Like most characters in Bleach, both of their names have some hidden meaning:

Nnoitra is named for Richard Neutra (link). He was a Modernist who felt the buildings of the time were soul-less, emotion-less creations. He was best known for designing architecture that generated an emotional response. One of his buildings is on a battlefield, and it’s described as being a Venusian structure in a Martian landscape (link).

Nnoitra’s surname is Gilga, referencing the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is the original Hero’s Journey, if you’re into Jungian psychology. Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu are the focus of the tale. Enkidu was created by the gods to be a companion and equal to Gilgamesh, and Gilgamesh went mad with grief when he lost Enkidu. Sounds a lot like our chapter 298, eh?

Tesra is named for Nikola Tesla (link), who was one of Edison’s rivals. He was popularly regarded as a mad scientist due to, among other things, his obsession with contacting extraterrestrial life (link). He believed himself to have been born on the planet Venus, and he invented a device that would allow him to contact the planet Mars (link). He was also known for having no romantic interest in women.

“Tesla” not only refers to the inventor but also a unit of measurement named for said inventor. It’s a unit dealing with magnetic fields, which is to say, the force of attraction.

Tesra’s surname is Lindocruz, Spanish for “beautiful cross”. In Christian symbolism, the “beautiful cross” is a symbol of faith and hope.

“Lindo” is from the Latin “lēgitimus” (“complete, perfect”).

Kubo mentioned in one of his interviews about choosing the kanji for “Espada” because of “十” (“ju” — ten), which looks like a cross. It’s also the same in Roman numerals that 10 is a cross. 10 in numerology is the number of completion and is considered a perfect number.

Taken together, “Lindocruz” can be loosely read as “perfection”.

Please direct all comments to the main page here.