The Secret of Nu
RabidTurtle August, 2003
In Enhasa, hidden away in one of Belthasar's secret rooms, is a book, titled "The Mystery of Life, vol. 841." Upon perusing the book, the party reads an excerpt from Chapter 26; "All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu...This is the truth! This is my belief! At least for now..." What cryptic message lies herein? Many past players have dismissed it along with Nu as an enigma, but RabidTurtle of OCR holds striking new insight to this passage in Zeal.
- The Mystery of Life" Vol. 841 @ Ch. 26
All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu...
This is the truth! This is my belief! ...at least for now.
Now I'm sure that many people who play Chrono Trigger have found this room already. However, I don't think that they know what it means. I have a theory.
"Nu" is a letter of the Greek alphabet and looks a little like a "v" (and, according to some sources (http://www.cogsci.indiana.edu/farg/harry/lan/grkphon.htm), it is not pronounced in the commonly assumed manner, NEW, but pronounced NEE! However, other sources are consistent with NEW. If it is true that it is NEE, that's pretty interesting, and will cultivate many Monty Python references in future forum posts). Nu, in it's early forms, is closely associated with water (http://www.fonts.com/fontent/fontent_home.asp?nCo=AFMT&con=lettern). In early Egyptian, it was even written as a horizontal squiggly line, resembling water.
Now, knowing that Nu is a symbol of water, integrated into Belthasar's writings, it looks like the following:
All life begins with water and ends with water...
This is the truth! This is my belief! ...at least for now.
It is true, that life begins with water, in two separate interpretations even. Life on Earth is assumed to have begun in the oceans, with prokaryotic organisms (http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/P/Protista.asp). In a less general interpretation, babies survive in amneotic fluid during incubation. This is true for all mammals, and other species, in some form or another (i.e. chickens in eggs with fluid surrounding them).
As for "All life ends with water," this selection of the message is very unclear to me. It has many possibilities. Maybe it pertains to a cadaver's response to death with an action of fluid in the body? It could be related to global warming and apocalypse with waters swallowing all the Earth's land? A reference to Chrono Cross and ANY of it's sea themes that relate to destruction or the end of the world/time is reasonable. The truth is, I don't know, but I do have one idea that stands out from the rest.
In association with the general interpretation for "All life begins with Nu," Belthasar's full message could be the rise and destruction of life itself. There's a slight evolutionary theme in the plots of Chrono Trigger (pre-battle messages during Lavos' final form) AND Chrono Cross (the top room of Fort Dragonia, where theres a mural on the wall depicting evolution, with Lavos changing humanity's course). Water created life, which evolves, and has a large capacity to destroy itself (i.e. nuclear weaponry, plague, etc.). But, pertaining to Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross, Lavos guided the evolution of species, and killed them. Belthasar's final message "This is the truth! This is my belief! ...AT LEAST FOR NOW could be related to Crono changing the future, and Lavos not destroying the world. Very deep, indeed.
It was assumed that because the Fall of Zeal created cataclysmic flooding ("ends with water..."), this is what Belthasar was implying. Zeal's fall does not apply to Belthasar's notes. The book explicitly states "All life ends with..." and not all life ended in 12000 B.C.
A question arose, concerning Belthasar's reference to the future in his notes and my theory. Belthasar postulated the Nu notes prior to his exodus to 2300 A.D., and he may have changed his ideas when he arrived in the new future. However, I believe that he still clings to his original theory, which is more or less symbolized by putting his faith (and programming) into a Nu in the Keeper's Dome. (I would like to credit Ybrik Metaknight for bringing up this question)
Assuming that Belthasar is referring to 1999 A.D. (see paragraph eight), there is a conflict of interpretation. After the Apocalypse, humans survived at least 300 years, Lavos reigned from Death Peak (according to Queen Zeal, who states this if you try to enter the Black Omen for the first time in 2300 AD), and mutants/robots are the primary inhabitants of the planet. Supposedly, all living things would die off during the post-apocalypse, and this includes not only humans, but mutants. Now, the difference in interpretation occurs when robots come into question. When Belthasar wrote "All life ends," was he including robots? Life is primarily defined as:
Dictionary.com: "The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism.
