Pernelle Flamel
| Pernelle Flamel | |
|---|---|
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| Japanese Name | ペレネル・フラメル |
| Voiced by | Japanese: Mamiko Noto |
Pernelle Flamel (ペレネル・フラメル) (also written as Perenelle) is a character who originates from Puella Magi Tart Magica: The Legend of "Jeanne d'Arc".
General Info
| Physical Features | |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | Unknown (Historically 1320) |
| Age | Unknown (details) |
| Eye colour | Grey |
| Hair colour | Grey |
| Magic | |
| Soul Gem | Unknown |
| Weapon | Caduceus |
| Witch Form | Hermes Trismegistus (based on) |
| Powers and Abilities | Barriers, teleportation |
| Wish | Unknown |
| Other | |
| Japanese pronoun | watashi (私) |
| Known relatives | Nicholas Flamel (husband), Torte (daughter) |
| Origins | Paris, France |
| School | Not attending |
Story
Backstory
Pernelle is the wife of Nicholas Flamel, the creator of the Philosopher’s Stone (a.k.a. the Sorceror’s Stone). She was not only his wife, but also his collaborator on many of his alchemical accomplishments.
During Tart Magica
Pernelle first appeared in Chapter 7, as Riz and Tart fight off a witch inside a church with Melissa watching on. As the witch aims for the girls, Pernelle places a barrier between themselves and the witch. Riz turns on Pernelle, demanding to know what happened to the people of the now-empty village. She explains that the villagers were all evacuated and assures Riz they share the same objectives and enemies. Pernelle conjures a sword, known as the Épée de Clovis, from thin air with her magic and gifts it to Tart. This sword allows Tart to channel some of her magic into the sword so she doesn’t expend so much of it in battle. After Tart destroys the witch with a single swing of her sword, Pernelle goes on to explain the sword’s connection to Tart and warns her of the dangers of her upcoming path to Orleans. She disappears before their eyes.
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Pernelle would not reappear until sometime later during Corbeau’s defeat at the city of Patay, where Pernelle had conjured a seat floating in midair from where she watched the battle below with Kyubey sitting beside her. After Corbeau’s death in the woods at the hands of her sister Minou, Pernelle appears from behind a tree to the four magical girls to inform them of the French victory. She introduces herself to Riz and Melissa and inquires as to how Elisa is doing. It seems Pernelle is also the one that designed Elisa’s magical rifle. Pernelle also relates to the girls the prophesy that has been surrounding Tart since her public appearance and subsequent victories. Despite Elisa’s doubts of the veracity of a prophesy owing to their victories, Tart also believes that it is the hard work and efforts of the French soldiers fighting to which they attribute their victories. Tart apologizes once she realizes she had raised her voice at Pernelle and asks for forgiveness, but Pernelle only insists that Tart continue to not hold back her true feelings. Pernelle disappears once more, promising they may meet again at Reims. Pernelle was also a part of the group that helped Tart to escape from the prison cell in which Minou held her captive. According to Pernelle, they were not able to rescue Tart right away the way they had hoped due to the recovery of the other magical girls and Minou searching for them everywhere. Despite this, Tart initially insists they leave her there since she doesn’t want the troops or anyone else to lose their life over someone like her, who isn’t worth it. Elisa slaps her across the face and insists those troops are risking their lives for love of her. Pernelle asks if Tart has chosen to go forth and fight for France once more and urges her to go and fight against Isabeau while she tends to Kyubey’s wounds, injured at the hands of Minou. Minou appears with Isabeau a handful of magical girl slaves, ready to execute Tart for the crime of heresy, but Tart and the other girls escape the prison cell and attempt to fight Isabeau. Minou orders the magical girl slaves she brought with her to stop Tart before she can get near Isabeau, but despite this Tart is able to aim an attack at the French Queen. The attack goes right through her to no effect. Isabeau raises her hands and fires a beam of magic directly at her. As the dust settles, Tart looks up from behind her shield to find that Pernelle has blocked the attack with her own magic circle. Tart turns to find Kyubey standing behind her and is glad to see he's alright. Kyubey tells Tart that she may not have the power to get through to Isabeau due to the result of a wish someone made for Isabeau’s benefit. Isabeau rears up and transforms into her witch state Crepuscule de la Reine (Twilight of the Queen). Tart fights the witch queen but despite all her efforts she is unable to harm her owing to Minou’s wish. As her soul gem darkens and threatens to hatch into a grief seed, Riz’s soul gem fuses with Tart and together they are able to overcome the witch. In the aftermath of the battle, Pernelle offers Tart a grief seed in order to purify her soul gem. But she is interrupted by the lamentations of Minou at the loss of her mother. At that moment, Minou transforms back into a normal girl and her soul gem crumbles. Pernelle provides the answers: having been created by an imperfect creator she