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Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Darien? Serena? I've never heard these names before. What is it that you want?"''|'''''Prince'' Darien''', ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' dub episode "Last Resort"}}
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
What is there to do? Why, completely blow it off, of course! Just pretend the last change you made never happened and translate it completely normally. So what if you just took a two by four to the plot? Who cares if your dialogue doesn't make any sense? Send that script out the door, and let the fans deal with it. If you even assume that the fans are [[Viewers
Yes, sometimes the guys working on a script, having written themselves into a corner, will completely blow off the changes they already made and start adapting something completely literally, even if the resulting script makes no sense. Sometimes they'll even adapt a cultural custom with zero explanation -- and nobody in the show will act surprised. The resulting disconnect creates a big giant plot hole and the only recourse of the fan is to just look up the original version, or just [[Fanon Discontinuity|ignore it themselves]].
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If this is caused through adaptation of another work, it's an [[Adaptation Induced Plothole]].
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
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** Sailor Mercury's death in episode 45 originally showed her breaking the illusion device the DD Girls had been using to attack the Senshi. Because episodes 45-46 were heavily edited to cover up the deaths of the main characters, the dub cut almost the entire sequence, so it appears that the Doom and Gloom Girls inexplicably stop using the illusions that had helped them take out two of the Scouts effortlessly.
** Another instance cropped up when somebody forgot that the final two episodes of the first season had such alterations made to it. The Japanese version of Episode 46 had a brief scene in the middle of the episode where Mamoru's mental conflict of trying to undo Metaria's brainwashing was shown in his mind as himself in a hospital bed struggling to remember who he was (mirroring his original amnesia over his past before he lost his parents). Usagi, in her school uniform (not as Sailor Moon) appeared and promised she would help him. This scene was, in the dub, used at the end of the episode instead and presented as an event that actually happened, which caused any number of plotholes — such as, why was Darien in the hospital and everyone else from the same fight okay despite everyone suffering grave injury? And how come just one episode later, despite Serena introducing herself to him in the hospital and apparently forming a friendship, do they act like they barely know each other?
** In the Doom Tree Arc, DiC changed Ali (Allan) and En's (Ann's) backstory so they were affiliated with the Negaverse and knew Queen Beryl (and that it was apparently her who "advised" them to go after Earth), because apparently [[Viewers
*** [[Sailor Moon Abridged]] plays with this a bit:
{{quote| '''Ail''': Queen Beryl was right about Earth '''An''': Who the f*ck is Queen Beryl?}}
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*** An oddly inverted example happened in the Russian-dubbed filler episode of ''S'' involving Tamasaburou. The character in question is known to have been [[She's a Man In Japan|changed into a girl]] in the English dub, presumably because he crossdressed at the end of the episode. In the Russian dub, Chibiusa identifies the character as a "young man" when she first sees him, but after a proper introduction the character is consistently referred to as female, with no explanation.
*** A much worse case is the Russian dub of the ''Stars'' season, where Haruka basically was turned into another Starlight — they gave her a really bad man's voice in civilian form. This, despite the fact that the character was acknowledged as female in ''S'', which was translated by another company. The fact that the change was done to cover up the infamous relationship (left unchanged by the previous translators) is pretty obvious from the dialogue.
** Because the Swedish network Tv4 [[Screwed By the Network|didn't want the audience to be]] [[Viewers
* In ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', [http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep13.html Masaya chases Ichigo], who is running away in fear that her [[Secret Identity]] has been exposed. He finally stops her by calling her by her first name instead of her last. In the dub, however, he'd ''always'' called her by her first name, so she just stops for no apparent reason.
** And Bu-ling''/''[[Tokyo Pop|Pudding]]''/''[[Four Kids Entertainment|Kikki]] [http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep7.html lives in a shelter] now because she can't live alone... until they show [http://mmpu.smuncensored.com/ep20.html an episode with her house]. Even though it is explained in the dub by Minto''/''[[Tokyo Pop|Mint]]''/''[[Four Kids Entertainment|Corina]] that they had made a mistake in thinking that she lives in a shelter, it was still blatantly obvious that the writers only saw a few episodes at a time and didn't sit down and watch the entire show.
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** The ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'' dub's [[Previously On]] segments referred to Arukenimon by name several episodes before her name was used in the actual episodes, also revealing that she was in fact a Digimon and not a human. The heroes also use her name for a bit before they even met her in person when she ''told'' them her name.
