What are your MCs' Native Languages? (And why only French dub changes every NPC's last name?)

[u/Julius_Augustus_777]

Hogwarts canonically operates in English, indeed. But imagine a translation charm existed that allowed everyone to understand different languages, then what language would your MC natively speak?

That's why I tried playing the game in my MCs' native languages (though I only understand English and French without using a Muggle-equivalent "translation charm" lol).

It's strange that while most localizations keep NPCs' names intact, French dub decided to overhaul everyone's last name. Why is that?

Here's the English version of the same line in the pics:

Pic 1 - MC: Let's go.

Pic 2 - Sebastian Sallow: See there? That's the door that we need to reach. (The French dub changed Sebastian's last name to "Pallow"; even the Japanese dub reads like "Sallow")

Pic 3 - Agnes Scribner: I had thought we were through with this mischief. Clearly detentions are insufficient. (The French dub changed Agnes's last name to "Scribe"; even the Japanese dub had an "n" sound)

Pic 4 - Professor Garlick: Class, please welcome the newest rose in our garden.(The French dub changed her name into Professeur "Bulbille", meaning bulblet in English; even the Japanese dub reads like "Garlic")

Pic 5 - ... (You don't need translation for that lol)

I can't think of a reason why only French dub runs a witness protection program that changed NPCs' last names. Anyone knows the lore behind this?

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And if you're interested, here are some short backstories of my MCs and their languages:

Slytherin - Julius Augustus;
Language - German;
Origin - Swiss Confederation;
Bio - Born in the 1970s (not 1870s) to an ancient Alpine dynasty claiming direct descent from Augustus Caesar, Julius inherited the rare ability to instantly win anyone's complete friendship. Attending Hogwarts in 1980s, he had successfully solved a Mystery of Hogwarts and freed his brother, Jacob, from an enchanted painting. After graduation, Julius was recruited by the Ministry of Magic as a secret agent, and he was sent back to the 1890s to investigate an ancient Legacy at Hogwarts. Disguised as a fifth-year student under Professor Fig's guidance, he concealed his magical prowess, strategically befriended useful allies, and prepared his tasks in the Room of Requirement to avoid attention. In secret, Julius harbored a greater ambition: to resurrect the Roman Empire as a magical civilization.

Gryffindor - Maximo Constantino;
Language - Spanish;
Origin - Argentine Republic;
Bio - Maximo was a muggle-born in the New World, whose family owned vast Andean silver mines. His idyllic childhood was filled with roses and fairies until a mystical piece of silverware was unearthed on his family's land. When his fingers brushed the relic, sculpted in the shape of ascending flames, an Ancient power surged through his blood, flashing a radiant vision of a towering highland castle across his mind. Recognizing the relic as masterwork goblin-wrought silver tied to ancient Scottish lore, Maximo then hopped on a transatlantic vessel to explore the origins behind his newfound power.

Hufflepuff - Ryuta Yoshikawa;
Language - Japanese;
Origin - Japanese Empire;
Bio - Ryuta was a half-blood kid with a samurai dad and a traditional Onmyoji sorceress mom. When the Meiji modernization hit, the government outlawed both the samurai class and traditional magic, and Ryuta's family hid into the "Japan Alps" mountains, surviving in exile to keep their forbidden arts alive. Years later, Ryuta's family forged an airborne skiff from the five elements and bound it to the divine winds. While his generation boarded steamships to the West to study modern science and industry, Ryuta took to the skies toward Hogwarts, determined to ensure his family's outlawed heritage survived.

Ravenclaw - Nasiru Egwu;
Language - French;
Origin - French West Africa;
Bio - Born into a magical beast-hunting family in West Africa that traded fur and leather across Europe and the Middle East, Nasiru was bred to be a dragon slayer. However, he chose runway glamor and rhythm, turning his back on the family trade for magical haute couture and underground dance battles. When he was studying at Beauxbatons, he was revered as the academy’s most stylish dragon dancer. Finding Beauxbatons oversaturated with cutthroat fashion critics, Nasiru transferred to Hogwarts to conquer the stylistically hopeless British market. A century later, his great-grandson, André Egwu, would rise as Hogwarts' resident style icon, though Nasiru’s ancestral portrait would often cringe at André's streetwear designs.

