Beruga's pig soldiers

[LG]

Beruga seems to have an army of pig-like soldiers in his base and his airship. Are these just the result of his scientific experiments (strengthening the mad professor archetype) or is there more meaning to these guys? Do they have a name or backstory that I don't know of in the Japanese guide maybe? What is their name anyway?

[Al. I. Cuza]

Not sure wich ones you mean. There are some enemies called Dog Soldiers, no backstory as far as I can tell. The normal enemies seem to be somewhat generic, don't think they have any backstory whatsoever.

[warpig]

These monsters are called "Goblin" ("Goburin"/ゴブリン) in the official Japanese guide to the game. I read this in an FAQ once and managed to confirm it via Google translate, though I know no more than the name. I don't think the guide has more background information on any enemies, but not that I actually know since I can't read Japanese.
Those are the ones given the name "Dog Soldiers" in English, though I don't actually know what official source gives that name. Only know that from various FAQs and such.
As for their backstory, I once heard someone's theory that I am not entirely convinced of, but here goes:
Remember Zue and the Storm Master fight? At the last altar, you can see some pig-like creatures performing a ritual in the background. Now the theory goes that these are the same creatures you find in his lab and airship (or perhaps modified by Beruga in one way or another).
I am not quite sure what their intentions were and what they actually did in Zue, but we know that
1) Natives of Zue built altars for summoning rain
2) There is no rain in the present because monsters prevent it
So they are probably the ones responsible for the lack of rain, and the souls you free by slaying monsters are souls of the "natives".
Now, is there any evidence they are connected to Beruga? The English script mentions no more than the two points listed above about them. They suppressed rain so that mammals won't come back, I guess. Maybe that fits into Beruga's/Dark Gaia's agenda of removing what is unnecessary? But that'd mean Beruga thinks farm animals are unnecessary, I guess. Maybe his technologies for immortality don't require them, or he is vegetarian
Also, Dark Gaia wants Ark to revive the whole world and that would include mammals, now wouldn't it? Not plausible that Beruga would go through the trouble of ensuring that mammals wouldn't come back, and then Dark Gaia and Yomi watch as Ark undoes that obstacle set up by Beruga.
All in all, I don't think there is anything more to them than perhaps Beruga's genetic modification. But the connection between these Goblins and the pigs in Zue is food for thought and a connection I hadn't drawn myself before hearing someone mention it.

[psychokind]

warpig wrote:

These monsters are called "Goblin" ("Goburin"/ゴブリン) in the official Japanese guide to the game. I read this in an FAQ once and managed to confirm it via Google translate, though I know no more than the name. I don't think the guide has more background information on any enemies, but not that I actually know since I can't read Japanese. Those are the ones given the name "Dog Soldiers" in English, though I don't actually know what official source gives that name. Only know that from various FAQs and such. As for their backstory, I once heard someone's theory that I am not entirely convinced of, but here goes: Remember Zue and the Storm Master fight? At the last altar, you can see some pig-like creatures performing a ritual in the background. Now the theory goes that these are the same creatures you find in his lab and airship (or perhaps modified by Beruga in one way or another). I am not quite sure what their intentions were and what they actually did in Zue, but we know that 1) Natives of Zue built altars for summoning rain 2) There is no rain in the present because monsters prevent it So they are probably the ones responsible for the lack of rain, and the souls you free by slaying monsters are souls of the "natives". Now, is there any evidence they are connected to Beruga? The English script mentions no more than the two points listed above about them. They suppressed rain so that mammals won't come back, I guess. Maybe that fits into Beruga's/Dark Gaia's agenda of removing what is unnecessary? But that'd mean Beruga thinks farm animals are unnecessary, I guess. Maybe his technologies for immortality don't require them, or he is vegetarian Also, Dark Gaia wants Ark to revive the whole world and that would include mammals, now wouldn't it? Not plausible that Beruga would go through the trouble of ensuring that mammals wouldn't come back, and then Dark Gaia and Yomi watch as Ark undoes that obstacle set up by Beruga. All in all, I don't think there is anything more to them than perhaps Beruga's genetic modification. But the connection between these Goblins and the pigs in Zue is food for thought and a connection I hadn't drawn myself before hearing someone mention it.

that's an interesting theory. I always found them to fit to beruga, since humanoids depicted like that often times symbolize the grunts of a higher evil being, devoid of all conscience. in addition of them being fitted into armour and weapons, I thought of them as some kind of loan from Dark Gaia for Beruga to use.

[Heikki]

That's a really interesting idea, warpig!

As for their name, yes, it's goblin in Japanese. I wrote some more about the different name translations of the monsters in Terranigma