- "Johann... I won't ever... let go of you. Now... come to me."
- —To Johann while he is in Yūji.
Pheles (フィレス Firesu) is a Crimson Lord who fell in love with a human named Johann and, with his help, created the powerful Treasure Tool Reiji Maigo in order to stay with him forever. Her true name is "Colorful Wave" (彩飄 Saihyō) and with "Eternal Lover" Johann, they are referred to as "Engaged Link" (約束の二人 Yakusoku no Futari (Engējirinku), lit., "The Promised Pair").
Appearance[]
Noizi Itō's depiction of Pheles in the Light Novels
Pheles appears to be a young woman who is in her twenties. She is fairly tall, with a light complexion and blue-green eyes. People at the festival and Johann have said that she is very beautiful.
Pheles has long neon green hair which extends as far as her knees and has it unbraided. It is very straight, except for some of the fringes of her hair, which sweep up on opposite directions on each side of her face near her ears, with others hanging loose. The rest hang loosely on the middle, down to her nose.
Her outfit consists of a tight-fitting suit consisting of a dark brown upper garment which exposes much of her collarbone, a pair of tight trousers and a garment similar to a bolero with black shoulder pads. Her garments appear to be made from leather-like material. The shoulder pads resemble the head of a lizard or bird, and are frilly at the bottom. They expand and open at the mouth when Pheles sucks up wind with them. Much of her outfit is wrapped with lengths of light brown-colored cloth, especially in the waist area, and the same goes for the arm region and leg region. An extra length of the cloth dangles from her elbow down to her knees. She also wears a dark brown scarf around her neck, under a collar formed by the light brown cloth, as well as a pair of dark-brown, open-finger gloves. She wears dark brown boots, also made from a leather-like material, that blend in with her trousers and almost come up to her knees.
Personality[]
Pheles is very much in love with Johann, and will do anything to get him back. She states that she wants to give Johann whatever he wants. Most of Pheles' caring is mainly directed at Johann, but she has shown kindness towards others, helping a child win in a game at the Seishū Festival.
Wilhelmina describes Pheles as "whimsical, self-indulgent, and only caring to live for the moment because of her great strength" before she met Johann. Tiamat describes her as 'obsessive' towards him.
Background[]
Pheles and Johann kissing
Pheles was once a trickster who toyed with the life of a mad alchemist named Georgius, who is bent on creating an Unrestricted Spell which would grant him eternal life. She saves Johann, who was just a baby, from Georgius, his father, after he had tried to sacrifice him. She raises, takes care of, and eventually falls in love with Johann. When Johann was just a child, they flew to a green field with a castle and a lake nearby. Johann passed out near the lake. Pheles then let Johann go flying with her where ever he wanted, but they never returned to the field. At the end of a festival they had attended, Johann was sad. Pheles had told him that she will give him whatever he wanted, where he states that he wants her and to be with her forever. They kiss and float upwards. He says he wants to play a trick on time. They then created the most precious treasure in Guze, a Treasure Tool that can grant eternity to the Mystes bearing it: the Reiji Maigo.
Due to the Reiji Maigo, she doesn't need to consume other humans' Power of Existence. She can get enough to survive from Johann without him being in danger of disappearing. She had also made a pact with him to not consume humans. Pheles had once stated that she had been to many festivals with Johann.
Pheles putting Johann into the Reiji Maigo
When Wilhelmina was about to be defeated by the Crimson Lord Sabrac, Pheles and Johann had saved her. They then travelled together for several years, continually being attacked by Sabrac. Wilhelmina would distract him, while Pheles blowed him away. When Johann was about to create a new Unrestricted Spell to counter Sabrac, Sabrac attacked them while Wilhelmina was away. Bal Masque's assassin severely wounded Johann, so Pheles sealed her lover into the Reiji Maigo. She was unaware that Sabrac had also placed the Silver into it simultaneously. The Reiji Maigo was then lost, so now she searches for him everywhere with a Power of Unrestraint "Kaze no Tenrin", a guiding beacon that becomes a duplicate of her when the target is found.
