Blah, just some vaguely-related-to-the-DL little project I threw together while I was procrastinating on my studies. I like Tarot cards, especially hand-drawn ones, and I was wondering what kind of cards would suit the DL. Then, I just started throwing images together in Photoshop, yay.
Major Arcana I: The Magus (AKA: The Magician)
Magus - Janus Zeal (Chrono Trigger)
My intent was to use primarily mains and main bosses, and I guess Magus counts as one of those. Really, there's no deeper meaning behind Magus being The Magician card apart from the fact that his name is Magus and he is in fact a Magic-user. The card typically depicts a mage with the four items that represents the Minor Arcana's suits (Sword, Coin, Cup, and Wand), which each represent the four elements. The Magician card represents Intelligence and Seeking Mastery over the World, so it works.
Major Arcana II: The Singer of the Verse (AKA The High Priestess)
Tear Grants (Tales of the Abyss)
Tear is the female lead of her game, and a member of the holy Order of Lorelei. One of her titles in TotA was "Singer of the Verse" which most represented her ties to the religion and her ancestor Yulia, who founded the religion. The High Priestess represents Intuition, Calmness, and Mystery.
Major Arcana III: The Oracle Queen (AKA The Empress)
Lyonesse of Leonia (Brigandine)
Yes, I managed to use a Brig main. Lyonesse was actually one of the few mains who fit the Empress card. The Empress card generally depicts a regal female figure, so Lyonesse worked well. The Empress represents a Maternal persona and Gentleness.
Major Arcana IV: The Dragon Emperor (AKA The Emperor)
Fou-Lu (Breath of Fire IV)
I guess Fou-Lu counts as both a co-main and a main boss. His title of Dragon Emperor was the first thing that popped into my mind when I thought of the Emperor card. Also, Zemeckis and Ghaleon came to mind, but I used their games later. The card generally depicts a ruler sitting on his throne. The Emperor represents a Male, Paternal attitude, Authority, and Discipline.
Major Arcana V: The Warrior of Light (Alternate: The Shining Force) (AKA The Hierophant)
Claude C. Kenni (Star Ocean: The Second Story)
Max (Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon)
Two cards this time, since I couldn't really decide which one deserved the spot more. Claude is an idealistic hero who's coming was prophesized (and immortalized by a stained glass church window, always cool). Max is a classic hero who gathered the famed Shining Force. The Hierophant card typically depicts a religious leader, but it's also the Tarot card I hate the most, so I took liberties with its meaning and took it to mean a Holy warrior, such as a Paladin or Crusader. The standard association with Light imagery caused my choices of Claude and Max. The traditional Hierophant represents Knowledge, Maturity, Moral Values, and Obedience. These aren't exactly exemplified by Claude or Max, so I'm open to suggestions here for a more traditional Hierophant.
Major Arcana VI: The Contact & The Anti-type (AKA The Lovers)
Fei Fong Wong & Elly van Houten (Xenogears)
While neither Fei nor Elly are favorite characters of mine, I do prefer their love story to a large number of love stories out there for RPG mains. Additionally, they are the only 'destined to be' couple I've ever enjoyed, so they managed to get this spot. I tried a few different designs, but the first one shown is my favorite. The Lovers card typically pictures two naked male and female figures who are being watched over by an angel (if you hate Fei/Elly that much, you can always pretend Elly is the angel and Welltall/Fei is the couple >.>) . The card represents relationships, passion, and romance.
Major Arcana VI: The Mystic Bond (AKA The Lovers, alternate)
Asellus & White Rose (SaGa Frontier)
Cause I needed a SaGa card, this picture was easy to find, and I love these two. Fun alternate to Fei and Elly.
Major Arcana VII: The Blue Rogue (AKA The Chariot)
Vyse (Skies of Arcadia)
I like Vyse, and his game revolves around transportation more than most, so he gets the Chariot card. The card typically depicts a prince or other masculine figure driving a chariot. The King of Rogues, Vyse's "chariot" would be the Airship Albatross, but it's Vyse himself who embodies the meaning of the Chariot card: Victory and Energy.
