The Biblical References in Azure Striker Gunvolt

Gunvolt is chock-full of references to various different mythologies, folklores, and religions. For example, did you know that almost every single gun is named after a creature or character from Greek, Hindu, Japanese, and even Irish lore? What I find particularly interesting, though, are the numerous biblical references that appear throughout the game. This post will cover the main things I've discovered in this regard so far.


- The Sumeragi Adepts -

I think this one is the most obvious. Each Sumeragi Adept has one of the Seven Deadly Sins as its theme. The Seven Deadly Sins is the classification of vices in Christian ethics that has been used since early times. They consist of the following: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Viper's theme is wrath, Carrera's is greed, Merak's is sloth, Jota's is pride (which is kinda weird since he's so humble and respectful around Nova...), Zonda's is lust, Elise's is envy, and Stratos' is Gluttony. Pretty straightforward!


- The Triple-Sixes in Zonda's Stage -

This one's also pretty obvious. As a lot of you probably know, 666 is the number of the beast mentioned in the Book of Revelation and also commonly associated with the Devil. The number appears several times on signboards throughout Zonda's stage. That said, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of relevance behind its inclusion. I mean, this level is where you encounter Copen, who's rather obsessed with the words "freak" and "monster", but I don't think that counts. The only thing I can really conclude is that Zonda's stage is supposed to represent the culmination of the Seven Deadly Sins (which can be linked to the Devil), since it's the last of the seven adept stages. It's hard to say, though.


- Babel and Firmament -

Babel is the large elevator in Gunvolt that you're required to ascend near the end of the game. It's where you undertake the boss rush that's so famous in many Mega Man titles. Babel was also the name of the orbital elevator in Mega Man X: Command Mission, but that's not what this name is a reference to. The Tower of Babel was a massive structure mentioned in a story in the Book of Genesis. According to this story, after the Great Flood, a united humanity of the generations, speaking a single language, came to the land of Shinar to construct a huge city and tower that would pierce the heavens. Through this act, they hoped to "make a name" for themselves, lest they "be scattered over the face of the earth".

However, upon seeing the people's intent, God confounded their speech so they would no longer understand one another. As a result of this, the people were forced to abandon construction on the tower and city, and they spread throughout the Earth.

There are quite a lot of similarities here between this tower and Gunvolt's. The Babel elevator is located in the Sumeragi building, which is essentially the Tower of Babel (just look at it). Sumeragi provides humans with an adept-safe haven, which quickly becomes the capital of the whole world, similarly to how the builders in Genesis wanted their tower and city to house the entirety of the human race. The Babel elevator also leads up to an area known as "Firmament", similarly to how the Tower of Babel was planned to pierce the heavens.
On that note, the word "Firmament" itself is actually another biblical reference. According to the creation narrative in Genesis, "Firmament" was the name given to the barrier that separated the "waters above" the Earth from those below, i.e. the sky.


- GV's Hair -

GV's Flashfield is channeled through his hair. The bullets that he uses in his guns aren't actual bullets, but darts made of strands of his hair, which are coated with a special, highly conductive metal. This is how he's capable of directing electricity through them, once he's "tagged" an enemy. According to one of the loading screen descriptions in the game, "Power is drawn from Gunvolt's body, eliminating the need for an onboard power source. Only low-voltage leads are fired; a 'tailplug' between the weapon and GV's hair handles septimal amplification of the resulting discharge."

The concept of GV's power stemming from his hair is a possible reference to Samson, one of the last judges of the ancient Isrealites. According to the Book of Judges, Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies and perform heroic feats, such as killing a lion, slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of a mule, and destroying a pagan temple. The secret of his strength lay in his long hair, without which he was powerless. For this reason, he never shaved or cut it. Eventually, however, his enemies induced a woman named Delilah to find out the secret of Samson's power so they could capture him, a task which she accomplished. After shaving his seven locks, Samson's enemies were able to finally imprison him. 

His hair began to grow back over time, though. One day, as his enemies assembled to offer a sacrifice to one of their most powerful deities for having delivered Samson into their hands, they summoned Samson to entertain them. While Samson was being led to them on the roof, he told the servant who was holding him to let him lean against one of the temple's supporting pillars. With his regained strength, Samson pushed the two main supporting pillars with all his might and the structure "fell on the lords and all the people who were in it".

In the Gunvolt backstory, GV is captured and experimented on by Sumeragi for the electric septima gene. He completely destroys the Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology after one such experiment, similarly to how Samson brings down the temple of his enemies after being captured by them. The main difference here is that Samson himself dies in his act of vengeance, whereas GV manages to escape alive.


And that's pretty much all I've managed to come up with! If you found this article interesting, please let me know and I may do more!