I am Error

History

The 1988 release of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link featured a non-playable character (NPC) who would initially say only the lines "I AM ERROR." He could be found in a town called Ruto. When the player advances to the Harbor Town of Mido, an NPC there advises the player to "Ask Error of Ruto about the Palace". If the player then goes back to Ruto and speaks to Error, he provides a hint about how to gain access to the Island Palace. Despite the belief that the quote was a mistranslation, video game translator Clyde Mandelin stated that the original Japanese version of the game contained a line which - when translated into English - states "My name is Error..." In addition, another character is named "Bug" in the Japanese version, possibly referring to a computer bug, though this name was mistranslated to "Bagu" since the word bug is written phonetically in Japanese as bagu.

Reception

Since its appearance, according to translator Clyde Mandelin, "I am Error" has become known as one of the "biggest mistranslations of early NES games". Mandelin and Official Nintendo Magazine contributor Thomas East both noted that the idea that the "ERROR" portion of the phrase is in fact an Error message is a popular misconception, however East included the phrase in his list of "22 classic gaming mistakes" due to its in-game relationship to the character of Bagu. Due to his unusual introductory salutation, Error has been identified as one of the most well-known video game characters by Nintendo World Report. VideoGamer's Emily Gera included him in a list of the "oddest character names in games" and noted that the meme made him a big character. GameSpot suggested that "I am Error" would be among the best "translation oddities" for long-time gamers. Jeff Gerstmann's review of Zelda II on the Game Boy Advance cited the quote as one of the positive elements of the game. GamesRadar included it in their list of the 40 most repeated quotes and their list of the 100 best video game quotes. IGN included it in their list of the worst in-game quotes at number two. The editor claimed that he "ranked up with Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster." GamesRadar's Brett Elston used the quote to refer to ideas in The Legend of Zelda games that did not work. Nintendo Life's Morgan Sleeper compared Castlevania II: Simon's Quest's translation to the quote.

Appearances in other works

The 2007 video game Super Paper Mario features a boss battle against a character named Fracktail, a robotic dragon. It is at one point hacked, which causes it to utter several confused lines, including "I AM ERROR. PRESS ANY KEY TO RESTART." An achievement in the 2013 video game Guacamelee! was given the title "I AM ERROR" in reference to Zelda II. Zeno Clash II features it as an achievement title. The quote is featured in the 2010 video game Fossil Fighters: Champions. Video game designer Edmund McMillen featured references to the quote in two of his games: Time Fcuk and The Binding of Isaac. He noted that the use of the quote in Time Fcuk was for "flavor and humor." The appearance of Error in The Binding of Isaac were noted by McMillen to have been mistaken by players a lot to be McMillen himself. Cheezburger founder Ben Huh claimed that "I AM ERROR" as a meme gained popularity after "All your base are belong to us". The Sydney Morning Herald included it in a list of memorable video game quotes. The Escapist's Brett Staebell called Error a "pioneer in game humorology." He uses the quote as the subtitle for his article. In the fan-made Zelda II hack titled Zelda II: The Adventure of Error, Error has his own adventure. The album Bagu and the Riverman by DJ Cutman and Spamtron featured a song titled "I AM ERROR" as its lead track. It appears as the 404 page on Nintendo of Europe's website. Nintendo Treehouse's presentation of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U displayed an error page based on this scene during technical difficulties.