Major Arcana VIII: The Evolution Monster (AKA Strength)
Rayquaza (Pokemon)
Groudon (Pokemon)
Pikachu (Pokemon
I had no idea who to use a 'main' or 'boss' of Pokemon, so I just picked my favorite one - Rayquaza. The Strength card is generally associated with Earth, so Groudon may have been a better choice, but Rayquaza is also a serviceable choice given that the card normally depicts a wild beast (normally a Lion) being tamed, which was suited to just about any Pokemon. The Strength card typically represents, logically enough, Strength and Potency.
EDIT: Added Groudon for the Earth element relation, and Pikachu cause he's the closest thing a main I've ever seen in Pokemon.
Major Arcana VIII: The Ra-Seru (AKA Strength)
Noa & Terra (Pokemon)
I'd been wanting to use Noa and Terra for the Strength card since I started this project, but not a single picture existed to suit my purposes. So I made my own. The Strength card normally shows a woman taming a beast, so I felt Noa was perfect. It represents Strength and Potency.
Major Arcana IX: The Drifter (AKA The Hermit)
Virginia Maxwell (Wild Arms 3)
In addition to Virginia, I considered Rudy and Jet for this card. But Jet wasn't really the main and I couldn't find a picture of Rudy that really suited the Hermit. The card traditionally pictures an old man with a lamp and a staff against a barren wasteland. The Hermit represents Introspection and Isolation.
Major Arcana X: The Orbit of Algol (AKA The Wheel of Fortune)
Rika (Phantasy Star IV), Nei (Phantasy Star II), Neifirst (Phantasy Star II)
I didn't put much thought into this one, but once I hit a concept, all the pieces fell into place. The Wheel of Fortune card represents the cycle of fortune and misfortune. The card depicts the three Norns of fate, representing the Past, Present, and Future with a 6-spoked wheel. The Phantasy Star series revolves around the cycle in each game of the release and re-sealing of the dark gods, eventually culminating in the Algol star system's hidden planet revealing the sword Elsydeon to finally defeat the Profound Darkness. I used the three Numans that existed in the main series to stand in for the three Fate goddesses.
Major Arcana XI: The Blazing Sword (AKA Justice)
Eliwood, Hector, Lyndis (Fire Emblem 7: The Blazing Sword)
The FE Lords stand in for the Justice card. I was originally just going to use Lyn, but I felt the three of them worked together. There were plenty of RPG females who would have fit this card, but I got fixated on the 'sword' aspect of the card and finally went with the Lords. The card depicts a blindfolded Goddess of Justice holding a balance and a sword. It is typically as a Wind card. If you think of Hector and Eliwood as the 'balance', then I suppose Lyn is still the goddess of Justice holding a sword in this card. The card represents Justice, Logic, and Realism.
EDIT: I prefer the newer second card, which depicts Lyn in the center. I would have used this image first, but I couldn't find a high-quality version of it until now.
Major Arcana XII: The Harmonixer (AKA The Hanged Man)
Yuri Volte Hyuga (Shadow Hearts)
The Hanged Man is the angst card, and Yuri has every reason in the world to angst, but he never goes overboard with it, so he gets this card. He also has the mistletoe curse that evokes this image. I don't think I even considered anyone else for this card. The Hanged man represents Sacrifice and Letting Go.
Major Arcana XIII: The Soul Eater (AKA Death)
Tir McDohl (Suikoden)
There were plenty of characters who could have filled this slot, but I felt the bearer of the Rune of Life and Death deserves the Death card. While the Death card itself doesn't actually represent Death, its meaning of Change suits Tir as well.
Major Arcana XIV: The Esper (AKA Temperance)
Terra Branford (Final Fantasy VI)
The Temperance card implies a balance of two sides, which is perfectly represented by Terra's half-Esper nature. There was a huge number of RPG lead females who could have filled this role, but Temperance was one of the last slots I decided upon and I actually ended up running out of game series I hadn't used by this point, which is why I have two FF cards in the major arcana. The card traditionally depicts an angel pouring liquid from one cup to another. I really liked how this card turned out.
