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Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox. Do not read it if you have not played the game and intend to do so in the future. |
Zola Guesclin (ゾラ・ゲクラン) is an alchemist capable of creating Homunculi. He appears twelve, but has lived over 500 years pursuing his magnum opus.
History[]
He was the second-in-command of Rosvita's army. Deeply in love with the saintess, he threw himself into the research of alchemy in order to find a way to revive Rosvita after she was framed by the Gllia royal family and burned at the stake.
Although he managed to successfully create the homunculi, he became sick and tired of watching his beloved Rosvita and comrades fight endless battles against the lemures. 15 years from the beginning of Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, he concealed himself from Aprilis and began his plan to permanently resolve the Grimwald Nox.
To that end, he enlisted the aid of Chatelard and Dr. Noah and started collecting the memories of many talented people in the world. He took a special interest in Adol, who had experiences with many divine beings, and tasked Chatelard with arresting Adol, setting the events of the game in motion.
In Games[]
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox[]
Throughout the majority of the game, Zola is content to stay in the background and work on his magnum opus, only interacting with others at brief intervals.
Zola only reveals his true identity to the party at the end of Chapter 8 after Chatelard's demise and teleports away after cryptically remarking that soon there will be no need for monstrums to fight in the Grimwald Nox.
In order to find out what Zola is planning, Adol and his party storm Zola's laboratory which is hidden within the Grimwald Nox. In the Grand Chamber of Alchemy, Zola greets them and reveals his plan to make a god-like entity that can fight the lemures in the monstrums' stead. Fusing the memories of the people Zola collected in the prison with the transcendental wisdom Adol gained from his adventures, he manages to create Atra Nox Philius, the being that is said to be superior to the gods.
Unfortunately, once Zola orders Atra to become the guardian of the Grimwald Nox, Atra attempts to destroy Balduq in its entirety, as he concludes that the negative emotions of the people of Balduq are threats to the rest of the world. Seeing the error of his ways, Zola tries to cease Atra's functions only to be stabbed in the back. Nevertheless, while monstrums fight and distract Atra, Zola manages to recover and destabilize the force that holds the man-made god together, allowing the monstrums to destroy him. The benevolent entities that made up parts of Atra, once freed, help Adol end the Grimwald Nox permanently.
Having fulfilled his goal of stopping the Grimwald Nox, Zola gives up his alchemy research after making a real human body for Anemona and lives out the rest of his days peacefully with Aprilis.
Real World analogue[]
- Zola is an analogue to Gilles de Rais, a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc, who became an alchemist after Joan's death.
- His last name was likely inspired by Bertrand du Guesclin, a French military commander during the Hundred Years' War.
Character Notes[]
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Zola Guesclin
【Ancient Alchemist】
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He's completely unfought, unlike most antagonists.
- He is one of the few antagonists that did not die or perish after defeating the final boss.
- Maybe this is due to the fact that he did not fuse with a powerful entity to make himself a god like other antagonists.
- He interacts with the party throughout the game as the custodian in front of Dandelion before disclosing his true self at the end of Chapter 8. This is foreshadowed by his commentary that Doll reminds him of his long-lost daughter.
- He has several similarities with Jabir from the non-canon PS2 remake of Ys V: Kefin, Lost Kingdom of Sand. Jabir in that version of the game made clones of the living with alchemy and one of his main goals was to create a divine being, which in this case was a clone of the Eldeen.