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For the Dissidia Final Fantasy song see The Messenger.
Luna-and-dogs-FFXV

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret greeted by three Messengers, Pryna, Umbra and Gentiana.

Just like the Oracle speaks to the gods for the people, the Messengers speak to the people for the gods.

Noctis Lucis Caelum

Messengers (二十四使, Nijūyonshi?, lit. Twenty-four Messengers) are magical beings in Final Fantasy XV sent by Astrals—the gods of Eos—to help the Oracle and make the gods' will known to mankind through her. While there are said to be twenty-four Messengers, five are witnessed in the game and a sixth is mentioned in Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-.

Profile[]

Being one of the Oracle's twenty-four Messengers has its perks, circumventing time-space notwithstanding.

Ignis Scientia in Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition in reference to Umbra
Cosmogony-Illustration-FFXV

Cosmogony illustration of Messengers descending upon the King and the Oracle.

The Hexatheon and Their Divine Host chapter of Cosmogony posits that in the beginning the Astrals fought side by side with mankind yet the deities themselves seldom appeared before mortals. Instead, they sent servants to convey their divine will to the Oracle, a human the Astrals had given the power to commune with the gods. These servants are known as Messengers. This Cosmogony chapter further posits that the Messengers "number twenty-four", implying the number is static.

The Messengers are magical and thus don't appear to age. They can travel anywhere regardless of geography and even time. Though divine in origin, they commonly manifest as earthly beings and thus remain inconspicuous. Some Archives entries speak of Messengers having fought daemons, but they are not witnessed doing so directly in Final Fantasy XV.

The three Messengers that support Lunafreya Nox Fleuret stay by her and help her guide Noctis Lucis Caelum to fulfill the prophecy of the True King. One Messenger acts as a "guardian spirit" to Noctis himself. One Messenger was defeated by the Astrals and sent into a long slumber.

The Messengers[]

Gentiana[]

Gentiana-FFXV

Gentiana.

Gentiana is the High Messenger. She is a mysterious, dark-haired and ageless woman who moved into Fenestala Manor to live with the Oracles' bloodline. Gentiana is gentle and has an ethereal presence, often keeping her eyes closed even when moving or conversing with others. She guides Lunafreya to fulfill her destiny as the guide to the Chosen King.

Lunafreya's dogs[]

Young-Noctis-Luna-Dogs-FFXV

The dogs watching over young Lunafreya and Noctis.

Umbra and Pryna are Lunafreya's canine companions who serve as delivery dogs, relaying messages between Lunafreya and Noctis. They manifest themselves as a pair of white and black dogs yet boast mystical powers.

Carbuncle[]

Carbuncle2-PD-FFXV

Carbuncle.

Carbuncle is a supernatural guardian being who is described as a Messenger in the car decals flavor text. Rather than being linked to the Oracle, it is associated with Prince Noctis.

Garuda[]

FFXIV-XV Garuda

Garuda.

Garuda is a Messenger of the Winds, an ancient being once defeated by the Astrals in battle and sent into long slumber. Her true name lost, she takes the name of an invading goddess and aids Noctis in a similar way to the Astrals. She appears in the Adventurer from Another World collaboration quest added in patch 1.27.

Odin[]

Odin (maybe) in Big Bang for FFXV

A being that resembles Odin in Big Bang.

In Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future- Lunafreya and her new friend Sol find a massive sword and a spear in an ancient Solheimian ruin that Lunafreya thinks belong to Odin, one of the twenty-four Messengers, which were use in the War of the Astrals. A being that could be Odin also appears in the Big Bang artwork for the game of an armored horseman and his steed.

History[]

The harbingers of darkness have descended 'pon our realm
Yet much unlike the former king who the vanguard did helm
I issue orders from the rear, a veritable 'coward king'
'Tis the Messengers who fight—their praises we ought sing

Monolith in Steyliff Grove Menace

The Messengers are said to have fought alongside the deities they served in the War of the Astrals with the followers of Ifrit being all but erased from the annals of history after suffering defeat at the hands of the other gods.[1] Odin was said to have participated in the war and wielded a colossal sword and a spear.[2] The daemon Naglfar is said to have fought the 24 Messengers to a standstill in the early days of Lucis.[3] A monolith in Steyliff Grove Menace engraved by a former king of Lucis mentions Messengers fighting "harbingers of darkness", which potentially refers to the Naglfar battle.[4]

Lunafreya grew up with Gentiana and her two magical dogs, Pryna and Umbra, by her side. Noctis was gifted the Carbuncle totem when he was three[5], and the Messenger looked over him since. After being injured in a daemon attack, Noctis was brought to Fenestala Manor to recuperate where he met Lunafreya and Gentiana. Luna and Noctis became friends, and she told him he is the Chosen King said to save the world one day. Gentiana was pleased the future Oracle and the future king of Lucis would have such a close relationship.

Fenestala Manor was invaded by the Empire of Niflheim and Noctis and his father, King Regis, fled back to the Crown City. Queen Sylva of Tenebrae, the Oracle, was killed, and her children fell into imperial custody. Gentiana and the dogs stayed by Lunafreya as her faithful companions and she regularly sent the dogs to Insomnia to deliver messages to Noctis via a sticker book. Prompto Argentum, a boy in Noctis's class, once tended to an injured Pryna while she was on a delivery to Insomnia.[6] Lunafreya became the new Oracle at age 16[5] and began to travel the imperial lands to heal people of Starscourge, a malady that afflicted the land.