** In ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'', when Leomon dies, he tells Jeri that maybe his death was his "destiny". This leads Juri to become traumatized (and somewhat obsessed, after the D-Reaper thing) by the word "destiny". In the dub, Leomon's last line is telling Jeri that she has a lion's heart. Since most of the later episodes were written by different people, Jeri still mentions multiple times "when Leomon told me about how that was his destiny", even though it also repeatedly flashes back to the scene and replays the "lion's heart" quote unmodified. Unless you assume that took place offscreen (which is a pretty cheap way to introduce a plot point), the whole thing was kinda messy.
** The dub also paved the way to break some future [[Theme Naming]], though they couldn't necessarily have seen it coming at the time. Omegamon, the Jogressed partner of Tai and Matt, was dubbed as "Omnimon" in the second ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' film. A couple of years later, Alphamon was introduced (as in "[[God|the alpha and the omega]]"), and both he and Omegamon were added to the Royal Knights group. They appeared together in ''[[Digimon World Dawn Dusk]]'', where in reference to the [[Theme Naming]] they were always [[Finishing Each
* The ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime has [http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/kanto/ep005.html Brock(/Takeshi)'s mother running away], which was actually edited ''up'' to her death (as 4Kids felt that Brock having both of his parents abandon him was too sad). Since [http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/comparisons/chronicles/ep005.html the episode she appears in] happens ''much'' later in the show (and because 4Kids thought [[Never Say Die|the concept of death was worse]] than being away for a while), it was pretty much ignored.
** Let's not forget [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/EP035 Ash's 30 Tauros that apparently came out of nowhere!].
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** Kaiba's difficulty in translating The Winged Dragon of Ra's effects certainly qualifies. In the original manga and anime, every character who summons the Winged Dragon has to recite a hieratic text in the process, so Kaiba runs a rapid computer translation effort, in an attempt to figure out what the card does and how to properly use it. In the dub, however, characters summoning the monster simply have to recite a rhyming poem, and Kaiba STILL has to run his desperate translation. There was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it handwave that there was more than just the chant printed on the card, and that extra stuff was what Kaiba was trying to translate.
*** It's implied that what Marik recited was the translated version of the chant which is written in hieratic. Kaiba ''could'' have tried to memorize it as Marik was reciting it or record it, but it's not that much of a plot hole.
** There's also the matter of the name of Yugi's alter-ego. In the original, he was called "Yami no Yugi" (among other nicknames), meaning "Dark Yugi". Some dub media referred to him as the shortened version "Yami Yugi", and the dub itself took "Yami" and treated it as the character's proper name for season two, with several characters using it. This caused problems because the final season has them searching for his true name "{{spoiler|Atem}}". This was also the case in Latin America. His name was always "Yami Yugi". They attempted an [[
*** Worse was when Yami Yugi first said his name to be "Yami", he also said "I've been called many names. ''Pharaoh'', Yu-Gi-Oh, Yami..." Notice "Pharaoh" as one of the names he gave. Then in the next season, he is shocked to learn that he's the spirit of an ancient pharaoh!
** There's also the matter of Marik and Yami Marik's motivations. In the manga and original dub, Marik was under the mistaken impression that the Pharaoh had murdered his father which, combined with resentment over having to become a tombkeeper, drove him to attempt to humiliate and kill the Pharaoh. He steals the Egyptian God Cards mostly because he knows the Pharaoh will need them. In the dub, his constant attempts to defeat Yugi are so he can win an unspecified "power of the Pharaoh" (which is apparently held by the God Cards and the Millenium Puzzle) which he can use to take over the world. In the original, Yami Marik (as a [[Split Personality]] brought on by Marik's abuse and resentment) has no greater goal then causing as much pain, death and destruction as possible, with a special hatred for the Pharaoh. In the dub... his goal is pretty much exactly the same as Marik's, he's just a bit meaner about achieving it.
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** The constant rain motif in Ed's flashbacks in the second season is always seen at his father's grave, and [[Never Say Die|thus was edited out]]. Thus the re-use of the motif in Ed's mental conversation with Saiou while he's duelling him seems a little random.
** When the cast is sent to the world of Duel Monsters in Season 3, they find out that anyone who loses a duel there dies. However, 4Kids replaced death with a vague description about how the loser was [[Never Say Die|"sent to the stars"]]. This makes the reveal at the end of the season {{spoiler|(everyone was trapped in a pocket dimension)}} basically pointless.
** Blair's age was lowered from twelve to eight, an age she definitely didn't look -- especially when she hit a growth spurt between appearances. An [[
** In the Japanese, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack has always been called "Burst Stream of Destruction." In English, it was instead given the name "White Lightning." Not a big problem, until Judai faces Kaibaman, and he uses the card called Burst Stream of Destruction. In both languages, a mention of the card having the same name as the Blue Eyes' attack is made as Kaibaman uses the card, which seems completely out of the blue in the English translation, since the Blue Eyes' attack is still being called "White Lightning."
