Guymelef
Guymelefs are a series of Mecha that feature in Escaflowne.
Contents |
History
Guymelefs were advanced suits of armored mecha that were created by the inhabitants of Gaea. The creation of Guymelefs on the world of Gaea stemmed from the ancient need for powerful defenses against formidable local threats, primarily dragons. In ages past, these massive, mechanized suits of armor, powered by mystical energy crystals called Energists harvested from the dragons themselves, were engineered specifically for the purpose of hunting and combating the winged beasts. The original technology was a legacy of the advanced, yet fallen, Atlantean civilization and their servants, the mysterious Ispano Clan. The Ispano craftsmen were the primary architects of the early, unique Guymelefs, using complex, ancient processes that often required decades, or even centuries, to construct a single unit. These early models, such as the legendary Escaflowne, were considered almost deity-like by some cultures, like the Fanelians, and incorporated a unique, symbiotic blood pact system with their pilots, allowing for unparalleled control and responsiveness at the cost of shared injury. For much of Gaea's history, these limited-production units remained the domain of royalty or high-ranking, skilled warriors. The development and usage of Guymelefs was a practice rooted in ancient tradition and limited to specific, powerful factions on Gaea. The earliest Guymelefs were an inheritance from the advanced, but self-destroyed, Atlantean civilization and were primarily engineered by the reclusive Ispano Clan. The core purpose of these massive, armored suits was for hunting and defeating dragons, with the creatures' crystalline hearts, known as Energists, serving as the essential power source for the machines.
Under Dornkirk, the poor lands of Zaibach were transformed into a mighty empire. Using his scientific knowledge, he began to introduce factories and production lines that mass produced Guymelefs for the empire. The once minor vulnerable territory of Zaibach thus underwent a dramatic industrial transformation under Dornkirk’s leadership, who utilized knowledge from his past life on Earth to harness dormant Atlantean technology in an unprecedented fashion. The core historical circumstance was the abandonment of the traditional, highly time-intensive production methods of the Ispano Clan, which had previously limited Guymelefs to rare, bespoke units reserved for royalty and elite warriors. This ancient, centuries-long process was replaced by an industrialized, assembly-line system inspired by Earth's own Industrial Revolution, allowing for efficient, large-scale manufacturing of a standardized model. This capacity for mass production provided Zaibach with an overwhelming and unprecedented military advantage on Gaea, enabling them to field vast armies of Guymelefs that numbered in the thousands. This military industrial complex was not merely for defense but for aggressive expansion, the control of neighboring nations, and the pursuit of Dornkirk's ultimate goal: locating the Mystic Valley and leveraging the ancient power of Atlantis to manipulate fate itself and establish a "perfect" world order under Zaibach's dominion.
Overview
In appearance, Guymelefs were Humanoid 8-meter tall armoured mecha produced by the Human nations of the mystical world of Gaea. They served as armored support for infantry and were piloted by elite soldiers that acted as a form of knights. They made use of melee weaponry in the form of large spears, swords and even bows. There were two types of these mechanised armors with one being Melefs (メレフ, merufu) which stand four meters tall, and Guymelefs that stood eight to ten meters tall. Originally, they were created to fight the large two-legged reptilian Dragons that inhabited the world.
The manufacturing process for these early, hand-crafted Guymelefs was an incredibly long and arduous endeavor, often taking decades or even centuries to complete a single unit. This time-intensive production meant that Guymelefs were exceptionally rare, highly valued assets, generally reserved for royalty, elite knights, or other high-ranking, skilled warriors. Nations such as Fanelia held a specific Ispano Guymelef, the Escaflowne, as a sacred, almost deified, protector, traditionally piloted by the king and awakened only through a blood pact with its master. This blood-bond system, a hallmark of the Ispano designs, granted the Guymelef astonishingly fluid, human-like reaction times but at a severe cost: any damage sustained by the machine was also inflicted upon the pilot. Other nations' units, such as Allen Schezar's Scherazade, were also highly specialized "Sky Knight" models, and various unique, one-off Guymelefs armed with lances, bows, or other custom weapons existed across Gaea, reflecting independent craftsmanship and national needs. This era was characterized by the scarcity and unique nature of each Guymelef, a stark contrast to the mass-produced, technologically advanced forces later deployed by the Zaibach Empire.
All models of Guymelefs were powered by an Energists that were crystals which served as the heart of the machine. It would normally take decades or centuries to build an individual Guymelef. However, production lines and factories could mass produce the large machines.
There are a number of different models of Guymelefs which are produced by the various nations on Gaea that included:
- Escaflowne :
- Scherazade :
- Arseides : the production model of Guymelefs used by the Zaibach Empire and are perhaps one of the more advanced units produced among the Human nations. They are typically blue in color though Dilando's model was a distinctive red and possess a Stealth Mantle allowing them to cloak themselves to make them invisible to their enemies allowing them to strike when an advantage appeared. Another feature unique to the Arseides model is that its one of the only type of Guymelefs that is capable of flight allowing them to quickly deploy or escape the battlefield. Once in flight mode, the arms close into the body along with the legs and the cloaking mechanism was disabled while flying. The weapon system of the Arseides was also quite unique and depends on a flexible metallic liquid that exists in the body. This liquid metal can be manipulated by the pilot to become a sword, a shield or shoot out of the five chambered arm sockets into spiked tentacles that can gut an enemy Guymelef. Another noted feature was the capacity of controlling the liquid metal to the point where it can engulf a person and drown them in the substance. This appears to rely on pressure based systems within the mecha and should that drop to low quantities then it results in decreased usage of the liquid metal. In addition to this, the Arseides can shoot out bursts of flame from the arm sockets allowing them to torch entire settlements if necessary.
- Teiring :
Pilots
- Dilando :
- Allen Schezar :
- Van Fanel :
- Saejima :
- Naria :
- Eriya :
Notes
- Guymelefs were created by Hajime Yatate and Shōji Kawamori where they featured in the setting of The Vision of Escaflowne universe,
In other media
Films
- In Escaflowne, Dragon Armor appeared in the setting of the 2000 anime film.
Appearances
- The Vision of Escaflowne:
External Link
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