Shock Centipede is an Abnormality taking the form of a giant robotic centipede (it actually has 36 limbs, I counted), who can gather and unleash electricity. It's pretty easy to see what it's meant to represent, since it's rather explicit it has a history of being abused in the name of scientific experimentation, as shown in its Mirror Dungeon event. Interestingly, the Abnormality seems affiliated with WARP Corp, similar to Wayward Passenger. However, what Shock Centipede allegorically represents for the Wing is rather ambiguous for now. Its main Sins are Gloom, Gluttony, and Envy. Gloom represents the suffering it receives from its tormentor, Gluttony how it keeps stocking energy and fights for its survival, and Envy represents how it's lashing out for being abused. Its strong against Slash damage because of the metal plates that cover it. The body is weak to Pierce because you're targeting the interstices between said metal plates. In turn, the head is weak to blunt because... well, already squished a centipede's head ? It's strong against Wrath and Envy because it itself is trying to surge against its tormentors. It's weak to Sloth because Sloth represents apathy toward its plights, while its weakness to Gloom represents inflicting further torments to it. In the context of Canto IV, Shock Centipede represents the "Winter" of the League of Nine. The League has fallen, leaving Yi Sang depressed and lethargic, only responding to strong outside stimuli. Furthermore, he's being used by N Corp, mirroring how the Abnormality represents something similar about W Corp. Heathcliff and Gregor's use of its E.G.O, AEDD, represents how they were subject to torments by the outside world. For Heathcliff, how he has been bullied and harassed during his youth at Wuthering Heights, and him lashing out in turn. For Gregor, it's even more obvious, as he too has been undergoing experimentation against his will by G Corp. There's also the insectoid motif that both he and the Abnormality shares.
So That No One Will Cry (STNOWC) is an Abnormality taking the form of a giant wooden doll covered in paper talisman. The Abnormality is obsessed with these talisman, but has a bizarre behavior regarding them. It frantically stick them to people, before taking them back and reattaching them shortly after. It's implied that these papers connect the Abnormality to its "victims", both physically and mentally. What exactly it's trying to do is unknown, but it's possible it may try to remove some sort of curse. It's very likely that the Abnormality is based on Korean shamanism, with the talismans being based on "Pujŏk", yellow paper talismans used to bear good fortune. The Abnormality being a wooden humanoid doll remind of how it's common in occult circles to use human-like effigies to cast curses or blessings on people, voodoo dolls being a well-known example. STNOWC is likely meant to represent how many technologies of the City were first created to do good, but end up being perverted for profits, with the good intentions still dwelling deep inside. Its main Sins are both Lust and Gloom. This combo is *very* interesting, as these two are somewhat complementary to each other. Lust represents not just desire, but the entire spectrum of positive emotions, and giving into one's positive stimuli, with the reverse to Gloom. When both are put together, they represent the idea of being entirely led by one's emotions, which may explain the erratic and somewhat non-sensical behavior of STNOWC. It resisting Slash damages while being weak to Blunt may be strange, as one may expect a creature made of wood to have the reverse resistances, but that may be due to the power of the talismans. It's resistant to Lust, likely because it's fueled by it. It resists Envy, possibly due to being extremely active instead of reactive, and having no real care about what others actually feel. Its weakness to Wrath and Pride could be explained by how one needs to deny and turn down its behavior to beat it, effectively denying its purpose. In the context of Canto IV, STNOWC represents the "Summer" of the League. T Corp, and other entities, keep pestering Yi Sang and co to put a hand on their technologies and use them for their own profits. Doubly so for Yi Sang's Mirror, which he wishes to merely keep as a fancy object to simply please himself and his friends, not something to sell or to have practical uses. Sinclair's use of its Lobotomy E.G.O, Red Sheet, doesn't actually represent anything about himself since it's not an E.G.O unlocked through resonance. However, similar to Lobotomy E.G.O Sloshing Ishmael, he's shown to start Corroding on it. Gluttony represents how he keeps creating more and more talismans, while Pride and Lust represents how he's positively obsessed and absorbed by them. His resistance and weakness to Slash and Blunt mirror the Abnormality's.
