Aeris or Aerith?

[Pike]

We've probably had this thread before. Oh well, let's have it again!

Do you call her Aeris or Aerith?

I use them both interchangeably to be honest.

I was going to toss a cute picture up in this post but when I Google Image Searched all I got was porn, some of it involving Red XIII

[Agent Proto]

Aerith. I've used Aeris in the past, but now I've come to terms and accepted that it's Aerith, no matter what. I don't mind if others call her Aeris, but to me, she is Aerith.

[Raistlin]

Aerith, as well, though I generally say "Aeris" out loud. Yes, it's weird.

[CimminyCricket]

I like them both to be honest. Sometimes I'll even use them both in the same sentence. I grew up with her as Aeris and it wasn't until I had already gotten use to saying it and reading it that I found out it was Aerith.

[Hollycat]

As I said in my thread like this (like a year and a half ago, so it was time for a new one anyways)
I think Aeris sounds nicer, but aerith looks nicer.
Edit: or is it the other way around?

[Wolf Kanno]

I prefer Aerith, I feel it sounds nicer and I like it's symbolic meaning.

[Roogle]

I was partial to Aeris until the character began appearing as Aerith in every single piece of media outside of the original releases of the game.

[Mercen-X]

I was going to toss a cute picture up in this post but when I Google Image Searched all I got was porn, some of it involving Red XIII
You should switch your security settings to moderate.

I always used Ares.

[VeloZer0]

Aries, because I haven't really grown attached to anything produced in the compilation.

[Jiro]

Aerith just because I can.

[MJN SEIFER]

I use Aeris because;

1. That's how it would actually pronounced in Japan anyway.
2. It sounds... "cuter" to me, so it fits her better in my mind.
3. I can't pronounce "th" sounds correctly - they come out as "Fs" and "Aerif" doesn't work in my my mind.

[Shorty]

Aeris. For some reason, I always read Aerith as if someone were saying it with a speech impediment.

[MJN SEIFER]

Aeris. For some reason, I always read Aerith as if someone were saying it with a speech impediment.
I see your reasoning.

[Jessweeee♪]

I type Aerith but I always say Aeris. It was corrected far too late for me to change how I pronounce it. Like how I still say "in-VEN-to-ry" instead of "IN-ven-to-ry" because I saw the word in books and video games for years before I actually heard the word pronounced out loud. It's so embarrassing xD

[Jinx]

hey, ms. ck pike
CID'S KNIGHT
l2use the search button noob

[MJN SEIFER]

hey, ms. ck pike
CID'S KNIGHT
l2use the search button noob Is that sarcasm? She's been here since 2005.

[Jiro]

There are topics on this frequently. No matter, it's always a good talking point.

[ReloadPsi]

Aeris, ever since I disavowed the compilation.

Hell, even before that.

Really late edit: if it had been changed to Aerith in the Platinum release and the PC version I would've been quite likely to accept it. They did not, and as one person has put it (not sure if this thread or some other one) it was changed too late to stick for me.

[James_Cub]

As I said in my thread like this (like a year and a half ago, so it was time for a new one anyways)
I think Aeris sounds nicer, but aerith looks nicer.
Edit: or is it the other way around?

I agree. I call her Aeris most of the time, Aerith is just harder to pronounce and I can't be bothered

[Sephex]

I use Aeris privately out of habit. If I am trying to impress nerds, I will refer to her as Aerith.

[Loony BoB]

I use Aeris privately out of habit. If I am trying to impress nerds, I will refer to her as Aeris, because smurf you, it's smurfing Aeris.

[Formalhaut]

I always use Aerith, but when spoken it sounds like Aeris. Still, most media today use Aerith so I just stick with the majority on this one.



hey, ms. ck pike
CID'S KNIGHT
l2use the search button noob Is that sarcasm? She's been here since 2005.

It better be.

[Sephiroth]

Aerith like her name actually is and always was supposed to be.

[Laddy]

Aerith. It's better.

Related. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t36JZ9DOP-o)

[Loony BoB]

Aerith like her name actually is and always was supposed to be.
If it's not in the original game's booklet and it's not in the original game itself, then I'll have to disagree on that. Nothing is more canon than the original game, regardless of how many other books or games have it spelt differently afterwards. Main game, main name. ;)

Honestly still to this day have no idea what anyone was thinking when they opted to switch to Aerith between games. The only evidence of it in the original game is never visible in any way and is no more evidence to it being the "proper" name than it is evidence to Cloud's "proper name" being "Ex-SOLDIER". :p They say it's a mistranslation because there is no 'th' character in Japan, but what does it matter? They don't say 'Aerith' in Japan anyway!

[Jiro]

Nothing is more official than the original game except Word of God. And judging from the repeated use of Aerith in all other media, it's clear that it was a bit of a localisation mishap :p

[Loony BoB]

All I know is that if any person at Square-Enix highlighted that the manual and the game had Aeris 100% and Aerith 0%, which I can only assume many did note (I mean, it's hard to miss, isn't it? xD), not one of these people made a decision to get that changed. Someone out there clearly made the concious decision to have all that text remain as Aeris, and that decision for me means that Aeris is the official name because it was decided. It doesn't matter who made the decision, but they clearly had the power to because that is the name she was given to the Western audience in the original game, and it has not been changed in the original game during it's re-release on Steam. There was no mishap, it was a choice and they made it and obviously had the power to make it. It's also a far more accurate translation than Aerith, unless perhaps someone genuinely had a lisp when they talked about her at some point. :p How is it spelt in Japanese again? Earisu or something? Definitely said with an 's' and not a 'th'.

