Episode 1016: Tyrias Appears
Translator Notes:
There actually are a number of interesting points I can make about names and terminology here, all related to the event Robomi Z!
First, the Japanese word that was translated into “abomination” is kaijuu, spelled 壊獣, which literally translates as “destroying beast”. You may recognize that word as being pronounced the same way as the word for huge beasts like Godzilla, but that more common word is spelled 怪獣 (kaijuu), which means “strange beast”. I can’t know for sure, but this may well be intended as a pun that was sadly lost in translation into English.
Second, Tyrias’ Japanese title that was translated into English as “the Destroyer” is kaijin (壊人), or “destroying person”. This may be wordplay in more ways than one, all of which were lost in translation. The homophone 怪人 (kaijin) means “strange person”, which he certainly also is, and the character 壊 that makes up the first half of his title is also shared by the Japanese word for the abominations. This gave a hint as to his nature to the Japanese audience that was absent in the English script.
Finally, you might recall that Nicholas’ name in the Japanese script was Shirou. Tyrias’ name in the Japanese script is Desurou, which is likely intended to be a portmanteau of desu (”death”, when spelled in katakana) and the name Shirou. So his Japanese name is basically “Death Nicholas” or “Death-cholas”. But that’d sound more hokey than menacing in English, so I imagine the English localizers decided to say “screw it” and gave him a new name that sounded similar to “Nicholas” while also sounding villainous.
