#LoZ encyclopedia

[hurdy-girly]

LETS GOOOOOOOO

I haven’t had a chance to read through this yet but I am SO EXCITED!! For someone who has only played 2 LoZ games and finished neither (I’m procrastinating on BoTW but I’ve finished most of it and I’ve played some of the start of Link to the Past) I am extremely immersed in the lore of the franchise and now I can learn more!! I really wish I could just. Play all of the games. But they’re spread across so many consoles and emulators can only take you so far and I do not have the money to buy a single console of any sort let alone several so this is wonderful!! I can finally figure out the Actual Canon Lore!!!!! I really enjoyed reading through the BoTW creating the champion book thing so I’m hoping this will spark the same joy!

[lennsart]

Hello all, remember that one time I lost my mind over a very badly translated french Zelda Encyclopedia ?

Remember how I said there'd be a part 2 ?

Did you think I had forgotten about it ?

Well you're right. I very much did.

But I remembered now, and I am not done screaming. This book personally insulted me, alright ? It pretended to be a useful tool to feed my obsession and was actually only pain.

And fun, I had to admit. Turns out that correcting it with my sister has been perfect enrichement for insane Zelda fans. We sighed a lot and shouted even more.

(But honestly, it's a bit sad how bad the book is. Like, were the translators so rushed that they made it with a bad internet translator and didn't double check ? Or did they just cared so little ?

Ok, my funnier theory is that they paired one guy who was lazy and knew fuck all about LoZ and one guy who was decent at their job... And only let the first guy do the final proofread.)

But anyways, case in point, here are my evidences !

And if you thought last post was long, wait 'til you see how I realized I don't have a 10 pictures limit on computer :]

Firstly, a thing that made me laugh as I saw the pictures I gathered for this very serious case is the clear gradual lack of respect me and my... Research Partner had for the book :

There's a "sticky notes" era, a "pencils 'cause we aren't gonna waste so many sticky notes at worst we'll erase" era, and a "we don't give a fuck anymore get the markers out" era.

Last time I divided the mistakes in three categories, "Lore mistakes", "Translation mistakes" and the dreaded "What the fuck mistakes". They are... Inegal, to say the least, but let's keep this system !

Translation Mistakes

And I mean it in the sense that "the french translation have different names and stuff than the english one and this book ignores them", not in just general translation... Because if you go that way, this entire book is a translation mistake !

But here we go :

Little details, but they left "Koroks" written this way when the french version is "Korogus", they left "Impar" (the character from Twilight princess) when in french her name is, well, Impa, they left "Mia" for the name of the remlit when it's "Miou"...

As you'll see along the way, my research partner got very mad at the book and wrote a lot of funny comments. Here you can see that next to where the book says that the river zoras "become violent", she wrote "not all zora" in all caps, which I find hilarious.

And she's right ! Don't badmouth Echoes of Wisdom Dradd, he's a cool dude !

Here, the book pretends that the kikwis all have sort of teas as their name. English reader, I hear you get offended : "The book is right !"

NOT IN FRENCH IT'S NOT ! Here, kikwis have herbs inspired names, not tea.

Well, I was going to make a joke about "DO YOU REALLY WANT TO DRINK PARSLEY OR BASIL TEA ?" but apparently they exist, so. My bad. Can we still agree that these are not types of tea ? There's tea with parsley, but the parsley is not the tea, right ?

(Just for fun, our kikwis are named : Basil (for basil, shocker I know), Jasmi (for jasmine), Pirsel (for "persil", parsley), Romar (for "romarin", rosemary) and Lorion (probably for "laurier", bay leaf. This one is less obvious so I'm not sure)

So here it's a little worse than the other times because in the text, they used the literal translation of "The Imprisoned" from Skyward Sword, except in the title they used the correct french name, "the banished".

They really said : Here's a description of le Banni ! He's called le Prisonnier.

WHY

Ok so this one is a little funny to me, bear with me alright ?

In Phantom Hourglass, one type of enemies are the Phantoms in the Ocean King temple, right ? Well, Phantom in french (literally AND in Zelda, wonderful) is Spectre.

Alright ? So what do the book say about Phantoms ? That they are Fantômes. Fantôme is a word that is phonetically the exact same as Phantom, see ? But it means ghost. Not phantom.

(I mean, they're synonyms, you know ? So phantom kinda means ghost and fantôme kinda means spectre, but It Is Not The Translation in the game so it makes it worse)

Actually, it was funny, but as I explains it it makes me a little mad. It was one google search away...

