All True Runes Cursed?

[Archer]

A jinx sounds much more appropriate if you ask me. A curse to me sounds a lot more definitive as though there were to be a particular drawback placed on the rune but I really don't see that. Soul Eater eats souls (yet has a hidden assosciation to the governing of life), Rune of Punishment punishes the bearer (also with a hidden assosciation with forgiveness though Lazlo is strong enough to discover this). A Venus fly trap eats flies. I wouldn't call a venus fy trap a curse to fly-kind, its just doing what its nature allows and we are well aware of its nature by its name. Considering though that supernatural forces are at work and that is infact when the very definition if the word curse can come in to effect, jinx just sounds so much better. xD Though I can't see konami using the word, a jinxed rune doesn't sound as...lethal.

[son_michael]

All true runes possess a duality to them



for example...the rune of punsihments curse is for the bearer to live out all the painful memories of every bearer that has born the rune until the current bearer themselves is turned to ashes by the runes power, however its duality is that the bearer can master all of its power and effectively break the curse by forgiving his enemies

in the same way EVERY true rune has a dual nature, every bearer has the potential to own his rune and every bearer can be overcome by his rune


remember that all true runes are sentient beings, Lazlo was able to become the master of his rune and therefore the curse was completley erased. Luc was overcome by his rune and therefore served as the runes puppet.

Arshtat is another example of a bearer who could not control her sentient rune,however we see that when she was in control{thanks to dawn and twilight} her rune brought great blessings to the kingdom which symbolises the suns duality, the suns extreme heat can devastate and destory but its warm gentle rays can help things to grow and flourish. Arshtat was not affected by the curse thanks to dawn and twilight and as a result she was able to use the good dual nature of her rune but unfortunatley when the dawn rune dissapeared there was no way for her to control the sentient rune and as such the curse overcame her


I think some true runes are more powerful than others, the "Sun Rune" dosen't seem to be a rune that can be mastered without controling it with dawn and twilight... unlike Lazlo's Rune which can be mastered by will power alone

[The Prophet]

Well, I believe that the Sun Rune is now in a very instable state due to the fact that it was separated from the Night Rune. It is no longer whole, for a lack of a better word, which makes it very hard for a bearer to control it.

So, it is definitely correct that if one would bear the Sun Rune accompanied with the Dawn and Twilight Runes it could very well be mastered and this could very well occur in the future.

As for the topic, every True Rune has a dual nature as stated. There are generally no polar opposites, but inner conflict which is inflicted upon their bearers who also have a will of their own. Which causes turmoil and conflict. Living forever is certainly a blessing and a curse. All True Runes will inflict that upon their bearer.

[jbd86es]

I have suggestions for possible curses of the Night Rune and the True Fire Rune.
The True Fire Rune has a great capacity for destructive power (Lightning, Wind, and Earth spells do not target allies, and Water spells such as Breath of Ice tend to miss allies more often than fire), it is difficult to wield. This is what we learn about the Flame Champion and the First Fire Bringer War.
I have not played Suikoden V, so I know little of the Sun Rune. I believe I have heard theories that the Night Rune is its opposite, which seems to make sense. If the Sun Rune's curse drives the bearer insane, maybe the Night Rune has an opposite curse. Insanity can be seen as the loss of control of the mind; what about the loss of the control of the body? The Zodiac Sword is very bossy (I think Edge should give to Lilly Pendragon for a day just for the hilarious results) and if it truly is the Night Rune and presuming it had the curse I suggested, then it could make its bearer into its puppet. The bearer could think and be aware of what is going on, but lose control of speech and bodily movement, following the orders of the Night Rune.
Though this could seem very similar to a possible curse for the Beast Rune, which would likely drive the bearer to become blood-thirsty and violent.
That last sentence gives me a new idea. Runes can have an effect on the environment around them without being used by a bearer, can't they? Maybe the Beast Rune passively fostered Luca Blight's violence and together with his childhood trauma, made him into an extreme sociopath; it could have also driven the people of Highland to be more aggressive and militant.

