The only point is at the end of my sword, fool!
― Albel to Fayt Leingod
Albel Nox (アルベル・ノックス, Aruberu Nokkusu?) is a main character from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time and an Elicoorian swordsman from the Kingdom of Airyglyph. Also known by his title of Albel the Wicked (歪のアルベル, Hizumi no Aruberu?) for his ruthlessness in battle, he is the leader of the Black Brigade, one of three branches of the Glyphian military forces.
Entries[]
- Dictionary
- Till the End of Time: Albel Nox, Albel Nox (Part 2), Albel the Wicked
- Profile
- Birthplace: The Kingdom of Airyglyph, Elicoor II
- Birthday: December 31st, 748 S.D.
- Captain of the "Black Brigade"—one of the three military factions in the Kingdom of Airyglyph. He was involved in the war against the neighboring Kingdom of Aquaria in the 700s (S.D.)
- Albel is a firm believer that strength is justice, and his relentless pursuit of power has earned him the name "Albel the Wicked."
- While he initially saw Fayt and his companions simply as worthy opponents, he has come to acknowledge their remarkable skill and is even known to take their opinions into consideration.
Story[]
Background[]
On December 31st, S.D. 748, Albel was born in Kirlsa to an unnamed woman and Sir Glou Nox. Albel's father was the captain of the Dragon Brigade, the wielder of the Sword of the Crimson Scourge, and a revolutionary political reformer who collaborated with his closest friend, Count Woltar, to install Airyglyph XIII as new King of Airyglyph. as well a new merit-based military system.
Albel was mischievous as a boy, as revealed by one of Count Woltar's maids, who mentions that Albel used to play at Woltar's manor as a child and was often scolded by Woltar for misbehaving.
Circa S.D. 739, at age 15, following in his father's footsteps, Albel ventured to the Urssa Lava Caves[1] to take the Accession of the Flame ceremony and join the Dragon Brigade. However, he was unable to release his own individual feelings and commune with the spirit of the Air Dragon that tested him. The dragons breathed their fury upon him. Albel would have died for his hubris, but his father shielded him with his own body and bore the brunt of the flames. Glou died, while Albel survived but lost his left arm.
Count Woltar came to look after the young Albel. Due to his talents in swordsmanship and one-on-one combat, Albel began to be compared with Duke Vox and to be rated rather highly by the king himself. Despite his young age, Albel was named the leader of the Black Brigade, with Shelby serving as his second-in-command.
War with Aquaria[]
The group meeting Albel.
Sometime during the war between Airyglyph and Aquaria, Albel, as captain of the Black Brigade, is elevated to general commander of the forces invading the Kingdom of Aquaria, and plays a principle role in the recent destruction of Aquarian towns such as Arias.
Albel first encounters Fayt Leingod, Nel Zelpher, and Cliff Fittir at the Black Brigade headquarters, the Kirlsa Training Facility, after Albel's second-in-command, Shelby, imprisoned Nel's kidnapped subordinates Tynave and Farleen only to be killed by Fayt, Cliff, and Nel in their rescue efforts. Unbeknownst to Albel (at the time), Vox was secretly conspiring with Shelby to demote Albel as Captain of the Black Brigade and promote Shelby in Albel's place. After Vox's troops captured Farleen and Tynave and imprisoned them at the Kirlsa Training Facility, one of the guards near Count Woltar's mansion mentions that Albel was stuck in a meeting with Vox and Count Woltar. A Kirlsa resident later states that Vox was seen after this meeting flying back to the Royal City of Airyglyph with a "self-satisfied smirk" on his face. Shelby later boasts that Vox purposefully detained Albel "longer than necessary" so that Shelby could singlehandedly execute Tynave and Farleen, capture Nel, and seize Fayt and Cliff, all but ensuring his promotion to Black Brigade Captain. Albel, who has a personal policy of not fighting those he deemed "weak", merely mocks Nel's group before deciding to let them escape. Albel leaves to report the defeat of Shelby, his political rival.
