[+] Timeline Okay, I've been somewhat dragged into this earlier than I thought, but that's ok.



My thinking on the timeline runs with Dietaku's - BoF4 is a prequel to the other games.

Since Myria's defeat was in BoF3, and it was made clear that 1 and 2 were sequential, 1-2-3 are in order.



Regarding dragon seniority, my understanding is, in fact, that Jeff is right. In general, the dragons gain power with seniority.

But, all of the Dragon Clans and the Brood in 1, 2, and 3 were born dragons. I posit that the idea of the gods fading into dragons (which is clearly stated in BoF4's text) applies only to BoF4 and the Summoned dragons. This is consistent with the shamanist theories that BoF4's summonings seem to be based in.



As for the other issues, well, here we go. Interspersed with actual proof are my theories as to how it could happen.

If you find any holes, please let me know, because I'd like to form a complete headcanon on this, and my knowledge on BoF2 is a little weak.



In the manga, the casting out of the gods also results in Fou-Lu and Ryu becoming, again, two separate beings.

Nina is eagerly awaiting Ryu's returning from travelling the world with Fou-Lu, Cray seems to be dating Ursula on and off, and other epilogue-y things happen.



Notably, from the game, Yuna makes comment about being able to make as many gods as he wanted.



I believe he undertakes this action. Perfecting his process, he creates Myria.

This makes her Deis' sister by virtue of the fact of their both entering the world from the same source.



Ryu and Fou-Lu later had children that became the Dragon Clan, and, as the world recovered from the destruction wrought upon it, people still respect this clan for being children of the Emperor.



Now, the prologue to BoF1.



However, Myria's creation was complete, and she became the goddess of desire. The Dragon Clan, retaining tribal memory of their forefathers' power, requested the restoration of their abilities.

From this point on, wars broke out that almost destroyed the Dragon Clan.

Even the Light Dragons and Dark Dragons may have believed in their descent from Fou-Lu or Ryu4 respectively, but that's a sweeping conjecture.



Deis became involved in the war, and one of the Dragons (likely the "Legendary Warrior" from the BoF1 prologue) either restored or built for her a body.

I suspect built, due to her having a completely humanoid form in her mind in BoF4, but the partially serpentine form in 1, 2, and to restore her power in 3.



(Incidentally, I think that the Guardians and Myria may have split her humanoid and serpentine parts in order to imprison her between 2 and 3).



The war ends, and Myria is sealed. Years pass. The events of BoF1 occur.



Ryu1's interbreeding with Nina1 caused a dilution of power in the Wyndian line that, over generations, removed their ability to fly (another reason I believe 4 happened before the others - in 2, the number of flying Wyndians was very limited, and in 3, there were none, and the wings seemed purely decorative).



With the Dragon Clan shattered by the events of BoF1, they subsided, and the events of BoF2 occured.



Now, I actually suspect that BoFDQ belongs between 2 and 3, if it needs to be placed in the timeline. I think it may pertain to the 'Machine Age' mentioned in BoF3.



Before the Machine Age, though (or perhaps leading up to it), there was a massive purge of the remaining members of the Dragon Clan, called the Brood by their enemies, Myria's worshippers.

The dragons were hunted down and killed, their remains decaying into chrysm.

A pregnant dragon was killed, and as this dragon decayed into chrysm, its child was preserved from the purges and the ravages of time.



Enter two chrysm miners, and the events of BoF3, culminating in Myria's destruction.



That's my take on the timeline issues. There are some minor supporting arguments as well -



Dragnier, which exists in 1, 2, and 3, but is only necessary if there is a family of dragons in existence, and thus, not in BoF4.

The presence of a large desert in BoF4, while it was implicated that the world was becoming fertile again at the end of BoF3.

The absence of gods (other than the Dragon God, and the false worship of St. Eva) in all games but 4.

Wyndian flight abilities.



Anyway, as always, feel free to disagree. I'd love for a legitimate release from Capcom to one day confirm or deny all this.

And here I thought she was just organising a game of canasta.

Eh, maybe Monopoly.

Philip, what the hell are you doing?

Seeing if I could open my mouth wide enough to actually swallow someone.

Right. You're going to cop it for that one.

[+] Kind of Unrelated Out of interest, do you think the filler text is really necessary?

