Enemy names

[Fiddler]

I've done a quick search on the forums and have not seen this come up, so I apologize if it has been asked before.

Several of the enemy names in Phantasy star 4 are obviously pretty strange, (D-elm-lars, Xe-a-thoul, Gy-laguiah, ect.) I was wondering if they actually had any meaning? Were they translated poorly, or not at all? Did someone on the localization team just punch a bunch of random keys on the keyboard and call it quits?

[LegoMuskCat]

I don't think it matters overly much if this has been discussed before. =p Still, this is an interesting question. The wizard-like enemies you mention in particular are probably the only enemy that appears the most in the main series as a recurring monster, and best for the example.

In PSII you have 'em as Wizard (red), Capeone (blue recolor), and Fiend (green).
PSIII has Conjurer (red), Wizard (purple color), Sorcerer (green).
PSIV, finally, has an extra plus the three variants: D-Elm-Lars (blue (note: this is a mini boss)), Xe-A-Thoul (purple), Le-Faw-Gan (green), and finally Gi-Farg-Le (red).

The colors are inconsistent as far as their order of strength goes for PSIV, and the names and other details are the most similar between PSII and PSIII. I think these are translated this way is because they wanted to "Westernize" the games for an English audience when bringing the series over, rather than go off direct translations for marketing reasons. PSIV, on the other hand, appears to have closer and more direct translations (PSIII has the Rappy enemy renamed as "Chirper", after all). PSIV's enemy names actually remind me of PSO's, to an extent (De Rol Le, anyone?).

I know PSIV isn't 100% direct and there were various changes along the way, but it may seem strange since it's not as westernized as the rest of the series. =)

Also, I can't answer if the names have any meaning. Someone else might be able to.

[Fiddler]

I've always thought the wizard-type enemies in Phantasy Star were pretty cool looking. I would like to know more of their particular history. Like you said already, they are a recurring enemy. Their design hasn't changed much between the three games they appear in.

The only thing I can attach to them, and I very well could be wrong, is that they are Dark Force cultists. The symbol on their robes, if you look at it the right way, could be a rough approximation of Dark Force's face. As time goes on, the cultists are warped by the power of Dark Force, which would account for their overly long arms and claw like hands. They all appear to be on their knees, to have very short legs, or not have legs at all. Not really sure what that could mean except, if on knees, they are worshiping DF, maybe? Generally speaking, I think, you only run into them in important areas of the game, or where DF's influence is strongest. To me, that implies that they flock to where they feel the closest to him and then set up shop, doing cultist-y things and making a nuisance of themselves when your party shows up.

Or, the simple answer, they could just be part of the monster hoard that survives in the Edge and are not human at all, just going where DF or the Profound Darkness tells them, or going where they think they can cause the most trouble.

Still curious about their names. All the hyphenated names plus ones like Xanaflague.

[Zucca]

Usually the simplest explanation is the one closest to the truth.

I don't remember who said that nor I can't tell if it was exactly like that... I just thought it fits here well.