The title?

[So Full of Mercy]

Why is the movie called "Princess Mononoke?" I seem to recall them saying the name Mononoke once... was it reference to San? For some reason, I got the impression it may've been her name before the wolves adopted her... well, if anyone knows, enlighten me through my ignorance.

[mrgazpacho]

http://nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mh/faq.html#translation

"Mononoke means 'The spirit of a thing'. A mononoke could be the spirit of an inanimate object, such as a wheel, the spirit of a dead person, the spirit of a live person, the spirit of an animal, goblins, monsters, or a spirit of nature."

The girl's name is "San", but we don't know who gave her that name - Moro, or her human parents. Probably the former, as the latter abandoned her and presumably didn't stop to exchange baby pictures with a wolf :lol:

[Shale]

The only time Eboshi refers to San by name, she calls her Princess Mononoke, so, from what I can tell, that's her "real" name.

[mrgazpacho]

Originally posted by Shale
The only time Eboshi refers to San by name, she calls her Princess Mononoke, so, from what I can tell, that's her "real" name. It's her title, not her name. Eboshi doesn't know San personally, so she wouldn't know her name.

[So Full of Mercy]

Ok, so they're saying she has a wolf spirit? Like calling her the Wolf Princess?

[EVA Type-R]

Wow, you bring up a good point with that. Maybe in this case that "thing" Mononoke translates to is the wolf. So she is the princess of the spirit of the wolf. I think you basically have it there.

[DarkPrimus]

"Mononoke" can be translated as "monster". San is "Mononoke Hime", or "The Monster Princess".

[Nagha's revenge]

See my answer here (http://animeboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31084). It the best one here (IMO lol). But quite similar to Dark Primus' answer.

[So Full of Mercy]

Right, so I think its probably supposed to be Princess Wolf Spirit or Princess Essence of Wolves or something.

[EVA Type-R]

Hah the thing is, IMO, they made this title for different views on the title. Mononoke translates to three different english words, and the writer purposely made that the title so you as the watcher could decide what it is. Just another on of Miyazaki's ingenius ways to pull the watcher into the story.

[So Full of Mercy]

I doubt it had that kind of design. :)

[Miss_Misato]

I'd always understood "Mononoke Hime" to be San's title...just think of the meaning of the name San, it makes sence.

[So Full of Mercy]

San means without I guess.

[mrgazpacho]

She's not French, you know ;)

Like yousaid before, "Princess Wolf Spirit" is pretty close. Maybe "Princess of the Wolf Spirits" might be better.

[DerekLaza]

in japanese, adding "-san" to the end of a name is a title of repect, so....i don't see the issue here. it could get translated to "miss".... and my definition of "mononoke" is angry spirit. which she is. angry at "those humans." those were my words of wisdom, sayonara;)

[So Full of Mercy]

Interesting, so he name is just supposed to be generic? Cool.

[Nokari]

Her name is just plain San. Not -san (just to clear that up)

From what I remember, Mononoke Hime is interpreted as an angry spirit or ghost who is half human spirit, half animal spirit.
I'll look it up in my book later when I'm home.

[Ko Hakaisha]

Nokari and Derek are on the right track with their definitions of mononoke, Imo. I usually define it as "angry or vengeful spirit," and that does seem to pretty much sum up San's attitude towards the humans, don'tcha think??

[Bekkichan]

I hate to bump old threads :sweatdrop... but it's not like this forum gets copious amounts of traffic anymore so... there. uh...

As far as I ever knew, 'mononoke' can have several translations, but as many have said in this thread, the basic idea is spirit, monster, or possibly ghost. In the original Japanese version, all the animal gods were referred to as Mononoke, and San was their princess - princess of the Mononoke, hence Princess Mononoke.

Hope that helps. And again, sorry for bumping. It's too early to go to bed so I'm forum-hopping. ^^;;