name symbolism (or "the grand enemy called 'I'")
thea, named for one of the 12 titans (evident from her brother's name being hyperion), is not quite perfectly eponymously synonymous with theia, a titan in greek myth. notably, the i in theia is missing. by analyzing what the lack of an i--or, as we'll learn later on, the lack of a (Sense of?) self--means, we can learn a lot about several characters, including thea tian coeus, slavko i. ranovic, tyler VIII, pluto IX, and vash X.
thea's name is already notable. she shares a surname with her adoptive mother, esther coeus, and in fact, shares more than that--esther's full name is revealed to be thea esther coeus. with this, it's clear that thea's lack of an i is indicative of a lack of selfhood--she is inseparable from her mother in name, an enforcement to not stray from the legacy her mother projects upon her. additionally, while esther uses her middle name, thea's middle name is "unspeakable," with the saying of her full name causing the speaker to die--a curse placed on her by her mother, a direct denial of her selfhood.
inversely of thea's denied selfhood, we have slavko's forged selfhood. while originally merely slavko ranovic, he added his own middle name--or perhaps, middle names is the proper word. while slavko's middle name is represented simply by the initial i, we can see that the middle name changes each time it is mentioned, cycling through:
ishika (an arrow, or one who achieves) [hindi]
iishka (one who has no enemies) [hindi]
iishka (painter's brush) [bangla]
ishka (suffix to mean masculine) [russian]
iskra (spark) [russian]
all these names, though similar, share common names, and all originate from languages that slavko would have been taught in his childhood, particularly by his parents, both of whom lack names (almost certainly intentionally, at least on the part of βββββ). however, slavko also adds these middle names in defiance of his parents. it can be seen as a sort of synthetic defiance--by synthesizing the languages of his parents together but using them to find names that start with i (again, a notable symbol of selfhood), he escapes from having their legacies projected onto him while still acknowledging his history. additionally, before he gives himself his middle name, his initials would then be SR, the same abbreviation for the word "senior," showing that before his carving of a self and transition (though the two actions are essentially one and the same), his initials (or initial impressions) are just a way for his parents to vicariously live on through him. however, by adding the i, his initials become SIR, a title of respect (respect which slavko seeks to gain) and a masculine title (fitting with slavko, being a trans man). with this, he defies the destiny given to him by his parents and carves his own individuality, simply with the letter i.
on the topic of βββββ, inescapably a figure devoid of any selfhood, his only remaining shards left behind in the people he harmed, we can also examine tyler VIII and pluto IX, perhaps the most immediately obvious people to have i in their names, but perhaps the least immediately obvious people to dissect the meaning of. however, we can dissect what they mean by taking AWAY their i. for tyler, taking away his is means stripping away his layers of self--first, his billionaire playboy persona, then his genuine friend persona, and then finally his "i have to win" mentality. underneath all those layers, he is simply V. all the children and remnants of βββββ have numbered surnames where their name would coincide with βββββ's erased name, hence tyler and pluto's roman numeral surnames. the remnant that represents V is perhaps the closest thing to being the last remaining remnant of βββββ, meaning that without tyler's is--without his sense of self--he is just his father.
on the other hand, if one were to take away pluto's i, you'd find that she'd leave behind X, the roman numeral surname of vash, assigned that surname by pluto herself. vash is known to be associated with the destruction of βββββ, as well as the subconscious. thus, even if pluto's sense of self were to be stripped away, she would still leave behind her legacy as the destroyer of βββββ, as well as all the minds that she has amassed/housed within her body, by leaving behind X, or vash, as a proxy for her legacy. more can be said on the use of vash as a proxy for pluto, or the use of pluto as a proxy for vash, but that's for a different post.
although our analysis largely concludes there, there's a few more tidbits to analyze--with i being homophonous with eye, we can also have a look at the eyes of these characters. with her origins as a character inspired by makima from chainsaw man, thea is known to have bands of circles to show her pupils, with tracing lines in-between drawing to mind a spiral--with the spiral being a notable symbol of esther coeus. thus, even thea's eyes are to strike a resemblance to her mother. on the other hand, slavko lost one of his eyes as a child (to retinoblastoma, a notably hereditary affliction), implying a loss of identity linked to his heritage. however, when slavko later starts a band named "sir ranovic and the burning eyes," he essentially gains more eyes through calling his bandmates as such, forging his identity through community. in some pieces of artwork, tyler's eyes are depicted as reminiscent of a black hole, the signature symbol of V, indicative of his relation to it. pluto's eyes are also the subject of artistic depiction, bathed in shadow with only one piercing eye visible, the other shadowed as though not to let an onlooker take a peek into her mind (eyes are the window to the soul, after all.)
finally, with this large focus on i as a narrative device, as well as harvest ecliptic's frequent inspirations drawn from kill six billion demons, it's hard to escape the story of the giant and the ant in ksbd, wherein the god of the world, yisun, concludes with the statement "Destroy the grand enemy called 'I'. it's hard to escape the similarity, and with harvest ecliptic's borrowed proverb "reach heaven through violence," we can see that four of the characters discussed here are extraordinarily violent, each renowned or despised by the demiurges for their exceptional strength. however, slavko, while violent in his youth, and even ending up owning a gym, is fairly nonviolent in adulthood, forging his own community and selfhood at the same time, carving his own heaven in a way. indeed, the phrase "The Tyrant's Heaven" repeated throughout is indicative of the action of reaching heaven perhaps not being as good as it's made out to be.
