Lightning and Köhler have a similar problem to Cybele and Bennett, in that I designed the characters separately, and when I decided to make them a Being-Master pair, the Being’s name was…incongruous.
IIRC, I don’t even try to justify why the serious, straight-laced, white-haired, native-German-speaking, history professor Dr. Köhler gave his Being a name like “Lightning.”
Unrelated: I’m genuinely surprised we’re all the way into chapter 16 and this is the first mention of the Wolf. (She won’t even appear in-person until chapter 21. More than two-thirds of the way through the comic!)
Lightning: Of course I can’t s-say his name, b-but I’m sure you can find him . . . He teaches Near Eastern history and archaeology. At the university in Heidelberg.
He consults with museums, too . . . if you call the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, I bet they can put you in contact . . . And he’s written books! I helped! I fact-check and remember things about that time period. As much as I can. I’m very important to him!
Just be careful . . . Don’t let the Leopard or its Master know you’re trying to help me. And they had help! Don’t trust the —
English is rather popular in Germany and the name is not not that extraordinary that nobody would think of it. Maybe not the obvious choice but Dr. Köhler might have let a younger relative choose the name, stuck with the name the former Master gave the Being or he took the nickname of an athlete he likes.
He wanted to name his Being after lightning, but “Blitz” had too many worrying connotations?