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Written by Arcahan
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"No matter what I will become, I'll always be just…Nina." Creation Of course, as everybody knows, Nina is not an original character. She is among my favorite characters in BoF II, so it is not a wonder why I especially chose to write her story. I imagine Nina to be a quiet young woman, often a bit shy and unsociable. Her will, however, is very strong, and will carry her through most hardships of life. I did my best to make all of these features to be already seen in her during this story. Oh, don't get me wrong, though. Although she is serious beyond her age, I think that she, too, would smile and laugh every now and then, just like everybody else… Comments There is no "official record" of how old Nina was when her black wings first appeared and she was chased out of Windia. I've heard many kinds of estimations, varying from 6 to 15 years. I, myself, imagine her to be around 10 years as these events occur. This would give her about seven years to study and learn spells at the Great School of Magic. I think that should be sufficient for any student to learn the rudiments of sorcery… Now that I look at her, she doesn't act like a 10-years old girl. Heck, sometimes she acts far more like an adult than Silen does! Oh well, I suppose she had to grow up all too quickly…
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"I'm a protector, not an assassin. I try to save lives, not to take them." Creation Unlike many characters I have created for this story, Aryn wasn't really inspired by anybody. Some people have told me that he greatly resembles Rei Chiba, but this connection is unintentional. The creation of Aryn was based on two facts: he is an experienced traveler with knowledge about many things and he has a good reason to especially accept the job of guarding a banished princess. Onto this basement I tossed a "Hey, relax"-kind of attitude and a couple of wild ideas I invented on the run, and so, Aryn Seaholt was born. When I first imagined Aryn, he was an elf, with long, pointed ears. The problem was that there are no such things as elves in the world of Breath of Fire. However, those ears had come to stay, and tried as I might, I just could not imagine him without them. Desperate, I covered them with yellow fur and, jokingly, called him a quarter-Woran with cat-ears. CommentsActing as a co-star for Nina, Aryn handles the second most important role in the story. And, to be honest, I'm quite proud of him. When the bodyguard first entered into the story, I really did not know much about his personality. He was able to adapt quickly into new situations, but that was about everything. But, along the story, he grew further into his role as a protector and, more importantly, he became a living person. Today, I know almost everything about him, from his favorite colors (dark blue, leaf green) and his favorite snack (apples, the ones with the greenish rind) to his favorite animal (cat) and even his favorite fighting pattern (parry, parry, counter-attack). Aryn's battle daggers are strange. I've often mentioned that their blades are about the length of his forearms, yet he is able to hide them into his sleeves. No, there is no mistake here. I've never bothered (ok, I forgot!) to explain it, but Aryn probably uses a specific technique to conceal his weapons.
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"Meow." Creation Ah, the yellow eyes blazing in the darkness… Black cats bode ill to those whose road they cross. I wanted to add something strange, something mysterious into Aryn, and Cat is a kind of embodiment of this aspect of his character. I don't know if the readers pay much attention to what this little hunter is doing in the story, but at least I really like writing about this "character"… Comments {Chuckle} Oh, yes. The reason why I chose a cat into this role can be summarized into these words: "Cats are good, cats are nice." I just looooove cats!! Meow! =^ ^=
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"Because it's right and honorable to do so!" Creation It's probably no mystery where I got the idea for Silen. He was inspired by the two Windian soldiers who followed Nina1 into her solo adventure in Breath of Fire I. It was a good example of the courage and faith of the protectors of Windia, and I wanted to repeat that story. Silen is young and eager, and he possesses a sense of honor that rivals the Knights of Solamnia in Dragonlance saga. He's meant to be a kind of a novice adventurer, herded and guided by his more experienced companion, Aryn Seaholt. Comments Personally, I don't like Silen's performance that much, but at least according to what feedback I have gotten from my story, he seems to be surprisingly popular among the readers. I don't know if it's his knightliness or his relative inexperience in adventuring, but there seems to be some sort of charm in the Windian soldier… Speaking of inexperience, perhaps I jested a bit too much with Silen's youth and eagerness. Of the three main companions, it is usually the Windian soldier who finds himself in irksome situations. Oh well, a little too late to correct that now.
