The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1065, “Six Vegapunks,” by Eiichiro Oda, Stephen Paul and Vanessa Satone, available in English from Viz Media.
There are a lot of names in the One Piece world that somehow take inspiration from real-life people, places, and so on. Some of these names are even a play on words, which adds a layer of complexity to them. Dr. Vegapunk’s Satellites are a prime example of this.
The Satellites have at least three layers of meaning behind their names. The Kanji being used, how they’re read and how they can be read (the furigana), and all of the possible meanings behind those readings. It’s tough to say the origins of these names in the context of the One Piece world, but the real-world origins of these names should help to better understand the Satellites that use them.
What Are the Immediate Meanings Behind the Satellite Names?
The first Vegapunk, Shaka the Good, references the Japanese name for the Historical Buddha, also known as Prince Siddhartha or Gautama Buddha. He developed all sorts of ethical training and meditative practices to help his followers improve their minds and attain spiritual enlightenment as he did. The kanji used for Punk-01’s name, 正 (masa), can also represent justice, logic, and correctness. This is all in line with Shaka’s apparent benevolence relative to the other Satellites like Lillith and Edison.
Speaking of Lillith, Punk-02 seems to be named after a primordial demon in Mesopotamian and Judaic Mythology. Lillith was the first wife of Adam before she was banished from the Garden of Eden. She is associated with feminine power, hidden knowledge, wildness, and primal energy. Punk-02 seems to live up to the “evil” (悪) in her name through her disregard for human life, especially the Straw Hat Pirates’.
Punk-03, Edison the Thinker, is likely based on Thomas Edison. He’s credited for the invention of the light bulb, the gramophone, and the motion picture camera, though his actual role in their creation has become debatable. Vegapunk Edison is at least brimming with new ideas; he’ll even shout out “Eureka!” when he thinks of one, though that line is more appropriately attributed to the ancient Greek inventor Archimedes. The kanji for his name, 想, could also be used to represent flair or creativity.
Punk-04, Pythagoras the wise, was likely named for the Greek philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician of the same name. He’s credited for a lot of mathematical theories like the Pythagorean theorem and musica universalis. His political and religious teachings would go on to inspire the likes of Plato and Aristotle. In One Piece, Vegapunk Pythagoras is responsible for gathering and analyzing data. Following this, the kanji for his name, 知, can be translated to “knowledge” or “wisdom.”
Punk-05, Atlas, seems to take her name from a mythological figure, just like Lillith. In this case, it’s the Greek Titan who was forced to hold up the heavens forever following Titanomachy. He might not sound like a thinker, but he was known to be skilled in philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy; he’s even been credited for inventing the first celestial sphere. Regardless, Vegapunk Atlas seems more interested in upholding the violent aspect of her namesake and her kanji, 暴.
The origin of York, the name of Punk-06, is a little difficult to pin down. The most notable person with the name “York” is an African American slave from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Other than that, York could refer to anything from a city in North Yorkshire, England to a German dance music project. The kanji for her name, 欲, can be read as “greed,” “wants,” or “desire.” As such. she’s responsible for fulfilling all of the Vegapunks’ bodily needs like eating and sleeping.
How Else Can These Names Be Interpreted?
One way to look at these names is as a collection of three pairs. Shaka and Edison are two historical figures, Atlas and Pythagoras are two Greek figures, and Lillith and “York” could be two Mesopotamian figures. That last pairing depends on the actual translation of York’s name.
The Romaji for 欲 is “yoku” (ヨク). In ancient Mesopotamia, Arcturus was linked to the god Enlil, and was known as Shudun or “Yoke;” again, “York’s” name can have a lot of meanings. Since both York and Yoke are transliterated as yōku (ヨーク) in romaji, but certainly not yoku (ヨク), the real meaning behind this name is largely open to interpretation.
That said, the star meaning could mean that the Vegapunk Satellite names follow another pattern entirely. Their names could also represent astronomical objects and other observable space phenomena. For example, Pythagoras, Atlas, and Edison are all the names of craters on the earth’s moon’s surface. Lillith’s name could reference a couple of things in astronomy; Black Moon Lillith was proposed as a second hypothetical moon of the earth in 1918; Lillith could also be a reference to 1181 Lillith, an asteroid. Shaka isn’t the name of any astronomical object in particular, but the moon is an important symbol in Buddhism; furthermore, another reading of his 正 kanji, sei (セイ), can also be used for the kanji for “star,” 星. This space-related naming would thematically link to their shared title of “Satellites,” as well as the “main body” (本体) being called the “Stella” (ステラ, sutela).
Needless to say, the Satellite names have a lot to them. Their names look straightforward, but they have lots of possible hidden meanings. Any number of them could have been intentional. Perhaps as the story of One Piece progresses, the intended reading of these names will become more apparent.
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