Weird beta names of Pokemon

[clubchloe1]

Have you ever looked at the Bulbapedia article that shows the ENGLISH Beta names of Gen I Pokemon? Well, most of these names are weird (in my opinion), like Arbok's is "Nagaasp", like seriously? That sounds like what a Indian Pokemon name would be (not being racist at all, just these beta names are weird). And Jigglypuff's beta name is seriously PUDDING, that sounds to gross and odd at the same time (same with Wigglytuff's, its CUSTARD). And Tentacool's is "Jilly"...? And Tentacruel's is "Man O War"...? Incase you didn't know, Cubone's is "Orphon"..so sad. But the actual interesting ones are Koffing and Weezing's, Koffing's is "Ny" (reflecting the polluted area's name, New York), and Weezing's is "La" (reflecting the name of Los Angles, which is still very polluted). Tangela's is "Meduza/Medusa" (Most likely "Medusa"). So yeah, Gen I beta names are weird.

 

[Robo-Floatzel]

Yeah, I can agree that the final names were much better, but these beta names have nothing on the original Japanese names for the Gen 5 Pokemon, such as "Cocoon" for Kakuna, "Crab" for Krabby, and "Booster" for Flareon, among other vague English words. Yeah, it's obvious the English names were a major improvement.

 

[UnovaCastaway]

Foxfire for Vulpix seemed a bit bland, but others like Skullkraken for Gyarados were epic.

 

[John Understands]

Ness was one for Lapras.

Of course, Lapras was meant to be based off the Loch Ness monster, but I thought of EarthBound.

 

[Magnagarde]

I thought Nagaasp was cool. Nagasp rolls off the tongue a bit more easily.

 

[TouyaShiro]

I have a feeling this thread would need to be moved to the Lost Tower, seeming as we're talking previous generations.

On the topic itself, though, here's my thoughts:
I find Sandslash's name to be amusing. It was known as "Sandstorm"...which later became a move inducing sandstorm weather in Generation II.
Clefairy and Clefable have Aria and Ariala - interesting given that we now have Meloetta Aria Forme. (Edit: Just realised, their beta names of "Aria" live on in their final ones, with "Clef".)
Paras had Parasyte - I wouldn't mind this name, actually, but I'm guessing it sounds a bit too gross for those familiar with what a parasite actually is. Paras simply made it less obvious.
Hocus and Pocus...no guesses to who those were. Presumably their current names, Abra and Kadabra, were made when they got the name for Alakazam - said all in a sentence in order, it goes "Abracadabra...ALAKAZAM!"
Kara-tee and Kung-foo are also amusing for the sheer fact that it sounds so ridiculous. Then there's Ju-doh.
Man O War was presumably named because there's actually a jellyfish named as such - I can't remember the name of the species, but it exists. Search it up.
Coil and Recoil, those names...if they stuck with them, what would Magnezone's name have been? Tescoil?
Chansey's "Lucky" is a remant of the Japanese name, while they retain the same thematic of luck and chance.
Ess and Kargo are there because of the Escargot food dish. Conversely, the other fossils are Att and Lantis. And Ptera is just a shortened name compared to the pun that awaited its current name.
Finally, Dragoon and Dragyn...I still don't know exactly how these names would have worked.

 

[sweet insanity]

Foxfire for Vulpix reminds me of a certain internet browser... Most of them are just common English words. Imagine if Sandslash really was called Sandstorm - "Sandstorm used sandstorm!" I think Jilly is the most stupid, what has that got to do with anything?

 

[Winterdaze]

Wow. Those all suck.

 

[XxLTxX]

Pudding is evolving!
Duhduhduhduhduhduh....
Congratulations! Your Pudding evolved into Custard!
Lol i wish they kept that name it would be so funny.

 

[Faye Scarlet]

Well, Purin means "Pudding", and Purin is Jigglypuff's Japanese name. Parasyte makes me think of an incredibly horrific and goretastic manga of the same name. :| Wish I never read it, damn my morbid curiosity.

 

[TerribleTwelve]

Parasyte makes me think of an incredibly horrific and goretastic manga of the same name. :|

Bulbapedia supports the idea as well.

@topic: Some of them are actually neat, like Nagaasp or Hocus and Pocus (which works as well as Foongus and Amoongus in Gen V). "Eon" would have been pretty smart too.
I'm glad they didn't use the Japanese Gen I naming scheme of using random related-ish English words. (Sandstorm, Aria, Pudding, Custard, Blaze, Aqua, Aquanaut, Aquamarine, Gallop, Coil, Spirit, Spectre, Phantom, Sleeper)

 

[Infinity Mk-II]

It's kind of interesting in that they were generally... simpler. In a way, truer to the Japanese ones (that are mostly really simple).

However they figured they seemed too generic. As in, generic RPG monster name; what you'd see in a traditional fantasy game:

Nagaasp drew near!
Dragyn cast Blizzard! It inflicted extreme damage to Parasyte!

Because they figured they wanted to go a different route, with the monsters closer to the players, they decided to think up different names that reflected this.