Plot[]
Omens of a Storm Arc[]
In a grassy plain, the wind blows as Pheles calls out to Johann.[1]
"Colorful Wave" Arc[]
On the stage during the Seishū Festival's best costume ceremony, Toshiko Kuroda accidentally touches hands with Yūji. This activates an Unrestricted Spell, summoning a giant twister. Pheles appears inside the twister, floating above Yūji.[2]
Pheles touching Yūji
Pheles lowers herself to the ground and walks up to Yūji, calling him Johann. She touches Yūji's face, telling Johann that she will free him. Yūji gets scared and screams, activating his silver Fūzetsu. Pheles reaches out to Yūji with an Unrestricted Spell that will draw Johann out, but is stopped by Shana. She uses her shoulder-pads to suck up the winds of the twister and uses the winds to teleport in front of Shana, punching her. When Shana can't feel Pheles' presence, Alastor says it is her Unrestricted Spell, Inverna. Pheles appears and punches Shana again, sending her flying into a building. She is able to dodge Shana's flames. Pheles punches again, but Shana is able to dodge and slash some of her hair off with the Nietono no Shana because Pheles is starting to slow down. When a crazed Margery attacks Yūji with her flames, Pheles protects him, telling her not to interfere. Shana attacks Pheles with her flames. As she blocks the flames, Shana hits her in the head with her sword, knocking her out. Wilhelmina then ties her up with her ribbons. When she wakes up, Wilhelmina tends to her. Pheles reveals that Johann is inside the Reiji Maigo, informing the group of their defeat at the hands of Sabrac. Wilhelmina tells Pheles of The Silver, pleading to her to not go after Yūji and to Shana to spare Pheles. Pheles later tells Margery that the Reiji Maigo is now strange, saying it shouldn't be able to produce silver flames and that this might be because of what Sabrac inserted into it. She watches the end of the festival with Wilhelmina, and says something to herself.[3]
Pheles impaled
On the roof of Misaki Municipal High School, the group plans to give some of Yūji's Power of Existence to Pheles so that they can gather information from her. They make Pheles promise not to harm Yūji. She then sees Kazumi, and asks why an ordinary human is with them. Later, she is sleeping on Wilhelmina's lap as she, Margery, and Yūji wait for Shana at Keisaku's house. After Shana and Kazumi arrive, Pheles notices Kazumi again, then walks gingerly over to Yūji, who is in Margery's Unrestricted Spells. She is threatened by Shana to not touch Yūji's insides. As she enters the spells, she collapses into Yūji's arms and hugs him. Pheles touches his face, calling out to Johann again, but after regaining Power of Existence, she shoves Yūji to the floor. Shana raises her sword at her, but Pheles points out that she didn't touch Yūji's insides. Margery says she saw a spell insignia in the Reiji Maigo, changing the Kaikin that she placed inside it. When Kazumi defends Yūji, she asks Pheles to go with her to the second day of the Seishū Festival, as a woman who seeks the one she loves. The next day, Pheles goes to the festival with Kazumi and Shana. She reveals that she had gone to many festivals with Johann. In the building, Pheles helps a child win some toys in a game. When the festival was reaching its end, Pheles remembers one she went to with Johann and starts crying. On the roof, she thanks Wilhelmina, Margery for what they did the previous day and Shana and Kazumi for giving her time. She smiles, saying it's time for the 'real' Pheles to meet Johann, revealing that she had been using Kaze no Tenrin. She explodes, also trapping Yūji in a ball of wind. Pheles then arrives in a twister, saying she has taken advantage of the current situation with the group. She reaches out to Yūji, but is impaled by The Silver's arm.[4]
Pheles seeing Johann