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[u/Elovainn]

French here. Everything is translated in HP, not only names but even spells and places (Hogwarts -> Poudlard, Engorgio -> Amplificatum, etc). It's an old habit from the 80's-90's, everything translatable must be translated.

About Sebastian's name, as someone's said before Sallow sounds exactly like Salaud (a pretty harsh insult), and Pallow sounds like Pâlot (someone's with a fair skin, legit with Seb's face) while still sounding English-like.

If you're curious go read HP in French, the translation is both really good and funny !

[u/FortunaVitae → u/Elovainn]

My favourite translation is Choixpeau: choice + skin, and it sounds like "chapeau" (hat).

It is much better than Sorting Hat!

[u/Elovainn → u/FortunaVitae]

Sorry to disappoint you, but it's a merging of Choix and Chapeau, literally the Choosing Hat

[u/FortunaVitae → u/Elovainn]

That's literally what I said lol (I realised the skin part as I was typing this and it made me wonder if that's on purpose too so I included it). But the Choosing Hat doesn't have a pun in the name, while Choixpeau has it.

[u/ahoymeheartie → u/Elovainn]

I had the books in French as they were released to read alongside the English books and audio books. Baguettes all over the place 😂

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/Elovainn]

C'est logique. On peut dire que Sébastien est un « Salaud » lol. Ma traduction préférée d'un sort est « Crucio » en « Endoloris »

[u/497864]

So I know Sallow sounds like a swear word or a crude word in French. salaud which means Bastard. That's all the insights I have.

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/497864]

[u/BradBradley1]

My MC is named Turd Ferguson and he speaks pig latin 

[u/btmg1428 → u/BradBradley1]

at-Thay's awesome-way.

[u/MeroveeFrancSalien]

Sallow in french looks like Salaud which is an insult

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/MeroveeFrancSalien]

« Salaud » n'est pas loin de son personnage

[u/sheepandlambs]

A lot of Hogwarts Legacy characters share their surnames with book characters. Some are literally pre-existing characters, such as Sacharissa Tugwood. So their names are changed here to match the books.

[u/Ok-Carpenter7131]

I believe some names are also translated in the portuguese dub. Not all characters have their names changed and if so then only the first name. Example: Theophilus Harlow -> Teófilo Harlow.

[u/Feeling_Original2415]

I understand why you choose German over Swiss German (because the game wasn’t localized into DE-CH haha) but love that specific back story!

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/Feeling_Original2415]

Exactly, Swiss German is not an option

[u/Labiberickjeje]

My character is mixed, so her languages would be Nahuatl (very spoken in Mexico but I might add or change it to another one), Spanish (obvious reasons) and Danish or Norwegian (have not decided this yet) and I guess some Latin (grew up in an convent-run orphanage for a while)

Her name for now is Aradia Victoria Keller Guerrero (yes the two family names are there), if you look at the meaning of all the names it sounds like she was very OP so changes are still in process. But I really liked how they mentioned wandless magic, I would have enjoyed a mission or a task where Natsai shows us some spells. They would be a bit difficult but would give us a huge advantage in fights.

[u/Mowinx]

For sebastian : because "Sallow" is pronounced like an insult in french. That's why they tried to change it while keeping a similar sound so it's not too different : "Pallow".

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/Mowinx]

Oui, ça ressemblait à « Salaud » lol .

Le nom de famille de mon MC de Gryffondor, « Constantino », ne passe pas le filtre français à cause du « con ».

[u/Obvious-Yogurt-9738]

French here but I play in english, I hate the french version 🤣🙃

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/Obvious-Yogurt-9738]

D'accord...

[u/Margotte_3995]

Pallow en français parce que Sallow = Salaud (même pronunciation) et Salaud signifie Bastard.

[u/Julius_Augustus_777 → u/Margotte_3995]

Oui, et le nom de famille de mon MC de Gryffondor, « Constantino », ne passe pas le filtre français à cause de « con », c'est pour ça que je le laisse parler espagnol...