The names of the character from Pokemon Legends ZA are highly inspired and it shows - an analysis.
A lot of the characters from Pokemon Legends ZA have really interesting names. But they aren't the usual fair of names being puns on their typings. More primarily, the names of the major characters tend to be based on flowers, animals (mostly birds), and colors. Anyone who is a literature fan will know that flowers, animals, and colors have symbolism to them. Let's do a deep dive!
More below the cut. Please note there are spoilers to end game and DLC
Let's talk about flowers.
Flowers are one of the major symbols in both XY and ZA. To get right to the obvious, the story of AZ and his Eternal Floette, a pokemon that is a fairy quite literally holding a three petaled flower. If you look at the map of Kalos, it has three major paths that branch out in that same flower shape. The doomsday weapon that is featured in XY fired off by Lysandre and Team Flare is shaped like a three leafed flower. And of course, at the end of Legends ZA, Floette is controlled by Ange, a flower shaped monster that unleashes roots all over Lumiose and has bulbs that look like carnivorous plants. Flowers as symbolism are beyond more than just major story beats--even the characters are named after specific types of flowers!
Let's start with Ansha.
The name Ansha comes from "anjer", the Dutch word for carnation. Her mother, Diantha's name, also stems from the genus Dianthus. The genus of carnations.
Carnations come in many colors and each color has different meanings. Notably white and pink carnations are tied to Ansha and Diantha. White carnations symbolize love, innocence, and faithfulness. Pink carnations symbolize gratitude, motherly love, and remembrance. This makes perfect sense to a character who is so devoted to her mother that she wants to catch her one of the strongest legendary pokemon out there, Rayquaza. She is a sweet and innocent child who can barely fathom her position as someone chosen by mythical and legendary pokemon. She feels endless gratitude for those that help her on her journey. She feels so much love for her mother, and while Diantha only appears in the story as a name, you can tell she cares for her daughter by putting her under trusted wards and only wanting to give her the best upbringing.
Lysandre
Lilies are another flower that have meaning based on their color. Appropriately, Lysandre's hair during the events of XY is bright orange and shaped similarly to the petals of a lily. Orange lilies symbolize enthusiasm, honesty, and happiness. While his goal is an extreme, his motivations are definitely based on him wanting a specific kind of happiness and enthusiasm for his image of a perfect world. He is certainly honest about his goals, albeit misguided. White lilies are appropriate for Lysandre's role in ZA. White lilies represent purity, innocence, and rebirth. L suffers from memory loss after the events of XY. He does not remember who he is or what war crimes he committed. While he is anything but innocent, him not remembering what happened is innocent in a way. He is seeking to be free of his guilt. Appropriately, he is seeking a rebirth to his image as well as a rebirth to the cycle of abuse Kalos has suffered. His name is also a reference to the Fleur-de-lis, the once again referenced three petaled flower of Floette, Kalos' map, Ange, and the doomsday device. The fleur-de-lis represents purity and Floette definitely is a pure being. Lysandre seeks purity in Kalos, even if his goal is more corrupt than he realizes.
Jacinthe
Jacinthe is based on Hyacinths. Her Japanese name, Yukari, means violet. Many of her other European names are literally Violette or Lilette (lilac). These are other popular purple flowers. Let's stick with Hyacinths as they are flowers that are very reactive and delicate. Hyacinths can change their color depending on the pH of the soil. It is hard to maintain, just as it is hard for Jacinthe to maintain her own stability and remains a perfectionist to an almost obscene level. White Hyacinths symbolize beauty and loveliness. Jacinthe prioritizes beauty above all things. She wants Lumiose to be a city of beauty. She also makes sure she is beautiful at all costs. Pink Hyacinths symbolize joy and mischief. She is playful in every act, down to how she treats subordinates with her Jacinthe zones and makes Lebanne wear a maid dress. She holds tournaments because she loves to play. Purple Hyacinths symbolize jealousy and desire. She is quick to be jealous of others, especially when she doesn't get her way. If anything comes between her and her desires, she is ruthless. Much like how she forces the major players of Lumiose to join her tournament. Though often misguided at times, she desires safety and stability for her environment by wanting a safe Lumiose.
Lebanne
I personally had never heard of fleabane before, but I certainly have seen them before. I included a picture of a fleabane growing on asphalt to show that fleabane is well known for its resilience and adaptability. It can grow in pretty stubborn environments where beautiful flowers should not be blossoming, and yet it grows there. Not to mention Lebanne's braid looks like the stems of fleabane, not just a dragon's tail. Her ace, Dragalge, also has a similar shape to the fleabane stems, does it not? Either way, fleabane being a symbol of resilience and adaptability make perfect sense for someone who is in indentured servitude. She remains resilient to the constant whims of Jacinthe. But she is also simultaneously protecting and being protected by Jacinthe. Having a powerful dragon type trainer at your beck and call is perfect protection! At the same time, Lebanne is protected from being a street fighting rebel now that she is stuck inside the hotel all day serving Jacinthe. But she is resilient and would do fine no matter what, especially because of her strength.
