According to this tumblr post, Naga doesn't have to be a woman.

[The Void]

http://fe-according-to-japan.tumblr.com/post/71060473729/as-the-issue-of-nagas-gender-seems-to-have-gained

Here's the post.

Well, I guess that could explain Naga being shown as a man in those murals in MotE.

[Lance Masayoshi]

Naga has been shown to be a man for many games. FE12, FE11, FE4 so forth.

[Magical Glace]

That logic is elusive.

"This appearance" what other appearance would Naga want? What's the point of Naga assuming multiple appearances besides human and dragon? Seems a bit far fetched to me.

And legends are twisted over time, the painter may have never seen her, and assumed she was male automatically.

[The Void]

What's the point of Naga assuming multiple appearances besides human and dragon?

Tell that to Xane.

[Refa]

Naga is a fucking God, he can be whatever gender he fancies.

[Light-Heart]

Naga is a fucking God, he can be whatever gender he fancies.

Was thinking this, Naga is a God

He could be female, male or a Cat if wanted to be....

[Book of Ereshkigal]

Naga has been shown to be a man for many games. FE12, FE11, FE4 so forth.

I thought Naga took the form of a maiden when s/he appeared to Heim? Male dragon, female human form? :p Like Xane I imagine s/he has some power over appearance.

[Chiki]

Nags isn't a God. She's just a divine dragon worshipped like a God because she's so powerful. She's no different from Tiki.

[Lord of Gabriel Knight]

Or maybe Naga is male, and the Naga in FE13 is Nagi from FE11/12.

[The Void]

Or maybe Naga is male, and the Naga in FE13 is Nagi from FE11/12.

They're the same dragon.

[NinjaMonkey]

Since when has Tumblr been a reliable source for anything, exactly?

[Lord of Gabriel Knight]

They're the same dragon.

Naga died, and then Nagi is his reincarnation.

FE13 is set in FE11/12's future. Therefore, it's likely that the new Naga is Nagi.

So yes, they're the same, but not the same instance.

Edited December 28, 2013 by GabrielKnight

[RJWalker]

Gotoh, someone who personally knew Naga, referring to Naga as male would be enough to say that Naga is probably genderless.

Since when has Tumblr been a reliable source for anything, exactly?

This particular one is.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Ranger Jack Walker

[bottlegnomes]

If we get into reincarnation, there's no restrictions on gender, so it's very possible that Naga was male and when reincarnated as Nagi became female. Anyway, wasn't Naga a title in Awakening? IIRC, Tiki became the new Naga or something like that in the one Future of Despair. So maybe it's a title and not actually a specific dragon.

[bookofholsety]

This particular one is.

idk about that; once they did a post talking about Lex's "you little player you" line in the FE4 fan translation, in which they acted as if Lex was literally calling Azel a player as opposed to it being the sarcastic teasing about his crush on Aideen it was so very obviously meant to be

that's like failing to notice being hosed in the face, but then again, i'm not totally sure the Tumblr FE fandom actually understands that humour is a thing that exists

Edited December 28, 2013 by bookofholsety

[VincentASM]

Gotoh, someone who personally knew Naga, referring to Naga as male would be enough to say that Naga is probably genderless.

The important thing is that nowhere in the series is Naga referred to as any gender in the dialogue (this is apparently common in Japanese).

It's only in the English versions where they added gender pronouns (well, you kind of have to, unless you want to look silly).

Also "Divine Dragon King" is a gender neutral title in Japanese.

As for the original post, it could mean anything really and there's the issue of credibility (Knights of Ylisse may not be 100% accurate).

Edited December 28, 2013 by VincentASM

[RJWalker]

Is there any interview with the big man himself that involves Naga? Does Shouzou Kaga ever refer to Naga with any particular gender?

[VincentASM]

Is there any interview with the big man himself that involves Naga? Does Shouzou Kaga ever refer to Naga with any particular gender?

There's one for FE4 that strongly implies FE3 and FE4's Naga are the same person.

However, I don't have the original Japanese text in hand (I referred to Naga as a "he" at the time).

[Jotari]

I much prefer the idea of Naga being an gender flipping deity rather than an overly generic benevolent goddess character we see so much of in fiction.