Say, the second text frame in the screenshot above. It doesn't appear in the Japanese. The process has already been mentioned. Does it actually add anything?

I ask, because I'm thinking of trying to write a BoF4 novelisation at some point down the line.

[+] Actual Spoiler In case you can't see it, not worrying about what the landlord said is going to cause a great deal of trouble.

We don't even need to wait long.

[+] Spoiler It's about this time, if you know the story, that the tears start threatening.

[+] Timeline Spoilers This is ironic if my timeline interpretation is correct, because it would mean that that's exactly what Deis ended up doing, minus the becoming a dragon part.

Phew! I think I need a cigarette after that! Except I don't even smoke...Anyway, as you may remember, last time we left Ershin (the armour) to return to Chek, and our motley crew were heading westwards to Sinchon, the Arukai Shrine.Chapter II: Passage 8: Dragon' Ourselves Around, or, The Influence of the GodsAs a warning, this and the next few updates may be slightly lower on joviality - plot gets dense here, so it may end up more informational/plot fitting.A few of the enemies we can encounter in the paths and corridors of the dragon shrine.The Fiend is called Baphomet in Japanese - no wiki entry needed, you should know who that is. If you don't, that is the correct spelling.The Bots are called Pochi. The only translation I can find is that it describes the sound effect of pressing a button.Importantly, these are game-breaking enemies. By using a combo attack on them (and not killing them) they burst open, doubling their EXP with no other bad effects.'Why does that break the game?' you might ask. This (and one of its palette swaps, here in the Arukai Shrine) have a cumulative effect. Do it 9 or 10 times, healing them in between turns, and you're looking to gain 5 or 6 levels in one battle.I won't do this, though, because, it ruins the rest of the game. And, I don't have all of my playable characters yet.As we head around the first room, we can backtrack to these Swallow Nests. I finally remember to use all of these stat boosting items, netting some tremendous stat gains as a result.Nina levels up and gains this Wisdom buff ability, which can be used to turn her and any other magic users into dealers of death. This and the Ebonfire skill learned from the enemies in Ershin's mind make a potent combination.Examining the sigil in the wall here raises the two pillars either side of it. For a limited time.This time doesn't elapse while we're in battle, though.We do need to run back through the previous area, and hop across the pillars in this room.Heading through the door at the top will lead us onwards, but before we do that, we need to wait on the left hand pillar for time to elapse.Importantly, we grab some Dragon Scales (temporary defense boosts) from the chest up on the pillars before we get to the far end.The remaining items are in the room behind the back wall.The ProtoBots (whose name adds 'Caspar' or 'Casper' to the Pochi discussed before) aren't quite so useful for EXP gains.3 turns after cracking open, they use Sacrifice, which kills them in exchange for a chance to reduce all front row characters' HP to 1.Before too long, we emerge into the light, to the place where the gods are summoned.Because it's convenient to the plot, the dragons leave a residual aura wherever they go, to add to their massive pillars of light.Philip: I really don't want to go into your mind again, after the last time. I'm still feeling inadequate after seeing that dream of yours.With a line like that, I'm expecting Magypsies or some other horrible effect now, but, as it turns out, we get transmigrated back to Sonne.For additional clarity, Fou-Lu asks, in Japanese, whether this is "a dragon's spirit rising", and "Is the change beginning?"Regardless of whether it is or not, we head out into the fields.Mami: ... Looks like it might be makin' ready t' blow...Everyone is looking anxiously toward the north, at the volcano on whose slopes the village of Sonne was built.The mountain has done a bit more than started to smoke, it's spitting fire.Being a god himself, and with the sudden increase of the dragons' aura, this naturally piques Fou-Lu's interest.Fou-Lu doesn't add a word, but starts walking up the road toward the mountain.Apparently, he feels he can do something to prevent this horrible disaster.The way Fou-Lu says this doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence in this volcano god's capacity to keep living.Now, though, comes something secret, important and amazing.As soon as the above line is said, you leave Sonne. Go straight back in and talk to Mami.This item, one of the only healing items Fou-Lu collects, is almost unknown.It was identified as present in the game code, but very few people know about it.It is so unknown that this Wiki called The Cutting