Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

So you've just translated a story. And you come across a scene in your original source that just doesn't work with the changes you already made. Maybe there's a [[First-Name Basis|change in honorifics]], or a character whose [[Never Say "Die"|death you censored]] has to come [[Back from the Dead]].

 

{{examples}}

* The former [[Trope Namer]] ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' regularly fell victim to this, which is not surprising given the amounts of censorship and changes usually done to its foreign adaptations.

** One particularly infamous instance, referenced in the page quote, occurs in the first season where Mamoru is brainwashed and falls into an Evil Costume Switch version of his alter ego Endymion. For some reason, the English dub decided to keep his past name the same as his reborn name, which got to be very awkward when he didn't recognize the name "Darien" even though he called himself ''Prince Darien''.

* The Disney dub of ''[[The Cat Returns]]'' has a minor one when Haru confronts the messenger cat about the gifts they've been leaving her. "Don't you cats know anything? I hate mice, I don't eat them! I'm allergic to cat-tails, and catnip does nothing for me!" The "allergic" bit appears to be in reference to Haru waking up sneezing that morning, just before discovering the garden is full of cat-tails. However, she is later seen lying in a field of them in the Cat Kingdom with no effects. Worth noting that the sneezing in the manga and the Japanese release is a [[Freeze Sneeze]], as Haru had fallen asleep uncovered.

 

* ''[[Tintin]]'' comics were translated into English out-of-sequence. Translators altered the dialogue to try to give a sense of continuity to the "new" sequence, leading to problems such as characters the heroes already "knew" being introduced. Also, of course, if the books are placed in proper sequence some of the dialogue just doesn't make any sense.

 

* In Russian dub of Robocop, the plot-relevant line "You are fired" ({{spoiler|which leaves the [[Big Bad]] unprotected by the Robocop's directives}}) was translated as, approximately, "You've got burned up".

** With enough imagination you can interpret it as "You've been compromised".

* In ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon]]'', a Decepticon attack separates Optimus Prime from his trailer/weapon cache/flight gear. He exasperatedly ''demands'' his flight tech back. In the Hungarian dub, however, he calls for a technician. Yet Que, the Autobot technician, is standing right there! And in the final scene of the movie, {{spoiler|when he tries to offer an alliance,}} Megatron calls Optimus Prime ''Sentinel'' Prime. This change of names isn't only erroneous, translating the dialog word-for-word would've been enough—since in the original, Megatron just says "Prime". The context made it clear which Prime he was referring to... {{spoiler|''not'' the one he had just shot down, but the one he was ''facing''.}}

 

* The Dutch translation of the ''[[Death Gate Cycle]]'' suffered from this. A few added sentences in the later books serve to explain that the characters have simply been using the wrong words. It doesn't help.

* ''[[The Sword of Truth]]'' was translated rather badly to Russian. Here are just the examples from the first book: 1) Kahlan scares away a girl by calmly stating she will "deal" with a certain man she's unaware is her friend. The original has her threatening to ''skin'' him. 2) Denna orders Richard to eat from a bowl without his hands because he's her "pet". Except in the translation, the word used means "disciple" or "trainee". 3) The translation claims that Darken Rahl can use the Magic of Orden to rule ''forever''. There are several places where he states he needs Kahlan to have a ''heir''. And then there is the matter of multiple uncoordinated translators...

* The French translation of the ''[[Warcraft]]'' novel ''[[Rise of the Horde]]'' combines this with Dub Induced Spoilers (even with the [[Foregone Conclusion]]); it is hard to understand why the reveal that warlocks are working with demons is surprising anyone when "warlock" is translated as "demoniste".

 

* The Russian dub of the 2005 season of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' gave the characters generic Russian voices, but retained the line where Rose asks the Doctor about his Northern accent—even though he sounds perfectly normal.

** The French dub is the same.

** Note that the original voices are often heard in Russian dubbing—still, most of the readers wouldn't recognize a Mancunian accent.

** Technically, most of the Russian dubs, even those with full voice replacement, usually keep the references to the original language and its quirks—under the assumption that the viewers would normally know what the original language of the show is (via the show's title screen, for instance). [[Viewers Are Geniuses|That the viewers might not know about said quirks, on the other hand...]]

* The Philippine dub of ''[[Kamen Rider Kabuto]]'' removes a scene in the first episode where a pickpocket just barely misses slashing Tendou's throat with a knife. The rest of the scene is unchanged, so Kagami says "You almost got killed!" apparently out of nowhere.

