Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Developers Hid The Meanings Behind Dozens of Character and Enemy Names Within The Game’s Code

A Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 fan has discovered hidden name explanations for the game’s enemies and other characters buried within the game’s files, which give an intriguing look at some of their origins.

The descriptions — some of which even include links out to Wikipedia — were discovered by reddit user Responsible-Race-575 and appear to have been intended for development staff translating the game’s text into other languages.

Of course, Clair Obscur is developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive and is heavily influenced by French language and culture, and the explanations here look to be an attempt to ensure as much of the game’s original references make it through into other languages. So, how much did you spot?

Some of the name references are straightforward. A note for the Nevron enemy Potier explains that its name simply means “potter”, because “it’s an enemy that uses pots.” Fair enough. The trumpet-wielding Troubadour, meanwhile, uses the same name as that of a French minstrel or composer. Makes sense.

Barbasucette is a combination of the French words for beard (“barbe”) and lolipop (“sucette”). Licornapieds is the smushing together of unicorn (“licorn”) and ‘with feet’ (“à pieds”).

If you hadn’t guessed already, the annoying Petank enemy — a fast-moving ball on legs that likes to run away — is a reference to the French boules game Pétanque. Finally, it’s confirmed that Gestral fighter Ono Puncho is indeed a reference to anime hero One-Punch Man (and Sandfall even provides a Wikipedia link to details of the anime for further explanation).

My favorite note is the one for a gestral named Limonsol, whose name is simply explained as an “inside joke.” No further detail is provided, other than a request that the name to be transliterated. Why Limonsol? Putting my detective hat on for a moment, I wonder if this could be a reference to the French energy drink Nocco, which comes in a Limon Del Sol flavor. Nocco is, of course, the name of another prominent gestral character. Cheers to that.

Still after more from Clair Obscur? One final update to the game arrived in December with new challenges and boss fights, and you can catch up on the full patch notes for Expedition 33’s final update here. Already though, of course, fans are already speculating what might come next, Sandfall has teased that Clair Obscur is a “franchise name.”

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social