#testament's familiar

[gear-project]

I've never understood why Sol consistently spares Testament in all of their encounters? It is understandable why he's shown compassion towards Solaria, Dizzy, and Sin since they have never willfully used their powers to harm anyone innocent of their own volition, however, Testament has always been psychologically unstable and hateful of humans, even after he was freed from Justice's control. And considering that he is one of the strongest Gears alive, I don't see why Sol lets him live.

Sol makes a similar observation to Zato in GGXrd:

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Sol: “Are you supposed to be a Zombie?          How many times do I have to kill you before it sticks?”

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Testament isn’t your typical Gear… his blood uses a contract with the familiar “Exebeast”, what’s more… his entire body can convert itself in to a ‘blood-like’ fluid, as can be seen in his attack Warrant.  Even his scythe and net traps (Zeinest) are formed from his very blood!

This means, in no uncertain terms, that Testament can’t really be killed or burned to a crisp, much like Raven, much to Sol’s annoyance.

One of Testament’s taunts in GGX is “Cut me to pieces!” [“Kiri kizan de kure!”], simply egging on any challengers to even try taking down the grim reaper.

He even says as much to Axl in one of his winquotes:

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Testament: “Don’t you understand? It’s impossible to physically wipe me out.”

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Sure, Sol is strong enough to put Testament out of commission… if only for a short while… but not for lack of trying on Sol’s part.

Just the fact that Testament survived and escaped from the tournament alone is a miracle in and of itself what with everything that happened.

Testament later takes up the alias of his father’s name “Kliff” and starts wandering around the world, looking for meaning as a ‘sentient Gear’ who betrayed humanity.

When he defends Dizzy once humans placed a bounty on her… there was no question Sol would be coming after her… but Testament was determined to face him again.

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Testament: “So it was you. I’ve been waiting.”

Sol: “I’m tired of seeing you.”

Testament: “Finally some cynicism…                    And to think I was about to give up on killing you.”

Sol: “…Move aside.”

Testament: “We only wish to live in peace!                    Do you mean that even you follow the ego of the filthy humans!?”

Sol: “Gears must be killed. That is all.”

Testament: “But you… you are a Gear, aren’t you?”

Sol: “That’s precisely why.”

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You could say that Sol does what he wants despite the 'ego of filthy humans’, but in some small way he knew Testament was no longer fighting to 'kill’ but instead to 'protect’… so in the end, after he met Dizzy… he let him live… just as he had let Dizzy live (maybe even for Dizzy’s own sake, since he was a friend to her).

Maybe it was something that couldn’t be helped, but eventually Testament paid back the favor and helped Sol destroy one of the Post War Administration Bureau laboratories a few weeks later.

If they ever meet again, they may fight… since they are 'comrades of war’, after all.

[gear-project]

Testament and his Familiar

I was asked to explain what Testament is, and what the deal is with his raven familiar.

Before that, let me first mention Jedah Dohma, from Darkstalkers, a.k.a. Vampire Savior...if you're familiar with his bio, it says that Jedah's body is mostly liquid, that is to say he can "transform into his own blood" and use it as a "sacrifice" or catalyst to form a contract while summoning or using his powers.

Now, the fighting game Vampire Savior (Jedah's first appearance) came out in 1997...Guilty Gear: The Missing Link, came out a year later...now, whether or not that's a coincidence is unknown...but first of all:

Testament's called the "Distortion Gear" according to the GGXX Drama CD Side Red. We don't know what that means exactly except that it has something to do with interdimensional movement or the ability to break barriers, such as what he did in order to free Justice from her "blood curse" Prison...(Most Interdimensional Prisons in Guilty Gear are done with a blood seal, so more blood is required to unseal an existing seal...this is why the 2nd Sacred Order Tournament was odd because the "shedding of blood" was permitted)...

