Left-Handed Catcher

Historical and Cultural References in the Indivisible Cast

This post will be continually updated as Indivisible gets closer to its fundraising goal and Lab Zero reveals more Incarnations, as well as whenever we get new information about the characters.

Fund the game and play the prototype here! 

Ajna: 

• Her name refers to the third eye chakra, the name of which translates as “command.” 
• A Heruka is a wrathful deity that helps lead people to enlightenment in Buddhism. Naturally, Ajna’s Heruka form has a very prominent third eye.
• Ajna’s outfit is an interpretation of a traditional outfit called a kebaya and it can be found in numerous southeast Asian cultures. The kebaya is the national costume of Indonesia.
• Roti, Ajna’s pet tapir, was named for a form of unleavened flatbread frequently found in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. 

Zebei:

• Name derived from Jebe/Jebei, a general of Genghis Khan who was notable for being a really good shot. (Zebei’s name was changed in-game because in some dialects of Spanish ‘jebe’ is slang for ‘ass.’ Sorry, Zeb.)
• The Mongolian bow is pretty distinct in its design, and Lab Zero did a good job of replicating it. It’s a composite bow with a smaller design but a pretty good range (historical accounts vary on what the range is). A specific grip, the Mongolian draw, is used to draw the bow, and this requires wearing a thumb ring. (tl;dr Zebei has really strong thumbs)
• Additionally, Mongolian archers traditionally wore (and still wear) their braces on their outstretched arms, which explains why Zebei’s armor is on his outstretched arm and not his draw arm. (Going by his concept art, he shoots left-handed, too, which makes left-handed me really happy!)

Razmi:

• Razmi’s name ironically means “bright” in Sanskrit. Interestingly, according to this source, it’s also a Qaranic name that can mean any of the following: “sign,” “symbol,” “gesture,” “code,” “reserved,” “demure,” and “quiet.”
• Razmi is a shamaness, and mystics in Persian and southeast Asian art often wear tiger or leopard skins. Razmi wears a tiger pelt.
• Bom, Razmi’s tiger spirit friend, lives in her lantern, which she needs to ensure remains lit to keep Bom with her. Eternal flames are part of Zoroastrianism. 
  

Tungar:

• Yes, the urumi is a real weapon! It’s typically worn as a belt when not in use, though, but Tungar is allowed to wear it as a turban because he’s a boss.
  
• The weapon’s origins are traced to southeast India and Sri Lanka and possibly dates back as far as the Maurya Empire (322-185 BCE).
  

Dhar:

• Dhar’s name is a letter off from dha, which is the Burmese word for knife. The term has come to refer to all sorts of bladed weapons from the region, including swords. Specifically, the Kachin dha resembles the sword Dhar is carrying.
  
• Dhar itself is actually a fairly common surname of Kashmiri origin. The surname originated from an honorific given to village heads, strongmen, and warlords. Dhar appears in-game as a military officer.
  

Thorani:

• A Buddhist earth goddess is named Phra Mae Thorani (“earth mother,” with Phra being a Thai language honorific). Phra Mae Thorani can wring water out of her hair, much like in-game Thorani can. 
  

Vasco:

• Vasco’s armor appears to be conquistador-based.
  
• The most famous bearer of his name is Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the first European to reach India via sea.
  

Kushi and Altun:

• Kushi appears to be specifically based on Ashol-Pan, a thirteen-year-old Kazakh falconer living in Mongolia.
  
• Hunting with eagles (Altun is a roc) is a specific form of falconry practiced by the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyzs.
  

Narssus:

• Narssus likely served a bokor, a vodou (voodoo) sorcerer for hire. Haitian vodou describes bokors as using potions to stupefy victims and put them into servitude. Since the victims appear to initially be dead, they’re often buried, only to rise from the grave to do the bokor’s bidding - making them zombies. (In fact, this is where zombies enter into popular culture from - Haitian vodou.) 
  

Yan:

• For a real-life example of a dancer like Yan, check out Simona Atzori.
• The Jade Dynasty is an obvious reference to China, although there is no actual Jade Dynasty in China’s real-life history. As we learn more about the game and the world, it will be easier to pinpoint the time in China’s history that this dynasty represents (especially given the large number of coups over China’s long history).

