----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ///////////////////// TALES OF SYMPHONIA NAME ETYMOLOGY ///////////////////// /////////////////////////// by Gogeta75 and Cyllya ////////////////////////// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Intro -- New Additions -- Playable Characters -- Summon Spirits -- Non-Playable Characters -- Locations -- Significant Monsters -- Misc Stuff -- Misc Mythology/Religion/Literature Reference -- Misc Namco Reference -- Stuff We Can't Figure Out -- Credits ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRO ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The people who made ToS put a lot of thought into the characters' names, so this is a big list of why we think they gave Character X the name they did. (Or Location Y, for the fun of it.) Sometimes we're positive the developers chose that name for the reason we have listed; sometimes it's just our best guess. This isn't going to list out every single reference to mythology or Namco or history or whatever that's in the entire game. You all know about Excalibur, and it's obvious they named that dragon-looking monster "Dragon" without reading through the worldwide history of dragonkind. But the fact that Kratos and Zelos were brothers might not be so obvious! Since the game was originally made for Japanese, we're using the Japanese version's names unless stated otherwise. (A question mark right after the name means we aren't positive about the spelling in Roman letters.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW ADDITIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 07.01 : Yuan Cruxis (Arch) Angel/(Dai) Tenshi Seraphim Iselia Triet Hakonesia Peak Thoda Geyser Sybak Gaoracchi Forest Ozette Toize Valley Mine Latheon Gorge SECTION: Misc Mythology/Religion/Literature Reference SECTION: Misc Namco Reference 01.31 : Presea Sennen Oukoku (Age of Half-elves) Goseijin (Five Grand Cardinals) Vorpal Sword Selene ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLAYABLE CHARACTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LLOYD: from Welsh "llwyd", "gray" This is probably not why they named IRVING: from a Scottish place name, Lloyd, but it's all we could find. Celtic for "white", Gaelic for "Lloyd" is such a mundane name "handsome" or English for compared to some other characters. "friend" or...? Maybe they wanted to stress that he was a normal, everyday guy? COLLET: misspelling of Colette, which First name of Greek origin. Does is short for Nicolette, which not seem like a coincidence, is the female version of considering her personality and Nicholas which means "victory role in the plot. of the people" Not sure about last name. See BRUNEL: possibly derived from Germanic Germanic name "Brunhilde" for element brun "armor, a name with brun, or names like protection" and the Hebrew Michael, Elijah, Remiel, etc, for element el "God" el meaning god. GENIUS SAGE: this one's obvious REFILL: she refills your HP SAGE: she got stuck with her brother's last name. KRATOS: Greek for "strong" and the Kratos the god is also called name of a minor Greek god who Cratos. was one of Zeus's servants in torturing Prometheus for giving fire to man. AURION: Greek for "tomorrow" or sometimes "future" ZELOS: Greek for "zeal" and the name Zelos the god is also called Zelus. of a minor Greek god These two gods have some other who was a brother of Kratos siblings (from both the same parents) WILDER: it's a real surname, but they but no charas are named for them used it for the sake of "wild" FUJIBAYASHI: used in reference to Real Japanese surname. Happens to Fujibayashi Suzu from Tales mean "wisteria forest" or something. of Phantasia... She is the only Japanese PC, so I SHIHNA: used just because it's a figure they wanted to give her a very common Japanse given really typical given name. Kanji are name? often "oak" and "name" PRESEA: Spanish for "medal", as in Whole name is similar to French Olympic Medal. "Presser à combattre" (eager COMBATIR: Spanish for "to combat" to fight)? REGAL: from the English word First name and last name meaning BRYAN: from Brian, believed to be almost the same thing is probably related to Old Celtic element not a coincidence. "bre" meaning "hill", or "high, noble" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMON SPIRITS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNDINE: female water spirit; name from philosophy of medeival scholar from Latin unda, "wave" Paracelcus, Teutonic folklore EFREET: kind of Jinn from Arabic Also