Some are still pretty neat though. "Nagaasp" is much better than Arbok any day. (Naga, serpent deities, and Asp, a kind of snake, over... Cobra backwards with a k)

Finally, Dragoon and Dragyn...I still don't know exactly how these names would have worked.

The extremely overused and generic "Dragoon" for which a quick search of the word will give you about five different franchises... does fit Dratini as it also comes from the "dragons associated with lagoons" myth.
Dragyn... might be from Dragon+Wyvern or something. Still, it's another generic dragon name.

 

[RainbowSylveon]

I think Skulkraken is pretty epic. xDD

But others, likes Dragyn, are too generic...

 

[Jaden Yuki]

Pudding, Custard , jilly, Man O war, Slowmo, Sleeper, Ny, La, Ess, Att! Some wierd names!
Also theres a growlithe I found on another web and its beta name is Burnie

 

[VeggiePopper]

While I disliked most of thenm, for the reasons already mentioned, some of them I liked, like Skullkraken (epic name); as for Hocus and Pocus, well, those are magic words that have a similar use as Abra and Kadabra, almost synonim, so I have always wondered why they changed those names when they are exactly the same (in meaning, of course). And the Machop line early names I loved them so much that still as of Generation IV I still nicknamed all my Machop 'Kara-tee' (I haven't done it in Gen V because I'm still yet to catch one; I've only focused in Unova Pokémon).

 

[Vylek]

Most of the names seem to be based of a simple word that we as little kids could have better understood

or you could say Gamefreak was lacking in the creative side, but honestly some of the names are more creative than the actual names i.e. Mr. Mime, I mean come on, "Mr.Mime"? thats the best they could do?

the best part is that female Mr.Mimes aren't called Ms. Mime, get it together Gamfreak

another example is voltorb

Volt Orb
not very creative

 

[Rex Kamex]

Most of the names seem to be based of a simple word that we as little kids could have better understood

or you could say Gamefreak was lacking in the creative side, but honestly some of the names are more creative than the actual names i.e. Mr. Mime, I mean come on, "Mr.Mime"? thats the best they could do?

the best part is that female Mr.Mimes aren't called Ms. Mime, get it together Gamfreak

That was Nintendo of America's doing, not the Japanese company Game Freak. The Japanese name Barrierd doesn't apply to a specific gender.

Although I do agree about Mr. Mime being a bad name. That's also one example of why I can't just have issues with the beta names.

 

[Te-em]

It's kind of interesting in that they were generally... simpler. In a way, truer to the Japanese ones (that are mostly really simple).

However they figured they seemed too generic. As in, generic RPG monster name; what you'd see in a traditional fantasy game:

Nagaasp drew near!
Dragyn cast Blizzard! It inflicted extreme damage to Parasyte!

Because they figured they wanted to go a different route, with the monsters closer to the players, they decided to think up different names that reflected this.

Some are still pretty neat though. "Nagaasp" is much better than Arbok any day. (Naga, serpent deities, and Asp, a kind of snake, over... Cobra backwards with a k)

Finally, Dragoon and Dragyn...I still don't know exactly how these names would have worked.

The extremely overused and generic "Dragoon" for which a quick search of the word will give you about five different franchises... does fit Dratini as it also comes from the "dragons associated with lagoons" myth.
Dragyn... might be from Dragon+Wyvern or something. Still, it's another generic dragon name.

It the translators didn't like generic names, why did they name Gorounya Golem? I've always wondered why they picked that name. If they couldn't come up with a new name, then why not just keep the old one, since it doesn't seem overused.

I don't have that much against generic monster names (I play Dragon Quest), but I'm glad that for Pokemon they keep the names as single words (like Parasect and not Parasitic Insect or something) although it would be nice to have something like that in the description (instead of "Mushroom Pokemon" in Parasect's description). One way to avoid getting generic names is to mix different languages, like the name Marumine containing the Japanses "maru" and the English "mine", and Magcargo that has both English and French in it. You can also take a name in English and pronounce it in Engrish; that's why I like Shawaazu and not Showers

EDIT:

Nagaasp drew near!
Dragyn cast Blizzard! It inflicted extreme damage to Parasyte!

I like that one! They should try to make a Pokemon game in traditional fantasy style, perhaps set in another time with an entirely different kind of story. I would like to know how it feels playing that game. "Dragyn cast Blizzard" sounds cool.

 

[metalamor]

Have you ever looked at the Bulbapedia article that shows the ENGLISH Beta names of Gen I Pokemon? Well, most of these names are weird (in my opinion), like Arbok's is "Nagaasp", like seriously? That sounds like what a Indian Pokemon name would be (not being racist at all, just these beta names are weird).

Sadly that makes the most sense out of any of the names. It appears to be a mixture of ""Naga"/Nagini" and "Asp." Asps, of course, are a type of extremely venomous snake. A Nagini is not just the name of Voldemort's snake from Harry Potter; it's an actual mythical giant snake that also has the name "Naga"(I don't remember if Nagini is female and Naga is male, or if they're the same).

 

[metalamor]

Also theres a growlithe I found on another web and its beta name is Burnie

YES. I would have named them all Bernie/Bernard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!