Suikoden Unique and Illusional Karma Original Xperience

Suikox Home | The Speculation Shelter | Tablet of Stars | Suikoden Timeline | Suikoden Geography |Legacies
Features
Community
Speculation
FAQ

Suiko Facts
Character List:
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J
K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T
U|V|W|X|Y|Z
Relics & Lore:
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J
K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T
U|V|W|X|Y|Z
Timeline
Tablet of Stars Pronunciation Archive
Suikoden Geograhy
Legacies
Credits
True Runes and Tarot

Seeing that most True Runes are conceptual (Moon, Beast, Night, etc) rather than being based on action, the names would probably be more symbolic instead of describing some sort of action, like a "Rune of Brutal Strength."

Many have come to the conclusion that the Runes seem to be based on the Tarot Deck's 22 major arcanas, which would make sense if the 5 elements are excluded from the list.

This image created by and copyrighted to Blanka.
The Tarot deck contains--

0) The Fool
1) The Magician
2) The High Priestess
3) The Empress
4) The Emperor
5) The Hierophant
6) The Lovers
7) The Chariot
8) Strength
9) The Hermit
10) Wheel of Fortune
11) Justice
12) The Hanged Man
13) Death
14) Temperance
15) The Devil
16) The Tower
17) The Star
18) The Moon
19) The Sun
20) Judgement
21) The World

The meanings change depending on what school of tarot your prescribe to, and I doubt the Suikoden team would have gone that deep into the meanings of the decks if this was ever the source of ideas for True Runes. Thus, it would be best to just associate them with first impressions.

The result would be--

0) The Fool; Rune of Change
1) The Magician
2) The High Priestess
3) The Empress
4) The Emperor; Sovereign Rune
5) The Hierophant; Circle Rune
6) The Lovers
7) The Chariot; Dragon Rune
8) Strength; Beast Rune
9) The Hermit
10) Wheel of Fortune
11) Justice
12) The Hanged Man; Rune of Punishment
13) Death; Souleater (Rune of Life and Death)
14) Temperance
15) The Devil; Eightfold Rune
16) The Tower
17) The Star; Night Rune
18) The Moon; Blue Moon Rune
19) The Sun
20) Judgement; Rune of the Beginning
21) The World; Gate Rune

That's a pretty rough job, but the symbols more or less match (I hope). This leaves--

Magician
High Priestess
Empress
Lovers
Hermit
Wheel of Fortune
Justice
Temperance
Tower
Sun

We can easily come up with theories for True Runes based on the above. Many have speculated for the "Sun Rune" in the past. Those who argue against it say that the sun is in a dualistic relationship with the moon rune (or the night rune) and because True Runes are supposed to embody opposing elements within, this is unlikely. However, the Sun has its own dualism, in that it provides warmth that sustains life, and heat which can take it. So it's possible I think...

Tower can easily become a True Rune that belongs to the Howling Voice Guild, who are based in "The Tower." Simple eh? Often times, the simplest answer is the right answer!

Temperance basically means balance. Suikoden talks an awful lot about balance, such as Leknaat who calls herself "Keeper of Balance." Of course, we already have a "Balance Rune" in Suikoden 2, so the naming would probably be more symbolic, such as a cup. In Arthurian legends, the holy grail was needed to bring balance to the world (because the land was dying), so having a "Cup Rune" may not be so far fetched.

Justice has been speculated before, and it readily fits. Justice is often symbolized with a sword, but we already had the "Black Sword" rune (which should have been tralsated to Black Blade Rune for accuraccy...), so the naming can even just be "Justice Rune"!

Wheel of Fortune... Hmm, many equate this to the Circle Rune actually, but the meaning is so different that it's hard to equate the two. This card is basically about luck or destiny. Perhaps a "Fate Rune" can be tuited from this card?

Hermit is the card of wisdom. Likely it would be a Rune related to how wisdom or the lack of it can do stuff to the world--or how one's knowledge can alienate them from the world.

Lovers is a card of love, which hasn't been covered by any of the runes yet. Likely there would be a rune that represents love one way or another because it's very cliche, and RPGs love cliche.

Empress is a card that has many meanings, but I am hoping that it would be a rune held by the Queen of Falena. Barbarossa has the Soverign Rune, so why not the Queen of Falena have a rune that symbolizes matriarchy?

The High Priestess also has many meanings, such as compassion, seclusion, chastity, etc. It's basically very holy and stuff. So... what about a higher tier for the White Saint Rune? It can just be called the Saint Rune, yes.

Magician is a hard one, typically meaning active knowledge and skill. Who knows, maybe it'll just be "Rune of the Magician" and allow you to cast powerful magic and blow up the world!

Discussion Thread for This Topic

Written by SARSadmin
March 29th, 2004