Spiral of Contempt is an Abnormality taking the form of a vaguely angelic figure made of a mass of golden, twisted brambles. It possesses two hands made of black stones that it upheld in the air, from which blood pours out, seemingly either praying or begging. The Abnormality seems to be the manifestation of contempt, superiority complex, hatred, resentment, and all such feelings. Considering it's a spiral, it may symbolize how hatred and contempt can be addictive, a never-ending loop of arrogance and scorn. In other words, this Abnormality is me when I scroll on r/gamingcirclejerk. The Abnormality being angelic in form, down to living in a paradise of gold, and its themes of superiority and contempt are not without reminding of Lucifer, the fallen angel that is commonly depicted as scorning humans for merely existing, and considering himself superior due to his status as the Morning Star. This may be why Spiral of Contempt is shown to prostate toward the heavens; the reason why Lucifer fell in the first is generally depicted as loving God too much, as any favorite son would do, and from which his hatred toward humans comes from. Spiral of Contempt also possesses a few strange call-back to Nagel Und Hammer and Kromer. It's religious in nature, and uses similar Sins and damage types, "Grip" is a common theme, it uses similar status effects, and even has unique ones that bear the same names as Kromer's own. And of course, Nagel Und Hammer's main characteristic is their belief in their own superiority as "pure human" and their contempt toward prosthetic users for their "perversion". It's resistant to all types of damages because it believes itself to be superior, but can gain weaknesses through the fight depending on the actions of the player. Pride before fall and all that. It's affiliated with Wrath to represent its scorn toward those that it perceives to be below it. Lust represents how it enjoys its own contempt and hatred. As Plato said, anger is the only form of pain that always comes with a form of pleasure, anger feels good and righteous. That's why people enjoy ragebait for example. The Abnormality also has Pride, representing its belief in its own superiority. Sloth represents how it doesn't actually want to change and move on from its contempt, it feels comfortable in it. After all, it's a spiral; something that is always folding on itself. Ryoshu's uses of its E.G.O, "Contempt, Awe", represents her behavior toward basically everyone. She's the anti-Meursault in a way. As an artist, she always judges everything according to her own creed, and nothing is good enough for her. Her gaze of contempt beholds all. On the other hand, when she finds something or someone worth respecting, her compliments and approbation are truly genuine. That's why the E.G.O is affiliated with Lust instead of something like Wrath, it's born out of a genuine desire for art and beauty. Or at least, Ryoshu's definition of it. Inside you, there are two Sinners. One is a French man who judges nothing, and the other is a Japanese women who judge everything. They're both autistic.
I've been inspired by mister nihil to try and understand and really bring out my inner most "The curtain is blue." Ahh well. Spiral of Contempt is a mass of twisted gold branches roughly in the shape of a person from the waist up, and tapering to a conical outline from the waist down. Two branches extend from its back, forming rough approximations of "wings". A large eye of condensed blood is located at the centre of its "head". Its hands are made of solid black stone, and is held upwards. A spring of blood pours constantly from its cupped hands. Spikes of the black rock that makes up its hands can also be found at the junction between its upper and lower body. This is how it is described, looking at it, it looks almost otherworldly, with its supposed wings, as well as it floating high in the air, with its hands held up. As said by Rodion, one of the initial ideas behind Spiral is that of the relationship between elitism and the ones below, she describes how its supposed 'eye' stares down at them, with a look of contempt, hence the name. It especially dislikes those who attack it the most, in Rodion's words. It's as if it's saying, "How dare they even attempt to oppose me." Referencing how she felt begging for food and money. The main point being, it symbolises the class division, between the elite and those below, and how it would seem that the elite hold nothing but contempt for those below them, or at least one would assume at first glance. But it might be slightly different to that. As others have pointed out, it could be the perceived contempt other hold for you, and how from below, one would assume you would be held in contempt by those above you, even if that's really not how it is. Another thing to address, is how as a Refraction Railway final boss. Would one assume it would have a connection to a religion, as My form empties and Sign of roses had for Buddhism and Christianity. But I think Spiral of Contempt more represents a certain aspect of Abrahamic Religions themselves. In the way one might revere a god as this other worldly being so far above oneself. And how some, who feel they have been forsaken by their god, might feel they are being watched from above, with a gaze of contempt. Which might grow contempt in oneself, contempt at the god that holds them in such low regard. And so they fight back, which angers their god, giving them reason for contempt, as how someone else said it. Creating a 'spiral of contempt,' hence the name. When it comes to sins, it is dominated by lust specifically, firstly, for the obvious implication to religion, as the other two previous abnormalities. The other reason could be for its obsession with how it perceives others, and how it itself is perceived. Sloth for its unwillingness to see how the party it holds contempt for feels. Wrath for its hatred of those it gazes at, and pride for it not caring about anyone else other than itself. It is equally resistant to all type of damage and sin by 0.7. I'm not sure how to interpret this, but I mainly see it for how, even if one might think it's staring at you in specific, it holds its contempt for all equally. As for how it relates to Ryoshu, haven't the slightest clue honestly. Hope you at least found this interesting.
That was a good read, really. Thank you for writing this. I like how you are inspired by Nihil. Maybe you'll inspire others too <3 But your comment somehow doesn't pop up in my notification or appear in the comment section and I've just found out about that now :( RU-vid should add something that allows us to allow some comments to pass through the filter.