*** This only adds trouble when Thief King Bakura of the Millenium World's Diabound is said to have an attack of the exact same name.
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* The Spanish translation for the ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]''' manga removes all mentions of [[Japanese Holidays|White Day]] (Or of there being a holiday like that) on the White Day [[Arc]], making it go from a standard High School plot to a random "let's return the St. Valentine chocolate for no reason" story. It becomes frustrating when you consider the same translator added a long explanation on Teru Teru Bouzu on another manga... where they get a 2-panel appearance for a quick joke. Those are some strange priorities.
* In ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni]]'', the game club members often play Old Geezer. The English dub changes this to Old Maid, presumably because Western audiences are more likely to be familiar with the rules. It is unfortunate, then, that an important part of the climax of the second season is a speech about why it's so metaphorically significant that they play Old Geezer rather than Old Maid. One wonders how the dubbers will deal with that if ''Higurashi Kai'' is ever brought over.
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', it is far more common to give your Pokemon nicknames. In the first arc of ''[[Market
** In the first Johto arc of ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Crys is [[Dope Slap|slapped across the face]] by her mother after [[Heroic BSOD|breaking down because she can't capture like she used to]]. ''[[Market
** Great Balls have a tiny "S" stamped on them, while Ultra Balls have a tiny "H". This is because the items are called "Super" and "Hyper" respectively in the original Japanese games.
** The day the Sinnoh Trio start their journey together is September 28th, the day the ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Diamond and Pearl]]'' games were released in Japan. The Viz translators caught on the reference and changed the date to April 22nd, the day the games were released in America. Unfortunately, winter is approaching Sinnoh, necessitating the change into the ''Platinum'' outfits. Apparently in Sinnoh, it starts snowing in May.
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** The French dub (And all the ones that spawned from it) have this on spades, because of [[Macekre|how terrible it was]]. An example? They never call Vegeta or Freeza by name during a lot of episodes, until they suddenly do and Krillin knows how both of them are called because... he just does. Until then Freeza was "the tyrant" and ''every other bad guy'' is "the enemy" (and still are called that for the whole Namek arc). Talk about confusing...
** The word "Android" was used in place of a more ambiguous Japanese word meaning "artificial human". The English dub initially changed 17 and 18 from human [[Cyborg|cyborgs]] to purely machine, but reversed it when they realized that in later episodes, Krillin and 18 had a daughter.
** One of the more infamous scenes in the early dub involved Vegeta explaining to Goku that his father Bardock, a warrior, was actually "a scientist" and that he was the one who invented the artificial moon a Saiyan can use to transform into Ape form even when an actual moon is not present. When Bardock later appeared in flashback, both [[
* The dub of ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' has a character mention in the second episode that Zaibach are the ones attacking Fanelia. However, we aren't supposed to know it's them until episode 3, and even in the dub, everyone's supposed to be surprised when they find out Zaibach did it.
* ''[[Medabots]]'' had a couple of these:
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** In ''[[Transformers Headmasters|Headmasters]]'', Scorponok manages to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|blow up]] both [[The Red Planet|Mars]] and Cybertron. In the English dub of the final episode, Fortress Maximus mentions that they can rebuild Mars, a line which wasn't in the Japanese version. In ''[[Transformers Victory|Victory]]'', which is set about 15 years later, Earth apparently has a massive mining operation on Mars - but if Mars could be rebuilt, why does nobody ever mention Cybertron?
** In ''Galaxy Force'', a mysterious black hole appears next to Cybertron and sucks the planet in; however, in later episodes, characters walk around on the surface without difficulty. When it was redubbed into ''[[Transformers Cybertron|Cybertron]]'', the situation was changed to Cybertron just being perilously close to the black hole. Unfortunately, the translators also decided that the black hole was formed from the death of Unicron at the end of ''[[Transformers Energon|Energon]]'', making ''Cybertron'' a sequel, while in the Japanese continuity it was unconnected to any previous series<ref>Takara has since declared that ''Galaxy Force'' is in continuity with ''Super Link''. It's best not to think too hard about ''Transformers'' [[Continuity]]</ref>. This meant a lot of [[Canon|canonically]] dead characters suddenly appeared alive and well (explained as a result of the Unicron Singularity messing with the space-time continuum) and the Autobots not being familiar with combination, despite the fact that this was a frequent occurrence in ''Energon''.
* The English dub of the [[Lilo and Stitch]] [[Alternate Continuity]] series ''[[Stitch! (Anime)|Stitch!]]'' tries shoehorning it to the original continuity by lines explaining Stitch left out of jealousy of a new boyfriend of Lilo's. What the hell happened to Ohana?
