Break of Romance Dawn!
Translating from one language to another is hard work, and even the best translators sometimes let things slip through the cracks. Video games are notorious for having poor or somewhat awkward or incorrect translations, so in the interests of having nothing better to do I'm going to list some of the ones I know here. So let's begin.
In the Pokémon games, several moves had names in Japanese that could be translated in two ways in English, and many of them picked the wrong way. One of these was the move Thunder, whose Japanese name - Kaminari - can mean either "thunder" or "lightning". In this case, it was supposed to refer to a lightning strike. Another case was the move Splash, which is called Haneru in Japanese. This can translate as either "splash" or "hop", and the latter meaning was the intended one - this is why the move is Normal-type and not Water-type, and why Hoppip and Buneary can learn it despite neither having anything to do with water.
Speaking of Pokémon, there is another curiosity involving move names. The move Iron Fist boosts the power of Punch-type moves such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch, etc. Yet for some reason, Meteor Mash also gets a boost, despite its name not implying punching at all. This was because Meteor Mash was originally called Comet Punch in Japanese, which had already been used in English for a different move (which was called Renzoku Punch, meaning Consecutive Punch, in Japanese). Another oddity was that Sucker Punch, despite having the word "punch" in its name, does not get powered up by Iron Fist. Again, this is because the original Japanese name is Fuiuchi, which simply translates as "Surprise Attack", which doesn't imply punching at all.
The next example isn't so much a translation mistake as a pun that's impossible to translate. The Pokémon move Curse has two separate functions - if Ghost-type Pokémon use the move, they sacrifice half their HP to inflict a curse on the target, whereas if non-Ghost-types use it, it will slow the target down while boosting their Attack and Defense. The reason for this dual nature is because the Japanese name of the move, Noroi, can be translated as either "Curse" or "Slow", and the joke is that it's both - Ghost-types interpret it as "Curse" while non-Ghost-types interpret it as "Slow".
Due to being translated "in-house" by Japanese employees of Square Enix (then Squaresoft), Final Fantasy VII contains many mythological references whose names were misspelled or mistranslated when translated from katakana (the Japanese alphabet used for writing non-Japanese words) into English spelling. Many of these examples are found in the names of enemies. The Midgar Zolom is the most blatant example - its original name, romanised as Midogaruzuorumu, was meant to be Midgarðsormr. This name, meaning Midgard Serpent, was another name for Jǫrmungandr, a giant serpent in Norse mythology that circled the realm of Miðgarðr, the Norse mythology equivalent of Earth. Since the Midgar Zolom is found in a marsh outside of the city of Midgar, the connection is obvious. Other enemy examples are listed below, in the form of: Enemy name - What it is in katakana - What it was supposed to be.
Cokatolis - Kokatorisu - Cockatrice
Maximum Kimaira - Makishimamu Kimaira - Maximum Chímaira/Chimera/Chimæra
Allemagne - Āriman - Ahriman
Bad Rap - Ibiru Rappu - Evil Wrap (Wrap makes more sense, being that they're jellyfish monsters with tentacles to "wrap" their enemies in)
Cuahl - Kuāru - Coeurl
Crysales - Kuriseirusu - Chrysalis
Harpy - Kimaira - Chímaira/Chimera/Chimæra (Yes, they got the wrong mythological creature entirely)
Ho-chu - Ochū - Ochu
A few bosses got this treatment too. Hojo's second form, written "Heretikku Houjou" in Japanese, was supposed to be Heretic Hojo, but was mistranslated as Helletic Hojo in the game. The boss known as Proud Clod was probably supposed to be Proud Clad (Puraudo Kuraddo - the name sounds kind of Engrishy, but is probably supposed to invoke being "clad in pride"), and the Jamar Armor that accompanies it is supposed to be Jammer Armor (Jamā Āmā), as it gives Proud Clod the Materia-Jammer ability.
