Suikoden Interlude
Guys, I feel like I'm running out of steam. Honestly this LP is taking a LOT more work than I ever could have anticipated. Do you realize I have utilized over ELEVEN HUNDRED screenshots so far? That's insane. I mean, I want to do my best to entertain you guys, but I feel like I'm starting to slip as I get near the end and I just want the damn thing DONE, you know? I gotta recharge the batteries, so if you'll permit me to endulge in a little fanboyishness I'd like to introduce you to my hands-down #1 favorite Suikocharacter of all time...

Yay Viki!

So, this post is all about Viki. VIKI! This post is awesome. I can't stop thinking about Viki. She is so cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

You guys may not realize this, but the entire Suikoden series is basically about Viki. Really! The entire setting and plot is pretty much just the backdrop for Viki's amazing adventures through time and space. A lot of the Suiko fanbase likes to get their panties in a wad because some Konami guy gave a nebulous promise about how Yuber and Pesmerga would face off in the last Suikoden game. Man, that's small potatoes. What I'm excited about is how the last Suikoden game is going to be all about Viki .

As a Star of Destiny, Viki is the Chitatsu Star. She is the only Chitatsu Star! Viki appears in all five Suikoden games, a feat unmatched by anyone else except some half-nude tittymonster nobody cares about. Now, all the Stars of Destiny mean something; ○×∆□☆'s Tenkai Star for example is the "chief star of heaven", Mathiu's Tenki Star is the "star of wisdom", Krin's Chizoku Star is appropriately enough the "thieving star". The Chitatsu Star, however, translates very literally to "Viki's star! Forever! Yay!", exclamation points and all.

Remember how at the end of my FF1 LP I talked a little about some time loop that CHAOS and the four FIENDs were stuck in? That was Viki's fault.

The Blinking Rune Part of why Viki is so great is her possession of the Blinking Rune, a one-of-a-kind magic rune that allows her to use teleportation magic. Now, the Blinking Rune may or may not be a True Rune... we don't really know. However, in all five Suikoden games she uses it to ferry Nameless Hero Boy around the world so he doesn't have to walk everywhere like a chump. She's pretty much an airship! Except, instead of a physics-defying flying boat she is a cute girl.

Konami didn't realize how completely great Viki was in the original game (boo), but by Suiko2 they wisened up and gave you the opportunity to assign her to your party (hooray!). In those games, the Blinking Rune it hot-glued to Viki's right hand. Most magic runes have four spells, but the Blinking Rune is too incredible to conform to any silly tradition and only has three: Ready!, Set! and Go!. These spells use teleportation in a variety of ways to damage foes. For example, they will blink in a flower pot or and end table to drop on some unsuspecting bad guy. Sometimes it'll blink all the monsters off to somewhere else (possibly some kid's birthday party). Sometimes if she sneezes just right she'll even vanish herself! But even when she makes mistakes, we forgive her because she is Viki and Viki is great.

Viki Facts:

• Viki's weapon is called the "Wand". After you upgrade it a bit it changes to the "Wow Wand" and ultimately the "Wow Wow Wand". (Except in Suiko5, which just flies off like a dozen handles with "Uwa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wand".)
• Viki is perpetually 16 years old.
• If for some reason you don't like the Blinking Rune (what is wrong with you?) Viki can put a different magic rune on her left hand and go to town. She's got high magic stats and, in Suiko5, a trademark skill called "Chain Magic" which lets her cast two spells in a round.
• Doing a Google Image Search for "Viki" doesn't turn up as many naked ladies as you might expect.
• When Viki teleports you somewhere, she squeals "Shazam!" She does this because she is awesome.
• Sometimes when Viki teleports you she will screw up and you'll end up someplace weird. You'll know when this happens because she'll say "Oops!" instead of "Shazam!"
• Viki aided the Allied Forces during WW2.
• Viki is one of the elite rune mages who can attach a rune to her head, enabling her to use the ultra-powerful Pale Gate Rune.
• Viki sleeps standing up, and mutters "Waffu..." while she dozes off.
• Along with some of her pals (who would later meet her again during the course of Suikoden 2), Viki has the single greatest unite attack in the entire series.
• If Viki were to ever peer into the Blinking Mirror herself, the entire universe would fold up into itself. (She would say "Oops!")
• Viki has experienced all five of the major conflicts of the Suikoden series, but she did so out of chronilogical order. For example, when she and Jeane bathe together in Suiko5 Viki mentions having met Jeane before, even though it's the first time Jeane had met Viki.
• In Suiko1 Viki shares a war unit with Jeane and Hellion. This unit is the second most powerful magic unit, behind Crowley's.
• Viki is the only female character in Suiko5 that doesn't dress like a hooker. (Okay, she shows a little leg, but in a manner that is completely tasteful.)
• Without Viki, the fundamental premise of the Suikoden games simply could not work. Seriously, would any sane player walk everywhere in the world searching for recruits?
• Viki signs all her corrospondence with "Your Viki." However, she has a hard time addressing her letters to the proper person.
• Viki is allergic to celebrations. She always vanishes at the celebration party after you win the game, only to appear in the next game.
• The most awesome way to kill incredibly hard Suikoden bosses like Luca Blight or Yuber is to have Viki drop a chair on them.
• Viki is the best.

Little Viki! In Suiko3 (the final game, chronilogically) a young girl, also named Viki, shows up along with regular ol' airhead Viki. Little Viki is not as super as her big sister(?). She's far too mature, first of all, and doesn't use her Blinking Rune to teleport you around. From what I can gather she was sent out to babysit Big Viki, though outside of their initial scene and a shared unite attack they don't seem to socialize much.

There's a chance that Little Viki is actually a younger version of Big Viki. In fact, I'd say it's pretty likely; practically the only evidence against is that she is the Chisoku Star rather than the Chitatsu, and strictly speaking a person can only be born under one star. Still, if there's a single character in the series who can get away with thumbing their nose at the rules of so-called destiny you can bet it's Viki.

My love of Viki didn't happen overnight. Indeed, I thought not much of her at all through Suiko1, and in Suiko2 didn't extend any thought to her outside of "huh, you can put Viki in your party now, that's weird." Of course, my first time through Suiko2 I completely failed to notice the comments box and so never received any delightful "Your Viki" letters.

I skipped Suiko3 initially because I had no PS2, but heard tales of two Vikis and thought it sounded peculiar. I became intrigued. Eventally news of Suiko4 started trickling out and, when we learned the game would take place 150 years before the others, the obvious question was: how are they going to bring anyone back? Only two characters ended up making the cut from previous games, and one was Viki.

Suddenly I was infatuated with the character. When I went back and replayed Suiko2 I used her to help kill Luca and Neclord. When I eventually moved on to Suiko3 and Suiko5 I made her my top priority when it came to detective research. Every detail about her became like a delicious morsel to be savored rather than gobbled up. I spent hours in Suiko4's confessional waiting for Viki to show up... twice... because I just had to see her reaction to both outcomes. (And yes, I felt incredibly guilty for dropping a crate on her head.)

(The previous three paragraphs were my version of eirikr's Cuchulainn Thing Thread, except it didn't meander all over the place and take me over a month to spit out.)

I hope I have managed to convince you all how great and wonderful Viki is. All this talking about her has really got me super double pumped to play more Suikoden, too! The LP is saved! Thanks for reading! Next update: Dragon's Den scenario!

Oh Viki, I'll fly away with you any time!

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