Six Degrees Across: Ishtar- Trading Card Games and Summons

Six Degrees Across: Ishtar- Trading Card Games and Summons 

Because i didn't say this in the last one,  I want to make sure I say it in this one. For the
first handful of the "Six Degrees Across" posts I will be using characters that have a real
world reference and so will be able to start the posts with an "A" spot. After I exhaust
those options (there are quite a few so it will be a while), I will start these posts with the
number A being the Fire Emblem spot. Well, without further ado- here's today's post on Ishtar.

A. Ishtar

I am writing about Ishtar because it’ll be Easter soon. Ishtar was Assyro-Babylonian
goddess of love and war and sex and somehow in modern times many associate her
early celebrations with Easter. I’m not really sure how Ishtar got connected to a celebration
of rebirth and regeneration - maybe the celebrations were around the same time.

https://mythology.wikia.org/wiki/Ishtar

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/

1. Yugioh: Chaos Goddess

The Chaos Goddess was a level 8, synchro monster card with the attribute of light. It was the first
synchro card that stated which type of tuner monster was used for summoning. For more info visit
the website : https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos_Goddess.  Chaos Goddess isn't called
Ishtar but I think it has the best physical resemblance to Ishtar.

2.  Final Fantasy: Lilith
While there were a couple of card games in the Final Fantasy series, I decided that I would
use summons. The Eidolon or summons were equipped by objects called signets (or materia),
which are stones or crystals containing the spirit. Lilith was a non-elemental summon found in
Final Fantasy Dimensions II and while not Ishtar does have the best physical
resemblance.

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Dimensions_II
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Eidolon_(Dimensions_II)/Free-to-play/Dark-elemental_summons

3. Cardfight Vanguard: Ishtar
Cardfight Vanguard was a card game and in the anime the cards represented aliens from another
world or dimension. From this series, the card I chose to represent Ishtar was Ishtar. The
important facts about Ishtar are that she was from the Genesis clan and the Noble race and
apparently she was not the Ishtar of the present but of the future.
https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Goddess_of_Investigation,_Ishtar
https://cardfight.fandom.com/wiki/Card_Lores:Goddess_of_Investigation,_Ishtar

4. Persona: Leanan Sidhe
In Psychology, a persona was an aspect of a persons personality and can take many forms.
Personas found in the Persona series are closer to the Jungian shadow which was the part of
a persons identity that they keep hidden or may not recognize. These shadows can also
grow in power because the shadow was also a source of our creative energy. It could also
be a movement of the person identity to a more complete version "the Self." After all that, the
persona I chose was Leanan Sidhe and she was part of the Lover's Arcana. There was an Ishtar
persona, but I didn't think it matched the Fire Emblem Ishtar.
https://www.thesap.org.uk/resources/articles-on-jungian-psychology-2/about-analysis-and-therapy/the-shadow/
https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Leanan_Sidhe
McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 21). Carl jung. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/carl-jung.html

5. Battle Spirits Heroes:the ReversePriestess Rinne
Battle Spirits Heroes was anime based on a card game and followed the same formula as most
shows. As far as I know, the cards are just cards. But I could be wrong as the wiki does
suggest that the battle spirit system was designed so that the protagonist could see the
spirits. The card that I chose to represent Ishtar was called the ReversePriestess Rinne .
https://battle-spirits.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_Spirits_Heroes
https://battle-spirits.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_Spirits_Wiki
https://battle-spirits.fandom.com/wiki/The_ReversePriestess_Rinne

6. Future Card Buddyfight: Great Warlock’s Disciple Zessica
Future Card Buddyfight was another anime about a card game. The story was about
humans and monsters in another world and how they communicated with each other
through the card game. The monster card that I chose to represent Ishtar was the Great
Warlock's Disciple Zessica.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Future_Card_Buddyfight_episodes
https://buddyfight.fandom.com/wiki/Great_Warlock%27s_Disciple,_Zessica

B. Fire Emblem: Ishtar
Ishtar was a character in Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War. She was known
for her thunder powers and even called a "goddess of lightening".
https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Ishtar

Well, that was it for this go around. If you have any better suggestions, let me know- I will look
into it and make that change. Thanks.