Nelly has a pretty complex web of Sins, with no real Sin having ascendancy over the others. Wrath represents how she refuses to be bound to the misery of Heathcliff and Catherine's toxic relationship, Lust represents her desire for freedom, Gluttony how she does this for her own survival, and Pride how she's willing to do anything for it. Sloth may appear as a weird spot in the lineup since Sloth is inherently tied to indolence, which is contradictory to Nelly's endeavor. However, it makes more sense when one sees what she does at the end of the Canto; she goes back to Hermann to give her the Bought, and likely enroll in her rank. In other words, she ultimately leaves Wuthering Heights... to submit to someone else, someone who likely doesn't care for her, unlike Catherine or Heathcliff. It makes sense; she likely spent her entire life as a Butler, she doesn't know anything else, which will ultimately render her desire for freedom moot. That, by itself, is also a form of Sloth. Ryoshu possesses similar SIns, but since she's still loyal to the Edgar family, their interpretations differ. Lust and Pride represents her being, well, Ryoshu, with all that it entails, and Wrath represents her protection toward the Edgar family as well as her feeling guilty over the path Heathcliff has undertaken.
The defining Sin of Wuthering Heights Butlers is Gloom. It's likely to represent how they foregone their individuality and freedom, resigning themselves to be part of the estate. It may also represent how they "go with the flow" of the River of Humanity below the Manor. They also use Pride, representing how the protection of the estate is their number one priority, above even the life of Wuthering Heights' owner. Josefine, the Chief Butler of Wuthering Heights, also has one Lust skill. It likely represents her devotion and longing toward Mrs. Earnshawn, her dead "Mistress", who she still hears the voice of, and her desire to drink of the River of Humanity to join her. We love old lesbians here. Both Wuthering Heights Butler Faust and Wuthering Heights Chief Butler possess similar Sins. Faust, however, also possesses one Wrath skill, likely to represent her being focused on the "reception" of uninvited guests.
The first sinner to damage the box will get a buff. (you don't have to clash with it) Next turn, use that sinner to win the clash against the sheep's 1st pride skill. This starts at turn 2 so for example: Turn 2: Mersault damaged the box Turn 3: Mersault clashed with the sheep's 1st skill. Outis damaged the box Turn 4: Outis clashed with the sheep's 1st skill. Yi Sang damaged the box Turn 5: Yi Sang clashed with the sheep's 1st skill. You don't have to change who damages the box if you manage to allow that person to continuously do AoE damage. But I'd recommend to have 3 people clash with the box and rotate.
@@unholybun239 Well, that's the thing, I seemed to have done all of this, but the charged wires weren't connected to the sheep. And I couldn't even connect up to three bulbs.
Skin Prophet is an Abnormality taking the form of a vaguely humanoid, demon-like creature, featuring three heads and three arms. Its three heads each feature a singular eye, with whom it peers around it. In two of its arms, it bears a giant grimoire, and a fiery quill in its third arm, located on its chest. It endlessly writes down things in its book. The exact content is never revealed (and implied to be damaging to the human mind), but it's confirmed that it writes about doom and destruction, for which it yearns. It's so engrossed by its writing that it doesn't even notice what's happening around it, only ever becoming aware of its surroundings when one ignites the candles around it. It can be theorized that the Abnormality represents a wish and yearning toward destruction, likely to purify the world. In many cultures and mythologies around the world, fire tends to represent purification, likely because burning was the safest and easiest way to deal with something rotting (like a corpse). Many tales of the apocalypse do not merely depict the end of the world as an absolute end, but also the beginning of a newer, purer world, such as with the Armageddon in Christianity and the Ragnarok in Nordic mythos. Skin Prophet likely symbolizes this idea, of burning the impure world surrounding us to give rise to a better one. Interestingly, two of its attacks, 9:2 and 6:5, seems to named after Bible verses; Isaiah 9:2: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." According to the website BibleRef: "This references the end of the previous chapter (Isaiah 8:22). Isaiah said those who have rejected God's revelation of His word and truth will live in great anguish and darkness. It will be a darkness of their own making leading to the judgment of God. No matter where they look for the light, the dawn will not come for them. Yet this is not the end of the story. Isaiah is looking to the future to show something will bring glory back to the region of northern Israel, where Assyria first struck and took possession of the land (Isaiah 9:1)." Note the importance of darkness. The fight against Skin Prophet begins in darkness, and to battle the Abnormality, we must light the candles. Isaiah 6:5 "“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”" According to