This obviously discounts the belief that robots are alive. However, the third definition of Life is:
The physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence."
This is the Platonic definition of life, which would apply to sentient beings like robots. And although the robots of 2300 A.D. did not have conventional spirituality, the Mother Brain did have a structured belief in creating a world of robots, a "nation of steel." So, in the end, it all depends on what Balthasar's intent was. And since whoever developed Belthasar's little enigma is obviously not on-hand to tell us, we can reach no definite answer as to whether Belthasar meant the biological or Platonic definition of life in his notes. (I would like to credit ifirit for contributing to the basis of this interpretation argument)
There have been many comments and criticisms of my theory on Nus. A number of people believe that I delved too deeply into Belthasar's notebook, and that it was just there to be there. However, I have a basis for going through all of this. Squaresoft, the creator and developer of Chrono Trigger, tends to put life lessons, hidden plot additions, and enigmatic references in every game I can think of. Was the Zack cinema in the Shin-Ra Mansion's basement there just to be there? No. It was a reward for re-visiting a secluded area, and it was a enhanced the overall story of the game. Squaresoft does this countless times its game developing history, and it ranges from revelations from talking with villagers, to secret CG sequences for accomplishing certain feats. Belthasar's book was hidden in a corner of a secret room in Enhasa, Zeal. In addition, it looked like an ordinary book, and could have easily been overlooked. I do believe that there was a definite intention to create an enigma in the book to be solved, and I truly hope that I have at least gone in the right direction in revealing the secret of Nu.
More Nu symbolisms, and water/life/death correlations from the forum discussion at OCRemix:
hhallahh: Actually, in Roman mythos, "nu" was kind of analogous to existence/soul. I learned this in my Humanities course.. look it up for yourself. So when Nu says "All life begins with Nu", he would be correct.
If I could find this, I would agree with it, but I searched the internet and I could not discover this particular nu.
ifirit: there are cultural references to sending the dead into water. The Romans believed that the dead had to cross the river Styx to reach the afterlife. The Vikings often set the bodies out to sea believing that the afterlife was there. Often if diseased or contaminated animals fall into a drinking water supply, all life in the area would become infected too. Thus, killing life to all who drank there. (As how the black plague was carried as well as malaria in South America.) There are even beliefs that the afterlife ends with the introduction of water. Some cultures believe that the souls of the dead cannot cross water. The Chinese must inform the dead that they will cross a body of water before doing so, otherwise the soul might not cross. Even in American folklore, the headless horseman could not cross the Pocantico river when it was high. In a more general sense, some people believe the world will end in ice (water magic in CT) rather than fire (as depicted by Lavos' Day). Take Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice."
"Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice."
Still these are just beliefs and only speculation to what the truth is. Ironically.
and
Akuen: ...the vikings often put the dead the men of importance (like thier chief etc.) into his greatest ship, and filled it with some of his personal stuff, like his clothes, thralls, expensive jewellery, and then they let the ship sail. I don't think they hoped for them to come to *Valhalla, cuz only Vikings who died brave in battle could be chosen by the valkyries to come to Valhalla. not ll of those who died in battle came to Vahalla(I think).
and
StarZander: just wanted to add, that in India they take the ashes of their deceased and throw it into the river Ganges... there are lot's of water-death relations..."
The global symbolism, in all cultures, of water in with life and death reinforces the Nu theory (see paragraph eight).
Evilhead: I think I know the true meaning of the "Nu" passage. You guys keep talking about Latin, but have you ever thought about the fact that this is a Japanese game? There is a VERY famous Zen koan that you guys might be interested in. If you're not familiar to what a koan is, it's a small story, usually a dialogue between a Zen master and his disciples, that reveals some truth about the nature of Zen, often in very confusing ways. In fact, many of these are amusing and comical. Anyway, one of the most well-known Zen koans goes like this: A disiple asked the Zen Master Chao-chou: "Does a dog have the Buddha nature?" The Master replied "Mu!" And this disciple instantly achieved enlightment. Now the meaning of the word Mu is hard to explain, it's literally "not!", and it could be seen to be nothingness, but of course in Zennism there is not simply nothingness, but also simultaneously everythingness, so it's hard to put down it's exact meaning, and I think it varied for everyone. Here's one interesting explanation:
Chao-chou's Dog
The Case
A monk asked Chao-chou, "Has the dog Buddha nature or not?" Chao-chou said, "Mu."
