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Quintessence
“ | The substance of the human spirit... Power. Energy. The essence of life itself. | ” | — Nils |
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Quintessence (Japanese: エーギル Ægir) 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 Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade though references to this concept exist as early as Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.
Overview
Characteristics
Quintessence is a fairly simple concept, it is the energy behind all living things. All living things possess quintessence.[1][2][3] The amount of quintessence a living being possesses seems to vary by a large margin, with Nils mentioning that strong willed people have more,[4] 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 powerful magic, it can be used to create creatures and it is also involved in properly reviving the dead.[5]
According to Shouzou Kaga, quintessence - at least in Genealogy of the Holy War - represents a "force of fate" which is tied to the pre-ordained destiny of individuals. The Valkyrie Staff can only be used to resurrect people who were not actually destined to die yet and thus presumably still possess their quintessence, or "force of fate". Accordingly, the staff cannot save people who actually have met their pre-ordained death, such as the first-generation cast after the Battle of Belhalla, presumably because they no longer have a "force of fate".[6]
In both games that it appears and is mentioned in dragons appear to be the first ones to utilize quintessence, in Elibe the dragon research in Arcadia mentions how to harness quintessence, and in Jugdral the dragon-created Valkyrie Staff utilizes quintessence in some manner.
History
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
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.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
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 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 morphs. He was also able to use quintessence to speak to, and control, dragons beyond the Dragon's Gate.[7]
In gameplay
Outside of the fact that the Valkyrie Staff uses quintessence in some way as well as quintessence being used to craft morphs, which the player has to fight, quintessence has no gameplay functions, and is purely a concept pertaining to living things in Elibe and Jugdral.
Trivia
Gallery
Etymology and other languages
Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
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Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
English |
Quintessence |
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.[8] |
English (unofficial) |
Aegir |
Used in earlier Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War fan translations. |
Spanish |
Quintaesencia |
Quintessence |
French |
Quintessence |
Quintessence |
German |
Quintessenz |
Quintessence. Occasionally abbreviated to "Essenz" in certain dialogues. |
Italian |
Quintessenza |
Quintessence |
References
- ↑ "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, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
- ↑ "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, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
- ↑ "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, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
- ↑ "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, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
- ↑ "This staff here? It’s magical and can return life to those who have passed on already." — Claud, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
- ↑ Kaga, S.; trans. Amielleon, Kaga Interviews (P6/Q9), Fire Emblem (according to Japan), Published: 1999-01 (trans. 2013-02-22), Retrieved: 2015-05-24
- ↑ "The dragon girl... Ninian's essence. Beautiful... Absolutely beautiful...... With this, I will be able to call dragons whenever I please." — Nergal, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
- ↑ Quintessence (webpage), en.wiktionary.org, Published: 14 March, 2005, Retrieved: 3 October, 2015
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