Pheles asks Yūji what he is, as The Silver drains her power. As the arm retracts, Wilhelmina pulls her away with her ribbons. Pheles screams in agony, calling for Johann. She loses consciousness. Wilhelmina carries her away when they are attacked by Fecor's Magnesia. As Hecate arrives, she blasts Yūji with her Aster, turning him into Johann. He floats down towards Pheles, and they embrace. The pair float upwards inside a twister, arguing over who missed the other more, as they leave the Fūzetsu. They kiss, as Johann starts giving Pheles his Power of Existence. After a bright light, Johann falls, turning back into Yūji. Pheles then appears in front of Kazumi. She gives her Giralda, a cross-shaped Treasure Tool, saying she is a human that can use it. She reveals that the person who uses it will disappear, saying that no one will get hurt if Kazumi disappears. Pheles explains the purpose of the tool, to summon her, and that Kazumi should use it when Yūji is in danger. Later while with the group, she says she was happy to reach Johann. She says she won't again, because Johann told her not to. She leaves, saying she must do something, and not letting Wilhelmina come because she feels she doesn't have the right to have the Flame Haze with her.[5][6]
Battle of Seireiden Arc[]
Pheles is in a room, looking up at a swirling ball-like Unrestricted Spell, as she feels the Cradle Quake, a cataclysm caused by the awakening of the Snake of the Festival's true body.[7]
Final Battle of Misaki City Arc[]
Pheles looking at the ball
Pheles looks up at the ball, now composing of multiple smaller balls, with yellow Unrestricted Spells inside. The ball explodes into a yellow ball, which Pheles draws into her hand. A round tray drops to the ground. She says she made it in time, before collapsing to her knees. She reveals she is doing what Johann asked her to do, though reluctantly. She goes on to talk about an 'impossible miracle' happening. Later, a mailman approaches the house of the Hyakki Yakō. As he was about to give some mail to Para, he stops. Pheles' voice then says she found them, while a twister forms.[8]
Pheles reuniting with Johann
A wind blows around the tower-like Seireiden as Kazumi activates the Giralda. Pheles appears before the floating Kazumi in the twister that was formed. She explains that Giralda is specifically designed for human use, and that humans can only use Treasure Tools when they are sacrificing themselves, revealing that Kazumi won't die. She says it's a miracle that Kazumi had summoned her. Pheles uses her shoulder pads to suck up the wind. As Kazumi loses consciousness, Pheles informs Yūji, Shana, Wilhelmina, and Sydonay that she will change the current situation, before spewing wind everywhere, forming a new twister. She says sorry to Wilhelmina before going to Yūji. She distracts him with Kazumi's body, grasping his hand. She twists it around his back and tells Johann to wake up. The next moment, Johann is behind Yūji. When Johann is about to take back the Reiji Maigo, Pheles blocks Shana from interfering with her wind. When Johann calls out to her, Pheles rushes over to him, leaving Kazumi with Shana. They embrace, as Pheles tells Johann how hard she has worked. They activate an Unrestricted Spell that smashes into the river, allowing the Hyakki Yakō's van to drive up it. When it enters the twister, Pheles, as well as Johann and an unconscious Kazumi, enter. The van leaves on the spell, disappearing.[9]
The van, with Khamsin as a bodyguard, drives along the road, attacked by countless Crimson Denizens. Pheles and Johann however, are not in the van, in their place is a bulb-like blue-green container.[10]
Pheles and Johann in front of Kazumi
In Kazumi's dream, Pheles is sleeping in Johann's arms while he talks with Kazumi. He reveals that Pheles felt bad for not letting Wilhelmina come with her. Because Johann doesn't have the Reiji Maigo anymore, he is just a Torch, and wants to pass on his hope, hinting that this was his plan. Pheles wakes up. They approach Kazumi, but disappear as Kazumi wakes up from the dream.[11]
Later, it is revealed that she and Johann used their Power of Existence to bore Justus, the Heir to Both Worlds. It is approved by Shaher, the God of Guidance because of the overflowing power when the Crimson Denizen left the Human World for Xanadu.[12][13]
Relationships[]
Johann[]
Pheles and Johann are lovers. Pheles wishes to give Johann whatever he wants.
