Angelic Symbolism in Escaflowne

[Enrico Maxwell]

What sort of angelic symbolism do you see in Escaflowne? I don't think is accidental that they chose "angel wings" for Van and Folken.

I see Folken having a lot in common with Lucifer. He lost his arm in battle, and rather than return to his homeland maimed, he let his pride get the better of him and he turned to the enemy. Unlike Lucifer, however, Folken ultimately repented of his evil.

Van, in turn, reminds me of the archangel Michael. While he is headstrong and tends to run into battle, he always defends the weak and those he percieves to be in trouble.

Actually, the idea that Van and Folken are actually half-breeds descended from a winged race is someone reminiscent of the Nephilim as well...

Any thoughts?

[Technomancer]

I apologize for the verbosity of this reply. Please note, there are some spoliers here, though I have tried to minimize them.

I don't really see that any angelic qualities can be attributed to either Van or Folken beyond the obvious superficial resemblances. It must be remembered that the Fanel family was supposed to have been descended from the Atlanteans, a highly adavanced civilzation. The wings of the Atlanteans don't seem to be anymore than an attempt to emphasize their degree of civilization, apparent wisdom, and benevolence (less than gods, and more than men as it were). It also serves to highlight the degree to which their hubris has destroyed them (not without later parallels in the storyline, or for own modern age).

As for Van, much of his character could simply be assigned to the rashness of youth, his need to prove himself worthy of the crown, and later, his desire to avenge the burning of Fanelia. Then again, the story of the rash young hero needing to be tempered by experience is probably universal. I'm not sure how you came to your conclusions about Michael's character though. The only archangel who is involved at length in any bible story is Raphael in Tobit, and even then not much is given away as to his character.

Folken is more interesting, and I think this is where your analogy really falls apart. Falken and Dornkirk's war isn't a rebellion against heaven in any fashion, but rather, is based in ideology. Their ultimate *goals* are perhaps laudable, but the methods used to acieve this "ideal future" are reprehensible, and their system is ultimately flawed anyways. Falken only begins to realize this after Dornkirk's rather casual sacrifice of the Leopard twins. Seen in this light, their role in the story bears more resemblance to the various failed utopianist schemes to have emerged in modern times, from the Jacobins to the Khmer Rouge.

The only part of the series that I can see being stretched to cover an explicity Christian viewpoint is Dornkirk's "wish field", which could be taken as a statement on the nature of original sin (though I doubt this was the author's intention).

[Stephen]

I did not read most these posts after I saw, spoilers below...what we have Spoiler tags here for...is so people can get the general idea of what you are saying without having things spoiled...please use the tags. Thank you