It wasn't really up for debate until some bugger decided to start printing Aerith on all future publications, which for me was a silly mistake. They're the ones that are making typos as far as I'm concerned.

[Heath]

Aerith is a less pleasing on the ears than Aeris, and I grew up with FFVII and not the compilation/subsequent media. So possibly I'm just a crotchety old geezer who won't use the metric system and continues to call her Aeris.

[maybee]

When talking about the past- Aeris

When talking about the future- Aerith

It just seems right.

[Sephiroth]

If it's not in the original game's booklet and it's not in the original game itself, then I'll have to disagree on that.

I don't edit one thing in later versions, especially not one thing which seems to make at least sense, if I don't edit the errors of the whole game.

The idea itself is way more canon than the game itself and when they stated that it was the idea because it is a word of the creators itself and that is even better than what you can write in a game. Meaning when they made a mistake they can still change it in case they want to. And they did. And an English translation made a translator is not canon (Final Fantasy X for example has a very inaccurate English translation). Canon is the intention of the Japanese creator, and yes, they also have the intention of English names. What do you think how many things have a "th" and were just mistranslated. Aerith was intended all the time. I even renamed her 1997 because my brother already knew that about Square and told me "yeah, they have said that was a mistranslation", meaning what I already said. It was stated at that time that is was a mistranslation. "Aeris" just seems right because it is a real word and it is one of those words her name is based on. That is why they mistranslated it. Because it looked right. And of course it is a nice name. And I don't know how many mistranslations exist in the western versions of games but I tell you, they are many. That is like saying Sephiroth is "Sephiros". No. He was called that because Japanese because don't have a "th" (yet, they know what it is) like you said but use the "su" katakana in names which have a "th" in the western part of the world as well like "Sephiroth" in his pronounciation and this word was also meant with Sefirosu.

Some other words in Final Fantasy VII which were translated wrong because the katakana can stand for many words

Fourth Bracelet - It is the Force Bracelet, both have the katakana "hu(which also stands for "fu")-o-su"; Aerith problem just vice versa since they used the "th" sound instead of the "s" sound the "ce" in "Force" has so the made the mistake and translated it "Fourth" instead of "Force". Crisis Core did it right. Dissidia Duodecim did it wrong. Kuja's Force Symphony is the "Fourth Symphony" which actually makes sense.
Bizarro Sephiroth - Rebirth Sephiroth, but ribasu can be translated both rebirth and reverse and they did not know, took "reverse" and replaced it with "Bizarro" which should have expressed what they thought the name should express and which was wrong since it was supossed to stand for the new born Sephiroth who breaks out his cocoon
Pale Horse - Can be translated to both Pale Horse and Pyro Holes
Safer Sephiroth - "Se-hu(fu)-a" Actually is is not "Safer" and it is not "Seraph". It is "Sepher".

You see, once translator think something makes sense they chose it and that how many of those mistranslations are made.

[yukina]

Translation problems aside, Aeris because it sounds soooo much better. Though I switch to Aerith in the presence of hardcore geeks who enjoy correcting everyone to establish their greatness. :)))

[Skyblade]

If it was a translation error:

First, how was it missed when its the name of a major character?

Second, why did they not fix it in the original PC port, which fixed every other mistranslation and grammar/spelling error in the game?

Third, who argues that "Tina" is Terra's real name? Because that was a translational change as well.

Fourth, does anyone actually like the sound of "Aerith"?

[Jinx]

I heard that originally Aeris was supposed to be a male. They thought a gay love interest was pushing boundaries a little too soon. The name was going to be Aeric.

[Skyblade]

I heard that originally Aeris was supposed to be a male. They thought a gay love interest was pushing boundaries a little too soon. The name was going to be Aeric.

C'mon, like we couldn't all tell that Zack swung that way anyway.

[DownDiagonalLeftA]

I always used Ares.

I thought I was the only one who liked to imagine her as the god of war

[Hollycat]

I heard that originally Aeris was supposed to be a male. They thought a gay love interest was pushing boundaries a little too soon. The name was going to be Aeric.

C'mon, like we couldn't all tell that Zack swung that way anyway.


I will destroy you.

Final call
Aeris sounds nicer
Aerith looks nicer.

[Sephiroth]

If it was a translation error:

First, how was it missed when its the name of a major character?

Second, why did they not fix it in the original PC port, which fixed every other mistranslation and grammar/spelling error in the game?

Third, who argues that "Tina" is Terra's real name? Because that was a translational change as well.

Fourth, does anyone actually like the sound of "Aerith"?

