Nei (Phantasy Star)
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| Nei | |
|---|---|
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| Game series | Phantasy Star series |
| First game | Phantasy Star II |
| In-Universe Information | |
| Race | Numan |
| Job | N/A |
| Date of birth | August 30th, AW 1283 |
| Birthplace | Biosystems Lab, Motavia |
| Date of death | AW 1284 |
| Place of death | Climatrol, Motavia |
Nei (ネイ Nei?) is a fictional character in Sega's popular role-playing game Phantasy Star II and its subsequent remake Phantasy Star Generation 2.
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[edit] Overview
She is a clone of another character, Neifirst. She is recognizable for her brilliant purple hair, with matching vest and boots, deep red eyes and pointed ears, and is notable as a game character for being one of the first characters in a major role-playing-game whose permanent death was intended as a critical part of the storyline.
[edit] Early life
Both Nei and Nei First are the results of genetic research using the cells of the human-like race seen in the games, the Palmans, and those of Biomonsters. Combined together, these new organisms came to be known as Numans and were considered outcasts of society. At first, only Nei First existed; Nei existed merely as a facet of Nei First's psyche, terrorized by Nei First's thirst for blood of the people who despised her existence. Miraculously, seven months before the start of the game, this part of Nei First's mind was able to separate and manifest as an entirely new living entity. Early on after this separation, Rolf Landale came upon this new being, who called herself Nei, and took her in to act as sort of a surrogate father for her, protecting her from the greater Motavian society who saw Nei as a freak of nature. However, when Rolf receives his assignment from his leading commander to investigate the recent outbreak of Biomonsters from the Biosystems Labs, Nei begs to accompany him, despite his initial protests. Reluctantly, he permits her to come along, to the very end.
[edit] Phantasy Star II
Nei travels with Rolf everywhere that he goes, fighting with him and unwilling to leave the party at any cost. As such, she is there to witness the death of Tiem at her father's hands, the discovery as to why the Biosystems Labs created so many Biomonsters, and the acquisition of the Jet Scooter from the garbage dump at Roron, among the rest of Rolf's adventures through Motavia. Her tale comes to a head, however, when Rolf and company must travel to Climatrol, a weather-control station which has been siphoning energy from Mother Brain's network that was to be used throughout the rest of the planet, including the Biosystems Labs. Deep within Climatrol, the party discovers that Neifirst is behind these happenings, and must be stopped.
At first, Nei attempts to defeat Neifirst on her own, but more than likely (this is dependent on how prepared the player is) she is struck down, prompting Rolf and the party to continue the attack. With Neifirst dead and no one controlling the Climatrol a surge of outpouring energy causes it to explode, Rolf and the party evacuate to safety, with Nei's body. Returning to the clone labs they discover that Nei is unable to be revived; without her parent host, although Neifirst was entirely capable of surviving without Nei. The Clone Grandma suggests the party bury Nei at the plateau above Paseo. (Interestingly, Nei can be revived easily before Neifirst is killed - it is only afterwards that the Clone Grandma notes that Numans can't be cloned.)
If the player is somehow able to defeat Neifirst with Nei alone (it is possible if her levels are high enough), Nei will still die when her "sister" does, for reasons stated above; Nei can only exist so long as Neifirst does. This does however alter Nei's final piece of dialogue.
If Nei succeeds in defeating Nei First, the player will receive the following dialogue:-
"Rolf, there's no hope for me. If Neifirst is dead, I must die, too." And in so saying, Nei silently closed her eyes. Rolf calls Nei's name once again. But his plaintive cry merely echoes and re-echoes.
If however Nei is unable to defeat Nei First, the player will receive the following dialogue:-
"Nei, hold on!" "There's no hope left for me. Please Rolf don't let them ever repeat the mistake they made when they made me. I hope everyone on Algo can find happiness in their new life." After saying this, Nei died. Rolf laid Nei's lifeless body gently on the ground. "Nei! We will avenge you!"
[edit] Abilities
Nei's primary role in the party is that of a fighter, able to double-wield weapons known as "bars" (although they more closely resemble claws, which is how later Phantasy Stars name them) with great expertise. Although Nei hits for less than fellow fighter characters Rolf and Rudo she benefits from being both ambidextrous; gaining two claw attacks per turn and she also has increased speed, helping her to get the first attack in battle and sometimes a second attack all together. Furthermore, she knows a few minor healing techniques, two of which sacrifice her own life to restore the health of the party, although she can subsequently be resuscitated at the Clone Labs. If the player wishes, she can also be taught the Musik technique, although the game's structure ensures that she will never have the opportunity to use it.
In the remake however, Nei gains support techniques similar to the abilities that Rika used in Phantasy Star IV. Her unique character skill "Last Force" allows her to completely refill any party member's technique points, it can be used after defending for four rounds.
Finally, perhaps due to her half Bio-monster DNA, Nei gains levels the quickest out of any party member, although her status increases for those levels tends to be lower than anyone else's.
[edit] Resurrection?