* In one episode of ''[[King of Queens]]'', Carrie tries to get rid of her accent, in order to get a promotion. Viewers of the German dub are now tempted to ask "What accent?", because she speaks perfect Standard German (,like most people in German dubs do). [[Lucky Translation|Luckily, the episode is salvaged a bit]] by the fact that ''talk'' (the word treated as representative for Carrie's pronunciation problems) is contained in the German [[Gratuitous English|anglicism]] ''Small Talk'', giving somewhat the impression that Carrie's main problem is specifically the pronunciation of such anglicisms.<ref>They even managed to put in a small [[Woolseyism]]: In one scene, Spencer's instructions cause a confused Carrie to pronounce ''talk'' like ''tag''. In the dubbed version, Carrie pronounces it like the similarly spelled German word ''Talk'' ( = ''talc'').</ref>

 

* On the subject of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', the decision of early translators to change Sonic's home world from Earth to Mobius probably didn't seem like much of a stretch at the time (many of the levels in the early games looked more surreal that anything you'd find on Earth anyway). Years later, after ''[[Sonic Adventure]]'', Earth started being mentioned by name, humans other than Robotnik/Eggman appeared, and locations took on more realistic elements. Of course, this led to confusion in many fans who grew up with the numerous manuals, comic books, and TV adaptations which placed Sonic on Mobius. Extra lines were also added in ''Sonic Adventure'' to explain "Eggman" as a nickname used by Sonic & Co to make fun of him while Dr. Robotnik was his actual name, though the latter games don't seem to bother with this.

** It's an explanation from the comic, but it can also be applied to the games. When recovering from insanity, Robotnik mentions that he was called Eggman as a tease but he took that name and gave it power, forming the Eggman Empire. This could be referencing [[Sonic Adventure 2]] where he blows up half the moon. Suddenly "Eggman" doesn't seem like much of a joke anymore hm?

* The American manuals for the NES versions of ''[[Contra]]'' and ''Super C'' (as well as the Game Boy game ''Operation C'') claimed that those games were set in the then-present, while the Japanese versions actually took place in the 27th century. This didn't prove problematic until the opening of ''Contra III'', which clearly established that the game was set in the year 2636. To work around this plot hole, Konami's localization team simply claimed that the main characters in ''Contra III'' were not Bill and Lance, but their descendants Jimbo and Sully.

* The original ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' hits just about every ''other'' bad translation trope there is, so it's not surprising it gets this one, too. In the Japanese version, the two young girls in the other world are Mai and Aki... so it's not very surprising that they turn out to be aspects of the mind of party member Maki—as Nanjo points out, it's simple wordplay. In the English-language version, they're now Mae and Maggie, and Maki is Mary—so not only does this previously fairly well-foreshadowed twist suddenly come out of nowhere, but Nate (Nanjo) '''still''' gives the explanation that it's simple wordplay even though this no longer makes sense, making him look less "smart and observant" like he's supposed to, and more like a raving lunatic.

* In the original ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' game, the manual includes the hint that the Pols Voice enemy "hates loud noises". At no point in the localised version of the game does this come into play - it's referencing a trick on the Japanese version, in which Pols Voices could be killed by shouting into the microphone built into the controller. However, when the Famicom was released in the West as the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], it didn't have the microphone, but the manual was unchanged.

* In the Japanese version of ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'', Maya's [[Trademark Favorite Food]] is miso ramen. When the game was localized in America, the setting was changed from vaguely Japan to vaguely America, and Maya's [[Trademark Favorite Food]] changed accordingly; she now is a fanatic for hamburgers. For the first three games, this was a fairly harmless change; instead of a favorite ramen stand, they now have a frequented burger joint. The problem came in ''[[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'', when their favorite ramen stand becomes central to one of the cases and all the characters talk about how much Phoenix and Maya used to visit the ramen stand, making something that was always an element of the Japanese script look like a [[Retcon]] in the English script. So, from now on, new works (like the manga) have her down as loving burgers ''and'' ramen.

** Another one: the ability Iron Fist raises the power of punching moves like Fire Punch, Ice Punch, etc. But many players were surprised by the fact that Sucker Punch doesn't get the boost. This is because Sucker Punch is simply called "Surprise Attack" in the Japanese version, which doesn't imply punching at all. (Which makes sense, considering the large number of armless Pokemon that learn it, such as Spiritomb) Conversly, Meteor Mash DOES get the boost, though its English name doesn't imply it being a punching move (though the animation makes it pretty obvious). It's called Comet Punch in the Japanese version, which had to be changed because the localized version [[Name's the Same|already used that name for another move introduced in an earlier generation.]]

** A slightly lesser example is the move Heat Wave, a Fire move widely available by way of move tutors to Flying Pokémon. The Japanese name for the move is "Hot Wind", which makes more sense, but the discrepancy here isn't all that significant.

** And ano... well, by now I think it's about fair to say the localizers of the earlier games weren't very good at translating move names. The move 'Curse' uniquely works differently for Ghost-types than it does for any other type, essentially making it two moves in one. The Ghost version is a [[Cast from Hit Points]] status attack that gradually drains the foe's HP, which makes sense. What may baffle English players is the other version of the move, which [[Mighty Glacier|boosts the user's Attack and Defense at the cost of Speed.]] Well, as it turns out, the Japanese name of the move is a pun: ''Noroi'' can mean either 'Curse' or 'Slow', and the point of the move is that it's actually both; Ghost-types interpret it as "Curse" while others interpret it as "Slow". Unfortunately, this got completely lost in translation.