URGH and it's just the same thing again, yes technically the literal translation for "Triforce of Power" would be "Triforce de la puissance", but is it what it is in french ? NO, IT'S TRIFORCE DE LA FORCE (strength). I was alright with random characters name getting mispelled, but FUCK THIS ENCYCLOPEDIA, THIS ONE IS LITERALLY IN MULTIPLE GAMES LIKE EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT LOZ YOU KNOW THAT AT LEAST

All of these are details, but damn Zelda Encyclopedia, I know I'm insane about these games so maybe it's not that deep, but you're writing for the french fans, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS WRITE THE FRENCH VERSION OF THINGS

Whew, ok, this is starting to annoy me I feel, so let's change subject, why not ? Here are the :

Lore Mistakes

There are not a lot of them, but they made me gesture widely at the book trying to form a sentence that, if I had managed, would probably have been "Where the fuck did they get that from ?"

Which means that there's a possibility that it's right, but seeing this bitch's track record, I'm going to assume it's not.

Here are pictures of Kokiris, what is the description ?

"Since they're the Hylians' descendants, they look a lot like them."

Since

WHEN ?

Like, genuinely, help me there. Am I the problem ? Are the kokiris supposed to be descended from the Hylians ? And if they are, where is it cited ? I literally almost completed Ocarina of Time for the second time and cannot remember it being hinted at anywhere. Like yeah, they look alike, but aren't kokiris separate forest spirits ???

The tone of the book also annoy me, like "since they're hylians' descendants", as if it was common sense. SIR I PLAY THESE GAMES SINCE I'M OLD ENOUGH TO HOLD A CONTROLLER WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INFO FROM

It's making me question whether I'm stupid or if it's just bullshitting me right now !

This one is a graph about the different worlds in LoZ. My problem here is that... Well, firstly, my problem is that there is the Sky and the Skies, but I guess that this is like... TP Sky and SS Sky, maybe ?

The real problem is that between these two categories they put "Minish World".

Minish World ? You mean, like, Hyrule ?

...Ok, I'm jesting, they probably mean Cloud Tops and the Wind Tribe. But in that case... Say that ? They make it sound like all the Minish live in the sky ! Precisely between two versions of the sky !

Are minish angels...? No, better question. ARE MINISH OOCCA ??

This one annoys me greatly for several reasons, but I'm going to be so so brave about it :

As you can see, it's a representation of the LoZ Timeline, with two games highlighted : Link's Awakening and Phantom Hourglass. It's because this is talking about when Link goes in adventures in parallel worlds.

So firstly, fuck Majora's Mask, right ?

And then, the thing I have underlined is saying that those events happened in "both case after Ganon was slayed".

See how they say Ganon and not Ganondorf. See it, 'cause I'm not going to make any comment about it because it's nOT THAT IMPORTANT

Quick reminder : Ganondorf got defeated but Hyrule was left destroyed in Wind Waker (third branch of the timeline). Ganondorf's plans were foiled before he had time to do anything in Majora's Mask (second branch of the timeline).

You know where Ganondorf didn't get defeated ?? IN THE FIRST BRANCH OF THE TIMELINE. THE ONE WHERE LINK'S AWAKENING IS.

Really, why go out of your way to say that if it's Not Fucking Correct ? This book wakes up some kind of ancient wrath in me that should only belong to children whose snack got confiscated in school !

Ok, as I said earlier, there aren't many lore mistakes, but that's good because they are the ones that makes me question my sanity the most. Let's go to the category you're probably waiting for :

What the fuck mistakes

Starting with a tame one, but :

This book is incapable of saying the word "regent". It is literally saying, for both Hilda and Midna, that these "princesses" are the "queens" of their kingdom.

No they're not, they're princesses, you just said so, IT'S NOT THE SAME GODDAMN TITLE !!

So this one almost made it to the translation mistakes, but it's in the 'what the fuck' ones simply because it's so poorly translated that I'm not even sure what they originally meant.

It's talking about Spirit Tracks' Tower of Spirit, and you can read "Sparkling trains are activated thanks to the gathered energy."

Excuse me,

Sparkling Trains ?

My guess is that they're talking about the tracks, but even then, they're not called "sparkling" ? And if they're really talking about the tracks, they're then talking about the Spirit Tracks. You know, the ones the game is named about ?