spelled ifrit, ifreet, afrit. mythology GNOME: dwarf-like creature; French, from philosophy of medeival scholar from New Latin "gnomus" Paracelcus, Teutonic(?) folklore SYLPH: immortal and souless being from philosophy of medeival scholar which inhabits the air; Paracelcus, Teutonic(?) folklore perhaps blend of Latin sylvestris, "of the forest" and nympha, "nymph" VOLT: a unit of electromotive force CELSIUS: a temperature scale and the Swedish astronomer who invented it ORIGIN: from the English word MAXWELL: a Scottish physicist who He is the spirit of worldly matter studied gases and or some such electromagnetism LUNA: Latin for "moon" She was formally the spirit of the moon/moonlight, instead of light ASKA: from Japanese "asuka" which "asuka" is still pronounced like can mean "flying bird" "aska" CORRINE: from Japanese "korin", the He's a fox-thing that wears a bell. on-readings of the two kanji Also the name of the plush animal meaning "fox" (ko) and "bell" on Meredy's whatchamacallit in ToE. (rin). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NON-PLAYABLE CHARACTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MITOS: most likely derived from mythos Katakana normally uses "S" to (Greek for myth or legend?) substitute for "TH", but sometimes it uses "T" instead (wouldn't "misosu" sound funny?) Eng: Mithos YGGDRASILL: named for the Giant Tree This was the story writers' excuse in Tales of Phantasia, which to have the Giant Kharlan Tree's was named after Yggdrasil, name changed to coincide with the the tree in Norse mythology Tree in ToP. which held the nine worlds together. MARTEL: named after the Tales of Don't forget that there are two Phantasia character; her name characters named Martel in ToS. is most likely from "mater," (Half-elf and spirit; also goddess mother, but could possibly be though she wasn't real.) from "martyr" or named after any of several historical figures whose surname is Martel. YUAN: Alternate spelling (misspelling) In mythology, Yggdrasil is usually of "Ewan" (Eoghan) which means refered to as an ash tree, but "born from a yew tree" in Old sometimes it's called a yew tree Celtic, so by extention, "born instead. from Yggdrasill." REMIEL: means "mercy of God" in Hebrew. The Book of Enoch names him as one of the seven archangels. DIKE: An embankment of earth and rock Makes sense to have an earthy name built to prevent floods; A since he's a dwarf, and dwarves are barrier blocking a passage, associated with Earth. especially for protection. Dirk in Eng ver. DIRK: a long dagger with a straight Sounds similar to dike. blade Dike in Jpn ver. TABATHA: Tabitha in the New Testament She is for the purpose of restoring was a woman restored to life Martel to life. ("Tabitha" also by Saint Peter. means "gazelle") ALICIA: Latinized form of Alice, which Noble! Refer back to Regal, can't is the short form of the Old be a coincidence. French Adelais, which is a short form of Adalheidis, which is Germanic name composed of the elements adal "noble" and heid "kind, type" SELES: It's visually similar to "se" and "ze" look identical except "Zelos" in both languages. for the two little dots at the top. May also be from Roman goddess Ceres, but probably not. KUCHINAWA: snake OROCHI: snake CHOCOLAT: French for "chocolate" Supposed to be pronounced Shokola(t) CACAO: French for "cocoa" MARBLE: as in marble fudge? May be coincidence since it's not French. ABISHION?: Abicion or Abyssion. Abyssion in English version. "abicion curse" is a severe state of depression that leads to suicide, from Latin abicio, "to thrown down"? Could also be from the English word abyss. VIDAR: Son of Odin and Grid in Norse Vidarr in Eng ver. mythology who avenges his This is the game's first boss if father's death by tearing the you forgot. wolf Fenrir apart. VHARLY?: from Vali, son of Odin and Vharly can be a mistrans of Vali... Rind in Norse mythology??? CANDY: from the English word. The receptionist of Thoda Geyser. Soda and candy are both sweets. Thoda and soda are the same in Katakana ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOCATIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISELIA: Derived from "Aselia," the Neither of these seem likely to me. world in Tales of Phantasia? But who knows. Maybe the namers Or from "Iseshima," a pearl- were thinking of both? farming place in Japan? TRIET: possibly derived from TO TTO RI -> TO RI (E) TTO -> Triet "tottori," a place in Japan famous for sand dunes. IZOOLD: from Izolde (Japanese Cyllya is skeptical; Gogs is