Major Arcana XV: The Wings of Valmar (AKA The Devil)
Millenia (Grandia II)
Millenia's a demon, and she suits the trickster Devil card. I actually considered quite a few main bosses and Laharl for this card before deciding I wanted to use a female character for The Devil. The card is traditionally supposed to depict the supreme dark lord torturing the lovers from the Lovers card and I may try to make a Xeno-flavored one that incorporates this idea eventually. However, Millenia's a piece of the supreme dark god of G2 and she does her fair share of torturing its main couple. The Devil card represents Materialism, Lust, and Anger. Millenia tends to relish in such qualities, so it works.
Edit: Major Arcana XV: The Whore of Babylon
Shion Uzuki (Xenosaga II)
This idea popped into my mind and nothing could stop the creation of this card. Interestingly enough, since Shion is somehow Mary Magdalene, and Mary herself was given such a title as "Whore of Babylon", I figured this titled worked perfectly for Shion.
Major Arcana XVI: The Tower of Mana (alternate: The Tower of Ar Tonelico)
Colette Brunel, Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
Aurica, Misha, Lyner (Ar Tonelico)
There are fewer RPGs that concentrate on Towers than you'd think. Symphonia was the only ranked game with a prominent tower that I could find even a half-decent picture of. I'm not really thrilled with how the image turned out. Since Zelos and Colette are both the Chosen of Mana and the card represents Betrayal and Disaster, this suits the dual Chosens. While the Tower of Ar Tonelico isn't from a ranked game, it's a much more prominent tower (being the only existing habitat in that game) which in itself turns against the people of that world, linking back to the meaning of the card.
EDIT: Major Arcana XVI: The Tower of Babel
Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV)
Finally found an RPG main which had a prominent Tower and fit the meaning of the card. Dark Knight Cecil's life is pretty representative of Disaster and Betrayal. The traditional Tower card is actually meant to represent the biblical Tower of Babel, and FF4's Tower of Bab-il is obviously based on the same location.
Major Arcana XVII: The Silver Star
Luna, the Goddess Althena (Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete)
Chosen mostly for the name relating to the name of the card, The Star, depicted with a female figure, represents Hope and Trust, most fitting for a benevolent goddess. There weren't many candidates here.
Major Arcana XVIII: The Red Moon
The Prinny Squad (Disgaea : Hour of Darkness)
Again, mostly chosen for the name. The Moon card is a dark and negative card, and Prinnies are technically demons. Yeah, just laugh and move on here. The Mood represents Doubt, Deception, Confusion, and Unrealistic Ideas.
Major Arcana XIX: The Golden Sun
Isaac (Golden Sun)
The Venus Adept works here for a Sun card. The Sun, traditionally depicted as a young blonde boy, represents Enthusiasm, Radiance, and Optimism. There's probably a ton of other RPG mains who would work here, but Isaac gets it thanks to the name.
Major Arcana XX: The Aeon
Yuna & Bahamut (Final Fantasy X)
I kneejerked Yuna due to the name. The Aeon is alternately named "Judgment", typically depicted as a scene of Judgment day/Ragnarok. I almost went with Valkyrie Profile here for that reason, but I couldn't pass up the namesake. The Aeon represents Rebirth, an Inner Calling, and of course, Judgment.
Major Arcana XXI: The Creation Goddess
Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile)
The Sinistrals (Lufia series)
The World card is for Lenneth, one of the more powerful Creation Goddesses in RPGland, and probably the most powerful of the playable ones, plotwise. The World traditionally depicts a planet bordered by a representation of the four Evangelists. Here, I've replaced those with the Sinistrals. The card represents Fulfillment, Prosperity, Wholeness.
Card 0: The Fool (alternate: The Nameless One)
Ogre Battle's Tarot
Minato Arisato & Orpheus (Persona 3)
Hero "Guv" (Dragon Quest 8)
The Fool is the unnumbered card of the Tarot, normally placed both before the Magician and after the World. The Fool stands for the stereotypical 'everyman' who must begin a journey (each step is represented by the Major Arcana) and then matures after completing the World's trials. Nearly every RPG main fits into this card, but I decided to stick to RPGs which themselves related to the Tarot: Ogre Battle and the Persona series. Since the Fool is unnumbered and always depicted as a young boy on a journey with his pet, I chose one of my favorite nameless silent mains (the Hero and Muncie from DQ8) as one of the alternates for this card.