Here's Testament's Movelist and a brief explanation:

--Phantom Soul (summons a flaming skull with a curse) --Badlands and Grave Digger (attacks with his blood scythe) --Zeinest (a binding net trap formed of his own blood), (derived from German "Zeit" [Time] and "Seines" [Belonging to Him] which means "Time belongs to him"...which represents Testament's role as a Grim Reaper.) --Dimension Scythe (similar to Zeinest, but Testament uses his scythe to restrict the opponent's feet from the ground) --Hitomi (Japanese for "eyes") which plants a poisoned tree beneath his feet waiting for the enemy to approach. --Panzer Centipede (similar to Hitomi, Testament plants a seed in the ground, and it erupts with a tentacle) --EXE Beast (a pair of summoned jaws bites at his opponent's feet. --Devil Scythe (warps above his opponent and strikes with his scythe) --Warrant (taunts the opponent, then becomes liquid blood and counters from behind) --Master of Puppets (his blood scythe turns into a key that uses the opponent's blood to strengthen his attacks, similar to A.B.A.'s Flament Nagel) --Nightmare Circular (creates a blood circle that poisons the enemy) --Soul Vise (rips their soul out with a single slash) --7th Sign (uses *two scythes* to create an altar for his familiar to slay his foes upon)   ...When the raven transforms into what can best be described as a succubus-like demon creature to slay his opponent during his Instant Kill...he says: "SEVENTH SIGN! OBEY THE CONTRACT!" He is basically forming a contract with an existence from the underworld...

In old Norse Mythology, ravens are called "Hrafn", in particular Huginn "Memory" and Muninn "Mind"...they sat on Odin's shoulders and would inform him of the goings on of the world of Midgard, so the eyes of a raven are symbolic with the eyes of the afterworld of the gods...the eye of Odin himself. In Irish mythos, An Morrigan sat on the hero Cuchulainn's shoulder as a sign that he had died. In Inuit and other related Pacific Northwest Coastal cultures, the Raven is the "Creator of the World" but also a trickster god...in Tlingit culture, there are two Ravens, one who creates the world "Owner of Daylight", and another who is selfish, and tries to steal the sun. In Hindu, the deity Shani is often represented as a giant black raven...sometimes the raven itself is a servant of Shani called "Vahana" or "mount" (that is to say Shani used Vahana as a spiritual platform in the present world or a "form" that the deity would take). It's also said that a raven was the being who taught Cain how to bury his murdered brother Abel. Ravens are also said to be the guardians of saint corpses from being devoured by other animals before they can be properly buried (though this is a coincidence since Ravens are also scavengers). Shakespeare and Poe often wrote of their spiritual mythos.

Popular Japanese Doujinshi refers to this particular raven familiar as "Zio"...however it's unofficial and she does NOT have an official name according to the data found in either the GG Bible or GG 10th Memorial guides...she's simply a familiar bound to Testament's blood contract...most likely a low level Youkai demon that can take the form of a raven. Similarly, but unrelated Karasu a.k.a. Raven can also transform into a raven, as one of his many powers, though Raven is not a Gear or a Youkai...all we know is that he is immortal and had his body modified.

Keep in mind that Gears and Youkai are very similar in makeup, so it's not unheard of for them to have a magic link with one another, such as Izuna's interaction with Sol Badguy, even though Izuna is from the Backyard's Underwood Hill, a part of the Underworld itself.

Originally, Testament was a normal human orphan adopted by Kliff Undersn some time before 2140...Kliff even gave him his name, since Kliff was already a 'legend' in his own right..he wanted the boy to be his "testament" to his great deeds.

Unfortunately somehow the Postwar Administrative Bureau got a hold of him and converted him into the Gear we know him as, distrustful and hateful of humans, while loyal to Justice and her said-to-be progeny Dizzy. However, Dizzy has chosen to interact with humans, despite Testament's pleas, so we won't know what happens to him until perhaps later...until then he just refers to himself as "ghost from the Crusades"...even going so far as to quote part of the oath of the Sacred Order he learned from his stepfather.

I hope that covers it. If you have more questions, feel free to ask!