Thanos’ 6 infinity stones served as the inspiration behind his kanji name 六道将軍佐能須, which references the 6 realms of Buddhism and a Japanese mythological character

Avengers Endgame, the culmination of the 22-film story, is hitting theaters in the U.S. this week and anticipation among fans is high. One of those fans happens to be Japanese illustrator Takumi, who previously created the brilliant Ghibli Theme Park. To commemorate the film’s release, the artist has created a series of illustrations that render characters from the film in Ukiyo-e style.

Captain America’s name is 米国団長, which is pretty much a direct translation

The artist spent a lot of time thinking about the unique patterns and kanji names for each character. Thor is pronounced tooru in Japanese, so he assigned the Japanese equivalent, which is 徹(とおる). Thanos’ 6 infinity stones served as the inspiration behind that name, which references the 6 realms of Buddhism.

The patterns on each of the characters clothing are traditional Japanese designs and each references certain traits of the characters. Captain America’s pants use the shippo (七宝) pattern of layered circles, which references the shape of his shield. Thor’s pattern is pretty straightforward: the traditional cloud (雲) pattern. Iron Man uses the complex bishamon kikko (毘沙門亀甲) pattern, which mimics the look of a circuit board.

Do you have a favorite?

Thor’s Japanese name is 雷神徹, or “lightning god tooru”