diff --git a/database/new/mysql.sql b/database/new/mysql.sql
index 5d6100c..45d52dc 100644
--- a/database/new/mysql.sql
+++ b/database/new/mysql.sql
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `level` (
   `id` int(11) NOT NULL,
   `name` varchar(64) DEFAULT NULL,
   PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `level_role` (
   `level_id` int(11) NOT NULL,
   `role` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
   PRIMARY KEY (`level_id`,`role`),
   CONSTRAINT `level_role_level` FOREIGN KEY (`level_id`) REFERENCES `level` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `player` (
   `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `player` (
   UNIQUE KEY `guid` (`guid`),
   KEY `player_level_idx` (`level_id`),
   CONSTRAINT `player_level` FOREIGN KEY (`level_id`) REFERENCES `level` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `alias` (
   `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `alias` (
   PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
   KEY `player_idx` (`player_id`),
   CONSTRAINT `alias_player` FOREIGN KEY (`player_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `history` (
   `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `history` (
   KEY `history_invoker_idx` (`invoker_id`),
   CONSTRAINT `history_invoker` FOREIGN KEY (`invoker_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION,
   CONSTRAINT `history_victim` FOREIGN KEY (`victim_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `mute` (
   `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `map` (
   `name` varchar(128) NOT NULL,
   `lastplayed` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL,
   PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `record` (
   `map_id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL,
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `record` (
   KEY `player_idx` (`player_id`),
   CONSTRAINT `record_map` FOREIGN KEY (`map_id`) REFERENCES `map` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION,
   CONSTRAINT `record_player` FOREIGN KEY (`player_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
-) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;
+) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
 
 -- add levels
 INSERT INTO `level` (`id`, `name`) VALUES (0, 'Guest');
diff --git a/database/upgrade/1.1.0/mysql.sql b/database/upgrade/1.1.0/mysql.sql
index 60ba8f7..785d6c7 100644
--- a/database/upgrade/1.1.0/mysql.sql
+++ b/database/upgrade/1.1.0/mysql.sql
@@ -323,3 +323,16 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `ban` (
     CONSTRAINT `ban_invoker` FOREIGN KEY (`invoker_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION,
     CONSTRAINT `ban_victim` FOREIGN KEY (`victim_id`) REFERENCES `player` (`id`) ON DELETE NO ACTION ON UPDATE NO ACTION
 ) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 COLLATE=utf8_unicode_ci;
+
+-- update existing tables to UTF-8
+ALTER TABLE `alias`
+    CHARACTER SET = utf8, COLLATE = utf8_unicode_ci;
+
+ALTER TABLE `player`
+    CHARACTER SET = utf8, COLLATE = utf8_unicode_ci;
+
+ALTER TABLE `map`
+    CHARACTER SET = utf8, COLLATE = utf8_unicode_ci;
+
+ALTER TABLE `record`
+    CHARACTER SET = utf8, COLLATE = utf8_unicode_ci;