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"I look like a ssnake, I ssound like a ssnake, I act like a ssnake. Conclusion: I am a ssnake." Creation Essar Shoo, the creepy snake-wizard of Capitan, is a rather old character of mine, originally created for another purposes. However, when I needed a character into a role of a shady and mysterious information dealer, I decided to reincarnate him and try if he would fit into the role. That he did, almost perfectly, as a matter of fact. Essar Shoo was inspired a bit by the famed arch-mage Raistlin Majere, found in Dragonlance saga. This connection can certainly be seen, especially in Chapter IV, where Essar actually says a threat first used by Raistlin himself. (At least if you believe Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who once claimed that Raistlin had threatened to turn him into a cricket and swallow in once piece…) Essar's character was based on the facts that he is a shady character, cold and calculating, and suffering from one hell of a spelling problem. (Notice that he takes great pains to never say the word "as".) I attempted to give him a bit of an oriental impression with a long-stemmed pipe and really weird tobacco... Actually, I bet the stuff he smokes wouldn't be legal in our world… CommentsWhenever Essar is on the stage, he always seems to be the one in the control of the situation. You really can't exactly tell on whose side he actually is. I wanted him to be a kind of a… scary character, someone even the reader would be a little afraid of. The real theme of Essar Shoo was the theme of the James Bond-movie Golden Eye. With its mysterious, ominous atmosphere and almost hypnotic rhythm, it fits the snake-wizard perfectly. Obtain the theme from somewhere, put it playing, close your eyes and imagine Essar, slowly turning to glare at you, his dark-yellow eyes glittering… Oh, and congratulations to those who guessed on the first place that Essar is really not from the Clan he claims to be. But who he is…? I wonder if I should…
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"Lady Luck, if you're going to save my day, you'd better hurry." Creation Don't worry, be happy! Eiji (I like to pronounce it quite close to "easy") is a comical relief of the story. This smooth-talking, easy-going, oily-haired free spirit is there to show Nina that not all the thieves, gamblers and other folk of the streets are evil. And he does that in a funny way. When I first created Eiji, he was supposed to be a bit unreliable type, much like Cait Sith in Final Fantasy VII. However, for the reasons unknown, he soon ended up resembling Sten Legacy in Breath of Fire II: he's a monkey jester, tossing strange jokes into every turn. One more detail: his favorite saying, "Nononononooo!" Eiji got from my favorite detective, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. CommentsNow that I look at him, Eiji's resemblance to Sten is quite remarkable. I like to imagine that years later, at the time of the adventures of Ryu and the others, Sten constantly reminds Nina of Eiji. Many of Eiji's jokes and tricks, including his armor and the waterskin, are deliberately old and cliché-infested jokes. He just loves everything about classical adventures...
