For the mission, see Moebius (World Moebius).
Moebius is the final boss of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, being fought both by himself and while possessing Gunvolt. He[1] is the first naturally born Primal Dragon and first being to hold an Octima, a tier of power completely above the Septima of Adepts. He is the true Dragon Lord foretold by Shadow Yakumo and target of ATEMS for the sake of taking control of the world when he inevitably awakens.
Appearance[]
Moebius has the appearance of a green skinned draconian fetus. He has a pair of dark green horns and two bladed protruding scales behind his head and back. Moebius' tail is as long as the rest of his body and has an array of what appear to be suckers. His tail also darkens near the tip giving it an oddly shaped pattern. He has three eyes, his two main ones being blank and glowing in different colors, with his right shaded blue and his left shaded red. His center eye is the only one with a visible pupil which glows. He speaks exclusively in unintelligible high-pitched chattering, though all text attributed to him is real language obscured by a cipher (see the "Quotes and Decipherings" section).
Gallery[]
Personality[]
Moebius is initially understood as a dangerous entity which if left to his own devices could destroy the world if he so desired. With his ability to change the future, he could easily cause widespread chaos and ruin on a planetary level, which is the central reason why Sumeragi had him sealed, whereas ZedΩ sought to control him, also believing Moebius to be impulsively destructive.
In truth Moebius cares about the world and seeks to protect it, but has a somewhat roundabout way to achieve it. Being fully aware of Gunvolt's power as a Primal Dragon and how it left unchecked it will cause GV to rampage uncontrollably and destroy the world, he possesses him as a means to force Kirin's hand to act so as to halt the world's impending doom until a proper solution can be found.
History[]
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3[]
At the beginning of Gunvolt 3, Moebius is "asleep", sealed by a set of Glaives, and locked away inside a secret room in the Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology protected by a barrier powered by the Binding Brands. When and how he came into existence, and how he came to be in Sumeragi's custody, is unknown. At some point, ATEMS became aware of Moebius' existence, though how this happened is also unknown.
Moebius is first alluded to in Gunvolt 3's story once Kirin has defeated all four Berserk Adepts, in a scene where ZedΩ talks with Sistina and Layla about a "Child of Hope" that he suspects is responsible for the Berserk Adept incidents and that he wants to "get to". Scenes that play after three and four ATEMS Knights have been defeated involve ZedΩ discussing his progress on "opening the path" to the Child of Hope by stealing the Binding Brands.
Moebius does not appear until Kirin and GV reach the heart of the Sunrise Palace. There, Zed reveals the existence of the secret room in S-FIT and explains that he stole the Binding Brands to disable its barrier and reach the "true ruler of the Primal Dragons" within. He then takes Kirin and GV to the palace's top floor to see the sleeping Moebius, and explains that he intends to use Layla's Septima to control Moebius' Astral Order Octima and create a better future - slightly better, at least, given how Moebius' inevitable awakening will suffuse the world in enough Dragon Radiation to cause a Primal Dragon outbreak of unprecedented scale. Neither Kirin nor GV are onboard with his plan, and while they emerge victorious against ZedΩ, GV and ZedΩ's Septimas clashing triggered Moebius' awakening. With ZedΩ too weak to put up a meaningful resistance, it rests on Kirin and GV's shoulders to stop Moebius from blanketing the world in Dragon Radiation.
After an intense battle, Moebius' armor is destroyed. But it releases an energy pulse that knocks Kirin back and disables GV's seal, turning him human again. Just before the Octima user charges Kirin, GV intervenes and is fused with Moebius, becoming his vessel. GV pleads for Kirin to kill him and stop Moebius' visions of a future where the Azure Striker destroys the world.
Slain Dragon - Bad Ending[]
GV impales himself on Kirin's sword, killing Moebius and himself with it as they both vanish. The world is saved from the threat of Astral Order, but the price is a Battle Priestess gazing at her hands, soaked in the blood of a friend...
