In Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward and Alphonse Elric attempt to bring their dead mother back to life using alchemy, the magical-yet-scientific ability to transmute materials into other forms, provided one follows the law of equivalent exchange: To gain something, something else of equal value must be sacrificed. The procedure ended in failure though, and Alphonse has his soul ripped from his body, while Edward lost an arm and a leg, though Edward managed to bind Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor before it was lost. Now the two travel the world in search of the Philosopher's Stone, the one item with enough alchemical power to restore their bodies. The two brothers played God in their attempt to revive the dead and paid the price with their own bodies.
In Code Geass, the mysterious girl C.C. gives Lelouch the optical power of Geass. With it, he can look any person in the eye and make them do whatever he commands, the only caveat being that in will only work once on each person, and direct eye contact needs to be made with the target (no video feeds). With this power comes great consequence however, as C.C. warns Lelouch that he will lead a life of loneliness and isolation should he choose to use it's power, but Lelouch presses on in his quest to defeat the tyrannical Britannian government.
In Black Butler, Ciel Phantomhive makes a deal with a devil by the name of Sebastian. Sebastian is to be Ciel's personal butler, and help him avenge the deaths of his parents by killing whoever murdered them. In exchange, Ciel will allow Sebastian to consume his soul. Sebastian is the rare kind of devil who, rather than just take Ciel's soul by force (which he could very well do), he instead chooses to work for it, considering a soul he earned through hard work to be much tastier than ones obtained through no effort.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/121/Fullmetal_Alchemist
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1575/Code_Geass__Hangyaku_no_Lelouch
https://myanimelist.net/anime/4898/Kuroshitsuji
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Faustian Bargains in Anime
Following off of last week's post, I thought I would draw attention to some more deals. Only this time, they aren't with the devil per se, but rather, with an individual of great power, whether they are human, spiritual, or an ordinary demon. A Faustian Bargain is any deal between two people where one person is willing to make a great sacrifice to get something they want, and they can either go well for the individual, or punish them with unintended consequences.
In Naruto, Sasooke (he's really cool!) is bitten by Orochimaru, one of the three strongest ninja in the world, and is left with a curse mark on his neck that grants him incredible power, though he feels pain and slowly becomes corrupted through its use. Sasooke eventually seeks Orochimaru out in order to gain more power, while unbeknownst to him, Orochimaru simply wants his body as a vessel as part of his goal to achieve immortality. This is luckily subverted when Sasooke kills Orochimaru before he has the chance to possess him.
In Death Note, Yagami Light is the son of a police detective, who one day discovers the Death Note, a magical notebook "accidentally" dropped by Ryuk, a demon who is somewhat of a trickster. The notebook gives the writer the ability to kill anyone who's name is written within, at the cost of the writer living a miserable life. Light decides to use the book anyway so that he can rid the world of criminals and other people he considers unworthy of living.
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Madoka Kaname and her best friend Sayaka Miki encounter a cat-like creature with white fur named Kyubey, who offers the girls one wish of their choosing if they decide to become magical girls, girls with magical superpowers who use those powers to protect the city from evil witches. Sayaka eventually makes her wish and becomes a magical girl, though she discovers that these witches were former magical girls themselves, having transformed because they could not purify their soul gems (gems that contain their souls) in time. These soul gems naturally become tainted over time, and the only way to purify them is to defeat witches. This is a mentally draining task and fills the girls with despair, which makes it easier for them to become the very witches they fought, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. It turns out the Kyubey set all this up to feed off of these negative emotions in order to transform them into an energy force for his race.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/20/Naruto
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1535/Death_Note
https://myanimelist.net/anime/9756/Mahou_Shoujo_Madoka%E2%98%85Magica
In Naruto, Sasooke (he's really cool!) is bitten by Orochimaru, one of the three strongest ninja in the world, and is left with a curse mark on his neck that grants him incredible power, though he feels pain and slowly becomes corrupted through its use. Sasooke eventually seeks Orochimaru out in order to gain more power, while unbeknownst to him, Orochimaru simply wants his body as a vessel as part of his goal to achieve immortality. This is luckily subverted when Sasooke kills Orochimaru before he has the chance to possess him.
