Fire Emblem Fates Localization: Nyx Death Quote Change (Major)

This post is part of a series of Fire Emblem Fates localization comparison posts! I discuss anything from major to minor changes here as I play through the game. Today, I take a look at death quotes, one in particular being Nyx (recruitable on Conquest and Revelation modes), which made less sense after it changed. Let’s take a look.

Please note that this post is purely informative and may share some opinion, but this does not mean the change is necessarily good or bad. A change is just a change that is being looked into, and you can be the judge of whether you like it or not!

It is all just for fun and curiosity for me. : )

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So when playing Classic mode (with good old perma-death), Nyx says the following in Japanese when she dies:

一人の子供が死んだ…それだけ。ただ…それだけ…なの…よ……

“And so a lonesome child dies… that’s all this is. Nothing more…nothing…less…”

This is a bit more of a liberal translation I did above. At the literal sense, she is saying “A lonely child died… that’s it. As usual…that’s it.” So to make it flow a a bit better, I wrote the above. Another way to look at it is, “And so a lonesome child died… that’s all. As usual…it’s not a big deal…”

Both ways you can see the theme and gist of it. It is rather dark (and depressing) as she simply remarks that she is yet another child victim of war (likely referring to her body rather than mind). In that sense, you get the impression that people who find her would assume a child was killed rather than a woman cursed in an ageless body. There’s so much that goes implied with the above quote, that I found it quite touching even. The matter-of-fact tone only serves to emphasize the above point with her personality even more.

Now, let’s take a look at the NoA localization:

“A cursed soul perishes in the clutches of a fallen dragon. How…fitting…”

There are no longer any references to any children, and instead focuses on a “cursed soul” with no remarks of loneliness either. Instead there is a reference to a “fallen dragon” which is fitting somehow? (In a way I am not quite sure of).

At first I thought it may be a reference to the level she’s recruited on on the Conquest path, where they are in a fort built out of a Dragon’s remains. But when she said the same line on any level afterward, it felt really strange.

So which fallen dragon does she mean? One of the royalty, perhaps? I wouldn’t really refer to them as fallen. Maybe she is referring to whoever orchestrated the whole thing? That would be just as odd…

So that really is an enigmatic change to me. What is she talking about?

I suppose (like with a lot of Elise’s dialogue) that NoA was slightly uncomfortable with the “older woman in a child body” sort of archetype (like Nowi of the previous game) so may have steered to avoid references to it. Yet, her supports and even recruitment dialogue still happily emphasize the child body. So then why is it missing here?

Perhaps they felt her referring to herself as a lonely child would be perceived as an admittance she is a child in mind (as opposed to body which I assume she was referencing), and therefore made them uncomfortable? Every other time she is emphasizing she is older than she appears, after all. But now this is just pure speculative reaching!

Just to double check if NoA changed the death quotes for everyone in general, I checked Selena (as she happened to die) and her death quote remained the same, pretty much:

[JP] “I’m such an idiot…dying here…before I could…meet…everyone…”

[NA] “Way to go, Selena…getting yourself killed here. Now you’ll never see them again…”

The above keeps the same theme and such, so it does not look like NoA changed all the death quotes, just a few here and there.

UPDATE: Upon looking at it again, there are a few more theories, such as Revelation. I have heard some people say that perhaps it is a reference to Anankos, but… he is practically non-existent on the  path where she still says this. Perhaps a reference to Corrin? But how could she know?

I have also thought they may be avoiding references to the “childish” body, but as others have pointed out, it is rather entwined with her character, from voice to, well, character. So, maybe it has to do with more just not wanting to paint as dark an image as her Japanese line portrayed (that children die in war).

We’ll never know why, but I did prefer Nyx’s original over the changed one (especially since the second almost sounds like it was to be used only on that particular level, but the text dump says there are no other death quotes, so…)

It is just a death quote, though, and so even though the quote itself was a “major” change, in the overall picture of her character it is relatively “minor.”

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I will continue to note these little differences (and major ones apparently in the supports!) as I go through the games. Feel free to point out anything that stands out and that need looking into! I have played all three games already in Japanese, so do not worry about spoilers.

What do you think about this slight change? It is minor in dialogue, but it does change a bit about the character in the long run.

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