this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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What's a better translation for Phoenix Down? And what's a direct translation of the original name?
It's フェニックスの尾. Technically, it's the "tail" of a phoenix, but it's clearly depicted as the "tail feather".
Yeah, I suspect when it first appeared it was a short form of 尾羽. I'm not sure the exact kana limits they had, but I could see the extra two in おばね being too far.
A more direct translation would be along the lines of “Phoenix’s Tail”, but even that is misleading because it’s referring to the tail feathers. The Japanese version didn’t specify the individual tail feathers, the same way English wouldn’t designate the individual hairs on a cat’s tail. A more accurate localization may be something like “Phoenix Flight Feather”, but that’s a bit of a mouthful (and would take up a lot of room in your game menus).
Just Phoenix Feather would be fine. Better than Down.
Phoenix Quill? Down feathers are the small, soft feathers close to a bird’s body. The long flight feathers are called quills.
I was in my 30s when I realized phoenix down was, like, the down feathers from a phoenix. Like goose down. And not "PHOENIX DOWN!"
I see why that would be confusing 😂. The German translation has always been Phönixfeder, which translates to Phoenix Feather.
Which results in a WTF moment when you start playing the games in English
I understood from context that down in this case means Daune, not runter :D
https://youtu.be/JS6CXgloFUg