Albel is later encountered in the Bequerel Mountain Path, where he intercepts Fayt, Cliff, and Nel who had attempts to sneak out of Airyglyph territory with copper ore. This time, he attacks Fayt, Nel, and Cliff. After he is defeated, Fayt decides to spare his life with the same excuse used by Albel at the Training Facility ("Easy wins have never been my style"), and the trio leave Albel laying in the dirt, bleeding out and within an inch of his life. Unfortunately for Albel, after letting the valuable Aquarians escape twice, Duke Vox levies treason charges against Albel, claiming that his repeated failure was because Albel was actually a traitor, rather than an incompetent. The ploy works, and Albel is imprisoned in the dungeon for treason against the King of Airyglyph.
Post-war[]
After the Vendeeni attack which kills Duke Vox and inadvertently ends the war between Aquaria and Airyglyph, Albel is pardoned from the dungeon and dispatched with Fayt, Cliff, Nel, and Maria Traydor's group as a representative of Airyglyph to the Urssa Lava Caves where Crosell, otherwise known as "The Marquis" or "The King of Dragons," resides to formally request that he assist the formerly warring countries against the Vendeeni. If Fayt is tells Albel that he doesn't hate him during a PA event spent during a night in Peterny before embarking for Urssa Lava Caves, Albel becomes the first optional party member recruited into Fayt's team, and will show up at the Kirlsa Training Facility during the Vendeeni trade between Fayt and Robert Leingod, destroying the transport jammer before being shot at by a Vendeeni Disrupter Rifle. Once treated for his injuries on board the Aquaelie, Albel joins Fayt on his journey to Moonbase and beyond, saying that he needs to find excitement somewhere else since the war is over and Vox is dead.
If Albel is not acquired then, he may be recruited upon the return to Elicoor II considerably later in the game if Peppita Rossetti did not join Fayt's band. But in this case, Fayt must fight Albel one on one in order to recruit him. Woltar will say that Albel is in the Urssa Lava Caves where the group fought Crosell. Fayt can fight Albel multiple times, however his boss HP doubles, then triples, with each subsequent try. If he is defeated, Albel "forces" himself into the group, saying "All right fools. Let's go." before the others decide whether they want Albel or not. Fayt can accepted or reject Albel's recruitment at this time, but if Fayt defeats Albel a second time after rejecting him the first time, Albel will truly force himself into joining Fayt's group and becomes permanent, whether the player wants him or not, unless Fayt's party is already full, in which case Albel will remain in the Urssa Lava Caves and can be fought at any time.
If Albel is recruited first, he can later obtain the Sword of the Crimson Scourge, a magical, sentient sword Glou previously wielded that corrupts the mind of everyone the Scourge deems unworthy. At one point before the war with Aquaria, Duke Vox attempted to wield the Crimson Scourge, but the Scourge rejected him. Airyglyph XIII later claims Vox "fell in part under its sway." The Scourge's mental corruption likely played a role in Vox's subsequent decision to wage war against Aquaria. Albel decides to try his hand at wielding it, saying that if he fails, then he was simply unfit to protect Elicoor II against Luther Lansfeld's threat. The Crimson Scourge chooses Albel as its new master after Albel successfully answers its question "What is it that you hate?" Albel answers that he hates nothing more than himself - citing his inexperience, selfishness, arrogance, suspiciousness, rebelliousness, jealousy, and impotence.
After Vox's death at the hands of the Vendeeni, one Dragon Brigade knight strongly backs Albel as Captain of the Dragon Brigade. However, the practicality of this is unclear, since Albel failed his Accession of the Flame ceremony and therefore does not have a pact with a dragon.
Post-game[]
During Albel's solo ending, Albel sends a six-man investigative team to scope out catacombs discovered underneath the dungeons of Airygylph Castle. When the investigative team goes missing, Albel enters the catacombs to recover their bodies. There, he meets a demon named Romero, King of the Dead serving under Folstar, God of the Underworld. Romero admits to have turned the investigative team into mute servants and threatens the same fate to Albel. The two battle.
Albel's fate is unknown, but in a developer interview,[2] the developers merely remark that "Albel is not as strong as Luther." Additionally, if Albel is never recruited as a party member, Albel and Romero are available as a paired boss fight in the post-game dungeon Urssa Lava Temple, suggesting perhaps that Albel loses the fight if he was never recruited to travel the stars with Fayt and company.
