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Naga
- For the tome known by the same name from Genealogy of the Holy War, see Naga (tome). For the unused class from Gaiden, see Naga (class).
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“ | But know this: I am no god. [...] So do sons of man name me. But I am no creator. I possess not the powers of making or unmaking. | ” | — Naga |
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Naga (Japanese: ナーガ Naga) is a powerful divine dragon, and was once the King of the divine dragon clan which bears her name. She has historically played a strong role as an ally and defender of mankind in conflicts with earth dragons, and is worshipped as a god in the cultures of Archanea/Ylisse and Jugdral, and she is acknowledged in the lore of Valentia due to her connection to Mila, Duma, and Valentia's Falchion. Her Holy Blood is carried through generations of two dynasties - the Belhalla family of Grannvale, and the Ylisse royal family - and she is the creator of numerous holy weapons and items used and revered by mankind, including both Falchions, the Binding Shield and the Book of Naga.
Biography
Ancient Archanea
Naga presided over the divine dragon tribe at the end of the golden era of the dragons of Archanea, and willingly became a Manakete along with the majority of other dragons in order to survive the degeneration of the dragons. When the earth dragons turned feral and attacked the fledgling human population after refusing to become Manaketes, Naga led the divine dragons in a war against the earth dragon in order to protect mankind. The divine dragons emerged victorious from the war, and Naga sealed the earth dragons in the Dragon's Table using the Binding Shield, forged from one of her fangs.[2] She entrusted the guardianship of the Table to Medeus, the sole earth dragon manakete.[3]
Jugdral and the Miracle of Darna
Unbeknownst to Naga, a single earth dragon escaped the war: Loptous, who had undergone blood rites with the bishop Galle, possessed him, traveled to Jugdral and there established a malevolent empire. Nearly two hundred years after the Lopt Empire's foundation, Naga learned of its existence and the role of Loptyr in its abuse of humanity. In response she recruited eleven other dragons, including Forseti and Salamand, and with them travelled to Jugdral.
Naga and the eleven dragons descended upon Darna Fortress, the last stronghold of the rebellion against the Lopt Empire, in an event which came to be known as the Miracle of Darna. She underwent blood rites with Heim, transforming him into the leader of the Twelve Crusaders and granting him her power through their blood bond, in the form of Holy Blood and the Book of Naga, the tome channeling her power. Heim and the Book of Naga would prove to be crucial in the defeat of Loptyr and his then-present host, Galle XVII, with her power being the only hope of truly piercing that of Loptyr.[4] Naga's holy blood was passed on through the descendants of Heim, the ruling Belhalla dynasty of Grannvale.
"Death"
In order to grant humans a way to protect themselves from other dragons who wish them harm, Naga forged Falchion from another of her fangs. She placed Falchion and Binding Shield in the Fane of Raman, put her infant daughter Tiki to sleep in the Ice Dragon Temple, and commanded Gotoh and the other manaketes to observe and protect humanity.[1] With these last acts accomplished, Naga "died", with the location of her death said to be Thabes.[5]
Thousands of years after her "death", Marth encountered a Manakete called Nagi who is strongly hinted to be some form of reincarnation or avatar of Naga; Nagi assisted Marth in the defeat of Medeus.
Ylisse
At the height of Grima's first reign of terror, Naga was awakened by an unnamed man descended from Marth through the rite of Awakening. She conferred her power upon this man in a second blood bond, enabling him to defeat Grima and return him to slumber using the Falchion. This man went on to become the first Exalt of Ylisse, and as with Heim's descendants, his descendants also bear Naga's Holy Blood as made manifest by the Brand of the Exalt present on all of their bodies.
One thousand years later, following Grima's revival by Validar of the Grimleal, Naga's assistance was sought by Chrom, descendant of Ylisse's founder and wielder of a Falchion whose divine power had faded (or possibly was sealed) with time. Using the Fire Emblem, he performed the Awakening rite at Mount Prism, and Naga provided both advice on Grima's downfall and granted her power to Chrom, restoring to Falchion the mighty power it had during the era of Marth, as well as the title it had during Marth's time: "Exalted Falchion".
