Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu: Encyclopedia II - Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - The Elemental Spirits

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - The Elemental Spirits

There are eight Elemental Spirits throughout the series: Undine, Gnome, Sylphid (or Jinn), Salamando (or Salamander), Lumina (or Wisp), Shade, Luna (or Aura), and Dryad. Only four Elementals have made it through the series so far without any large modification to their names or the types of their powers. All Elementals debuted in Secret of Mana; the most significant change, Luna to Aura, occurred in Legend of Mana.

One could argue that the Faerie that befriends the main character and follows them throughout Seiken Densetsu 3 acts as a kind of ninth elemental spirit — the neutral Mana Spirit. In certain instances in the game, she appears on the ring menu depicting the elemental spirits, as an option for unlocking a certain gate or triggering a certain action. Also, the Faerie appears as a character in the game's weekly calendar, like the other Elementals do, representing Mana Holy Day. However, it is generally accepted that she is not one of the main Elementals as she has no spells of her own, and does not appear in this form in subsequent games.

The Eight Elementals are presented here individually in their order of collection in Secret of Mana, the most familiar game of the Seiken series.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Undine Water and Ice

Undine is the first Elemental presented in the series. Depicted as a naiad with a trident, her appearance has changed little from this fundamental form. As the water elemental, Undine's spells invoke attacks such as hailstorms, acid showers, tsunamis, whirlpools, bubble guns, and the ability for weapons to freeze opponents (i.e. turn them into snowmen). However, her healing spells in Secret of Mana were given to Wisp (Lumina) in Seiken Densetsu 3, probably as a means of expanding the formerly half-sized Light set.

In Secret of Mana, after defeating Elinee, the Hero receives a telepathic message from the Sage Luka requesting his return to the Water Palace so that he can check on Undine, who lives in a cave behind a waterfall nearby. Taking the Girl and the Sprite with him, they enter the cave and fight a rather cute creature called a Tonpole, which undergoes a metamorphosis into a Snap Dragon, a biting lizard that eats anything in its path. After defeating it, they go deeper into the cave and meet with Undine. It is her role to explain the role of magic in Secret of Mana and to assign aggressive battle magic to the Sprite and predominantly status-boosting magic to the Girl; when the Hero feels left out, she makes the quote: "Your Mana Sword will one day become more powerful than any magic".

Her treatment of the characters shows a calm and kind, almost motherly nature; however, she is shown to be quite sensitive when found in an ice cave in the Sub-Zero Snowfield of Seiken Densetsu 3. Hearing the Faerie explain why the Stones must not have their powers released, after the Mana Stone of Water has, Undine appears sobbing, moved bv the Faerie's plight. Her pity leads her to join the Main Character and to grant her powers.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Gnome Earth

Gnome, the earth elemental, is the second spirit that the characters obtain, both in Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3. His appearance has remained fairly static, as a squat, brown humanoid figure with a body-covering beard, large feet and a nightcap, which usually depicted in green. His powers are, naturally, of an earthly persuasion, with such attacks as gem missiles, landmines, rock slides, earthquakes, and weapon enchantments so as to petrify opponents (i.e. turn them into statues). Gnome's powers also extend to that of temporarily raising defense stats or lowering speed; interestingly, his spell in Secret of Mana is depicted with vines, what would be considered Dryad's domain. His Speed Up spell was given to Jinn (Sylphid) in the sequel, who also received a Defense Down spell, creating a "true" opposition for both modifiers.

Gnome's appearance in Secret of Mana is less than glorious. With the attack on the Underground Palace underway by monsters, which the party has to travel through to reach Gnome, the Earth Elemental could be forgiven for thinking that the three of them are yet more monsters and will not allow them entry to where the Mana Seed is. Outraged, the Sprite attacks Gnome, but the Elemental makes a hasty retreat when the Fire Gigas appears behind him. After defeating the monster, though, Gnome reveals he used the party to get rid of it for him. In response, the Sprite demands that Gnome serves it, lest he be thrown to "its servant", the Hero; fearful, the Elemental grants his powers to the Sprite and the Girl, whom he mistakenly calls the Sprite's wife.