[jbd86es]

Possible curses for the True Wind, True Water, True Lightning, and True Earth?
True Wind told Luc about the order-dominated future worth destroying the world for. Shouldn't it have known like Luc it would fail? And aren't the Runes responsible for that future and aren't they sentient? Is True Wind a renegade Rune or maybe it wanted Luc to fail and die, or maybe it is a compulsive liar.
True Lightning = grumpiness & apathy? It's probably just Geddoe.
Why did Jimba give up True Water? If he feared immortality, then it is probably because he watch his loved ones die before himself; if so, why leave your baby daughter expecting never to return.
Maybe the elemental True Runes are a minority among the Runes fighting against Luc's vision of the future and they have pessimistic personalities. Maybe even the Runes experience chaos.
I think to understand True Earth, we need a game with a larger role for Sasarai. I believe though that Kidd's inquiries and some of your encounters with Sasarai indicate that he is laid back, which is odd for someone working as a powerful Bishop and General (you would think he would be somewhat ambitious or arrogant or somewhat spoiled). This would sort of fit with the idea of elemental Runes not liking the path the world is treading. Maybe that's why these Runes contributed their power to Luc's plan.

[KFCrispy]

i would say all the elemental true runes have the same problems - the runes are extremely difficult to master and can get out of control, and of course the bearer is immortal/ageless.

[MrTomJoad]

This is really pretty much all up to opinion. It depends on what you consider a curse. You could argue that the gift of immortality is a curse itself.

[Runemaster]

i would say all the elemental true runes have the same problems - the runes are extremely difficult to master and can get out of control, and of course the bearer is immortal/ageless.

Difficult to master? I guess not. The FC and TWa bearer didn't have runic difficulties, as far as I know.

[JanusThePaladin]

FC did. Didnt he lose control of the True Fire Rune during the battle with Highland? As for the Water Rune, it went out of control when Luc released it, so defeating its physical manifestation probably helped to teach it who's boss. My thoughts would be that the bearers of those runes are constantly fighting with their runes for dominance, much like Riou would occasionally collapse inexplicably. I should think that we never saw the internal struggle, but it had to exist. (we get a view of an internal struggle with a true rune in S4 when Lazlo has to destroy the embodiments of the memories within the rune)

[Runemaster]

Oh yeah! But I forgot the story about it. But I'm pretty sure it was Harmonia, not Highland right?

[JanusThePaladin]

That has got to be my worst typo since i started posting here again. I meant Harmonia!

[Vermillion.Twilight]

This is like asking if eternal life itself is a curse. And thus I reply it depends on the person.

Luc would be an example of a cursed life.

Joshua (Dragon Rune) would be an example of someone not cursed by his true rune.

[Iesous]

This is like asking if eternal life itself is a curse. And thus I reply it depends on the person.

Luc would be an example of a cursed life.

Joshua (Dragon Rune) would be an example of someone not cursed by his true rune.

Joshua was cursed by his true rune. You can talk to one of the members of the Dragon Knights in their fortress. He says (I won't use quotes in case I get a word or two wrong): Joshua bears one of the true runes on his right hand. That is why he doesn't age. It is also his curse. Like I said, it might not be correct word for word, but the dragon knight does call it "his curse."

I think that you have to understand most of the characters in Suikoden operating from an Eastern philosophy that says that living forever on this earth is a bad thing. That's the whole point of reincarnation: to be reborn again and again, always gaining ground toward the goal of Nirvana. Even if the characters never say anything about reincarnation, the game writers have grown up with this philosophy as their cultural norm. Eternity in the same body is probably viewed as a bad thing. In the same way, a lot of non-religious Westerners still have some view of heaven and eternal life. It's just in their culture.

[Mio]

the topic is purely subjective,

pointless to chew on somebody else's belief...

i myself believe that an eternal life would be both a blessing and a curse

true, you might be lonely for everyone that you will love will perish before you

but imagine all the good stuff you can do

i guess i can sum it up with;

selfish = cursed
selfless = blessing

but that's just me...

[dragonmasterx]

From reading the Suikoden 3 manga, it seems like part of the curse is seeing visions of the world ultimately ending.

Does every single True Rune bearer see the same visions of the end of the world? Or do only the bearers of the Elemental True Runes see that?