*The enemy known as "Frog Pirate" is called ゲロゲーロ Gero Gero, the sound of croaking. The boss we know as Prince Froggy is also called Gero Gero, which means he's not really a boss but a normal frog. :P

*Now we have a pretty major offender as far as localization goes: Super Mario RPG.  Podoboo's Japanese name is バブル Bubble. Here, the enemy known as Bubble was localized as "Sparky". His stronger counterparts, ブブル Booble and ボブル Bobble were named "Fireball" and "Pyrosphere". :\

*Paratroopa is typically named パタパタ Pata Pata (the sound of flapping). In this game he was localized as "Sky Troopa". His stronger counterpart, パタパタダッシュ Pata Pata Dash was named "Malakoopa" (...Whaaaa?).

*プクプク Puku Puku is named "Goby" (AAAAARGH).The green ones are named ピチピチ Pichi Pichi, which makes sense, but their English name is "Mr. Kipper". -____-;

*Microgoombas are typically called マメクリボー Mamekuribo. In this game, Mamekuribo was re-named "Goombette".

*Shy Guy is typically named ヘイホー Hei Ho. The enemy we know as Greaper is named レイホー Rei Ho and Glum Reaper is named ヨロレイホー Yoro Rei Ho. At least those acknowledged the fact that they were Shy Guy variants. >:\

*Shyster is named ヘイパー Hei Pa. This isn't too bad, but the more powerful version, ヘイパワー Hei Power, was named "Springer". 9_9

*The enemy Bowser calls "Kinklink" was named シャンデリワン Chandeli-Wan, which actually acknowledges it's a Chain Chomp variant. Later on in the game Boomer has the chandeliers held up by Shy Guys, named シャンデリホー Chandeli-Ho. For some reason they kept this name in the English version. X_x

*The name for a normal Boo is テレサ Teresa. In this game they localized him as "The Big Boo". The more powerful version, ハイテレサ High Teresa, was named "Lil' Boo". Oi...

*Magmite and Magmus are named マグメット Mag-Met and メグメット Meg-Met, which seems to indicate they're actually Buzzy Beetle variants. :U

*Piranha Plant is typically named パックンフラワー Pakkun Flower. They actually remembered what his English name was (Shock!). However, the more powerful counterpart パックンブルー Pakkun Blue (who is actually green) was named "Chewy". [darnit], Square!

*Spikey is named トゲへい Toge Hei, while Spikester is named イガへい Iga Hei. These make some amount of sense but the third and most powerful version, ウニへい Unihei was given the English name.....Oerlikon. What the Christ is an Oerlikon!?

*Beezo from SMB2 is named トンダリヤ Tondariya. Here, the same enemy was re-named "Shy Away". :P

*Snifit is normally named ムーチョ Mūcho. This enemy was re-named "Spookum", while the enemy called "Snifit" in the English version is actually ブッカー Bukkā in Japan. Did they mix the names up or something?

*I already pointed out Dry Bones' name. His more powerful counterpart here is named カロンゼット Karon Zetto, who was localized as "Vomer". Apparently a vomer is a bone in the human skeleton. Hm.

*Terrapin and Terra Cotta were named ノコへい Noko Hei and ノコへいレッド Noko Hei Red, which means they really are Koopa Troopa variants after all.

More to come later...

« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2012, 05:00:59 PM »
Fascinating stuff. I suppose SMRPG's Nok(o) Nok(o) Shell is named so for a reason.
YYur  waYur n beYur you Yur plusYur instYur an Yur Yur whaYur

BP

  • Beside Pacific
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2012, 05:08:44 PM »
maybe terrapin shell didn't fit the character limit for weapons
All your dreeeeeeams begiiin to shatterrrrrr~
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The Chef

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« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2012, 05:27:01 PM »
It's weird because the second shell you get is actually called "Troopa Shell". ._.

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