Editing Talk:Boo Guy

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==Merge Greaper and/or Polterguy with Boo Guy==
==Merge Greaper and/or Polterguy with Boo Guy==
{{Settled TPP}}
{{TPP}}
{{Proposal outcome|failed|0-0-6-7|keep separate}}
This proposal aims to settle the score with these two Boo Guy offshoots. To sum up, Greaper's Japanese name has been reused for at least one appearance of the standard Boo Guy, in ''Partners in Time''. レイホー (''Reihō'') is a contracted form of ゆーれいヘイホー (''Yūrei Heihō''), so it can be argued that it was a name change done for in-game space constraints. Why would the translation be different? Simple: localization coordination was not as prioritized back then, and the original ''Super Mario RPG'' especially <small>but, in my opinion, unfairly</small> became a prime example of that undercoordination. Why wouldn't the remake catch it? In fairness, seemingly no one remembered what the deal was with [[Nipper Plant#Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars|Chompweed]]. Why the scythe? That, I don't have a decent explanation for except it's possibly a vestige of [[tcrf:Prerelease:Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars#Enemy Relationship Chart|earlier concepts]]. Polterguy is another matter. It's very clearly ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong''{{'}}s toy Boo Guy design. [[MarioWiki:Proposals/Archive/65#Decide how to handle the toy enemies from across the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series|Recent]] [[Talk:Spear Shy Guy#Decide how to organize Spear Shy Guy and/or Shy Guy (Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!) with Spear Guy|proposals]] have been merging the toy designs back with their main counterparts. [[Polterguy#Internal names|Internal names]] in the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' remake, at least some of which date back to [[Brickman#Internal names|original development]], seem to refer to these guys as Ghost Shy Guys, which is a basic translation of the Japanese name. My conjecture is the "Polterguy" and "Phantom Guy" were just experimental names to remove the Boo influence, and neither stuck around in the long haul. The fact that ''Nintendo Power''{{'}}s tips for the original ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' (reportedly from game director Yukimi Shimura) refers to them as "Boos" makes me believe "Boo Guy" was the intended name but led to some confusion.
This proposal aims to settle the score with these two Boo Guy offshoots. To sum up, Greaper's Japanese name has been reused for at least one appearance of the standard Boo Guy, in ''Partners in Time''. レイホー (''Reihō'') is a contracted form of ゆーれいヘイホー (''Yūrei Heihō''), so it can be argued that it was a name change done for in-game space constraints. Why would the translation be different? Simple: localization coordination was not as prioritized back then, and the original ''Super Mario RPG'' especially <small>but, in my opinion, unfairly</small> became a prime example of that undercoordination. Why wouldn't the remake catch it? In fairness, seemingly no one remembered what the deal was with [[Nipper Plant#Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars|Chompweed]]. Why the scythe? That, I don't have a decent explanation for except it's possibly a vestige of [[tcrf:Prerelease:Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars#Enemy Relationship Chart|earlier concepts]]. Polterguy is another matter. It's very clearly ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong''{{'}}s toy Boo Guy design. [[MarioWiki:Proposals/Archive/65#Decide how to handle the toy enemies from across the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series|Recent]] [[Talk:Spear Shy Guy#Decide how to organize Spear Shy Guy and/or Shy Guy (Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!) with Spear Guy|proposals]] have been merging the toy designs back with their main counterparts. [[Polterguy#Internal names|Internal names]] in the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' remake, at least some of which date back to [[Brickman#Internal names|original development]], seem to refer to these guys as Ghost Shy Guys, which is a basic translation of the Japanese name. My conjecture is that "Polterguy" and "Phantom Guy" were just experimental names to remove the Boo influence, and neither stuck around in the long haul. The fact that ''Nintendo Power''{{'}}s tips for the original ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' (reportedly from game director Yukimi Shimura) refers to them as "Boos" makes me believe "Boo Guy" was the intended name but led to some confusion.