The final boss Sephiroth's two forms were also bizarrely translated, although the first was most likely a deliberate choice given the ambiguity of the katakana reading. Bizarro∙Sephiroth was written as "Ribāsu Sefirosu" in katakana, which could be interpreted as either "Reverse Sephiroth" or "Rebirth Sephiroth". Since both names would logically fit, the translators decided to change his name to something else instead. His second form, however, was simply mistranslated - Sēfa Sefirosu, which was rendered as Safer∙Sephiroth in the game, was actually supposed to be Sefer Sephiroth - "Sefer" is a Hebrew word meaning "book", and refers to Sephiroth's name coming from the Səphîrôṯ, the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah through which Ein Sof reveals himself. Sefer Sephiroth would therefore refer to the Sēpher Yəṣîrâh, the Book of Formation in which the ten Səphîrôṯ are written.
As if that wasn't enough, there was also a bit of trouble with the translation of the summon Odin's attacks. His first attack, Gunge Lance, has nothing to do with slime whatsoever, which may leave players quite confused until they realise that it was written as Gunguniru in katakana, and supposed to be rendered as Gungnir, the name of Odin's spear in mythology. His second attack, Steel Bladed Sword, was a mistranslation of Zantetsuken, his iconic attack (which is often left untranslated) in the series. The name translates literally to "Iron-Cutting Sword". Steel Bladed Sword is kind of a strange name because most swords have a steel blade, and steel probably couldn't cut iron.
Cloud and Barret both fell victim to this with their Limit Breaks. Cloud's Climhazzard move was rendered in katakana as Kuraimu Hazādo, and it was supposed to be "Climb Hazard", referencing the attack's effectiveness against aerial enemies and the fact that Cloud would jump high into the air when executing it. Barret's Limit Break "Ungarmax" was supposed to be Anger Max, though this was actually corrected in some versions.
The biggest and most controversial example, however, is none other than Aeris Gainsborough. Originally supposed to be Aerith, the lack of a "th" sound in Japanese led to her name being katakanised as Earisu (the "su" standing in for the non-existent "th"), which combined with poor translation to result in her being called Aeris in the original game. Despite Square repeatedly stating her name was supposed to be Aerith (they wanted a name that sounded phonetically similar to "Earth", in order to contrast with "Cloud", and early artwork of the character has her name written as Erith), and her being named Aerith in everything after the original game in which she appears (Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, etc.), some fans still vehemently insist her name is Aeris. (A fan once made a non-serious forum thread in which they revealed that Cloud and Aerith were originally called Claude and Alice, which is not true.)
Barret's name is another non-translateable pun, as the katakana reading - Baretto - is the Japanese pronunciation of "bullet".
Final Fantasy IX actually had DELIBERATE mis-romanisations in order to hide references to previous games in the series. To wit:
Mount Gulug (Gurugu-kazan), which references Mount Gulg from the original Final Fantasy (also known as Gurgu Volcano). It's implied to be the same location.
The original Fiends from Final Fantasy also make a reappearance in Final Fantasy IX, though Marilith (Maririsu) was mistranslated as Maliris (this Fiend was known as Kary (Kārī) in the original NES version of Final Fantasy, which was itself a mistranslation of the Hindu goddess Kālī).
The boss Hilgigars (Hirukigāsu) was supposed to be Hill Gigas (an enemy from the original Final Fantasy, known as Giant in the NES version). (The "ki" is used in place of "gi" due to a rather complicated Japanese pronunciation rule that I won't go into here).
The Eidolon Madeen was meant to be a reference to Maduin, the Esper from Final Fantasy VI (both are spelled and pronounced Madin in Japanese). Her attack, Terra Homing, written Terahōmingu in katakana, was meant to be Terraforming (there is no "fo" katakana, so "ho" is used to substitute for it). Terraforming is a hypothetical process whereby a planet alters its environment to make it more similar to Earth's, in order to make it habitable for Earth-based organisms.
The boss name Nova Dragon was an alternate translation of Shinryu, an infamous optional boss fight from Final Fantasy V. "Shinryu" can translate as either "holy dragon", "true dragon" or "new dragon" in Japanese, and Nova is Latin for "new".