romanization)= Isolde= Iseult= certain. Isolde is used sometimes. part of an Arthurian legend of Isolt/Iseult are the more Tristan and Iseult. Anglo Saxon (English) forms. May be related to "Izu," which is a peninsula in Japan. PALMACOSTA: Palm Coast Well, there are no palms, but.... ASCARD: from Asgard, one of the nine Could be a random Tales-esque Norse worlds in Norse myth and home of refrence, but it just happens to be Aesir, the warrior gods. Located on the same continent as Midgard on the highest level of the Norse (Norse world of humans) was in ToP. universe. But it's not the exact same place May have changed from G to C due and the "gard" part is spelled to a p/ace in Japan called Asuka differently in Katakana. (Asca) which is famous for tombs. HAIMA: from "high mountain" "hai maunton" in katakana, Hima THODA GEYSER: From Sado, an island in Sado->Soda->Thoda Japan that is famous for TH and S are the same in Katakana washtub boats. BALACRUF MAUSELEUM: from the name of Is that guy's name spelled right? historian Jeffrey Balacruf? HAKONESIA PEAK: From Hakone Peak, a place in Japan OSSA TRAIL: Osa = Long/Chief/Head? Long trail? This is a wild guess. RUIN = from the English word Kratos says the city was named that because it was destroyed and rebuilt in the past (says it's a word in the "ancient language"). Luin in Eng. LAKE UMACY: From Mashuu Lake, a Mashyuu -> Mashiyuu -> Yuumashi lake in Japan. FOOJI MOUNTAINS: named for Fuji It's next to Mel-Tokyo! Mountains in Japan MELTOKIO: tokio part is from Tokyo What's the mel part from? It means (toukyou), the capital of honey (Latin), so is that a joke on Japan. Zelos calling people "hunny"? SYBAK: Possibly named for Tsukuba, Tsu ku ba -> Tsu ba ku -> a university city in Japan. Su ba ku-> Sa i ba ku -> Sybak Influenced by "cyber" (saiba-)? MIZUHO: Japan is sometimes called This is the Ninja town. Ninjas "Mizuho no Kuni", which loosely originate from Japan. Japanese translates to "Land of Abundant people eat rice. Rice". ALTAMIRA: from Spanish alta, "high, There are tall places with nice tall" and mira "look/view" views, i.e. upper stories of hotel. GAORACCHIA FOREST: Derived from a o ki ga ha ra -> ga a o ra ki ha "aokigahara"? That's a forest -> ga o ra ki a -> gaoracchia in Japan famous for a person not being able to leave once (Yeah, that "cch" is pronounced like entering. a K sound.) OZETTE: From "oze" a place in Japan Oze + (Cole)tte, so they could make with lots of alpine plants? that silly rhyme joke? :D HEIMDALL: From Tales of Phantasia. One of Phantasia's random Norse (Originally Origin's tablet, references. not the village itself.) Heimdall/Heimdallr in Norse myth was the watchman of Bifrost, the only entrance to Asgard. EXIRE: from "exile" It's not a mistranslation. TREANT FOREST: inhabited by tree Ent means "giant" and was used as monsters called treants, which the name for a giant tree creature in are from tree + ent. Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings'. From Tales of Phantasia. "Torent" in English version x_X TOIZE VALLEY MINE: From "toi," the name of a gold mine in Japan? LATHEON: From "Oirase" Gorge in Japan? O i ra se -> ra se o i -> ra a se o -> Latheo -> Latheon YMIR FOREST: From Tales of Phantasia. One of Phantasia's random Norse Ymir, father to the frost references. giants in Norse mythology. Created Niflheim. WELGAIA: Well Gaia = Good Earth??? Wild guess. (Not pronounced with V sound according to katakana) MORIA: From Tales of Phantasia, the Moria is that place you can't go in mine inhabited by dwarves in Toize Valley Mine, if you forgot. the past. From the Mines of Toize is in the same place Moria is Moria in Tolkein's 'The Lord in ToP. of the Rings'. TETHE'ALLA: From Tales of Phantasia. Note that it's also the name of the The name of the smaller moon, moon which is visible from the world meaning unknown (gold?). of Sylvarant. Gold/orange in color Maybe derived from Tethys, name of a moon of Saturn??? SYLVARANT: From Tales of Phantasia. Is it also the name of the moon as The name of the larger moon, seen from the world of Tethe'alla? probably from the word "silver" It's silver/blue in color DERRIS-KHARLAN: From Tales of I've had dictionaries show katakana Phantasia. The name of another "ka-ra-n" as "Kharan" (a city in planet (?). Meaning unknown. Pakistan) or "Koran" (holy book of Islam). I'd say it was a mistrans of Kharan if I could think of a reason they'd name it that. VENTHEIM?: the heim part is "home" or Not the name of one of the nine "place" in many Norse terms worlds unless