"Big Bertha" Meaning (No Spoilers)

[Ite]

I probably wasn't the only one who saw the name "Big Bertha" as a gun for a black man and felt a bit weirded out. It sounds a bit "Aunt Jemima"-ey, subtly racist in a minstrel kind of way... Turns out, I was projecting all of that! It's not a microaggression, rather a reference to one of the largest artillery pieces ever fielded: WWI's Minenwerfer-Gerät, nicknamed -- you guessed it -- BIG BERTHA.

Since it was German, it's probably pronounced "Ber-taa" but the fact that Barret can wield one of the most impressive cannons ever... on his arm... is pretty awesome. The more you know!

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I knew that!

I was having a conversation with some Turks fans recently, and in response to something one of them said (can't remember what) I said, "Because Heidegger is a Nazi?"

And they went Whaaaat?

And I said, "Yes, Martin Heidegger, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, and a Nazi apologist."

 

[looneymoon]

Yeah I think I remember learning this in high school social studies. One of my teachers was a big WW1/WW2 nerd. Also graduating with a history/literature double major gives you super powers in retaining random bits of useless information found in really boring textbooks.

 

[Eerie]

I thought Big Bertha was widely known, I learned that in high school lmao

 

[Fangu]

I knew about Big Bertha too. Probably more widely known in Europe

 

[Ite]

Oh, heh, ? I definitely skipped too much in highschool and often slept through history. Probably because I was up all night playing FF7.

 

[ForceStealer]

I knew about Big Bertha, I watched a lot of history channel growing up, lol

 

[S.L.Kerrigan]

Since it was German, it's probably pronounced "Ber-taa" but the fact that Barret can wield one of the most impressive cannons ever... on his arm... is pretty awesome. The more you know!

I don't know if you suggest it already but, Barret could be a kind of anagram of Bertha !

 

[Odysseus]

Is it bad that I only remembered "Big Bertha" as the name of the fish enemy in Mario 3?

 

[Teioh]

No 'cus that's exactly what I thought too and had to google it to make sure it was actually called that

 

[Theozilla]

Not too surprising, when for better or worse, it's not uncommon for Japanese media to name characters and/or things after Japanese war machinery (war ships being pretty common). Even huge anti-war creators like Hayao Miyzaki are admitted to being sheepishly huge military/machinery otaku.

 

[Edley]

"Barrett" is the name of a US firearms manufacturer, most known for their .50 cal rifle. Wallace is a reference to William Wallace, the Scottish Freedom fighter made famous to most in Braveheart.

The Sister Ray cannon is named after a Velvet Underground song I believe.

 

[JBedford]

Of course, the Japanese name for this weapon is "Largemouth", which is a fish, or simply noting its large barrel.

I approve this localisation choice.

I first heard the name Big Bertha thanks to Age of Empires. A cheat would turn catapult units into an improved version by this name.