Translation Time: Part Delta 1
Today on Translation Time, the monsters of Xenogears. As is typical, asterisks indicate anything I'm not entirely satisfied with.
Character-sized:
Hobgob - つちのこ - tsuchinoko - Tsuchinoko
*Jackal - さい - sai - Sai
Hopper - ホッパー - HOPPA- - Hopper
Li'l Kobold - ココボルドー - KOKOBORUDO- - Small Kobold
Note the repetition of コ/ko at the start of the Japanese name.
Armor Grub - 甲殻虫 - koukakumushi - Carapace Bug
Forest Elf - フォレストエルフ - FORESUTOERUFU - Forest Elf
*Dive Bomber - ビーニック - BI-NIKKU - Benik
The Japanese name is possibly a corruption of "phoenix."
Sand Man - サンドマン - SANDOMAN - Sandman
*Sand Shark - スナハミ - SUNAHAMI - (sunahami)
Aveh Soldier - アヴェ二等兵 - AVE nitouhei - Av Private
二等兵 (nitouhei) is literally "second-class soldier."
Aveh Corporal - アヴェ一等兵 - AVE ittouhei - Av PFC
PFC=private first class. 一等兵 (ittouhei) is literally "first-class soldier."
Aveh Guard - アヴェ近衛兵 - AVE konoehei - Av Royal Guard
There are two different enemies with this name, but I'm grouping them together for convenience's sake.
Lucre Bug - 金ガネ虫 - kin GANE mushi - Gold Money Bug
Nolucre Bug - 金ガネー虫 - kin GANE- mushi - Gold Mo-Nay Bug
I don't remember ever encountering a "Nolucre Bug," but apparently it's an enemy appearing in the Kislev sewers. The name may just be used internally.
Armor Wasp - 甲殻成虫 - koukaku seimushi - Changed Carapace Bug
Acid Frog - アシッドフロッグ - ASHIDDOFUROGGU - Acid Frog
Mullet - ライギョ - RAIGYO - Snakehead
Could also be "thunder fish," but unlikely since it has no electric attacks and, like a real snakehead, is amphibious.
Rotten Sod - ロトン - ROTON - Rotten
Batrat - バットラット - BATTORATTO - Bat-Rat
Mechanic - キスレブ整備兵 - KISUREBU seibihei - Kislev Maintenance Soldier
Swordsman - キスレブ剣兵 - KISUREBU kenhei - Kislev Sword Soldier
Dwarf - ドワーフ - DOWA-FU - Dwarf
Rain Frog - レインフロッグ - REINFUROGGU - Rain Frog
Rhino - リノ - RINO - Rheeno
Spelling altered to match the pronunciation of the given katakana.
Pecking Duck - ヤマドリ - YAMADORI - Mountain Bird
Wels - ウェルス - UERUSU - Wels
Shady - シャディ - SHADI - Shady
Planter - プランター - PURANTA- - Planter
Ripper - リーパー - RI-PA- - Reaper
Li'l Allemagne - プチアーリマン - PUCHIA-RIMAN - Petit Ahriman
"Ahriman" is likely a shout-out to a recurring Final Fantasy monster, which this monster bears a resemblance to.
Slugger - スラムスラッグ - SURAMUSURAGGU - Slam Slug
*Croaker Tribe - ゲ族 - GE zoku - (ge) Tribe
Abandon - アバンドン - ABANDON - Abandon
Shellbelle - シェラ - SHERA - Shella
Assassin - 暗殺部隊 - ansatsu butai - Assassination Corps
Like with the Aveh Guard above, there are two versions, but they have the same name, so I'm just listing it once.
Gebler Guard - ゲブラー兵 - GEBURA- hei - Gevurah Soldier
Gevurah is the fifth sephirah in the kabbalistic tree of life, representing strength.
Hammerhead - ハンマヘッド - HANMAHEDDO - Hammerhead
Carrier - キャリアー - KYARIA- - Carrier
Phobia - フィアー - FIA- - Fear
Gimmick - ギミック - GIMIKKU - Gimmick
Tears - ティアーズ - TIA-ZU - Tears
Forbidden - フォービドゥン - FO-BIDUN - Forbidden
ShakhanGuard - シャーカーン私兵 - SHA-KA-N shihei - Shakhan Mercenary
Literally "Shakhan private army," but that's a bit too clunky, and doesn't really work in this context since it's referring to individual soldiers.
Shakhan Monk - シャーカーン僧兵 - SHA-KA-N souhei - Shakhan Priest Soldier
Freelancer - フリーランサー - FURI-RANSA- - Freelancer
Security Cube - セキュリティ - SEKYURITI - Security
Solaris Guard - ソラリス兵 - SORARISU hei - Solaris Soldier
Dorothy - ドロシー - DOROSHI- - Dorothy
Neo Wels - ウェルス改 - WERUSU kai - Wels Modified
Orphan - オーファン - O-FAN - Orphan
Bloody Bros. - ブラッディブロス - BURADDIBUROSU - Bloody Bros.
Defencer - ディフェンサー - DIFENSA- - Defensor
Death Eater - イーター - I-TA- - Eater
No, the English name isn't a Harry Potter reference - the English translation of Xenogears was released on October 20, 1998, and the Death Eaters weren't introduced until the fourth Harry Potter book, which came out in 2000. My guess is that the localization team just wanted to spice up a rather dull monster name.
Sufal - スファル人 - SUFARU hito - Spharl Human
"Spharl" is Sanskrit for "to be spread or diffused widely."
