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"All your base are belong to us" (sometimes referred to as '''"All Your Base"''' and often abbreviated '''AYBABTU''', '''AYBAB2U''', or simply '''AYB''') is a phrase that sparked an Internet Phenomenon in 2001 and 2002. The text is taken from the opening Cut-scene of the English version of the Japanese Video Game '' Zero Wing ''. The translation of this cut-scene was so poor many found it humorous. The game was originally produced by Toaplan in 1989. Groups of game enthusiasts began Digitally Alter ing various images to include the phrase. Eventually, these images were collected together onto one site, Tribalwar , and a Flash Animation produced from them, which was widely Downloaded . ''.]] The well-known quotations were taken from the Europe an localization of the Sega Mega Drive Port released in 1992. The arcade version of ''Zero Wing'' does not include the quote, though it does include an equally butchered ending; the intro for the PC Engine version has CD -quality spoken dialogue but has a completely different introduction. ''Zero Wing'' was never released in North America and therefore never came to the Sega Genesis , the North American version of the Mega Drive. AYB is interesting because it demonstrated the Internet's power to spread messages rapidly that would never have been covered by the traditional mass media. Although the fad has died down, the phrase continues to be one of the most commonly quoted examples of " Engrish ." The phrase is also often used as a Battle Cry on many competitive video games, particularly ones played over the Internet . '' Guild Wars '' has even made it a skill for the warrior class, where the character shouts "For Great Justice!" (a reference to another quote from ''Zero Wing'', "Move 'zig.' For great justice.") and thereby causes adrenaline to gain twice as fast for a short while. AYB is often cited as an example of a Meme , a self-propagating thought, idea, or message, because of its broad, rapid spread across the Internet and around the world. It has also been recognized as a Snowclone , wherein a familiar phrase is modified by substituting new words into the phrase (for example, "All your bug are belong to me" as used on Wikipedia's MediaZilla main page ). Newgrounds ' Flash portal spawned many variants of the Flash animation with a wide range of content, creativity, and quality. HISTORY The phrase is a line from the game's introductory Cut Scene , which is subtitled and poorly translated (''see'' Engrish ). It made its first appearance on the Internet in 1998. During mid- to late 1998, the phrase began to appear on many Internet Forum s. In 2000, Jared and Canadian Gabber group The Laziest Men On Mars created the song "Invasion of the Gabber Robots" using samples from the game theme by Tatsuya Uemura (including a robotic voice synthesis rendition of the complete cut-scene dialogue, which by some accounts caused MP3.com to temporarily remove the track from their servers for perceived Copyright violation). By the second half of February 2001 a huge number of altered pictures, GIF animations, and Macromedia Flash animations (in addition to photos of actual sightings) swept over the Internet, the first being the twelfth episode of " Eskimo Bob ," in what creators Tomas and Alan Guinan later declared their worst episode to date, going so far as to post warnings advising people not to watch it. It has been used as a caption for almost any photograph since the heavily overloaded word " Base " (along with Homonym s such as ''bass'' and compounds like '' Base Pair '') seemed to make the phrase mean almost anything. Numerous persons and groups also replaced the word "base" with other topics (e.g. "all your data are belong to us," "all your vote are belong to us," "all your oil are belong to U.S."), generally suggesting someone's aggressive dominance — either real or imagined — in a particular field. AYB IN THE MEDIA in Nevada ]] .]] Due to its immense popularity, the phrase or some variation of the lines from the game has been seen in innumerable articles, books, comics, clothing, movies, radio shows, songs, television shows, video games, webcomics, and websites. However, few have actually drawn any legitimate media attention. A selection of those that have garnered such coverage follows; a Google search will turn up thousands more hits on individual websites.
RELATED PHRASES AND USAGE The final phrase "for great justice" has been adopted by various groups as their slogan, and there is also some adoption of "move 'zig'" (which resembles " Let's Roll " — a universal command to action; "Zig" was the name of the small fighter craft piloted by the player in ''Zero Wing'') and "Somebody set up us the bomb" (basically "uh-oh!" or "We're under fire!"). TRANSCRIPTS AND TRANSLATIONS See Zero Wing (translations) for transcripts of the opening and closing scenes as well as the original Japanese text and various English translations. TRANSCRIPT The cut scene transcript goes as follows: : Narrator: In A.D. 2101, war was beginning. : Captain: What happen ? : Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb. :: ''(spoken in the Flash animation as ''Someone set up us the bomb'')'' : Operator: We get signal. : Captain: What ''!'' : Operator: Main screen turn on. : Captain: It's you ''!!'' : CATS: How are you gentlemen ''!!'' : CATS: All your base are belong to us. : CATS: You are on the way to destruction. : Captain: What you say ''!!'' : CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time. : CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha .... :: ''(spoken in the Flash animation as ''Ha Ha Ha'') '' : Captain: Take off every 'Zig' ''!!'' : Captain: You know what you doing. : Captain: Move 'Zig'. : Captain: For great justice.
