Fire Emblem Fates: Matoi to Caeldori (And a few other things)

Today is a very brief post on a recent Fire Emblem Fates localization development. The game has been sent out for review copies I assume, and many streams and the like are popping up online. According to serenesforest, Matoi has been named “Caeldori.”

I talked about how Syalla had been changed to Rhajat, so now let’s take a look at this one. A lot of this post may reflect the same things from the last post, mostly for people who had not read the other post. Excuse the redundancies that may come about as a result.

Once all the names are revealed, I hope to look at some of the odder ones. (Marx to Xander…?)

Note: Spoilers for some things from the game may follow. Though, nothing about the main plot beyond one very indirect reference will be spoiled, but just in case, please proceed with caution.

So the character Matoi is named Caeldori in the localization.

Below is a quick introduction using her character page from the Character Book:

So, next, for those who played Awakening. Remember Cordelia? Well, her name was Tiamo in the Japanese version.

With the above in mind, the two characters are meant to be very alike. Down to their design and character both, though that is no secret.

So in Japanese, they changed Tiamo to Matoi.

The localization thus chose to make an anagram of Cordelia, making Caeldori out of it. Like Tharja was made Rhajat, it seems they do intend to make anagrams for the third as well (being Gaius,).

Caeldori, like Rhajat, does not really sound too Japanese (or Hoshidian, I suppose) at all. However, given the rest of the localization of the Hoshidian names, it is likely more of just a fantasy based on Japanese names, really, so this should not be too big of a problem.

I wrote this on my last post dealing with Rhajat:

But Cordelia is a harder one. The “L” already makes her a difficult candidate. Yes, L’s are substituted for R’s (like Syalla) when going from Japanese to English, but does the same apply going the other way? Likewise, K’s can become C’s from Japanese to English, so does the same apply the other way around? If so, then will it become an anagram of Korderia rather than Cordelia? If so, doesn’t that mean it’s not a true anagram like they did for Tharja/Rhajat? Therein lays the difficulty.

Of course, they may just abandon the Japanese-sounding names for the sake of the anagram, or vice versa.

So, it seems they didn’t really bother with the culture bit with Rhajat, considering Tsukuyomi is now…Hayato. So there goes that! Hayato is a pretty good name, though, which reflects the Wind Tribe’s standing in relation to Hoshido, so I will save that for another day.

But as far as “Subaki”‘s child goes, Caeldori sounds a little awkward, but really is not something to fret about too much.

I look forward to seeing what the last one (Gaius) will be! I’m hoping for Usagi, but “Suaig” is the hilarious option. I hope to compare them in the future.

UPDATE: A reader posted in the comments about the possible meanings (referencing the FEWiki) of Cael (latin: caelus, for sky/heaven) and dori (like the Japanese word　鳥 tori, for bird, though is not usually read this way, but is a nice reference to her class/the feathers, as well as her title as a wing that seeks perfection). So far this is my favorite take on it, as it manages to keep the anagram, too! I wish localization would talk more about their process to see if this was the case or not…

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Feel free to share your own thoughts on the names and what they can become. Remember, this post is just something to think about, and not some absolute “my way is the only way” sort of thing. : )

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