Kazumi Yoshida[]
Pheles first questions why a human like Kazumi is with the Flame Haze. She gives Kazumi the Treasure Tool, Giralda, because she believes no one will be hurt if Kazumi disappears.[6] Kazumi believes that Pheles gave her the Giralda to see if her unrequited love for Yūji can create a miracle. Pheles states she gave it to her because she didn't think she would use it. Kazumi is not as important to Pheles as Johann is, seeing how Pheles threw Kazumi away when Johann called out to her.[9]
Wilhelmina Carmel[]
Pheles and Wilhelmina had travelled together for many years, and were very good friends. When Pheles didn't let Wilhelmina go with her, she felt bad. Wilhelmina felt hurt, but was able to feel better after Kazumi gave her Pheles and Johann's message; to take care of Justus.[13]
Powers and Abilities[]
Unrestricted Spells[]
Pheles using Inverna
Inverna (インベルナ Inberuna): Pheles absorbs the wind around her with her face-like shoulder-pads and is able to blow them around; the wind previously absorbed by Pheles is now blended with Pheles' existence. Inverna surrounds Pheles' targets, who can't sense her actual presence due to the storm, allowing her to strike them with hand-to-hand combat skills.
This Unrestricted Spell seems to require a lot of energy, as the "false" Pheles gets noticeably slower and weaker as her battle against Shana goes on.[3]
Kaze no Tenrin (風の転輪, Revolving Wheel of the Wind): Kaze no Tenrin is used for searching and surveillance, seeking a particular person or thing. It is unique as the spell itself transfers from person to person via touching. It revolves around the world until it meets its target, as the name suggests. This spell takes a small amount of Power of Existence collected from Torches hosting it; as the spell transfers, it collects more Power to be spent when it reaches the target.
Kaze no Tenrin contains the unnamed Power of Unrestraint which "duplicates" Pheles' consciousness and her body to manifest at the target's location, making people misunderstand that she has arrived there. The false Pheles or the puppet will inform the real Pheles and act as a beacon for her to come. However, the puppet contains very small Power of Existence (collected from the Torches during its travel) compared to the real Pheles. [4]
Mistral (ミストラル Misutoraru): Pheles releases all of the absorbed wind at once from her face-like shoulder-pads; it creates a very tall tornado which seizes and takes her targets into the sky with her in the process. This spell was used when she, Johann and Wilhelmina were ambushed by Sabrac. She snatched Sabrac's "body", which is actually his consciousness, with her away from the area. The incident struck fear into the assassin when he lost his connection with his real body, which happens again during his fight at Misaki City.
Karaburan (カラブラン Karaburan): Pheles creates a furious sandstorm around her which can suck her targets into it, taking them to her while she resides at the epicenter of the spell. The sandstorm is about 300 meters in radius.
Kaikin (戒禁, Forbidding Commandment): A spell used to protect Treasure Tools from someone other than the user.