I have already explained in a great post including some other mistranslations like Fourth Bracelet instead of Force Bracelet and Bizarro (Reverse) instead of Rebirth Sephiroth and Sepher instead of Safer Sephiroth, et cetera, and the normal thoughts of a translator about words which seem to make sense are often used and that this is how many mistranslations are made. And about many things which were not changed and no, they did not fix every mistranslation in it. I don't know who told you that but it is not right. I have the Japanese, English and German PS One version and I also have the PC version. And Terra is not a translation error so it is not comparable to that. Like I said, they already said it long before the new millenium began, so also long before the Compilation and Kingdom Hearts. I am totally fine with people writing and saying "Aeris" since I like "Aeris" (like I like "Reina" more than "Lenna" and still "Lenna" is right and was always supposed to be) and I understand that people are confused by that mistranslation and did not know about it even though it was stated early - which is no wonder, why should everyone be informed about that, that is not possible - and used to the name but "that was her official original name" is wrong. A mistranslation does not make something officially original. Nojima, Nomura, Sakaguchi's, et cetera intention does.


And for anyone wondering: No, I'm not actually getting worked up over this, and I know I won't change people's opinion any more than they will change mine. I'm just enjoying the debate. http://forums.eyesonff.com/images/eoff_smilies/tongue.gif


Opinions are completely useless if they are not equal to the facts. And this topic does not need an opinion, telling you her name was "Aerith" all the time is not an opinion.



I don't know how else to explain how her name is Aeris if you can't get your head around the fact that in the manual and in the game, her name is Aeris. I mean, if they never released another game with her in it, would you still be saying "Oh, no, her name isn't Aeris."? xD Yes, in the other games her name is Aerith, but in the original game, the central game, the most 100% canon of all canon VII-related things, her name is Aeris, and there is nothing that you can say - "mistake" or "mistranslation" or "unintended" - that can change that.

The most canon thing except a direct word of a Square Enix member who really made those things like Nojima is the Ultimania Omega.


The Compilation retconned tons of things, and nearly every change sucked.

You still don't understand that the Compilation did not even exist in the 90's when it was said to be a mistranslation.

You have been proven wrong. Accept that it has nothing to do with an opinion. It is a fact that her true name always was intended to be "Aerith", that it always was her true name and that she has been mistranslated "Aeris" did not make it her officially true western name in 1997. Nobody will laugh at you and you can still call her "Aeris". But it is a fact that it is wrong.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/Squall_of_Seed/Aerith.jpg

[Jinx]

I heard that originally Aeris was supposed to be a male. They thought a gay love interest was pushing boundaries a little too soon. The name was going to be Aeric.C'mon, like we couldn't all tell that Zack swung that way anyway.I will destroy you.Final callAeris sounds nicerAerith looks nicer.Actually, because of my synesthesia Aerith is very aesthetically displeasing.

[Skyblade]

I heard that originally Aeris was supposed to be a male. They thought a gay love interest was pushing boundaries a little too soon. The name was going to be Aeric.

C'mon, like we couldn't all tell that Zack swung that way anyway.


I will destroy you.

Final call
Aeris sounds nicer
Aerith looks nicer.

It was meant to be meaner to Aeris than Zack. I was just pointing out that Aeris was not Cloud's love interest (Tifa is), she's Zack's.

The fact that it was mean to Zack was more a happy coincidence.:D

I don't really have anything against FFVII's Zack (or Zack as he appears for about the first half of Crisis Core). He's a fun character.

[maybee]

It was meant to be meaner to Aeris than Zack. I was just pointing out that Aeris was not Cloud's love interest (Tifa is), she's Zack's.
.

Actually in FF VII Aeris no longer has strong feelings for Zack and now loves Cloud.

Aerith "Didn't I tell you? He was my first love."
Cloud "............"
Aerith "Zack.... SOLDIER First Class. Same as Cloud."
Cloud "Strange, there aren't that many who make First Class, but I've never heard of him."
(She turns back to the rock)
Aerith "That's all right. It's all in the past now. I was just worried because I heard he's been missing."
Cloud "Missing?"
Aerith "I think it was 5 years ago. He went out on a job, and never came back."
"He loved women, a real lady's man. He probably found someone else..."
(She walks to Cloud)
Aerith "Hey? What's wrong?"

"Cloud : You were... serious ?
Aerith : No. But I liked him for a while."


Agree to you about Cloud and Tifa though.

[Chris]

It is Aerith.

http://i45.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:/29mvrlt.png

Also, about Zack... if the shoe fits. This one looks a little "snug".

Is it me, or is it getting steamy in here? :blush:

[Jiro]

If it was a translation error:

First, how was it missed when its the name of a major character?

Second, why did they not fix it in the original PC port, which fixed every other mistranslation and grammar/spelling error in the game?

Third, who argues that "Tina" is Terra's real name? Because that was a translational change as well.

Fourth, does anyone actually like the sound of "Aerith"?

Do you know why they have translators? It's because the original Devs don't know enough English. They didn't pick up the fault because they didn't know. It's only in recent history that it was actually done.

The PC port wasn't that long after the original, as I recall, so they probably hadn't noticed yet. Spelling errors are obvious because they are real words. When you're trying to imply a connection to the elements of air and earth in a fictional name, it's not as obvious.

