Clyde and Blinky error

Excerpts from the 1992 Pac-Man Characters and Logo Style Guide used for licensing, showcasing the character naming error.

Throughout the early years in the Pac-Man series, there have been various instances in which the names or personalities of Ghosts Blinky and Clyde are swapped. Various fans have dubbed this as the "Clyde and Blinky error".

The error had become prominent in various Pac-Man media released after the original arcade game, appearing in various products released through the late 1980s until the late 2000s, mostly becoming uncommon after the 2010s. This error would eventually fade into irrelevance entirely in more recent entries after 2007, with the Ghosts being restored to their original names from thereon.

History[]

Hanna-Barbera cartoon and Pac-Land[]

While this was not a case where the names of the ghosts were swapped, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon showed Clyde and Blinky behaving contrarily to how they were depicted in the arcade games. Here, Clyde was the self-proclaimed boss, Pinky was the "tough guy" of the group (and depicted as male), Inky was wacky and erratic, and Blinky was cowardly. These characteristics also carried over into their facial expressions in the arcade game based off of the TV series, Pac-Land, where Clyde has angry eyes, Pinky has a standard expression, Inky has crossed eyes, and Blinky has timid-looking eyes. Clyde was also the fastest-moving ghost, followed by Pinky, Inky, and Blinky in that order.

In addition, the TurboGrafx-16 manual for the game showed Clyde as the red ghost and Blinky as the orange one. Despite this, the game's port portrayed the red ghost and orange ghost in their normal colors.

In the animated release trailer for Pac-Man Museum +, Blinky and Clyde are shown with their original personalities and expressions in the portion of the trailer where Pac-Man is ambushed by them in Fairy Land.

Western Publishing Pac-Man Books[]

Instead of Clyde being the leader, it's Inky?

In a stranger case of this error, Clyde is entirely gone from the books Pac-Man and the Ghost Diggers and Ms. Pac-Man's Prize Pupil, with Inky taking his role while Blinky replaces Inky (and is colored red on both covers despite being cyan in the books themselves) with Pinky and Sue remaining the same as they are with their Hanna-Barbera counterparts.

Pac-Mania[]

In Pac-Mania, Blinky, Sue, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde return from Pac-Land with Funky and Spunky joining them, and their facial expressions return as well. However, in this game, the red ghost and orange ghost have their colors switched from the game, and Namco Museum Vol. 5's "How to Play" for Pac-Mania describes the red and orange ghosts respectively as such:

Clyde - The Big Daddy of ghosts is bringing his henchmen.
Blinky - A ghost with such an innocent expression.....

The bezel for the arcade version of the game describes Clyde as "THE BOSS. He's super fast when mad", which is misleading because the description of him is referring to Blinky. It should be noted that Clyde carried his aggressive persona from Pac-Land.

A few Japanese arcade flyers also showed Clyde as the red ghost and Blinky as the orange one, and in this game, the red ghost and orange ghost are referred respectively to as "CLYDE" and "BLINKEY [sic]" internally.

Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 and beyond[]

The attract screen for Pac-Man in Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2, introducing the ghosts with the changes to their names. — The attract screen for *Pac-Man* in *Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2*, introducing the ghosts with the changes to their names.

Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2 was the first game to feature this change in-game for both the original and Arrangement versions of Pac-Man. At the title screen for either game, the four main ghosts are organized as shown on the image to the right.

Barring future ports of the original game and Ms. Pac-Man, this change would remain in the series until 2006's Pac-Man World Rally, in which it was finally reversed.

Pac-Man World series[]

The remodeling truck in the North American Pac-Man World commercial. — The remodeling truck in the North American *Pac-Man World* commercial.

All three Pac-Man World games (the original version of Pac-Man World, Pac-Man World 2, and Pac-Man World 3) feature the Clyde and Blinky error. This is most notable in the levels Blinky's Killer Frog and Clyde in the Caldera from World 2, and also occurs in spoken dialogue with both Blinky and Clyde in World 3. The unlockable Pac-Man arcade games do not include the error, however. In Pac-Man World, while their names are not mentioned in-game, a commercial featuring a truck labeled "Inky & Blinky Remodeling Co." uses artwork of Inky and Clyde. Their names were restored to the correct names in Pac-Man World Rally, as well as Pac-Man World Re-Pac and its sequel Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac.

Pac-Man productions featuring the Clyde and Blinky error[]

Pac-Man (1982-1983 TV Series); Blinky and Clyde's personalities are swapped.
Pac-Man and the Ghost Diggers; Clyde's name is entirely unused while Inky takes the role of the swapped Clyde while Blinky gains Inky's personality and color scheme.
Ms. Pac-Man's Prize Pupil; Clyde's name is entirely unused while Inky takes the role of the swapped Clyde while Blinky gains Inky's personality and color scheme.
Pac-Land; Blinky and Clyde retain their personality swaps as with the TV series.
Pac-Mania; Blinky and Clyde's names or personalities are swapped on some promotional cards and flyers.
Pac-Man Arrangement (1996); Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped.
Namco Museum Vol. 5; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped in the How to Play exhibit in Pac-Mania's exhibit room.
Pac-Man World; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped in the North American television commercial.
Pac-Man World 2; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped.
Pac 'n Roll; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped in the instruction manual.
Pac-Man World 3; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped.
Pac-Man Championship Edition; Blinky and Clyde's names are swapped in the Pac-Man Museum version of the game.

Trivia[]

Namco America's Characters and Logo Style Guide for the Pac-Man series issued in 1992 lists Clyde as red and Blinky as orange, establishing the inconsistency further.^[1]
While their names are never stated in-game, promotional material for Pac 'n Roll, including the manual and Japanese website, swaps Clyde and Blinky's names.^[2] Pac-Man Ghost Zone also had something similar in its design documents prior to its cancellation.
The Clyde and Blinky error was referenced in a Bandai Namco-licensed Bravoman webcomic; Clyde is asked what he thought about his name being switched so often, to which he replied: "Oooooh, don't get me STARTED."^[3]
Although Clyde uses his correct name in the film Wreck-It Ralph, the closed captions refer to him as Blinky. Notably, this occurred after the error had been corrected within the Pac-Man series itself.
The Pac-Man Museum port of Pac-Man Championship Edition features this error despite the original release having their correct names.

References[]

[1] ttps://archive.org/details/pacmannamcohometek-styleguide/page/n9/mode/2up

[2] ttps://www.bandainamcoent.co.jp/cs/list/pacn_roll/character/

[3] ttps://bravomancomics.tumblr.com/image/94669451014

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