it's an uncommon varient. Vinheim in English ver. NIFLHEIM: one of the worlds from Norse mythology; dark and cold, associated with hell; "house of mists" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIGNIFICANT MONSTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FENRIR: a wolf-like being in Norse mythology CTHUGHA: from Cthulu Mythos; an alien Ktugatch in Eng ver. being associated with fire NODIS?: from Nodens, from the Adulocia in Eng ver. Cthulu Mythos; a god associated with water VOONITH?: from Cthulu Mythos? From Voormis? Or something else??? Amphitra in Eng ver. SHATAG?: from Shantak, from the It's something from Cthulu Mythos, Cthulu Mythos; some evil but it may be something other than creatures in Dreamlands, the Shantaks. hunted by Nodens. Windmaster in Eng ver. HASTURL?: from Hastur, from the Iapyx in Eng ver. Cthulu Mythos; one of the nicer gods. AZATHOL?: from Azathoth, from the Iubaris in Eng ver. Cthulu Mythos; a god that is above Cthulu. AMPHITRA: from Greek goddess Voonith(?) in Jpn ver. Amphitrite, a nereid? Wife of Poseidon/Neptune IAPYX: Latin for "a west-northwest Hasturl(?) in Jpn ver. wind." Also name of the healer of Aeneas in the Trojan war, Greek mythology IUBARIS: Latin for "beaming light, Azathol(?) in Jpn ver. radiance" or "heavenly body", (Iuba can also mean "mane") esp. the sun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISC ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- NECRONOMICON: from Cthulu mythos, Greek for "Book of the Law of the Dead" or similiar phrases. MANA: The Maori word for a super- Actually not related to Christian natural force believed to dwell "manna." in a person or sacred object, originating in Polynesian The high-fantasy archtype of mana mythology. Norse mythology also being a limited natural resource uses it to mean the vital life comes from the novella "The Magic essence of all that is good. Goes Away" by Larry Niven. CRUXIS: "crux" and "crucis" are both Allusion to Christianity. Latin for cross. I don't know (The katakana looks more like it if "cruxis" is a word too or should be Crucis anyway...) if it just mixes them together. SENNEN OUKOKU: Japanese for Changed to "Age of Half-elves" in "millennium kingdom" or English version. It's what the "Millennial Reign", which Desians call the Age of Lifeless is mentioned in the New Beings, because they think of it as Testament as the era in Yggdrasill and his followers (half- which the saints shall live elves who support him) reigning and rule the world with while the Inferior Beings are Christ while "whosoever was either killed off or left on a not found written in the mana-impared world to die. book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:15) GO SEIJIN: means "Five Holy Blades" "Five Grand Cardinals" in English with the way it's written version. (They apparently thought in kanji, but it was saint was a more relevant meaning probably a deliberate than blade; cardinal is a high- homonym (on "seijin") to ranking position in the Roman mean "Five Saints." Catholic Church.) (ARCH)ANGEL/(DAI)TENSHI: The servents Archangel became Seraphim in the of God in Judeo-Christian* English version. theology. They are usually depicted as winged humanoids. *More precisely Christianity, Plain "angels" are the lowest Judaism, Islam, and Zoroastrianism of the nine orders of angels, and archangels (daitenshi in Angel is from Greek "angelos," Japanese) are the second- messanger, if it matters. lowest. SERAPHIM: The highest of the nine Daitenshi (archangel) in Japanese. orders of angels (see above). Their name means "fiery Note "seraphim" is plural. If there's serpent" because they exist just one, it's a seraph. :p off the fiery love of God. They have three pairs of wings. KUSANAGI NO TSURUGI: Grasscutter A replica of this is one of Japan's Sword, very important in Three Sacred Treasures. Japanese mythology like Excalibur is to Britain YATA NO KAGAMI: Yata Mirror, the One of Japan's Three Sacred mirror used in Japanese Treasures mythology to scare the sun goddess Amaterasu out of hiding so the sun would shine again YASAKANI NO MAGATAMA: Yasakani One of Japan's Three Sacred Jewel (Beads) Treasures SELENE: Greek for "moon." Former name of gold moon. AQUAN: from "aqua" (water) Water-going protozoan AEROS: from "air" Flying protozoan EARTHIS: from "earth" Land-going protozoan; arshis in Eng ver. FENRILRA: from fenrir (see significant Humanoid protozoan who hunts monsters) evil. PROTOZOAN: single-celled organism doesn't evolve like that in real-life ASHURA: Asura, group of deities in One of Shihna's weapons. Hinduism who oppose the devas. Asura in Eng ver. One of the realms of existance in Budhism KONGOU: Vajra, Buddhist symbol of the One of Shihna's weapons. indestructible truth; Vajra in Eng ver. thunderbolt weilded as a weapon by the Hindu god Indra; means "diamond" or "thunderbolt" in Sanskrit. FUDOU: "Immobility", from the name of One of Shihna's weapons. Hindu god Fudoumyouou, "The Fudoumyouou is the Japanese name Immoveable One" for Acalanatha. Acalanatha in the Eng ver. YASHA: Bat-like female demons from One of Shihna's weapons. Japanese mythology. Also Yaksha, Yaska in English version. a demigod who serves Kubera, the Hindu god of wealth. FAFNIR: man in Norse mythology who Devil's Arm (the dagger) turned into a dragon to guard his treasure. Slain by Sigurd. FLAMBERGE: based on a real weapon but used based on Tales of Phantasia where it was still one-half of the Eternal Sword. VORPAL SWORD: means "deadly' but "Vorpal" invented by Lewis Carol used based on Tales of for poem "Jaberwocky." The monster Phantasia where it was still is slain with this sword. one-half of the Eternal Sword. SIGURD: Hero of the Norse legend the A helmet, a set with Brunnhilde 'Volsungasaga', in which he and Arredoval. slew Fafnir and later rescued Brunhild. From Germanic elements "victory" and "guardian" BRUNNHILDE: Brunhild or Brunhilde; Armor, a set with Sigurd and Queen of the valkyries in Arredoval. the Norse legend 'Volsungasaga' who was rescued by the hero What's Arredoval??? Sigurd. Queen of Iceland and wife of Günther in Germanic legend 'Nibelungenlied'. From Germanic elements "armor" and "battle." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISC MYTHOLOGY/RELIGION/LITERATURE REFERENCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a few things that don't deserve their own paragraph: GREEK Panacea (Bottle), Unicorn, Chimera, Lamia, Medusa ARABIAN Ghoul ISLAM Bahamut('s Tear) SCOTTISH FORKLORE Wraith HINDUISM Hanamann('s Staff) JUDAISM/CHRISTIANITY Samael, Golem, Angel, Archangel/Seraphim TUETONIC FOLKLORE Elf, dwarf, drake, kraaken, elixer THE LORD OF THE RINGS Mithril (Mythril), elf, dwarf CHINESE MYTHOLOGY (Rising) Phoenix NORSE MYTHOLOGY Draupnir, Idun, Berserker VOODOOISM Zombie VARIOUS Dragon, Unicorn ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISC NAMCO REFERENCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are more Namco references than this if you want to get off the subject of names, but this is an Etymology/Name guide, so.... KAZE NO KLONOA Klonoa, Dark Dream Traveler, Wahoo XEVIOUS Bacura, Toroid TOWER OF DRUAGA Gilgamesh, Excalibur, Golden Armor, Golden Helm, B Line Shield, R Line Shield, Hyper Gauntlet, Jet Boots, Blue Candle, Roper enemies, BC Rod SOUL EDGE Soul Eater SOUL CALIBUR II Might Atlas ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STUFF WE CAN'T FIGURE OUT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's some stuff we want input on: Lloyd Irving, Noishe, Botta, Desian, Tethe'alla, Vinheim, Welgaia, any excluded towns, anything else you think might mean something. Some vague scraps of info in case it helps you: Noishe (noishu) - Surely a name this stupid has a meaning. My dictionary keeps pointing me to Neustadt, a city in both Germany and Tales of Destiny. A Noishe-related file from the official Tales Japanese site had his name as Neusch.... Desian (dezaian) - Design? Tethe'alla (teseara) - gold? Flanoir (furano-ru) - Maybe if it was supposed to be Franor and derived from Fenrir (a name of the same location in Tales of Phantasia)? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- from tales.namco.com forums: Zoran Lunar Eclipse Sonius Kassad Abicion eternal_swordmaster -- Calubin -- TheFreeDictionary.com -- Encyclopedia Mythica (http://pantheon.org) -- BehindTheName.com -- Majestic Fantasian (http://www.din.or.jp/~albion/tales/) -- WWWJDIC (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/breen/wwwjdic?1C) -- Glossary of Latin Words (http://www.bible-history.com/latin/) -- Babelfish (http://world.altavista.com/tr) -- Neko no Yakai (http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~QI3M-OONK/index.htm) -- Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mana http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%83%E5%B9%B4%E7%8E%8B%E5%9B%BD -- Magestic Phantasian (http://www.din.or.jp/~albion/tales/) -- Tales of Together (http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~minaka/tales/) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------