the same website: "God has given Isaiah a glimpse of Himself sitting on a throne as strange, angelic beings call out to one another about the Lord's holiness (Isaiah 6:1-3). These beings have voices that shake the very foundations of the building (Isaiah 6:4). Standing in the presence of God's glory, Isaiah is suddenly overwhelmed with his unworthiness to be in such a place or see such things. Isaiah cries out in despair. This is not only because the common understanding among the Israelites was that those who see God in His full glory must die (Exodus 33:20). It's that giving a glimpse of the true holiness of God instantly burns into Isaiah's inner being the depth of his sin. Seeing the Lord of hosts makes him aware that he deserves death because of his sin." We have the imagery of fire and eyes here, both important with the Abnormality. The idea that Isaiah, and everyone else, must die because of their sins is reminding of how the Abnormality wish to purge the world and bring doom. The Abnormality is affiliated with Wrath and Lust. Pretty easy to understand, Wrath represents its desire to destroy everything, while Lust represents its longing toward the end of days. It's strong against Blunt because of its strong hide, but weak against Slash because... I mean, have you seen its nerd bod ? Bro need to lift fr fr It's strong against Lust because it's what fuels it, as well as Gluttony because it's singlemindedly obsessed with the content of its book. It's weak against Sloth because it represents inaction, something antithetical to a being as obsessed and frenetic, as well as Pride because it represents disregarding its writing. Its biggest weakness, however, is Gloom, because Gloom represents the idea of resignation and letting go, concepts foreign to the Abnormality. In the context of Canto V, Skin Prophet represents the obsession that Ahab bears toward the Pallid Whale, and Ishmael toward Ahab herself. They both declare to bear hatred toward the object of their obsession, yet paradoxically, also bear longing and mania. Both Faust and Sinclair use its E.G.O, 9:2. For Sinclair, it's a bit easier to understand than for Faust. Sinclair wished to escape his fate of undergoing complete body prosthetic conversion, cursing his family for undergoing the procedures and putting an end to his world, which led him to place his trust in Kromer, who made everything even worse for him. It may also be foreshadowing toward a certain future event in the game, and a reference to Demian by Hermann Hesse. At the end of the book, Sinclair and Demian ready themselves for the "end of the old world", AKA World War 1. How this end of the world will manifest itself in the game, however, is unknown. As for every E.G.O that Faust has as I am writing this post, it's unknown what it represents to her, due to how mysterious she is. Even when searching a bit about Faust (the book), it's hard to glean any meaning, maybe except yearning for knowledge.
Maybe it's just me but does Faust's theme seem to be releasing something? Base: knowledge 9:2 : release the sword Gluid sac: disgorge fluid Telepole: discharge electricity Hex Nail: her envy (maybe because of 6 envy res)
@@unholybun239 That recurring motif is something I didn't noticed. In the book, one of the character is the Homonculus, an artificial human living in a jar. It wishes to see and experience the world, and on a journey to Greece with Faust, Proteus and Mephistopheles, end up breaking out of its vial to fall into the sea and become one with nature. It's theorized by some that LCB Faust may actually be the Homonculus taking the name of Faust, notably due to her E.G.O, her icon, and her desire to experience more of the City. If so, 9:2 may represents her longing toward "breaking out of the vial" to "become one with sea"(the River of Humanity maybe ?)
The amount of foreshadowing and world building that Dadd- I mean, Mr. El Director has already done is just insane. I mean, he probably has it figured out. Hell, what if he had Limbus' story ready already wheb Lob corp was only in development? I'm just... I weep.
@@NIHIL_EGO deadass, kids with overactive imagination and a lot of things to take inspiration from can create THE most batshit insane peak fictions. For me, I 'just' have the unlimited amounts of mirror worlds and OCs with various amounts of development, but hey, if it got a name, its probably a quality character.
Blade Lineage and thus Kim's main Sins are Wrath and Pride, which mainly represent how they're constantly searching for a home no matter what it takes after they left District 19 due to political instability. Kim also features Sloth, representing how he's persisting in his endeavor, but also repeating the same mistakes. Lust represents his obsession with finding a suitable home, while his sole Envy skill represents how he's lashing out for failing his subordinate. He's weak to Wrath and Pride, the very own Sins of his group, because they're also what led to his shortcoming. He's strong Lust and Gloom because he became numb to most stimulations in his wrath, as well as Sloth because he refuses to be indolent in the face of suffering. Blade Lineage Mentor Meursault re-uses the same Sins as Kim and has a very similar background as him, so I do not feel the need to dwell more on him.
