Oh, I am reading again the flashback of Yasratcha and was looking for a thread to ask a few questions about that.
I am a bit confused with all the terms : Anicent one(s), Native one(s), Ancient creatures. I guess Akrinak is just an ancient creature but not part of the native one ? Am I right to call the "Native One", the one who divided himself into five, and his parts the "Ancient ones". Is there a number of "Native ones" ?
Is there a Korean native here who could elucidate the differents terms ?
Not Korean. But, the ancients are pretty straightforward (until they aren't), IMO, so far.
- Giant - the pre-Native One giant that has no known name. It controlled all elemental powers and later split into 5 creatures with distinct/singular elemental powers.
- Native One - one of the 5 elemental users that were split from the Giant.
(it is worth noting both were pre-history in the Tower, and thus are *ancient* as in how old they are/were - all this was pre-explorers in the OG13 arriving)
- Akrinak - an
ancient creature. In the pre-history of the Tower, it seemed to exist in the period along with early flora and fauna (mentioned as mechanical? before the first humans in the Tower [Cha's people?]). I don't think 'ancient one' is a classification other than to say something is really old and pre-history in the Tower. Something you'd see in the 1F tapestries. Lots of giants roamed the Tower then, apparently, and Akrinak was one of them, whether a one-off or part of a group (species). May have rubbed elbows with the Giant and/or Native Ones, but certainly their descendants.
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- Native One Direct Descendants - helped the OG13 climb, later betrayed by Zahard. Thought to all be hunted down and/or cursed to the point they couldn't breed. Rak (and Taro York) is one of these? Not one the original 5 creatures, but their progeny. Have elemental powers as well. Unsure how strong those powers are compared to the 5 proto-parents.
- N.O. Indirect Descendants - trash, with light elemental powers. Presumably enough outside blood to skirt the 'cursed' issue and able to thus reproduce.
It is a safe assumption that there are other ancient species/giants as well. Ancient as in age/Tower period. Not that they are connected with the Native Ones, the OG Giant, or the Akrinak(s?). Could be any other creature in theory. Maybe some of Rei's OP summons such as Kraken?
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All that is pretty easy to follow.
Up to Rak (and the elementals we know of in EVK and Khel), where no one actually knows his status. And Taro York by extension, who we've seen zero examples that he has elemental powers. I'd just assume York does though, as he's just a woolly Rak, and was strong enough to be a part of Hidden Garden. I think his inclusion in the story means that the Rak/York creatures are just a species that continued from the bloodlines of one of the 5 mini giants. Of note is that both Rak and York are very visually similar to the OG giant before he broke up. Presumably, his 5 'kids' (for a better lack of a word) were also all giant and lizard-like, BUT they could have just as well been 5 different (giant) animals. We know there is a bull (earth/plant power) and an elephant (fire). That seems to indicate the other 3 powers (water, crystal [metal?], rock) would then have different associated animals. Did the rock elemental powers stay like the Giant, as huge Lizards (whereas other elemental powers went into differing animals)? Does Rak take after the Rock Giant, who then takes after the OG Giant? Does that mean Taro York is also a rock-user? Or can York use a different type of elemental power (if at all), thus the lizard-people species that he and Rak are a part of just have various elemental powers from any of the 5?
All clear as mud.
Then, you have the 2 elementals: firephant and woodbull. OK, are they 2 of the original 5 the giant split into? Why didn't they retain the shape (lizard) of the original giant? Were those powers transferred to other creatures from a set of 5 giant lizards?
I think most assume that EVK's firephant *is* one of the original 5, not a descendant (same as Khel's bull). IIRC, this has never been hard-confirmed.
In my headcanon those 5 are creatures that reincarnate, elemental powers that are eternal (like admin who are immortal), and Rak is possibly a baby version of one. No idea. Enter, York, who screws that up kind of.