When a 24-year-old Lunafreya headed to Crown City of Insomnia for the treaty-signing for peace between Niflheim and Lucis, she went alone, but sent a message to Noctis via Umbra, writing that she was looking forward to seeing him after all the years they had spent apart. The treaty-signing was a ruse for Niflheim to invade Lucis, and Lunafreya escaped the decimated city with the Ring of the Lucii, a royal heirloom only the rightful heir to the Lucian throne can wear, her mission to deliver it to Noctis. She met with the Messengers outside the gates of Insomnia and received the notebook carried by Umbra that brought Noctis's reply to her earlier message. Lunafreya's brother, who worked for the empire, Ravus Nox Fleuret, later helped her and Gentiana return to Tenebrae, their homeland. Umbra continued to deliver messages between Lunafreya and Noctis, while Pryna stayed by her side.

Gentiana appeared to Noctis to tell him of Lunafreya's wish for him to forge covenants with the Astrals. She guided him telepathically to forge a covenant with Ramuh, and her watching over his journey was made apparent when she began to appear in the background of photos snapped by Noctis's friend Prompto. During the party's investigation of the Perpetouss Keep in Adventurer from Another World, the mysterious beings known as the Ixal were trying to summon a goddess from another world. During the battle Noctis made a pact with a long forgotten Messenger of the Winds who had been sleeping for centuries. Her name lost to time, she took the name Garuda from the invading goddess.

Noctis made his way to the city of Altissia where he was to rendezvous with Lunafreya, and met Gentiana and Umbra at the hotel. When Lunafreya was killed, Pryna was said to have died alongside her. As depicted in "Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis", Noctis's friend Ignis Scientia headed to the Altar of the Tidemother to help Noctis and Lunafreya, and ran into a collapsed Pryna who delivered him a psychic message of the future. Later on, when Prompto wandered the imperial snowfields in "Episode Prompto", a ghostly Pryna led him to a site of fallen magitek troopers where he came to terms with his fears and insecurities.[note 1]

Gentiana never returned to Tenebrae, leaving the people there perplexed. Umbra continued to help Noctis, and delivered Lunafreya's final message to him after her death. On his way to Gralea, the imperial capital, Noctis was met by Gentiana and learned her true form is that of the Astral goddess Shiva who forged a covenant with him.

Noctis disappeared from the world for ten years. The Starscourge overwhelmed Eos and the sun set for good. Gentiana informed the Glaives that the True King would return, and asked them to safeguard Angelgard. After ten years Noctis awoke there ready to fulfill the prophecy and return light to the world. Umbra delivered him a message to meet with his old friends. As told in Final Fantasy XV: Comrades, he also met Gentiana. Umbra accompanied Noctis to Hammerhead where he reunited with Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto. Umbra stayed at Hammerhead as the friends moved on, but on the break of the first dawn he awoke on the steps of the Citadel to see the rising sun.

Alternate ending[]

In Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-, magic and Astrals disappeared from the world after Bahamut was felled. Gentiana healed the revived Lunafreya before vanishing.

Behind the scenes[]

Due to their nature the Messengers likely allude to angels—non-physical entities or spirits found in various religions and mythologies. In Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism, angels are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between God or Heaven and Earth, or as guardian spirits or a guiding influence. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks. The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spirits found in many other religious traditions. In art, angels are often depicted with bird-like wings, a halo, robes, and various forms of glowing light. In Final Fantasy XV the Messengers appear with angel wings in Cosmogony (Garuda appearing with physical wings in Adventurer from Another World), and are divine messengers and guides to mankind to fulfill the prophecy of the True King.

In Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue, the gods deliver their decision on whom to crown king to the Oracle via the Crystal rather than through a Messenger.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

  1. Whether the dog's appearance to Prompto was but a figment of his imagination is ambiguous, but the dog acts in accordance to Pryna's role as Messenger by guiding him.

Citations[]

  1. Archives in "Episode Ardyn":
    Chief Besithia's Journal | The Messengers
    M.E. 716-V-2nd
    While few written records referencing the Divine Host of Messengers remain, our excavatory expedition to Taelpar Crag has uncovered some interesting information via word-of-mouth while investigating the surrounding area. Based on what we've learned, the demigods fought alongside the deities they served in the War of the Astrals, with the followers of the traitorous Infernian being all from erased from the annals of history after suffering defeat at the hands of the other gods. Little else is known about the Messengers, but I'm determined to discover more about these fascinating creatures.
  2. Dawn of the Future Lunafreya Chapter
  3. Naglfar's bestiary entry: A nefarious fiend told of in legends, its brutality far surpassing that of other deathclaw. Its name is recorded in lost pages of the Cosmogony as one of the creatures that fought to a standstill against the twenty-four Messengers in the kingdom's nascent years. The return of naglfar is said to be an omen of unspeakable disaster to come.
  4. Monolith on Scorpure Haven: The harbingers of darkness have descended 'pon our realm
    Yet much unlike the former king who the vanguard did helm
    I issue orders from the rear, a veritable "coward king"
    'Tis the Messengers who fight—their praises we ought sing
  5. 5.0 5.1 Final Fantasy XV Ultimania Scenario Side translations (Accessed: December 14, 2018) at The Lifestream
  6. Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV
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