In the Pokémon games, several moves had names in Japanese that could be translated in two ways in English, and many of them picked the wrong way. One of these was the move Thunder, whose Japanese name - Kaminari - can mean either "thunder" or "lightning". In this case, it was supposed to refer to a lightning strike. Another case was the move Splash, which is called Haneru in Japanese. This can translate as either "splash" or "hop", and the latter meaning was the intended one - this is why the move is Normal-type and not Water-type, and why Hoppip and Buneary can learn it despite neither having anything to do with water.
Speaking of Pokémon, there is another curiosity involving move names. The move Iron Fist boosts the power of Punch-type moves such as Fire Punch, Ice Punch, etc. Yet for some reason, Meteor Mash also gets a boost, despite its name not implying punching at all. This was because Meteor Mash was originally called Comet Punch in Japanese, which had already been used in English for a different move (which was called Renzoku Punch, meaning Consecutive Punch, in Japanese). Another oddity was that Sucker Punch, despite having the word "punch" in its name, does not get powered up by Iron Fist. Again, this is because the original Japanese name is Fuiuchi, which simply translates as "Surprise Attack", which doesn't imply punching at all.
The next example isn't so much a translation mistake as a pun that's impossible to translate. The Pokémon move Curse has two separate functions - if Ghost-type Pokémon use the move, they sacrifice half their HP to inflict a curse on the target, whereas if non-Ghost-types use it, it will slow the target down while boosting their Attack and Defense. The reason for this dual nature is because the Japanese name of the move, Noroi, can be translated as either "Curse" or "Slow", and the joke is that it's both - Ghost-types interpret it as "Curse" while non-Ghost-types interpret it as "Slow".
Due to being translated "in-house" by Japanese employees of Square Enix (then Squaresoft), Final Fantasy VII contains many mythological references whose names were misspelled or mistranslated when translated from katakana (the Japanese alphabet used for writing non-Japanese words) into English spelling. Many of these examples are found in the names of enemies. The Midgar Zolom is the most blatant example - its original name, romanised as Midogaruzuorumu, was meant to be Midgarðsormr. This name, meaning Midgard Serpent, was another name for Jǫrmungandr, a giant serpent in Norse mythology that circled the realm of Miðgarðr, the Norse mythology equivalent of Earth. Since the Midgar Zolom is found in a marsh outside of the city of Midgar, the connection is obvious. Other enemy examples are listed below, in the form of: Enemy name - What it is in katakana - What it was supposed to be.
Cokatolis - Kokatorisu - Cockatrice
Maximum Kimaira - Makishimamu Kimaira - Maximum Chímaira/Chimera/Chimæra
Allemagne - Āriman - Ahriman
Bad Rap - Ibiru Rappu - Evil Wrap (Wrap makes more sense, being that they're jellyfish monsters with tentacles to "wrap" their enemies in)
Cuahl - Kuāru - Coeurl
Crysales - Kuriseirusu - Chrysalis
Harpy - Kimaira - Chímaira/Chimera/Chimæra (Yes, they got the wrong mythological creature entirely)
Ho-chu - Ochū - Ochu
A few bosses got this treatment too. Hojo's second form, written "Heretikku Houjou" in Japanese, was supposed to be Heretic Hojo, but was mistranslated as Helletic Hojo in the game. The boss known as Proud Clod was probably supposed to be Proud Clad (Puraudo Kuraddo - the name sounds kind of Engrishy, but is probably supposed to invoke being "clad in pride"), and the Jamar Armor that accompanies it is supposed to be Jammer Armor (Jamā Āmā), as it gives Proud Clod the Materia-Jammer ability.
