The Meaning of Nei's Death

[Dorrinal Blackmantle]

PHANTASY STAR 2 SPOILERS<p>This comes from the PS2G2 thread. Benoit's posts regarding the "meaning" and "impact" of Nei's death got me thinking about it. My initial reaction was that her death was pointless; the game could have continued whether she was dead or not.<p>Next thing I thought about was what Neifirst controlled and represented: the biomonster plague. Neifirst had to be stopped to protect humanity from the malevolent creatures. Nei did this even though she would die herself. Another sign of her willingness to die to protect others is her mastery of the techniques Sak and Nasak.<p>So the point of her death was that she would sacrifice herself to save Motavia from a biomonster plague. Much like Tiem, who sacrificed herself to stop her father Darum. That brings us to a strong theme of the first half of Phantasy Star 2: Sacrifice.<p>PHANTASY STAR GENERATION 2 SPOILERS<p>Supposedly there's a crazy round-about way of reviving Nei in the new PSG2 involving finishing the game as well as PSG1. Some have argued that this is needless fan service which cheapens the drama of Nei's death scene. But the important part of her death is the sacrifice itself. Nei is willing to die to stop evil and protect the one(s) she loves.<p>Now that I've thought about this a little more, nothing would be more appropriate than resurrection. Nei sacrifices herself to save humankind. Her name is on the weapons which protect Rolf and company when they reach the spaceship Noah as well as Orakio's descendants on the Alisa III. Rika is created 1000 years later based on Nei's DNA so that humans may adapt to the catastrophic changes in Motavia's climate. In many ways, Nei is the savior of Algo.<p>I'm sure even non-Christians like me have made the connection by now. Let's open this one up for debate! <br>

[Lord Khyron]

And according to the PS 2 retranslation by Naflign..<p>Nei couldn't be cloned because her Biomonster parts weren't cloneable.<p>Nei First specifically targetted those. <p>The monsters don't do enough damage to warrant the clone labs being unable to fix her.<p>The Clone labs can't do Biomonster parts<p>No enemies on Mota use a energy sword capable of slicing you open o.o Even up to Nei's death.<p>Nei died to save Mota. Simple

[Gipper]

The issue with the Sak/Nasak techs that you pointed out is that Amy can also use them.

[Demon Child]

Amy was also a doctor though, and doctors should do what it takes to make sure others are healthy. Since cloning is usually possible, it would be possible that doctors are taught that as a sort of last resort in order to reduce deaths and the need for the more expencive cloning process. And since doctors usually make quite a bit of money they could pay to have themselves cloned more often than most other people.

[Lord Khyron]

Doctors in the PS 2 era used healing techniques chiefly.

[Dorrinal Blackmantle]

Sorry that I forgot about Amy's Sak techniques. But that was hardly the thrust of my post, and a minor detail...

[Gipper]

While we're on the meaning of Nei's death, can we take a look at the word Nei itself? In PSII, it is said to have meant "The Human who was not a human". But in PSIII, it meant "Power". Which is it...neither, one, or both?

[ROMeo]

Heh, relating Nei to Jesus Dorrinal? :p<p>Hmm... perhaps trying the resurrection trick 3 days after she dies..... :p

[PSP]

Eh, she could be seen as a Jesus figure of sorts. She did die for the 'sins' of Motavia's people. Not an uncommon thing in works of fiction, though.<p>-Corey

[Lord Khyron]

Nei is a ancient word of power, used to make legendary weapons "Nei Weapons."<p>We have Nei weapons in PS 2 and then a new series of Nei Weapons in PS 3.<p>In actuality, Nei could have chosen to make her name mean "Human who isn't human" whereas on Palma or the Esper tradition, Nei is a word of power.<p>Two groups of people can have different connotations for words. <p>We see it all the time in our world.

[Dorrinal Blackmantle]

This was just my realization that Nei's death was not pointless and meaningless, and represents a strong theme in Phantasy Star.

[Saria]

That sounds sad, but very intelligent.<p>I hate sacrifices...

[Malakai]

I find it only appropriate that the weapons of power are named after Nei, being the weapons that enable the heroes of PSII & III to defeat the Enemy. She sacrificed all, and to my eyes one who does such is the greatest of all.

[Alis in Wonderland]

it depends on who named the weapons.<br>the nei weapons were there before Nei died. so if the espers who sealed them called them nei weapons, its probably from the 'word of power' translation (after all they're kinda powerful).<br>if Rolf named them, they might be named after Nei. or a combination of the two... a play on words?<br>but note that the Alis-sword isn't a Nei-sword. surely Rolf being a swordsman, he would love swords the most and so name his favourite sword after Nei. unless he finds Alis equally important... after all they are related, and she is Alis.<p>i agree with naflign's translation. the whole nei/neifirst bond is improbable. neifrst would have known about it. neifirst doesnt seem the sort to attack someone who she knows will annihilate herself if she kills them. neifirst wasn't suicidal. <p>the doctor in ps2 would look stupid casting nasak at his desk in front of all the customers!<p>doctor: how can i help you?<br>Rolf: well, Amy, Shir and Rudo are in a really bad way and...<br>doctor: hang on... NASAK! *dies*<br>Rolf: er... are you okay?<br>Amy: not again! drag him to the clone center!<br>*Shir helps herself to the money in the till*