Ambling Pearl is an Abnormality taking the form of a giant scallop filled with green slime, a pearl nested in its depths, with multiple mechanical arms coming out of its body, and the rim of its shell is covered in rows of eyes, a reference to the fact that actual scallops have photo-receptors lined here. The Abnormality's priority seems to protect the pearl at its core. It's also stated that slime in its mouth is inhabited by larvae, implied to be its children, but the relationship is rather ambiguous, as it seems to use and neglect them in profit to the pearl. Its appearance and its ideal environment seem to imply a link between it and the polluted beaches of U Corp's Backstreets. Hong Lu and Rodion's Corrosion lines imply that the Abnormality may also represent the idea of recycling and repurposing. It can be theorized that more generally, it represents taking "useless" things to give them a new purpose, here to protect the pearl. The Sin it is the most affiliated with is Gluttony because it is always devouring and spitting as much slime as possible, as well as being an animal trying to survive. Its Envy skill represents how it's trying to defend itself against a perceived predator, while its Lust skill represents its obsession over its pearl, and sole Pride skill represents how it's ready to do anything to protect it. Its shell endures all forms of damage because its purpose is to protect the pearl. The pearl is weak to Wrath and Pride, because, as said many times before, these two Sins combined tend to symbolize the idea of completely disregarding the needs and wants of an enemy for one's own sake. In the context of Canto V, Ambling Pearl represents Ahab. Everything that she does, it's to kill the Pallid Whale, her singular obsession, her "pearl". To do so, she fish out and uses as she sees fit "useless" people who don't have an aim in their lives. The Sinners needing to destroy the pearl to kill the Abnormality foreshadow the end of the Canto. To truly beat Ahab, one must destroy her obsession before she can kill the Pallid Whale herself. Hong Lu and Rodion's uses of its E.G.O, Effervescent Corrosion, both incarnate different symbolism due to focusing on two different parts of the Abnormality. Rodion represents the scallop itself. A first view, the scallop seems to care for its children, but it's implied it mostly uses them to protect its pearl. Rodion seems to be caring and maternal, and genuinely is, but is ultimately more concerned over her desire to be special. As for Hong Lu, he represents the pearl. The beloved golden child of a rich family, who is ultimately objectified into a figurative(?) treasure. Not only that, but others have to be sacrificed and used for his sake, even his own siblings, despite him never asking for such things.
Sign of Roses is an Abnormality that, at first view, takes the form of a mass of white flesh covered in red eyes, bound to a wooden X cross (described as a "sign") by brambles from which roses blossom. However, it's implied by its boss fight that the flesh and cross are actually vital organs of the Abnormality, with the actual Abnormality being the entire rose garden. During its fight, it shows the ability to bloom flowers that absorb the "Sins" of people, before eventually killing them. There's a lot of debate about whether Sign of Roses is an Aberration of another Abnormality or not, with notable contenders being One Sin and a Hundred of Good Deeds, WhiteNight, and Flesh Idol. I don't think that this Abnormality is an Aberration. Project Moon tends to make Aberration extremely obvious both in appearance and name (Snow White's Apple/Ebony Queen's Apple, Funeral of The Dead Butterflies/Funeral of a Dying Butterfly etc...). The mere fact we argue about the status of Sign of Roses proves that it isn't one. The Abnormality obviously refers to the crucifixion of Jesus. It's tied to a cross just like Jesus was crucified, one of its E.G.O gifts is crown thorns, and church music play during its boss fight, Sins are a major theme of the Abnormality, and it could also be a reference to the "Miracle of the Roses", a miracle in Catholicism where roses suddenly blossom in reaction to divine activity. However, the Abnormality also inverts themes and imagery of Christianity; instead of asking others to overcome their Sins, it urges them to "let them blossom". I think I'm gonna use this occasion to talk a bit about what Sins are in this game. First thing first: Sins aren't bad. The most important thing to do is to throw out the idea that Sins are corruptions of humans to truly understand what the game means. Sins are the manifestations of human motivation and emotions. Did you notice that the colors of Sins are the colors of a rainbow ? And what is a rainbow ? It's an optical phenomenon where the white light of the sun (the mere mention of the sun opens a whole other can of worm) is refracted into its spectrum. In the world of Project Moon, the "Light" is essentially the light of human consciousness, from which all potential comes from. "Sins" is the Light refracted into its component ie: emotions. Sign of Roses, from a meta point of view, is also quite likely to be allegorical to E.G.O, Distortion, Lobotomy Corporation, the Seed of Light Project, and Carmen herself. The whole point of the Seed of Light Project was to seed the hearts of humans and let them grow their potential. People develop E.G.O once they confront and accept their Sins, while they Distort when they can't do so and succumb to them. On top of that, Lobotomy Corporation, for many reasons, was choke-full of flora symbolism and metaphors. But obviously, Carmen is the one to take the cake. Carmen's life can be cut into three parts: Human, where she was working on the Seed of Light Project, Bucket, following the bloodbath incident and Ayin extracting her brain stem to create Bucket and produce Cogito, and Voice, following the fall of L Corp and the White Nights, where she become one with Light and start to turn people into E.G.Oist and Distortions. Sign of Roses mainly dwells on Carmen's life as Bucket and Voice. Its flesh, being white and covered in red eyes, refers to Carmen's bleached white skin and red eyes. Destroying the flesh do not directly kill the Abnormality, just