The Complete Xenogears Reference Guide (Part Six)

[@duskcrawler]

I’m certain it’s not supposed to be Opiomorph(us) but “Ophiomorphus” since the “Dictionary of Angels” spells it as “Ophiomorphus.” Based on the comments below, I think the Japanese devs probably messed up transliterating the name into Katakana and it ended up as Opiomorph in Honeywood’s translation. When I type in “Ophiomorphus” or “Ophiomorphos” into google, I get way more results than Opiomorph so I think that was the intent. As for Ramsus, I think the name might be a reference to Percy Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” The poem is about the titular Ozymandias boasting about his monument and being prideful of his status only to fall to the sands of history despite his once great power and lofty ambitions. Ozymandias is the Greek rendering of one of Ramses II’s titles and it’s possible the devs noticed this and named him Ramsus as a nod to Percy Shelley’s poem, foreshadowing Ramsus’ ultimate rise and fall as well as his ego being shattered before Fei and Myyah who transcend time and space via reincarnation and possession. Ironically enough, the antagonist of Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” is also named Ozymandias who develops a vengeful obsession with The Comedian after being humiliated in intellect and in a physical altercation, something he has a rematch over and wins. Much like Krelian however, Ozymandias intended to save the world from nuclear annihilation by faking an alien invasion although given he’s likely named after Percy Shelley’s poem, it can be argued his efforts are all for naught in the end among other hints. Probably not an inspiration on Xenogears but I thought that was an interesting parallel to mention.

[@astonishingmelanie]

Thank you for the great info. I love your script and word choices as well!

[@sirbeardcat]

this series is everything I've ever wanted from a xenogears analysis. amazing work, thank you!

[@gregtroyan]

This deserves 100,000 views.

[@aarond82ueyd7e8wd.dhe8]

Can't believe you didn't find The Dictionary of Angels at the same very legal place you got a copy of the Zohar

[@TJTheEmperor]

Honestly, I can't believe I didn't do that either. Reading your comment made me look in that very legal place, and I actually found The Dictionary of Angels and confirmed the entry on Opiomorphus is legit.

[@couchpotato3197]

Crucifixion has a long long history in Tokusatsu too. I believe the four Ultraman being crucified together in a row is most likely what inspired that scene more than anything.

[@JEANS__]

Great as always

[@fenix0seraph]

Regarding the bit on Rattan/Kenren and Mugwort/Tenpou, to be more specific they're not just named after characters from the Saiyuki manga, but rather from the original classic Saiyuki novel that the manga is very loosely based off of. Two of the main characters in the story, Sa Gojyo (Sha Wujing in the original Chinese) and Cho Hakkai (Zhu Bajie), are reincarnations of two generals of Heaven named Kenren (Juanlian) and Tenpou (Tianpeng), and likewise in the Saiyuki manga these two characters are the protagonists' past lives. As for Opiomorphus, the only connection I can think of is that Opiomorph literally means "snake shaped", and Samael is losely associated with snakes. According to the Zohar, Samael rode upon a serpent as a mount, and in other apocryphal texts he's been claimed to have been the serpent in the Garden of Eden himself. That association is probably why SMT depicts Samael as a kind of serpent.

[@ardith]

The only thing I can think of on Opiomorph is the constellation Ophiuchus (the serpent bearer), which is generally unknown to Western Audiences because it's usually not used in Zodiac charts. It is, however, used in Eastern Zodiac. Also is used as a 13th stone in Final Fantasy Tactics in the Deep Dungeon. Given that they were in development at the same time and we have evidence of ideas being crossed over like in Final Fantasy 7 where Cloud mentions Xenogears this may be the case. I'm not sure as this may be a reach, however. I would, however, definitely contest the reference to Samael, because this is clearly a word dragged from Greek "Ophiomorphous" which means to have the form of a snake. I think it's reasonable to assume that's what they meant as the Gear definitely resembles a snake and later on she comes back with another snake form in the form of the Ouroboros. It also fits neatly into the lore as Myyah is Eve, was associated with the tree of knowledge (Razael), and the only missing thing is the snake.

[@Studio_OZKai]

I actually believe Opiomorphus is the gear's complete name in the Japanese version (オピオモルプス/Opiomorupusu), however like you, I can NOT find any reference to Samael or Gnosticism to this name-or anything at all outside of Xenogears itself.

[@nohar9953]

The name Taura is actually meant to be Torah, which is a collection of books from the Hebrew bible.

[@nohar9953]

One more thing, I get the impression Amphisbaena is used because the gear has two heads. Albeit not quite in the same way as the serpent.

[@gregtroyan]

What's the clip from 11:46 from?

[@TJTheEmperor]

I knew someone was gonna ask about that clip lol - honestly, I don't actually know. I saw it in an Everything is Terrible video called The Rise and Fall of God, but I don't know where they got it, so in the credits, I just listed the Everything is Terrible video because that's the best I could do

[@gregtroyan]

@@TJTheEmperor It's pretty great, ngl.