Dragon, Become a Star - True Ending[]
Kirin refused to give up on GV, endlessly throwing talismans to layer seal after seal on GV and Moebius. Gunvolt reverts into a baby within a ball of light and flies off into the sky. What truly becomes of either Gunvolt or Moebius in this process is unknown. Less ambiguous is the outbreak of Primal Dragons following Moebius' awakening, leaving plenty of work for both ATEMS and the Dragon Saviors.
Stars and Lightning - True Ending 2.0[]
The 1.3.0 (NSW) and 1.2.1 (PC) updates of the game updated the True Ending sequence with an additional cutscene after Kirin's last talisman.
In a space where Astral Order's power flows, Gunvolt and Moebius finally meet face to face. Here, Gunvolt can actually understand Moebius' psychic warbles, realizing that both he and Moebius wanted the same thing; stopping the envisioned future where Azure Striker destroys the world. In response to Gunvolt's lament that "present [him]" is the root of the coming destruction, Moebius suggests they buy time however they can until the others can work out a solution. While Gunvolt feels bad for seemingly leaving the fate of the world to Kirin, he believes she'll figure something out, and requests Moebius lend him its power. The True Ending plays as normal from here.
Miscellaneous[]
The flavor text for Secret Mission 13, Possibility claims the boss rush is a "possible world drawn forth by Octima" (Japanese: 第八波動が魅せた世界の可能性 "possibilities of a world fascinated by the Eight").
In post-game content, Moebius can send Kirin, Gunvolt, and Lumen to two different parallel worlds if certain conditions are met when replaying his boss fight. (See the bottom of the "Abilities -> Boss Battle Skills" section for details.)
The game's official website describes Kirin XX, the alternate playable version of Kirin unlocked after clearing the True Ending, as having fought across other worlds. Relatedly, most of Kirin XX's unique moves are ones that Kirin also uses as a crossover DLC boss in Luminous Avenger iX 2.
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2[]
Moebius is mentioned in the pre-fight dialogue of the DLC boss battle with Kirin. Kirin, described on iX2's official website as having been sent to its world during a battle, identifies it as a Potential World attracted by Moebius.
Abilities[]
As the first natural-born Primal Dragon, Moebius holds the power of "Octima", an ability set beyond even the "Septima" and "Next Level" phases of the Lifewave. Moebius' Octima is known as Astral Order, allowing him to see all possible futures and manipulate probabilistic factors to ensure a chosen future comes to pass.
As the ruler of Primal Dragons, Moebius is capable of resonating with them, sending images directly into their minds even as he slumbers in a seal.
While Moebius does possess GV and hijack his Azure Striker, it's unknown whether this is within Astral Order's purview, simply an inherent ability as the ruler of Primal Dragons, or a combination of factors.
In Gunvolt 3 post-game content, Moebius can use his Damnatio Memoriae SP Skill to send Kirin, Gunvolt, and Lumen to parallel worlds. In the Japanese version of the game, the characters refer to these worlds as having been "attracted"/"drawn in" (引き寄された and the like) by Moebius, which is also how Kirin describes Luminous Avenger iX 2's world (in both Japanese and English) in her DLC appearance in that game. However, in the English version of Gunvolt 3, the characters say that the parallel worlds were "created" by Moebius, and Luxia in Mirage Party says that countless possible worlds were "brought forth" (生じた) by Moebius.
Boss Battle Skills[]
Phase One - Moebius[]
Note:The following attack names have been found in the game's files: Genesis of Line, Stasis of Cube, Progress of Sphere, Cingular of Point, and Intersect of Ring. Due to their vagueness, it is not clear which is which, so outside of Damnatio Memoriae conjectured names are used below instead.
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Moebius periodically spawns a certain amount of orbs to protect himself; three in phase 1, five in phase 2, and seven in phase 3. While at least one orb is intact, Moebius is invincible and cannot be tagged. Destroying all orbs makes Moebius temporarily vulnerable to being tagged and attacked, and the orbs can be tagged and Arc Chained to even when destroyed.