Fortunately, his appearance is only slightly more redeeming in Seiken Densetsu 3, where he appears after the defeat of the Jewel Eater when Watts, the Dwarven Blacksmith, is looking for him. Gnome seems to treat the fact that the beast, which has not been seen for centuries, drags him off to its den and escapes being eaten as a big joke. When the Faerie appears, he makes the lecherous comment, "Well, hey there, pretty lady!" One can draw their own conclusions about Gnome's personality quite easily: irreverent and bumbling, yet trying to make himself bigger than he is.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Sylphid/Jinn Air and Thunder

Sylphid, the air elemental, is the third spirit that the characters obtain in both Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 from whence he is known as Jinn. Like most of the other spirits, his appearance has changed little, remaining similar to a blue-purple pixie with puffy yellow pants and round cap; circular markings were added to his skin in Sword of Mana. He holds a bag, which could be assumed to be a nod to his etymological origins. While his spells include wind powers such as air blasts, cutters and tornados, they also include the powers of lightning, to suspend enemies in the air temporarily, and of sound, evident through the Silence spell in Secret of Mana, which confuses the enemy (i.e. reverses controls). Interestingly, one of his spells allows for the disarmament of traps and the proffering of information about specific targets, while his weapon enchantment makes attacks more likely to land large blows. In the sequel, he is granted Defense Down and Speed Up abilities so as to counter Gnome's hold on these powers in the prequel.

Little is given about his character in Secret of Mana, where his powers are given to the party in the Wind Palace, in lieu of the Sprite's Grandpa's coming with them. He only has two spoken lines in the entire game: "You called, master?" and "It is so!"

One must turn to Seiken Densetsu 3 for a better analysis of him as Jinn. Residing in the Corridor of Wind high in the peaks near Rolante Fortress, the characters discover Jinn is under attack by the Darkshine Knight, a servant of the Dragon Emperor, who casts a spell upon the Wind Elemental and transforms him into a boss named Tzenker — a rather female-looking monster similar in appearance to a harpy. After defeating Tzenker, Jinn reverts to his original self and requires the Faerie's healing. He joins the party out of gratitude in a casual manner. One can also assume from his subsequent actions in the game that he is somewhat benevolent in character. Judging by his behaviour in Secret of Mana, one could also assume he likes order; however, Jinn's true nature currently remains a mystery.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Salamando/Salamander Fire

Salamando is the fire spirit. His appearance has changed relatively little, being a lizard aflame, wielding a fiery spear; however, his name was changed in Legend of Mana to Salamander, perhaps as a true reflection of his etymology. Salamando's powers are perhaps the most destructive, sporting attacks like rains of magma, explosions, fireballs, walls of flame, and a weapon enchantment that burns opponents. Despite his reign of destruction, the Fire Elemental has only one beneficial spell in Seiken Densetsu 3 and Sword of Mana which temporarily boosts the target's attack power.

Salamando is well remembered by players of Secret of Mana for his unorthodox meeting with the main characters. The Scorpion Army, a bumbling quasi-terrorist group bent on making quick money, kidnaps the Fire Elemental from his Palace and traps him in an oven in the middle of a resort village deep in the Ice Country, using his heat to have a perpetual springtime. He is freed by the main characters and grants his powers in return, after a show of indignance towards "those creatures".

The Elemental's temper is also evident in the sequel. After the main characters travel to the Valley of Flames, a volcano south of the deserts of Navarre, they see the Mana Stone of Fire have its powers released by Bigieu, the witch. After she leaves, Salamando appears and makes fiery explosions out of his anger over the matter; "you could say it's really burning me up!" he says. However, Salamando seems to have some sort of friendliness: in Secret of Mana, a young girl states that Salamando is her friend. It could be assumed that Salamando has a quick temper, but is willing to show restraint.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Lumina/Wisp Light and Holy