Wu-Men's Comment
For the practice of Zen it is imperative that you pass through the barrier set up by the Ancestral Teachers. For subtle realization it is of the utmost importance that you cut off the mind road. If you do not pass the barrier of the ancestors, if you do not cut off the mind road, then you are a ghost clinging to bushes and grasses.
What is the barrier of the ancestral Teachers? It is just this one word "Mu" -- the one barrier of our faith. We call it the Gateless Barrier of the Zen tradition. When you pass through this barrier, you will not only interview Chao-chou intimately, you will walk hand in hand with all the Ancestral Teachers in the successive generations of our lineage -- the hair of your eyebrows entangled with theirs, seeing with the same eyes, hearing with the same ears. Won't that be fulfilling? Is there anyone who would not want to pass this barrier?
So, then, make your whole body a mass of doubt, and with your three hundred and sixty bones and joints and your eighty-four thousand hair follicles concentrate on this one word "Mu." Day and night, keep digging into it. Don't consider it to be nothingness. Don't think in terms of "has" and "has not." It is like swallowing a red-hot iron ball. You try to vomit it out, but you can't.
Gradually you purify yourself, eliminating mistaken knowledge and attitudes you have held from the past. Inside and outside become one. You're like a mute person who has had a dream--you know it for yourself alone.
Suddenly Mu breaks open. The heavens are astonished, the earth is shaken. It is as though you have snatched the great sword of General Kuan. When you meet the Buddha, you kill the Buddha. When you meet Bodhidharma, you kill Bodhidharma. At the very cliff edge of birth-and-death, you find the Great Freedom. In the Six Worlds and the Four Modes of Birth, you enjoy a samadhi of frolic and play.
How, then, should you work with it? Exhaust all you life energy on this one word "Mu." If you do not falter, then it's done! A single spark lights your Dharma candle.
Anyway, I think the "Nu" might be a reference to Zen teachings, or nothingness, since it sounds very similar. Also, "nu" in Japanese is simply one letter, written ? or ?
Whoa, that was a long one. Anyway, I'll give credit to this one for it's extreme detail and spirituality reference to life, but I don't see how, even though they're similar, Mu could be Nu. And Nu in Japanese doesn't really have a symbolism to it that would apply to Belthasar's notes whatsoever.
Dain: Here is something interesting considering Nu and creation myths. The Egyptian creation myths (which are among the first creation myths) state that in the beginning there was only Nu, an endless expanse of water. Out of Nu came either Atum or Khepri (depending on which myth you look at) who's will created the egyptian gods and evenually the egyptian people. Nu is also a key figure in the Egyptian myth "The Destruction of Mankind" which is a kind of "end of the world" myth. The Egyptians placed Nu at the beginning and ending of all things, much like Balthasar theorized in his hidden book.
ZenthWolf: Hmm... Well, something I haven't seen talked about is actually quite simple.
Think simply of the calendar. It begins and sends during the same season, winter. So, in a sense, even the planet itself begins with Nu and ends with Nu.
Another single point I have has to do with the life/death of a living creature. The only true cause of death, is lack of oxygen to the brain. Every cause of death causes something that keeps oxygen from going to the brain. Asphyxiation (suffication) is an obvious example, as is drowning. Heart attacks work as well, because blood transfers oxygen. I'd also say in starvation or extreme conditions, you eventually just lose the energy needed to pump your heart.
Now, the point to make with the oxygen related note, is the chemical compound of water (H20; and we all know the "2" is supposed to be a sub-script). So, one of the atoms that creates water is the very thing that lets us live, and without which, we surely perish.