Room Floor , which looks at unused and cut elements from games, lists it as unused. (Third item down in the unused items list)Naturally, I'm quite pleased about knowing about this, and I leave as much of the internet as possible in darkness as to it.Mwa ha ha hah!Now we head up to Mount "Smarter-Than-the-Average-Volcano" Yogy.Fou-Lu is not impressed by the boulder blocking the path, and promptly obliterates it from existence.Some of the enemies on the mountain. For the first time, if you misplay this, Fou-Lu can be at risk.The Lavoids (Mantle, as in the layer of the Earth from which magma comes) pose no threat, but the Bilbao do.Their move Blitz (which we promptly learn) is a breath attack, and thus varies with their remaining HP. At full HP, even with Fou-Lu guarding to learn the move, it still took away a decent chunk of HP.It damages the user a little bit, too, but that damage is small comfort if you've caused the death of an invincible god through incompetence or bad luck.There are also Cairns, which have extremely high defense and stay buried in the ground not doing anything for the most part, and Black Goos, which have high end magic, but usually don't hang around long enough to use it.If you didn't learn Ebonfire from Ershin's Mind, though, these guys will use it for you to learn.After a winding maze, in which I deliberately ignore treasure chests so that Philip can grab them later on...We come across the god of the mountain.Fou-Lu makes even stronger his disdain for this creature by saying that it is pretending to be a god, or misrepresenting itself as a god.The giant boulder with the tree in its head doesn't seem impressed. The insult "chibi" is well known in anime circles, and just means small, but can be pipsqueak, midget, anything of the sort.Monologue time!Fou-Lu continues: ... so maketh you a god yourself. Thou hast been affected by our and the others' power, that is all.And, in plain English (or Japanese, ironically): The rising of the dragons' spirit has influenced this being, convincing it that it has become a god.A barbarian boulder and a Chaucerian Emperor walk into a bar...What would be brilliant would be if Fou-Lu's response was: "Nay, creature. Thou art the one whose speech is impaired."This is a central theme. I forget if I've mentioned this already.Does the world need gods? Fou-Lu seems thoughtful enough to try and provoke an answer from the stone.The first text box, the rock asks Fou-Lu if it's being made fun of by him.The second is unmistakable, though.Scripted Battle 20: Rock Cairn (Marl), and his kin, Klod (Andrew) and BellwydThis. Boss. Marl is powerful. Marl will butcher even Fou-Lu if you don't take care.His first move is spent using the Summon Kin move (which should be 'Summon Cairn').Then, Marl and his buddies clobber us.Marl knows high level earth attacks, and has a powerful physical attack.Klod knows low level earth attacks, and has a physical attack it uses, too.Bellwyd knows assistant and healing magic, so I obliterate him as soon as I transform into the dragon.Still, this is a hard-fought battle, and Fou-Lu's dragon form has less than 300HP when I finally finish off Marl.Fou-Lu: ... powerful and dangerous, and doth cause those beings easily influenced by it to think themselves gods...Interestingly, Fou-Lu doesn't mention gods in this speech in the Japanese, saying instead that even monsters affected by the dragons' aura/energy/spirit believe themselves kings of the world.This is much deeper than it seems to be. Fou-Lu isn't asking about what humans think about these things. He's asking, since even monsters think themselves kings of the world, what do humans think when affected by the dragons?Anyway, we desperately try to stay alive as we make our way back out of and down the volcano.The landlord is understandably shocked. Here, Mami's supposedly wounded cousin with the head injury has gone and somehow appeased the god of the mountain.This doesn't exactly bode well for Fou-Lu's lying low.Regardless, we get transitioned back to the main party at the Arukai Shrine.Deis now appears in her immaterial form, and the dragons' forms are here as well.One we recognise. The others? Well, we can guess, but how about we find out as we go, hm?Raui, the form that we recognised.Philip: Hey, I still get a stiff neck from that crash landing.Raui: Then thou art a wimp.Philip:Cray:I'm not sure whether all Arukai Dragons are considered as not having a role early on, or whether it's just Philip, being incomplete.It's never made clear either, as Philip is the only Arukai Dragon that appears in this game.I'm not exactly sure where Deis is drawing this reasoning from, either. It seems to me that even with the powers of other dragons, there's no logical way for Philip to become complete unless he meets and combines with Fou-Lu.This dragon, who seems to me to be male, dismisses Deis' reasoning as unfortunate as well, and