Posted by MYSTIC Suits of armor with special powers appear most frequently in the youjakai. All youja are basically living suits of armor with either energy or a soul inside. If you consider all the major youja (Arago, Saranbo, Dala, Kenbukyo, etc.) as once human, then they created their own armors upon their deaths. Badamon could not have created all of their armors (from what I heard, if he helped in the creation of any armor, it would have been Arago's), so how were the rest created? If the monotonous youjahei were created from evil energy, then it is possible that the armors for the major youja were created when their souls were released and the negative energy inside their souls forged their new armor bodies. It is very much a possibility that the major youja were once human from what Suzunagi said to Seiji in Episode 4 of Message and from how the armors were shown during the final OAV. The world of the armors is unlike any others introduced in Yoroiden: Samurai Troopers. It is a world of pure energy, of savage untamed emotions. It is also what connects the youjakai and ningenkai together. A soul passes through the armor world, obtaining its armor before it next enters as a youja. Every original armor was made by people who existed in a purely spiritual form. I do not call the nine yoroi original because those came from an already existing armor. The only armors made by a living person were the nine Kaosu forged, but he had an already existing armor for his material and either great spiritual powers or a connection to something spiritual. However, the mere fact that a human can transform a typically evil armor in such a way reveals a potential weak spot in the world of the armors, which I will address later. Since the world of the armors lies between the youjakai and ningenkai, not any heavenly world, it is naturally full of violent wicked untamed emotions. The Kikoutei is the first indication that such a place exists. Both Kikoutei are destructive human desire brought into a physical instinctive form. Since the armor world is full of emotions (a part of humanity), it naturally has some semblance of sentience. I wonder if the armor-up scene for the first Kikoutei represents not a combination of five virtues but a casting off of the five in exchange for something more powerful. The Kikoutei have no guiding virtues. A human soul must be its master. The first one is merely a reflection from the Troopers. They were united in their conscious effort to defeat evil. Later on, however, they no longer wanted to be conscious during a battle. Disgusted from fighting, they wanted to act instinctively. They wanted to shove aside their human selves temporarily, and the Kikoutei reflected that as well. With no human soul to control it, the Kikoutei became the controller. The fight scene between Shin, Touma, and Shu in the second episode of the second OAV parallels the problems with the Kikoutei. In real life, people who do not think wisely and consciously are slaves to emotions and impulses. Those people have no control over themselves. The Kikoutei are in a sense the ultimate armors, coming and powered completely from the armor world without any souls attached. The greatest sources of their power come from the most horrible of human frustrations and grievances – a hatred for the world, a profound belief in everlasting sorrow, and a desire for all life to end. This ties in with what Badamon said about the Kikoutei in the last half of the second television season. Fortunately, humans can control their negative impulses. The ability of self-control is a weak spot in the world of the armors. Kaosu knew human virtue could triumph over evil when he forged the nine yoroi. While he placed each one with a guiding virtue, he could not eliminate the evil inside them. This is simply the nature of humanity and is perhaps what enabled humans to wear them. The potential for virtuous acts and vile acts exists within every human. The fact that hatred can come from love (Message, the final OAV) shows how the two are interconnected and neither one can ever be eliminated in humanity, yet apart from these two sides, humans have intellect. This intellect in connection with emotions is an essential part of humanity and enables humanity to live freely and happily.
on 1/25/2005, 4:45 pm
My take on the Kikoutei - "The World of the Armors" and how it fits into the YST/RW Universe.
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