Runes and their (Mis)Translations

[Raww Le Klueze]

Equilibirum Rune is Balance Rune

Maybe not. Balance Rune is baransu in katakana for Suikoden II and III, in Suikoden V they use the kanjis for kinkou (equilibrium, balance). It's a curious change, but it's not a translation issue as much as Konami seemingly changing the name.

Maybe they're supposed to be different, though the effects are exactly the same. Did they forget they already had a rune for balance?

Minotaur Rune is Gozz Rune

Both are gozu in katakana for both S2 and S5. No idea how they got minotaur. Then again, I'm not sure what Gozz is supposed to be.

It might be referencing Gozu Mezu, which are demons in Buddhist hell with the body of a man and the head of a bull or horse. At least if the translator of V made that connection it sort of explains minotaur. The kanji for gozu literally reads Ox-Head so it explains the rune image if not why they put it in katakana.

Sickle Rune is Sickle-Weasel Rune

Yeah, both are kamaitachi in hiragana. The kamaitachi is a japanese monster that supposedly looks like a trio of weasels and likes to cut people. Kama = sickle, Itachi = weasel.

Was Clone Rune or Titan Rune a mistranslation? I would think they shared the same name in Japan.

Doubtful, Clone Rune is wakemi in hiragana and means to seperate/divide/differentiate while Titan is simply taitan in katakana.

[Raww Le Klueze]

Found another rune:

S1 & 2's Trick Rune is the same as S3 and S5's Gadget Rune. Both are karakuri originally, though S5 spells with katakana instead of hiragana. The Rune listing have them as seperate.

[Celes]

I never thought of those beeing the same rune. You really sure of it?

Thanks for all the investigation and contributions for the runes.

Perhaps I should add some of those explanations to the descriptions. What do you think?

[Raww Le Klueze]

Well, it seems logical, they have the exact same name originally and only worn by Tricksters. Well, Sorenson might not be a trickster per say but the theme is there.

For Suikoden I, II and III it's からくりの紋章 (karakuri no monshu) and in V it's カラクリの紋章 which reads the same. Possible translations for karakuri are mechanism / machinery / trick / device so both Trick and Gadget are fair enough translations. So yeah, I'm pretty sure about that.

As for adding that, maybe, I don't see any reason to doubt about Sickle-Weasel. The Gozz = Gozu thing is just a guess on my part but it seems likely considering what the rune looks like and V's translation, though I can't swear on it.

As a side note, the enemy that drops the Gozz rune, Minos, is also Gozu in the Japanese version, though the rune is in katakana (ゴズ)　the enemy is in hiragana　(ごず).

[Celes]

Both rune pages (Trick + Gadget) are merged now. Thanks for the in-depth analysis!

[KFCrispy]

heh, so the ORIGINAL "Gadget" was the dinky machine that the Suikoden I Trick Rune summons

[Rachael]

The Japanese name for the Blue/Pale Gate Rune is 蒼き門紋章. The word "aoki" can be translated as either "blue" or "pale."