Question to the localization team

[Jonnycbad]

Just curious, how are the names of FATEs, Missions, Minion/Food/Mount flavor text, or Quests which are cleverly named after references to American pop culture (movies, books, TV shows) translate into other languages? Even some FATEs use extremely clever puns, like "It's not lupus" wherein the enemy is a giant crab named Cancer. There's no way that pun could work in other languages, and there's countless others "Double Dragonian" being a pun on the 80's Double Dragon game, etc. Any feedback as to how other languages process the localization?

[Anonymoose]

Localization by its very nature differs due to cultural nuance. Each team has considerable freedom over the little, repetitive smack n' fetch particulars. In English, they often go for things that are memorable and will evoke some reaction, whether you think it's clever, funny, or groan-evokingly lame.

It's kind of a Catch 22. The only people who will really notice the silliness are those who read things, and the people who read things are usually sick to death of "Big Crab: Hit with stick" and "Empty Stockroom: Gil for Jam." You can only build so much serious, polished lore, but that's no excuse to be simple and bland... ergo puns, memes, throwbacks, and pop culture.

For Japanese, French, and German, it's up to them when they want to be accurate and bland, when they want to use fanciful phrases from their own cultures, and they want to use references and jokes that will make sense to people in those territories speaking those languages.

To use your question as an example:

English: It's Not Lupus
Reference to the TV show House, where the titular Gregory House claims, "It's never lupus." of medical diagnoses.
It's funny because cancer is both a medical condition and a legendary crab! <FamilyGuyFouadLaugh.wav>

Japanese: 死顔の簒奪者 Death Face of the Usurper [Cancer]
Refers to 死顔 (Shinigao), the facial expression of the deceased.

French: Défi: Cancer, le casque de mort; Challenge: Cancer, the Helm of Death
Nicknames the crab The Helm of Death because it is as smooth and hard as a metal hemlet.

German: Krabbe XXL (Crab XXL)
Damn that's a big crab. Hit the big crab!

[Yasminou]

French: Défi: Cancer, le casque de mort; Challenge: Cancer, the Helm of Death
Nicknames the crab The Helm of Death because it is as smooth and hard as a metal hemlet.

It is also a reference to Saint Seiya's Crab Gold Saint whose name is Deathmask. In French, Crab sign is Cancer and the Saint's name was literally translated as Masque de mort. Oh, and Défi should be translated as Trial I guess. Every NM Fate starts with Défi which also the instance category name for trials (and they use the same icon) .

Another recent example:
English: I Won't Leaf You Behind
A pun on a song's title.

French: Une racine qui donne des ailes A root that gives wings
A pun on a French TV documentary show named Des racines et des ailes (Roots and wings)

[Anonymoose]

It is also a reference to Saint Seiya's Crab Gold Saint whose name is Deathmask. In French, Crab sign is Cancer and the Saint's name was literally translated as Masque de mort.

Aaand now we have an in-practice example of how different cultures are more likely to understand different references... Ahhh, Localization... lol.