Egg Man or Robotnik?

[Jrecee]

Let's just agree that robotnik/eggman is sexy in any form.

[Hobie-wan]

Did someone say eggman?

I believe someone did.

[the King]

"Fact > opinion" is an opinion though. What do we do with that one?

It's a fact that my wife calls me Dumbass and it's my opinion that she might be right?

The fact is a lot of characters have name changes. Should Mario only be referred to as Jump Man? Luke Skywalker was originally Luke Starkiller. These aren't real people.

[pepharytheworm]

What are we in therapy now? Why I am I hearing talk about emotions?

[flamepanther]

Did someone say eggman?

I believe someone did.

What?

[Inazuma]

When do they call him Robotnik in a Japanese Sonic game? Sega says both names are correct but I always remember him just being known as Eggman.

Oh well. If both names are correct, then that's that. They are Sega's characters so they decide on what their names really are. It reminds me of another major Sonic character. Miles Prower, aka Tails.

[flamepanther]

It's a fact that my wife calls me Dumbass and it's my opinion that she might be right?

Your statement here is accurate. I wouldn't know about your wife's.

The fact is a lot of characters have name changes. Should Mario only be referred to as Jump Man? Luke Skywalker was originally Luke Starkiller. These aren't real people.

These are not typical examples. In the first, someone else changed Mario's name, and Miyamoto, the character's creator, ran with it. In the second, the creator of the character changed the name himself. Neither of these are changes that were done arbitrarily as part of a translation, without the input of the original creators. The real fact is that a translator's job is to translate, and changing random character names is not translating.

When do they call him Robotnik in a Japanese Sonic game? Sega says both names are correct but I always remember him just being known as Eggman.

The first time that I know of for sure is in Sonic Adventure 2, when Eggman/Robotnik makes the broadcast announcing his "empire." Both names are used together on screen regardless of the player's region.

[YoshiEgg25]

Word to the bird.

Bird is the word?

[Hobie-wan]

Bird is the word?

pa p­a ooma mow mow papa ooma mow mow

[Limewater]

The real fact is that a translator's job is to translate, and changing random character names is not translating.

I don't think I quite agree with this. While I certainly share your preference for keeping original names, sometimes there are good reasons for changing character names. For example, many English names are barely pronounceable by folks who speak other languages, and vice-versa. In China, you could have two different people with two different names that sound virtually identical to a westerner because I'm not aware of any western languages that use tone in the same way.

Apart from that, whether you like it or not (I've already said that I don't), people have been changing names in translation for thousands of years. Jesus' name wasn't really Jesus, Joshua's name wasn't really Joshua, Christopher Columbus wasn't really names Christopher Columbus, etc.

I realize that these are a bit different situations than changing Eggman to Dr. Robotnik. But in this case, SEGA accepted Robotnik as part of canon. I don't see the point of still arguing it. Heck, for Blaster Master, they didn't just adopt the wacky American localization storyline. Apparently they latest game is based upon the story established in the Worlds of Power novelization of Blaster Master.