like Carmen's death was not her end. It being crucified just like Jesus symbolizes how Carmen was treated like a saint by everyone who came to know her, and her being sacrificed and becoming a martyr in the name of the Seed of Light Project. Even the appearance of her brain stem in the Bucket resembles a cross. The fact it's seemingly stuck to the cross may also represent how she was unable to go outside the Bucket, with the actual Abnormality being the rose garden referencing her state as a disembodied, omnipotent entity after the White Nights. The flesh being covered in eyes symbolizes how, even in the Bucket, she could sense her surroundings, as well as her being connected to the River of Humanity in this state, thus being able to peer into the collective psyche of humans. It also represents how, as the Voice, she's able to see everything happening in the City, gaze into the hearts of everyone, and even peer into other dimensions. Sign of Roses urging people to accept their Sins is pretty much Carmen's own philosophy at all stages of her life; that people should fully accept themselves, no matter the form their emotions take. Finally, the symbolism of roses. In Limbus Company, the main resource of gather is "Lunacy", described to be a crystal whose shape reminds of a rose, but its icon also resembles a brain. It's also described as "humanlike", and "to absorb the moisture from a certain river to bloom". Not only that, but the description also says to "move forward", humans need to "embrace the madness". All of this, from the brain-shape of Lunacy, to indirectly referencing the River of Humanity and Carmen's philosophy, gives it obvious links to her, and thus strengthening the parallels between Carmen and Sign of Roses. El Director really cooked with this Abnormality. I'm not gonna dwell a lot on the resistance and weakness of this Abnormality, or even the Sins in use in battle. It's all damage type weak to no Sins because it represents the entirety of humans' emotional spectrum. It uses all Sins evenly for the same reasons. Gregor's use of its E.G.O, Garden of Thorns, represents how deep inside, he wants to be able to freely give in to his emotions, but cannot due to fearing that his arms will go haywire if he does so. The E.G.O is also affiliated to all Sins, but has more inclination to Lust because it's his earnest wish. Him doing an impression of Jesus also creates parallels with the Christian prophet. Jesus was a Jewish man who willfully sacrificed himself to offer redemption to humans. Gregor, however, was an (implied to be ethnically Jewish) man forced to become a martyr and symbol of G Corp's armies as propaganda, before fleeing the war himself and now being drowned in guilt. Here, the sacrifice of Jesus is inverted, just like how Sign of Roses inverted Christian themes.
Someone here mentioned that Dongrang would never get an analysis by Nihil, They may have been right, but there's a will, my will, I wanna talk about Dongrang, because why not. Alright, before anything else, we to talk about Dongrang himself and Cow Symbolism real quick. Trust me, this is important. So I'm no expert on person who inspired him so in the words of the wiki, He's inspired by Yoo Chijin, the Author of "The Mud Hut" and notably a member of the Guinhoe or The Circle of Nine, a literary group that the many of the other colorful characters are based off of, and almost all of these characters have a nack for being smart and working with shady people. Yoo Chijin was a man who notably had works had shifted from pointing at the concerns and faults under Japanese leadership to making work that was Pro-Japanese later on, something paralleled in Dongrang, a man who had once been kind hearted and well intentioned, who turned traitor to the League. As for the Cow stuff going on, it's based off that story, "The Mud Hut", and once again, going off the wiki's words, it's about a Cow or more accurately, Ox, that gets entangled in a conflict between the Protagonist and his two sons, each of which have different goals for the ox, before it get's seized by the Mareum, which.. actually leave it a pin in that, it is very important, and then the guy who seizes the ox gets killed by it in the end, and it returns to the farm. In any case, in universe, Dongrang is shown doing various things, one stand out being him nursing a calf that would surely die back to health, simply because he could. Throughout the Dungeon of the Reminisced League of Nine, the Sinners and Dongrang himself relive the memories of the League, the ups, the downs. We find out though this that they were found out and had to disband because of Dongrang, who practically sold them out so he could find his way into K Corp. Near the end of this process, Dongrang himself feels the weight of his actions and the empties of his achievements weighting on his mind, he looks back at all and sees nothing of value from himself, and distorts, becoming Dongrang, Who Denies All. Dongrang, Who Denies All is 3 Phase fight, and each Phase uses different attacks and also summons different minions. Each Phase resembles a cow, to an extent. The first phase resembles a cow, covered in vines with Dongrang's Farmwatch outfit on top and he wields his scythe with vine hands. He mainly uses Gloom attacks, representing his despair in how little meaning his actions have, alongside a wrath skill, as he lashes out at anyone near him. The Second and Third Phases slowly become more monstrous and more like Peccatulum Gulae, the creature that represents gluttony, with more vines and a large eye at his chest. During these two Phases, he weaponizes Gluttony attacks representing his desire to become someone greater then he is now, and targets plants (Which represent his achievements and later...become Resentful... that's totally not an issue.) that he can attack and destroy for buffs. During the third phase, he also uses wrath again, as he agonizes over how it's too late for him to become anything. He Resists lusts, since he no longer pursues his feelings, and is weak to both Gloom and Envy, as he laments the pain he's caused to others. I do not understand why he's weak to pierce, but something something, plants, idk. He is weak the pierce and I do not grasp why.