During Albel's paired ending with Fayt, Albel is seen exploring new lands on Gaitt with Fayt. They get lost, and Albel insists on finding a town or village to avoid camping out another night because he's tired of being "kicked and woken up." Fayt, frustrated, tells Albel that he's the one being woken up to the sounds of Albel "screaming all night long" during his constant nightmares, which Fayt calls annoying. Fayt claims it's Albel's fault they're lost to begin with, since Albel provoked the lord of the last town, preventing the two from purchasing a map. Albel and Fayt each assume a battle stance, ostensibly to fight each other, but it is soon revealed that they have been followed by combatants from the previous lord's town looking to prolong the fight. After the battle, Fayt complains that Albel should've gone easier on the combatants, to which Albel responds "lessons cannot be taught by a gentle hand."
Profile[]
Albel wears a clawed gauntlet over his left arm, which functions like a prosthetic after his arm was severely burned as a result of a failed attempt at a partnership with an air dragon. He prefers to take no prisoners and leave no survivors in battle, a lack of mercy that explains his nickname "Albel the Wicked." However, Albel has a policy of not fighting those weaker than him, such that he let Fayt, Cliff, and Nel go without a fight when he first met them, Albel later admits that he fights not just for personal aggrandizement, but "to put everything he has into bettering Airyglyph," like his late father.
Albel is often stoic, and what he says is often curt, rude, or threatening; he often refers to others as "maggots," "worms," and "fools." Given Albel's propensity for verbal meanness, the men that serve under him vastly prefer his second-in-command, Shelby. However, journeying with Fayt's group slowly opens Albel up to feel begrudging respect, camaraderie, and responsibility towards his comrades (for example, one of Albel's incapacitation quotes in battle is "I'm sorry.")
Glou's death caused Albel to have survivor's guilt, as he thinks that he did not deserve to be saved. It is indicated that he keeps others at arm's length, so that no one will have to sacrifice themselves for his sake again.
Albel seems to soften up considerably when the topic of deceased fathers comes up. In response to Albel's casual threats on the citizens in Arkives, Fayt mentions the recent death of his father, Robert, to which Albel apologies and says he hates "talking about this kind of thing." Albel's paired Urssa Temple scene with Fayt explicitly describes Albel as an "old softie" inside.
Albel has insight into and detests his own personality flaws. Albel is recruited first, he can later obtain the Sword of the Crimson Scourge, a magical, sentient sword Glou previously wielded that corrupts the mind of everyone the Scourge deems unworthy. The Crimson Scourge chooses Albel as its new master after Albel successfully answers its question "What is it that you hate?" Albel answers that he hates nothing more than himself - citing his inexperience that makes him a failure in battle, his selfishness that prevents him from accepting others, his arrogance that makes him look down on the weak, his suspicion-filled heart that distrusts the King, his rebelliousness that prevents him from cooperating with others, his jealous nature that makes him envious of those superior to him, and most of all, he hates himself for the death of his father, "brought by [his] own impotence."
Gameplay[]
Albel in-battle.
In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Albel is fought as a boss at the Bequerel Mountain Path. He later joins the party before the journey to the Urssa Lava Caves or during the return to Elicoor II after the events at the Moonbase. He uses katanas in battle and has decent attacking power, but his defense is relatively lacking since he can only equip chain mail armor.
In Star Ocean: Anamnesis, he is also a playable character and has four variants: "Albel", "Dark Albel", "Were-Albel" and "Demon Albel". All variants are Attackers, and they use blade & sheaths, great swords (his Dark and Demon versions), and axes.
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Albel Nox is named after the character "Alberto Knox" in the 1991 science fiction novel by Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World, which also served as inspiration for SO3's plot (and famous plot twist). In Sophie's World, Alberto is a philosopher, and in SO3, Albel drops the Philosopher's Symbol, a rare item that can only be obtained from Albel after the player defeats him on the third try at the Urssa Lava Caves.
- During early development for SO3, Albel was originally designed as the Moonshadow Clan Chief, a minor enemy boss and leader of the Moonshadow Clan that the party fights in Duggus Forest if the party frees Roger S. Huxley out of his cage.
- Albel confirms that he was born and raised in Kirlsa, and rarely visits the Royal City of Airyglyph unless he has to, because he is "freezing" there. This strongly implies Albel speaks with the Kirlsian accent, as mentioned by Puffy, who says that the accent makes them pronounce the double ff [/f/] sound as "puh" (e.g., Puh-hee instead of Puff-ee).