ORIGINAL JAPANESE TEXT The bluntness of the famous mistranslation is in stark contrast to CATS's cool, caustic irony in the original text. The difference is especially vivid in the line corresponding to "All your base are belong to us." In the original line, CATS uses a form of Japanese grammar that is rude to the listeners but respectful towards the Federation army. Since the Federation army was presumably an ally of the Captain, this usage is particularly offensive but might be sarcastic. It suggests that the Federation army was treacherously co-opted into betraying the bases. It also appears from the original text that CATS may be the name of an organization, not just of the particular cyborg villain appearing on the screen (as is the popular interpretation among English speakers.) Please note: You may need to have Japanese character sets installed on your computer for proper display. : 西暦２１０１年 : 戦いは始まった。 : 艦長：一体どうしたと言うんだ！ : 機関士：何者かによって、爆発物が仕掛けられたようです。 : 通信士：艦長！通信が入りました！ : 艦長：なにっ！ : 通信士：メインスクリーンにビジョンが来ます。 : 艦長：おっお前は！ : ＣＡＴＳ：おいそがしそうだね、諸君。 : ＣＡＴＳ：連邦政府軍のご協力により、君達の基地は、全てＣＡＴＳがいただいた。 : ＣＡＴＳ：君達の艦も、そろそろ終わりだろう。 : 艦長：ばっばかなっ・・・！ : ＣＡＴＳ：君達のご協力には感謝する。 : ＣＡＴＳ：せいぜい残り少ない命を、大切にしたまえ・・・・。 : ＣＡＴＳ：ハッハッハッハッハッ・・・ : 通信士：艦長・・・。 : 艦長：ＺＩＧ全機に発進命令！！ : 艦長：もう彼らに託すしかない・・。 : 艦長：我々の未来に希望を・・・ : 艦長：たのむぞ。ＺＩＧ！！ LITERAL TRANSLATION :AD 2101 :War began. : (Explosion goes off) : Captain: What on earth is wrong, you say?! : Engineer: It seems that someone has laid down explosives. : Communication operator: Captain! A signal has come in! : Captain: What!? : Communication operator: A vision comes on the main screen. : Captain: Y-You! : CATS: You seem busy, gentlemen. : CATS: In cooperation with the Federal Government forces, CATS has taken over your entire base. : CATS: I guess it will soon be the end of your ship as well, huh. : Captain: Y-You fool! could you..." ...! : CATS: Thank you for your cooperation. : CATS: Take care in these few remaining moments of your life. : CATS: Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha... : Communication operator: Captain.... : Captain: All ZIG aircraft, take off!! : Captain: We cannot but trust in them... : Captain: Hope for our future... : Captain: is in your hands. ZIG!! ALTERNATIVE "FREE TEXT" TRANSLATION The following is a "free text" translation of the original Japanese. It is not intended to translate the exact wording of the original, but rather an attempt to capture the spirit and tone which the author intended. : A.D. 2101—The war has begun. : Captain: What was that?! : Chief Engineer: Somebody set off a bomb! : Operator: Captain! We have an incoming transmission! : Captain: What? Who? : Operator: Activating Holoviewer... : Captain: You! You're... : CATS ''(with sarcasm)'': You seem to be preoccupied, gentlemen. : CATS: With the kind cooperation of the Federation forces, we {Link without Title} are now in control of Earth! (some suggest the intent was that the entire empire was taken over) : CATS: Your ship, too, will soon meet its end. : Captain: What do you mean? : CATS: We thank you for your kind cooperation. : CATS: Make the most of these last moments of your lives. : CATS: Ha ha ha ha ha... : Operator: Captain... : Captain: Give the launch order to all ZIG fighters! : Operator: Captain! Do you know what you are doing? : Captain: Yes, we can only depend on them now. : Captain: Our hope for the future... : Captain: It's in your hands, ZIG fighters! ALTAVISTA TRANSLATION Western calendar 2101 fight started. Captain: Just that how it did, word you bore! Engineer: No person it seems that it could set up the explosive according to. Communication operator: Captain! Communication entered! Captain: No っ! Communication operator: Vision comes to the main screen. Captain: As for っ you! CATS: Don't you think? busily so is, the ladies and gentlemen. CATS: With the cooperation of the Federal Government troop, everything CATS received your base. CATS: Also your warship, gradually probably is end. Captain: っ foolish っ...! CATS: You appreciate in your cooperation. CATS: Before making the life which at the very most remains and is little, important.... CATS: ハッハッハッハッハッ... communication operator: Captain.... Captain: In ZIG all machine takeoff order! ! Captain: Already, only you entrust to them. Captain: Our future desires... captain: It is the む. ZIG! GAME ENDING Though the arcade version of ''Zero Wing'' did not have the famous "Engrish" introduction, it did provide more unintentional comedy upon completion of the game: : Congratulation ''!!'' : A.D.2111 : All bases of CATS were : destroyed. : It seems to be peaceful. : but it is incorrect. : CATS is still alive. : ZIG-01 must fight : against CATS again. : and down with them : completely ''!'' Good luck. --> SEE ALSO
FOOTNOTES EXTERNAL LINKS ''As with media and other references, the number of sites containing a reference to AYB is very large. Accordingly, the following are links considered representative without being redundant or trite.
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