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"Yes, I know I am cool and no, I don't have a need for a bride and no, I don't give autographs and no, I don't want to hear a single word of praise more. Well then, is there anything ORIGINAL you would like to tell me?" Creation Ah, the enigmatic master of the Path of the Silver Dragon… Like Essar Shoo, Pooka O'Silver is an old character, who was created a long time ago for a completely different purpose. His outfit makes him greatly resemble Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII, but, believe it or not, this is just a coincidence. I had never even heard about FF7 when I created Pooka, so you may well imagine my amazement in the first moment when Sephy made his appearance. Why, even Pooka's sword is of the same caliber as Sephiroth's… Pooka O'Silver is meant to be a kind of a parody of a stereotypical hero: he's cool, he's handsome and he's incredibly skilled swordsman. His "only" fault is that he's a teeny-weeny little too aware of his own Mastery… Pooka's attitude as well as his role as the teacher of Aryn Seaholt were inspired by Hiko Seijuro from Rurouni Kenshin. I was once asked if Pooka was named after Pookie, Garfield's teddybear… Well, I'm afraid the answer is "no". Actually, a Pooka (Pwca, Puca, Phooka, Pouka, take your pick) is an Irish faery creature that often appears in the form of a black horse with flaming eyes. They are fond of disguising themselves as ordinary horses and offering rides to weary travelers… after which they take their victims to the wildest ride of their lives and soon after dumps them into muddy ditches or swamps. You know… To be honest, I find this Pookie name attractive… I simply HAVE to use it somewhere! ^_^ CommentsAlthough Pooka has style and he is fun to write about, he was surprisingly difficult to use as an active element in the story. You see, Pooka is too good with sword, so skilled that none of the other characters in JaLB would be able to defeat him. This makes him dangerous, because if a character is too powerful, there is always a possibility that he spoils the story. I, for one, find stories about characters who are "superior" to everyone else really boring. This is the reason why I allow Pooka enter the stage only in a few occasions. He is the joker card of the deck. I bet the first thing every reader immediately guesses about Pooka is that he is a member of the Dragon Clan. Unfortunately, I have to break your bubble. He is not a dragon. He's not completely human either, that much I'll grant you, but I think I'll stay quiet about it for now. I'm planning to write an entire story about the background of this character and the mysterious sword school he teaches, so let's not reveal too much about the issue yet, eh? The theme music of Pooka O'Silver is Ama Kakeru Ryu no Hirameki, the amazing theme of Hiko Seijuro himself. Unfortunately, I haven't found it anywhere in the midi format, so you'll have to find it yourselves…
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"Alive? The Shadow Society is not a guild of kidnappers. We have our own honor." Creation Miss Shade was totally an extempore character. She did not exist in my plans before she sat into the table with Hain. I needed a partner for Jei Adamanto, someone who would show us the true face of the Shadow Society. There had been a bit too few female characters in my story, so I decided to make her a she. And a dangerous one at that. Though she probably is more like a "poison-in-wine-and-dagger-in-bed"-type of assassin, she is more than able to hold her own in a direct combat. I think Miss Shade was inspired by Selina de Windia, the infamous "Dark Angel", who is a black-winged assassin. This character was created by a respectable member of BoF Fan Community and quite a good fanfic author, Selina. Both Miss Shade and Dark Angel are cold-blooded assassins and numbered among the top of their profession. Their styles may be considerably different, but both of them are very deadly in their own way. CommentsLet's just make one thing clear here… Of all the assassins introduced in the story, Miss Shade (this naturally is not her true name) is no doubt the best. However, she easily becomes overshadowed by her more visible partner. As a high-ranking member of the Shadow Society, she is a master of her craft, but she doesn't get too many chances to show her true talents during the story. Her cold exteriors aside, Miss Shade is a working girl, with high professional ethics… ^_^ ;
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"This feels…good." Creation Jei Adamanto is yet another product of some heavy idea stealing. He was mainly inspired by various members of the Ten Swords, a special group of warriors under the command of Shishio Makoto in Rurouni Kenshin. Among Jei's features, you can find traces of Kamatari of the Great Scythe (whose scythe gave me the idea for Jei's naginata), Usui the Blind Sword (who inspired Jei's attitude) and, of course, Soaring Henya (who gave me the ideas for a couple of tricks Jei uses when fighting) Comments Whenever I attempt to create an evil character, they always seem to end up being either cold & calculating like Miss Shade, or then they go nuts, like Hain or Jei Adamanto. Now that I look at Jei, he's definitely nuts. Heck, he wasn't originally meant to be that way, but it certainly was pretty fun to write about him… If Miss Shade represents the true Shadow Society, an assassin skilled in dozens of methods to take a life from the victim, Jei Adamanto takes after a more romanticised cast of assassins. He is just that type who prefers to dispatch his targets directly, openly defeating them in a battle instead of slipping poison into their wine. Being specialized in many weapons and possessing deadly combat abilities, Jei is no doubt very good at what he does; he just enjoys his work too much to be as good an assassin as Miss Shade is. The theme found above is actually the theme music for the duel between Jei and Aryn. It is fast and determined, yet it has that certain hint of desperation I attempted to infuse that scene with. I even know the exact point where this theme will start playing: {"Shut up, Jei", Aryn growled through his clenched teeth. "Just…shut…up!"}
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"The Boss's not gonna love this." Creation Just like Miss Shade, I did not really design Hain out before he came to bother Essar in the Inn of the Three Pirates. His first purpose was just to tell the reader that there was something weird going on. Soon, however, he ended up being a long-time character, a street-rat working for a mysterious Boss. As usual with my extempore characters, there was no real source of inspiration for Hain. He got his tanned skin from the idea that he would be a kind of a pirate, often sailing under scorching sun. His Windian rapier was supposed to hint that he's been doing his business also in Windia. And the scarf… well… the meaning of the scarf is explained in the story, so I don't need to touch the subject here. CommentsHain, of course, is just a little crook. Fighting with the brain, not with the brawn, he is ready to lead the chasers… yet retreats at the first sign of danger. In other words, he boasts with plenty of bravado, yet at heart he is just as his working zone indicates: a rat.