then comments on her having been summoned without a body. I can't explain this, either, as it almost feels like a jab at an inferior person.These dragons, likely female and male respectively, add nothing that we as the players didn't already know.Missing from what the second dragon says is the fact that Fou-Lu has begun to move to accomplish his goals.Raui continues, saying that the joining with Fou-Lu will cause Philip to become complete as one of the Unfading Ones, and we now lean into another theme that BoF4 exploits and constantly pulls back to: that of fate, or unavoidable destiny, being the driving motivation behind Philip and Fou-Lu's actions.Deis spits the word "Ridiculous" at the assembly of powerful immortal beings, adding:Deis: ... That's why we called you -- to help us prevent that from happening!At this point, Nina, who is apparently too airheaded to stay out of arguments between gods, decides to pass comment.Incidentally, 'meeting' in the English is in a physical sense: melding, combining, joining, etc.Deis persists in addressing Nina by the diminutive 'little bird'.In case we've missed this highly vital plot point, they go over it here. As we recall, the pillars affect each other, with bigger ones influencing or even obliterating the path of smaller ones.Deis: ... who built the Empire and has been alive for centuries. Whose light do you think is bigger? Is stronger?Philip: Mine. Of course. I'm the god of war, remember?Cray: I... I don't think so, Philip.Cray:Philip:Deis: We're talking about the pillars of light, you dope.Raui: ... It matters not which becometh a god, does it not?Hey wow. Glad I didn't need to screencap that, because it's a really convoluted sentence.Far simpler to say: "Does it matter which becomes a god?"This causes shock reactions all around - from each of the dragons, and from the party. This agenda apparently wasn't known before this moment.Deis: Damn right I would! I'd use my own powers if those Imperial Idiots hadn't stuffed up my transfer.Philip: Deis, I promise, if you need to use me for your benefit, I'll understand.Nina:Deis: ... They make us work for their benefit!Deis: It's not nearly sexy enough! How can I attract hordes of worshipful admirers to sate my needs in this!?And, off the dragons' shock...Back to Sonne.Fou-Lu: Then, clearly, I'm not just anyone. I'm Ron. With the head injury. And the news program.Fou-Lu has nothing to say to this. It's not his lie, and he's now sufficiently emotionally attached to Mami not to cause her trouble.Mami: ... We should just be glad that th' mountain's quieted down... Right?This distraction seems to work, and it's true. Fou-Lu has saved this peasant village an unfortunate fiery death.Fou-Lu: Hm, what was that? Oh, um, yes, tired, yes, um, sure, rest, ow, head, sore.Mami: Mmhmmyep. Go on back home.In the Japanese, this is almost an exact restatement of what Fou-Lu told Mami out in the fields - that she shouldn't be concerned with him any longer.Certainly, the implication is a fairly involved relationship.The screen fades to black on this comment about Mami's thankfulness, and time passes to the next morning.Fou-Lu: ... unnoticed by yon soldiers...Merde. The landlord has let the army know about us.Weirdly, sirrah is highly improperly used here. It was a form of address to inferiors, and expresses impatience and contempt.I think the translation department were reaching to keep the peasant drawl going.We run back to the house rather than using our divine powers to mow a path through the soldiers.Fou-Lu: ... Defeat yon troops and make mine way to Chedo... And yet...An extra element in Fou-Lu's internal debate here - he feels his smashing through the soldiers would cause a retaliatory strike against Sonne.He actually asks himself why he shouldn't let the soldiers throw down the village.You scum sucking bottom dwelling swollen anal gland. How dare you sell me out.Not only has he sold Fou-Lu out, he's also turned the village against us.Except for one young woman.On my first playthrough, I actually thought she'd come to brain Fou-Lu with the piece of 2 by 4, but, instead, Mami uses it to barricade the door shut.Fou-Lu: ... What whilst thy fellows think of thee?Or, more accurately, "Won't they look upon you with contempt?"That is, that Fou-Lu is not a normal person.The manga actually touches on this interaction with a little bit more depth. While Fou-Lu was sleeping, Mami went to change his bandages, only to find him mostly healed.The soldiers start trying to bash the door down as Mami pours her heart out to Fou-Lu.Mami has been strengthening herself around this impossible dream since Fou-Lu's arrival.Not only that, but she feels that she has brought this down on herself and Fou-Lu by asking him to stay.Turns out that, maybe as a symptom of the same problem that made the room fill with smoke (or maybe a solution to that problem, even), there's a crack in the back