Topic: Where do you stand on "mistranslations?" aka Orlok vs. Olrox.

[VladCT]

Woolsey actually was known to take quite a few creative liberties with his translations, and not just because of the Nintendo policies of the day.

...Except IV wasn't translated by Woolsey.

[X]

I find that there's no excuse to mistranslate things nowadays. Unlike the 80s and early 90s we now have international access via internet. If we want something translated we can utilize a program or contact someone who can translate information on the fly.  If a game company is mistranslating something now? They're probably being lazy or they wanted to do their own thing. Oh yes, FFIV was the worst mistranslated product I've ever played. Though I'll admit it was and still is my favorite FF game.

How the fuck do you extrapolate Butcher from King/ Gilgamesh???

LOL! How the f#$k indeed 

[Inccubus]

I'd say the original PSX version of Final Fantasy Tactics is far far worse than FF4.

[Lumi Kløvstad]

The question we should be asking right now is: "how did this thread go from a Castlevania related thread to a Final Fantasy one?"

But as long as we're bringing up Good King Theodore Woolsey, I'd be remiss as the duly appointed representative of TVTropes (that's a lie) and raging fanboy of same (that is not a lie) to not bring up their page on Woolseyisms, from which I bring this excerpt that is relevant to the thread overall.
 

He frequently modified the scripts he was handed in order to render them more accessible for American release. Fans coined the term "Woolseyisms" to refer to places where Woolsey had obviously been tinkering with the original Japanese script. In a 2007 interview, Woolsey revealed that the original drafts of his translation had to be cut by over 25% just to fit on the SNES cartridge for testing (due to the fact that Japanese is a more compact language than English), which accounts for the amount of cut or abridged material in his version.

Here's the thing. Woolsey's changes? They actually worked. Some of the lines were so well integrated into the collective consciousness of the game that they have been embraced by the fandom instead of reviled. Though a good number of the script changes were probably unnecessary, many fans have come to the agreement that they don't hurt the final product; sometimes they even make it better. The script has diverged from the original — maybe wildly — and yet, it works anyway, just like a good localized translation should.

That's a Woolseyism: The Pragmatic Adaptation's answer to a Cut-and-Paste Translation.

I don't mind script that has been altered to make it more accessible, but I can't think of a time when someone in Castlevania did so. Castlevania's mistranslations have more often been out of sheer laziness than a concerted attempt to bridge a language gap.

[zangetsu468]

I don't mind script that has been altered to make it more accessible, but I can't think of a time when someone in Castlevania did so. Castlevania's mistranslations have more often been out of sheer laziness than a concerted attempt to bridge a language gap.

One time I can think of - not that I'm defending it - is the epilogue script to LOI after the ending.
The script/voice says that Mathias fled to foreign lands etc renaming himself The Lord of the Vampires and King of the Knight, or something along those lines.

This definitely seemed to be tweaked for western audiences. The Japanese version's translation equated to something quite different. Perhaps that the translation staff felt westerners couldn't fully comprehend.

The same thing happened with Zant in Zelda TP being a master of Yin & Yang, but as there was no direct translation for westerners it was changed from yin & yang to "light & dark".

[Lumi Kløvstad]

One time I can think of - not that I'm defending it - is the epilogue script to LOI after the ending.
The script/voice says that Mathias fled to foreign lands etc renaming himself The Lord of the Vampires and King of the Knight, or something along those lines.

This definitely seemed to be tweaked for western audiences. The Japanese version's translation equated to something quite different. Perhaps that the translation staff felt westerners couldn't fully comprehend.

Well, okay. Yeah. You got me on that one.

I do also say that, like any good woolseyism, it definitely works and doesn't really break anything.

I'd say the most notable mistranslations in the series for me are in Symphony of the Night, which reaches full blown "they weren't even trying" in places, like the pointless Lord of the Rings stuff that plainly doesn't belong anywhere in the franchise. Simon's Quest is probably a silver medalist here, but it's often hard to tell what's actually a mistranslation and what's the game being deliberately abusive to you.

May the Graveyard Duck live ten thousand years.

[zangetsu468]

Don't get me wrong Scholar not on a hunt to catch you like the graveyard duck :p (#graveyardduckhunt), it's simply one of the few instances off the top of my head that CVD has brought to my attention. 

The other would be Shanoa's final spiel to Dracula before their battle saying something like
"I am the Morning Sun/Star that will vanquish this horrible night" to the japanese version's
"I am a sword that cleaves evil". I think both lines are cool, but I do prefer the homage to Simon's Quest in this instance.

[Crying Freeman]

I find if names are mistranslated, the Japanese name is always the correct one. At the same time, I don't mind them unless they really ruin the story or mood of the game.

[AlexCalvo]

One time I can think of - not that I'm defending it - is the epilogue script to LOI after the ending.
The script/voice says that Mathias fled to foreign lands etc renaming himself The Lord of the Vampires and King of the Knight, or something along those lines.

This definitely seemed to be tweaked for western audiences. The Japanese version's translation equated to something quite different. Perhaps that the translation staff felt westerners couldn't fully comprehend.

The same thing happened with Zant in Zelda TP being a master of Yin & Yang, but as there was no direct translation for westerners it was changed from yin & yang to "light & dark".

What did it say at the end of LoI in Japanese?

[zangetsu468]

What did it say at the end of LoI in Japanese?

It said something to the effect of him becoming the Demon/ Devil. To Japanese audiences it would've made sense due to the title "Akumajo Dracula" meaning Devil Castle Dracula.

I'm sure others recall this thread, Nagumo or Shiroi probably would've played translator.

[Nagumo]

Yeah, the ending said in the future he would call himself the Dark Lord and "Devil". IGA has been on record saying Dracula means Devil (although this isn't quite right, of course), so the Japanese epilogue confirms Mathias becomes Dracula, while the English version is more vague about this since they decided to use different terminology.

[zangetsu468]

while the English version is more vague about this since they decided to use different terminology.

Dare I say they left this more open for the premise that more games would potentially fit in between LOI>CVIII. The timeline and chronology seemed very important to Iga at that time.

Mathias goes into hiding in foreign lands and continues to curse God for eternity. Eventually, he renames himself Lord of the Vampires, King of the Night.

I think the title Lords of the Vampires is fair enough as the former especially was mentioned in the game by Rinaldo when he described what would happen if someone used the Crimson Stone.

King of the Night was probably 'a thing' because of the few references throughout the game to Walter's association with the Ebony Stone and his Castle being engulfed in eternal night, plus Leon stating This whip and my kinsmen will destroy you someday. From this day on, the Belmont clan will hunt the night. Sounds cool to me.

[knightmere]

I prefer Olrox and really only because of Nostalgia. After all, it is the name I've known him as since 1997.

[Dracula9]

It said something to the effect of him becoming the Demon/ Devil. To Japanese audiences it would've made sense due to the title "Akumajo Dracula" meaning Devil Castle Dracula.

There's also the cultural differences of what "Devil" means. To one person it's just another term for a monster or demon, to others it's THE Devil.

Of course, there's also the whole part about modern Romanian translating "dracul" as "devil," whereas back in the 1400s it just meant "dragon." So there's plenty of extenuating factors to consider.

[Inccubus]

Well, in Japanese Akuma is most normally used to mean THE Christian Devil.
Also, in Christian culture dragons are often used as symbols for the Devil, so that is where that comes from.