Dmitry Puchkov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dmitry Puchkov
Дмитрий Пучков
Puchkov in 2013
Born	Dmitry Yuryevich Puchkov (1961-08-02) August 2, 1961 (age 63) Kirovohrad, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Other names	Goblin
Citizenship	Russian
Occupation	Writer
Years active	1997–present
YouTube information
Subscribers	2.75 million (April 2022)
Total views	1.1 billion (April 2022)
Subscriber and view counts updated as of April 2022.

Dmitry Yuryevich Puchkov (Russian: Дми́трий Ю́рьевич Пучко́в; born August 2, 1961), also known as Goblin (Russian: Гоблин), is a famous Russian media personality. He is best known for translating English films and video games into Russian. He also has a popular web blog called Oper.ru. From 2008 until 2022, he had a very popular YouTube channel.

Puchkov has shared his views on politics. He has sometimes disagreed with government decisions. However, he has also shown support for the policies of Vladimir Putin. Because of this, some media outlets have called him a "Kremlin pundit" or a "warhawk." He strongly disagrees with these terms.

Even though he first studied to be an electrical engineer, Puchkov served in the Soviet Army. After the Soviet Union broke up, he started translating Hollywood films into Russian as a hobby. His unique voice-over translations are well-known for their humor. Later in his career, Puchkov also wrote screenplays and comic books.

Puchkov helped create online communities. These communities shared memes and supported Russian views. His YouTube channel had three million subscribers before it was removed. It was taken down for breaking community rules. This happened because he was sharing content that supported the Russian government.

Early Life and Career

Dmitry Puchkov was born on August 2, 1961. His birthplace was Kirovograd, which is now called Kropyvnytskyi in Ukraine. His mother is Ukrainian, and his father is Russian with German roots.

Before he became famous for translating films, Puchkov was known by the nickname Goblin. He also used the name "Senior Operative Agent Goblin." At the start of his public work, he was a police investigator. A newspaper article criticized police corruption. It was titled "Goblins in Militsiya Overcoats." After this, Puchkov and his co-workers jokingly started calling each other "goblins."

Puchkov began using the pen name Goblin when he wrote about video games. He shared his experiences in PC gaming magazines, especially about the game Quake. He then started his own website called Goblin's Dead End. This website was mainly about Quake. He became a popular commentator in the Quake community.

In 1999, his book Dungeon Cleaners was published. It quickly sold out and became a bestseller online. This book was later used as the idea for a video game. The game, Planet Alcatraz [ru], came out in 2006. A sequel followed in 2008.

Views on Current Events

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, Puchkov shared his opinions in interviews. He stated that the actions of the United States were a reason for Russia's actions. He also claimed that the Security Service of Ukraine was controlled by the CIA.

In March 2022, Puchkov publicly supported Russia's military actions in Ukraine. He often repeated key ideas from Russian media. Because of this, some officials in the European Union believe Puchkov supports policies that threaten Ukraine's independence.

In April 2024, Puchkov made strong statements about Ukrainians. He said that some people should be "shot without mercy." He also said that it was "useless to re-educate them." He claimed that Ukrainians were "being buried on an industrial scale." He said this was "for their own benefit and for ours as well." His audience applauded these words.

Sanctions

In December 2022, Dmitry Puchkov was added to the European Union's sanctions list. This was part of the ninth set of sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine. EU representatives noted that in 2014, Puchkov published a book called "Ukraine is Russia." In this book, he suggested that Ukraine is not a truly independent country. The EU stated that this view supports Russian government ideas.

Film Translations

Puchkov learned English by studying for two years at the Militsya House of Culture. Otherwise, he taught himself how to translate. He completed his first film translation during the perestroika period. This was a time when Western films were first shown to people in the Soviet Union.

His first translated films included Carlito's Way in 1995, and soon after, Aliens, Once Upon a Time in the West, Full Metal Jacket, The Thing, and Last Action Hero. He made these translations for a small group of friends. They were not meant for the public. However, it was easy to copy them using videocassette recorders. Because of this, his translations became very well-known and were shared widely.

When DVDs became popular, Puchkov became interested in translating films again. His work then reached a much larger audience. People could download his translated audio tracks for free from his website. These files only had Goblin's voice, without the original film sound.