This is a case where you have to approach it with the right mindset. Tina was chosen because the name is exotic. That was the point. She had to have this otherwordly feel. Tina, to the West, is a pretty ordinary sounding name. So they altered it. Her official name in Japan is Tina. In the West, it is Terra. Because that's how the character is meant to be perceived.

I like the sound of Aerith. I don't sound like I have a lisp when I say it. In fact, I must be saying Aeris different to all you lot 'cause I feel like a spastic when I say it.


It's also a far more accurate translation than Aerith, unless perhaps someone genuinely had a lisp when they talked about her at some point. :p How is it spelt in Japanese again? Earisu or something? Definitely said with an 's' and not a 'th'.

Her name is spelt エアリス. Not Earisu. That's english letters and is therefore romaji and her name is written in katakana. It's エアリス. Now. Do you want me to explain how the fact that Vincent's name is actually Binsent because they don't have the letter or sound equivalent to V or a soft C? Or how about the fact that the last character in his name is ト (to) which makes his official name Vincento, or, I should say, Binsento. Just because the last character is ス (su) does not mean that it is necessarily romanised as such.

Aerith is meant to convey allusions to air and earth. That is Word of God. That was the intent. The Japanese can understand that; they just adopt some English sounds and voila. I'm not going to go into detail about how they use a bunch of loan words and sounds and are familiar with other words notably from Spanish and English because it's a waste of time and I'd get it wrong because I'm not a friggin' scholar but the point is they got it but the original translators had NO SMURFING IDEA. I'd bet they thought it was meant to be an allusion to Aries and that's why they translated it as such.

Why, in this day and age where the translation errors are so few and far between, would they suddenly decide to change a major character's name from one of the most notable franchises for no reason? That boggles the mind, and saying "oh those crazy Japanese" is not an answer, it's a cop out. There was a problem and they fixed it. Her name is Aerith.

Is smitkit taking the Towns name? Because that's not her original form. I don't care if it's been "fixed", she's not being called Danielle Towns because that's obviously just a translation error. :colbert:

[Skyblade]

Jiro, give me your pronunciation of "Aerith", please.

[Jiro]

Air-ith, as I presume it is meant to be. Short th, not long and drawn out like you're just trying so hard to find fault with the word. :greenie: I don't get where the lisp nonsense comes from, honestly, it's akin to saying the word "with"; do you laugh at people and say "no you idiot it's meant to be 'wis'"?

[Loony BoB]

Her name is spelt エアリス. Not Earisu. That's english letters and is therefore romaji and her name is written in katakana. It's エアリス.
This is what I call being argumentative for the sake of it. You know exactly what I meant. :p


Now. Do you want me to explain how the fact that Vincent's name is actually Binsent because they don't have the letter or sound equivalent to V or a soft C? Or how about the fact that the last character in his name is ト (to) which makes his official name Vincento, or, I should say, Binsento. Just because the last character is ス (su) does not mean that it is necessarily romanised as such.
Which is great and all, but doesn't take anything away from the fact that Aeris is her name in Final Fantasy VII, and... well... I don't really know what to say. It's her name in the game. Mistranslation or not, it was a decision someone in the translation team made, and for me that makes it her name because, well, in the game - the key part of everything that is FFVII - her name is Aeris.


Aerith is meant to convey allusions to air and earth. That is Word of God. That was the intent. The Japanese can understand that; they just adopt some English sounds and voila. I'm not going to go into detail about how they use a bunch of loan words and sounds and are familiar with other words notably from Spanish and English because it's a waste of time and I'd get it wrong because I'm not a friggin' scholar but the point is they got it but the original translators had NO SMURFING IDEA. I'd bet they thought it was meant to be an allusion to Aries and that's why they translated it as such.
Doesn't change the fact that it's how they translated it and it's how it was published. I'm sure Russia would love for Moscow to be called Moskva the world over, but it's not. Sometimes a decision is made for you. Aeris seemed pretty happy with her name because she was happily using it.

Why, in this day and age where the translation errors are so few and far between, would they suddenly decide to change a major character's name from one of the most notable franchises for no reason? That boggles the mind, and saying "oh those crazy Japanese" is not an answer, it's a cop out. There was a problem and they fixed it. Her name is Aerith.
They changed it because they wanted it to be something else, I get that. They had different intentions. So be it. But that doesn't suddenly change the fact that her name is Aeris in the original game. People can say "but Granddad said his granddaughter was AERITH" all they like - the person who SE appointed to name the character named them Aeris. They didn't do it as a mistake, they did it with intention. "This guy are sick" is a mistake. Aeris is everywhere in the game. They wouldn't have typo'd it 5,000 times accidentally. It was intended to be Aeris by the person who shouldered that responsibility. Someone decided later on - after FFVII (and FF Tactics, if you count that) - that they would change her name. Her name was Aeris and that was not a mistake. They just happened to want to change it later on to another idea they had. Perhaps they had the idea originally, but it didn't happen? So be it. But that doesn't suddenly mean that Aeris is not her name in FFVII, and that is the PRIMARY game in this series. Aeris, for me, is her name.

