Talk:Crow

From TLJwiki

From a post on Ragnar's blog he was later ordered to take down (acc.: 5/1/06):

An old friend returns

One of my favourite characters from The Longest Journey returns in Dreamfall - and not just because I like him so much. He is, in fact, very important to the plot.

[screenshot of Crow in the Dark People's Library]

Almost ten years have passed since Crow and April left the Guardian’s Realm together, embarking on a long journey north, into the mountains dividing the Northlands from the icy wastes beyond. Much has happened since then, and everyone and everything has changed - even Crow, who once famously proclaimed “I shall never, ever change - cross my beak and hope to fly - and definitely not because some chick tells me to, I’m nobody’s bird but my own, sister.”

After fleeing an impending committment he didn’t feel ready for, Crow has spent the past few months in this mysterious place, where shadowy figures tend to their arcane treasures. It is here that he meets an old friend that he’d given up hope of ever seeing again…

Like all the characters in Dreamfall, Crow has embarked on a journey that - one hopes - will make him a better pers– uh, bird. Will he regain the faith in friends and family that he lost so long ago? Or is he doomed, like others, to remain adrift?

And, most importantly, is he still the comic relief sidekick?

(Yes. Yes, he is. And he’s still played by the enormously talented Roger Raines, who brought Crow to life - and a tear to my eye - in New York just prior to Christmas.)

Crowboy and the translations

Should we include that in some of the (if not all of the) translations, there's a different story as to how he got his name? I think the story is the same in all translations, but to be sure i'll write the norwegian one here, so there's something to compear with.

A: Bli her! Og hold nebb! jeg--
R: *didn't quite catch it*
A: ga deg det navnet fordi jeg hadde en ravn da jeg var liten.
R: Jaha?
A: Jeg fant ham under et tre. Han hadde visst falt ned fra redet. Han kunne like gjerne falt ned fra månen, den lille knotten. Han så så bortkommen ut.
R: Så søtt da.
A: Jeg måtta ta meg av ham den sommeren. Foreldrene hans ville ikke ha ham etter at han hadde fått menneskelukt på seg.
R: Skjønner dem godt. Har du lukta på deg selv i det siste?
A: Etter hvert så lærte han seg å spise av hånda mi, og sitte på skulderen. Han blei den kuleste typen i hele skolegården.
R: Og du kaldte ham for...
A: For Ravn, ja. Plutselig en dag var han borte. Jeg har aldri vært så glad som da jeg senere fant ut at han hadde bygd reir i det samme treet som han hadde falt ned fra.
R: Så din instilling til ravnskap i sin almindelighet er altså at...
A: ...at ravner er noen reale rakkere!
R: Å. Vel. Hm. Jeg var kanskje litt vel sinna i sta. Unnskyld. Sorry. Hm. Teite meg.
A: Du? Har du tenkt å fortsette med den sutringen, eller har du tenkt å hjelpe meg? Vi har nemmelig ikke alverdens tid.
R: Nei, selvfølgelig. Jeg skal hjelpe deg. Alt du ber om. Bare fortell gamle Ravn hva han skal gjøre, så fikser han det for deg.

(Note: in norwegian, Crow is named "Ravn", which means "Raven")

A: Stay here! And shut up! I--
C: *didn't quite catch that*
A: gave you that name cause i had a raven when i was small.
C: Oh?
A: I found him under a tree. He had seemingly fallen out of the nest. He might as well have fallen from the moon, the little bugger (?). He looked so lost.
C: How cute.
A: I had to take care of him that sommer. His parents didn't want him after he'd gotten human-smell on him.
C: I can understand them. Have you smelled your self lately?
A: After a while hele learned to eat out of my hand and sitt on my shoulder. He became the coolest bloke in the entire schools playground (in lack of a better word)
C: And you called him...
A: Crow, yes. Suddenly one day he was gone. I have never been so happy, as when i later found out that he had built a nest in the same tree as he fell from.
C: So your regards towards raven-being in it's commeness is then that...
A: That ravens is some real funnybirds. (i can't really find any good words for "rakkere", therefore: excuse the pun.)
C: Oh. Well. Hm. I might have been a bit too angry before. Sorry. Sorry. Hm. Stupid me.
A: You? (as in "Crow?") Do you plan to keep up that whining, or do you plan to help me? We don't have that much time.
C: No, of course. I shall help you. Everything you ask for. Just tell old Crow what he needs to do, and he'll get it done for you.

Yeah. That'd be about it i think. - KHH (21/8-07)

Fascinating, I had no idea! But it might be better to translate Ravn as Raven, just to avoid confusion. - wandrew

I like that story better than the one in the English translation, actually. - Tullis

Avoid confution? Well... in Dreamfall they'd called him "Crow" in the norwegian too (and verius other things also kept their english name, much to the irritation of me and others i know of. Espessiallt those things that were already named othervise in TLJ), and April, being Raven in english, became Ravn. Now that was confucing. But yeah, as long as there's a note at the top, that might be smart. -KHH (oh, and sorry for saying that stuff about the (missuse of)translation in DF when it had nothing to do with anything, it just really bugs me)