Discussion of the themes of Identity and what makes one "themself" in regards to the Narzissenkreuz questline characters (+ some). Very long.
Jakob has his physical form changed from a young age, to the point where he is no longer considered human, with Rene calling him a âNeo-Human.â But even if he is not human, is he still âhimselfâ, or is being human a core part of oneâs identity? Itâs to the point that in Enigmatic Page V, Rene wonders if Jakob is still himself, and if he wasnât when Jakob changed. Heâs also very close to being a walking Ship of Theseus, with his emphasis on physical change that develops - or perhaps worsens - over time. (Honestly the only thing that makes me hesitate from committing to the Ship of Theseus comparison is how Jakob, in that final conversation with Ann, is sure he is still Fontainian enough to be dissolved instead of fully abyssal. Itâs like if not all the planks were replaced yet, and since some of the original is still there, he is sure of his own identity. The true dilemma of the Ship of Theseus can only be questioned when everything has been replaced. Then again, the ship could also be deluding itself in this case, as if you complete the Fontaine Archon Quest it wouldnât work anyways. Whatever (if anything) left that was Fontainian wouldâve gone from Primordial Seawater to flesh and blood.)
Mary-Ann is fused with Lyris by the time we meet her, the analogy of âMary-Annâ being purple paint formed from two separate colors mixed together is even used in game. And purple is not red or blue, so âMary-Annâ should not be Mary-Ann anymore, but yet she retains all of what made Mary-Ann herself. And as an extension of this, Ann is just a dot of that purple paint separated from the rest, so she certainly should not be Mary-Ann, right? Then why does Seymour recognize both âMary-Annâ and Ann as the same as Mary-Ann and listen to both of them? How much can be added or mixed with âyouâ until you are no longer yourself? (Remember that the analogy comes from the biased Narzissenkreuz, who as I am about to discuss, is like the equal and opposite to âMary-Annâ in regards to their identities.)
Rene fused himself with a number of people, including Emmanuel Guillotine and the Duelist Champion Marfisa and at least a couple more. However, unlike âMary-Annâ, this fusion does not call itself âReneâ but rather views itself separate with the name Narzissenkreuz, despite Reneâs influence being the main drive for Narzissenkreuz. Compounding this, Ann, âMary-Annâ, and others still call Narzissenkreuz Rene, bringing up the question of how do others' perceptions of you affect if you are âyouâ? (This is also seconded by the references to the Fell Dragon aka Jaberwock. Just looking at the Fell Dragonâs Monocle, it directly mentions that there are multiple perspectives, heroes could be dragons, turn into dragons, or dragons could be heroes. But people trend towards simpler narratives written by the victor, of a single perspective of a hero defeating the dragon. Rene turned into Narzissenkreuz, the "hero" into the "dragon" (I do want to note that this is about perspective, Narzissenkreuz never stopped viewing himself as the savior, in fact after his defeat he says he won't appologize, he only did what he thought was the only way, he never saw himself as the "dragon," only the "hero.") but the victors trend towards the easier narrative of equating the two, of heroes defeating the dragon, but Iâd even argue if Alain was a hero, he did heroic deeds by stopping the dragon, but at the end of the day is just a fracturing, traumatized, lonely person.)
And Narzissenkreuz is another âselfâ separate from Rene. Reneâs notes emphasize possessing a strong âwillâ without being given a Vision, marking entering the worldâs fate. His solution was to âexcise the self,â to kill the identity of Rene. Not a physical death, but a death of identity, of ego, and âwho you areâ. Thatâs why Narzissenkreuz doesnât identify with Rene, no one can truly be a corpse (looking at you âStanley,â Venti, âMasanoriâ⊠are there any others I forgot?).