Is smitkit taking the Towns name? Because that's not her original form. I don't care if it's been "fixed", she's not being called Danielle Towns because that's obviously just a translation error. :colbert:
You'd have to ask her that. As for "translation error" - no, in both cases the original name was intended by the person responsible for choosing it and then someone else would have caused it to be changed later on. While it doesn't make Aerith wrong in relation to FFVII:AC/CC/etc, it is still wrong in the case of Final Fantasy VII, much like calling Danielle "Danielle Towns" now would be wrong because she has not yet taken my name. Even if she changes her name, it doesn't suddenly mean that she wasn't born with her original name. :p

Regarding your way of saying Aerith with a hard 'th' - doesn't that not go along with the point of having her named after "Air-Earth"? Or do Australians say 'Earth' with a hard 'th' too (I'm not taking the piss, I'm genuinely curious)? o_o Also, not every person with a lisp makes it long, drawn out and noticeable. In my experience, most people who have a genuine lisp (ie, aren't just drunk off their face and slurring their words) have a very short 'th' sound going on.

[Tigmafuzz]

Aeris both looks and sounds better. End of discussion.

"Aerith" leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Jiro]

You realise that they don't write character names repeatedly, right? They use a variable so that when you name Cloud "fabio" it shows up everywhere his name is mentioned. You don't manually attach Loony BoB to every post you make. I'll rebut the rest of your post when I'm not on mobile.

[Raistlin]

Despite the fact that I still often say "Aeris," I don't think it's up to reasonable dispute that "Aerith" is closer to the original intent of the developers. How often are the names of major characters changed in later appearances?

Daniel, you seem incredibly confused by how game development works, and your repeated insistence that "Aeris" was not a mistake is either ridiculously pedantic or delusional. You admit that "this guy are sick" was a mistake, making your insistence that one particular name was not a mistake entirely arbitrary. The localization team can and frequently do mess up, in a variety of games. They can mess up in big ways and small ways (I mean, have you even played FFT? That translation was abysmal). The name is not, in fact, "plastered" all over the game, but appears once when you first name her, and then it's a variable for the rest of the game. The member of the localization team that translated the Japanese to "Aeris" made a mistake, in that they differed from the original intent of the developers who named her. The mistake was so obvious that many Western players still referred to her as "Aerith" even before SE officially revised her English name. It was not caught because the localization wasn't checked over with a fine tooth comb in those days; you can find plenty of contemporary games riddled with translation errors.

And most importantly, this was a mistake that was admitted by SE, who officially revised the name the character's future appearances. That should really settle the debate.

If you want to keep calling her "Aeris" because that's what you got used to, that's fine. Nobody would take issue with that, and I still do sometimes as well. Hell, you can still argue it's her "original" English name, because that just seems like a pointless semantic dispute that will vary depending on how you define "original" in that context. But "Aeris" was indisputably a mistranslation.

[Jiro]

Fucking Raistlin got to it first. :monster:

[Skyblade]

Given that her name is a series of characters entirely free to player manipulation, does it really warrant this much hostility?

Her name is Anri. Why? Because that's what I typed in and what the game accepted and used.

[Loony BoB]

Despite the fact that I still often say "Aeris," I don't think it's up to reasonable dispute that "Aerith" is closer to the original intent of the developers. How often are the names of major characters changed in later appearances?
Intent of the developers, yes. Intent of the translaters, no. I firmly believe the person who wrote down 'Aeris' did it with the intention of the name being 'Aeris', not as a result of bad knowledge of grammar or a typo.

Daniel, you seem incredibly confused by how game development works, and your repeated insistence that "Aeris" was not a mistake is either ridiculously pedantic or delusional. You admit that "this guy are sick" was a mistake, making your insistence that one particular name was not a mistake entirely arbitrary. The localization team can and frequently do mess up, in a variety of games. They can mess up in big ways and small ways (I mean, have you even played FFT? That translation was abysmal). The name is not, in fact, "plastered" all over the game, but appears once when you first name her, and then it's a variable for the rest of the game.
Actually, it also appears in the manual. And I'm pretty confident that they had to type it out in at least two different areas within the game because there are different variables for each character's name before and after the name change box comes up, and Aeris is actuallyed called Aeris before you name her (Cloud is called Ex-Soldier). I would be surprised if it doesn't appear in more places than these key areas, but that's enough for me.


The member of the localization team that translated the Japanese to "Aeris" made a mistake, in that they differed from the original intent of the developers who named her.
The name was intentionally listed as Aeris. Did any of the developers tell this guy they intended for her to be called Aerith? Did anyone correct it? Guess not.


The mistake was so obvious that many Western players still referred to her as "Aerith" even before SE officially revised her English name. It was not caught because the localization wasn't checked over with a fine tooth comb in those days; you can find plenty of contemporary games riddled with translation errors.
A fine tooth and comb!? IT'S THE NAME OF A PLAYABLE CHARACTER. You can bet your life that if Tifa was called Tiaf they would have fixed it in a second. The only assumption that would work is if you revised your statement to say "at all" instead of "with a fine tooth and comb". AT. ALL. In which case I would simply say "Well, who's bloody fault is that?" If you put this kind of responsibility with the localisation team, they will name it what they bloody like and that will ship and it's your own smurfing fault if it's "not what you intended." It is, at that point, officially her name (in that localisation - in this case, English). I'll use the Moskva/Moscow reference again - Russia probably didn't intend on Moscow being the English translation of Москва (Moskva). But it is, despite that, the official English translation of Москва (Moskva).