Lumina (known henceforth from Seiken Densetsu 3 as Wisp), the Light Elemental, has had a rather enigmatic history. Firstly, Lumina is referenced to being female in Secret of Mana, but in the sequel, Wisp is considered male. It could be possible that the Elemental has both or neither genders, or the reference to being male is a typographical mistake. Apart from sex changes, the Light Elemental's appearance has also changed over time, though remains in essence a white flame with eyes. In Secret of Mana, Lumina had yellow orbs floating over her; these were removed in Seiken Densetsu 3 and Legend of Mana. However, Wisp's appearance strongly suggests femininity in Sword of Mana with the addition of large earring-like hoops and a "forehead" pendant. Lumina was originally the exclusive domain of the Girl in Secret of Mana, with a half-sized set of spells as a result, but her repertoire has expanded in the games since, especially with the addition of healing spells (formerly Undine's domain) and the additional powers of "Holy", perhaps a move to tie in Seiken Densetsu's magic with the Final Fantasy system. Her powers are therefore somewhat varied, with lasers, orbs of holy power, barriers against attack, and other powers that could be seen traditionally as "divine retribution". In Seiken Densetsu 3, should a character move through the "dark" classes, they will not receive any new Wisp abilities.

Along with Shade and Luna, Lumina's meeting with the party in Secret of Mana is very utilitarian, being a reward for sealing the Mana Seed in the Light Palace (which is an effort in itself). However, she reveals that Manmon, the King of Gold City (in name only; it's really a puppet state of The Empire) was robbing her of her power and using her to make the gold which lines everything in the city, even the trees. She pleads that the party (the Girl especially) takes her powers "before evil engulfs us all".

The desperation of Lumina is non-apparent in her reincarnation as Wisp for the sequel. Rather, the Light Elemental shows a streak of egotism in his rejoicing when he is freed from the crab-like Full Metal Haggar, near the start of the game: "It's me! I'm it, I'm the one you're looking for, I was the one trapped in that thing's body!". With the Light Elemental's continual changes from game to game, perhaps her (or his) personality cannot truly be defined.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Shade Darkness

Shade, the Elemental of Darkness, has a rather eerie appearance of a black-winged, black-tailed eye with a yellow orb on top. This appearance dates from Seiken Densetsu 3, as before, in Secret of Mana, Shade had no tail or orb. Although no reference has been given to the gender of the Elemental throughout the series, Shade is usually regarded as male. As Lumina's opposite, Shade also started off with a half-set of powers, the exclusive realm of the Sprite in Secret of Mana, and has since expanded to include powers such as waves of shadow, orbs of darkness, instant-death, and the ability to dispel any status modifying spells. While the Dark Elemental lends his powers to evil purposes, his willingness to give his powers to the "forces of good" (the main characters), including his nefarious Evil Gate spell, does not necessarily make Shade evil; rather, he should be considered the "black sheep" of the Elemental family. Even so, in Seiken Densetsu 3, should a character move through the "light" classes, they will not gain any new Shade abilities.

Like Lumina and Luna, Shade's meeting with the characters of Secret of Mana is a utilitarian reward for getting through the Palace of Darkness. However, he specifically states that the use of his powers are a reward for defeating his dark servants, showing the lack of benevolence in his personality.

Shade's moment of glory, however, lies in Seiken Densetsu 3, where he has what could be considered the longest and deepest discussion with the main characters of all the Elementals in the game. After subverting Navarre's invasion of the Rolante Fortress, the characters find themselves aboard a ghost ship. In the process of going through the ship, one of the characters is cursed to remain as a ghost, leaving the other two characters to fend for themselves. The Faerie senses Shade's presence, but he is weak, trapped inside the ghostly Gorva. Upon defeating the monster and releasing Shade's soul from captivity, he returns the favour by removing the curse upon the third character; while he may not be benevolent, he certainly does not appear to be malevolent. He then explains emotionlessly why there is no Mana Stone of Darkness and that he does not know what happened to the God-Beast of Darkness after it ravaged the world. His farewell is a fact rather than a statement of allegiance: "My soul was released...This ship will soon disappear". Eerily calm and void of emotion are good descriptions of Shade's character.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Luna/Aura Celestial/Gold

Luna, the Moon Elemental, is perhaps the most unusual of all the Elementals, and has an equally unusual past. Represented as a strange yellow inverted teardrop-shaped being with four wings, with a golden-haired girl's face holding a golden orb at its centre, Luna's powers are also strange, shifting from Luna-tic crazy magic in Secret of Mana, to body and physical in Seiken Densestu 3. Its powers including temporary transmogrification, bezerk style power boosts (although given to Salamando after Secret of Mana), a weapon enchantment that steals hit points from opponents, health gauge modifiers, and a nefarious Random Magic spell which has surprising and often unpredictable effects.

