#magic particle physics

[gear-project]

Is there any like, lore behind "Tension" like what it is, or is it just one of those game things?

Besides being a huge Metal Reference to Helloween, Tension refers to Magic Energy that is the power source of Overdrives and Instant Kills.... but before they were called Overdrives, they were originally called “Chaos Attacks.”

A Chaos Attack is literally an attack powered by “Chaos Energy”, and Chaos is a major “truth” within the Backyard.

I-No made the discovery that when two great chaotic powers collide and clash, they have the power to split Space and Time wide open, even creating an Alternate Timeline (something Axl Low is also familiar with).

Sol Badguy himself is more than familiar with the study of “Magic Energy Particle Physics”, but it could easily be called a “Chaos Particle”, because excessive Magic can generate an Information Flare, which is like creating a hole from this world in to the Backyard itself.

Too many Information Flares can cause quite a bit of Chaos on their own, and even generate the dangerous phenomena known as the “Absolute World”, where the Backyard completely overlaps this dimension of space, eclipsing our own lives and existence.

Tension is also called “Zeal” in some capacity, as a Magic Fuel source for Mana engines and such.  More compact engines are known as “Zilpods”.

Tension is also closely tied with Ki, Mana, and Soma, basic life energies that all living things possess in this world.  Ki itself is considered the foundation of all forms of Magic, in fact.

So there you have it.

[gear-project]

Throughout the series, Guilty Gear has referred to Magic(the energy itself, not the elements) as Magic Energy, Magic Particles and Mana. Do these terms all mean the same thing or do they refer to different aspects of Magic?

I’ve already covered a basic explanation of what they are… but as to their history:

Mana (法力 “Houriki”) is the oldest term and refers specifically to both “Mana” and “Magic Energy” simultaneously, you can think of it like MP in RPGs.  The more correct definition is “Magic Energy” when using the definition here.  “Zeal” is a fuel that converts in to “Magic Energy” via “Zilpods” for a more in-series example.

Using Mana to perform Magic Techniques (法術 “Houjutsu”) is the second oldest term, and refers to the variety of techniques, both powerful (High Level Magic / “Magic Exceeding the 12 Steps”) and forbidden (Forbidden Magic / Soul Binding Arts) most commonly known as the 666 Arcanum as explained in the GGXrd Library and Codex.

“Magic Particles” is actually a hybrid term invented in Western Localization jargon to simplify referring to the nature of Science that Frederick studied before/during the Ecosystem Evolution Project (or “Gear Project”).

The full name is “The Study and Research of Magic Energy Particle Physics” (法力エネルギー素粒子物理学の研究 “Houriki Enerugi Soryuushibutsurigaku no Kenkyuu”).  To explain, it’s the “research of” because Magic Energy Particle Physics was still in a theoretical phase back then, since Magic was still a new concept as of 2014.

That in and of itself is a Mouthful (and a recently used term in GG2 Overture’s Material Data to boot), so we’ve taken to using either the term “Magic Particle Physics” or just “Magic Particles” to describe it when talking about what Magic Energy (Houriki) is on a sub-atomic level.