What's in a Name?

Those Proxians have some really strange names.
Yeah... it's hard to figure out where they are getting their names from.
I wonder what their baby name book would look like if they had one...
Apparently it's not really all that random after all.
Kyarorain did some research a while back, with some help, to find out the hidden meanings behind their names.
Now she's compiled it all into a nice essay.
Prepare to be stunned by the stuff you see here.
It certainly hurt my brain. Now I've got these freaky images in my mind... *shudder*

Saturos- Romanized as Satyuros in Japanese. Obviously, the name is derived from Satyr. The Satyrs were a troop of males who accompanied Pan and Dionysus. They would roam woods and mountains. Mythology often associates them with sex drives and vase painters would portray them with... well, let's just say vase painters were very perverted and leave it at that. Dionysus's satyrs are lovers of wine and women, and are always ready for physical pleasure, plus they enjoyed dancing.

Menardi- The official romanization of her name in Japanese is Menadi, which is the Italian word for the Maenads, otherwise known as Bassarids, Bacchae or Bacchantes. They were female worshippers of Dionysus, the Greek god of mystery, wine and intoxication, and were known as wild, insane women who could not be reasoned with. Dionysus inspired them to go into ecstatic frenzies, which involved a lot of violence, bloodbaths, sex, getting drunk, and mutilation. They also liked to dance quite a lot too.

So, that is the secret of the meaning behind Saturos and Menardi. Crazy, isn't it? Two people named after crazed sex fiends in an E-rated game! Still, it was very clever on Camelot's part to pick these names. I bet few people knew about their association with Dionysus and Greek mythology. Of course, I can understand why they wouldn't have explained.

It was a little more difficult to find out the meanings behind Agatio's and Karst's names, since the connection between the two isn't as obvious and they don't come from mythology.

Karst- It was hard to find out the meaning behind this name, but Wikipedia has an article on "Karst topography". According to the Karst disambig article, Karst is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of layers of soluble bedrock characterized by a large number of holes and caves. Yes, it's as boring as it sounds so I won't bother going into a lengthy explanation about it. The only other results for Karst on Wikipedia were the character herself and the last name Karst. There is also a limestone borderline plateau region in Italy called Kras, otherwise known as the Classical Karst. Italy again, huh? Interesting. It's also possible her name comes from the mineral karstenite.

Agatio- After the oddity of the meaning behind Karst, it wouldn't surprise me if this actually came from the word agate. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks but can be common in certain metamorphic rocks.

Well, after the awesomeness of Saturos and Menardi's names, Agatio and Karst are quite a letdown. I mean, rocks? I can understand Agatio's, since agate is associated with volcanic rocks, but I don't get Karst at all.

And then there's the only other Proxian to be named, Puelle. His Japanese name can be romanized as Pure, so I guess it's to do with purity. It kind of makes sense, I guess, since he's nicer than some certain Proxians, but still... it's so random.

While we're on the subject of names, there are some other characters in the games with names that have some meaning. Conservato, for example, is obviously supposed to be a pun on the word "conservative" and we know how much he dislikes change. I also believe that Babi comes from "Babel", considering the similarities between the Tower of Babel and Babi Lighthouse.

Susa and Kushinada's names are taken from the legend that the serpent storyline is based off. Susanoo no Mikoto was the Shinto god of the sea and storms. When banished from the Heavens, he descended to the province of Izumo where he met an elderly couple. Seven of their eight daughters had been eaten by the eight-headed serpent, Yamata no Orochi. It was almost time for it to eat their last daughter,  Kushinada-hime. Susanoo slew the serpent after getting it drunk on sake, then found a sword inside its tail, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. At the time however, it was called the Ama-mo-Murakumo no Tsurugi. Murakamo no Tsurugi is in fact the Japanese name of the Cloud Brand in the game. Generations later, the A-m-M no Tsurugi was given to the warrior Yamato Takeru. Takeru is the name Susa and Kushinada (in the game) hope to give to their son.

Kraden's Japanese name, Sclater, may be a reference to the geologist Philip Sclater, who developed the theory of a hypothetical land mass he called Lemuria. Way to mess that one up, translator people =D

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