'''Proposer''': {{User|LinkTheLefty}}<br>
'''Proposer''': {{User|LinkTheLefty}}<br>
'''Deadline''': July 18, 2024, 23:59 GMT
'''Deadline''': July 18, 2023, 23:59 GMT
===Option 1: Merge both Greaper and Polterguy with Boo Guy===
===Option 1: Merge both Greaper and Polterguy with Boo Guy===


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#{{user|Doc von Schmeltwick}} - This makes sense to me. In want of further evidence, I'm inclined to believe the Greaper thing is a coincidence.
#{{user|Doc von Schmeltwick}} - This makes sense to me. In want of further evidence, I'm inclined to believe the Greaper thing is a coincidence.
#{{User|Arend}} Not sure about Greaper, but merging Polterguy absolutely makes sense to me. Near identical designs, and identical Japanese names, it's practically a toy version of Boo Guy. And considering we merged the other toy versions to their non-toy counterparts...
#{{User|Arend}} Not sure about Greaper, but merging Polterguy absolutely makes sense to me. Near identical designs, and identical Japanese names, it's practically a toy version of Boo Guy. And considering we merged the other toy versions to their non-toy counterparts...
#{{User|JanMisali}} Per all.


===Option 4: Keep Greaper and Polterguy separate from Boo Guy===
===Option 4: Keep Greaper and Polterguy separate from Boo Guy===
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#{{User|FanOfYoshi}} Yeah, no. Also, per Bowser.
#{{User|FanOfYoshi}} Yeah, no. Also, per Bowser.
#{{User|PrincessPeachFan}} Let me think...NO.
#{{User|PrincessPeachFan}} Let me think...NO.
#{{User|DrBaskerville}} Per all. Just like [[Goomba]] and [[Paragoomba]] and all other similar enemies, these are different enemies that deserve their own pages.
#{{User|DryBonesBandit}} Per all.
#{{User|ReeceeYT}} Per all.
#{{User|Nintendo101}} I understand the perspective, but I am not convinced the name of the Boo Guy in ''Partners in Time'' can be comfortably applied to Greapers. As for Polterguy, it also looks too different from Boo Guy (beyond it being a toy), is mechanically distinct, and it was notably developed by American staff. If it was supposed to be a Boo Guy, why didn't they just call it one? Or call it a blue Boo Guy if it was supposed to be some weird variant? The other returning toy iterations of classic enemies in ''MvsDK'' are not like this.


===Comments===
===Comments===
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Would this result in an article rename? Or is Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World the last time Boo Guys/Polterguys were named? {{User:Hewer/sig}} 02:13, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
Would this result in an article rename? Or is Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World the last time Boo Guys/Polterguys were named? {{User:Hewer/sig}} 02:13, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
:Merging Greaper would theoretically make that the most recent name, but we've generally overlooked unchanged names in the ''Super Mario RPG'' and ''The Thousand-Year Door'' remakes for the time being. Polterguy wouldn't change the name since Boo Guy resurfaced in ''Woolly World'', which reverted some other enemies like Burt (last called "Burt Brother" in ''Yoshi's Island DS''). [[User:LinkTheLefty|LinkTheLefty]] ([[User talk:LinkTheLefty|talk]]) 07:25, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
:Merging Greaper would theoretically make that the most recent name, but we've generally overlooked unchanged names in the ''Super Mario RPG'' and ''The Thousand-Year Door'' remake for the time being. Polterguy wouldn't change the name since Boo Guy resurfaced in ''Woolly World'', which reverted some other enemies like Burt (last called "Burt Brother" in ''Yoshi's Island DS''). [[User:LinkTheLefty|LinkTheLefty]] ([[User talk:LinkTheLefty|talk]]) 07:25, July 5, 2024 (EDT)


