God
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This article is an editorial. |
Ambiguation
References to gods (神々, kamigami) suggest different entities depending on the media:
- The Ancients of Shining Force are also known as "the Gods". Most people in Rune's present day understand the ancient people of Rune to have been gods. The Ancients exhibit a mastery of teleportation, laser science, robotics, and the development of bioengineered organisms. Crosses in every church and the ability of apparently Christian priests to recall the souls of the dead is unaccounted for and has no bearing on the plot.
- In Doom Blade, the entity called the Great Intention may be equivalent to a sort of god. It exerts influence on the balance of the world, governs the transmigration of souls, and created both Dark Dragon and the Giant of Light.
- In Shining Force Gaiden II, Iom is described as a malevolent god (邪神, jashin). However, his divinity is unable to withstand the assault of twelve rowdy teenagers.
- In Shining Force II, two gods are identified: Mitra and Volcanon. Volcanon is described as the creator of the world. Volcanon is also depicted as a voice emanating from immobile statue. In spite of his power, Volcanon chooses to do nothing while Zeon conquers the earth.
- In Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict, Volcanon manifests as a fabulous talking peacock.
- In Shining Force: Bloodline of the Divine Dragons, beings recognizable as the Ancients of Rune are termed the Gray Gods and explained to have created the White Gods, the Divine Dragons, and the Black Gods, also known as the Devil Kings. Does that mean Zeon is a robot too?
- In Shining Force III, a being known as the Creator is identified as the ultimate divinity. The Creator is a vindictive god who threatens to destroy and remake the whole of creation if it determines that society has become too decadent. Burzum, like Iom, is characterized as a wicked god.
- In Shining Force EXA, the villainous Malxatra is referred to as an evil god. However, Malxatra is also a robot. Most characters are shown not to understand what a robot is, and none of them address the god's robotic nature.
The Existence of Divinity
- See alsoː Who Made the Shining Series? and Nothing Is Canon
The reality of whether there is such a thing as true divinity or whether the beings identified as gods are actually advanced people or constructs of sophisticated technology varies depending on the media. Contradictions exist when comparing different examples, so the nature of divinity is subject to the interpretation of the varying authors of each work.
The world presented by Climax and Sonic's Shining Force and its remake by Climax and Amusement Vision, both games having been principally written by Masaki Wachi and populated with characters by Yoshitaka Tamaki, has stronger science fiction elements than does the more traditional fantasy setting of Shining Force II and the remaining games of the 1990s, themselves interchangeably written by either or both Hiroyuki Takahashi and Shugo Takahashi. As there are no real gods evident in the story of the original Shining Force despite the people's misguided belief in them, and as the impact of its story hinges on the slow realization that the world is not as it seems, their apparent inclusion in later games is difficult to reconcile without making some kind of compromise that undermines the construction of one world or another.
The series eventually returns more strongly to its science fiction roots in the 2000s following Sonic and Camelot's departure from the series and the temporary return of original series artist Yoshitaka Tamaki. With some variation, these games and their successors feature worlds defined more by the works of advanced ancient civilizations than by any force of divinity. But the ambiguous nature of the powers of Light and Darkness persist, and characters continue to appear sometimes angelic or demonic.
The reasonable coexistence of entities like the Great Intention of Doom Blade and the Creator of Shining Force III seems impossible, and the two beings are hardly recognizable as a single personality. Even Volcanon's status as a creator deity becomes dubious in the face of the series' other instances of divinity. Examining Volcanon through the lens of Rune's Ancients leads to questions of whether Volcanon is in fact a pretender god or perhaps some kind of machine or artificial life—questions that would never occur to an audience who had played Shining Force II in isolation. Players starting with Shining Force who move on to its sequel will be led to wonder whether perhaps the Ancients were really gods after all or how it is that each continent can follow different cosmologies.
Efforts to nullify these contradictions do something to undermine authorial intent, and are to be explored only by those determined to delve into the territory of fanon. The Shining Lore & Translation Wiki will continue to represent each story as it is originally told with the least speculation possible.
Shining Race Directory
| Races | |
|---|---|
| Basal | Human・Hobbit・Elf・Dwarf・Centaur・Goblin・Dark Elf・Orc |
| Bestial | Cantaur・Wolfling・Lizardman・Foxling・Birdling・Pyontaur・Quintaur |
| Magical | Magical Creature |
| Animal | Yogurt・Armadillo |
| Technological | Robot・Divine Dragon・Bioengineered Organism |
| Transcendent | Star Eye・Devil・God・Phoenix・Hudol・Innovator |
| Peoples | |
| Rune | Ancients |
| Parmecia | Thousand Year Kingdom |