Quintessence: Difference between revisions

[[File:Ss_fe07_nergal_creating_kishuna.png|thumb|[[Nergal]] creating [[Kishuna]] through the power of quintessence.]]

'''Quintessence''' (Japanese: {{hover|エーギル|Ēgiru}}, ''Aegir'') is the life force of all living things. When used it can be used for a variety of goals. Quintessence serves a central narrative role in {{FE7}} though references to this concept exist as early as {{FE4}}.

Quintessence is a fairly simple concept, it is the energy behind all living things. All living things possess quintessence.<ref>{{cite|You see, we're all born with this life force. It’s called ‘quintessence' and...|[[Claud]], explaining quintessence and the [[Valkyrie Staff]] shortly before being interrupted by [[Tailto]]|Genealogy of the Holy War}}</ref><ref>{{cite|That's what Nergal called it. The substance of the human spirit... Power. Energy. The essence of life itself. ...Nergal, he stole this quintessence.|[[Nils]] explaining quintessence|Blazing Sword}}</ref><ref>{{cite|He learned the art of stealing the essence from living creatures and turning it into power. ...It was terrible. When we discovered what he was doing, the elders and I tried to persuade him to stop. But the power bewitched him, and he was deaf to our pleas. He started with small creatures and grew ever more confident. Then, he began draining the quintessence of humans.|[[Athos]]|Blazing Sword}}</ref> The amount of quintessence a living being possesses seems to vary by a large margin, with [[Nils]] mentioning that strong willed people have more,<ref>{{cite|It seems the quintessence in each person varies in strength. A person of strong mind and body has hundreds of times more energy than the average person.|[[Nils]], explaining quintessence|Blazing Sword}}</ref> though whether quintessence makes someone strong willed, or being strong willed makes someone produce a lot of quintessence is unspecified. Quintessence can be used for a variety of purposes, it can be used to fuel [[Ereshkigal|powerful magic]], it can be used to create [[Morph|creatures]] and it is also involved in [[Valkyrie Staff|properly reviving the dead]].<ref>{{cite|This staff here? It’s magical and can return life to those who have passed on already.|[[Claud]]|Genealogy of the Holy War}}</ref>

In both games that it appears and is mentioned in [[dragon]]s appear to be the first ones to utilize quintessence, in [[Elibe]] the [[War Dragon|dragon research]] in [[Arcadia (place)|Arcadia]] mentions how to harness quintessence, and in [[Jugdral]] the dragon-created [[Valkyrie Staff]] utilizes quintessence in some manner.

=={{FE4}}==

Unlike ''Fire Emblem'', quintessence serves more as a background world-building element than something of central plot importance. When [[Claud]] was traveling to [[Blagi]] tower with [[Tailto]] he started explaining it to her, but she interrupted him. He states that the Valkyrie staff uses quintessence in some way or another, and it is involved with the ritual to revive someone from death, though he fails to elaborate.

=={{FE7}}==

In ''Fire Emblem'' quintessence takes a far more central role in the game's plot. The main antagonist, [[Nergal]], had been experimenting with quintessence for roughly half a millennium to recover his [[Aenir|wife]] since the [[Scouring]]. Along the way, his dabbling in the dark arts slowly erased his memories of his original goal, though he did not realize this until shortly before his death. Nergal's primary source of power was quintessence, which he took mostly from humans, though he had plans for using [[dragon]] quintessence to further his goals, though he was unsuccessful. Nergal also used quintessence to create his army of [[Morph|morph]]s. He was also able to use quintessence to speak to, and control, dragons beyond the [[Dragon's Gate]].<ref>{{cite|The dragon girl... [[Ninian]]'s essence. Beautiful... Absolutely beautiful...... With this, I will be able to call dragons whenever I please.|[[Nergal]]|Blazing Sword}}</ref>

Outside of the fact that the [[Valkyrie Staff]] uses Quintessence in some way as well as quintessence being used to craft [[morph]]s, which the player has to fight, quintessence has no gameplay functions, and is purely a concept pertaining to living things in [[Elibe]] and [[Jugdral]].

 

==Gallery==

==Etymology and other languages==

|eng-mean=A word derived from Latin's ''quinta essentia'', or "fifth essence". Being the fifth element of the other fundamental elements, which are generally fire, water, earth, and air.<ref>{{Cite web| published= 14 March, 2005 | retrieved = 3 October, 2015 | url= https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quintessence | title= Quintessence | site= en.wiktionary.org | type= webpage}}</ref>

|jap-name={{hover|エーギル|Ēgiru}}

|jap-mean=''Aegir'', may come from the name of a god of the ocean in Greek Mythology, it is also the name of one Saturn's moons.

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