Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Thoughts on Gen 5 Pokemon names- Part 3

Written by pikaby


Let's see, last checkpoint was on Beheeyem. I think I can finish the rest of Gen 5 today.

Litwick, Lampent, Chandelure- Good, fitting names for the ghost candle line and they even added an additional spin to Shanderaa (imported name) by means of the word 'lure'...its Pokedex entry says it lures in and burns lost souls. Clever.
Axew, Fraxure, Haxorus- Axew could use work as it's not easy to pronounce but overall I see where this line is coming from. The things at the sides of their mouths are like axes, and 'ax' is repeated for every member in different ways! Plus Haxorus just sounds plain cool.
Cubchoo, Beartic- Cubchoo is a cute name and takes the 'sneezing' reference right out of the original Japanese name too (Kumashun). Beartic is so-so, but I disagree with anyone wanting to spell it as 'Bearctic'. Looks more wrong than the name given.
Cryogonal- The design was uninspired to begin with anyway. I know it's supposed to be a snowflake but what the heck is this thing? I haven't even seen one in my four months of playing...Average name.
Shelmet, Accelgor- The other half of the 'specific trade to evolve' deal, the first being Karrablast/Escavalier. Accelgor is a great name hinting at the thing's stupidly high Speed after losing all that armor. No comment on Shelmet though- it's not bad, but not the best name either.
Stunfisk- This is the Electric/Ground type butt-ugly Maggyo. Why 'fisk' and not 'fish'? Don't ask me.
Mienfoo, Mienshao- Perfect names for the martial arts foxes, 'foo' coming from kung-fu, and 'shao' coming from Shaolin, a famous temple for training in Chinese martial arts. Not sure about the 'mien' part yet. (if you can clarify, by all means please do)
Druddigon- May not look like much but is actually quite a force in battle. Great name too. In case you were wondering this is the spiky blue dragon with the red head.
Golett, Golurk- The giant golem wants you to 'lurk moar'. That is all.
Pawniard, Bisharp- The Steel/Dark blade Pokemon line get excellent names, using 'pawn' and 'bishop' from the names of chess pieces to good effect.
Bouffalant- Fine, but one complaint- what happened to talking about that fabulous afro?
Rufflet, Braviary- Rufflet is perfect for a small bird with ruffly feathers. Braviary, although some may not like it, is still a much better name than Wargle (which still sounds like frickin mouthwash to me). It is a brave sort of bird, though I have to admit Staraptor does its job a lot better.
Vullaby, Mandibuzz- The almost unknown parallel to Braviary's line, the vultures get average names. Don't know about the 'lullaby' bit since both know no attacks that put enemies to sleep nor is it a characteristic ability in the Pokedex. Forget it, 'aby' comes from the word 'baby'.

Heatmor- New name for the anteater and while I'm not impressed, it's not a terrible name by any means. Might bring up 'Heatran' a lot though.
Durant- The super-annoying ant Pokemon with the even more annoying Steel/Bug type. I guess that's why it's a durable ant.
Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon- At first, these three sounds like cool names without any meaning, until someone found out that the three of them are made of the German words for 'one', 'two', 'three' (dei, zwei, drei), symbolizing the number of heads each one has. Creative.
Larvesta, Volcorona- Urugamosu line. Long story behind each one. First name is 'larva' and 'vesta', the latter being a Roman goddess of the hearth (fireplace) and home, symbolized by a sacred fire, therefore a great match. Second name is 'volcano' and 'corona', the second word meaning the atmosphere of the Sun, which once again is a perfect fit because Volcorona is the Sun Pokemon. There simply couldn't be  better names for these two.
Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion- Direct translation.
Thunderus, Tornadus, Landorus- Near-direct translation with 'bolt' replaced by 'thunder' and not much else.
Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem- No need me to explain these, right?

And that's my two cents.
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