Neo Tears - ティアーズプラス - TIA-ZUPURASU - Tears Plus
Neo Gimmick - ギミックプラス - GIMIKKUPURASU - Gimmick Plus
Dune Man - サンドマン - SANDOMAN - Sandman
Hammerhead F1 - ハンマヘッド原種 - HANMANEDDO genshu - Hammerhead Pure Breed
Shellbelle F1 - シェラ原種 - SHERA genshu - Shella Pure Breed
Carrier F1 - キャリアー原種 - KYARIA- genshu - Carrier Pure Breed
"F1" in the English names probably refers to this.
Gear-sized:
Musha Mk100 - ムシャ百式 - MUSHA hyakushiki - Musha Type 100
"Musha" is a Japanese word for "warrior." The official romanization for this series of Gears is apparently "MUSYA."
Trooper - トルーパー - TORU-PA- - Trooper
Tin Robo - 武力ロボ - buryoku ROBO - Army Robot
Literally "military strength robot." Could also be a pun on "buriki" (tin-plated), since the kanji 力 (ryoku, force) could also be read as "riki".
Medusoid - クラーゲン - KURA-GEN - Kragen
The Japanese name is a pun on kurage, the Japanese word for jellyfish, and kraken.
Mayfly - メイフライ - MEIFURAI - Mayfly
Nomad Fix Bot - 流しの修理ロボ - nagashi no shuuri ROBO - Drifting Repair Robot
Neo Tin Robo - 武力ロボ改 - buryoku ROBO kai - Army Robot Modified
Spear Trooper - スピアトルーパー - SUPIATORU-PA- - Spear Trooper
Edelweiss - エーデルワイス - E-DERUWAISU - Edelweiss
Sand Tripper - サンドトリッパー - SANDOTORIPPA- - Sand Tripper
Gigafoot - ギガフット - GIGAFUTTO - Gigafoot
Quadrafoot - クァドラフット - KUADORAFUTTO - Quadrafoot
Neo Musha Mk100 - ムシャ百式改 - MUSHA hyakushika kai - Musha Type 100 Modified
Harquebus Mk10 - ヒナワ拾式 - HINAWA juushiki - Matchcord Type 10
The name is a pun - "hinawajuu" is Japanese for "arquebus". It also appears in the Battling Arena, under the name "BACKFIRER" (English) or "BLOWBACK" (Japanese).
Hatamoto Mk3 - ハタモト参式 - HATAMOTO sanshiki - Hatamoto Type 3
Shinobi Mk0 - シノビ零式 - SHINOBI reishiki - Shinobi Type 0
In the Japanese version, called "THE NINJA" in the Battling Arena.
Rapid Fire - ラピッドファイア - RAPIDDOFAIA - Rapid Fire
Breaker - ブレイカー - BUREIKA- - Breaker
Airwalk - エアウォーク - EAUO-KU - Airwalk
Griffon - グリフォン - GURIFON - Griffon
Death Scythe - デスサイズ - DESUSAIZU - Deathscythe
Mammoth - 巨獣 - kyojuu - Behemoth
The Japanese name is literally "large animal."
Etone - エトーン - ETO-N - Etone
Another enemy with two versions, listed only once for convenience's sake.
*Tusk-Tusk - アイムインラブ - AIMUINRABU - I'm In Love
There might be some sort of joke here that I'm missing. Any insight into this would be deeply apprecaited.
Gun Drone - ガンビット - GANBITTO - Gun Bit
Conjurer - カンジュラー - KANJURA- - Conjurer
Fuel Tank - フュエルタンク - FYUERUTANKU - Fuel Tank
Traffic Jam - トラフィクジャム - TORAFIKUJAMU - Traffic Jam
Littlefoot - リトルフット - RITORUFUTTO - Littlefoot
White Knight - ホワイトナイト - HOWAITONAITO - White Knight
Golem - ゴーレム - GO-REMU - Golem
Dragon - ドラゴン - DORAGON - Dragon
Merman - マーマン - MA-MAN - Merman
Neo Etone - エトーン改 - ETO-N kai - Etone Modified
Aragonite - アコヤ - AKOYA - Akoya
Possibly a reference to a type of pearl oyster.
Salvager - サルベージャー - SARUBE-JA- - Salvager
In the Japanese version, called "MARINE" in the Battling Arena.
Sufal Gear - スファルギア - SUFARUGIA - Spharl Gear
Water Seraph - 水のアイオーン - mizu no AIO-N - Water Aeon
Wind Seraph - 風のアイオーン - kaze no AIO-N - Wind Aeon
Eagle Wing - エギル・ウィング - EGIL • UINGU - Egil Wing
Pedestal - ペディスタル - PEDISUTARU - Pedestal
Dragon - ドラゴソ - DORAGOSO - Dragoπ
The stronger Dragons encountered on Duneman Isle. The name is intended to look similar to "Dragon" (note the similarity between the ソ (so) katakana in this enemy's name and the ン (n) katakana in the Dragon's name), so I replaced the "n" in this enemy's name with a lowercase pi for a similar effect.
Sword Seraph - 剣のアイオーン - ken no AIO-N - Sword Aeon
Eagle Blade - エギル・ブレード - EGIRU • BURE-DO - Egil Blade
Eagle Gunner - エギル・ガンナー - EGIRU • GANNA- - Egil Gunner
Eagle Armor - エギル・アーマー - EGIRU • A-MA- - Egil Armor
Edin - エーディン - E-DIN - Édaín
Earth Seraph - 地のアイオーン - chi no AIO-N - Earth Aeon
Fire Seraph - 火のアイオーン - hi no AIO-N - Fire Aeon
Heal Seraph - 癒しのアイオーン - iyashi no AIO-N - Healing Aeon
Power Seraph - 力のアイオーン - chikara no AIO-N - Power Aeon