Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

General discussion of topics that encompass more than one of Yoshihiro Takahashi's series, as well as topics relating to Takahashi himself.
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Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Digsu »

This is a topic dedicated to Ginga characters who have no official names and what names the fandom has adopted for them. Feel free to add characters I may have missed.

GNG:
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Gin's siblings
AKA: Hiyan and Giyan
"Hiyan" and "giyan" are sound effects for yelping, but they were believed to be the pups' names. In addition, the actual romanization of the yelps (shown above) are "gyan" and "hyaan".

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The marten
AKA: Tin
"Tin" is a misheard version of "ten", the Japanese word for marten. The Scandinavian subbed versions call him "Tin the mountain bandit".

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Hayato's elder brother
AKA: Tsukikage
The name "Tsukikage" is only used once in the manga, well after Hayato's brother has died, in a scene where the only Iga dogs present are Jinnai and Kirikaze. Presumably this was a mistake by Yoshi.

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Harpoon bear
AKA: Sokkin
The term "sokkin" refers to a close underling and was actually used to describe Kesakage.

GDW:
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Guard Dog
AKA: Banken
"Banken" is Japanese for "guard dog".

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The Monster
AKA: Kaibutsu, P4
"Kaibutsu" is the Japanese word for "monster".
P4 was the name of the laboratory he was imprisoned in, and Jerome called him that once to anger him. The pachinko game also refers to him as P4.

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Koga Elder
AKA: Chourou
"Chourou" is the Japanese word for (village/clan) elder.

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Gin's look-alike
AKA: Fubuki
"Fubuki" means snowstorm and referred to the weather when this dog went missing, but it was mistakenly believed to be his name.

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The General
AKA: Shougun
"Shougun" is Japanese for "general".

GDWO:
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Kenshin's second-in-command
AKA: Wakagashira
"Wakagashira" is Japanese for "second-in-command".

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The Ruler
AKA: Tenka
"Tenka" is, in this context, Japanese for "ruler" or "lord".
Last edited by Digsu on Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Tove »

Oh Yoshi. Can you please let me out of my misery and give Kaibutsu a proper name? Surely his mother named him at least (well, maybe not if she was anything like Sakura)?

I'm just gonna go ahead and call him Bruce from now on until someone comes up with something decent.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Tove wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:36 pm Oh Yoshi. Can you please let me out of my misery and give Kaibutsu a proper name? Surely his mother named him at least (well, maybe not if she was anything like Sakura)?
In the manga, it's said that Kaibutsu "had grown without the love of a father or a mother", so it's possible his mother never got the chance to name him.

Personally I believe Kaibutsu was actually a clone but that's just a crazy tinfoil hat theory with little actual basis in canon.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Digsu wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:46 pm
Tove wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 5:36 pm Oh Yoshi. Can you please let me out of my misery and give Kaibutsu a proper name? Surely his mother named him at least (well, maybe not if she was anything like Sakura)?
In the manga, it's said that Kaibutsu "had grown without the love of a father or a mother", so it's possible his mother never got the chance to name him.

Personally I believe Kaibutsu was actually a clone but that's just a crazy tinfoil hat theory with little actual basis in canon.
Suppose cloning dogs for animal testing wouldn't be the craziest thing to happen in the series.

If only we were given a little short story to see Kaibutsu's early years in more detail. Surely he's had some sort of name at some point? No wonder you get a bit messed up inside your head if you've been called monster pretty much since day one.

This is such a fascinating subject. How is it Gin has not once mentioned his siblings by name? How does that even happen? Or Daisuke? He did get to see Gin often enough after the Battle of Ou, you'd think at one point or another he'd go "oi Gin, you won't belieeeeve what Patrick just did the other day!"
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by methpring »

About the marten, in Finnish dub it was called simply "verenhimoinen vuoristokoira", "blood-thirsty mountain dog", and the name "Tin" was not mentioned.
In the manga, it's said that Kaibutsu "had grown without the love of a father or a mother", so it's possible his mother never got the chance to name him.
If only we were given a little short story to see Kaibutsu's early years in more detail. Surely he's had some sort of name at some point? No wonder you get a bit messed up inside your head if you've been called monster pretty much since day one.
It was also mentioned that his owner was only interested in him as a test-subject, so he was probaly taken from his mother very early and taken straight to the laboratory.
This is such a fascinating subject. How is it Gin has not once mentioned his siblings by name? How does that even happen? Or Daisuke? He did get to see Gin often enough after the Battle of Ou, you'd think at one point or another he'd go "oi Gin, you won't belieeeeve what Patrick just did the other day!"
Daisuke was so obsessed of Gin the legendary tora-ge, that he probably just forgot all about the other two pups. Although he must have come across with them time to time, as they lived in the same house, maybe he just didn't care of them enough to ponder their names. Or maybe they were going to be sold, they were pups of the legendary Riki after all, and the possible new owners were given the honor to name them.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Digsu »