Then, a question : WHERE THE FUCK DID "SPARKLING" CAME FROM.

In the same style, but this time I simply hated it too much to put it in Translation Mistakes : Remember the Fused Shadows in Twilight Princess ? Well in french, they're called Shadow Shards.

What do they call it here ? "Melted Shadows". Not fused, not shards, I'm losing my fucking mind

As I have written on my sticky note, this one is a very disrespectful one. Ciela, the fairy from Phantom Hourglass, has the same name in french and in english, but somehow they still managed to write "Chiela".

Why is it so disrespectful ? BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE "SHIT" IN FRENCH. SPECIFICALLY, IT SOUNDS LITERALLY LIKE THE SENTENCE "SHIT HERE". CIELA IS A PRETTY NAME, DAMNIT

Actually, it annoyed me so much that I went out of my way to show that thIS BOOK KNOWS HER NAME ! THEY DON'T HAVE ANY EXCUSES !!!

JUSTICE FOR CIELA !! FUCK YOU, FRENCH ZELDA ENCYCLOPEDIA !!!!

Honestly, it's funny to me now that these first pages had sticky notes. Ah, the good time from when I still had a slither of respect for this book...

Here, it just describes every Light Spirit from Twilight princess with animals : "goat, monkey, butterfly, snake". Firstly, they don't look exactly like animals, secondly...

Butterfly ?

I mean, Eldin has always looked like an owl to me ? Ok, the wings are vaguely butterfly-shaped, but it has a body and a face ?

Was Eldin a butterfly all along ? Am I going insane ? (ok yes I am, but reader, do you really see Eldin as a butterfly ???)

Oh ok, so now we just don't translate anything anymore. Remember how this isn't the first time this encyclopedia does that to me. You're right, why bother, I STILL HAVE TO FACT-CHECK THE BOOK ANYWAY, MIGHT AS WELL LEAVE IT AS IT WAS IN ENGLISH.

You know what else we could do ?

Leave actual mistakes in the book ! Let's forget a whole ass word in a sentence ! And why stop at random words ? Let's not proof read the title of the games ! Twillight Princess with two Ls ! What's next, MINISHIP CAP ??

(I said last time I'll never get over it, well, I didn't)

I think on my first post someone commented that the LoZ offical books weren't very accurate to begin with, and I hear that... But I still think there's a difference between accuracy and whatever the fuck this encyclopedia has going on

I spared you (and myself) some longer paragraphs that would have been harder to translate, but I swear to god it sounds like it hasn't been written by a human sometimes ! It's like they just put the whole book through a translator, and then went back to ADD some more mistakes ! I genuinely don't understand how an official product can be that bad !! It is hilarious, but also I want to bite through it sometimes.

I hope at least you enjoyed watching me lose my mind again ! It is fun to share how bad this book is, and I have to admit I had good laughs out of it. We haven't even attacked the items list yet... I'm scared ! But if I find atrocities, I'll report them here too.

(Maybe in like, 6 months, but I will !)

[errorwarblesrr]

I was looking through old Wind Waker interviews and tossing them into Google translate (unfortunately it's the best I have </3) I kind of found this bit interesting

I guess I find it interesting because I feel like I see people describe Wind Waker as the opposite. Where it's a zelda world, but the main character isn't actually Link but happens to be a random guy. Here, Aonuma describes it as a non zelda world, but the main character happens to be Link.

Idk the translation could be wonky since well it is google translate so here's that original Japanese bit

[felkithecreator]

I was thinking about what you shared re the Twilight Realm being the "Shadow World" (影の世界) in Japanese and I have a niche language question if that's ok: my online Japanese dictionary is telling me that kage/影 means both shadow and reflection, whereas in English "shadow" is more closely associated with "dark". So now I'm wondering: is 影の世界 best understood as a dark world or as a mirror world? If that makes sense? Sorry to be a language nerd in your DMs lol

No worries!! It's fun to talk about this stuff so please please ask me more if you have more questions.

I don't know what dictionary you're using - and it probably depends on context too, but from what I'm aware, 「影」 definitely is just shadow. Reflection would be 「反射」, or hansha. I've never heard anyone ever use the word 「影」 to refer to reflection, like, ever? Like, when talking about one's shadow in a casual setting kage is the word we use.

So yeah, in this instance I think it's definitely not a mirror world, and more of a dark world or literally, "Shadow World."

