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Glitterberri discusses the fan-translation of Hyrule Historia

by rawmeatcowboy
02 March 2012
GN Version 4.0
A portion of a Nintendo-Gamer interview with fan-translator, GlitterBerri...

NG: Japanese translation can’t be easy at the best of times. How do you cope with the extra burden of Zelda’s fantasy jargon?

GB: The trouble with Zelda is that it’s a very long-lived series, with over 18 games and countless spinoffs spread out over 25 years. Many translators have worked on the game series over time and created a lot of confusion in the process.

The translations for the early Zelda games were rough, loose, and limited by space constraints, not to mention heavily censored by Nintendo of America. References to anything concerning the occult or religion were replaced or removed, such as the temples in Adventure of Link being renamed to palaces or the Bible item in the original Legend of Zelda being called the Book of Magic in English.

The primary villains in Zelda, Ganon chief among them, have always been known as Demon Kings, but it’s only recently that Nintendo has started to allow the term into official translations with the release of Spirit Tracks and Skyward Sword. Still other messages or names have been changed for seemingly no reason whatsoever, again seen in the original Legend of Zelda where a helpful suggestion such as “Search for the lion key,” was mysteriously rendered as the meaningless “10TH ENEMY HAS THE BOMB”.

Consequently, the same term or phrase central to the series’ canon might have been translated differently over time, or never translated properly at all. As a fan translator approaching the games, I have no idea what Nintendo’s official policy is on fixing past translation mistakes or whether they value overall consistency, so I often have to make an executive decision about whether to go with the official translation, questionable or not, or change it to something more suitable.

Compounding the difficulty is the fact that Zelda fans are a special breed, heavily devoted to unravelling the games’ stories. Where there are ambiguities in the relationships between the games and the characters, fan-made theories sprout up like mushrooms after a rainfall, and there are entire groups dedicated to unravelling exactly what Nintendo had in mind. Do I stay consistent and avoid confusing the casual fans by messing with standard series canon, or appeal to the hardcore fans by translating everything literally? It really depends on my audience, but it’s hard to please them all.

Full interview here