Customs: Original characters forign names?

Discussion in 'Creative General Discussion' started by SaberPrime, Jun 28, 2018.

  1. SaberPrime

    SaberPrime Banned

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    Has anyone besides me ever thought about what your original characters names might be if you reworked them to fit the names given to Transformers in a different country?

    For example I think Saber Prime in Japan would become Bladze Convoy.

    Some of my other characters would include...

    Star (Astrostar)

    Cosmo (Skyboom)

    Astro (Requieum)

    Motormaster Convoy (Nemesis Prime) while this isn't exactly an original character I did do something much different with my version of him than other versions of the character hence why I didn't just give him the Japanese name of a preexisting Nemesis Prime. I wanted to show in the name that this is a different character to other Nemesis Primes.

    Speed King (Nanosec) Oddly the only Animated Supervillain with a different name in Japan and since my Decepticons were loosely based on them seemed fitting that their Japanese names should reflect this as well.

    Also some other not really original characters but just some G1 Characters I had rebuilt into new forms.

    God Fire Supreme Convoy (Omega Prime upgraded from Omega Supreme)

    Sigma Trion Convoy (Alpha Trion still one with Vector Sigma but rebuilt into a new body, I just call him Vector Prime.)

    Also this one wouldn't really require a new name but since Powered Convoy (Optimal Optimus) already has his own name in Japan there's a scene where in my story he's renamed Primal Prime to avoid confusion with there being two Optimus' in the same time period that I'd have to completely rewrite for a Japanese audience as it wouldn't make any sense what so ever.

    Oddly Primal Prime officially is still called Primal Prime in Japan but I repurposed that figure as being a future version of Optimus Primal who reverted back to that body in an alternate color scheme after traveling back in time again under some unusual circumstances that save him from dying at the end of Beast Machines. So basically it's Powered Convoy which was the name for Optimal Optimus in Japan but it's a slightly altered Powered Convoy from his Beast Wars appearance. Point is there's no reason to change his name when Optimus Prime is just called Convoy. He changed his name to Primal Prime so there wouldn't be two Optimus' but if I rewrote it with Japanese inspired names he's just continue to be called Powered Convoy.

    It does seem confusing however that Convoy is the Japanese equivent of Prime but Optimus doesn't have a first name to set him apart from other Convoys. I'm not sure my story would even translate well with the Japanese names when I have multiple Convoys including Optimus running around.

    How the heck did Headmasters deal with Optimus and Rodimus being together at the same time? I mean only Rodimus has that name but any time someone says Convoy do they both respond? How do you address Optimus as Convoy without every other Convoy thinking you're talking to them?