EarthBound / MOTHER 2 Translation Comparison: Enemies

When MOTHER 2 was translated into EarthBound, the new programming allowed for longer enemy names. This was used to make the otherwise okay enemy names a little more interesting. Mind you, some of the Japanese names were amusing. It just seems that the English versions have more “fun” to them. For instance, the “New Age Retro Hippie” was originally “Carefree Guy” in MOTHER 2, and “Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom” was simply “Walking Mushroom” (you can even see this in an early screenshot in the EB Player’s Guide, page 10).

Below is a list of all the enemies and their names in both versions. I’ve highlighted the ones that I feel were really changed or are noteworthy in some way. Note I don’t think the changes are bad. In many cases I think they’re cool.

Note that because of how languages work, sometimes there are names that can’t be translated, sometimes they’re sound effects or just weird things that evoke certain images or feelings. In those untranslatable cases, I made the names as close as I could to the original.