So I was Curious (about the way Cabanela was originally written in the Japanese version of Ghost Trick)
… and I discovered that Inspector Cabanela doesn’t use “baby” or ベイビイ as a random verbal tic in the Japanese-language version of the game.
He exclusively uses it to refer to Lynne.
“Tonight… he [Yomiel] had "everything" planned. He had Baby [Lynne] shoot him dead.… and then his body disappeared…”
“…hey, Baby. How are you feeling tonight?”
“Cabanela-san… Why are you here…? [Doesn’t… the Special Investigation Team have an important mission tonight…?]”
“What. That’s nothing compared to the pinch Baby’s in.”
“…It's not that I suspect you [of shooting Yomiel], Baby. You might get shot at, but you would never shoot anyone. I know Baby very well. That’s who I am.”
*translation note: Cabanela literally says “that’s me (boku wa ne)” instead of “that’s who I am” but I translated these lines in the spirit of what was meant by the character. Cabanela is saying here that he knows Lynne wouldn’t shoot someone even in self-defense, which is an odd trait for a police officer to have. “That’s who I am” is meant to reassure Lynne that Cabanela knows her better than anyone else.
(It’s giving Miego vibes, how Diego calls Mia/Chihiro ‘kitten’ instead of her name. Cabanela’s constant pet names for Lynne, I suspect, were intentionally toned down for the English-language release. He calls Lynne ベイビイ 4 times in one sentence.)
Especially when you consider that when Yomiel blames Lynne for her getting kidnapped in Chapter 15, Cabanela calls her a girl instead of a little girl:
”Lynne? That girl was just playing in the park...”
Finally, when Cabanela gives Lynne roses at the end of the game, he says “… happy birthday to my lovely Miss Lynne!”
我がラブリーなるリンネ嬢！Waga raburī naru Rin’ne jō!
another note: Translating waga as “our” is a deliberate mis-localization of what Cabanela says in Japanese. Technically waga CAN be used to describe “our” but typically 我が is only translated as “our” for buildings and governments in Modern Japanese. It’s used more in anime for saying “my”, and generally used by samurai & warriors in the sense of serving their master. It has an old-fashioned and chivalrous feeling to it, which is very on-brand for Cabanela’s feelings about Lynne.
Also, Lynne never calls Cabanela hideous in the Japanese. Check it out.
“Ah… this. I see. This [face] is a bit much, isn't it. This [face]. …Yeah, this [face] might make more sense!”
Here, Lynne’s just being sheepish about thinking she was Cabanela. It’s nothing about him being ugly, although she thinks he’s a little OTT about… everything. Aww.
In conclusion, the following photo is a great way to live your life:
(If you guys want any insights into other lines in the original game, my inbox is always open! I only went down this rabbit hole because cabalynne is much more of A Thing on pixiv and Japanese twitter than in the English speaking fandom, and I wanted to know why.)