: Sorry, but no. As has been said numerous times on this wiki, Japanese names mean absolutely nothing when it comes to subjects in the games considering they have the same Japanese names but that's about it. [[User:PrincessPeachFan|PrincessPeachFan]] ([[User talk:PrincessPeachFan|talk]]) 08:57, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
: Sorry, but no. As has been said numerous times on this wiki, Japanese names mean absolutely nothing when it comes to subjects in the games considering they have the same Japanese names but that's about it. [[User:PrincessPeachFan|PrincessPeachFan]] ([[User talk:PrincessPeachFan|talk]]) 08:57, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
::Let's reframe this, then: what about Polterguy doesn't make it the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' "toy" counterpart of Boo Guy? And are we 100% certain that Greaper wasn't another victim of undercoordination? [[User:LinkTheLefty|LinkTheLefty]] ([[User talk:LinkTheLefty|talk]]) 09:04, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
::Let's reframe this, then: what about Polterguy doesn't make it the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' "toy" counterpart of Boo Guy? And are we 100% certain that Greaper wasn't another victim of undercoordination? [[User:LinkTheLefty|LinkTheLefty]] ([[User talk:LinkTheLefty|talk]]) 09:04, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
:::Well, SMRPG has practically no influence from Yoshi's Island, so I'd say Greaper is probably a coincidence. Polterguy, on the other hand.. [[User:Blinker|Blinker]] ([[User talk:Blinker|talk]]) 09:54, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
:::Well, SMRPG has practically no influence from Yoshi's Island, so I'd say Greaper is probably a coincidence. Polterguy, on the other hand.. [[User:Blinker|Blinker]] ([[User talk:Blinker|talk]]) 09:54, July 5, 2024 (EDT)
:::: Yeah, Greaper is coincidence while Polter/Phantom Guy is just a ghostly Shy Guy that happens to share a Japanese name. [[User:PrincessPeachFan|PrincessPeachFan]] ([[User talk:PrincessPeachFan|talk]]) 07:41, July 6, 2024 (EDT)
:::::Blinker actually seems to be in agreement that Polterguy should be merged, and I can see why. Aside from sharing the same Japanese name, Polterguy actually looks ''nearly identical'' to a Boo Guy too: they're both Shy Guys with a wispy tail instead of a belt and a pair of feet. The only difference appearance-wise is the fact that Polterguy appears in the colors red, blue and yellow, whereas Boo Guys are white. Color variants shouldn't make this enemy a completely different entity, and if [[MarioWiki:Proposals/Archive/65#Decide how to handle the toy enemies from across the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series|this]] is anything to go by, neither do toy variants. Different behavior shouldn't also be a concern, as [[Boo]] also behaves differently between ''[[Mario vs. Donkey Kong]]'' (and [[Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Nintendo Switch)|its remake]]), and ''[[Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge]]'', yet we still have that merged.<br>I probably should repeat LinkTheLefty's reframed question, since you never seemed to have answered it: '''what about Polterguy doesn't make it the ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong'' "toy" counterpart of Boo Guy?''' {{User:Arend/sig}} 08:20, July 6, 2024 (EDT)
::: The possibility that the developers may not even have been aware of Yoshi's Island in the first place. After all, we used to have Special Shots from the Mario sports games on one page despite the fact that Square Enix and Camelot Software weren't even aware of each other's games. [[User:PrincessPeachFan|PrincessPeachFan]] ([[User talk:PrincessPeachFan|talk]]) 08:40, July 7, 2024 (EDT)
:::: What about Spear Shy Guy, which was [[Talk:Spear Shy Guy|merged to]] Spear Guy earlier this year? [[User:Blinker|Blinker]] ([[User talk:Blinker|talk]]) 12:41, July 7, 2024 (EDT)
::::Just because devs were different doesn't mean they had no clue about each other's existence. Yoshi's Island is hardly an obscure game, and is [[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island#References in later games|frequently referenced]] in games with different developers. {{User:Hewer/sig}} 13:25, July 7, 2024 (EDT)
::::I can believe that with Greaper since ''Yoshi's Island'' and ''Super Mario RPG'' only released roughly half a year apart and were in development concurrently, but by ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong''? Not to mention, much of the supervising Nintendo staff overlapped in some way. [[User:LinkTheLefty|LinkTheLefty]] ([[User talk:LinkTheLefty|talk]]) 14:28, July 7, 2024 (EDT)
@DrBaskerville: How is this remotely like Goomba and Paragoomba? Those are variants that have co-existed in the same games and have clear, consistent visual and functional differences, plus different names in all languages. Meanwhile, Polterguy's English name was the only thing that stopped it from being merged already by [[MarioWiki:Proposals/Archive/65#Decide how to handle the toy enemies from across the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series|this proposal]]. {{User:Hewer/sig}} 04:58, July 6, 2024 (EDT)

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