After some time passes, Moebius will destroy all the orbs and spawn new ones in their places. If any are still intact, they and Moebius release a pulse of energy that deals unavoidable damage. | |
| Moebius powers up each of his Defense Orbs, destroyed or not, before creating large spheres of energy at their positions. Moebius then launches each orb straight downwards one by one. When a sphere reaches the floor, it goes straight left or right in the direction of the player.
In Hard Mode, Moebius creates the spheres quicker and launches them at a quicker rate. | |
| Moebius creates bright yellow crystals at fixed formations which emit straight or diagonal beams of light. The light beams then become lasers, which damage the player. Phase two onwards, Moebius may create a tighter column of crystals which emit horizontal lasers one after the other from top to bottom. The gaps in between each laser are too small to be jumped through, so use an Arc Chain to avoid them.
In Hard Mode, Moebius creates more crystals, resulting in tighter laser arrays. The phase two version of the attack gains an additional row of crystals that emit vertical lasers one after the other from one side of the room to the other. | |
| Moebius locks on to the player, then spends a certain amount of time rapidly firing wisps at the player. Each wisp creates a small explosion at the player's position when it was fired. To dodge, slowly sidestep the explosions on the ground or move around quickly using Arc Chains.
In Hard Mode, the wisps are fired for a longer time. | |
| Moebius starts using this attack in battle phase two. Moebius creates three small black holes one after the other near the player's position. The black holes pull the player in and shrink until they become small stars which damage the player if touched. Once all the black holes have become stars, they explode, each one sending out explosions in four directions (either a "+" or "X" pattern.)
The black holes can easily be escaped on the ground by dashing. If caught in the air, use Arc Chains to escape. In Hard Mode, Moebius creates four black holes instead. | |
Existence Erasure (Damnatio Memoriae) |
Moebius' Special Skill. Moebius demanifests his armor and flies upwards, then spawns seven defense orbs which move to the sides of the room and to the space around and above him. He then emits a vertical laser that grows wider over time. Contact with the laser results in an unavoidable sequence where Moebius bombards the player with cards, shrinks the dimensional space around them, and finally shatters the player's silhouette into sparkles. This deals massive damage, but is not a one-hit kill. Otherwise, if the player manages to avoid getting hit by the laser, they and Moebius will be teleported back to the ground and the battle will resume as normal.
To dodge the attack, move upwards to the safe space near Moebius by using Arc Chains on the orbs or by using GV's multi-jumps. If the player manages to destroy all the defense orbs on the way up and then attack Moebius, Damnatio Memoriae will end early and Moebius will be stunned and vulnerable for a short while. Unlike the rest of the battle, GV's attacks cannot destroy the orbs, so climbing up to Moebius' position using Arc Chains as Kirin is the only way to stun him. |
After achieving the game's True Ending, getting hit by Damnatio Memoriae under certain conditions will allow the player to play through and unlock two special boss fight missions:
To access The Third Revenger, get hit by Damnatio Memoriae as GV, while having at least one Nova passive Image Pulse equipped. To access Grand Master, get hit by Damnatio Memoriae as GV in Anthem Mode while having the "Azure Striker" Asimov passive Image Pulse equipped.
Phase Two - Moebius-Gunvolt[]
Main article: Gunvolt "The Azure Striker"#Moebius-Gunvolt
Quotes and Decipherings[]
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
Z!JFD :LSDF L$DFV>LSK^B
GNFDZGD^X GND VJGJFD
K &JXG CDVDZG KG
DAMNATIO MEMORIAE
Deciphered chant (move each character up one row on a QWERTY keyboard in English, wrapping around if necessary):
AZURE POWER OVERFLOWING
THREATENS THE FUTURE
I MUST DEFEAT IT
RD··OG··>E
世界 屠る
6·QT··62·T
蒼き チカラ
Q0·A·3-P··
私 倒す
Slaughters the world
Azure power
I defeat it
Erasing Existence (Damnatio Memoriae)
Decipher method (Remove dots, flip the positions of the lines, replace the characters with the matching keys on JIS keyboard, then read vertically from right to left)
1-star Skill Image Pulse quote: ">DG &D X>DD:" (deciphered: "LET ME SLEEP")
3-star Skill Image Pulse quote: "VK^C Z %FKBNG VJGJFD" (deciphered: "FIND A BRIGHT FUTURE")
Musical Themes[]
| Title | Context | Composers | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Fates of Stars ( |
First encounter theme. | Ryo Yoshinaga | |
| Torrential Fate ( |
Second encounter theme. | Ryo Yoshinaga | |
| Cosmos Arbiter (星亡調停, Star* Death Arbitration) |
Battle theme. | Ryo Yoshinaga |
*星 refers to any light emitting celestial body other than the sun and moon, and can mean either planet or star, but in this case is assumed to mean star based on the English names and Moebius' tarot motif most likely being The Star.