If it were a mirror-world, they'd probably describe it more how they describe Lorule in the Encyclopedia: 「ハイラルの裏側」 (hairaru no uragawa), or "the backside of Hyrule." The word 「裏」 ura here is the same word we'd use to be like "turn your paper to the backside" during a test, or like, the tail-side of a coin. In other words, Lorule and Hyrule are two sides of the same coin, and Lorule is specifically referred to in that kind of manner.

So yeah! Twilight Realm is definitely a Dark World, of sorts, rather than a Mirror World.

[handbooktohyrule]

†Loftwing - Hyliava regius

[skyward-floored]

The way the master sword on the side of both the loz encyclopedia and Hyrule Hystoria are complete and whole while the one on the creating a champion book is rusted is making me feel things

[mememan93]

The best post-sksw human Fi designs are the ones with no arms

[sinclair-scrambles]

[ID:

First image: Top caption:

We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture.

Zelda holds a torch and Link face the mural showing the Imprisoning War.

Bottom caption: This is not a place of honor.

Second image: A wide shot of the cavern. Zelda runs ahead while Link stares at the mural and holds the Master Sword.

Caption: No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here.

Nothing of value is here.

Ganondorf is lying down and the fingers of the disembodied arm from Rauru pierces through his chest. Dark red energy flows upwards from the scars.

Third image: Caption:

What is here is dangerous and repulsive to us.

The danger is still present in your time.

Ganondorf stands and laughs viciously. A gem on his forehead glows. The background is dark and has a blood moon.

Fourth image: The captions surround the shot.

As it was in ours.

The dark red energy erupts at the bottom of the frame. Another Zelda faces backwards in a white dress. Zelda with the torch raising it higher. Link looks below, is wary, and pulls out the Master Sword from the back scabbard.

Fifth image: The mummy lying down has the head bent towards them with the forehead gem glowing. Link has the sword out and the dark red energy surrounds his right arm.

Caption: The danger is to the body

Sixth image: Caption: And it can kill.

Three out of ten hearts remain. Link's arm is badly damaged from the dark red energy. The Master Sword falls as its blade deteriorates.

Seventh image: Top caption:

This place is a message.

Link reaches for the falling Zelda with his damaged arm. Zelda tries to grab despite being near the glowing yellow void.

Bottom caption:

Pay attention.

/end ID.]

how do you infinite scroller webcomic people DO IT

[snowstories]

I have now played almost seven Zelda games to full and I still feel like people are talking in esoteric riddles when they're talking about LOZ canon. I'm starting to feel like in addition to playing the games you need to graduate from Nerd University with a specialization in LOZ Lore before anything anyone says might start making sense. "Oh yeah Link reincarnates over and over again, that's canon it's called the Hero's Spirit —" "Actually Link reincarnating is completely fanon and the Hero's Spirit it something else entirely —" "Actually the Hero's Spirit itself is fanon —" what are you guys even fucking TALKING about???

[shadowdashinyumbreon]

guess who just remembered that ravio from a link between worlds exists.

MY BOY HOW COULD I FORGET HIM WJSBSKSBAK DLAKS HHHHHHHH

[lennsart]

Ok ok ok so

I've bought the Zelda Encyclopedia because I am in a hyperfixated rampage about LoZ. And on one hand it's the best thing ever, because special interest is going brrrr.

But ! But.

I've bought in french. Because I... Am french.

And I don't know if the english version has troubles, alright ? But THE FRENCH VERSION IS A BADLY TRANSLATED HELL and I need to rant.

Keep in mind that I didn't study the book. I've skimmed through. And I'm already holding my head in my hands in a dramatic 'losing my mind' posture.

But anyway ! Here's the defendant :

This is the book I'm talking about, and all the pictures that follow come from this book.

Follow me into translation hell !

Note : I actually usually prefer the french translation in Zelda ! They do a good job at translating things that make sense, leaving things as they are when it isn't needed, and I often find the translated characters' names prettier. (Example : Makar, the korok from Wind Waker, is called Dumoria. I have NO IDEA why it changes so much but it sound so much better in my opinion !) So this is not VF hate. This is genuine uncomprehension as to WHY IS THE BOOK LIKE THIS.

Now, you don't need to go far into the book to have a problem with it.