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Six Degrees Across: Arthur - Trading Card Games and Summons

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First, I tend to like Trading Card Game anime. I was watching YuGiOh from the beginning. I've also noticed that many of the cards were similar, probably because the creators were drawing from the same pool of ideas. Second, while watching Yu-Gi-Oh Gx I noticed that at least one of the monsters resembled a summons from Final Fantasy. This summons was Ruby/Carbuncle. Speaking of summons, years later, Persona released a game that used spirits resembling Fire Emblem characters. It was these two ideas that gave me the idea, possibly, in the multiverse of fiction, that all the trading card monsters live in the same world of summons and that world may belong to the Fire Emblem universe. As a way to demonstrate this, I went through the cards and summons and found their doppelgangers.

A.  King Arthur

This was a legendary king that may or may not have existed in the 5th or 6th century AD. King Arthur Pendragon was to have united his people in response to invaders from the Saxons who were attempting to invade England. In his defense of England, he was joined by the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin the Magician. Some of his enemies included Morgan Le Fay and her Mordred. But who was King Arthur? No one really knows, but there were some theories. In the historical documents there a Riothamus was mentioned. Riothamus, I believe, just means Great King, so it could really refer to anyone.

Another person that had been suggested for the historical King Arthur was Artur mac Aedain. He was a Dal Riata prince who fought the Picts during the 6th century. The biggest evidence in his favor was his name.

The last two contenders for the title of King Arthur were Roman military commanders. The first was Ambrosius Aurelianus (in others he was the father or grandfather) who led the resistance against the Saxons. And the second was Lucius Arthorius Castus who was the commander of the Sarmatian calvary and lived during the 2nd century.

For this post, I am going to go over either the King Arthur card or his summons which showed that King Arthur exists across six dimensions.

1. Yugioh
There is, at least, two versions of King Arthur in Yugioh. In Zexal, there were the Comics Hero archetype and these resemble the Noble Knight archetype, which were associated with 5d's.

 

2. Final Fantasy
This series had summons, which I originally planned to use for this comparison- but Final Fantasy  also had a trading card game. Because of this, I may also pull information from the cards. For King Arthur, my first thought, was Final Fantasy VII's  Knights of the Round - a summon that included 12 knights and King Arthur. Look at the picture below for King Arthur's individual model.

3. Cardfight Vanguard
I don't know much about this card, but what I do know about these characters was that they exist on another planet and they reach out to people on Earth for help- or so the story goes. The card I was looking at was White Dragon Knight Pendragon. It connected with the Arthurian mythology because Arthur's last name was Pendragon, as noted above.

4. Persona
In the Persona series, Arthur was a regular occurring demon. He first appeared in the game Persona 2 Innocent Sin.

5. Battle Spirits Heroes
 Battle Spirits centered around a young boy who wanted to see the spirits alive. His parents built a system that allowed him to see the spirits which could indicate that the spirits were alive, but I haven't seen this show yet- so I may update this section later. Anyways, Arthur was one of these cards and so, without further ado- The Knight Hero Swordius- Arthur.

6. Future Card Buddyfight
This anime took place in 2030 ad. The card game, Buddyfight, allowed the players to interact with residents of other dimensions or other worlds or both. (I've only seen the first episode.) Anyways, Arthur was one of the residents of another place.

B. Fire Emblem Fates
Arthur, in this game, was a character who thought of himself as the Hero of Justice- which was why he fit with the Arthurian legend as the original Arthur was all about justice. Unfortunately, this Arthur had a serious amount of bad luck- probably from trying too hard to correct injustice.

Six Degrees Below Hanzo Hattori

A. In this Six Degrees Below post, I'm looking at the familial genealogy of Hanzo Hattori. Hanzo Hattori was a famous samurai of the Sengoku Period who was in the service of the Matsudaira Clan an then, later the Tokugawa clan.. He was known to be an expert tactician and a spear fighter. He was a military commander with no ninjitsu training, but he was the boss of the Iga ninjas. He lived the last several years of his life as a monk named Sainen, dying at the age of 55.

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1. Hattori Ayame

Bio: Hattori Ayame was the daughter of Hattori Hanzo and she had exceptional talent as a ninja. When her father died a sudden death, Ayame made the decision to take his name and live as a man.

Connection: She was found in the manga called Mizukagekusa which is the story of Ayame. For more information visit the following website.
https://www.comixology.com/MIZUKAGEKUSA-Vol-1/digital-comic/791038





2. Hattori Chiyome

Bio:  Hattori Chiyome was a ninja girl, the daughter of Hattori Hanzo, and the niece of Hattori  Jiraiya.  From her grandfather, she inherited the ability to prophesize in her sleep.