Naga Rider:

• If it wasn’t already obvious, he’s a reference to Kamen Rider.
• A naga is a snake deity found in various religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. A notable Western pop culture sighting of the naga is Nagini (lit. “female naga”), Voldemort’s snake.
• Naga Rider has a dharma wheel on his belt, as well.
  

Phoebe:

• Phoebe was one of the Titans in Greek mythology, most notable for being the grandmother of twin archer gods Apollo and Artemis. The in-game Phoebe carries a bow that shoots spears instead of arrows and is a single mother. Also, she’s big and buff. Don’t mess with her. 
  

Kaldi:

• In Ethiopian legend, Kaldi was the name of the goatherd who discovered the coffee plant. The in-game Kaldi is a goatherd and coffee bean farmer. 
  

Toko:

• If written using certain kanji, Toko’s name reads as ‘tenth child’ in Japanese: 十子. The in-game Toko has nine siblings, although she’s the only survivor of a massacre.
  
• Toko’s character design appears to combine elements of samurai armor with a monk/nun look. Christianity is present in Japan, but it is very much a minority religion there. The first Christians to arrive in Japan were the Portuguese in the 1500s.
  
• During the Tokugawa Shogunate, Christianity was banned and practitioners were often persecuted. The ban on Christianity in Japan was not lifted until 1873, several years into the Meiji Era. (Hat tip to @utaoutauhito for informing me that I forgot to include this!)
• @utaoutauhito also added that Toko’s weapons resemble the pairing of the katana and the wakizashi, although generally they weren’t carried sheathed like a cross!
  

George:

• Saint George is most notable for being a dragon-slayer, much like this George is. He fought the dragon wielding a lance, although at the moment of actual dragon-slaying he used a sword. The story appears in numerous Christian traditions and emerged roughly around the 10th or 11th century. 
  

Baozhai:

• Baozhai appears to have been heavily influenced by historical figure Ching Shih, a notorious 19th century female pirate who commanded a massive fleet (crew numbers sometimes are given as high as 80,000), remained undefeated her entire career, and eventually retired peacefully from piracy after negotiating with the government as a very rich woman.
  
• Additionally, her name is close to 爆炸 (Bàozhà), which is Mandarin Chinese for ‘explosion.’ (source: @timi-insp)
  

Antoine:

• European nobles adopting children of African descent did historically happen - see Dido Elizabeth Belle for the most notable example (although she was fathered by a nobleman). More importantly, there has been an African presence in Europe for far longer than many people seem to want to acknowledge, and France (Antoine is a French name) actually has the largest black population in Europe today.
• More specifically, Antoine has a lot in common with Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George, as noted by @sasyquatch.
  
• Speaking of France, a “pending revolt led by a rising underclass leader” sounds awfully familiar, so hopefully Antoine doesn’t lose his head.
  

Zahra:

• Zahra’s design appears to be influenced by the Himba, a nomadic indigenous group living in Namibia and Angola. The Himba coat their skin and hair with a paste called otjize, which gives their skin a reddish tone that is considered an ideal beauty standard. Usefully, otjize also protects the skin from exposure to the heat and sun and from insect bites.
  
• Her instrument, the oud, is common in Middle Eastern, Greek, Turkish, and North African music.
  

Tenoch:

• Ōllamaliztli is the Mesoamerican ball game appearing in various cultures in the area, with the Maya and Aztec being the most notable practitioners. The game was played both recreationally and ritually. The game has many cultural aspects to it and is prominently featured in Mayan mythology.
  
• Additionally, Tenochtitlan was the name of the Aztec city located where Mexico City is located today. (Somehow, this historian does not see Tenoch and Vasco seeing eye to eye.)
  

Nuna:

• The in-game Nuna is the youngest of three sisters who can all commune with nature and make plants grow. The Three Sisters are the three main crops of various Native American groups, including the Iroquois Confederacy: winter squash, maize, and climbing beans.
  
• Nuna is a variety of common (climbing) bean, further strengthening this connection.
  

Lanshi:

• Lanshi is a fully puffed-out Tibetan Mastiff.
  