First few pages. Like literally before the actual content of the book. Presentation of the games. Easy enough, right ? Not hard to beta read, RIGHT ?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN "THE MINISHIP CAP". WHAT DO YOU MEAN. IT'S NOT LIKE THE TITLE IS WRITTEN ON THE PICTURE ABOVE. How did it happen ?? The name doesn't even change in french, help

"Miniship cap" I already want to quit and it's my INTRODUCTION to this book.

We can divide the mistakes of this book in three categories :

- Lore mistake

- Translation mistake

- Wtf mistakes

I would place "Miniship cap" in the WTF category, for obvious reasons. (HOW???)

The first two categories are easily justified : they asked someone to reread the book and the person wasn't very interested/didn't know Zelda well. But it makes the book LIE

Example of lore mistake :

The title here is " The Ancient Temple, marked by the loftwings".

THE L O F T W I N G S.

This is the ancient temple in Twilight Princess. This is supposed to read OCCAS ! SKYWARD SWORD WASN'T EVEN RELEASED YET !! LOFTWINGS DIDN'T EXIST !

Why did this happen ? Well, in french, Loftwings are called "Célestriers" (mix of the words "céleste", celestial, and "destrier", which is apparently the same in english but I've never seen it before, it's a horse usually or an animal you ride). And Occas ? Are called "Célestiens". People that lives in the sky, basically.

So yeah, Célestriers, Célestiens, I SEE the mistake, ok ?

But still. Uncool. Boo.

Now, example of translation mistake :

The first sentence here is a description of a picture, it reads "Aryll is abducted by Helmaroc King on Ganondorf's orders".

Why isn't this shocking to you, english reader ? Because Helmaroc King is the ENGLISH name of the big bird. In french, there are no "roi Helmaroc" ("roi" means king). It has been translated.

But maybe the book doesn't know, right ? IT'S NOT LIKE THE NAME IS WRITTEN ON THE NEXT PAGE, RIGHT ?

THERE. LE ROI CUIRASSE. THIS IS THE BITCH I KNOW ABOUT. I'M LOSING MY MIND

But again, alright, I guess someone didn't think to translate the name. Some characters's names aren't translated (example : french Skull kid is called... Skull kid. I am thankful for that), so maybe they just didn't THINK to check if there was a translation.

Even though. It was on the next page.

AND I WAS GOING TO LET ROI HELMAROC SLIDE. I WAS.

AND THEN I LOOKED AT THE SAME FUCKING PICTURE I TOOK OF THE BOOK.

First thing I underlined, "Mélodie", is a typo of Medli's name in french, which is "Médolie". I get it, it's an anagram, I've read it Mélodie my whole childhood, OK French Zelda Encyclopedia. OK.

BUT "ÉPÉE MA��TRESSE" ?? NO.

THE MASTER SWORD IS NOT FUCKING CALLED "ÉPÉE MAÎTRESSE". MAÎTRESSE IS WHAT YOU CALL YOUR TEACHER WHEN SHE'S A WOMAN AND YOU'RE TEN, OK ?

(Actually, "maître" and its feminization "maîtresse" do mean master. But it's. It feels wrong. It's not the in-game name, and it feels wrong.)

THE MASTER SWORD IS "ÉPÉE DE LÉGENDE", OK ? LEGENDARY SWORD. THERE IS NO ÉPÉE MAÎTRESSE.

AT LEAST I HOPE.

Breathing in, breathing out... Ok. A not so important one :

"Les oiseaux" means "the birds", and yes, in english, those cuties are called "little birds" which would be literally "petits oiseaux" in french. (I know, too much vowels, I'm not here to defend my birth language BEAR WITH ME)

But in the VF ? They aren't 'birds'. They are PIOUPS. (Pronounced pyoop, it doesn't mean anything, just mimic the bird's noise)

THEY ARE 'PETITS PIOUPS' ALRIGHT ? AND I LOVE THEM. I'm just. Sad that their name isn't in the book. This is petits pioups erasure.

(After checking, the item they drop is called "plume d'oiseau", so "bird feather". The word "pioup" is just in the description of the item, so... Maybe it's just me. BUT STILL. LET ME CALL THEM PIOUPS IT'S ADORABLE)

And we're not even in my favorite category ! May I introduce :

The what the fuck mistakes

Aka : I can't understand how they let it slide.

Here I want you to read the description of the picture 6.

"Playing the Song of Healing, Link gets his normal appearance back".

Ok, this is probably a description of when Link goes from Deku Scrub back to Hylian, so I am expecting a picture of Link !

