Zodiac and Anima weapon lore. Isn't Odins sword the same thing?

[Kotemon]

To my knowledge back in 1.x Anima was the energy used to teleport. Moving forward it's now what we are using as the core for Anima Weapons. For relics we used the husk of an antiquated original as base material to re-forge a new body. Then began refueling it with spirit energy via soul bonding (all those trials). Later we met Jalzhan and used the Relic as the core for the recreation of a Zodiac weapon. During the last leg for the Zodiac weapon line. We were infusing mahatma as a way to infuse a sense of self in order to recreate how the originals "bonded with the soul of their bearers". The way I read it was to give a sense of sentience to the weapon.


Now with the Anima line. We are taking Anima and making it into something like a soul embedded into the weapon. Like how they say a master swords smith puts a bit of himself into the blades he forged. Only this is more literal. However, ignoring the crystal farming to keep a sense of this being one long side story. By taking all the energy we built into the Zodiac weapon and using it as an energy source much like in his dark materia. Aren't we taking our semi conscious Relic and converting it back into materia. Then reinfusing it with Anima, to make it into the core some kind of living object? It almost sounds like that one relic (Thf Dagger) from XI and how it was said to speak to its owner.

During the second stage there was a comment how it was absorbing Aether as it grew and could eventually pop if it out grew its body. Despite not knowing how summons and elementals work. Does this mean that if it is drawing in Aether in the way they mentioned. Couldn't it eventually become like Odins sword or some kind of primal esc object (Thordians sword) and invoking the memory of its original owner through the current one?

On a side note, am I the only one thinking that kids master is Jalzhan. With his experiment being loosely based on the Zodiac research before we recreated the Zodiac Weapon?

[Kaiser-Ace]

As far as the Zantetsuken, that's as good a theory as any, but Odin Was not its origenal weilder just possibly the most compatable with it. (Odin could have been a simmilar person to Zantetsuken's creator when he was mortal)

In regards to the Jazalan theory, there's no proof but no disproof either. We know to little about the kid to make any theories in his reguard.

[Februs]

There was a lot of debate over this topic after the Odin Trial was released. The biggest, most widely accepted, theory at the moment is that Zantetsuken is a Primal.

The leading evidence for which was the cutscenes that followed the (still unfinished) Dark Divinity questline. The sword seems to possess either (1) the player who landed the killing blow. Ie: the "strongest" warrior. This is the FATE lore that seems to serve the sole purpose of explaining why Odin persists after each death and ignores the "echo-logic" for convenience (I guess we all have the echo, except when we're a part of someone else's story. Then we don't). Or, (2) the nearest person. This was the story lore, as some poor guard got tempted... or tempered. Most players use this to point at the sword and yell "PRIMAL!!!"

However, when the Dev's talked about Odin in one of their live letters they never explicitly refer to Zantetsuken as a Primal. They talk about Odin being a Eikon, but they do not mention that Zantetsuken is a Primal. The exact wording that they used when referring to the sword is "Cursed." Now, that's not to say that the sword didn't eventually became a Primal. It could have started out as cursed and developed into a Primal as more warriors put their faith into the blade (crystal and aether requirements put aside for a minute, since we don't know the exact history of the blade), but they Dev's themselves only ever said that the sword is cursed.

Personally, I like the idea that it was forged the same way as a Relic weapon. It would explain a lot about how the sword was created, and even bridge the gap between how it went from a "cursed sword" to a "primal." The Anima weapon lore seems to support it as well, because our researcher has ties to the near east, which is where Zantetsuken supposedly originated. It's possible that his research is merely a re-discovery of something someone already achieved a very long time ago. All in all, it's a pretty tidy way of explaining a lot of the Odin lore, to me.... except for the actual "Odin" part...

The problem is (and as Kaiser already pointed out) that Odin was NOT the first owner of Zantetsuken. The Dev's stated that he found or came across the sword on his way south to save Urth, and his Minion information explains that he took the blade out of the cold dead hands of the first warrior who managed to nick his armour. It also states that the blade is of an eastern design, so a lot of forum theorists have taken it to imply that it is of Doman design (meaning the Au Ra were likely the first to have used or even created the sword). It is a mystery as to why the Sword (assuming it is a Primal) continues to fashion every new host it gets into the likeness of Odin. There are a lot of theories about it though.

[HikariSavoir]

If there Anima weapon has a soul, can it be tempered? Maybe this is what happened to the Zantetsuken?

[Kaiser-Ace]

If there Anima weapon has a soul, can it be tempered? Maybe this is what happened to the Zantetsuken?

That, seems odd enough that it might actually be the answer. <quickly puts on darksteel foil hat> That "The Curse" on the blade was the sword's soul being tempered, then after Odin was tempered by Zantetsuken his indomitable will wound up making it go nuts and now his and Zantetsuken's souls are bound and eternaly summoning each other.

[myahele]

Odin, or more specifically, Zantetsuken is an Eikon:

I sought you out that I might alert you to the rising threat of the beings known as eikons [...] Ah, but I speak not of the primals, with which you are exceedingly well acquainted. It may interest you to know that the term “eikon” and the beings to which it refers precede the Garlean Empire by eras. You see, it is the name by which the Allagans called godlike beings, the Dark Divinity Odin among them.

Maybe somewhere along the way an Eikon ended up getting sealed? Perhaps Zantetsuken was an Anima/Zodiak-like weapon and during Odin's travels he ended up defeating an Eikon whose aetherial essence was absorbed by Zantetsuken? Afterall, aetherial beings, no matter how powerful, can be sealed within nearly anything as long as it's just as strong its prisoner.

[Februs]

That, seems odd enough that it might actually be the answer. <quickly puts on darksteel foil hat> That "The Curse" on the blade was the sword's soul being tempered, then after Odin was tempered by Zantetsuken his indomitable will wound up making it go nuts and now his and Zantetsuken's souls are bound and eternaly summoning each other.

It's also possible that Odin simply Spirit Bonded the Blade.

There's not a lot of lore regarding Aetherial Weapons and Spirit Bonding, but, if I recall correctly, one of the first conversations we ever have about gives a rough description of Aetherial weapons as having residual energy from the wielders who died using them after using them for a long time. Likewise, Spirit Bonding is only achieved after using the same weapon for a prolonged period, during which you get attuned to that specific weapon. This is a bit of a stretch, but it's possible that this is what happened between Odin and Zantetsuken.

Basically, if Zantetsuken was something similar to an Anima weapon, then it is possible that it was completed by Odin using it to cut down countless strong foes. Likewise, if Odin used it the most he was the one who fed the blade the most of his own aether. This would mean two things: Firstly, his residual aether might still exist within the sword and be what causes the sword to manifest his visage every time it gains control of a new body. Secondly, his spirit bonding of the blade may be what caused the blade to take on the characteristics of a Primal. Odin was in a desperate situation when trying to save Urth. He fed the blade his faith, relying on it to be the strongest weapon possible (along with everyone who used it before him). It simply granted this wish.

This is all wild conjecture, but if any of it pans out it could make for some very interesting developments in the current Relic quest.