After the fight against Dongrang, he... undistorts surprisingly enough, but there's a problem, he has an E.G.O, and wants to kill us. This is Effloresced E.G.O, Farmwatch. So you know how I said put in the Mareum? That translates over in English to Farmwatch, I guess, and more importantly, it's symbolism. A Farmwatch was a middle men who existed on farms solely to manage the farmers, aka the peasants below them. They don't own the land like the landowner, they can't farm, they are wholly unnecessary and only serve to be disposable at best. As such they've always been portrayed as villainous, piggybacking off of other's authority and power. That's Dongrang's E.G.O. and that's lowkey depressing. A man who only see's himself exploiting other's while being disposable. Dongrang is wearing nothing but a farmer's outfit, and wields a scythe and a will to destroy anything that stands in his away of a glorious future, and that means killing Yi Sang. He mainly uses Gluttony, as he wishes to pursue his ideal of a glorious future, and Pride, representing his willingness to crush anyone in his way. He also uses a single Envy Skill, since he now resents how the hard work he's put in hasn't gotten him anything instead of lamenting over it. He also now resist Gloom and Envy, since he no longer cares about how people feel about what he does, alongside his resistance to lust since he doesn't care about feelings. He's now weak to both Pride and Gluttony, which neatly parallels Dongbaek, since both have dreams of destroying what currently remains in order to reach their dreams, and the only thing that stops them is those with either greater aspirations or those who with a strong willingness to have their way instead.
After Fighting Dongrang, Who Denies All, he ends up coming to a realization, why should it matter to him? The cow he saved would never recognize him, why should he care if he's not seen, and as such, he kills it, and now feels motivated to move forward. He manfiests his E.G.O, Farmwatch, with a goal in mind, to destroy what remains of the League so he may build his glorious future. Ok so you know how I said put a pin in Mareum? That's the name of Dongrang's E.G.O in Korean. The Mareum, or Farmwatch, were people who were in charge of managing the peasants on a farm. They are generally seen as villainous, as the land they worked on wasn't their own, and they couldn't farm like the farmers, they were at best, disposable with no real purpose. That's Dongrang's E.G.O, and that's lowkey kind of depressing to think about. In any case, Farmwatch wears a dusty farmer's outfit (Ironic) alongside, alongside wielding a "Scythe". That isn't a scythe, that's a plough, meant to be used by cattle to crave the earth. He mainly uses Gluttony, representing his desire to create and become something greater in the future, and also uses pride, representing how he's now willing to crush anyone in his way. His sole envy skill represents how he resents how his work has gotten him nothing, instead of lamenting over it. His summons use Gluttony for the same reasons he does, no need to look deep into that. He resists Lust, since he doesn't care about feelings, and also resists Gloom and Envy, since he now longer cares about how he makes other's feel in his pursuit. He's now weak to Pride and Gluttony, which parallels Dongbaek, since they are so similar in this regard that both wish to destroy the present in order to create a world they envision, and the only thing that will stop them is either someone with a stronger will or greater aspirations than their own.
All of the gnomes and Santata are weak to Pierce as a foreshadowing of the end of the event, where Domino pierces Santata's body to evacuate all the noxious gas. They use mainly Wrath and Gluttony skills because they're the colors of Christmas (Red and Green), but also because they represent their core motivations; they butcher humans into toys to give to their monster friends out of hatred toward said humans for not letting them in the City, despite the humans they kill being inhabitants of the Outskirt, and thus unable to access the City too. They also use Sloth skills because ultimately, their actions don't really help anyone. They're mainly weak to Wrath and Gluttony because, from the point of view of the gnomes, they're the hero of the story, while we're the villains. In Christmas stories, there are two types of villains: hateful people who scorn Christmas, and greedy bastards who don't share with others, which respectively fit Wrath and Gluttony. They are strong against Sloth and Gloom because Christmas is a season of jolliness. And Sloth and Gloom don't exactly inspire jolliness. There's little to no knowledge about what Sandolph represents, or even acts, beyond it being an Aberration of Rudolta of the Sleight and emanation of the Outskirts humans' fear of the gnomes and Santata. Possibly, it may represent the idea of a "poisoned gift", as we'll see after. Both Heathcliff and Outis' uses of its E.G.O, Holiday, may represent key points of their past and how they view themselves. Heathcliff sees himself as a poisoned gift that sows discord and unhappiness in the Earnshaw family, despite him never asking for his adoptive father to get him out of the streets and only wanting to survive, hence why the Gluttony affiliation. It could also represent him thinking that the abuse he has undergone was unfair, that he too deserved to be taken care of, and that he deserved gifts like the other jolly kids. It's unknown what Holiday represents to Outis yet, but considering she's heavily inspired by Odysseus, whose most famous feat was the Horse of Troy, it's fair to say that it represents her deceptive and scheming nature. It being Wrath-affiliated likely represents how whatever is her equivalent of the Horse of Troy was done out of the desire to finally put an end to the war and come back to her family.