Nei's death in the middle of the game came at a time when very few player-character deaths occurred in RPGs; Final Fantasy VII and its famous slaying -- that of Aerith Gainsborough -- would not come out for another nine years. Because of this, many fans believe that it might be possible to somehow bring Nei back into the game. However, the closest one can come, is to bring an item known as Moon Dew with them to Climatrol. With the Moon Dew, after Neifirst has killed Nei, Nei can be briefly brought back when Rolf and company resume the fight with Neifirst; however, once Neifirst is dead, Nei will again perish, never to be resurrected again.
However, in Phantasy Star Generation: 2, Sega finally granted this wish to players. Assuming the player has a clear-game save file from Phantasy Star Generation: 1 on their memory card, and completes a very specific sequence of events, Nei can be returned to the player roster later in the game, an event which even alters the ending of the game.
[edit] Phantasy Star II Text Adventure
A series of text based games released via Sega's tele-modem service for the Mega Cd System, on the 18th of March 1994. Each story featured one of the eight protagonists of Phantasy Star II.
Nei's Adventure was included in volume 2. The story covers the six months before Nei was taken in by Rolf Landale. Nei due to Numan Dna is only a few months old but has the appearance of a 6 year old child dressed in ragged clothes. She wanders alone until she is taken in by a kind middle-aged couple. However because of her outward appearance, is shunned by society and her foster family is torn apart by a hateful mob. She also crosses paths with another of Phantasy Star II's heroes, Rudo Steiner.
[edit] Phantasy Star IV
Inside the Bio Plant, the party discovers Rika, a Numan living with the head computer Seed, he states that she is the work of over a thousand years research over a failed prototype.
Near the end of the game, Chaz Ashley the main protagonist questions his resolve to continue the battle against the evils of Algo. Another party member; Rune Walsh sends him upon a quest beneath Esper Mansion in Dezolis to find the legendary sword the Elysdeon. Upon acquiring the sword he is witness' visions of the former heroes of Phantasy Star, including Nei's death. The spirit of Alis Landale enlightens Chaz that within the sword lies the spirits of all the heroes who have previously stood against the darkness that threatened the Algo star system; including the spirit of Nei 2nd whom is seen praying. This legacy gives Chaz the strength to continue his journey against the Profound Darkness and free the Algo Star System once and for all.
[edit] The Nei Claw
The Nei Claw appears in Phantasy Star 3 Generations of Doom. It is the most powerful weapon for the female combat android Mieu.
In Phantasy Star Online there are 2 variations of Nei's claw:-
Firstly a fake standard claw type weapon with a red photon blade. The weapon can be acquired by trading 16 Photon drops at Gallon's Shop. This claw can be used by any hunter class character and has the health draining Gush ability. The item description reads; "A replica of a claw of a legendary Newman." The NPC Numan hunter Sue assists you in battle equipped with this weapon.
Secondly the genuine article can be found as a rare drop online in the Control Tower; a possible reference to her death in the Climatrol Centre. The genuine claw is dropped by a monster called "Ill Gill" when defeated by a party with a Viridia section Id member, however there is only a 1 / 28,807 chance of this happening. It can only be used by HUnewearl characters, female hunter Numans respectively. This rare item unlike its predecessor has a unique white and silver design with pink photon blades and etchings. The items description reads; "Claw used by a legendary Newman. Its aura boosts the power of low level attack techniques."
It is worth noting that originally in the Dreamcast release only the fake standard type existed. However--possibly due to the infamous duping and hacking Phantasy Star Online suffered--by episode 2's release it was made a fake and the second genuine claw created.
[edit] The Phantasy Star Compendium
The compendium data book commemorates the series and includes production notes and comments from the developers of the series, including Tohoru Yoshida Nei's creator. Although never released outside of Japan, it reveals some interesting insights, including;
Fellow party member Kain had a crush on Nei and took her death particularly hard, having only just joined the group before her tragic death.
Nei initially had far more feline features, linking her DNA to that of the Musk Cats, these were later refined. The design even included a tail on the map sprite which swayed when walking! It was however not included in her battle sprite and later dropped. Phantasy Star IV's Rika doesn't have a tail either but has darkened tips on her ears very similar to the ears of musk cat Myau of Phantasy Star I. One of the musk cats in Myau's hidden cave also comments that there is something "familiar" about Rika.
When the designer looked back upon his design he commented; "Even now, I don't understand why I drew Nei the way I did, why I gave her those ears or that leotard, much less why I used so much purple."
The developers feared that players would believe their cartridge faulty due to Nei's frequent leveling speed in comparison to the other characters. Nei levels faster due to her heightened aging, having grown into a young woman in little over 7 months.
The Numan heroine Rika in Phantasy Star IV was also intended to bear the moniker "Nei" but due to objection this was later changed. Rika sports a vastly different outlook on her own genetic heritage, sporting a more upbeat personality then Nei 2nd whom feared her bio monster DNA due to the cruelty she experienced in her short life. Even though Rika is considered a 1000 years improvement over the "Nei" template she still suffered with an increased aging process. Although set in separate universe's, Numan aging is also mentioned by Sue in Phantasy Star Online episode 1 whom fears that she could stop at any moment. It remains to be seen if this concept will make its way into Phantasy Star Universe.
[edit] Merchandise
Nei was made part of the Yujin gashapon toy "Sega Gals" collection, with her own figure; appropriately named Nei 2nd.