And also, for robots. Robots can't function infinitely forver, as Robo proved. Water can be a ~killer~ of machines, in that it makes it metal rust. But there'd have been no machines without water to spawn an organism to make the machine/robot. This is here simply so we need not worry whether or not robots were considered part of "Life."
Akuen: if it can help you at all, then I can tell you that Nu is the 12th letter in the greek alphabet(I know you knew it is greek) how many Nu's appear in the game? maybe that could be an interesting subject to research...
A few people tried counting (namely ZeaLitY and Akuen), but it's actually impossible. Since all Nus look alike, it's impossible to tell whether one has been counted twice (for instance, are one of the Nus in Zeal Palace the same one that is in the hut in 12000 B.C. after the fall of Zeal?) Also, which Nus count? Would you count the Nu that you battle in Enhasa six times, since he becomes six during battle? And would Spekkio be counted when he becomes a red Nu? It's all to convoluded to reach the true number, and the results wouldn't very definitive either.
I appreciate the contributions of everyone who furthered The Secret of Nu thread with relevant discussion on the OCRemix forums. Special thanks go to the following:
- ZeaLitY, for thread bumping, the Nu-counting contribution, posting this compiled version of The Secret of Nu from the OCRemix forums on the Chrono Compendium, and support for my Secret of Nu theory.
- Ybrik Metaknight, for the discussion on Belthasar's reference to a pre- or post-Lavos battle timeline as well as a sub-topic discussion on the bliss of ignorance, and for his support on this and other threads.
- ifirit, for a heated discussion on whether Robo and the rest of the robots are "alive" or not, for his additions to the water/life/death correlations, and for contributing to The Secret of Nu thread.
- Kiyosuki, for an more overanalyzation and life-interpretation contributions, and an appreciation for the Secret of Nimh and Fahrenheit 451 (the latter of which I have yet to read =/ )
- Akuen, for Nu-counting and Greek alphabet contributions, Scandinavian mythology clarification, support for my Secret of Nu theory, and a fine appreciation for the taste of chicken. ^^
- Evilhead, for the extensive Zen koan theory.
- hhallahh, for the Roman mythos theory.
- StarZander, for water/life/death contributions.
- ExcelHyatt, for the life-interpretations contributions.
- Dain, for the Egyptian origin of life comments.
- ZenthWolf, for the seasonal, oxygen, and calendar comments.
- Stratos and Sigma, for the overanalyzation concept.
- and You, for taking the time to read this. ^^ - RabidTurtle
The original forum discussion can be found at the OCRemix forums. The direct thread link is: <a href='http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20207&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0' target='_blank'>http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...der=asc&start=0</a>
ZeaLitY: After this was posted, a few of us began looking into the number of Nu, and whether Nu can be classified as sort of a health gauge for the planet.
One thing has been reappearing in the back of my mind lately; are Nu connected with the planet? Gamefaqs forumers think so, and their main theory is that Nu are sort of a gauge to the planet's health. In 65,000,000 B.C., they are able to exist in the wild; 12,000 B.C., they are still plentiful in Zeal, which holds the best climate. In 600 A.D., we see one (It's unconfirmed whether 65 mil BC Hunting Range Nu is the same one, but since he seems to be isolated from other cultures, it's possible that Nu were at one time a self-sufficient species), and in 1000 A.D., I don't believe one is to be found. This could also go with the general disillusionment and elimination of fantasy that comes with advancement of technology; how strange and unbelievable would it be for a Nu to exist in 1999 A.D., a time of machinery? 'Tis the same as imagining an elf or fairy in present day -- out there. And, of course, in 2300 A.D., a single Nu exists thanks to Belthasar's tender loving care (or reluctance to hit that off switch).
Thus, it may possible that Nu have a direct correlation to the planet, and subsist off its energy, which is gradually drained by Lavos, causing the eventual disappearance of Nu.
Radical_Dreamer: Perhaps the Nu are indeed a system of the planet...to keep an eye on things...by this theory, they aren't needed so much as time goes by...