And most importantly, this was a mistake that was admitted by SE, who officially revised the name the character's future appearances. That should really settle the debate.
Only, they didn't. PC release, Steam release - all still say Aeris despite other things being fixed. Why would they fix untold amounts of grammar and spelling and leave the name as it is? They accepted that in that game, it's her official name, and they can't change that.


If you want to keep calling her "Aeris" because that's what you got used to, that's fine. Nobody would take issue with that,
You'd be surprised, then. >=]


and I still do sometimes as well. Hell, you can still argue it's her "original" English name, because that just seems like a pointless semantic dispute that will vary depending on how you define "original" in that context. But "Aeris" was indisputably a mistranslation.
The only way it was a mistranslation is if they actually explicitly told the head of the team translating the game that it should be Aerith and he ignored them completely over and over again. My belief? Nobody told anyone. When everyone checked over the translation, and I am assuming they look at character names, nobody complained. Or perhaps it was Aerith originally and they did complain? You can't mistranslate when you're the person that Square-Enix put in charge of inventing the translation and don't have any instruction on how to translate certain names. I would not be suprised if, one year down the line, someone like Nomura or whatever said "Oh, Aeris? Did you guys know I intended on it being Aerith when I created that character? You know, like Air-Earth? This really bugs me. I want that changed."

And I agree, Skyblade, it's very unsettling that people get this agitated over something that should be extremely easy to debate without resorting to being hostile. Unlike Raistlin, I won't resort to personal attacks just because someone disagrees with me. I expect better from you, dude. It's a bloody character name in a video game, don't go around calling people delusional over it. It's common knowledge that Aerith is what was intended by someone high up but clearly the rest of SE were never informed, and that for me is not the fault of the translation team. If the rest of SE were officially and reasonably informed, someone would have spotted it as a mistake.

Of course, regardless of all of the above: Aeris is her name in the original game, it still is her name in the name of re-releases despite other things being changed (including spelling and grammar). Intended or not, translation error or not, for me it is her name because it is her name in the most canon of all places and all appearances: THE ORIGINAL GAME.

[Wolf Kanno]

BoB, you do know that VII was translated in house by Square by a team that had a rough idea of the English language right? Its a translation error. This isn't like Terra whose English changed name has remained despite appearing in games post the original whereas "Aeris' is restored to Aerith in every game since. It's a better name, it hold more symbolic and story value, and it's less harsh sounding and grating on my ear. :p

[Loony BoB]

It doesn't matter how knowledgeable they were about anything. It's Aeris in the game and in the manual. It's unmissable for any QA team. It doesn't even matter if it is not what was intended by the head honchos because they didn't fix it. In the game, her name is Aeris. Can anyone dispute that? Because if you like, I can turn on the game and look at my manual and I'll see "Aeris", not "Aerith".

Aeris is her name in Final Fantasy VII, the original and central game of the series. You can't dispute this. It's fact.


Aeris is her name in the original game, it still is her name in the name of re-releases despite other things being changed (including spelling and grammar). Intended or not, translation error or not, for me it is her name because it is her name in the most canon of all places and all appearances: THE ORIGINAL GAME.

And for anyone wondering: No, I'm not actually getting worked up over this, and I know I won't change people's opinion any more than they will change mine. I'm just enjoying the debate. :p

[Jiro]

I don't think anyone is taking this as any more than an opportunity to let of some steam :aimsun:

From the FF Wiki entry for Aeris/Aerith:


Although she was never seen referred to as Aerith in game prior to Kingdom Hearts, in the original Final Fantasy VII, before naming the character she is called "Aerith" by default. This is never seen by the player since the first time her name is seen is after the name select screen, where the name selection's default is Aeris. If the name selection screen never appeared, then her name would be Aerith. The same applies for Cloud, who is called Ex-SOLDIER in the game, but this is changed when the player gets to the name selection screen where the default on the name selection is "Cloud". The same also applies for Red XIII (http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Red_XIII), who is just called "Red" before naming him, but unlike the latter two, this is actually seen at the top of a dialogue box during the player's first interactions with him, and changes to "Red XIII" in the name selection screen.

Make of it what you will.

[Loony BoB]

Yeah, I mentioned that somewhere earlier. So it's her real name just as much as Cloud's real name is Ex-SOLDIER. :monster:

[Jinx]

Not gonna lie, 12 year old me didn't know what the fuck was going on Christmas Day when I was playing my brand new copy of Kingdom Hearts and some bimbo comes on the screen named "Aerith." Also, I didn't think her name was supposed to be Air-Earth, but have allusions to Earth ONLY. I thought that was the main gripe about the translation error in the first place. Aeris makes you think of Air, and Aerith makes you think of Earth. Honestly since Jenova is the "Calamity from the Skies" and the Cetra are the nomadic settlers of Gaia, it doesn't make any sense for her name to have allusions to Air.

[Loony BoB]

I'm pretty sure most of the names of FF characters don't have to make sense, because if they do, boy have I missed the point of a lot of them.