** The Japanese version of [[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald]] introduced a move called Firefly Light exclusive to the bug-type Pokemon Volbeat, which makes sense. The English translation team called it Tail Glow, making Western fans wonder why Ampharos (an electric Pokemon with a glowing sphere in its tail) can't learn it. And then in [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|Diamond/Pearl/Platinum]] the legendary Pokemon Manaphy was able to learn it, which makes sense because it's based on deep-sea animals which typically have bioluminescence as fireflies do, but Western fans were even more puzzled because Manaphy has no tail whatsoever.

** The party continually makes references to [[Eat the Dog|eating]] friendly (but slightly annoying) alien Tatsu. In the original this is a joke about his [[Verbal Tic]] reminding them of food.<ref>He, and all Nopon, ends every sentence with も. He would often have a sentence that ended in い before the tic is applied, common due to most Japanese adjectives ending in い, and continually say いも (potato)</ref> 8-4 and Treehouse kept all references to eating Tatsu, but the verbal tic or any explanation of these desires are completely absent.

 

* ''[[Winx Club]]'' was dubbed by 4Kids, and therefore had a few Dub Induced Plot Holes:

** In one episode, [http://www.angelfire.com/la3/goldenroad15/episode36.html Tecna shot a "Sphere of Truth"] at a teacher she thought was evil without any ill effect, but then [http://www.angelfire.com/la3/goldenroad15/episode49.html the teacher turned out to be an evil clone] much later (the very kind of thing her spell was supposed to expose). [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] never bothered to cover this up at all. It had been originally a plasma sphere, and one can assume that 4K changed it because it was violent. ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XDnmqD7Q5Y Here's a video.])

** A rather extreme example: in S3, Icy supposedly gets a new fire power from the season's [[Big Bad]] and boasts about it. Yet just a few minutes later, she attacks Bloom (who has a similar fire power, only more powerful) with nothing but her usual ice attacks. Lather, rinse, repeat ''for the whole season''. So you're thinking that [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot|they wasted a perfectly good]] [[Forgotten Phlebotinum|power]], right? But [http://spiderbraids.livejournal.com/56900.html the original version] doesn't have Icy boasting about a new power, and the fire was just there for show, so to speak. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMEowH5X84k Clip.]

** Minor example: An angry [[Shape Shifter|"Stella"]] is looking for "her" ring. Bloom comes in, so "Stella" asks Bloom about it. Her response differs: In the original, Bloom is confused at Stella's sudden anger and says "Calm down okay? Let's sit down and talk"; in the 4Kids dub, she says, "You gave it to me last night; you said to keep an eye on it." In either case, her response is met with an attack; understandable in the original, not so much in the dub. And at the end, "Stella" turns out to be Darcy, who seems more likely to just nicely ask Bloom for the ring than randomly attack her. [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4j4q8_winx-club-comparisons-date-with-dis_fun (6:38 in the video)]

* Latin American's Dub of ''[[Gargoyles]]'', [[Superlative Dubbing (Sugar Wiki)|while being really, really good]]; committed one terrible and silly mistake. The gargoyles receive their name in the future, and are named after places of the modern USA (Ex: Bronx). Yet, we see them call themselves BY THOSE NAMES in the flashbacks of the past. Is quite silly seeing someone named Hudson in the year 988 in Scotland.

** Also, "Demona" is called by that name by the other gargoyles, even when they shouldn't have known humans had named her that.

* Hungary's dub of ''[[Kim Possible]]'' suffered from various problems, but the clueless translation was the worst offender. For example, in an early episode, Kim's sitting detention, and one of her mates makes a remark about the nanobot on her nose, thinking it to be a zit. In the dub, he instead asks "You've been busted?", to which the other guy replies "Cheerleaders don't have zits".

* The Japanese dub of ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' renamed Bulkhead "Ironhide" to make him more recognizable to the audience of [[Transformers (film)|the movie]]. This caused a problem when the actual Ironhide appeared in the second season, with an appearance actually based on his [[Transformers Generation 1|G1]] incarnation. The Japanese dub renamed this Ironhide "Armorhide".

** The Hungarian dub doesn't translate the names, but neither does it bother to translate titles (such as "Mare in the Moon"), leading to a very bizarre dub, where the characters seem to be arbitrarily switching between languages. Promo material explains that "The ponies have beautiful English names", but... what sense does ''that'' make?

* The Japanese dub of ''[[South Park]]'' removed the episode "A Ladder to Heaven", probably due to cultural sensitivity. However, like the [[Pokémon (anime)|Legend of Dratini]] example above, this created sort of a problem whenever Cartman would get briefly possessed by Kenny (in the episode, he drank Kenny's ashes after [[I Ate What?|mistaking them for chocolate milk mix]]).

* The Mandarin Chinese dub of [[Peppa Pig]] translates Granny Pig as Peppa's paternal grandmother (the two words are different in Chinese). There's no explanation of why her attic is full of Mummy Pig's childhood toys.

 

{{reflist}}