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Alphabet Meme, G
Jul. 27th, 2011 12:58 pmGlumm, Lunar: The Silver Star: Thought it was going to be Ghaleon, didn't you? I have too much to say about him to fit into one entry, but I'll use the appropriate icon to have him here in spirit.
Anyhow, Glumm's a curious creature, isn't he? He's Ghaleon's assistant, he's given a proper name - one that's suitably ominous - and even dresses the part of a minion, but when stuff goes down, he's just another blandly clueness NPC. Perhaps, as with Nash, Ghaleon was deliberately hiring for cluenessness in his cover gig. Still, a curious missed opportunity - right next to another, that oddly, OoC-ly prosaic diary on Ghaleon's desk.
Gwyn, Lunar: Eternal Blue: Gwyn is an archaeologist, but according to the Lunar I & II book, no one else in Lunar cares enough about archaeology to engage his talents. That about sums up the world of Lunar II - devoid of civilization and dead, its greatness consigned to a largely-forgotten past. Perhaps it's just the route Hiro ends up taking, but the world map consists of little but rough outposts that're struggling just to hang on (Larpa, Zaback, that one snow village - Zulan or whatever) or neglected ruins that've lost their grandeur and hold on the popular imagination - we've got the ruins of the Blue Spire, the ruins of the Grindery, the Mystic Ruins, *Vane itself*... The only bastion of civilization is Meribia, which seems to be caught in stagnant stasis. Lunar never favored strong central governments, but by the time of Lunar II, all its cultures have disappeared, the great places of Lunar I forgotten. It takes a bit to realize under the typical Lunar carnival of color, but it's a sad, distanced ruin of a world. You can see the lure of the Order of Althena for this hollow shell of a planet - of the security, order, and meaning to one's life it would provide.
Gabryel, Lunar: Genesis/Dragon Song: Yeah, Genesis/Dragon Song was a lousy game that no one counts as canon, but bear with me for a moment of faint praise: despire being a blatant rip-off of Jessica in many aspects - rebellious, blonde teenage daughter of Meribia's beastman governor who packs a mean punch with a claw - I thought Gabryel was an intriguing twist on her obvious template; she's Jessica if Jessica were raised to be her father's successor and sergeant-at-arms rather than a daddy's girl - a Jessica who has her father's full confidence instead of one who's playing against her mother's memory. Second, she clearly fulfills the role of sage in the group, providing the hero with ancient lore and wise advice that guides him along his journey, and it's refreshing to see a young female, much less a fighter-type character, take that position. A pity that, like everyone not named "Jian," she's nerfed in actual combat. (Despite this, she's still bested in cutscene combat by Lucia Collins' umbrella, of all things, a proposition that doesn't quite threaten Day-Glo Jason Voorhees for the throne of Most Ridiculous Lunar Idea but is, to say the least, up there.)
The Guildmistress, Lunar: Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari: I don't get what Zain sees in her. Funato conceived her as a "fiery woman" full of life, but she seldom comes off as anything but smug - a rare failing for Hikuusen, as the Guildmistress is supposed to be the sparkling specimen of humanity's promise for Zain that Dain is for Ghaleon. Grace King, the character from Funato's subsequent Under the Rose manga based on/"misappropriated" for the Guildmistress, has a bit more humanity to her from what I've read, but count me still on Team Latona.
Hey, four characters, four Lunar works. Why not go five for five? Time to eschew Gerhard and Gotts and St. Germant and discuss someone from Magic School. So, Grandpa Glen is oh the heck with it:
Ghaleon, Lunar Everything, Quite Nearly: Since I've written about Ghaleon's character at length in several places, here're instead five miscellaneous reflections on the man:
- My favorite joke of TSS, just after the Grindery's rolled over a town on the Frontier and crushed near-everything within, amid the townsfolks' lamentations of the loss of their homes and businesses:
NPC: That jerk Ghaleon just crushed the sun tea I had lying out!
Nall: ............Ruthless bastard.
- I wish this expression here (the first one, the rightmost one) had made it into a full-blown manga illustration.
- I've always found this outfit attractive on Ghaleon. Not necessarily the studs or enormous shoulder pads, but I do think that a long black coat in heavy material with shape to it would look quite nice on the elf. (Perhaps I'm mentally merging it with this outfit.)
- Unsurprisingly, I found Working Designs' ABBA jokes OoC, but I'd gladly have them back over the XSEED-inspired homophobic comments these days about John Truitt's performance.
- I'd ask the "what's with his face?" bit about his Lunar II appearance, but, y'know, I just don't care about Lunar II's Ghaleon material anymore. It's thematically consistent and there's nothing wrong with it, but for me, Ghaleon's story ended with Silver Star - maybe even Vheen Hikuusen.