methpring wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:04 pm About the marten, in Finnish dub it was called simply "verenhimoinen vuoristokoira", "blood-thirsty mountain dog", and the name "Tin" was not mentioned.
Ah, thanks for pointing that out! I got it confused with the subbed version which calls him Tin.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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methpring wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:04 pm About the marten, in Finnish dub it was called simply "verenhimoinen vuoristokoira", "blood-thirsty mountain dog", and the name "Tin" was not mentioned.
Same with Swedish dub (as Finland dubbed and translated from the Swedish dub lol). The name "Tin" came with the subtitles of the anime in 2003 though for both Finnish and Swedish version when the uncut version was released.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Tove »

methpring wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 7:04 pm
This is such a fascinating subject. How is it Gin has not once mentioned his siblings by name? How does that even happen? Or Daisuke? He did get to see Gin often enough after the Battle of Ou, you'd think at one point or another he'd go "oi Gin, you won't belieeeeve what Patrick just did the other day!"
Daisuke was so obsessed of Gin the legendary tora-ge, that he probably just forgot all about the other two pups. Although he must have come across with them time to time, as they lived in the same house, maybe he just didn't care of them enough to ponder their names. Or maybe they were going to be sold, they were pups of the legendary Riki after all, and the possible new owners were given the honor to name them.
Sounds about right. Ginga logics ;)

Okay so I did actually do some digging around just now because who needs sleep. The manga says Gin was one year old when Daisuke killed the momma bear who gave Gin his scars. Fast forward a few chapters and we see Fuji hanging out with her two pups at the Fujiwara's. Surely the puppies should have names by now? What's up with all the secrecy?
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Tove wrote: Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:37 pm Okay so I did actually do some digging around just now because who needs sleep. The manga says Gin was one year old when Daisuke killed the momma bear who gave Gin his scars. Fast forward a few chapters and we see Fuji hanging out with her two pups at the Fujiwara's. Surely the puppies should have names by now? What's up with all the secrecy?
Static background dogs are static and nameless. :P "Nobody probably cares about these two, so why name them.... " First of all I don't like them two crybabies being totally static in the story as they pretty much are, and Gins siblings ffs, they really should have been given proper names.

And I'm with you on the Kaibutsu thing.

But Bruce? REALLY? :P4:
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Tove »

Rascal wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:07 am And I'm with you on the Kaibutsu thing.

But Bruce? REALLY? :P4:
Yup, I'm going with Bruce 😎 He'll be in good company with his friends Lee and Willis. Or my personal favourite, the legendary shark from Jaws ;)
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Tove wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:22 am Yup, I'm going with Bruce 😎 He'll be in good company with his friends Lee and Willis. Or my personal favourite, the legendary shark from Jaws ;)
I think you're bit nuts and I like a lot. <3 ^^,

If you call Kaibutsu by that name, he'll be Dickinson for me from now on.

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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

Post by Troll Berserker »

Honestly I had no idea Tenka wasn't a real name...
Isn't he still alive in TLW? Isn't he like some neutral ally? He should have a proper name.
But hey Yoshi is great at naming minor characters we don't give shit about and leaving nameless characters that deserve a name (Koga elder, Gin's siblings)
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Troll Berserker wrote: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:40 pm Honestly I had no idea Tenka wasn't a real name...
Isn't he still alive in TLW? Isn't he like some neutral ally? He should have a proper name.
But hey Yoshi is great at naming minor characters we don't give shit about and leaving nameless characters that deserve a name (Koga elder, Gin's siblings)
It's apparently a pretty archaic term, which would explain why it's not really common knowledge in the fandom.

Personally, I think that of all the unnamed characters, Kaibutsu and Tenka are the ones where it makes sense they don't have proper names. Like discussed earlier, it's possible that nobody ever gave enough of a crap about Kaibutsu to give him a proper name, while Tenka is ridiculously strict about being "The Emperor of Dogs" and probably would rather die than permit someone to get on first-name basis with himself. It's a bit awkward (and heavy-handed), but even the narrator just calling him "The Ruler" kinda enforces the idea that you do not call him by his given name if you know what's good for you.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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From which series does Gin's clone come from?
Isn't Tenka's name supposed to be that way so it can mean ''ovrerlord''? Like, Simba in TLK means ''lion'', but it's still his name
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Kaiken wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:09 pm From which series does Gin's clone come from?
Isn't Tenka's name supposed to be that way so it can mean ''ovrerlord''? Like, Simba in TLK means ''lion'', but it's still his name
GDW. After Gin escapes from Hougen, Sniper kills the Gin-looking dog to both to appease Hougen and to make sure he's free to find and kill Gin himself, now that everyone else thinks he's dead.

