After 10 numbered games, a prequel, and numerous remakes I have a favorite NPC in the Ys series:
In real life I'm a little taller, a lot grayer, and couldn't pull off wearing that shirt. Also that character is not named after me.
At first I assumed they did something fun and named a random NPC after the current logged-in player. Doki Doki Literature Club does something like this and probably other games too. I found a random playthrough and jumped to this section of the game. Sure enough, this NPC has the same name as me there too. Neat.
Since there's nothing I apparently enjoy more than falling into an extremely narrow rabbit hole, I found a YouTube channel with a Japanese playthrough. Here’s the original and Google translated text:
That rules out a translation change/mistake.
In interviews with Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo the topic of tracking NPCs comes up more than once. In Falcom's Trails series there are an incredible number of NPCs across all the games. Sometimes they are simply named "female student" but more often they have a distinct name. The Ys series has fewer NPCs but going back to the first game they typically all have names. After 11 stories, or books if you prefer, there are 100s of names to track. There aren't many names that appear in both the Trails series and Ys series either. I think Falcom tries to avoid repeats across the two series. That could mean they are running low on spare names. If you've reached mine then you are scrapping the bottom of the barrel.
Also this name would have fit better in Ys IX where the setting is clearly inspired by France. I can't recall any French names being used in Ys IX now. In Ys X the Norman characters have viking sounding games. I don't see much of a theme with everyone else, I'm not an anthroponymist though. Yes I had to look that word up, I'm not a linguist either.
Anyway, this particular Hugues is a fisherman in Mynorca village. He introduces himself after Adol & Karja deal with some nearby trouble. He doesn't contribute to the story in a significant way, he adds to the atmosphere and makes the world feel more complete.
Like most NPCs in Ys X, his dialog is updated as the story advances:
I mean, sure, they encapsulated my entire personality into this line but it's a coincidence. Hugues should be enjoying life in this quiet island village, instead he's consumed by dread. This is all too relatable.
It's definitely all a coincidence.
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