[Psychotic]

Of course, regardless of all of the above: Aeris is her name in the original game, it still is her name in the name of re-releases despite other things being changed (including spelling and grammar). Intended or not, translation error or not, for me it is her name because it is her name in the most canon of all places and all appearances: THE ORIGINAL GAME.Uhhh actually no her name was POOPFARTS in the original game.

[Raistlin]

Daniel, your main issue seems to be the use of the words "mistake" or "mistranslation," because you're so emotionally invested in the name "Aeris" that it is impossible it could be wrong. But you have absolutely no evidence to back up your arguments besides your imaginary version of how the game was developed (i.e., arguing that if it was a mistake, they would have fixed it earlier), whereas we have actual comments from the game's developers and those who fixed Aerith's name in Kingdom Hearts.


The only way it was a mistranslation is if they actually explicitly told the head of the team translating the game that it should be Aerith and he ignored them completely over and over again. My belief? Nobody told anyone. When everyone checked over the translation, and I am assuming they look at character names, nobody complained. Or perhaps it was Aerith originally and they did complain? You can't mistranslate when you're the person that Square-Enix put in charge of inventing the translation and don't have any instruction on how to translate certain names.

Do you even read what you write? This is more made-up history. You have zero clue if any of this actually happened. And your assertion that it is not even possible for the name to be a mistranslation unless the translator was told it was wrong is hilariously arbitrary and pretty much eliminates the concept of mistranslations entirely. You also blissfully dismiss the fact that apparently her original name in FFVII actually was Aerith, making "Aeris" an even more obvious mistake.

This is about as bad as arguing with people who refuse to accept evolution: the entire weight of evidence is pretty firmly on one side. :p


A fine tooth and comb!?

I'm just going to leave this here.

[Loony BoB]

Daniel, your main issue seems to be the use of the words "mistake" or "mistranslation," because you're so emotionally invested in the name "Aeris" that it is impossible it could be wrong.
I don't have any issue with those words because even if it were a mistranslation, it still can quickly be pointed out that it's her name in the game. You can't go past that kind of evidence.


But you have absolutely no evidence to back up your arguments besides your imaginary version of how the game was developed (i.e., arguing that if it was a mistake, they would have fixed it earlier), whereas we have actual comments from the game's developers and those who fixed Aerith's name in Kingdom Hearts.
I have no evidence to back it up except that it is her name in the game. I mean, seriously? No evidence? Have you ignored the major point of my posts entirely? It's what I've repeated over and over. That bit. Why didn't you mention that bit in your reply? >=P Nothing to say about it?


Do you even read what you write? This is more made-up history. You have zero clue if any of this actually happened.
Did I say that I knew for certain? Did I suggest that? Answer to both: No! :p

And your assertion that it is not even possible for the name to be a mistranslation unless the translator was told it was wrong is hilariously arbitrary and pretty much eliminates the concept of mistranslations entirely.
Okay, so when someone translates a name (they don't do that often, do they? Names are the same all the world over. If I go to Japan, my name is still Daniel. I suppose Daniel would get translated text-wise into whatever was closest, though, if they don't just simply write the name in English... hmm) for whatever reason, my understanding is that it is translated and... that's that. That's the translation. There is nothing more to it. Right? I mean, whoever is responsible for translating Москва into Moscow got to keep it that way regardless of whether or not it was an "accurate translation". How accurate can it be when you're the person given the responsibility of translating it? It's a freakin' name, whoever is given the responsibility for the translation makes it, and it becomes official. Maybe people might go "Hey, wait a minute, we want that changed..." afterwards, but in the world of video games you can't recall FFVII on such a scale nor can you update it on such a scale, so it seems to me they are stuck with her name officially being Aeris in Final Fantasy VII.


You also blissfully dismiss the fact that apparently her original name in FFVII actually was Aerith, making "Aeris" an even more obvious mistake.
Ex-SOLDIER is Cloud's original name. Red was Red XIII's original name. So...?

This is about as bad as arguing with people who refuse to accept evolution: the entire weight of evidence is pretty firmly on one side. :p
Everything except her name in the game and the manual. xD I mean, I don't even get how you can overlook that completely. How do you overlook that completely? Do you ever once see her name as Aerith in the game titled: Final Fantasy VII? Ever? At all? Once? Maybe? No? Well, then.

If it helps your debate: I can't say for certain how it came to be that her name was Aeris, and perhaps someone was told that her name should be Aerith and it was overlooked entirely, over and over and over again, and was actually mistranslated. Someone - someone - must have either not been told by the developers that it should be Aerith, not understood the pre-mentioned information when it was told to them or deliberately dismissed the information. One of these three things happened. Which one? I don't know. A mistranslation is not a mistranslation if you are being told to translate something and you are given no further instruction. If the first of the three things happened, and the translation team never did receive any instruction, I would not call that a mistranslation. They didn't "cock it up" somehow. That would be like being told to draw a character without any instruction and then being told you've drawn the wrong character. No, you drew a character. There is no wrong if you are given no further information.