Minor Arcana Aces
Ace of Air: Arche Klein (Tales of Symphonia)
Ace of Water: Chris Lightfellow (Suikoden III)
Ace of Fire: Elc (Arc the Lad II)
Ace of Power: Rose (Legend of Dragoon)
The aces of each suit represent a basic 'elemental' version of the suits as a whole.
Swords = Air = Reason
Cups = Water = Emotion
Wands = Fire = Creation
Pentacles = Earth = Wealth (Here, I used 'Power' instead of Earth due to lack of mains with Earth as their element)
If you didn't think I was going to use Arche in this deck, you obviously don't know me very well. I played loose and fast with these cards because they are the Minor Arcana, which if I ever decide to do a full set of Minor Arcana, I'm not gonna to spend nearly as much time on them as I did the Major Arcana or I'd never finish. Suffice to say, if the character matches the element, they can have a Minor Arcana card.
Because of all the alternate cards and the aces, I managed to get a representative from most of the series in the ranked games. Series that don't have a representative: Earthbound, Vandal Hearts, Seiken Densetsu.
Minor Arcana Kings
The Masked Bishop (King of Air/Swords): Luc (Suikoden III)
The Alkaiser (King of Fire/Wands): Red (Saga Frontier)
The White Wolf (King of Water/Cups): Vaynard (Brigandine)
The Magic Emperor (King of Power/Coins): Ghaleon (Lunar 2)
Luc is the main villain of S3, and even though I already used an S3 main, I felt he was a the best Air-aligned character for the king here. Red/Alkaiser makes a good Fire King, mostly because most of the other Fire-aligned mains I had other plans for - also, since Saga Frontier has so many mains, but only one ranked game, I figured it deserved another card. Vaynard was the only water-aligned male royal main in the entire DL I think. Since Myria was the Queen of Power, I felt Ghaleon should be the King of Power.
Minor Arcana Queens
The Abandoned Princess (Queen of Air/Swords): Nina Wyndia (Breath of Fire II)
The Queen of Algol (Queen of Fire/Wands): Alis Landale (Phantasy Star)
The Goddess of Destruction (Queen of Power/Coins): Myria (Breath of Fire)
The Ice Queen (Queen of Water/Cups): Avril Vente Fleur (Wild Arms 5)
Plenty of untapped ranked BoF games - Nina2's a female lead and Myria's a final boss 3 times over. Nina's not really wind-aligned, but she flies! Alis is one of the few female royal mains who's mostly Fire-aligned. Avril's a co-female lead? Whatever, Ice Queen's too cool not to get a card.
Minor Arcana Pages
The Shapeshifter (Page of Air/Swords): Jude Maverick (Wild Arms 4)
The Pucelle (Page of Power/Coins): Jeanne d'Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)
The Swordian (Page of Water/Cups): Rutee Katrea & Atwight (Tales of Destiny)
For the Pages, I wanted to make sure to use young main characters who weren't royalty or anything. Jude is one of the youngest wind-aligned mains out there. And Jeanne d'Arc had some of my favorite game art, and due to her age and situation really suited the Page of Power. Rutee is the lead female of her game and makes a good water-aligned page.
The Six of Fire: Lords of Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones
Ephraim, Eirika, L'Arachel, Joshua, Innes, Lyon
This was a fun card to make. Ephraim's Fire-aligned, so he's the main focus, but since there's six main royals in FE8, they share this card.
EDIT: Here's a bunch of Minor Arcana that I threw together after hours of searching for even half-decent images. I was reduced to mostly bad fanart. I apologize.
Minor Arcana:
Seven of Air - Ash Lambert (Vandal Hearts), The Seven of Swords represents Hasty Decisions and Impulsiveness
Eight of Mana - The Mana Spirits (Seiken Densetsu 3), The Eight of Coins represents Hard Work and Dedication
Four of Fire - Ness (Earthbound), The Four of Wands represents Harmony and Teamwork.
These were quick and fun to make, just thought I'd share them.
-Djinn