of the oven big enough to get through.Slightly off, but not much. Mami doesn't tell Fou-Lu not to be seen - going to the shrine is to avoid being found.We can leave at this point, but if we talk to Mami once more... Just one last time...She doesn't really say much, but these are the last words Mami will get to say to Fou-Lu.Fou-Lu turns around to look back at Mami, and then is gone, through the crack.Seconds later...Within two sentences, General Yohm is questioning Mami on the nature of her relationship with Fou-Lu. The implication of an intimate relationship here is again strong.I'm sure you remember what's involved in using the Carronade. It would have been kinder to run Mami through before leaving.Very little still to do in Sonne, so we continue events at the Arukai shrine once more.This dragon: ... once our time as gods hath passed, we become as you see us now -- dragons.There you have it - unequivocal proof that the dragons are the faded remnants of the gods.Scuba dragon again refers to the fact that fate drew them here and dictate their actions to follow.I'll mention it here again, but pretty well whenever the 'help' from the dragons is spoken of in English, the Japanese is reading 'lend us your power'.Deis: ... I for one have no intention of turning into some ugly dragon and spending the rest of my days watching over this stupid planet!This struck me as rude from this female dragon. Verily means truly, and it's not exactly nice to describe someone's faults in this way.The Japanese is much gentler. This dragon is using the fact of the imperfect summonings as a reason to justify Deis' nonconformance with dragon protocol, as well as Deis' own blatant rudeness.Read: "We're ready and willing to help." A remarkably good Old Englische interpretation of the Japanese here - I can heartily commend the translators. For this sentence, anyway.This dragon: ... That destiny cannot be avoided!Deis: Unless of course you die in battle. Or drown. Or fall off a cliff.Philip: Your faith in me is... touching.Nina: We need to find your true bodies!?Philip: No way. I'm not ever going in a gondola again, even if it does mean I get Raui's power.This... might actually be a useful question to have asked, for a change.Ah, so this is the Sand Dragon that ruined Cray and Nina's sandflier at the start of the game and set this all in motion.He actually says: "I was in the wrong" in the Japanese, and, since we're working with streams and influence and such things, we have no choice but to accept his apology and take him to task for it at another time.Most of the dragons get beamed back up at this point, but Raui stays behind, prompting the first bit of optimism this game has shown in a long time.Raui: But, what will probably happen is you will be absorbed before you get a chance to use it. Oh well.Obviously, the summoning was somewhat less traumatic for the ancient dragons, but, especially for the first one or two summoned, I could well imagine that thoughts of home would have been present.To plumb the depths of the belief in fate lined up for this game would take a very, very long time.Raui actually seems to agree with Deis in both languages, though stronger in the Japanese: "That (the wish to return home, and the inability to), Deis, is what you call with hatred 'fate'".A copper outline of Raui's true form appears, and its power sinks into Philip.Great Holy Heaven is the name of this ability in Japanese, and upon our receipt of it, the Wind Dragon disappears.Now, I've decided not to show all of the dragon moves off myself, though I'll present some of the more relevant ones.Truth is, they never really seem to play a big part for me - I end up using dragon comboes and high end physical attacks far more frequently.Thusly, I provide this link , where someone else has kindly recorded all of the dragon form attacks, as well as the dragon summons attacks.Understand, though, that this might constitue spoilers if you've never played before.Cray: That's not what they said, Deis.Nina: Maybe, they were content to help out?Nina: ... What about you, Philip?Philip: Please don't make this about me. I have a headache from this new power. It sounds like there's a hurricane in there.Deis: What would you do if you were suddenly pulled into some world you'd never even heard of, and asked to become their god?I don't know about you, but I would demand good food and wine as sacrifice.Deis' reaction here is the sound of a sigh.With this, we can backtrack through the Arukai Shrine, and emerge back onto the World Ma...Actually, we can't. As we leave the Arukai Shrine, we're interrupted by other events.Therefore, there's no camp dialogue this update!Join me next time, as we continue and conclude the chapter.Expect: (funnily enough) dragons! empires! felines! anguish! torture! and, because of the way I handle an upcoming event, a suicide attempt!With your appetites whetted, see you then!