If it was one of the latter two options, then it was mistranslated, sure. But even if it was mistranslated, it was made official despite this once the game shipped and the text was never, ever corrected despite multiple re-releases where they DID correct other things which probably took longer than a simple Aeris-Aerith switch would have taken. In the original game, her name is Aeris. That is as final as you can get.

I don't know how else to explain how her name is Aeris if you can't get your head around the fact that in the manual and in the game, her name is Aeris. I mean, if they never released another game with her in it, would you still be saying "Oh, no, her name isn't Aeris."? xD Yes, in the other games her name is Aerith, but in the original game, the central game, the most 100% canon of all canon VII-related things, her name is Aeris, and there is nothing that you can say - "mistake" or "mistranslation" or "unintended" - that can change that. ;)

...until they re-release the game in HD graphics or something and her name is suddenly Aerith. In which case I'll have to agree with Psychotic. POOPFARTS. Or in my game's case, Bumface. >=]

[Skyblade]

Yeah, given how many ports and corrections this game has had...

Original
PC
PSN
PC Rerelease

All of which have involved adjustments and changes, yet none of which touched her name, at all.

Who cares what the rest of the games say? The Compilation's works are nothing compared to the original game. The Compilation retconned tons of things, and nearly every change sucked.

Why would I accept a change to Aerith's name anymore than I'd accept Genesis being added to the Nibelheim flashback? It didn't happen. FFVII is its own game, and, in it, her name is Aeris.

Or Anri. Or Bumface. Or Poopfarts. Etcetera.

[Jiro]

The ports are simply them trying to cash in, I doubt anyone actually tinkered with the game beyond making it portable.

And Loony BoB, if Aerith had never appeared in another game then her name would still be Aerith because the people at Square Enix said so and they're Word of God.

[Skyblade]

The ports are simply them trying to cash in, I doubt anyone actually tinkered with the game beyond making it portable.

And Loony BoB, if Aerith had never appeared in another game then her name would still be Aerith because the people at Square Enix said so and they're Word of God.

One word for you:

Midichlorians.

Yeah, sometimes you have to ignore Word of God.

[Jiro]

Lucas is still the number one official source. I don't care if he's ruining shit, it's still his creation to destroy.

[maybee]

The PC re-release has Aerith and it has also fixed the infamous " This guy is sick " thing line.

[Loony BoB]

The ports are simply them trying to cash in, I doubt anyone actually tinkered with the game beyond making it portable.
They changed multiple dialogue entries and fixed poor grammar, etc. They decided not to change the name 'Aeris' in the manual or the game itself despite this being far, far easier than going through the dialogue and spellchecking it.

And Loony BoB, if Aerith had never appeared in another game then her name would still be Aerith because the people at Square Enix said so and they're Word of God.
I'll have to agree to disagree with you on that "Word of God" thing. I mean, these people can say a lot of things but I always disagree on "Word of God" kicking in. I definitely believe that if no further games were ever created following FFVII that nobody would have given two craps what SE said about "Oh, that name was intended to be Aerith! Oops!" I mean, do you think Terra's real name is Tina? Because she was intended to be Tina until the translation team decided to switch it to Terra after tester feedback. Again, translation team making decisions, just as they did with Aeris.

I don't think any of those who are set in their minds over what her name should be in the game are ever going to change our opinions. But facts point out that her name in the game and in the game manual is Aeris. And that, like it or not (including the Dev's point of view), makes it officially her name in Final Fantasy VII.

"This guy are sick" is also an official line as far as I'm concerned, though, even though they corrected it in later releases. I find it great! It's basically Aeris getting her words confused - I mean, it happens to the best of us in real life. Why not have characters in the game suffer the same way? :D

The PC re-release has Aerith
No, it doesn't. It's still Aeris.

[Bubba]

Aeris. Because that what she is called whenever I play the game.

[maybee]

So they fixed the grammar errors in FF VII PC Re-Release but they didn't change Aeris ? Interesting !

[Jinx]

Honestly, removing "This guy are sick" is a travesty.

[James_Cub]

I'm pretty sure most of the names of FF characters don't have to make sense, because if they do, boy have I missed the point of a lot of them.

There are a few names that have stories. I'm sure all of you know this, but for the sake of discussion:
Cloud Strife- Cloud, as in, the thingies in the sky. Strife, as in, the feeling of guilt and so on. This means he is mysterious, guilty and feeling confused/ashamed
Squall Leonhart- Squall, a storm or massive togetherness of clouds. Leonhart as the name implies, heart of a lion. Also implies he is mysterious, in turmoil and has the heart of a lion. That could be left for interpretion, but it would again enforce the idea that he is a lone wolf, brave yet mysterious. Moreover, all of his family has names relating to water. Laguna stands for lagoon in Spanish and, I believe, Italian and Raine is obvious. This would add to the idea that water constantly changes, moves, so on..
Vivi- VI is 6 in Roman numerals, the 6th letter of the alphabet is F, so Vivi actually translates as FF, Final Fantasy. The creators wanted Vivi to embody the whole evolution of Final Fantasy, how it went from being shy to quite powerful and not understanding where it came from.
Locke- lock plus E for added coolness, like Raine in 8. Locke obviously allures to the fact he is a thief.
And so on and so forth...