Image 6 : WHY IS IT THE CREEPY LINK STATUE.

DID THEY KNOW ABOUT BEN DROWNED ?? WHY IS THE WORST POSSIBLE REPRESENTATION OF LINK IS DESCRIBED WITH "LINK GOES BACK TO NORMAL". NO. NO I AM CALLING MY LAWYER, BOOK, YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO ME.

You know, in a book, there can be translating errors... And, apparently, there also can be "we forgot to fucking translate" errors.

Plural.

IN THE GODDAMN TITLES.

And I studied graphic design, alright. I know, TRUST ME, I know your eyes can get used to the titles and make you miss 'obvious' mistakes.

BUT THIS IS WHY YOU GET SOMEONE TO RE-READ. This is a fucking official book ! That has been published by probably very official publishers, I don't know, I haven't checked !

POURQUOI LE LIVRE EST NUL ? POURQUOI EST-CE QU'IL Y A AUTANT D'ERREURS ? COMMENT EST-CE QUE "MINISHIP CAP" EST ARRIVÉ ? OÙ SONT LES PETITS PIOUPS ? ENGAGEZ-MOI POUR RELIRE LE LIVRE LA PROCHAINE FOIS C'EST PAS POSSIBLE !!

I at least hope some of you laughed watching me losing my mind in french ; I hit the ten images limit, but I'm sure I'll find enough for a part two. I've lost all faith in this book. I'll read it thoroughly just to scream about it on Tumblr.

[*holding a knife towards the book* I won't let anything slide, you hear me ?]

Now with a part 2 !

[transgender-catboy]

I've done so much unpacking and repacking today, it feels like I'm doing lots and nothing at the same time

[leciraofthewilderness]

This is actually something they thought about, but alas 🥲

can we get a spin off game where we follow these guys around instead of link

[labyrinthdancer]

cause y’all liked the first one so much here’s every other font that’s in the loz encyclopedia :3

part two of this

gerudo:

Ocarina of time:

skyward sword:

A link between worlds:

[rupeenotruby]

Adventures in Research: What do you mean "Bowl of Hearts"???

It starts simply; I was checking out the Heart Container page on the Zelda wiki (as anyone does) where I saw it "also known as Bowl of Hearts (TAoL)." Known as Bowl of Hearts? TAoL?? Uh no, it isn't??? I have read that manual quite a few times and I think I'd remember if it was called "Bowl of Hearts" as it is such a strange phrase. But I always have lots to learn so I put my pride aside and start to get to the bottom of this claim. Because hey, if this is true it's one more piece of AoL trivia I get to feel superior about knowing.

Link to the Zelda Wiki page

Naturally the first thing I do is that I look for the source of this particular claim. It comes from the Zelda Encyclopedia! Okay alright that means I have a lead. So, I hop on Google only to find that the only places I can find it is Internet Archive and Internet Archive is currently down due to some kind of cyber-attack. :| Fantastic. I guess I have to wait. To quell my interest, I double check the game where unlike in TLoZ, TAoL does not have an intro scroll with the names of the items. Additionally, I checked a text dump (link to that) of the game where it is only referred to as a "Heart." No bowls there. The manual is exactly as I remember it to be calling it "Heart Container" like normal.

(Zelda 2: Adventure of Link English Manual pg. 45)

I also see if I can find another source like a strategy guide which, yes it is still called "Heart Container."

(Nintendo Power January/February 1989 pg. 20)

So I put it aside until I get the wonderful news that Internet Archive is back and running!!! Yay! I rush over and check the Heart Container entry to find that yes, it does in fact say that TAoL calls Heart Containers "Bowl of Hearts."

(Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia pg. 127)

And so the Wiki did source it properly.... But my sources are also correct, no? So what's the deal? Why is this the first time I've heard of this phrase?

And thus I decide to go to the source: The Japanese Encyclopedia. Unfortunately, I could not find the Japanese version of the encyclopedia anywhere so I do the next best thing. I grab Google translate and start looking through the Japanese manual. Some things to note first:

I DON'T KNOW JAPANESE!

At all! And Google Translate is notoriously very finnicky when it comes to Japanese. So, I'm relying a lot on pattern recognition. (Also, apologies in advance if I mess up any of the Japanese here. Again, I don't know Japanese, and I am using Google translate.)

First stop is the TAoL Japanese Manual where it is referred to as ハートのうつわ.

