Donmai

Consider renaming Tonelico (Fate)

Posted under Tags

This might be very unpopular, but there are several reasons why I think Tonelico should be renamed as either Toneriko or Aesc.

First of all, トネリコ (toneriko) is a Japanese word that means "ash tree". While "tonelico" isn't a real word; not even a name in any real, actual, existing language or culture.

I suppose Tonelico became the more popular romanization due to the already popular existing game Ar tonelico... which TYPE-MOON or Fate series isn't involved with. "Tonelico" in said series means "holy tree" in the fictional Hymmnos language, BUT again, TYPE-MOON and Ar tonelico series are not together, so Hymmnos language or Ar tonelico universe are NOT canon in Fate.

The character was named after the World Tree (Yggdrasil) which is an immense, sacred ash tree. Since the setting of FGO's Lostbelt VI is in Britain that is cut off from the rest of the world (meaning that Japan probably doesn't exist there too), having a British fairy with a Japanese name (with a weird romanization on top of that) doesn't quite make sense. Which is why the official localization opts for her localized name "Aesc" (that means "ash tree").

Let's just imagine it having a fully British character saying "My mother loved the cherry blossoms tree when she gave birth to me, so she named me Sacula". Not the best analogy, but it is similarly silly.

Of course Fate already had its share of naming issues (like Altria that's supposed to be derived from Artorius instead of Artoria, and how Olga Marie was initially localized as Olgamally in the anime... or even how 妖精騎士 is translated as Tam Lin instead of Fairy Knight), but so far I don't think I've seen any of official media using the romanization "Tonelico" for her name.

I understand well how this might be unpopular, but I just find "tonelico" a bit silly considering the points explained above. If someday they'll say the official name is Tonelico (like how silly Altria is) then fine.

Has the character been mentioned in some way in Global FGO, even just in dialogue or such? If so we should go with whatever name was used there.
That said FGO wiki and TM wiki do use "Aesc" as a name for her, yes.
Edit: I see that you mentioned the official localization actually.

I disagree with Toneriko, Tonelico has become too popular. In my opinion, the tag should be alised to Aesc and though we can expect her servant version to be localized as Aesc the Savior, I'd wait for her to be released on the NA server.

What I'm really curious about is how to tackle her ascension's implications, considering the third is basically Morgan in a swimsuit.

Sessyoin_Kiara said:
I'd wait for her to be released on the NA server.

I was thinking that too, but at the same time I checked when she released on JP and that meant she won't be on global until like 2025 or something so we'd be sticking with a pretty incorrect name until then, especially if the name Aesc has already been used in the global localization.

Sessyoin_Kiara said:
I'd wait for her to be released on the NA server.

Though she's not yet summonable as Toneriko/Aesc in the global version, the official localization has used Aesc in the story section the entire time, and never once mentioned as Toneriko or Tonelico.

I think for her official romanized/localized name to come, I think the safest bet is waiting for the Fate/Grand Order material book to release and feature her. But the latest one (released Dec 2023) features characters that were originally released in 2021 in Japan. So yeah, 2025 then.

siraco said:

Though she's not yet summonable as Toneriko/Aesc in the global version, the official localization has used Aesc in the story section the entire time, and never once mentioned as Toneriko or Tonelico.

I think for her official romanized/localized name to come, I think the safest bet is waiting for the Fate/Grand Order material book to release and feature her. But the latest one (released Dec 2023) features characters that were originally released in 2021 in Japan. So yeah, 2025 then.

That's what I said. Guess we can also use Aesc The Savior if it's preferred, I finished the Lostbelt a long time ago, I remember the word savior appearing at the start, but I don't know where and if the alias 雨の魔女トネリコ was used, doesn't help that the story is too long to go through the logs.

EDIT: Alright the alias Aesc the Savior (救世主トネリコ) is used multiple times in the story, but I guess 雨の魔女トネリコ is exclusive to the servant.

Updated

1