Mable
Much like the usual fair of professors named after trees, Mable is similar to Maple. Mable has a major role in XY as one of the scientists and admins of Team Flare. It is a plot point of ZA that she should very much be in prison right now for her war crimes, but instead she got lucky and now is confined to working as the professor. One would say that she got out of a rough deal with dignity. That is what Magnolias symbolize: luck, stability, and dignity. Magnolia is her name in German translations. Maple trees symbolize strength, protection, and transformation. She is transformed by her work, showing that she is in the process of changing her ways from the holo-tech scientist criminal. Talk about restorative justice! What a great angle.
Tarragon
Okay, Tarragon is not based on a flower, but he's still based on a plant. His name obviously comes from Tarragon, the herb. Tarragon is pretty common in witchcraft and healing to be used for clarity and protection through subtle strength. This is well mirrored by Tarragon's subtle act of being Canari's holo-tuber and how he dedicates his company to protecting her. Subtle strength? He's a pretty tiny man, but he does not let his size affect his performance as a formidable trainer with boundless courage to do anything for Canari and anything for Lumiose's protection. His role as the owner of the power company shows his subtle strength in protecting the city as a whole. Not to mention, tarragon is a very common herb used in French cooking. Did you know that tarragon is latin for Little Dragon? Game Freak missed not putting a dragon type on his team...
Vinnie
Once again, not another flower, but grapes do flower at some point during their growth process! And grapes are a major export of France. The common grape, vitis vinifera. In French, his name is Musquat (Italian/Japanese Muscat). Moscato is a type of grape and wine. Appropriately, they are green grapes, which Vinnie is known for wearing green accents. I appreciate the symbolism of grapes being for abundance, celebration, and joy (Dionysus!) as Vinnie has something very important to him to celebrate: his daughter. He sacrifices a lot for the protection of Lumiose and by extension, his daughter.
Philippe
I'm biased and saved my favorite flower symbolism for last. I'm practically obsessed with the origin of Philippe's name being Baby's Breath. His Japanese name, Gypso, and Philippe, both come from the genus for Baby's Breath: Gypsophila. Despite being a man of hard-shelled appearance and a gruff exterior, he's a big softy. He has many plot beats where he's softer than he lets on, such as gifting a water stone to Lida. Or whenever he receives a compliment from Corbeau his body language loosens and he becomes a little giddy. Baby's Breath, like many other flowers, differ in color. Notably, blue symbolizes loyalty, trust, and sincerity. His role in the story as the right hand man to Corbeau shows his loyalty and devotion to Corbeau and the Rust Syndicate. Baby's Breath as a whole represents dedication and everlasting love, often being included in wedding arrangements or used in baby showers. Sure, you can read his everlasting love for The Rust Syndicate as platonic. I'm a rustship truther and admitted my bias earlier. He definitely has everlasting love and dedication to Corbeau as shown through his abdication of his position as the head of the Syndicate. He remains loyal and vowed to protect Corbeau through thick and thin. (Dare I say, for better or for worse?) Either way, it's incredibly charming that such a diminutive flower is compared to such a large and powerful man. It goes to show that one should leave their internal biases at the door and not make assumptions about someone based on their appearance, but judge them by the character of their actions.
Let's talk about animals (especially birds).
Animals have always had symbolism in literature. Deer being symbols of innocence, foxes being sly, etc. Bird symbolism is very common as well, such as eagles symbolizing freedom and power, or turkeys symbolizing humility.
Canari
Canari is quite literally based on the idea of a "Canary in a Coal Mine". Coal miners would keep canaries in cages to detect toxic gas. Canaries are sensitive to carbon monoxide fumes and their distress would let the miners know its time to leave the mine. Pretty clever knowing that she is a playful girl living in a warehouse of an electric company. Her grandfather is a ground type trainer, so appropriately matching as the miner. She is the canary for DYN4MO. Her bright yellow is very obvious to match with the canary bird. Canaries also symbolize happiness, positivity, playfulness, creativity, and communication. This is shown through her work as a streamer. To be a streamer (I'm biased, as I've been one for 5 years), requires communication skills for networking and connecting with your audience, a great deal of creativity to stay ahead of the curve without burning out, playfulness (she's a gamer, duh), and positivity to keep her chat engaged. She does many creative stunts around the city, after all. But being a streamer also comes at a sacrifice. It's time and energy not everyone has willpower for, especially on lower number days (though low viewership is the least of her worries). Canari also inspires a lot of hope in Lumiose near the end of the plot, cheering along the MC and cheering with her fan club and construction workers. She has a tendency to get hasty or reluctant as well which can be part of her playfulness to some aspect.
