Organizing Information: Names

Join our Discord to discuss this article with fellow Duelists

Become a Patron to support us for 12 years of all-volunteer work

Quite a bit of confusion popped up on the Internet a week or so ago, back when some recent card previews hit Japan.

One particular card in those previews – LVAL-JP056 – caught the attention of the community. Players thought it belonged to all sorts of groups, and there was enough confusion for us to feel we should speak about it directly.

The name of card number LVAL-JP056 is 励輝士 ヴェルズビュート. We would romanize it as “Reikishi Verzbuth”. We would sound it out as “Ray-key-she Verz-boot.” And we will use it to teach you how the Organization handles names.

The first concern about a card name is always the concern regarding “archetype.”

What is an archetype, you ask? We generally use the term as a catch-all for groups of cards that share some identical text between their names – the shared text defines an “archetype”, and cards that share that text belong to that “archetype.” We see card effects work based off the archetype concept all the time.

It isn’t enough, though, for a card name to just match in English. For a card to belong to an archetype without causing problems later on, Konami needs to actually want it in the archetype.

We can see Konami’s intent by checking the card’s name in the first territory where it was released. Most cards see first release in Japan; therefore for most cards, the Japanese name is the name that determines whether or not a card belongs in an archetype.

Later problems can also come along when several cards all share a term in one territory, but don’t share it in another. This can lead to card name changes or card text modifications, but it ALWAYS means something will need to be reprinted somewhere.

When we come up with temporary card names, The Organization takes great care to accurately reflect archetype membership.

Take another look at LVAL-JP056.

Initially, we called it “Constelswarm Belzebuth”.

That name was chosen specifically to SOUND like “Constellar” and make a reference to it, without making the monster actually BE a “Constellar” card. Why did we do that? It is because Belzebuth is part of a storyline – the Duel Terminal series had stories, and those stories were the basis of the archetypes from the Duel Terminal. Duel Terminal 14 and Hidden Arsenal 7 ended the story with a climactic clash between the Constellar and the Evilswarm.

In that story, “Steelswarm Sentinel” had an unlikely life. He eventually became “Steelswarm Roach”, after coming in contact with a strange object from the Vylon, as shown in the artwork of “Advance Zone.”

The Vylon themselves were created by the Constellar, as hopefully-incorruptible forces meant to oversee the seals keeping the Steelswarm locked away. When the Steelswarm broke free, they let the Constellar know, then took action to deal with the breakout. The resulting conflict led to the end of the Steelswarm, but not without the evil of the Steelswarm corrupting the Vylon. In the end, the Vylon themselves had to be dismantled, and the corruption itself was still around. It still had to be dealt with as it resurrected countless corpses: so the Constellar came by to deal with it directly.

“Jewels of the Valiant” holds the final moments of the story, where heirs to the Constellar and Evilswarm lineage fight “Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth.” Roach, unlike most other Steelswarm and Evilswarm, survived the entire conflict: he is shown in SHSP-JP068, watching Kerykeion and Sombre fly away. Because a piece of Vylon tech – tech made by the Constellars – is what converted him from Sentinel to Roach, Roach is essentially heir to both the Constellar and the Evilswarm.

We saw numerous comments assuming the card was both a “Constellar” and an “Lswarm” monster. If the card was actually a member of both, we would’ve put “Constellar” fully into the card’s temporary name. However, we realized that it was confusing, so we decided to change the temporary name that the wiki would use. Presently, we call it a “Noblswarm” card instead, and we may change it again if a better idea comes along.

We are not here to cause confusion, we are here to end it.

Translation and localization are complicated issues and there are times that a name like “Constellswarm” may be the best route to getting the meaning across properly. It is no different than “Starliege Lord Galaxion” not being a “Galaxy” card, but having a name that still evokes a connection.

Some translators once called it “Galaxyon” though: they unintentionally spread a bit of misinformation, and to this day we still fight that misinformation. Some still ask us why Galaxion isn’t a “Galaxy” card in the TCG: it’s because it was never a “Galaxy” card anywhere.

At the end of the day, the only thing one must remember is to look at the name of the card very carefully.