The issue with Tenka's name is that it can be read as either being his title or his name, and both would make sense, whereas most people who watch the Lion King would hear Simba's name and just accept it as his name, since there's not a whole lot of room for alternate interpretation there. It doesn't help that, from what a bit of googling seems to indicate, Tenka, using the kanji 天下, is either very uncommon or nonexistent as a Japanese given name - while 天下 is apparently a surname, it uses the alternate pronounciation "Amashita" instead of "Tenka".
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Generally I think for the majority of these it's a bit of a stretch to call them all either unnamed or fan nicknames? The title is slightly misleading, you could easily make this two topics really: "Characters with no given names" (Chourou Banken Kaibutsu Shougen Tenka etc) and "Fan named and nameless characters".

No given names:
While its interesting to know that some characters names are out of reference (Guard dog, Monster etc) and not "given" names, I don't personally think it's anything of consequence, though fun to discuss! What I mean is, we all understand that Chourou means elder, but that doesn't stop it from being his name to the readers. We all know now that Tenka isn't a given name but again, that doesn't stop it from being his name to us because there is no other choice. Therefore, they aren't nicknames by definition because we haven't made these names up in the slightest, nor are they unnamed because that is their character name.

I'm only mentioning this comparison as I've got the film fresh in my mind - in Spirit Stallion of Cimarron, there's a character called The Colonel. That's not a given name, but thats still the name of his character. This is how I see names like Shogun and Tenka, it's the same thing.

Fan nicknames:
Need only apply to mistaken translations and true nameless characters where it was entirely made up so fans could call them something. So Giyan and Hiyan, Harpoon bear/Sokkin, Fubuki etc. Therefore someone like Eyebrows would also count in this demographic as a true nameless with a fan nickname.

Anywho, that's my two cents and how I personally make the distinction between no given names vs fan names/true nameless characters.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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I always thought it would be really interesting to read about Kaibutsu's origin story as well. Too bad Yoshi will probably never write a short manga about him.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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I just randomly remembered one, a bit of a weird one but I figured I’d share this.
When I first got into Ginga, I spent time on bebo as there were lots of ginga groups on there.
I remember getting into an argument with someone who was adamant that Teru’s Father’s name was Riku. They claimed to be Japanese and apparently knew the creators of the anime and said it was his name 🤣🤣 I wonder why it became such a weird thing? Riku was one of Kyōshiro’s followers, not Teru’s dad!
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Astor wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:54 pm I just randomly remembered one, a bit of a weird one but I figured I’d share this.
When I first got into Ginga, I spent time on bebo as there were lots of ginga groups on there.
I remember getting into an argument with someone who was adamant that Teru’s Father’s name was Riku. They claimed to be Japanese and apparently knew the creators of the anime and said it was his name 🤣🤣 I wonder why it became such a weird thing? Riku was one of Kyōshiro’s followers, not Teru’s dad!
It probably started as an honest mistake, with people forgetting the character the name actually belonged to and attaching it to Teru's dad because, hey, he's a fairly important character, surely he's got a name, right?

Also the character's name is Rikku/Rick, not Riku, so it's a double whammy of a mistake.
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Re: Unnamed Ginga characters and their fandom nicknames

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Digsu wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 8:05 pm
Astor wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:54 pm I just randomly remembered one, a bit of a weird one but I figured I’d share this.
When I first got into Ginga, I spent time on bebo as there were lots of ginga groups on there.
I remember getting into an argument with someone who was adamant that Teru’s Father’s name was Riku. They claimed to be Japanese and apparently knew the creators of the anime and said it was his name 🤣🤣 I wonder why it became such a weird thing? Riku was one of Kyōshiro’s followers, not Teru’s dad!
It probably started as an honest mistake, with people forgetting the character the name actually belonged to and attaching it to Teru's dad because, hey, he's a fairly important character, surely he's got a name, right?

Also the character's name is Rikku/Rick, not Riku, so it's a double whammy of a mistake.
That’s another mistake from the old days, when I first got into Ginga, they called him Riku 😂 a lot of these corrections didn’t pop up until later.
But yeah poor Rikku is pretty forgettable 🤣

I also never realised Tsukikage WASN’T the name of Hayato’s brother until now! 😵 everything I knew is a lie. This is what I get for leaving the Ginga fandom from the years between 2011-2018 🤣
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