⛓🧤

canon from cover

tempus debut manga and official character descriptions can be read here.

(image here used to highlight certain features of their character design/stats)

magni and axel's character stats are directly opposite of each other. bettel referenced choosing the stats for "gavis bettel", but it is unclear if this was also the case for magni and axel.

(descriptions below are speculation)

default poses can link arms. magni acknowledged this in the form of a twitter like as shown here.

both have asymmetrical haircuts that mirror the other (longer hair on one side, short hair on the other)

(image is a compilation of interactions in the official tempus manga. panel on upper right is in response to axel throwing his throne lol. text below is my interpretation of the relationship.)

in manga, magni is already aware of who axel is due to his fame as owner of the battle arena. axel does not seem to know magni beforehand.

magni's demeanor is more cool-headed and flippant, even laughing at axel's shows of quick temper. the bottom panel further highlights this contrast in their personalities.

canon from streamer

magni's most notable contribution to "magni dezmond"'s lore is his 1.5 debut stream. no other streamers are mentioned in this stream.

however, there was a member's only rp titled "alchemist's prologue" that served as a draft (more or less) to the 1.5 debut that chronicles magni's time as a student in elysium academy. in this stream, magni falls in love with a nameless character who later dies on an expedition, causing magni to spiral into the amoral character viewers came to know.

after the story, magni reveals that an earlier draft of the rp had the nameless character be axel.

"there was a version where [nameless character] goes to xenokuni instead. there were different versions. one, the person goes to xenokuni. and the third version-- because i never verbally say the name out loud-- in the third version [it] ends up being axel, because early on i put the little, y'know, he's like "you stand there with your mouth open agape", y'know? there's, like, a third version that's axel, and then a second one [where] he goes to xenokuni and it's like-- it's left open. [...] in this scenario, that's not axel. that's some unnamed person that i was close with prior to joining tempus."

further parallels between the nameless character and axel are speculated here.

after a love potion bit during magni's debut, magni notices glass being all over the floor and grumbles under his breath about axel being in his lab again.

"why is there so much glass on the floor, hello?! why is there-- was it-- (groan) was axel in here again? that little... (tsk)"

there was also a mushroom potion gag that both talents referenced where axel and magni accidentally set off a mushroom potion that had "the whole town" tasting mushrooms for a month, leading to an intense dislike of mushrooms from both of them. this bit is referenced occasionally in random streams/mentions, and was even used as a callback in axel's 3D debut.

during a raft stream, the boys were asked who they'd least like to battle against. magni answers that he wouldn't want to fight axel. clip

"the person who i'd least want to fight? hmm... probably axel. i don't know why. i'm not sure why. that was just my gut feeling. i would dislike fighting axel the most."

during an apex stream, magni goes on a long rant about characters that are opposites being good fits for each other. in this rant, he considers "magni" to be a dark character while "axel" is a light character. full rant here.

during a collab, the thumbnail prompt "magni dezmond's type 100% confirmed accurate" causes magni to make a thumbnail where "magni" is blushing and surrounded by love bubbles while thinking of "axel".

during axel's 3D debut, axel showed off his room in the colosseum. at his desk was a lamp that he had taken from magni's room.

"and look at this lamp that just sits right here. this magical lamp. where did i get it? so... this was like, way back in the days when we used to go on adventures and stuff, right? and we... we were hunting monsters and stuff, this-- this is actually from the little alchemist guy. he used to actually love this little lamp and he had it in his room but then i was like 'y'know what? this stuff's got fire on it. might as well take it home with me!' and i just snuck it out and he hasn't, y'know, found out about it ever since."

misceallanous mentions

(the rest of these i consider "canon fodder" in the sense that these comments can be used to further one's understanding of how the streamers see their characters, but are almost always never direct comments on the canon itself.)

axel has mentioned several times wanting to see a story where "axel" sacrifices himself as a homage to his favorite character, zack fair from crisis core. many of these mentions include him wanting "axel" to die in front of "magni". most notable mention here.

during a skit, magni detailed an alternate universe where "tempus" was never real and "magni" was an old man with faulty memories. in this skit, "tempus" was a video game, "altare" was a trading card, and "axel" was "magni"'s childhood dog who's death "magni" never recovered from.

in another alternate universe skit, magni (playing mag fisherton) calls for his maids named altare and axel.

axel has compared himself and magni to the following characters: zack fair and cloud strife, naruto and sasuke, kaine and emile, the knight and the princess, sayori and natsuki, joe tazuna and sara chidouin, president shinra (in relation to axelotls) and hojo, a point guard and a cute manager, sakuragi and rukawa (or mitsui), percival and vane.

axel has compared magni to the following characters: rei ayanami, prompto, claude (a mix of both of them), edelguard, lorenz, saul goodman, skylar white, alice yabusame, enamorous, a slytherin, mr. jellybean, randall, and fukunaga yuji.

magni has compared axel to: ken, a "prince charming" type, a shounen protagonist, strength type in sonic heroes, an incineroar, a potato, a pomeranian, a golden retriever, a chihuahua, and the light.

during karaokes, axel has sung the following songs reminding him of magni: melodies of life, love brain, beast dance, romance no kamisama

during karaokes, magni has sung the following songs reminding him of axel: who let the dogs out, kiss from a rose

in conclusion

it's probably something like this

magni's art of axel