A Crimson Lord (紅世の王 Guze no Ō), also simply called "Lord" (王 Ō), is an existence, amongst the Crimson Denizens, possessing great power. Because of their large existence, they require a lot of Power of Existence to continue to manifest themselves in our world. They also have the power to move between worlds freely.
Background[]
Originally, Crimson Lords refer to Crimson Denizens who can control a large amount of Power of Existence. The larger this scale, the greater the influence they can exert on the world; or to put it in simpler terms, the stronger they become. If this strength is demonstrated through actions and recognized by others, those Crimson Denizens will naturally come to be called Lords.[1]
The main difference between Lords and Denizens is the former's ability to harness Power of Existence and utilize it. Even though normal Denizens can take possession of a great amount of Power of Existence, if they can't master them as well then they still won't be considered Lords. There are also some Denizens who were born with qualification to become Lords, but haven't demonstrated their full strength yet, so they are still considered by others to be only "Denizens".
There are examples of Crimson Denizens who, through accumulated accomplishments, are later accepted by broad consensus as Crimson Lords: Orobas and Leraje. They are confirmed to have become Lords at the end of the Second Great War.[2]
On the other hand, ones might choose to hide their true strengths by staying away from battles, and be considered only normal Crimson Denizens, like the Hyakki Yakō.[3]
Among the Lords, there are some who exceed other Lords; they are usually addressed as the powerful Lord (強大なる“紅世の王” Kyōdai-naru Guze no Ō).
Also, the Crimson Gods, who are embodiment of Crimson Realm's very laws themselves, are simply viewed by some only as powerful Lords, despite their supreme power as Gods. For example, Alastor has made contracts with Mathilde Saint-Omer and Shana respectively through conventional Flame Haze rituals; he can only display his true powers as the God of Retribution when he is summoned via Divine Summoning.
For the Lords who work to maintain the balance, they take care of the balance of the world by monitoring the Power of Existence and utilizing their Flame Haze to terminate those Crimson Denizens who harm the balance. These Lords represent themselves as magical objects called Divine Vessels, which in Shana's case is a pendant. They can manifest fully, but to do so requires tremendous amounts of Power of Existence and in turn, would be detrimental to the balance of the world. Examples of Crimson Lords are members of Bal Masqué such as Sydonay, Dantalion, Bel-Peol, Hecate and Sabrac.
Trivia[]
- Author Yashichirō Takahashi, via Friagne in his "Friagne the Hunter" Q&A section, compares the difference between Crimson Lords and normal Denizens to that of a "warship" and a "motorboat"; if you apply the amount of gasoline warships use into motorboats, they won't become faster and would even sink into the sea because of the weight of that fuel.[4]
- All contracted Crimson Lords always have their true names in Pattern B (See Crimson Denizen's trivia).[5]
- This is a "metaphorical" indication that they are standing on humans' side, taking their standpoint. However, like a Flame Haze's title naming rule (See Flame Haze's trivia), this is a meta-level point of view; it is not addressed within the narrative of the story.
- Note the similarity on how their true names are similar to Flame Haze's titles; both have "no" (の) in-between the kanji that form their names/titles. For examples: "Flame of Heaven" (天壌の劫火 Tenjō no Gōka) and his contractors "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter" (炎髪灼眼の討ち手 Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite).
References[]
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume SII page 131
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana no Subete Kan page 60
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume SII page 131-132
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume S page 304
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Light Novel Volume SIII page 446