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Further headcanon - the original Giant was a roaming (?) admin, or something associated with an admin. We have evidence admin (can) have life-cycles, of sorts, with the thryssa on FoD - so that's canon at least. That doesn't seem to be a common occurance (perhaps FoD is a one-off) but maybe over the course of millions of years (pre-people) shit like that happened with the admin. We also know some admin are special, such as whatever is going on with the 135F admin and Headon who is allowed to roam (so admin are not all monolithic in their function). We ALSO know that SIU has told us they even have different personalities and goals, suggesting they are further differentiated. This means the possibility of one-offs for admin, while exceedingly rare, are not impossible or breaking canon.
To wit:
- the original Giant was, well, a literal
giant. It had to be just as large, likely even larger, than the 5 giants it split into (logic!). If the firephant and woodbull are any indication, that would mean it had to be at least one order of magnitude larger than those elementals/creatures, and that would put it on the scale of admin in sizing (we have no measurements to base this on, but vaguely based on the Enryu fight...)
- the other roaming admin we know about is Headon - vaguely lizardman-esque (a theme for roaming admin?)
- admin, at least FoD, presumably have the ability to change appearance and shape/animal configuration. I don't see why that would be limited to the FoD admin (that would be peculiar and coincidental if the only killed admin was a shapeshifter too) and should be shared with the other floor admin as well. If they have ultimate control over the floor shinsoo then shapeshifting should be easy-peasy (they are essentially spirits that can also take tangible forms). Why is this relevant? Because you can see the admin being slaughtered by Enryu changed shapes into GIANT ANIMALS. Well, the OG giant split into... different GIANT ANIMALS (as in the ability to modulate into other creatures was inherent in the Giant). While it may not be *exact* as what admin can do it certainly rhymes. I suspect Headon can shape-shift personally (as well as modulate his size).
- the original Giant had
complete elemental control. Shinsoo can be converted into elemental forms (fire, water, etc). Admin have
complete shinsoo control. This means the Giant was working with similar (if not the same) forces as admin do with their shinsoo control.
Giant : complete elemental control :: complete shinsoo control : admin. And since, at times at least,
shinsoo = elemental forces, I do think the giant basically was wielding admin authority and power, at the very least on a smaller scale (I think equal, but that's just me).
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I submit also, that I think the REASON that the 135F guardian is so hostile (per SIU - you shall not pass!) towards Zahard (and/or in general) *and* Headon is apparently conspiring against Zahard (seems clear to me - he's working with FUG with Rachel, sent Akryung who is clearly hostile towards Zahard, *seems* to be coordinating with Gustang in his off-screen FoD talk, let Baam and Rachel up which will be a threat to Zahard...) are both related to how Zahard has been a tyrant King (specifically to tower creatures/Native Ones). By cursing the people and in specific creatures of the Tower, Zahard/empire has made itself a target. If the original Giant was an admin or related to them (as I suspect), then perhaps it came from 135F or above (or was a 'friendly' with 135F admin - roaming by or even a special case sibling), or was somehow literally a relative (asexual thryssa reproduction lol) with the 135F guardian/admin. Basically, Zahard shit on the (previous? other?) helpful roaming admin (its kids/legacy via the grudge and literal genocide), and now the only other (known) roaming admin - Headon - is looking for revenge, while 135F boxed the fucker in.
Headon was pointedly said by SIU to be holding a grudge. Clearly, that grudge is towards Zahard. There is no other reason for mentioning this (his grudge) logically-speaking, considering what we know at this point with Headon's actions and affiliations. SIU says the admin have different personalities and that implies history and feelings (towards Zahard among other things) - we know at least one more admin helping FUG/Karaka which implies at the very least 2 admin are working against Zahard, but still in the bounds of the Tower rules. They may all be split on this (as the 10FHs and Zahard were on Baam), or maybe even they all are biding their time for Baam to take Zahard out, but their hands are mostly tied currently. Also intriguing is the idea that an admin can roam from the bottom up (Headon) while another might have been roaming from the top down (Giant?). IDK, the exact hierarchy and mechanics are muddy, but I think there is a loose theory there nonetheless.
