BombermanBoard

herrDoktorat · #44 Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:36 am

I doubt so, too, especially because I believe all the games in the SNES series were placed close to each other, and for a planet to change like that millenia would be needed. And yes, I speak about the Four Heavenly Bombers. I did explain about their names in the old topic, didn't I? Bomber Shitennou, ties with Buddhism and Hindu culture, used in many media, etc.

The timelines indeed were from Earth, so if the manual mentions Planet Bomber, it would mean that said planet is very similar to Earth, and the retcon would become irrelevant and a mere cosmetic change, not unlikely Hudson likes to do.

[EDIT]: Just in case, here it goes again.

In regards to the original name of the Five Bomber Kings, it is loosely the "Four Heavenly Bombers" (ボンバー四天王), but with a much deeper meaning. Those last three are kanji for "Four Heavenly Kings" or "Four Devas", but more accurately, "Shitennou" ?E四天王, shi tenku ou. Thus, the literal translation would be "Bomber Four Heavenly Kings", but I much prefer to modify it since I think sticking to the original can result in quite awkward translations. Moving on, the Four Heavenly Kings are the four Buddhist deities who are believed to protect the four quarters of the world, and the term is frequently used outside of the Buddhist context to refer to any superb or famous quartet, although here in Bomberman, their appearance also possess details known to relate to Hindu-based works, such as Tenku Senki Shurato, and also similar color schemes. I can relate them to at least three other groups with that name in games and anime, too.

I'm not exactly sure if this is mentioned in the manual (didn't check yet), but I got the translations from the Japanese wiki, and info from there tends to be very accurate. Even if it is not, the design for the Bombers bears resemblance to similar works, so I risk that perhaps it was in the old site for SMB4 or in other manuals of games that use those characters (such as Bomberman Party Edition). The translation (Great Bomber and the Four Bomber Kings) also match this, culture and translation-wise, since the fifth member is usually a leader, superior in power, and is not present alongside the others. He does get introduced alone, doesn't he? The Elite Four in Pok�mon are also called the Four Heavenly Kings in the original works, and the fifth member quite follows those rules.