** Since then, the series has been turned into a full [[Time Skip]] series of the franchise, with Lilo having gone to college being responsible for Stitch leaving and the two reuniting years later where Lilo is now a mother with an identical looking child.
* In the first English adaptation of [[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (Anime)|Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]], known as [[Battle of the Planets]], the producers were sent episodes of the anime out of their natural order and decided to dub and translate them as they came. However, this method of dubbing produced quite the plot holes, especially when it came time for them to adapt certain other episodes. Whether you watch this version in Sandy Frank's suggested order or the original Gatchaman order, things just do NOT add up either way. Especially if you're Mark's "friend"/mentor/{{spoiler|father}} Colonel Cronus and they can't decide if you're alive, dead, or the circumstances of your death.
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* {{spoiler|Akira}} of ''[[Mai Hi ME]]'' is actually, a cross dressing female. This fact isn't revealed until much later in the series. Someone didn't tell the German dubbers this, as they left her with a distinctly male voice, which made the reveal a tad complicated.
* In the [[Suzumiya Haruhi]] anime, according to [http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=jOY66OuJ024 this comments page of a video,] {{spoiler|there is a DVD release, so the only way to view every single episode in English is to change the language from Japanese to English.}}
* An odd one occurs in ''[[Case Closed]]'' where [[
* The Disney dub of ''[[The Cat Returns (Anime)|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.
== Comics ==
* ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'' 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.
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* ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue]]'' had a pretty infamous one. There's an NPC on Cinnabar Island who offers to trade you his Electrode for a Raichu; if you speak to him afterwards he claims "the Raichu you traded me went and evolved!", which of course, isn't possible. This lead to ''years'' of wild fan speculation, with many interpreting this line as either "proof" of the existence of the so-called [[Urban Legend of Zelda|"PokéGods"]], or as an [[Early Bird Cameo]] of a new Mon to be revealed in an upcoming game. Turns out it was just a translation error - in the Japanese version, the NPC traded you a Graveler for a Kadabra, both Pokémon that evolve by trading, and his line afterwards was meant to be a hint on how to obtain their final forms. For the English release the localizers changed the Pokémon being offered but simply forgot to alter the rest of the dialogue to match.
** One might wonder why Fearow is the only Pokemon without any visible drills on them that can learn Drill Run. Fearow's original name in Japanese is meant to be a combination of "demon drill" and "demon bird", which is a pun that didn't carry over in translation.
** 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 [[
** 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 [[Overly Long Gag|ANOTHER]] one. The deliberately useless move introduded in Gen I could be translated as either Splash or Hop. Given that, at the time, it was only learnable by [[Magikarp Power|Magikarp]], they decided to go with the former. But starting with Gen II, Pokemon like Hoppip and Buneary have been able to learn it. These Pokemon are associated in no way with water, but clearly associated with hopping. Oops. (The fact that it's not a Water-type move should have clued them in from the start, to be honest...)
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** 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)]
* In one episode of ''[[Duck Tales (Animation)|Duck Tales]]'', Fenton Crackshell tries to disguise himself as Scrooge. The nephews tell him that he also has to sound like Scrooge. In the original English version, this means of course that Fenton has to imitate a Scottish accent. In the German dub, he starts speaking in a [[What the Hell Is That Accent?|ridiculous undefinable accent]], turning this scene into a [[Big Lipped Alligator Moment]]. The initial problem responsible for all this is of course, that Scrooge ''has'' no accent in the German dub.
* Latin American's Dub of ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|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.
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* The English dub of [[Kaeloo]] screwed up the [[Viewer Gender Confusion|main character's sex]]. She was re-dubbed into a [[She's a Man In Japan|male]] until the ''11th episode'' in which someone finally called her a she, then proceeded to point it out in an argument over who gets to play the (male) lead in a role playing game. Since that episode, she's been consistently referred to as a she. None of the prior episodes were fixed to reflect this, and the change in gender pronouns is treated as if everyone had always known what equipment she had down there.
* The Japanese dub of ''[[Transformers Animated (Animation)|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 One|G1]] incarnation. The Japanese dub renamed this Ironhide "Armorhide".
* In the Russian dub of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', "princess Luna", "Nightmare Moon" and "Mare in the Moon" are all translated as "Lunnaya Poni" (Moon Pony), with ensuing hilarity like "You are the [[Department of Redundancy Department|Moon Pony]] — [[Memetic Mutation|Moon Pony]]!".
** 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 (Animation)|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]]).
{{reflist}}
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