Gary's Last Name

[Mondo]

Something I randomly thought of a few minutes ago. Many places mention Gary's last name as Oak and Shigeru's last name as Ookido (however it's spelled). Is his last name actually mentioned in either of the version (dubbed or Japanese) or are people just assuming Oak and Ookido are his last names because it's Sam's last name and he's Gary's grandfather? Because if it's not mentioned anywhere and people are just assuming then they could be wrong because Samuel could be Gary's grandfather from his mom's side which means they could have different last names.

[mr_pikachu]

I know it's been mentioned before in the English anime; I'm pretty sure they at least said it during the battle between Ash and Gary in the Johto League Silver Conference. I believe it's mentioned in the manga, as well (I'm talking about the series that includes the sub-series The Electric Tale of Pikachu, as well as several others afterward). I seem to recall, late in that manga series that Gary once said, "I, Gary Oak, swear on my grandfather's grave that [blah, blah, blah]!" (The Professor was a little miffed, responding, "Hey! I'm not dead yet!")

But yeah, I'm fairly certain they have specifically called him Gary Oak.

[Animelee]

In the original version, it's Orchid. Many times in the series, he's been mentionned as "Shigeru Orchid, grandson of Professor Yukinari Orchid".

[Damian Silverblade]

Ookido, actually. While Orchid may perhaps be treated as a proper romanization of Ookido, it does NOT, however, means Orchid (the flowers). The Japanese for orchid is Ran.

[Zak]

Yeah... I was thinking that, but then realized another thing... keep in mind that a lot of the Japanese names of characters are actually based on English words.

[Damian Silverblade]

Hmm? any examples, because I can't think of them off hand. Of course, I'm not too aware of recent characters (ie, anything past early johto), so...

[Zak]

Well, some of them are just American names romanjified, which were kept the same. But anyway, a recent episode featured some flying contest with a boy named "Kaito" which is actually Kite. And Pooka, the surfing Pika, actually originally had the Japanese name "Maikeru" which is pretty much Michael.

Oh, and Tessen (Wattson)'s assistant was named "Watto", which is pretty much "Watt". A bit disappointed that they kept it though, since it sounds different than "Tessen", but similar to Wattson.

Oddly, however, there were some early Indigo episodes with characters who's Japanese names are actually mainstream English names turned into romanji, but yet they changed them in the dub. Pooka's trainer, Victor, had JP name "Binsento", which would be none other than "Vincent".

Oh, and Richie's nicknamed Pokemon. Most were kept the same, but look:

Jippo - Zippo
Happi - Happy
Kuruuzu - Cruz
Reon - Sparky.

To my knowledge, "Reon" doesn't mean anything... I think its simply the name "Leon".

Also, in a recent Japanese episode about some Jungle reserve with the Sloth-line, there was a "Makino" or "Makii-san" which is meant to sound like "Monkey".


I'll think of more later.

[Animelee]

All the names are written in Katakana in Pokémon. If "Ookido" was written in Kanji or Hiragana, then I would agree. Besides, I have a poster drawn by Ken Sugimori. It has Officer Junsar, Joy, and Professor Orchid -- all written in Latin letters along the side.

Not to mention what Zak just listed -- there are tons more English-named people in the show/comics/games, like a doctor's assistant named Amy (EIMII), Haruka's enemy named Harley (HAARII), and Professor Odamaki's assistant named Josh (JOSHU), etc.

Hope I don't sound like a snob, or somethin'. :sweat2:

Edit: Zak, I think it's Leon, too. :)

[poke124mon282]

Something I randomly thought of a few minutes ago. Many places mention Gary's last name as Oak and Shigeru's last name as Ookido (however it's spelled). Is his last name actually mentioned in either of the version (dubbed or Japanese) or are people just assuming Oak and Ookido are his last names because it's Sam's last name and he's Gary's grandfather? Because if it's not mentioned anywhere and people are just assuming then they could be wrong because Samuel could be Gary's grandfather from his mom's side which means they could have different last names.
US version is Oak
Jp version is Ookido

[Mondo]

US version is Oak
Jp version is Ookido
I know that which is why I said Gary and Shigeru. I was just making sure it was actually his last name and not just an assumption. I posted this at BMGf as well and people posted where it has been mentioned that Oak and Ookido are his last names.

[Animelee]

US version is Oak
Jp version is Ookido

OOKIDO is written in Katakana, which means it's a foreign name. Well, all names in Pokémon are written in Katakana, regardless if they're Japanese (Satoshi), or English (HAARII, which is Harley when romanized).

On GAME FREAK's old site, though, they had pictures of Shigeru named "s.orchid.gif" and Yukinari named "p.orchid.gif", for example.

Not to mention OOKIDO is not even a real Japanese name like Satoshi or Haruka, for example. Go ahead, Google "OOKIDO", and all you'll find is English fansite after English fansite of people who don't know that OOKIDO should be romanized as Orchid... And when you Google OOKIDO, all you will find are Pokémon fansites, because OOKIDO is not a Japanese name, it's just "Orchid" in Katakana.

Try Satoshi, or Haruka, and you will find thousands of Japanese sites for random people named Satoshi and Haruka, and maybe only a few will be for Pokémon, if any.

[poke124mon282]

I know that which is why I said Gary and Shigeru. I was just making sure it was actually his last name and not just an assumption. I posted this at BMGf as well and people posted where it has been mentioned that Oak and Ookido are his last names.
Oh I see ^^
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Re Animelee:
okay...let's be accurate...
really, it is オーキド

[Andrew]

Just on a side note, at the Silver Confrence and I think Indigo League, the announcer (Who, if you noticed wouldn't shut the hell up) called him Gary Oak from Pallette Town.

So I think that pretty much set it in stone.

[Animelee]

Oh I see ^^
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Re Animelee:
okay...let's be accurate...
really, it is オーキド

Exactly, and Pocket Monsters is ポケット モンスター. But you don't use POKETTO MONSUTAA, right? Because if you use OOKIDO, you might as well use POKETTO MONSUTAA, too. :sweat2:

It's like saying Spike from Cowboy Bebop is really "SUPAIKU", because his name is written as スパイク, for example.

I mean, it's so obvious it's Pocket Monsters, and OOKIDO is obviously Orchid. It's not like it's written as オオキド, おおきど, or おうきど, which would make me agree that it is OOKIDO.

Animelee realizes he's become an elitest ass when it comes to all aspects of Pokémon... O_O