[ClassyWolf]

If anyone here speaks japaneese can find out, or already know, if they reveal gender of Naga in the opening of chapter 14 of book 2 in fe 3 and fe 12.

just wondering because they say this:

"Chiki was created as the daughter of the Divine Dragon King, Narga, and slept in the temple because of the king’s will.
The king’s fear of Chiki’s power was that of a loving father’s."

http://serenesforest.net/fe3/script2_14.html

My question is really, do they say "father" or "parent" in the original japanese

Edit: repeated because by mistake

Edited December 28, 2013 by that one person

[VincentASM]

If anyone here speaks japaneese can find out, or already know, if they reveal gender of Naga in the opening of chapter 14 of book 2 in fe 3 and fe 12.

just wondering because they say this:

"Chiki was created as the daughter of the Divine Dragon King, Narga, and slept in the temple because of the kings will.

The kings fear of Chikis power was that of a loving fathers."

http://serenesforest.net/fe3/script2_14.html

My question is really, do they say "father" or "parent" in the original japanese

"Parent".

We changed it to "parent" in the FE12 translation (and referred to Naga as a "she").

The Divine Dragon King's fear of Tiki's

power was that of a loving parent.

I mentioned this a few posts up, but AFAIK there are no gender hints to Naga anywhere (prior to FE13 and it's possible there aren't any in FE13).

[Amielleon]

idk about that; once they did a post talking about Lex's "you little player you" line in the FE4 fan translation, in which they acted as if Lex was literally calling Azel a player as opposed to it being the sarcastic teasing about his crush on Aideen it was so very obviously meant to be

that's like failing to notice being hosed in the face, but then again, i'm not totally sure the Tumblr FE fandom actually understands that humour is a thing that exists

Hey, I just answer the questions I get. Apparently someone out there thought it was ambiguous.

Fwiw some colloquial jokes-in-localization like Levin's (and Henry's) shrink have pretty weird implications about the world unless you're willing to go "ok so the writers were being funny and this line is totally anachronistic but tacitly doesn't count by merits of being funny."

I'm actually mildly baffled at why everyone cares so much about Naga's gender.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Amielleon

[VincentASM]

I'm actually mildly baffled at why everyone cares so much about Naga's gender.

Well, Naga has been around a bit and is a massive source of confusion.

I'm interested because I like seeking the truth.

Which reminds me, there was something I thought of: "This form" could as well be referring to Naga's human guise, as she also has a dragon guise.

[BrightBow]

I'm actually mildly baffled at why everyone cares so much about Naga's gender.

If nothing else, it would be convenient to know what pronouns to use.

[bookofholsety]

Hey, I just answer the questions I get. Apparently someone out there thought it was ambiguous.

okay, that's odd. i could've sworn you originally had a longer response than that there which carried that sort of face-value implication of interpretation. i distinctly recall because that was something i kept in mind a few months back when i was up to translating that same particular line, in that i found it raised an interesting point with respect to successful (or otherwise, in this case) conveyance of the same point as the original

Fwiw some colloquial jokes-in-localization like Levin's (and Henry's) shrink have pretty weird implications about the world unless you're willing to go "ok so the writers were being funny and this line is totally anachronistic but tacitly doesn't count by merits of being funny."

i guess the thing is, anachronism arguably isn't that big a deal with a fictional universe? it'd be one thing if FE worlds were meant to be 100% historically accurate, but that's kind of not really the case. instead, we've got a medieval world where magic, dragons, time travel and animal shapeshifters overtly exist, and in which gender equality - while certainly not perfect - is more of a thing, with female warriors of almost all professions being everywhere with few people in-universe batting an eyelid

the world may be loosely medieval themed, but at the end of the day it's being written by people with more "modern" sensibilities (no i don't just mean localisers; the original japanese more often than not isn't any "better"), and even outside the obvious anachronisms (armour/clothing design and hair colours...), that shows through loud and clear. and you know? i wouldn't have it any other way. that's what makes Fire Emblem what it is: the fact that it's more than happy to shamelessly poke outside the constraints of its medieval flavouring for the sake of a bit of a laugh. it's the little things like Hector falling asleep in a maths class (the archetypical modern joke about bored students) or Eirika jokingly flashing Forde to make a point about her choice of attire (itself an anachronism), or pretty much everything about the Tellius duology. Fire Emblem is at its best when it doesn't take itself, or its stated time period theming, completely seriously

at any rate, as far as anachronisms go, i for one have no issues with the idea that the practice of psychology is a thing in any FE universe. perhaps it wouldn't be as advanced as it is in reality, but then again, it's not like any of the references to it in any existing translation, fan or official, are waxing lyrical about the value of Freudian analysis over Jungian or something similarly modern. of course at this point i've no intention of keeping Lewyn's shrink line when i get to translating that part, no matter how hilarious i find it, but still