Major Arcana

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

So, in Devil May Cry 2, the "Arcana" (Medaglia, Spada, Calice, and Bastone) were used to seal (and unseal) a rift to the Demon Realm and Argosax the Chaos. These represent the MINOR Arcana, (coin, cup, sword, and staff/wand) precursors to our 4 suits: (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs) I am slowly writing a Devil May Cry based fanfiction where I plan to put a lot of importance into artifacts or mystical sources of power based on the MAJOR Arcana: (The Fool, The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, The Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgment, and The World) and for instead of them being a large number of items needed to open a Hellgate, them being artifacts of power themselves. So far I've been able to KIND of work out what kind of power they each might offer, but I could use some feedback on A. Specifics of how they might work or B. What powers the others might have.

The Fool
The Magician- Demon Arts. Elemental magic and other simple but arcane spells
The High Priestess - Purification (in-story allows a league of devil slayers to ward off demons and purify things such as Devil Arms into simply magic-enchanted weapons, retaining effectiveness but losing any negative demonic qualities)
The Empress - Control over demons
The Emperor - Control over demons (perhaps individually The Empress and The Emperor can only control low-level demons, but when used together can control higher-level demons)
The Hierophant - Purification? (perhaps The Hierophant can actually purify demons and their demonic powers to the point they actually are greatly weakened or perish)
The Lovers - ??? (perhaps some sort of Doppelganger and/or fusion powers?)
The Chariot - Transportation (a magical vessel that can take you to anywhere in the Demon or Human worlds)
The Strength - Demonic strength
The Hermit - Invisibility?
Wheel of Fortune
Justice - ???? (perhaps something similar to The High Priestess and The Hierophant?)
The Hanged Man
Death
Temperance
The Devil - ???? (something to do with Mundus)
The Tower - ???? (maybe something to do with Temen-ni-Gru or locations with hidden Hellgates)
The Star
The Moon - ???? (due to the moon's relationship with transformation....?)
The Sun
Judgment
The World - ???? (something to do with Mundus)

Any ideas, suggestions, or general feedback would be greatly appreciated. This is something I've been meaning to add to my storyline for a long time, and I think I've made good progress at getting it started, but having a horrible time completing it.

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

Since for the current moment I've decided these Arcana would be magatama (as they appear in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne) I figure this indicates that any characters that have an Arcana would be made to be half-demon in addition to whatever humanity they have (I do intend mostly humans to obtain/possess the Arcana) I know it really seems like a one-shot fanfiction what with a fanservice-y reference to SMTN but for one, the magatama were one of my favorite elements of the game, and my only favored alternative is making them Devil Hearts, but considering all the Devil Hearts in DMC2, I'm not fond of the sound of "The Fool Heart, The Magician Heart, The High Priestess Heart, etc" As for some of the Arcana, I have thought through a bit more of them. The Chariot would still bestow transportation, but aesthetically in the form of the Trickster/Air Hike glyph (and much like how demons spawn in DMC1) and can likely take the user between Hell and Earth. The Hermit would bestow the ability to generate the blue and/or red demonic barriers seen throughout the series. I thought Justice maybe could differ somehow (due to Justice being defined differently by different people) but to match up with the following 3, perhaps Justice could bestow some special connection with Red Orbs, as The Hanged Man, Death, and Temperence as having an association with Green, Gold, and White Orbs respectively. The Devil would probably be related to Mundus' actual demonic power, making its user a half-human Mundus essentially. The Tower would bestow some sort of Dullahan or Combat Adjusticator-like invulnerability at times. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Innsmouth]

What about Tower to do with Tem-Ni-Gru, since it kinda connection between 2 worlds. Maybe something like rifts between demon/human worlds

Wheel of Fortune - powers similar to pandora with weapon changing forms, etc.

Lovers - energy sharing between 2 individuals?

Judgement - highly concentrated explosions similar to Holy Water?

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

Well, I thought about the Tower thing, but The Chariot seemed just as viable as a transport between worlds and the like. Where The High Priestess would behave similarly to Holy Star on other demonic entities, The Hierophant would behave like Holy Water against other demonic things. Wheel of Fortune probably would be like Pandora, but more as a trait/power/ability rather than a weapon. The Lovers... your guess is as good as mine. I figured some cross between Doppelganger-like ability and fusion (which interestingly is a mechanic in SMTN much like it is in Monster Rancher) so perhaps passively can conjoin almost any 2 things, physically or otherwise. Thanks for the idea bouncing, any other possible thoughts?

 

[Innsmouth]

Well, I thought about the Tower thing, but The Chariot seemed just as viable as a transport between worlds and the like. Where The High Priestess would behave similarly to Holy Star on other demonic entities, The Hierophant would behave like Holy Water against other demonic things. Wheel of Fortune probably would be like Pandora, but more as a trait/power/ability rather than a weapon. The Lovers... your guess is as good as mine. I figured some cross between Doppelganger-like ability and fusion (which interestingly is a mechanic in SMTN much like it is in Monster Rancher) so perhaps passively can conjoin almost any 2 things, physically or otherwise. Thanks for the idea bouncing, any other possible thoughts?