Cater, by nature and writing, is a character with multiple identities. First and foremost, his connection to Carter. There is no confirmed use of Carter's remains in Cater's creation, and yet the game wants us to connect the two, dare I say conflate the two. Between the similarities of their names in many languages, and Jakob's Log even writes about using Cater's remains (NOT CARTER'S! I CHECK EVERY TIME I READ IT!) in the creation of Narzissenkreuz. But of course these notes were found is the Book of Esoteric Revelations' realm, where the Pursuit world quests take place. In these Cater is chasing after Carter's ghost, memories Jakob and Rene had of their friend, and yet after a conversation between the two, Cater feels closure. But there's also other allusions of multiple identities with Cater, such as his form. He is a hilichrul rogue, but disguises himself as a child. Is that any less himself? He says sometimes he is a Bloomguard and sometimes a dragon, that his identity is built on the lies of others. But those lies can be his truth, or hide the truth within them, so are those not himself? And of course his full name, Caterpillar. A creature that undergoes changes in identity, to a pupa then a butterfly. But the character never undergoes the metamorphosis expected of him, or at least not the way expected of him. Of course the memories of Carter have an answer, his line where he mentions the butterfly became a cocoon turned into a larva and returned to the void. Now, Iâm sure there are many interpretations for this line but the conclusion I have come to is that Carter was the butterfly, who dissolved, much as within a pupa, this becomes (either literally or metaphorically) Caterpillar the larva, who disappears after the Pursuit quest, perhaps to the void before life.
Now, Caterâs a hard act to follow, especially Alain experiences no physical changes other than time over the course of the events of the quest. However, the events no doubt left a lasting impact and changed him, and he has to reenter society being that sole survivor. He thinks that organic beings of flesh and blood are inherently weaker than mechanical creations, and that humans can not trust anything beyond their understanding. But is he still himself, while the hero Rene literally became the dragon Narzissenkreuz, did Alain not undergo a similar mental change? Have these events where he is the only true survivor changed him to the point where he is no longer himself? (Sidenote, I played Star Rail and found out about the High Cloud Quintet, looked at everyone dying, reincarnating, or changing, looked at Jing Yuan being the sole person physically unchanged but forced to bear the consequences, and went âAh yes, youâre this groupâs Alainâ).
Sandrone was created as a representation of Mary-Ann, but is that her? Does she view herself as Mary-Ann, or as a separate entity? And further, should Sandrone be viewed as Mary-Ann or a separate entity in spite of being created in her image? These similarities donât appear to go too deep into programming or anything, as Sandroneâs aloof and pointed demeanor doesnât align with what we hear about Mary-Ann or what we see from âMary-Ann.â And if Sandrone should NOT be viewed as Mary-Ann, then one must ask the question of why she was made in her image.
[Heyy, little update. The narrative in Nod-Krai, in particular Luna IV (and Sandrone's Notebook), directly state how Sandrone should be viewed independently from Mary-Ann and that Alain experiences guilt over building the robot in her image. This is in addition to the narrative elements of Sandrone surpassing the work of the geniuses of the group, synthesizing Rene's information with Alain's methods. The game is directly telling us how Sandrone's connection to the theme should be viewed.]
Also, Sandroneâs theme is called âA Sitting on a Gate.â This is a Through the Looking Glass reference (one of many for this group) and in particular it is a song the White Knight tells Alice about. In Genshin, Alain and Mary-Ann are likened to these two respectively. But thereâs also this whole back and forth in the book with what the songâs name is called vs the songâs name vs what the song is called vs the song itself, which gets into topics of identity and referencing stuff which is why Iâm putting this detail here. It doesnât just tie Sandrone to this group further, but is about these themes.
Okay⊠I think thatâs everyone. I hope this was conveyed well enough, explaining Cater in particular was a bit of a struggle given how many times I amended his section in my notes and trying to piece all that together⊠well⊠eh. I forgot when I first saw this theme and when all these pieces came together, but it mustâve been after 4.2, otherwise I was working with incomplete information. But I do like exploring themes like this, as I feel not many unvoiced quest lines like these go this far with it. And this isnât touching the topic of relations to the past (in most cases) that is arguably even more prevalent as we rope in more minor characters like Lyris, Emanuel, and Karl in addition to the ones above.