Trivia[]
- Considering the Major Arcana themes of other Gunvolt 3 characters, Moebius likely references XVII The Star given motifs such as hope, his armor's possible references to The Star card design, and musical theme names. XXI The World may also be referenced with the stage name "World Moebius." His motif as a Primal Dragon may be Ouroboros, which is depicted similar to a figure-eight and sometimes associated with the Moebius strip. This is also associated with I The Magician. Considering Moebius' horns and possible character homage, yet another tarot motif may be XV The Devil.
Evil in Cobra
- Given it was stated the sci-fi manga Cobra was one of the influences on the Azure Striker Gunvolt series,[2] it is possible Moebius was based on the character/species Evil in the Black Dragon King story. An intelligent fetus belonging to an alien species older than humanity that may have inspired legends of Satan, Evil is an entity that rules over an isolated city under the title Black Dragon King and feeds on human fear, evoking illusions of people the protagonist Cobra killed in the past while attempting to probe his soul.
- Moebius bears a resemblance to a magatama, which may thematically connect with Nova and Zonda as the final boss of Gunvolt 3. The sword Ame no Murakumo (which is literally Nova's Glaive), the mirror Yata no Kagami, and the sacred jewel Yasakani no Magatama are the three treasures which make up Japan's Imperial Regalia. However, this may just be a coincidence since Zonda was not originally planned to be the final boss of GV2.
- The name of Moebius' SP Skill, Damnatio Memoriae, is a Latin phrase meaning "condemnation from memory," and refers to a person being erased from historical record via the destruction of documents and images, or even a large-scale rewriting of history occurring.
- When the player is caught by Damnatio Memoriae, a triangular array of light beams converges on them, and images of Gunvolt's past (plus one of Gunvolt vs. Reverie Zonda with Asimov present - possibly an "alternate past") move along the light beams to bombard them. This may reference the concept of a past light cone from relativity theory; the past light cone of a point in space-time encompasses all past events that could have exerted causal influence on that point, given that information cannot propagate through space faster than the speed of light.
- The Astral Order and Octis Veto skills use the text font of Moebius' Damnatio Memoriae instead of Gunvolt's skills like Luxcalibur.
- The upper portion of Moebius' armor faintly resembles Layla's Djinn manifestation, Luxia. If intentional, it is speculated this may be because of her influence on him while he was asleep.
- Moebius is not the first Gunvolt character to be potentially conceived as a wielder of time-related powers. Ghauri was originally planned to have a time Septima before it was scrapped due to certain unspecified reasons, and Xiao's strong time-related design motifs have led to speculation that he was meant to have one, although his Septima remains unconfirmed. The concept of a time Adept was also discussed in Luminous Avenger iX 2, when Copen acquires the time-slowing and freezing weapon Cryo-Flash from Hail. While Kohaku believes a time Adept could be found if they looked hard enough back in their world, Copen claims to have never heard of one.
- Moebius revealing himself every time Gunvolt gets stunned for a period of time is similar to the Mantis Medium Boss, which leaves its core exposed when inflicted with sufficient damage. His possession of Gunvolt is also similar to the Fusion Septima Adept who controls the Mantis Zombie.
- In Japanese, the cipher on Moebius' text is the same one used for the mutants in the Blaster Master Zero series, also developed by Inti Creates.
References[]
- ↑ Moebius is referred to as "he" (彼 kare) in Japanese as well
- ↑ Gunvolt Official Complete Works staff interview