- Albel's title is "Sir" Albel Nox, distinguishing him as the only non-noble military captain in Airyglyph (his counterparts being Duke Vox of the Dragon Brigade and Count Woltar of the Storm Brigade). Duke and Count are noble titles tied to land, lineage, and hereditary privilege, but Sir is a title of knighthood—a personal merit-based honor that cannot be inherited or passed down. Despite hailing from a storied line of Dragon Brigade captains, neither Albel nor his father Glou are assigned a specific rank of the peerage, indicating the Noxes are not of noble birth and Albel (and his forebears) were individually knighted.
- It’s not clear whether Albel’s left arm is intact, or whether part of it was burned off/amputated. His arm is depicted either as intact (but charred) or amputated at the bicep in some official art.
- Albel has two themes associated with him. The track that plays when the party first meets Albel and during his boss encounters is called "Malicious Fingers". In the first meeting with Albel in Kirlsa Training Facility, after Shelby's defeat, the track played is "The Divine Spirit of Language", which also plays during the postgame boss battle at the Urssa Cave Temple.
- Albel's Hand of Doom is a reference to Black Sabbath's 1970 song Hand of Doom (Black Sabbath also later released the 1978 song, Shockwave).
- If the player talks to Albel in Kirlsa before venturing to see Crosell, Albel reveals that he chose to do his Accession of the Flame ceremony in the Urssa Lava Caves, home to the most powerful air dragons (of course, the more powerful the dragon an initiate selects for the ceremony, the more dangerous the fight needed to succeed).
- Throughout the main series, Albel is the only antagonist to join the player's party.
- The Peterny PA required to recruit Albel as the first optional party member is likely a reference to tsujigiri, which was a practice where samurais would test their katanas' effectiveness by attacking a defenseless person, in many cases in the middle of the night.
- Nel tells Fayt that Albel's "guardian star shines silver" while discussing his fearsome reputation, suggesting that she's analyzed his personality with some kind of Elicoorian "astrology" system. (Likewise, the High Priestess in Castle Aquaria discusses Duke Vox's guardian star in the context of Vox's warmongering tendencies).
- Fayt and Nel are the only characters for whom Albel can reach the Affinity Levels necessary to trigger a paired ending (50+), and Albel -> Nel is the only combination of party members not including Fayt to surpass an Affinity Level of 50.
- In his fourth outfit, Albel has a tattoo of two dragons on his chest based off Gyoro/Creepy and Ururun/Weepy, Ashton Anchors' dragons from Star Ocean: The Second Story.
- On two separate occasions, Kirlsa residents openly gossip about whether Albel is part-Aquarian. Maybe relatedly, Albel's runological casting speed is the fastest in game. In any case, on his father's side Albel comes from a long line of Dragon Brigade captains. So if the gossip is true, then any relation to Aquarians would have to be from his mother's side.
- Despite Albel not being a formal runology practitioner, all Elicoorians have a special ability in their eyes to visually recognize fluctuations in symbological (runological) force in every living or non-living object or activity. The precision with which an individual can discern these fluctuations depends on the amount of genetic blood attributable to Aquaria I, the first queen and Holy Mother from the Ancient Kingdom of Aquor. According to the Church of Apris, the Living Eyes of the Holy Mother are one of the four Treasures of the Gods that allow the Holy Mother and her descendants to see the flow of runological force with precision. These Living Eyes are required to gain mastery of the sacred treasures, including the Legendary Sword of the Crimson Scourge, which Albel and his father are able to wield, implying that Albel is a direct descendant of Aquaria I (versus for example, Nel and Clair whose pedigree is 34%). This is further corroborated by the fact that all Glyphians are the modern-day descendants of former Kingdom of Aquor royalty, due to the initial founding group of Airyglyph comprising of Edyglyph I, her son Airyglyph I, and a handful of young nobles from Edyglyph I's court.
- Albel is called a “pudding with tentacles” due to his hair color resembling flan (and his rattails resembling tentacles) by a Gemity battle presenter, which has come to represent him in fandom and in official art.
- Albel has a soft spot for cats.
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ Albel Nox#Trivia
- ↑ Star Ocean: Till the End of Time -Eternal Materials-