I think about it, if I come up with anything else I write it

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

I think about it, if I come up with anything else I write it

Thanks, I've been working on this for some time now since they will be an important set of plot devices in my fanfiction, but I can't do a lot else until I've solidified these... Basically I was hoping that most mechanics or abilities found throughout the series could be amplified and used here, and a lot of them do fit that description, but with so many undecided I can't be sure. (Also, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, and Temperence might not work as making their users into demons with affinity for Red Orbs, Green Orbs, Gold Orbs, and White Orbs might not make as much sense in a story as they would in a game)

 

[Innsmouth]

Thanks, I've been working on this for some time now since they will be an important set of plot devices in my fanfiction, but I can't do a lot else until I've solidified these... Basically I was hoping that most mechanics or abilities found throughout the series could be amplified and used here, and a lot of them do fit that description, but with so many undecided I can't be sure. (Also, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, and Temperence might not work as making their users into demons with affinity for Red Orbs, Green Orbs, Gold Orbs, and White Orbs might not make as much sense in a story as they would in a game)

Do you want to implement all arcanas into your story? I help if something else comes to my mind.

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

Maybe 1-3 per chapter or something. Thank you, I hate having a thread in the Fanfiction forum that isn't a fanfiction, just a story element I haven't figured out xP

 

[Innsmouth]

I think that ok, I mean it's about fanfiction, so this belong to this thread

 

[Innsmouth]

Hanged Man can be something that gives power in exchange for health, since it's arcana associated with sacrifice.
The Fool may possibly make you see things beyond your usual senses in exchange for sanity.
Star - regeneration? Since it already associated with Tarot

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

I really like your suggestion for The Hanged Man, though I'm not sure if it should be a Leviathan's stomach acid kind of life drain, or an active action much like DMC3's Devil Trigger Explosion charge time. It also fits the Green Orb thing, from a gameplay perspective, green orbs would help counter the side-effects. To match, I suppose Justice could bestow some amplification to techniques and or something, which would be facilitated by collecting Red Orbs. Death could perhaps inflict the same damage to its user's attackers, and/or actually give the user the powers of dead demons (which as an enemy would keep the trend of Nightmare/Argosax/Lost Souls Nirvana/Inside the Savior) I'm still unsure. Star makes sense to be regeneration, since the Vitality and Devil Star items, The Moon can give the user perpetual Devil Trigger form (because of the moon's connection to transformation) but idk about The Sun. While The Devil should in a way be like a fragment of Mundus, Mundus takes his name from the Latin word for "World", so I see a connection between "The Devil" and "The World".

 

[Innsmouth]

Well I think Hanged Man can work like that artifact in DMC3 that drains your health, but gives you inf. energy.

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

The Haywire Neo-Generator? I agree, but then The Moon would just give infinite with no drawback? (or possibly work much like the Trial of the Warrior room and put the user into Devil Trigger for a time period)

 

[Innsmouth]

that makes sense. like seasons of moon, it may make it only timed influence

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

The Sun... however, I have no idea to match.

 

[Innsmouth]

What about if sun is growth in strength, that need to cool down, since if it keeps growing it will burn it's wielder from inside?

 

[Zero]

Hey, that's a neat idea. I had to look up what a magatama was though. o.o

The Fool -
The Magician- enhances magic
The High Priestess -
The Empress -
The Emperor -
The Hierophant -
The Lovers -
The Chariot - lights a path to users goal (like that one spell in skyrim...forget what its called)
The Strength - kinda obvious but enhances strength
The Hermit - enhances defense
Wheel of Fortune- random status effect
Justice - reflects damage
The Hanged Man -
Death - chance of instant KO
Temperance - healing magic
The Devil - too obvious but, controls demons =P
The Tower - switch places with opponent (card is about change)
The Star - Light/Holy magic
The Moon - Water magic
The Sun - Fire magic
Judgment - random chance of healing, or death o.o
The World - Earth magic

Er, I don't really know, this is harder than I thought. XD

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

Hey, that's a neat idea. I had to look up what a magatama was though. o.o

The Fool -
The Magician- enhances magic
The High Priestess -
The Empress -
The Emperor -
The Hierophant -
The Lovers -
The Chariot - lights a path to users goal (like that one spell in skyrim...forget what its called)
The Strength - kinda obvious but enhances strength
The Hermit - enhances defense
Wheel of Fortune- random status effect
Justice - reflects damage
The Hanged Man -
Death - chance of instant KO
Temperance - healing magic
The Devil - too obvious but, controls demons =P
The Tower - switch places with opponent (card is about change)
The Star - Light/Holy magic
The Moon - Water magic
The Sun - Fire magic
Judgment - random chance of healing, or death o.o
The World - Earth magic

Er, I don't really know, this is harder than I thought. XD

lol The only good ideas for what form they would take I've ever had were either magatama from Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (it could always be said that they came from another world or something, hinting at their connection to those games) or "Devil Hearts" used in Dante & Lucia's amulets DMC2, but I don't think that would work as well aesthetically or thematically, and while the Arcana in DMC2 were their namesakes, I don't like the idea of a Fool, a Magician, The Sun, and Justice?? being artifacts, literally or figuratively (A. The Sun is the artifact B. The artifact resembles the sun) While I DO kind of envision it as if these were present in a game, these will end up being artifacts that different characters (allies, enemies) possess and give them extraordinary particular abilities as artificially half demons, preferably recognizable demonic abilities from the series. It IS hard lol

 

[Innsmouth]

Maybe it's stupid idea, but if DmC implemented graffitis, why not implement tattoos? Something like magic tattoos that can go from one person to another

 

[TonyRedgraveDMC]

Actually, it's not stupid, but it really sounds best for DmC. It could be a really cool idea for DmC.