This post is part of a series on reader requested (and personal curiosity) comparisons between Fire Emblem games’ Japanese and English scripts. Last time I covered the “Shut up, Tobin” scene between Gray and Tobin in Shadows of Valentia.
Today’s post has minor spoilers from part one of the game.
This post revolves around the first encounter with the character Python in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. A reader contacted me on this blog and requested for me to check a line from this scene.
What’s up with Python calling people studs all the time? How does he speak in Japanese/what led the translators to make the choices they made?
While the reader requested to look into the “studs” specifically, I also look at some other dialogue in the same scene to give a better sense of perhaps what the localization was going for, so it may be a bit broader than this question specifically.
Please remember this is not a nonconstructive criticism of the localization, nor do I aim to purport which is necessarily better or that you should/must like better. Any comments I make along those lines are simply my personal opinion that you can feel free to disagree with as need be. : ) These are fun observations.
Now let’s get to it!
When Alm and co initially enter the Deliverance hideout seeking Clive, this dialogue occurs:
Official Localization:
Python: Not so fast. Where do ya think yer goin’? Don’t y’know whose halls these is?
Alm: Huh? But I thought this was the…
Lukas: That’s enough, Python. There’s no call to play at trickery with our new recruits.
Python: Ha ha ha! Heh, Lukas, you ginger stud. You still draw breath. I was worried Desaix’s
dogs might have punched your ticket to the boneyard. So this sack of guts here must be Sir Grandson.
Lukas: Yes, he’s the one. Is Sir Clive about?
Python: Yup. Better shake your tail feathers… he’s been waiting for you.
As you can see, Python has a very interesting way of speaking. His first line is him purposefully sounding like a bandit to tease Alm, as we can assume from the context. His regular manner of speaking after Lukas calls him out is less bandit-like, but still uses terms like “ginger stud” (the line in question) or “sack of guts” which may come off as…well, odd.
So let’s look at a literal translation of the original Japanese before commenting more:
Original Japanese:
Python: 待ちな。ここは解放軍のアジトだ。あやしいやつは通さないぞ。
Alm: えっ？あの、僕らは…
Lukas: ふざけないでください。アルムくんたちが驚いていますよ。
Python: へへっ…ああルカ、生きてたんだ。南の砦でくたばったかと思ったぜ。そいつが、うわさの英雄マイセンの孫？
Lukas: ええ。クレーベは奥に？
Python: ああ。さっさと行きなよ、お待ちかねだぜ。
Now my translation (minor liberties taken for the sake of English flow. See the super literal translation at the bottom for pure meaning reference).
Translation:
Python: Hold it. This here is Deliverance territory. You suspicious lot can’t just up and trespass.
Alm: Huh? But…we’re…
Lukas: Cut it out already. You’ll scare Alm and the others.
Python: Heh heh… ah, Lukas. You’re still alive! We thought you kicked the bucket over in that southern fortress. So, this guy is the rumored grandson of Mycen?
Lukas: Yes. Is Clive farther in?
Python: Yeah. Get going, he’s been waiting.
So. An important thing to note is that Python’s first line in Japanese is meant to be incredibly informal, likely to imitate a bandit as the localization presented nicely. My translation above has some hints of informality, but in the end I used larger words to express the meaning for your reference. The localization shines here in expressing this.
I also liked how the localization cut out the “Deliverance territory” (or literally: “The Deliverance hideout.”) One would wonder why a resistance on the run from the authorities would just say “this is our hideout.”
Of course the likely reason is that Python already saw Lukas among them so was teasing, as seen. It’s not something someone would say, anyway. That, and if he said if he was part of the Deliverance, Alm’s confusion would simply come from why Python is being hostile. In the localization, instead Alm is worried that this may be a bandit and not the resistance he’s looking for at all.
So that was well done!
Lukas in his line is the opposite. He speaks in a formal way when address Python, though in this instance can be taken as reprimanding rather than being “formal,” which the localization expressed. However, they including Alm and company as “recruits” whereas Lukas simply mentioned their names and left it at that. It also emphasizes Python was playing around, as seen in both versions.
But now we get to the main line in question, where the localization also took interesting liberties in Python’s dialogue. As you can see, the content is the same in Japanese. They thought Lukas died, and that he now sees who the rumored Alm is.
However, the way they go about saying it could not be more different. From calling Lukas a “ginger stud” to calling Alm “a sack of guts” (a translation of the informal way to refer to someone which I translated as ‘this guy’) all serve to emphasize what kind of character they’re making Python out to be.
His last line too. The standard “Yeah. Get going” became “”Better shake your tail feathers.”
Perhaps it is his flamboyant appearance and pose that led to the decision to up these kinds of traits, as his original dialogue in both his second and last lines show. His tone is generally informal, but no real hints nor anything near what it was localized to.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is certainly a way to separate the many characters who may come off as similar otherwise. Though, to a Japanese reader his informal tone alone would be enough to differentiate, as you can see from my own translation that is harder to express in English. As such, going the way they did, even if a little questionable, still does serve to differentiate him. He certainly is not formal! It may even be considered rude… by tone in Japanese, but by pure word choice in English.
He is one of the characters who will not have much screen time in the story too, so aside from a few supports, his introduction is where his character has a chance to leave an impression –which is likely another main reason these character intros so far have led to the strangest (yet memorable for man) lines.
In short:
Python’s rather direct way of speaking (and comments such as “ginger stud, sack of guts, and tail-feathers”) are all purely the localization’s doing, likely to once again make a character that stands out from other characters with what little screen time he has. Perhaps it was inspired by mixing his flamboyant appearance with his informal way of speaking. Japanese is “rude” by tone alone, but English is “rude” by words.
Easy references:
Below is an isolated table with direct comparison for reference, and a shareable infographic is at the end of this post. I also provide the “super literal” translation purely for meaning reference
Infographic summary:
Super Literal Translation:
Here is a super literal translation of the Japanese dialogue to give you an idea. Note this is by no means how it comes off to people who read Japanese, and (I would hope) no translator would ever translate it this way. It is purely for meaning reference:
Python: Stop. This is the liberation army hideout. Suspicious people can’t pass. [more informal]
Alm: Eh? Um, we’re…
Lukas: Please stop joking. Alm and crew are shocked.
Python: Heh heh, ah Lukas, you’re alive. Thought you died in the southern fort. So that guy is the fabled grandson of Mycen?
Lukas: Yes. Is Clive inside?
Python: Yeah. Go on. Don’t keep him waiting.
So what do you all think of this slight change up? How would you have written the dialogue with the literal meaning in mind? Let me know!
I will continue to look at fun differences between the versions of Shadows of Valentia as well as other Fire Emblem games!