The final boss Sephiroth's two forms were also bizarrely translated, although the first was most likely a deliberate choice given the ambiguity of the katakana reading. Bizarro∙Sephiroth was written as "Ribāsu Sefirosu" in katakana, which could be interpreted as either "Reverse Sephiroth" or "Rebirth Sephiroth". Since both names would logically fit, the translators decided to change his name to something else instead. His second form, however, was simply mistranslated - Sēfa Sefirosu, which was rendered as Safer∙Sephiroth in the game, was actually supposed to be Sefer Sephiroth - "Sefer" is a Hebrew word meaning "book", and refers to Sephiroth's name coming from the Səphîrôṯ, the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah through which Ein Sof reveals himself. Sefer Sephiroth would therefore refer to the Sēpher Yəṣîrâh, the Book of Formation in which the ten Səphîrôṯ are written.
As if that wasn't enough, there was also a bit of trouble with the translation of the summon Odin's attacks. His first attack, Gunge Lance, has nothing to do with slime whatsoever, which may leave players quite confused until they realise that it was written as Gunguniru in katakana, and supposed to be rendered as Gungnir, the name of Odin's spear in mythology. His second attack, Steel Bladed Sword, was a mistranslation of Zantetsuken, his iconic attack (which is often left untranslated) in the series. The name translates literally to "Iron-Cutting Sword". Steel Bladed Sword is kind of a strange name because most swords have a steel blade, and steel probably couldn't cut iron.
Cloud and Barret both fell victim to this with their Limit Breaks. Cloud's Climhazzard move was rendered in katakana as Kuraimu Hazādo, and it was supposed to be "Climb Hazard", referencing the attack's effectiveness against aerial enemies and the fact that Cloud would jump high into the air when executing it. Barret's Limit Break "Ungarmax" was supposed to be Anger Max, though this was actually corrected in some versions.
The biggest and most controversial example, however, is none other than Aeris Gainsborough. Originally supposed to be Aerith, the lack of a "th" sound in Japanese led to her name being katakanised as Earisu (the "su" standing in for the non-existent "th"), which combined with poor translation to result in her being called Aeris in the original game. Despite Square repeatedly stating her name was supposed to be Aerith (they wanted a name that sounded phonetically similar to "Earth", in order to contrast with "Cloud", and early artwork of the character has her name written as Erith), and her being named Aerith in everything after the original game in which she appears (Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core, etc.), some fans still vehemently insist her name is Aeris. (A fan once made a non-serious forum thread in which they revealed that Cloud and Aerith were originally called Claude and Alice, which is not true.)
Barret's name is another non-translateable pun, as the katakana reading - Baretto - is the Japanese pronunciation of "bullet".
Final Fantasy IX actually had DELIBERATE mis-romanisations in order to hide references to previous games in the series. To wit:
Mount Gulug (Gurugu-kazan), which references Mount Gulg from the original Final Fantasy (also known as Gurgu Volcano). It's implied to be the same location.
The original Fiends from Final Fantasy also make a reappearance in Final Fantasy IX, though Marilith (Maririsu) was mistranslated as Maliris (this Fiend was known as Kary (Kārī) in the original NES version of Final Fantasy, which was itself a mistranslation of the Hindu goddess Kālī).
The boss Hilgigars (Hirukigāsu) was supposed to be Hill Gigas (an enemy from the original Final Fantasy, known as Giant in the NES version). (The "ki" is used in place of "gi" due to a rather complicated Japanese pronunciation rule that I won't go into here).
The Eidolon Madeen was meant to be a reference to Maduin, the Esper from Final Fantasy VI (both are spelled and pronounced Madin in Japanese). Her attack, Terra Homing, written Terahōmingu in katakana, was meant to be Terraforming (there is no "fo" katakana, so "ho" is used to substitute for it). Terraforming is a hypothetical process whereby a planet alters its environment to make it more similar to Earth's, in order to make it habitable for Earth-based organisms.
The boss name Nova Dragon was an alternate translation of Shinryu, an infamous optional boss fight from Final Fantasy V. "Shinryu" can translate as either "holy dragon", "true dragon" or "new dragon" in Japanese, and Nova is Latin for "new".
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