Puchkov believes in high-quality translation. He does not like translations that are too literal. He thinks a good translation needs careful research. It should find Russian words that match the original meaning, especially when there isn't a direct translation. He even keeps lists of mistakes made by other film translators.

His "Alternative Approach"

Official film releases in Russia are usually fully dubbed. This means many voices replace the original language completely. But Puchkov's translations are different. He uses only one voice, his own, for both male and female characters. This is called a voiceover. It allows you to still hear the original sounds of the film. Puchkov believes this method is more real. He thinks it stays closer to what the director wanted.

In his translations, every line is translated correctly and nothing is left out. He tries to make the language and speech style as close to the original as possible. He also translates wordplay and other figures of speech into fitting Russian forms.

Another important part of Puchkov's work is how he translates strong language. In official Russian versions, bad words are often removed. This can change the director's original idea. It can also confuse the audience. Colorful everyday expressions are lost in word-for-word translations. They often don't sound like the original at all. Goblin's way of translating helps keep the story clear. Villains don't accidentally become funny characters when the official, clean Russian version fails to show the original meaning.

For example, in the movie Commando, a strong line like "... you! ...!" was changed in the official Russian dub to Прощайся с жизнью! (Say "good bye" to your life!).

Commercial Translations

Translating films is a hobby for Puchkov. He only translates movies he is interested in and does not get paid for these hobby translations. However, because he is so popular, he gets job offers from companies that distribute foreign films in Russia. These companies ask him to translate films for cinemas and TV.

Some of his commercial translations include Team America: World Police, South Park, and The Sopranos. He also worked on a funny translation of Bimmer with the original filmmakers.

His most recent work in this area was for Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla. For this film, the distributors hired Puchkov to do the dubbing. He even voiced the narrator, Archy. At the movie's first showing, Puchkov read a full, uncensored voiceover translation. In regular cinemas, a slightly milder version was shown.

Besides films, he has also translated several video games for companies. These include Odium, Serious Sam, Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, and Bimmer: Blown Away Towers [ru].

Dmitry Buzadzhi, another Russian translator, has said that Puchkov's own translations are sometimes just average, even with his careful approach.

Humorous Translations

Puchkov also makes "funny translations." These are parodies of awkward translations often seen in the Russian film market. In these parodies, characters seem to speak very differently from the original films. The big difference between the "funny-translated" version and the original creates a strong comic effect.

He also changes character names, music, and adds new video and sound effects. This can turn a serious film into a silly comedy. His "funny-translated" films often make fun of important world and Russian events. This includes social and political life. They also include references to well-known American, Soviet, and current Russian films. Puchkov's "funny translations" use the logo of another of his studios, Bozhya Iskra (God's Spark). All funny translations are made with help from visitors to Puchkov's website. Their names appear at the end of the film.

Puchkov also adapted his Lord of the Rings translations into two books. These books kept much of the humor from the translated films. A video game called The Fellas and the Ring [ru] was also created. In this game, players can choose one of seven characters. They play through 12 levels, fighting enemies with various weapons.

Other Projects

On February 15, 2008, a documentary video game called The Truth About 9th Company was launched. Puchkov was the main idea person and inspiration for this project. It was announced as a way to fight against "the intentional destruction of historical memory of the people."

YouTube Channel Removed

On August 4, 2022, YouTube completely removed Dmitry Puchkov's channel. YouTube told him that he had violated their community rules.

Personal Life

Puchkov grew up in a military family. His father was an army officer, so they moved around the country a lot. Dmitry attended six different schools, including a boarding school. He finished his 10th grade in East Germany.

He served in the army as a military truck driver. He also received basic training to drive tanks. He stopped working for the Militsiya (police) in 1998, after six years there.

Throughout his life, he has had many different jobs. He worked as a librarian, truck driver, air compressor operator, and automobile mechanic. He was also a plumber, driller assistant, electrician, polisher, turner, and metal smith. He even worked as a cab driver, masseur, police canine handler, criminal investigator, and sales manager.

Images for kids

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  Dmitry Puchkov in 2013

See also

• Gavrilov translation
• Benshi