Fūzetsu (封絶, Seal, lit. "Seal of Suppression"): As Pheles arrives at the Seishū Festival after using Kaze no Tenrin, she activates her amber Fūzetsu.[4]
Hishō (飛翔, Flight): Pheles is capable of flight, which she demonstrates during her fight with Shana.[3] This requires Power of Existence.[14]
Quotes[]
- (To Johann while he is in Yūji): "I'll set you free from there. I'll let you out now."[3]
- (To Johann while he is in Yūji): "Johann... I won't ever... let go of you. Now... come to me."[3]
- (To Margery after she attacked Yūji): "Stay out of this."[3]
- (To Kazumi): "Who are you? Why are you here? An ordinary human shouldn't be here."[4]
- (To Johann while he is in Yūji): "Johann... You're so close to me, yet... You're right here, yet..."[4]
- (To Johann while at the end of a festival): "Human pleasure always comes with an end. Don't be so disappointed. I'll give you anything you want."[4]
- (To Shana and Kazumi): "You two gave me time. The time you treasure was a time necessary for me, too. Thank you. Thanks to you... the real me is now ready to meet Johann."[4]
- (To Yūji after she gets impaled by The Silver): "Who... Who are you!?"[5]
- (To Kazumi about Giralda): "When a crisis befalls that Mystes, call me. For my sake... for Johann's sake... use that Treasure Tool."[6]
- (After finding Nomenclata): "I made it in time. I actually made it in time. Now there's only one thing left to do. Johann... I'm doing as you wished. No matter... No matter how reluctantly. But I will not move. Not until the impossible miracle happens. That's the smallest act I will take against my love for you."[8]
- (To Para after finding the Hyakki Yakō): "Found you... I actually found you..."[8]
- (To Kazumi on why she gave her the Giralda): "I gave it to you because I thought you'd never be able to summon me. Yet you brought about this miracle and summoned me. You called me, who can make a mess of everything, to this place, where the future is being decided. Kazumi Yoshida. Out of respect for that miracle, I will grant your wish."[9]
- (To Yūji, Shana, Wilhelmina, and Sydonay): "I will change the current situation... and I will also keep the promise I unwillingly made with Johann."[9]
- (To Johann): "Johann! I did everything, you know? I didn't want to, but I did my best. I worked so, so hard."[9]
Trivia[]
- The names of Pheles and Johann may be references to the Faust legend. Pheles could be derived from the demon Mephistopheles.
- Pheles' motif is a wind that throws everything into confusion.[15] Also, all of her Power of Unrestraint's names are wind-themed.
- Excluding the Kaze no Tenrin, Pheles' other spells are named after winds local to specific regions: Inverna, the southeast wind of Lake Maggiore, Italy; Mistral, the northwestern wind that blows from southern France into the Mediterranean; Karaburan, the northeast wind of Central Asia that carries clouds of dust that darken the sky.
Gallery[]
 Pheles appearing above Yūji  Pheles in front of Yūji  Pheles about to take Johann out of the Reiji Maigo  Pheles about to punch Shana  Pheles protecting Yūji from Margery  Pheles after being restrained by Wilhelmina  Pheles sleeping  Pheles looking at Kazumi  Shana pointing her sword at Pheles  Pheles at the Seishū Festival with Kazumi and Shana  Pheles at the festival  Pheles watching a child at the festival  Pheles smiling  The real Pheles appearing  Pheles screaming  Pheles seeing Johann  Pheles talking to Kazumi  Pheles feeling the Cradle Quake  Pheles looking at the yellow ball  Pheles after being summoned by Kazumi  Pheles grasping Yūji's hand  Pheles sleeping on Johann's shoulder in Kazumi's dream  Pheles sleeping in Kazumi's dream  Pheles deciding with Johann to bear Justus  Pheles |
Notes[]
- ↑ RGB code sourced from 琥珀色 on colordic
References[]
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 11
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 13
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 14
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 15
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Shakugan no Shana Second Episode 16
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 13
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 16
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 19
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 20
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 21
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 23
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Shakugan no Shana Final Episode 24
- ↑ http://www1.atwiki.jp/sslibrary/pages/220.html
- ↑ Shakugan no Shana no Subete Kan, pg. 121
[]
| Unaffiliated Crimson Realm Characters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Crimson Denizen | Annaberg • Kasha • Nitika • Sorath • Tiriel • Ukobach | |
| Crimson Lord | Pheles • Gavida • Ōnamuchi | |
| Crimson God | Shaher | |
| Torch and Mystes | Johann • Tenmoku Ikko • Grotesque Chakrams User | |
| "Heir to Both Worlds" | Justus | |
|
This is the 12th Featured Article.
Pheles has been featured, meaning it was chosen as an article of interest.
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