In an alternate future in which Chrom was slain by the Grima-possessed Robin and Grima's reign became absolute, his daughter Lucina and the children of Chrom's allies sought Naga's assistance. She granted them passage to the past through the Outrealm Gate, in order to avert the disastrous future; however, Grima caught wind and followed them back in time.
Trivia
- Naga's gender has historically been a subject of ambiguity and confusion. When Lewyn talks about her role in the Holy War, he describes her as being male in older fan translations (in spite of the "little girl" guise she took during the Miracle of Darna) despite being possessed by Forseti, who as someone who actually knew Naga would know better. This is, however, a mistranslation; she is referred to ambiguously by Lewyn in the Japanese text, thus his usage of male pronouns is a translation error. Her appearance in Awakening has her as distinctly female, and Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon suggests her to be female through Nagi. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia establishes her to have been considered female by Valentia during the era of Marth, while referencing her title of Divine Dragon King via the "Kingsfang", suggesting Archanea considers her to be a King, while acknowledging her as female. Thus, it seems to ultimately be the case that Naga has always consistently been considered female canonically, in spite of her status as a "King", according to both English and Japanese canon, with fan translation error muddling this fact.
- The character Kurthnaga in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn derives his name from both Naga herself and Kurth, a bearer of Naga's Holy Blood.
- Naga's title of "god of light" (Japanese: 光神) is shared with Baldr. Fjalar and Salamand similarly share the title of fire god, but Salamand was the dragon who blood bonded with Fjalar, but there is no such relationship between Baldr and Naga.
- Naga's title of "guardian god" (Japanese: 守護神) is shared with Salamander from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the god whom Mannu wishes to sacrifice the Archanean League to. Like Naga, Salamander shares his or her name with that of the dragon tribe he or she is associated with, so it is likely Salamander is the fire dragon ruler. It is also one of the two names of the unused Guardian class from Mystery of the Emblem.
Etymology and other languages
Names, etymology, and in other regions | ||
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Language | Name | Definition, etymology, and notes |
English |
Naga |
From Nāga, a class of deity in Buddhist and Hindu mythology which takes the form of a great snake. "Nāga" is also one of several words for common snakes in the Sanskrit language. |
English (unofficial) |
Narga |
-- |
Spanish |
Naga |
As above. |
French |
Naga |
As above. |
German |
Naga |
As above. |
Italian |
Naga |
As above. |
Gallery
Artwork of Naga from Awakening.
Naga, depicted as a god by a human tapestry, in the opening of Mystery of the Emblem.
Naga in her dragon form, as channeled by the Book of Naga in Genealogy of the Holy War.
The Brand of the Exalt, the mark of those bearing Naga's Holy Blood in the Ylisse lineage.
Portrait of Naga from Awakening
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Naga took pity on you humans, with no way of protecting yourselves, so she created it from one of her fangs. Then, together with the shield, she sealed it in the fane, and had the remainin' dragon houses watch over humanity. She put the newly born Tiki to sleep and thus ended her 5,000-year life. 'Cause of all this, Gotoh's tryin' his best to carry out Naga's order." — Xane, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
- ↑ "And then... the divine dragon Naga, strongest of them all, waged a war for humanity. It was a fierce battle, but Naga emerged victorious in the end, and sealed the earth dragons below Dolhr, in a deep sleep. And so that the power of the seal would not wither, she created the "shield of the five orbs" and placed it in the Fane of Raman." — Xane, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
- ↑ "Medeus, an Earth Dragon prince, was the only one of his tribe who become a Manakete. And, as ordered by Naga, he guarded the Dragon's Table." — Xane, Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
- ↑ "Yet Loptyr's clan wields the most diabolical power of all dragons. King Naga passed his own blood onto the leader of the liberation army, Bishop Heim. That was their only hope to rival the power of Loptyr." — Lewyn, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
- ↑ "Naga seals the sword and the holy jewels’ shield carved from his own fang, at the Fane of Raman, and dies at Thabes." — Vincent ASM, Timelines, Serenesforest.net
This article is part of Project Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in the Fire Emblem series. |
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