In Death Note, Yagami Light is the son of a police detective, who one day discovers the Death Note, a magical notebook "accidentally" dropped by Ryuk, a demon who is somewhat of a trickster. The notebook gives the writer the ability to kill anyone who's name is written within, at the cost of the writer living a miserable life. Light decides to use the book anyway so that he can rid the world of criminals and other people he considers unworthy of living.
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Madoka Kaname and her best friend Sayaka Miki encounter a cat-like creature with white fur named Kyubey, who offers the girls one wish of their choosing if they decide to become magical girls, girls with magical superpowers who use those powers to protect the city from evil witches. Sayaka eventually makes her wish and becomes a magical girl, though she discovers that these witches were former magical girls themselves, having transformed because they could not purify their soul gems (gems that contain their souls) in time. These soul gems naturally become tainted over time, and the only way to purify them is to defeat witches. This is a mentally draining task and fills the girls with despair, which makes it easier for them to become the very witches they fought, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. It turns out the Kyubey set all this up to feed off of these negative emotions in order to transform them into an energy force for his race.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/20/Naruto
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1535/Death_Note
https://myanimelist.net/anime/9756/Mahou_Shoujo_Madoka%E2%98%85Magica
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Deals with the Devil
Throughout popular culture, it seems that people are fascinated with the idea of challenging the devil to competitions in order to win prizes or abilities. This may stem from the allure of trying to outsmart someone who cannot easily be fooled, or trying to escape a contract that is binding. Deals with the devil also give writers the liberty to deal with supernatural themes and powers that don't require the involvement of God of Jesus, but rather an individual with an adversarial role.
In the novel Reservation Blues by Shrman Alexie, Robert Johnson, a real-life guitar player of great skill, makes a deal with the Devil, referred to in the book as "The Gentleman", in exchange for his musical ability. In a similar scenario, Tommy Johnson from the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? also traded his soul to the Devil in order to play the guitar, and joins with the three protagonists to perform a song that became very popular, allowing the group to escape arrest and be pardoned following a run in with the Ku Klux Klan. Tommy Johnson in real-life was also a popular guitar player like Robert Johnson (the two are unrelated), with similar rumors about a deal with the devil, though most stories about the deal today are attributed to Robert Johnson.
The Charlie Daniels band released The Devil Went Down to Georgia in 1979, a story of the Devil challenging a young man named Johnny to a fiddle competition. Johnny would receive a gold fiddle if he were to win, otherwise the Devil would get his soul. The Devil takes his turn first, followed by Johnny, who plays to well that the Devil conceded defeats and gives him the golden fiddle. The song is very popular and has been covered by many musicians over the years.
Finally, in Futurama, Bender is sent to Robot Hell for his sins, and Fry and Leela try to get him back. The Robot Devil points out that the only way to do so is to win a fiddle competition, as outlined in the "Fairness in Hell Act of 2275", referencing the aforementioned Charlie Daniels song. Neither can play the fiddle though, so Leela hits the Robot Devil over the head with it instead, allowing them and Bender to escape.
In the novel Reservation Blues by Shrman Alexie, Robert Johnson, a real-life guitar player of great skill, makes a deal with the Devil, referred to in the book as "The Gentleman", in exchange for his musical ability. In a similar scenario, Tommy Johnson from the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? also traded his soul to the Devil in order to play the guitar, and joins with the three protagonists to perform a song that became very popular, allowing the group to escape arrest and be pardoned following a run in with the Ku Klux Klan. Tommy Johnson in real-life was also a popular guitar player like Robert Johnson (the two are unrelated), with similar rumors about a deal with the devil, though most stories about the deal today are attributed to Robert Johnson.
The Charlie Daniels band released The Devil Went Down to Georgia in 1979, a story of the Devil challenging a young man named Johnny to a fiddle competition. Johnny would receive a gold fiddle if he were to win, otherwise the Devil would get his soul. The Devil takes his turn first, followed by Johnny, who plays to well that the Devil conceded defeats and gives him the golden fiddle. The song is very popular and has been covered by many musicians over the years.