65,000,000BC: The battle between the Reptites and Humans is coming to a climax...vital to the planet... 12,000BC: The Zealians are using magic, and then Lavos's energy...the planet would need eyes here... 600AD: Frog is really the most important being here...That is why the Nu is there...to make sure Frog accomplishes certain things...e.g. save Leene. 1000AD: Arg....where is that crafty Nu? 1999AD: They were there...I'd bet on it...you just can't see em cause you don't get to explore much... 2300AD: The Nu have all probably left/disapeared, by this point the planet has probably all but given up...it's probably too weak to maintain many Nu...Belthasar's Nu is infact modified...
Ybrik Metaknight: 1000 A.D. Nu: He guards the Sealed Palace and its treasures. However, this may or may not be the same Nu as Belthasar's Nu in A.D. 2300.
ZeaLitY: 65,000,000 B.C.: Perhaps countless, or simply one. 12,000 B.C.: Nine; Ten if one counts the Blue Pyramid guardian. 600 A.D.: One. 1000 A.D.: Blue Pyramid guardian. 1999 A.D.: None we come into contact with. 2300 A.D.: One; Belthasar's assistant. Not present in other lines. End of Time.: One.
In addition to the possible other Nus, there are fourteen Nu that the player comes into contact with. If one excludes Belthasar's robot-like assistant and Spekkio, or rather excludes Spekkio and the prehistoric Nu (which seems to not be very smart in this period), we have 12, which is the number of the Greek letter.
Radical_Dreamer: ZeaLitY, I think you may have forgotten another Nu in 65,000,000 B.C. After you clear "The New King" (Blackbird scenario), a new Nu (sorry) appears in the Laruba ruins...it's the Nu that can change your name and that also has the Silver Rock (for the Frog/Ayla/Robo triple tech). Now, I'm pretty sure this is a different Nu from the Hunting Range Nu, because it acts very differently. In fact, judging from the time of its appearance, I've always sort of assumed that it came from the Ocean Palace, and was just gated to 65,000,000 B.C. after the disaster.
whiteknight: consider that this mystery 13th nu in laruba villiage has the silver rock, this is an interesting clue. all of the other "rock" items that invoke the special triple techs all originated in zeal. The blue and (blue rock is in Giant's Claw. Thanks to Ybrik.)black rocks are on the island itself, the gold rock is in the denadoro mountains (guys protecting the masamune) and the white rock is in the black omen (right?) so if there is a magical silver rock, then it too must have originated in zeal sometime. Next, consider that the Nu only appears in laruba AFTER the crash, which signals to me that he must have been sent there after the ocean palace incident. All told, if you figure that this is the same Nu as before, i still count 12 (excluding the special cases, such as belthasar's robotic nu and spekkkio)
ZeaLitY: Well, when I counted Nu in Zeal, I didn't figure in the two aboard the Ocean Palace (and later the Black Omen). Still roughly around twelve, if we disregard the Blue Pyramid also, since its probably present in Zeal.
In regard to the Laruba Nu, 65,000,000 B.C. does appear to be a reset point in the timeflow. Crono and company end up here after the Lavos summoning in 600 A.D.; the Conservation of Time theorem didn't apply here (since three party members went a different route than Magus, not exceeding the limit of three to a particular gate), thus the choice of where the party arrived probably defaulted to the earliest open strand through time -- the gate to 65,000,000 B.C., which is the first period made accessible by the Entity. Thus, it is understandable that a Nu might have been caught up in the Ocean Palace disaster and warped to 65,000,000 B.C. On a different note, the Entity could be influencing things here (like where victims of such abnormal gate formations end up), but both theories work well. This information can also be found in Ybrik Metaknight's forthcoming article over Magus, which shall cover the 600 A.D. summoning.
Lochtiel: Perhaps this doesn't matter, but I've always questioned who actually wrote the passage about the Nu. People always tell me it was Belthasar, but was it really? I never got that impression from playing the game, and to my knowledge he doesn't sign his name to the piece. Perhaps he found the book and stores it in his library, while it is actually an ancient text from millennia earlier. He may only be analyzing it rather than writing it. In either case it might not be relevant who wrote it as it still has interesting symbolism regardless.
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