.
Anyhow, Glumm's a curious creature, isn't he? He's Ghaleon's assistant, he's given a proper name - one that's suitably ominous - and even dresses the part of a minion, but when stuff goes down, he's just another blandly clueness NPC. Perhaps, as with Nash, Ghaleon was deliberately hiring for cluenessness in his cover gig. Still, a curious missed opportunity - right next to another, that oddly, OoC-ly prosaic diary on Ghaleon's desk.
Gwyn, Lunar: Eternal Blue: Gwyn is an archaeologist, but according to the Lunar I & II book, no one else in Lunar cares enough about archaeology to engage his talents. That about sums up the world of Lunar II - devoid of civilization and dead, its greatness consigned to a largely-forgotten past. Perhaps it's just the route Hiro ends up taking, but the world map consists of little but rough outposts that're struggling just to hang on (Larpa, Zaback, that one snow village - Zulan or whatever) or neglected ruins that've lost their grandeur and hold on the popular imagination - we've got the ruins of the Blue Spire, the ruins of the Grindery, the Mystic Ruins, *Vane itself*... The only bastion of civilization is Meribia, which seems to be caught in stagnant stasis. Lunar never favored strong central governments, but by the time of Lunar II, all its cultures have disappeared, the great places of Lunar I forgotten. It takes a bit to realize under the typical Lunar carnival of color, but it's a sad, distanced ruin of a world. You can see the lure of the Order of Althena for this hollow shell of a planet - of the security, order, and meaning to one's life it would provide.
Gabryel, Lunar: Genesis/Dragon Song: Yeah, Genesis/Dragon Song was a lousy game that no one counts as canon, but bear with me for a moment of faint praise: despire being a blatant rip-off of Jessica in many aspects - rebellious, blonde teenage daughter of Meribia's beastman governor who packs a mean punch with a claw - I thought Gabryel was an intriguing twist on her obvious template; she's Jessica if Jessica were raised to be her father's successor and sergeant-at-arms rather than a daddy's girl - a Jessica who has her father's full confidence instead of one who's playing against her mother's memory. Second, she clearly fulfills the role of sage in the group, providing the hero with ancient lore and wise advice that guides him along his journey, and it's refreshing to see a young female, much less a fighter-type character, take that position. A pity that, like everyone not named "Jian," she's nerfed in actual combat. (Despite this, she's still bested in cutscene combat by Lucia Collins' umbrella, of all things, a proposition that doesn't quite threaten Day-Glo Jason Voorhees for the throne of Most Ridiculous Lunar Idea but is, to say the least, up there.)
The Guildmistress, Lunar: Vheen Hikuusen Monogatari: I don't get what Zain sees in her. Funato conceived her as a "fiery woman" full of life, but she seldom comes off as anything but smug - a rare failing for Hikuusen, as the Guildmistress is supposed to be the sparkling specimen of humanity's promise for Zain that Dain is for Ghaleon. Grace King, the character from Funato's subsequent Under the Rose manga based on/"misappropriated" for the Guildmistress, has a bit more humanity to her from what I've read, but count me still on Team Latona.
Hey, four characters, four Lunar works. Why not go five for five? Time to eschew Gerhard and Gotts and St. Germant and discuss someone from Magic School. So, Grandpa Glen is oh the heck with it:
Ghaleon, Lunar Everything, Quite Nearly: Since I've written about Ghaleon's character at length in several places, here're instead five miscellaneous reflections on the man:
- My favorite joke of TSS, just after the Grindery's rolled over a town on the Frontier and crushed near-everything within, amid the townsfolks' lamentations of the loss of their homes and businesses:
NPC: That jerk Ghaleon just crushed the sun tea I had lying out!
Nall: ............Ruthless bastard.
- I wish this expression here (the first one, the rightmost one) had made it into a full-blown manga illustration.
- I've always found this outfit attractive on Ghaleon. Not necessarily the studs or enormous shoulder pads, but I do think that a long black coat in heavy material with shape to it would look quite nice on the elf. (Perhaps I'm mentally merging it with this outfit.)
- Unsurprisingly, I found Working Designs' ABBA jokes OoC, but I'd gladly have them back over the XSEED-inspired homophobic comments these days about John Truitt's performance.
- I'd ask the "what's with his face?" bit about his Lunar II appearance, but, y'know, I just don't care about Lunar II's Ghaleon material anymore. It's thematically consistent and there's nothing wrong with it, but for me, Ghaleon's story ended with Silver Star - maybe even Vheen Hikuusen.
.
