How Revali's Original Character was Changed in Breath of the Wild

I want to provide some additional details about Revali's character in Japanese as I believe they are important. In Japanese, Revali often uses words such as こいつ (koitsu) to address others and Link, which, in Japanese is an impolite and often rude way to address someone. I believe this is an important detail as it's not really something you can localise very easily. Revali still has some disrespectful elements to his character in Japanese, too.

I don't hate localised Revali, but the original writing is undeniably far more interesting and gives him so much more depth and development. Really wish the translations were more faithful.

I honestly wish we saw this from Revali in the english localization, seeing Link as a worthy opponent rather than constantly calling him inferior.

I think it’s pretty sad that because of poor translation it has caused MANY to completely misunderstand Revali. He’s not a bad guy at all, he’s just completely misunderstood.

The Japanese game really depicts him as a charming character. It's a shame they changed it so drastically. I kinda wish there was a way to play the game with the unchanged subtitles.

Revali disliking Link simply because he doesn't believe Link is enough to take down a world-ending threat that is Ganon is way more interesting and understandable than him just believing he's the best and everyone else sucks. English Revali seems more interested in proving his pride and ego than actually stopping Ganon.

Yesterday, I learned that there were boss medals. Today, I learned that Revali has a diary. This game...

I never realized how different Revali's character was in both the English and Japanese versions of BOTW until I watched this video. And those playing the English version ended up getting the rude bird over the moderately nicer bird from the Japanese version.

When I first encountered Revali (US), I got the impression that he was a prideful yet emotionally insecure individual who cannot directly express much respect or admiration towards others. This makes him appear unbearably arrogant - and to an extent he is - but after freeing his spirit, his dismissive attitude nevertheless felt like his attempt at a thank you and praise but it came out in Revali-ese. I feel that may have been the intent of his localization, but they failed to add just enough soft moments to make it obvious.

As a Revali fan, that line about Link just being lucky has always irked me! I originally played the German version and there, he also acknowledged that Link is the more skilled one and that Link is the key to defeating Ganon! That was a very wholesome moment showing Revali’s character development. So imagine my disappointment when I heard the English version for the first time

It's interesting how he takes on two similar yet different archetypes in the different localizations. The Japanese version falls 100% into the role of rival that you often see in Japanese media. That form of a rival, with how they act and speak, isn't very common in western media, and people wouldn't relate to him in the same kind of way a Japanese player would. The English localization instead uses couple things, including a Japanese one that is recognizable and echos in western media- the made him a tsundere instead. The pulling on your pigtails, teasing, and (pun unintended) egging him on, sassy banter with barbs you may not mean, that's an archetype very recognizable to a western audience, and is much closer to how rival characters that aren't an enemy are done in western media. He doesn't even want to admit to himself via diary that he's impressed with Link though still wants his approval and recognition badly. English Revali is very similar to the Japanese one, he just shows it a different way, and makes you look past the mask of bravado he's protecting insecurities with to read between the lines while in Japanese he's more well if I can't do it this guy that supposedly better than me based on our given roles better do it, and since he's already dead he may as well be more open and upfront with how he thinks. English Revali is staying with the sassy banter they're used to with each other, that Revali always used to try to get any kind of reaction out of him, since Link would (or should, if he had the right memories) know what he means. (also, I don't think the "like talking to a stone" line is about Link's level of intelligence at all, I think it's more about a stone faced lack of expression, not letting anything show on his face while also rarely talking. Similar with the winging it line, the 'I got careless" has a very similar meaning to it, but it's too good a pun while being a well known phrase, they couldn't not use it, and it plays well with his more sassy nature)

I played the game in french and after watching this video, I realised how much the french translators did a good job. When I watched some playthroughs in english, Revali seemed way more arrogant than I remembered, and I get why I had that feeling now. Nice video, keep up the good work !

just a note that the skill is called revali’s tornado in japanese, but “tornado” is listed as the pronunciation of “ferocity.” this is a thing that happens a lot in japanese, especially in song lyrics.

For me, the English translation still somewhat holds true to his character. He's not just arrogant, he's sarcastic. His tone to me always suggested that in his heart he knew Link was the one. I always felt like Revali's way of encouraging Link was always to tell him "You think you're better than me? Prove it." as a way of pushing Link to try harder, even if he didn't need to. I've always had a feeling that Revali always had the best of intentions despite his feelings about the role he was asked to take, while internally trying to figure out why he was placed there. He seemed to want to understand and earn the admiration of Link, hence the diary entries, but he realized that Link wasn't going to open up to him at all. Link, the tortured soul that he is, just can't get out of his stoic ways. His training won't let him, which I felt always made Revali want to push Link's buttons more and more, hence the mocking before and after the Wind Blight Ganon fights. But in the end Revali started to understand and respect Link, but in his own playful arrogant ways made it clear that he didn't show it through praise, but through the dripping sarcasm of referring to Link's skill as 'luck'. When I was playing I never doubted how Revali felt about Link. From my perspective Revali admired Link's skill and believed in it. Revali is a character that says a lot outside of the words that come out of his beak, from my perspective. This video was great at reestablishing that perspective by giving me the original intent of the character through the Japanese dialogue. Well done. c:

Well, you might be giving some Japanese lines too much credit for making Revali sound more humble. But I think your take overall is completely correct. Honestly IDK why more people didn't pick up on this immediately. An overly cocky attitude is always a compensation for something, usually to cover up anxiety and insecurity!

These are so varied. Some of the Japanese translations still sound arrogant to me though. Revali is very presumptuous about Link's intentions. Whether you invent new moves and strive for better, it doesn't make sense to challenge those on the same team as you if not to prove something. The difference between 'luck' and 'outright lost' however, is so different. Thank you for sharing your translations and interpretations.

Wow, the English translations were changed in so many places. This reminds me of how the Quest Descriptions are written in the First-Person in the Japanese version, like you talked about in the past. (I'm still salty about losing that.)

Revali is such a misunderstood character, sadly. I feel like many people are too quick to judge and write him off as just an arrogant jerk without bothering to look more into it. People usually put up arrogance as a front to hide their insecurities. Revali is very proud of his skill that he worked very hard to develop, yet Link showed no reaction to it whatsoever. That damaged his pride, understandably. Add to that the fact that the other champions have these amazing skills that they were essentially born with... That probably made him more insecure and thus he became even more arrogant and rude. And while the original Japanese version of Revali is certainly kinder to Link and has more depth, you can find some of that development in the English version of Revali too. Anyway, this is a really good video. Well put together and well written! Anyone who takes the time to look more into Revali and tries to understand him gets a like from me, hahah.

Guy seems kind of like “what if we put Falco from Star Fox into a Zelda game and him obnoxious like Vegeta?”

I have played the German version and to me, Revali came across as someone with an Athlete mindset. Always set on improving himself and pushing himself to his limits. While the praise of others did go somewhat over his head, I remember reading in his diary that he wanted to teach his abilities to younger Ritos, so that they even may surpass him. I also remember him being frustrated with Link, because he couldn't read Link's facial expressions, or see if he had any feelings at all. Implying that he only challenged him to get an emotional reaction out of Link. While I really do enjoy the English VA's sass and arrogance of the character, I never understood why so many people outright hated Revali. The bird puns are hilarious. 😅 (also I think the "good luck sealing the darkness" line was add-lib and they just kept it? But I could be wrong, it's been years.)