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"My birds are no prisoners. They stay with me only as long as they want." Creation Raven, of course, was inspired by the image of a classic gypsy woman, with dusky complexion, long dark hair and large earrings. She's noisy, dynamic and possesses an outgoing attitude that surpasses even Eiji. But even though she is happy with her life, I wanted to also give her an aspect of suffering, to tell the readers that Raven, too, has been through a lot. Such an outgoing character needs someone to keep her in check, and this is why I added a sharp-tongued sister to chasten Raven up. Needless to say, I had great fun writing the scenes about squabblings of Raven and Lady Ayena. There are many differences as well as many similarities between the sisters, so I found their relationship a rather interesting (and amusing) thing to describe. I got the idea for Raven's flock of hawks while reading James Clavell's bestseller, Shogun, where japanese lords spend a great deal of their time on falconry. I think these birds of prey fit Raven pretty well, as she, too, is a free spirit and her tongue is sharp like curved talons… CommentsWith a flood of serious or evil characters going up and about the story, I wanted to try and write about a hearty and outgoing character for a change. Unlike Eiji, however, I attempted to keep Raven from becoming just a comical relief. She is the woman who has faced great hardships during her life, yet has overcome them all, keeping her spirit soaring. Thus, she is yet another important teacher for Nina.
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"Oh dear..." Creation Other than Nina Windia and her parents, Master Yoji is the story's only other character to appear also in the actual Breath of Fire II. However, Yoji makes only one appearance in the game and he is on the stage only for a very short while, so we really don't get a chance to see what kind of person he really is. Thus, I got pretty free hands at the job. My only restriction was that Yoji didn't seem to be too self-confident person, as all he could do was to simply watch as the Jokers dragged Nina right from his classroom. And then, instead of going to help his student himself, the wizard asked Ryu & the companions to do the job for him. This being said, I decided to make Yoji a character of two extremes. He is timid and shy, but on the other hand, he possesses remarkable powers and he also knows how to fight when forced to do so. His personality was inspired a little by Alfred from Death Gate series, as well as the image of a classic elderly wizard, kind and good hearted, yet rather absent-minded every now and then. The name Louis was also my own invention. In the game he is called only Yoji, but I felt that it would look better if he used also some other name when introducing himself to others. Also, there has never been any official mention that Yoji would be a War Wizard. However, I was thinking that it would be a good idea to explain why Nina's spells are so heavily attack-based, so I decided to make her teacher specialize in battle magic. CommentsI've always liked wizards. There's something… magical about them that attracts me. Master Yoji is no exception of this. The first spell we actually see Master Yoji cast, the Rage of Heavens, was created to honor the wondrous magic of my favorite Anime sorcerer, Magic Knight Rayearth's Madoshi Clef. I had a horrible temptation to make Yoji also cast spells rather similar to Cresta or Cleft, but soon thought that I shouldn't touch Clef's arsenal too much… Rayearth is Rayearth and BoF is BoF. ^_^ ;
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