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Summary

Characters' names in Tower of God have been altered in the Japanese version to resonate with the language and culture of the target audience.
Korean names are altered the most, with unique meanings and sounds translated into Japanese equivalents for accessibility.
The changes reflect carefully chosen words related to characters' traits, backgrounds, and cultural references, maintaining the essence of the original names.

One thing that has happened a few times in this era of the anime adaptations of popular webcomics and manhwa is localization, where a story's characters and various other elements are seen through the lens of the target audience. In the US, the 4Kidz versions of various anime titles saw a lot of strange, funny or downright unnecessary changes to elements to make them more palatable to the chosen audience. In the case of Tower of God, a manhwa title, the WEBTOON and Crunchyroll collaboration has been dubbed in various languages, but the primary language in which it is available on the streaming platform is Japanese.

As a result, the various names that readers of the manhwa have become familiar with have seen several changes, and this guide will run through the names of characters that have been encountered in Tower of God thus far.

Tower Of God: Why Yoru's Name Change Is More Important Than You Think

Yoru's original name in Korean has an interesting and relevant second meaning.

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By Beatrix Kondo

Characters Whose Names Have Changed

Korean Names Are Altered The Most

~~Twenty-Fifth-Baam/Bam~~ – Yoru (Jue Viole Grace)

The most clear change is that of the series protagonist, Twenty-Fifth-Bam (or Baam), whose name in the Japanese version is "Yoru", coming from the fact that "Bam" translates to "night", with Yoru being a very common word for the night written like so 夜. However, it could have also been "Ban", which is Japanese for "evening" or "nightfall", depending on the context. For instance, "dinner" is written with the kanji for "evening" 晩 followed by "food", giving rise to the word "banmeshi", but the closest use of this particular word that lines up with his full name is "ban" as a counter for nights.

Shib Yi Soo/Shib Yisoo – Shibisu

"Shibisu" is merely a Japanese pronunciation of the name Shib Yi Soo. Korean names generally follow the format of last name | given name to the effect of three syllables, and they obviously carry meaning; which is why it is interesting that some names can remain relatively unchanged, while others are given Japanese "equivalents". In the anime adaptation of Solo Leveling for instance, there were two distinct versions of the Japanese dubbed version of the series, one in which the Korean names are used as-is, while there is the version that aired on Japanese television which featured Japanese names for the characters.

Ja Wangnan – О̄ji Naru

Ja Wangnan Makes His Case – Tower of God Season 2 Episode 2

The main character of the second part of Tower of God, also subtitled "Return of the Prince", Ja Wangnan's name in Japanese is an attempt to reflect the same pun that went into his Korean name. "Ja Wangnan", written in Korean 자 왕난, is a reversal of the phrase "Nan Wangja", meaning "I am the Prince"; however, "О̄ji Naru" is a shortening of the phrase "О̄ji ni naru" – "I'll become the Prince".

~~Ilmar Beniamino~~/Kang Horyang – Torasuke

Kang Horyang – Tower of God Season 2 Episode 1

Kang Horyang, the actual "Right Hand of the Devil" (there is a lot to his backstory that is yet to be unpacked). The namee he goes by, "Horyang" sounds like the Korean word for "tiger", which is why he has the Japanese name "Torasuke", combining "tora", the Japanese word for tiger with a masculinizing suffix.

Yeon Yihwa – Ren Rika

Yeon Yihwa Tries to Prevent Viole From Leaving – Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3

Also transliterated as "Yeon Ehwa" on WEBTOON, Yeon Yihwa's whole name is very interesting because it contains floral references, and as we learn in Tower of God season 2, the Yeon family's crest is the rare flower that grows on the back of the juvenile of a Shinheuh ("divine sea creature") called a Zigena (or Zygaena). This creature has become the trademark of the Yeon family, which is why "Yeon" can be translated to lotus, and "Yihwa" is "flower". In Japanese, she is called Ren Rika, written like so in Kanji 蓮梨花. The "Ren" becomes "lotus" when translated, while "Rika" combines the characters for "pear" and "flower" to become "pear blossom", maintaining the floral overtones that connect Yihwa to her family. "Yihwa" or "Ehwa" is also the name of Ewha Womans University, located in Seoul.

Yeo Miseng and Goseng – Mana and Kana

Goseng Tells Miseng To Stay Put – Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3

The little girl and her bespectacled caretaker introduced in the first episode of Tower of God season 2, Miseng and Goseng are somehow related, as they share the last name "Yeo", and their names follow the same motif. Miseng's name is written 여미생 in Hangeul, while Goseng is 여고생. The "-seng" part can be translated to "life"; however, in Goseng's case, the name itself can mean "hardship", but "Yeo Goseng" can also be "high school girl". They became "Mana" and "Kana" to maintain the similarity and rhyming nature of their names.

Kim Lurker – Sato Rai

Kim Lurker – Tower of God Season 2 Episode 3

The loan-shark and scheming gangster who made both Ja Wangnan and Nia's lives a living hell. His name change seems to be the least based on the preservation of meaning. For one, the name "Lurker" is from his occupation as Assistant Manager of Lurker Cash, the business that gives Regulars loans on the 20th floor so that they can take the test. The company name and logo are a reference to a unit in the Starcraft games called the Zerg Lurker. In Japanese, the "Satо̄" is written 佐藤, with the first character translating to "help" or "assistant", while the "-tо̄" part is "wisteria"; the flower, which might explain the flower adornment on Kim Lurker's head.

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