WikiBound:Nomenclature

This is an official WikiBound policy. In a nutshell: Official English names take priority over Japanese names. For Mother 3 we use the names from the most up-to-date version of the fan translation. Please follow any guidelines provided on this page.

The following should serve as the guideline for English nomenclature from the EarthBound series.

Article titles

Titles should use the official English name whenever applicable:

Game titles and respective nomenclature

• The first game in the series is to be referred to as "EarthBound Beginnings" for all purposes except for distinguishing among the original Japanese version ("Mother"), the American prototype's ROM ("Earth Bound" or "EarthBound Zero"), said ROM's Wii U Virtual Console release ("EarthBound Beginnings"), and the Japanese GBA re-release ("Mother 1+2").
  • English nomenclature is to follow that of the EarthBound Beginnings Wii U VC release, as translated by Phil Sandhop.
• The second game in the series is to be referred to as "EarthBound" for all purposes except for distinguishing among the original Japanese version ("Mother 2") and the Japanese re-release ("Mother 1+2").
  • Again, English nomenclature is to follow that of the commercially available EarthBound release.
• The third game in the series (GBA) is to be referred to as "Mother 3" for all purposes.
  • English nomenclature is to follow that of the most up-to-date version of the Mother 3 fan translation (at the time of this being written, version 1.3).
• The planned third game in the series (N64) is to be referred to as "EarthBound 64" for all purposes to distinguishing from the released Japanese title ("Mother 3").

Items with shared pages

Several items that are part of a "set" share the same page. Items that share pages are those that have a similar name and effect, such as the Hamburger which covers information on the various burgers in EarthBound and Mother 3, as well as various equipment such as Baseball bats. For these cases, the article either uses a general title which often is the "first stage" in the set (for example the Hamburger), or a generic name that collectively refers to the various items in the set (for example the Baseball bat).

Subjects with multiple names

There are several cases where an article's subject has a different name depending on the game. When this happens, the article's title will be decided based on either one of the following criteria:

• The most recent official name for the subject.
• The name used in the most games throughout the series.

For the former bullet point, the article will use the name it is referred to in EarthBound. For example, in the case of the enemy Mr. Batty, which was referred to as Mr.Bat in EarthBound Beginnings, the article will use the name used in EarthBound (in this case Mr. Batty).

In cases where something has appeared in both EarthBound and Mother 3, but the name used in the latter's fan translation differers from what it was in EarthBound (e.g. the Ramblin' Evil Mushroom, which was shortened to Ramblin' Mushroom in Mother 3), the name used in EarthBound will still take priority.

For the latter bullet point, the name used in the unofficial Mother 3 Fan Translation will also be taken into account. As an example, the item known as the Antidote in both EarthBound Beginnings and Mother 3 is referred to as the Vial of serum in EarthBound, but are meant to be the same item, as such because the former was used more, Antidote was chosen as the article title.

In cases like these, any alternative name the subject has been known by should always be mentioned at least once in the article, preferably in the opening paragraph. Finally, when referring to the subject within the context of a specific game, they should be referred to using the name used in that particular game, for instance because the item was named Vial of serum in EarthBound, it should be referred to as that when talking about its appearance specifically in EarthBound.

Super Smash Bros. nomenclature

Occasionally, the Super Smash Bros. games will have a subject with a name that differs from the one used in the EarthBound series. When this happens, the article will prioritize the name that is used in an EarthBound game instead of Smash.

As an example, the Psycho Car in Smash uses the name Devil Car, which is it's Japanese name. However, because it was localized as the Psycho Car in the official English translation of EarthBound Beginnings, the article title prioritizes the name that is used in EarthBound Beginnings (in this case, the Psycho Car instead of the name used in Smash).

Familiar names

Sometimes an article on the wiki will use a name that differs from what is seen as the official name. The purpose is to allow our information to be accessible and easy for readers to find in cases where readers are unaware of the current official name:

Former names

In cases where an article's subject has recieved a new official name, the most recent name normally takes priority and the article should be renamed to match the current name. On some rare cases, however, if a major subject receives a new name, the article title may prioritize the former name due to being more well known to the general public. The purpose is to make the article more accessible and easier for readers to find, as the general public may be unaware or unfamiliar with the name change, and immediately moving the page would result in readers being less likely to find the article.

For instance, when EarthBound Beginnings was first released outside Japan, the game was still referred to as Mother instead of EarthBound Beginnings as the former was more well known to readers and more likely to be searched as opposed to the latter.

Fan terminology

The wiki will use a widely used fan name in cases where a subject lacks an official English name, but a widely known fan term exists. In rare cases, the unofficial name will be used in place of the official name if the official name is only mentioned in an obscure source to the point where most readers do not know of its existence. An example would be the various battle themes in EarthBound Beginnings, which use the common fan nicknames from various sites such as Starmen.net as the official name is only mentioned in the Mother Music Revisited Deluxe Disc 2 album, which never released outside Japan and as such the official names are very obscure in comparison to their popular names.

Unofficial names should only be used in place of official names if the official name comes from an obscure source and a widely recognized unofficial name exists. If there is no well known alternative name then the wiki will default to the official name. Do not use fan nicknames for subjects where the official name is easily accessible, such as characters, locations, items and enemies, which should always use the official name if one exists.

If such a cases were to come up, it will be discussed on the article's talk page which name should be used with the staff making the final decision. If it is decided to use the more familiar name, the current official name is to always be mentioned at least once in the opening paragraph.