Connection:  She was found in the manga called Ninja Raizo. Her role was to be the fiancé of the ninja Raizo. For more information check out the following website.
https://www.ninjaraizo.com/work/chiyome/




3. Hattori Hanzomon

Bio:Hattori Hanzomon was the grandson of Hattori Hanzo who lived during the early Edo period (1603-1868).
He was the leader of the secret police and the arch-nemesis of Sarutobi, a budding ninja.

Connection: Hattori Hanzomon made an appearance in the Korean drama called Sarutobi Sansei. For more information please visit the following website.
http://gooddrama.to/japanese-drama/sarutobi-sansei
https://jdramas.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/sarutobi-sansei/

4. Hattori Hanpei

Bio: Not sure of the actual relationship, but Hattori Hanpei was a descendant of Hattori Hanzo. And he liked to brag about this.

Connection: He was found in the Android Kikaider.as an ally and a friend to the main character, Jiro. Though,
Hanpei did come across a klutz and so provided comic relief.

5. Hattori Heiji

Bio:  Hattori Heiji was a high school student and a detective with major skills in kendo. These combined skills gave the impression that Heiji may also be a modern day descendant of Hanzo Hattori.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ShoutOut/DetectiveConan

Connection: Heiji could be found in chapter 92 of the manga series called Detective Conan aka Meitantei Konan.


6. Hattori Hanzo

Bio: Hattori Hanzo was a modern day descendant of Hattori Hanzo Masashige, but I am not sure of his exact relationship. Unlike his ancestor, who was a ninja, this Hanzo was a master sword smith.

Connection:  This character was found in a movie called Kill Bill. His role was to forge a sword for the Bride. A little more information can be found at the Tarantino Archives.
https://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php/Hattori_Hanzo

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Six Degrees Around Santa

It’s that time of the year for Christmas- a time of compassion, family, and joy. This was best exemplified by the character of Santa Claus aka St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in what we now know as Turkey. And he had a reputation for being a kind man who helped the poor and giving secret gifts to those who need it. There were many stories about him- none that we could ever say for sure were true still if you want to read some of them, many websites theorize about his past. Here was one:

https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/fatherchristmas.shtml. Ever since, he had been a cultural symbol of Christmas.

Six Degrees Around Santa

1.     The Polar Express

Summary:  A young boy awakens one Christmas Eve to a train stopping in front of his house to pick up. It was the Polar Express, the Christmas train, which took children to go see Santa for the first Christmas gift and to learn more about themselves. The boy didn’t really believe but did get on the train. Over the course of the journey, he found the spirit of Christmas and began to believe. The moment he did, he was selected to receive the first gift of Christmas from Santa himself.

2.     Emily’s Christmas Carol

Summary: Emily’s daughter Paige was in a Christmas play at school. She wasn’t happy with her part and was disillusioned with Christmas. The family goes on a trip to the North Pole to restore Paige’s Christmas Spirit meeting Santa along the way.

3.      A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Mark Moore

Summary: A poem about someone, the man of the house, who woke up on Christmas Eve after hearing a strange noise. He looked out his window and saw a magical sleigh with eight tiny reindeer and little old driver, St. Nick. Then, the man left his room and watched St. Nick as he worked. And before he left, the two shared a laugh and wink.

           4.  Sensational She-Hulk #8

Summary: She-Hulk had a new case where she was prosecuting a serial killer but needed more evidence and had two days to find it. Nick St. Christopher called her claiming to have a lead. The two met up at a nearby restaurant. St. Christopher took her to the defendant’s apartment and they enter it using the chimney. In the apartment, She-Hulk found evidence but can’t use it because she technically broke into the apartment. Doing a little more research, she found that the apartment wasn’t being leased by the defendant. With the help of St. Christopher, they track down the person leasing the apartment.

              5.     Lois & Clark: The New Adventure of Superman, “Season’s Greeting”

Summary: A toy-maker was fired from his job and wanted to get revenge. He developed and distributed a substance that regressed anyone exposed it to a childish state- including Superman. While Perry White was seen dressed as Elvis Santa, later on,  Lois heard someone bellowing “Ho ho ho!”

6.    The Real Ghostbusters: Xmas Marks the Spot

Summary: The Ghostbusters accidentally traveled back in time and trapped the ghosts of Christmas, preventing Scrooge's redemption. Now, they must return to the past and fix their mistake. Peter, Ray, and Winston took the place of the ghosts of Christmas. Egon pretended to be Jacob Marley and then entered the containment unit to find the Christmas ghosts. When he found the ghosts, he returned them to their proper time just as the rest of the Ghostbusters finished with Scrooge. Finally, when everything was back to normal, they settled down for a Christmas Party. Suddenly, they heard a voice calling out “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.”

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