This Mistake Changed Final Fantasy 5 Forever

Final Fantasy 5 might not have earned the kind of fame and renown as Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but reviewers still consider the game underrated and a solid addition to the franchise. However, the PlayStation version suffered from some questionable translations. 

From obviously mistranslated monster and spell names to Faris sporting a swashbuckling dialect that makes Long John Silver sound like a Harvard scholar, the PlayStation release of Final Fantasy 5 was rife with linguistic failings. Given the game came to the PlayStation in 1999, and several versions with more accurate translations have released since, most of the missteps have been forgiven or forgotten. However, some were either so bad or so funny that even now, decades after the fact, people can't let them go.

One mistake stands out from the others. Here is the worst offender from the PlayStation version of Final Fantasy 5. 

It doesn't look like much, but the Tonberry is one of the most dreaded enemies in the Final Fantasy franchise. Perhaps in an effort to make it somewhat less scary, the PlayStation version of Final Fantasy 5 changed its name a bit. This deadly monster was now known as ... Dinglberry. Going from Tonberry to Dinglberry isn't just a question of swapped and dropped letters, this name had to have been a deliberate choice.

Now, "dingleberry" doesn't just mean the distasteful thing you're probably thinking of now. Merriam-Webster's primary definition of the word is, "a foolish, stupid, or contemptible person," which is probably what the translators were going for. A name implying that the creature is foolish or stupid would play into its gimmick of seeming harmless and weak right up until it one-shots you. 

Whether it was to further throw off players, an honest mistake, or mischievous translators seeing what they could slip past the censors, the true reason behind this name will probably remain lost to time.