However, in Legend of Mana, Luna was replaced by Aura, the Gold (i.e. Metal) Elemental. While Aura is golden like her predecessor and retains a slightly similar female face, the most striking differences are her golden spiky crown and her unusual two-toed body. Aura's powers, most of which are named along the lines of gold and platinum, are in true opposition to Dryad's; however, they should not be considered as being of "death", the opposite of "life", but more "anti-life" or "inorganic". Even with the radical shift from Luna in name, Aura's spell animations contain stars, orbits, and other sorts of cosmic suggestions that are more akin to her celestial predecessor's powers; this is one of the factors that suggests that Luna and Aura are one and the same. However, her different appearance and different name of powers also suggests that Aura could be a different Elemental altogether.

What makes Aura and Luna even more strange is that, for Sword of Mana, the producers reverted to Luna, including reusing her depiction and definition of "Moon" powers. The (currently) temporary use of Aura could be cited as one of the reasons why some fans of the Seiken Densetsu series do not consider Legend of Mana to be a true part of it.

Like Shade and Lumina, Luna's collection in Secret of Mana is utilitarian, but she is perhaps the most challenging Elemental to meet. The main characters travel across the astral Sea of Wonders with the help of Karon (a nod to Charon), and arrive at the Moon Palace, which is populated by Marmablues, which are magic-sucking jellyfish. Entering the palace's door, the main characters must then walk across an astral plane-like void, trying to find the right exit which leads to Luna and the Mana Seed (a very challenging task). Upon finding her, she grants her powers and notes how "sad this place has grown".

Fortunately, finding Luna in Seiken Densetsu 3 is far easier. Residing in the Moonreading Tower in the Moonlight Forest, where it is always night, she appears after Lugar, a Beastman akin to a werewolf, is killed by the main characters. She revives him, but in order for the spell to work, Lugar is turned into an infant. It is a little later in the story, in the Lamplight Forest, when more of Luna's character is revealed, when she asks the main characters if it is alright for her to keep one of the flowers she cleared a path in, as "they smell so nice". Luna, therefore, could be characterised as being a headstrong yet enigmatic female figure.

Elemental spirits Seiken Densetsu - Dryad Life and Mana/Wood

Finally, Dryad is the last Elemental collected in both Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3. Her appearance has remained static throughout the series, as a personified palm tree, with the leaves as her hair and roots as her feet. She is regarded as being the closest to the Mana Tree and the Mana Goddess, and her powers reflect this, with barriers that reflect magic spells, revive fallen party members, weapon enchantments that steal magic points and temporary invincibility; for these powers, she is often regarded as the "Mana" or "Life" Elemental. However, like in Legend of Mana she is also regarded as the "Wood", "Tree" or "Leaf" Elemental due to her powers of poison breath, flowers that put opponents to sleep, strangling vines, and other plant-related spells.

Her most notable power is in Secret of Mana where both the Girl and the Sprite must simultaneously cast the Mana Magic spell upon the Hero so that the Mana Sword is at its highest potential, and thus is used to defeat the Mana Beast.

However, it is on the subject of her Mana Magic spell that her insecure personality is revealed. Prior to the party's meeting with her in the Tree Palace atop the Sunken Continent, the evil Thanatos placed a seal on her Mana Magic powers so that the Mana Sword could not be used (the seal is broken when he is defeated as the Dark Lich). With the Sunken Continent rising out of the deep, she tells the party to leave and then because "I wasn't able to save this palace...I'll go down with it". When convinced otherwise, Dryad questions her usefulness due to the seal on her powers, but says she will do what she can.

Dryad's suicidal tendencies are non-apparent in Seiken Densetsu 3, but after being freed from the evil plant, Gildervine, she apologises to the main characters for having to fight it to save her. After being asked to help open the gate to the Mana Holyland, Dryad claims that the plant took her energy and that she will be useless; she needs to be convinced that she will be useful before she comes along with the characters. One could say that Dryad is depressive, perhaps manically, in character.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Elemental Spirits", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki