#final codex

Although there are many different ways to classify Semblances, the most widely accepted method is the so-called Three Category Method (TCM).

In essence, Semblances are classified according to:

Effect

Range

Area of Effect

The effect of a Semblance refers to what that Semblance does. It is important to note here that the TCM does not focus on how a Semblance produces its effects so much as on what those effects actually are. This is because the TCM was originally developed by hunters as a form of shorthand to make it easier for people to be deployed in the field.

The categories of effect are:

Enhancement

Manipulation

Creation

Rule Alteration

It is important to note that a Semblance can belong to more than one category.

Enhancement Semblances are those that are capable of enhancing something. Examples of Enhancement Semblances include Semblances that make the user or others stronger, as well as Semblances that can reinforce the cutting power or durability of weaponry. Yang's Semblance is considered an Enhancement Semblance (amongst other things).

Manipulation Semblances focus on manipulating or altering things. They are typified by their flexibility with regards to what they can manipulate. Jihl's mind control Semblance is considered a Manipulation Semblance because it allows her to alter and control the minds of others. Serah's Semblance (time control) is also a Manipulation Semblance.

Creation Semblances are able to create things, usually either energy or matter of some kind. Many of them are composite Semblances with aspects of Manipulation thrown in as well. Creation of All Thing's (Fraise's Semblance) is a Creation Semblance. The same goes for Snow's Semblance and Lumina's Semblance although Lumina's is very obviously a Manipulation Semblance as well. Hope's Semblance is likewise a Creation and Manipulation Semblance since he can create and manipulate forcefields.

Rule Alteration Semblances have the ability to alter the fundamental rules that govern reality. They are considered separate from the others forms since their effects almost always 'win' whenever they clash against other Semblance. Saviour is considered the most powerful Rule Alteration Semblance in existence precisely because it makes the rules when it is in effect. Vanille's Semblance is also put in this group because Lucky Fox is so powerful that it can make the normal rules of probability cry in a corner.

The categories for range are:

Melee

Close

Medium

Long

Ultra Long

Melee-Range Semblances are those that either require physical contact to work or which only operate at ranges closer than a few yards. Anna's Semblance (which borrows things) belongs here because she needs to either touch people to borrow their Semblances or be in close proximity to them.

Close-Range Semblances are generally effective up to about twenty yards or so. In other words, ranged weaponry (e.g., guns and the like) generally still outranges them. Jaune's is a close range Semblance since he needs to be within twenty or so yards of his target for it to work.

Medium-Range Semblances are those with ranges up to around five hundred yards. This puts them at a similar range as many firearms. Serah's Semblance falls into this category. She generally cannot affect time outside of this range. The same goes for Weiss who cannot create Glyphs outside of this distance although her Glyphs can produce effects that extend beyond this range.

Long-Range Semblances have ranges extending out to several miles. Pyrrha's Semblance qualifies here since in her prime, she can affect and sense magnetic fields from several miles away although the effects will be stronger closer to her.

Ultra-Long-Range Semblances have ranges that extend dozens of miles. Elsa is a good example since she can devastate entire nations with her Semblance. Yeul also qualifies since her clairvoyance can cover the entire planet with ease.

The area of effect category is about how many targets a Semblance can affect at once or how large an area can be affected:

Individual

Small-Scale

Medium-Scale

Large-Scale

Ultra-Large-Scale

As the name suggests, many Semblances are Individual Semblance because they can only affect one person or target at a time. Yang's Semblance is a good example. Note that its classification changes when she uses Supernova or Quasar since she becomes a walking kill-zone.

Small-Scale Semblances are those that affect small groups (e.g., less than ten people) or small areas (e.g., a single room). Ruby's Semblance goes here because she can eventually bring small groups with her when she teleports.

Medium-Scale Semblances are those that affect medium groups (e.g., less than a hundred) or areas similar in size to a large house. Nora's Semblance goes here because that's the area over which she can absorb electricity or discharge it into her surroundings.

Large-Scale Semblances are those that can affect groups of more than a hundred or areas comparable to neighbourhoods or suburbs. Korra's Semblance generally fits into this category since unless she goes Avatar State, the devastation she can unleash is limited to this size.

Ultra-Large-Scale Semblances are those that can affect groups in the thousands and can hit entire cities or larger. Elsa goes here.

Here are more fun Semblance facts:

Elsa’s Semblance is partially autonomous and can move and respond faster than she is consciously aware of. This means that her Semblance can block attacks before Elsa even realises she is being attacked. This is why she has to develop strong mental filters (Lightning and Averia were quite helpful here), so her Semblance doesn’t do something crazy like impale Anna when Anna tries to ambush her for a surprise hug.

Claire can use her Semblance to clean objects. For example, she can clean jewellery and the like by destroying only the grime on it. She can also use her Semblance to carve objects and the like.

Yang’s Semblance has a mental effect that reduces her sensitivity to pain and encourages her to get more pissed off and combative when injured rather than worried and retreat. When she lacked experience it often led to her becoming a bit reckless. It has been speculated that it at least partially explains her risk-taking behaviour.

Anna doesn’t actually need to glomp onto people to ‘borrow’ their Semblances. She just does it because she thinks it’s funny, and she enjoys glomping onto the people she likes. Ironically, this means that the two people with the most experience of their siblings clinging onto them are Averia and Elsa.

Alice waited patiently for the connection to be approved. There was a quiet whirring sound, and she was suddenly surrounded by other children. In front of her was a Dia-Farron with her hamster perched on her head. The hamster gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

“Now that Alice is here, we can begin,” the Dia-Farron said. “Yesterday we finished covering the Battle of Remnant. Starting from today, we’ll be examining the First Age of Expansion, which saw our ancestors expand from Remnant across the stars...”

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Virtual classrooms and virtual tutors are both widely available in the distant future. However, for social reasons, it is common for children living in isolated areas or areas without lots of other children to attend virtual classroom where they can interact with other people their own age.

The ‘Company’ are a race of energy beings who require the assistance of others to exist. They feed off the Aura of creatures they have formed a bond with. In exchange, they grant that creature increased strength, speed, and durability. They will also establish a mental link with that creature and will do their best to guide the creature toward a long, fruitful life because that is what benefits them as well.

Despite claims of mind control, the Company are not actually able to control the minds of those they have bonded with. All they are able to do is to speak with their partner and offer advice. Their home planet was devoid of any creatures more advanced than simple animals. They eked out a meagre existence since animals don’t tend to have much Aura.

When they were discovered by the Children of Remnant, they were initially classified as parasitic Aura-leaching life forms and were slated for extermination. However, further investigation revealed their true nature. They are a symbiotic Aura-cycling life form. They take in Aura, cycle it through their energy body and amplify it to produce the heightened physical abilities their partners have. They also serve as a second pair of eyes, keeping a constant eye on their surroundings and warning their partners of danger.

Although they initially had a very primitive mindset, similar to a normal animal, studies showed that partnering them with humans and Faunus increased their intelligence to a similar level. Since then, members of the Company have been allowed to bond with a select number of people to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of the bond.

To date, the relationship between a member of the Company and the person they have bonded to is most similar to that shared by the Dia-Farron and their hamsters.

One subject described it as follows:

The sword remembered the forge of its birth.

It remembered the light of the stars, and the hammer blows that shaped it.

It remembered the hands that held it, and the people that named it.

It remembered the endless wrath and chaos of war.

It remembered the strength to cleave the skies and the sharpness to split the very mountains.

It remembered blasts of might that boiled the ocean and a glorious light that shone to even the ends of the earth.

It remembered the soul that wielded it fading and the long years of silence before sleep finally took hold.

It remembered the momentary flashes of awakening and the sure, certain knowledge of its decay.

It remembered its blade cracking and its edge dulling.

It remembered the long dark closing in and the deep, deep silence of the grave.

And then there was her.

A glimmer of recognition.

A shadow of a memory.

Her.

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“Huh...” Vanille peered down at the cracked, broken blade. Nothing she had done had been able to fix it, and none of her instruments had been able to get a solid read on it either. She was about to call Diana in to see what Ragnarok could tell her when the sword finally reacted.

A faint golden light stirred within the cracks, and the sword trembled, the dull edge ever so slightly sharpening.

“Get over here,” Vanille said, firing her tractor beam at Saber.

Irisviel’s loyal teammate and butler struggled briefly before the tractor beam dragged her over.

“What?” Saber asked.

“I need you to pick up that sword,” Vanille explained.

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For the first time in an age, the sword felt fresh strength flood through it.

The broken blade was restored to gleaming perfection. The dull edge was honed to impossible sharpness.

The energy to break the foundations of reality stirred once again.

And for the first time since the sword had been lost, it remembered its name again.

A miracle given form.

A promise of victory no matter the odds.

A sword to light the way through the darkest night.

Yes.

It remembered its name.

Excalibur.

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Historical Note

The Cetra of Remnant were not warriors by nature. They were, from what little we can gather, a peace-loving people who prized the tranquility and beauty of nature above the rage and chaos of war. Yet they were weapon smiths unlike few others.

One of their weapons blew up the moon and knocked JENOVA into a regenerative stasis for thousands of years.

Most of their works were destroyed in that final, climactic battle, brought to bear against a foe that would only finally know defeat millennia later in the Battle of Remnant. Yet some of their masterworks survived.

One of the most famous of these master works is the sword known simply as Excalibur. A living weapon imbued with a sense of self and consciousness it somehow survived the Fall of the Cetra and the Death of the Moon, crashing upon Remnant in the aftermath.

There, it would stay until it was retrieved by Professor Oerba Dia Vanille. Despite her best efforts, it would remain nothing more than a historical curiosity until exposed to the presence of a student at Beacon Senior Academy. Although she went by the name Saber, her real name was Artoria Pendragon, and genetic analyses suggested a large than usual proportion of Cetra blood within her.

According to Excalibur, which explained upon awakening sufficiently, Artoria was, in fact, descended from a legendary warrior amongst the Cetra who perished in the final, apocalyptic defence of the lunar weapon. As the only living person with both a genetic link to its original wielder and a similar Semblance, Excalibur pledged its loyalty to Artoria and informed her of the existence of several other important relics that she should be able to control.

These weapons were all eventually gathered by Artoria and were used in the Battle of Remnant. Fittingly, they would buy time until the killing blow could be struck against JENOVA.

Later, when the survivors of the Cetra were discovered, it was revealed that the original wielder of those legendary items was actually a brother of the World Shepherd named Ifalna who had fled to Remnant to protect the survivors there.

As the closest kin of that warrior, Artoria’s descendants at the time offered to return them to Ifalna. Ifalna instead formally handed them over, saying that her brother’s descendants, however remote, had a stronger claim to the weapons than her. She only asked to speak to the weapons themselves to learn of her brother’s fate from those who were there when he fell.

At present, the weapons make up the Panoply of Pendragon and are under the control of the House of Pendragon, a Heroic House that traces its descent back to Artoria Pendragon, Rin Tohsaka, and Irisviel von Einzbern. The House of Pendragon is part of the Empire and has served faithfully for centuries. In fact, one emperor, His Imperial Majesty Taranis III had a Pendragon bride. Taranis III was the grandfather of Her Imperial Majesty Vanile I, meaning it has not actually been that long since a half Pendragon sat upon the Throne of Ice.

Even now, during the reign of Her Imperial Majesty Averia VII, relations between the House of Farron-Arendelle and the House of Pendragon remain very warm. It is actually widely believed that Crown Princess Thyra has expressed an interest in courting Mordred Pendragon, the second child of the current ruler of the House of Pendragon.

Nobody is one of the most powerful Semblances in Final Rose. It belongs to [Unknown]. Once it awakened, it immediately wiped all memory of [Unknown] from the minds of everyone who knew her with the exception of those impervious to mental interference. This effect applied not only to people but also to machines, meaning evidence of [Unknown] was removed from all databases, surveillance footage, and so on.

As a Semblance, the effect of Nobody is very simple. It makes it impossible for others to recognise, remember, or record [Unknown]. When in the presence of [Unknown], other people may feel a strange sense of familiarity but will be unable to truly grasp who [Unknown] is.

In battle, attempts to target [Unknown] will inexplicably fail. Others will notice [Unknown] on the battlefield but will somehow forget about them or find themselves targeting others. This applies, again, not only to people but also to machines and other non-organics. Nobody does not protect [Unknown] from area-of-effect attacks. If [Unknown] is standing next to someone who is hit by a grenade, for example, they will also take damage.

Nobody’s effect is so powerful that even the children of [Nobody] do not recognise [Unknown]. They aren’t disturbed by [Unknown] since they feel as though they’ve know them, but they are unable to hold onto the thought for long and will swiftly come to view [Unknown] as a friendly stranger who is present for some reason.

Someone with Nobody can walk up to someone, stab them in the middle of the street, be absolutely covered in blood, and then walk away without anyone stopping them. This is because even if people see them, they will be unable to stay focused on them or to associated the death with them despite all of the evidence.

During the Age of Heroes, [Unknown] survived after Diana visited and noticed that [Unknown] was being neglected. Since then, there have been several bearers of Nobody. They have all served bearers of Ragnarok since they are one of the few who can notice them and care for them as children.

Nobody’s effect is so powerful that even other bearers of Nobody are not immune. Diana discovered this when [Unknown] gave birth to [Unknown 2] and immediately failed to recognise the infant after [Unknown 2] awakened Nobody at birth. To date, this is the only known instance of Nobody awakening at birth.

Diana raised [Unknown 2] as her own child. The only reason knowledge of this fact exists is because it has been passed down through the various bearers of Ragnarok.

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Author’s Notes

The original Nobody was Yuffie’s granddaughter. Yuffie, remember, has a ‘do not notice me’ field as the first part of her Semblance followed by invisibility and then intangibility. Nobody dumps all of that power and control into the first stage. They are, in essence, nobody.

Diana found out when she visited Yuffie only to find Yuffie Jr (that was Nobody’s name) wandering around and trying to get people to notice her. They would acknowledge her presence and then seemingly forget her or treat her like a lost child. Diana was the only one who acknowledged her.

After failing to fix the situation, Diana took Yuffie Jr in and raised her since the only other people who could were either her descendants or Averia’s. Since then, the Line of Nobody has been bound to the Line of Ragnarok.

Although Fury and Chirpy are the two most famous chocobos to emerge from the Age of Heroes, no chocobo ever passed so heroically as Mangler.

The black-and-red chocobo was well known for his might and viciousness, being one of the only chocobos to have ever stood taller than Fury. He only ever allowed Lightning or Sazh to ride him, at least until the final years of his life where he allowed Tajh to ride him also.

Tajh was only a boy when the Battle of Remnant was fought, but he came from a distinguished lineage. He was the great-grandson of Sazh via the eldest of Dajh’s children. When the Battle began, Tajh was visiting friends amongst the Mi’ihen with Mangler.

As Grimm began to rain down on Remnant in their millions with existing Grimm renewing their onslaught, the Mi’ihen called their banners in full for the first time since the days of long-dead Cocoon and the World Below. All five of the great families of Mi’ihen answered the call, something that was likened to the clenching of a mighty fist.

Rather than hide and seek shelter, Tajh, who dreamed of becoming a chocobo knight, disguised himself and rode to the muster with Mangler. It was the greatest gathering of chocobo knight seen in Remnant’s history, more than a hundred thousand, every warrior the Mi’ihen could call upon, the full measure of their strength.

The knights of Mi’ihen moved swiftly to crush Grimm forces across the plains and steppes before turning their attention to the rest of the lands held by the other clans. As the largest mobile force, it was left to them to reinforce the faltering lines of the other clans.

They fought dozens of battles worthy of story and song, but their finest hour would come when Arendelle called for aid. With several of its most powerful defenders drawn elsewhere, the kingdom was in danger of being swamped by hordes of lesser Grimm that were supported by four Calamity Class Grimm that had been unleashed by JENOVA.

Heedless of the odds, the knights of Mi’ihen rode across the open water with all speed. They would meet the Four Calamity Class Grimm alongside Queen Elsa, Crown Princess Eira, and several other members of the royal family, along with all the naval and aerial forces they could muster, for allowing the Calamity Class Grimm to make landfall would have resulted in Arendelle’s destruction.

It is important to note that amongst the fighters was an elderly Sazh Katzroy atop Chirpy. He had joined the chocobo knights after ensuring the lands around his ranch had been made safe. Unwilling to simply sit back and do nothing, he and Chirpy had ridden with all speed to join the force riding to Arendelle.

The battle would be called the Battle of the Winter Sea due to the complete transformation of the battlefield thanks to the Semblances of Queen Elsa and Princess Eira. The Mi’ihen would sustain tens of thousands of casualties in their defence of the queen and princess, who were their primary means of dealing with the Calamity Class Grimm. Again and again the titanic Grimm and their lesser minions charged, but each time they were repelled.

In the dying stages of the battle, Chirpy and Sazh were both wounded. It was then that Tajh revealed himself. He and Mangler rode to their defence, and Tajh was knocked from Mangler. Clinging onto a large piece of ice, the boy would see Mangler’s final moments.

With the nearby knights slain and Arendelle’s forces in disarray, one of the Calamity Class Grimm would come within inches of striking killing blows on Queen Elsa, Sazh, Chirpy, and Tajh. It would be Mangler alone who stood between them and death.

By all accounts, Mangler’s final moments were cruel. Hopelessly outmatch, exhausted himself from days of constant battle, and wounded in many places, the chocobo still stood his ground. It is said that he took not a single backward step in the fight, knowing full well that if he gave even an inch of ground, then those behind him would be slain.

His cry of defiance echoed over the battle field, and his Aura blazed like a star of black and red. The long years would fall away from him, and Mangler would fight like a chocobo in the very flower of his youth. For five minutes, Mangler dared to push the Grimm back. For five minutes, a chocobo stood against a force that could raze worlds and smash civilisations... and he was winning...

But Mangler was not a young chocobo by then, and his best years were behind him. Little by little he began to slow, until at last the great Grimm landed a blow and tossed his broken body aside. The Grimm moved to slay those Mangler had been protecting, but the chocobo’s mighty heart would not accept defeat. One last time, Mangler found his feet, and with his dying charge, he drove the Grimm back.

He would fall soon after, but the time he had bought had proven long enough. The queen, having regathered herself, was able to slay the Calamity Class Grimm, and reinforcements arrived in the form of several ancient sheep and a host of elder sheep led by Arla, the wife of Sigrid. Their arrival would tip the scales of battle, and the Grimm would be driven back with heavy losses before the Calamity Class Grimm were destroyed via the combined firepower of Arendelle’s navy and airforce, in conjunction with the queen and crown princess.

Mangler’s body would be found floating amid the ice left in the wake of the battle. According to Sazh, it would be the first time that he ever saw Mangler with a smile on his face. Tajh would later remark, as an old man, that the reason Mangler was smiling was because as a chick, he had been too weak to protect his flock, and as a young chocobo, he had not been able to save the boy who freed him.

Yet as an old chocobo, amidst the rage and fury of the battlefield, he had found the death he wanted. He had died defending the ones who taught him what it meant to be free (Sazh and Chirpy), and the boy he had taken under his wing (Tajh). He had died protecting people he cared about and fighting for a cause as noble as any other. For a chocobo like Mangler, it was the perfect death. Not for him old age and the wearying of the years. Better a death in battle, one where his strength, though fading, might serve some greater purpose.

It is for this reason that although Sazh’s descendants typically take a golden chocobo as their sigil in honour of Chirpy, those of Tajh’s line have ever taken a black-and-red chocobo as their sigil to honour Mangler.

The most famous depiction of Mangler is in a painting of the Battle of the Winter Sea. It shows the chocobo standing alone against his terrible foe with those he is protecting behind him. There is no fear or doubt on his face, only the joyous certainty of one who has found their true purpose at last.

So... Saviour is one of the most overpowered abilities that exists in Final Rose. So what does it actually do?

At the core of Saviour’s identity is an idea:

An inviolate domain over which the bearer has absolute control, rejecting all outside influences as corruption and exerting the bearer’s will as the truth.

Saviour is an answer to the question:

How does one conquer a hostile world that seeks to bring ruin to the bearer and destroy all they love and hope to accomplish?

Saviour is thus a collection of powers that together seek to exert the bearer’s truth upon Creation while rejecting competing truth’s and creating an inviolate domain that they alone can command.

This leads to the most notable of Saviour’s abilities:

The Eyes that See the Truth. Saviour is impervious to mind control and illusions as a simple consequence of seeing Creation in a completely veridical manner. As a result of seeing Creation in its true state, Saviour is also able to perceive alternate timelines and dimensions as well as higher and lower dimensions. This ability is what allows Saviour to predict opponents and optimise objectives.

The Unbounded Forge. Saviour exerts its own truth, making what the bearer desires real. This is the ability from which Creation of All Things derives. The Unbounded Forge allows for the creation of materials, constructs, and energies that would otherwise be impossible or that defy conventional rules of existence. Do you want a sword that can cut through anything? This is how you get one. Do you want to shoot homing energy beams of absolute bullshit? Here you go.

The Words that Bind Creation. Saviour can rewrite the laws of Creation, altering, eliminating, or adding to the fundamental rules that govern existence. This effect can be controlled precisely creating ‘nope’ fields that prevent other powers from working or rendering Saviour invulnerable to various forms of attack. This ability is what allows Saviour to warp space and time or even to erase higher-dimensional entities and the like. Want to make it that chemical reactions just don’t do anything to you? Yeah. You got it.

The Unconquered, Inviolate Kingdom. Saviour’s area of influence is determined by this ability. At minimum, it will always cover the bearer of Saviour, granting them the familiar levels of physical enhancement, durability, predictive power, and so on. Yet it can also be expanded, growing larger and and deeper as the bearer progresses through the levels of Saviour. Think of this as Saviour designating its surroundings as part of the ‘territory’ over which it has absolute command. Even in its resting state, it will passively reject threats to the bearer and is responsible for ramping up in response to danger, calling up the other three abilities.