So, disclaimer: we're going to have to talk about a millennia old religion with an awful number of branches and theologies. There's a lot that will probably allude to me, so please correct me on information that is incomplete or wrong. My Form Empties is an Abnormality taking the shape of a Buddha Mūrti, a stone statue of a Buddha. The exterior is made of stone, but the insides are made of flesh, with a single glowing eyes peaking through a crack on the face. A halo is situated in the back of the statue, sitting on a bronze seat, which contains a brain. A Khakkhara, a Buddhist scepter, floats next to it, which it uses as a weapon through telekinesis. The Abnormality makes itself pass for a Bodhisattva (a person that could reach Nirvana but delay it to spread enlightenment to others) and spends its time chanting sutras, but it's mostly a front to mind control desperate other people and turn them into servants. Interestingly, the game refers to it as a "False Bodhisattva", implying that _real_ Bodhisattvas can exist in the world of Project Moon. During its fight, it mainly fights using lured previous human bosses, with it sporadically fighting with its weapon. When striking at its enemies, it inflicts "Karma", an unique status effects that, when reaching the value of 108, immediately kill the target. It can also be spread and thrown around units through attacks. Karma automatically killing an unit at 108 is likely inspired by how 108 is somewhat of an important number in Buddhism. It's generally thought that, on the path toward Nirvana, there's 108 temptations that try to lead us astray. When the statue part of the Abnormality is broken, its behavior will change. It will start to attack every units indiscriminately, friends or foes. It's theorized it attempt to punish its servants to failing to protect it. The Abnormality is heavily based on Buddhism, notably the Heart Sūtra, popular in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The sutra famously states "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form", or "Ya Śūnyatā Tad Rūpam". The concept of "Śūnyatā" ("Emptiness") is important to all branches of Buddhism. Essentially, nothing has "true substance", everything is in a constant flow of transformation. For humans, it means that there is no "true self", just a constant flux of thoughts and emotions. The person who woke up in your bed this morning is already dead; the one who shall fall asleep in this same bed this evening has yet to be born. In Buddhism, if one wants to reach Nirvana, one must expel all illusions of self, recognize that the form is empty, to not cling to the idea that one is an immutable, continuous being. Here, the idea is ironic, considering that not only My Form Empties is literally not empty, being filled with flesh, but is also an Abnormality, a being born out of the psyche of humans, arguably an illusion by itself. The fact that its inside is made of flesh may also refer to the idea of non-stop transformation, as organic matter is continuously recreating itself. Many of the names of its attacks and passive are in Sanskrit: "Mahāśrī" means "Goddess of Beauty". It's apparently an epithet of "Amoghasiddhi", a goddess in Tibetan Buddhism affiliated with wealth. Possibly, she could be a variation of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and fortune, and the wife of Vishnu, the god of preservation. "Svāhā" is basically what one can say at the end of a mantra. I can be translated by "Hail", "So be it", "Well said", and more. "Prajñāpāramitā" means "Perfection of Wisdom". It's a pretty complicated concept that I'd resume to be aware of reality. Think of it as an analogous of Divine Wisdom that can be found in Christian theologies. "Dhyāna" means "To look" or "To show". It's a form of state of mind, one that is accessed through meditative trance. "Anatman" means "Non-self". This has to do with the idea of "Śūnyatā" that I described. "Nirmāna" can be translated by "formation", "building", development, and more. From what I understand, in this context, it's the idea of perpetual transformation, but also that the Abnormality rebuilds itself. "Bhaishajya" means "drug". Possibly a reference to "Bhaisajya Kalpanaa", a form of medicine in Ayurvedic pharmaceutics. Hence why this passive heals the followers. Note that I only gave very brief and limited descriptions of all these concepts, and I encourage you to dwell more on them. In general, the Abnormality seems to be a stand-in for religious hypocrisy, as well as retribution. It could also stand as a representation of religious institutions, and institutions in general; the outside is made of stone, it seems to stand tall, bigger than anyone, a rock solid being, yet its inside is made of soft flesh because ultimately, all institutions are made of humans, and thus bear the proprieties of humans. My Form Empties is mainly affiliated with Lust and Wrath. Lust represents its hypocrisy. It's meant to be a monk, but still feel attachment. Lust could also represent the search for enlightenment. As I already said before, Lust is heavily affiliated with religion and belief in this game, so it's of no surprise that an Abnormality blatantly inspired by Buddhism is affiliated with Lust. Wrath, on the other hand, represents the anger and indignation it feels toward its followers for failing to protect it. It's weak to Blunt because it's a statue. Just hit it with a hammer, bro. It's weak to Lust because its desire and attachment will ultimately lead to its fall. Heathcliff's use of its E.G.O, Ya Śūnyatā Tad Rūpam, symbolizes his obsession with retribution toward those who tormented him, as well as his own self-hatred. While the idea of emptiness is rather neutral in Buddhism, someone like Heathcliff would probably take it negatively. Outis, on the other hand, likely alludes to how she's "nothing at all". The game very much shows her to be a chameleon, willing to change herself as many times as needed. The own self-serving behavior of the Abnormality toward its followers also represents the way she treats those who are beneath her (perceived or not).