Finally, in Futurama, Bender is sent to Robot Hell for his sins, and Fry and Leela try to get him back. The Robot Devil points out that the only way to do so is to win a fiddle competition, as outlined in the "Fairness in Hell Act of 2275", referencing the aforementioned Charlie Daniels song. Neither can play the fiddle though, so Leela hits the Robot Devil over the head with it instead, allowing them and Bender to escape.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
The Devil in Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei is an rpg series set in the modern day, with each game staring a different cast of teenagers as they attempt to solve various mysteries and accidents that befall them and others in their town. The characters have access to persona, spiritual beings that are representations of the user's mental state or inner-self, though others can be recruited or made through fusions. They are based on popular creatures and gods from Greek, Roman, Japanese, and various other mythologies.
One such persona is Lucifer, who looks largely angelic in appearance to reference him as a fallen angel, with only his red hair and horns as obvious giveaways to his demonic nature. Though usually referred to as Satan in the bible and other pop-culture representations, Lucifer keeps his name in SMT and is never referred to as Satan, though is sometimes named the Demon King. In some other SMT games, he goes by the name Helel, which is Hebrew for Lucifer.
Lucifer in SMT is interesting in that he is not inherently evil, according to character designer Kazuma Kaneko. Rather, he is a force of temptation to the player, who could either assist or hinder them depending on their choices in the game. He can assume the forms of many different people, such as an old man, woman, or child, among others, and is a reference to his ability to walk the Earth under many different forms. This was touched upon in one of our class readings, the Devaduta Sutta, where another interpretation of the devil, Hama, questions a man about whether he noticed him as other people on the Earth, before later torturing him. These other people Hama assumed the forms of included the elderly, newborn, handicapped, and disabled.
More about Lucifer and his appearence in SMT can be found here.
One such persona is Lucifer, who looks largely angelic in appearance to reference him as a fallen angel, with only his red hair and horns as obvious giveaways to his demonic nature. Though usually referred to as Satan in the bible and other pop-culture representations, Lucifer keeps his name in SMT and is never referred to as Satan, though is sometimes named the Demon King. In some other SMT games, he goes by the name Helel, which is Hebrew for Lucifer.
Lucifer in SMT is interesting in that he is not inherently evil, according to character designer Kazuma Kaneko. Rather, he is a force of temptation to the player, who could either assist or hinder them depending on their choices in the game. He can assume the forms of many different people, such as an old man, woman, or child, among others, and is a reference to his ability to walk the Earth under many different forms. This was touched upon in one of our class readings, the Devaduta Sutta, where another interpretation of the devil, Hama, questions a man about whether he noticed him as other people on the Earth, before later torturing him. These other people Hama assumed the forms of included the elderly, newborn, handicapped, and disabled.
More about Lucifer and his appearence in SMT can be found here.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Depiction of Hama in Spelunky
Spelunky is an indie title where the player controls an explorer who enters various caves and mines in search of treasure, while avoiding traps and monsters in the process. The game's environment is procedurally generated, meaning each playthrough will have different dungeon layouts, making the game a semi-rougelike.
Yama is the final boss in the last level of Hell, and is depicted as a giant man with red skin. He is labeled as the king of Hell rather than a judge who infiltrated it, which seems to match up with East Asian mythology on him. He has two guards, Horse Head and Ox Face, which have human bodies except for the aforementioned heads. The guards actually exist in East Asian mythology, where they actually do protect Hama.
Strangely enough, there is an eggplant item in the game that can be used on Yama to turn him into an eggplant, allowing him to be defeated in one hit. To my knowledge, this is simply an in-game decision and is not connected to any actual mythology, but it is still interesting.
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/King_Yama
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Eggplant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama_(East_Asia)
Yama is the final boss in the last level of Hell, and is depicted as a giant man with red skin. He is labeled as the king of Hell rather than a judge who infiltrated it, which seems to match up with East Asian mythology on him. He has two guards, Horse Head and Ox Face, which have human bodies except for the aforementioned heads. The guards actually exist in East Asian mythology, where they actually do protect Hama.
Strangely enough, there is an eggplant item in the game that can be used on Yama to turn him into an eggplant, allowing him to be defeated in one hit. To my knowledge, this is simply an in-game decision and is not connected to any actual mythology, but it is still interesting.
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/King_Yama
http://spelunky.wikia.com/wiki/Eggplant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama_(East_Asia)
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