Koizumi: Yeah. I remember something else with regard to Z-targeting. When we were making a prototype of battle targeting, we wanted to make it easy to see which enemy you're targeting, so we made a marker.
Iwata: Uh-huh.
Koizumi: An upside-down triangle.
Iwata: Like the one appeared above the targeted opponent's head.
Koizumi: Yeah. But I was a designer, so I didn't want to use such a simple marker. I wanted to make something else, so I came up with a fairy. After all, it was The Legend of Zelda.
Iwata: So first you went to make a marker, and later you made the fairy?
Koizumi: Right. Usually, if you were to make a fairy, you would make a cute girl, but that wasn't possible with the Nintendo 64 system, so I just made a ball of light with wings.
Iwata: Uh-huh.
Koizumi: I called it the Fairy Navigation System, took it to Osawa-san, and asked, "How's this?" He immediately said, "Let's name it Navi." Because she navigates! (laughs)
Iwata: Osawa-san called on his simple naming sense. (laughs)
Osawa: Navi—from "navigation." (laughs) The Legend of Zelda games have a lot of names that show their origin. Link means to bind together. We give a lot of names that serve as functional symbols.
Iwata: Functional symbols are important to Miyamoto-san.
Osawa: I think so. I didn't just name her Navi out of my simple sense for naming. Rather, I thought I should name her that way out of respect for The Legend of Zelda naming tradition.
Koizumi: But when I heard the name Navi from Osawa-san, I was really happy. I had thought of it as a system, but…
Iwata: Naming it had breathed life into what had been an impersonal marker.
Koizumi: Right. I thought, "This is Navi," and ideas started coming to me one after the other. Like being able to tell by color whether the person you're facing is good or bad, and if Navi talked, she could be an important guide for the story. So naming the system Navi really helped it grow.
