“Number 46: Dragluon” is a portmanteau of dragon, gluon (a type of subatomic particle), and possibly lóng (Chinese for “dragon”). This particle naming references its relationship to “Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon,” whose name also references subatomic particles.
“Re-Cover”s English name is a pun on recover and a book cover. The Japanese name translates as “Re-Bible,” a pun on revival and Bible.
The second half of “Photon Papilloperative”s name is a portmanteau of the French word papillon (”butterfly”) and operative, referencing the undercover spy aspect of the card and its relation to the Butterspy archetype.
“Transcicada” is a portmanteau of trans- and cicada, in reference to the insect’s transition from its shell.
Do you like onomatopoeias?
During the Zexal era, we got a number of monster cards best described as “onomatopoeia” cards. They typically start out with repetitions of Japanese sounds, and then some of them follow up with English words starting with those sounds. A great example is “Gogogo Golem.” Four gos in a row. Catchy!
But “Number 55: Gogogo Goliath″ takes this naming a step further.
The Japanese pronunciation of 55 is gojūgo. Altogether, that makes the pronunciation of this card:
Nanbāzu Gojūgo Gogogo Goraiasu
Which is a total of six gos. And to top it off, “Number 55″ has five gos in a row!
The “Impcantation” archetype name is a portmanteau of imp and incantation. The Japanese name is “Deviritual,” a portmanteau of devil and ritual.
Members of the archetype are portmanteaus of various materials associated with rituals:
- Impcantation Bookstone: (Spell)Book + Stone
- Impcantation Candoll: Candle + Doll
- Impcantation Chalislime: Chalice + Slime
- Impcantation Penciplume: Pencil + Plume
- Impcantation Talismandra: Talisman + Mandragora
“Kurivolt” is a portmanteau of Kuriboh and volt.
Because of the indifference of “B” and “V” sounds in Japanese, the name could either be translated as “Kurivolt” or “Kuribolt.”
“Performapal Kaleidoscorp” is a portmanteau of kaleidoscope and scorpion.
“Performapal Lebellman” is a pun on the Japanese pronunciations of level, bell, and bellman (another name for a bellhop).
“White Aura Bihamut“ is a portmanteau of bahamut (a massive sea monster in Abrahamic mythology) and bi- (meaning “two,” referring to the Monster’s two heads).
“Bird of Paradise Lost” is a pun on the bird-of-paradise and Paradise Lost, an epic poem by John Milton about mankind’s Biblical fall from grace.
“Shapesister” is a portmanteau of shapeshifter and sister. The shapeshifting aspect is a reference to this card being a Trap Monster, starting as a Trap Card and shifting into a Monster Card.
“Hypnosister” is a portmanteau of hypnosis and sister. The first part of the name references the card’s effect of forcing opponent’s Monsters to attack it.
The Ragna part of “Number 103: Ragnazero”s name may be better translated as Laguna, from the Spanish word meaning “lagoon,” as well as “void.”
The first meaning would relate to the card’s Water Attribute, while the second meaning connects to the second part of its name: “Zero.”
“Trickstar Narkissus” is a pun on kiss and Narcissus, a plant genus of daffodils, which may reflect the card’s yellow coloring.
“Flelf”s English and Japanese names are palindromes, meaning they can be read the same forwards and backwards.
“Cracking Dragon”s name refers to cracking, the act of circumventing a system’s or software’s restrictions.
This card’s effect seems to reference a different kind of cracking, which is the gradual breakdown of a substance—in this case, opponent’s monsters.
“Knight Day Grepher” contains puns on knight and night-and-day, as well as a pun on the monster this card is based on: Warrior Dai Grepher.