• Reincarnation as an animal due to misdeeds in a past life (and therefore linked to karma) is an aspect of Hinduism.
  

Qadira:

• Many women cross-dressed in order to serve in the military before servicewomen were accepted as soldiers. (For more on this trope in fiction, see TV Tropes’s Sweet Polly Oliver page, which does include some real-life examples.)
  
• Qadir, the masculine version of Qadira’s name, means “capable” or “powerful” in Arabic. Qadira’s character arc revolves around her proving her capability as a warrior. (Al-Qadir is one of the 99 names of Allah in Islamic tradition.)
  

Tatanka:

• Tatanka is the Lakota word for American bison. Tatanka’s character design features a lot of bison imagery.
• The most famous bearer of the name is Tatanka Iyotake, whom the world knows better as Sitting Bull.
  

Leilani:

• Leilani’s name means ‘heavenly flower’ in Hawaiian.
  
• Her weapon appears to be inspired by the leiomano, a Polynesian weapon (particularly associated with Hawaii) that consists of a sort of paddle or club studded with shark teeth.
• Many shark deities appear in Polynesian culture. Hawaii in particular has several shark gods (read about them here!) including Ka-moho-ali’i, who guides ships lost at sea back home. Fiji has Dakuwaqa, a shark god who protects fishermen.

Hassam:

• Name translates to “sword” in Urdu (the national language of Pakistan, which is also spoken in some areas of India)
• The hand on his chest resembles the hamsa, a palm-shaped amulet common throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa that symbolizes protection (and is specifically noted to defend against the evil eye)
• Prana is the Sanskrit word for a concept that roughly translates as “life force” (compare iddhi, where the characters’ powers come from in-game)
• Incidentally, Towers of Wisdom are drawings that frequently appear in European manuscripts dating to the 13th-14th centuries that guided monks towards a moral life, but this is likely just a coincidence.

Kampan:

• Her influences are more steampunk than strictly historical, so there’s not too much I can add about her weapon here other than the fact that it’s really cool.
• She does, however, share her name with a Tamil poet! Kampan, also known as Kambar, is best known for writing the Ramavataram, perhaps the greatest work in Tamil literature. The story is based upon the life of King Rama of Ayodhya, although Kampan’s version varies in some places from the Sanskrit original.
• กำปั้น (Kảpận, pronounced ‘kampaan’) is Thai for ‘fist.’ (source: @timi-insp via @tanktopcamo)

Kogi:

• Kogi is an alternate spelling of 고기 (gogi), meaning “meat” in Korean. (See, for example, bulgogi.)
• Incidentally, there’s a famous brand of Korean food trucks in L.A. under this name that are best known for combining Korean and Mexican food.
• There is an indigenous group of people in Colombia called the Kogi, but they appear to be unrelated given the cooking theme, specifically the presence of a wok, so this is likely coincidental.
  

Sangmu:

• A chak-pur is a tool used in the art of Tibetan sandpainting to draw mandalas. 
• Sangmu is a Tibetan name meaning “the kind-hearted one.”
• As a person with Asperger’s syndrome myself, Sangmu’s description makes her sound like a fellow autistic person and I couldn’t be more excited to have some potential representation in a game!

Ren: 

• A kusarigama is one of the coolest weapons ever devised by humankind. If you’re unfamiliar with it, check it out here! It was likely developed during the Muromachi period in Japan.
• Ren is also wearing tabi, traditional Japanese socks that separate the big toe from the other four toes. Many workers still wear special tabi in order to increase their tactile ability (i.e. construction workers who need to keep their balance, etc.). Considering that Ren is an assassin, they likely provide him with the same balance.
• The Japanese name Ren can alternatively mean various things, like ‘lotus,’ ‘love,’ or others depending on the kanji it’s written with. For example, in the baseball manga/anime series Ookiku Furikabutte, pitcher Mihashi Ren’s given name is written with 廉, which can be read as the following words on its own: “ bargain, reason, charge, suspicion, point, account, purity, honest, low price, cheap, rested, contented, or peaceful.” To make a long story short, it’ll be a bit harder to read into Ren’s name until we know more about him.
• I’m also fairly sure he has nothing to do with Kylo.