Corbeau
Corbeau's name is literally French for crow. Corax (Spanish), Corvault, Corvin, etc. Ravan (German) for raven. In Japanese, his name is Karasuba meaning "glossy black crow wings" (badass!) Crows and other corvids have an immense weight in literature symbolism, especially thanks to Edgar Allan Poe. Crows are highly intelligent birds. I keep thinking about that post I've seen floating around about crows throwing cigarette butts in a recycle machine for food. While corvids can serve as an omen, which is mirrored in many citizens being terrified of The Rust Syndicate, everything isn't as it seems and once again bias must be put aside. The Rust Syndicate, while sometimes shady, has the ultimate goal of cleaning up the city. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty for betterment. This is where Corbeau's knack for intelligence and strategy come into play. He is often an integral part in plot points, giving strategy, especially in the DLC. Crows are often messengers in literature, thus another reason why he's often the messenger for events of the DLC or why he sends grunts (or Philippe) as a messenger. Transformation! How exciting! Not only is his major goal to transform the city into a place that is worth being called home, he himself has transformed through his life. He canonically grew up as a street urchin and was saved by Giovanni and later was under the charge of Lysandre. He's transformed quite a lot going from street orphan to the strategic leader of The Rust Syndicate. (I also have headcanons but this isn't the space for that...) Crows and Ravens are also seen as mysterious. Corbeau carries himself like a mystery, but the more you get to know him, you realize he's just like anyone else. The mystery is part of a facade to appear as a menacing leader. Lastly, corvids symbolize fate. Fate had to be at play for him to reverse his life the way he did. Is it not appropriate to say it is his fate to better Lumiose? That's partly why he tries so hard. Lastly, I think Game Freak missed by not giving him a Murkrow.
Okay, it's getting late. Let's head into talking about colors.
Colors have symbolism. I often think of how each color on pride flags are meaningful such red meaning life, green meaning nature, purple meaning spirit, etc on the traditional pride flag of 1978.
Griselle & Grisham
Griselle and Grisham's names come from the French word for gray - Gris. Their French names are Cendrie and Cendro, which mean ash. They are quite literally in the ashes of Team Flare's destruction. Perhaps the remaining orange on their designs inspire a phoenix motif? Either way, gray has a lot of symbolism. It often is a color of compromise, isolation, sadness, and decay. Griselle and Grisham have to compromise their pasts as Team Flare. They are isolated from others because of their past but are also trying to isolate from their past affiliation, their logo looking like the Flare logo but crossed out. They have matured since the events of XY. The organization has decayed and they wish to start anew with different goals, less extreme goals of protecting the city and achieving a perfect world. They are coming at Lysandre's goals with maturity and control he seemed to have lacked. They are definitely sad about their pasts, but are growing and maturing from that to better themselves. To do so definitely takes a lifetime of compromise, wouldn't you say?
Ivor & Gwynn
Another two for one special! These two are siblings, so it makes sense they both have names of similar meanings. Ivor's name comes from Ivory, a white tusk. His name in Japanese, Shiro, is the literal word for white. His other language names are also derived from such. Gwynn comes from the Cornish word for white. In Japanese, her name is Muku, meaning purity. Both have another name stemming from Alba, the poetic word for white (Albar in Spanish, Albus in Italian for Ivor, and Albia in French for Gwynn.) White has many meanings like innocence, perfection, balance, simplicity, openness, goodness, empowerment, clarity, etc. One could say that the ultimate goals of the Fists of Justice is innocent, right? In the sense that Ivor is a well-meaning himbo. His heart is rooted in goodness and his mission is simple. To protect the city, just like everyone else above. He does so by training women in empowerment to fight. Pretty cool feminist ally, in a way. Balance is important to have as a martial artist. Openness is important as well for his goals. That and being he runs a dojo, did you know Karate means "open hand"? I'd say his heart is pretty open to learning about the flaws of his methods as well. Gwynn is perfect for symbolizing balance, empowerment, perfection, and clarity. She balances out Ivor's boldness. She protects the things he could break like his phone. She gives him clarity when he's too thick-headed on situations. She also has a role in empowering and providing clarity for Canari when she also is too stubborn at times. She does an excellent job at providing clarity and balancing out the characters around her.
Naveen's name means purity and freshness, and his style is pretty fresh. And Lida's name means strong, tough, and mighty. These are neither flowers, animals, or colors and thus why I didn't elaborate on them, but they get honorable mentions.