(Zelda 2: Adventure of Link Japanese Manual pg. 48)

I stick that in Google Translate and seem to find the problem.

ハートの means "heart."

うつわ means "vessel, container or bowl." So maybe this can be translated as both "Heart Container" and "Bowl of Hearts" and it just depends on the context! As I lack all cultural and linguistic context I do the next best thing: check other manuals and see how they spelled it. The key here is that TAoL has been singled out for whatever reason. If the other manuals match this spelling something went wrong somewhere else.

I find the OoT Manual where it has... the same spelling?

(OoT Japanese Manual pg. 28)

And to double check I look at the OoA Manul and again:

(OoA Japanese Manual pg. 42)

Same spelling! So why was TAoL singled out? What a mystery...

I still can't find the Japanese Encyclopedia, so I keep looking. I look in the game to find that it is also referred to simply as "Heart" in the Japanese version (Underlined in pink).

(Youtube: "リンクの冒険 (FDS) 全クリア (ノーデス)" Time: 1:06:43)

I check a Japanese Strategy guide!

(The Adventure of Link Winning Guide pg. 17)

Its all the same(ish)! Where did this seemingly unique part of TAoL come from???

And I finally find it! I find a youtuber who has access to the Japanese Encyclopedia and I ask them to show the Heart Container entry.

(Youtube: "LoZ lore because you asked 1" Time: 0:10)

Note: It is hard to see but TLoZ is "ゼルダの伝説" while TAoL is "リンクの冒険" above with the in-game pictures.

And AH HA! You see that? That last portion that should refer to TAoL but is instead referring to the ORIGINAL LEGEND OF ZELDA???

It says that in TLoZ Heart containers are also referred to as "Heart Shaped Water Bottle" (ハートの水筒). And this is true as in the game they are referred to as "Container Heart" with the (イノ�� ノ ウツワ) spelling while in the Manual they are referred to as "Heart Shaped Water Bottles" with the (ハートの水筒とハート) spelling.

(Youtube: "Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy - FDS - No Commentary Playthrough" Time: 0:48)

(The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda Japanese Game Manual pg. 21)

So it was a mistranslation all along! Or so I hope... Because at the end of the day, why was it translated like this? What happened along the way to end up attributing the "Bowl of Hearts" translation to TAoL when I cannot find a primary source that refers to it as such. I believe the reason they did not translate the Japanese Encyclopedia entry directly to English is that it is not referred to as a "Heart Shaped Water Bottle" in the English translation. Then why single out TAoL? Is it because no one would doubt it or think to double check? Or is there some primary source out there that does refer to it as a "Bowl of Hearts"? I just can't know for sure. Ultimately, this doesn't matter that much, at the very most it's just annoying that it gets referred to as this in the wiki when there doesn't seem to be a primary source to back this claim. Oh well.

For now, I sign off! And wish you on your merry way. Thank you for reading or at least scrolling to the bottom.

Sources:

Zelda Wiki Hart Container entry: https://zeldawiki.wiki/wiki/Heart_Container

TAoL Text Dump: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/nes/563487-zelda-ii-the-adventure-of-link/faqs/20234

Zelda 2: Adventure of Link English Manual: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAASE.pdf

Nintendo Power January/February 1989: https://shedevr.org.ru/zelda64rus/media/Zelda2_(Nintendo_Power_004)_(1989)_Jan-Feb.pdf

Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia: https://archive.org/details/TheLegendOfZeldaEncyclopedia/page/n119/mode/2up

Zelda 2: Adventure of Link Japanese Manual: https://archive.org/details/booklet_aol_jp/page/n47/mode/2up

OoT Japanese Manual: https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/images/a/aa/Ocarina-of-Time-Japan-Instruction-Manual-Page-28-29.jpg

OoA Japanese Manual: https://archive.org/details/zelda-oracle-of-ages-j-cart-and-manual-ozidual/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Ages%20-%20Manual%2007%2009.jpg

リンクの冒険 (FDS) 全クリア (ノーデス): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBsZTae_TTo&t=4003s

The Adventure of Link Winning Guide: https://archive.org/details/zines_zelda_famimaga_1987_aol_guide_600dpi/page/16/mode/2up

LoZ lore because you asked 1: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gF3KRcwD3pU

Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy - FDS - No Commentary Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-aYJyHgCy0

The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda Japanese Game Manual: https://archive.org/details/booklet_loz_jp/page/n19/mode/2up