lost her powers the moment Isabeau was destroyed. Tart offers herself as a prisoner in exchange for the liberty of the rest of her companions. It seems the corruption is too far gone as the grief seed does nothing to purify her soul gem. Pernelle agrees to provide transportation for the French soldiers and opens portals for them to escape through. At Tart’s execution, Pernelle and Kyubey watch the proceedings from amidst the crowd. Pernelle knows that Tart is attempting to remove herself by sacrificing herself so she won't possibly become a witch. Kyubey finds it hard to understand since Tart wouldn't have had to endure all this suffering at the end if she simply accepted her fate. Pernelle asks Kyubey why he doesn't try to change her decision since he disagrees with her choice and would benefit greatly from her transformation into a witch. Kyubey responds that there is no deep meaning behind it. Tart worked hard and did as he asked which was to defeat Isabeau. In exchange, Kyubey is doing as she asks. He asks Pernelle if this isn't what people call an act of gratitude. Pernelle calls it a prayer, and that a prayer is a thought in one's heart towards all that is noble. Kyubey calls humans and their emotions illogical. Pernelle, Melissa and Elisa pray for their holy lady, La Pucelle as the flames begin to consume Tart. Just before the flames consume her entirely, she says, "I want to say to everything in the world...merci vraiment! Thank you!" as her soul takes on the form of a white dove that flies out of the flames. |
Magia Record
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Pernelle played a supporting role in the special event The Chiming Bell that Transcends Time. Her role in the event is similar to that of her role in the manga, where she helps gives valuable information and guidance to Iroha and Yachiyo near the end of their quest to awaken Tart from her magical nightmare. She later appeared in the follow-up event Rebel of a Dawnless Land where she continued in her support role albeit with a stronger presence in the story. In this event, her and Cube kept in regular contact with Eliza and Ui Tamaki and helped guide them, giving them valuable information and providing a means of coordination. Pernelle would continue in her support role for the third Tart event, End of a Legend, the Limits of Light, as well as the fourth, The Masked Student Council Strikes Back. In the fifth installment, The Inheritors of Our Souls, she takes on a prominent role. Her Magical Girl Story explores her actions and mindset surrounding the events of Tart Magica in the form of a memoir. She states that she is a very detached, knowledge-oriented person; her scientific nature coupled with her immortality has led her to a Kyubey-like attitude in which she sees humans and the world around her as mere experimental and observational subjects. All she cared for was exploring the world and its inhabitants in a strictly efficient, rational manner. Isabeau's rise to power, however, threatened the survival of the world; its destruction would put an end to her pursuit of knowledge. While she describes her and Cube's relationship as one of complicity, they agree to work together on an experiment to overthrow Isabeau by finding and engineering a magical girl with karmic potential that could overcome Isabeau's. All of Pernelle's actions from there were strictly to push that goal forward. With Elisa's help, she retrieves the Epee de Clovis from an obscure church where she had stashed it. The sword, associated with the founder of the kingdom that would become France, carried massive karmic weight that would further augment the magical girl they were seeking. In bestowing the sword upon Tart, Pernelle knew she was dooming Tart to a horrific fate, as Pernelle at this point in her life was well-versed with the universe's tendency to correct the balance of hope and despair. While willingly dooming an innocent, virtuous girl without hesitation is alone worthy of condemnation, Pernelle remarks that she has committed even greater sins; that if she and Cube were to reveal their knowledge to the world, it would instigate another war. Even so, Tart was able to make the impossible possible by defeating Isabeau, and even defied her fate of becoming a Witch. She died expressing her gratitude for everything in the world, embracing all of its goods and evils without prejudice - including Pernelle herself. While Pernelle had assumed she had become much like Cube in nature and lacked a heart, she feels remorse and sorrow for the first time in ages (or possibly ever); emotions so unrecognizable to her that she needed Nicolas to remind her of what they were. In her long life, Tart was the only person who created an emotional connection with Pernelle that matched Nicolas's. Pernelle then contemplates her pursuit of knowledge, and decides to commit herself to creating the Philosopher's Stone herself (though Nicolas did have one in his possession as well, which she had been unaware of) - deciding that she, too, wants to achieve the impossible, just like Tart. |
- See also Pernelle in Magia Record
Powers and Abiliies
Pernelle has the ability to create magical barriers. She uses them as shields and platforms. Her appearances in Magia Record demonstrate her profound defensive capabilities, such as effortlessly blocking attacks from Lapin and Minou. Her offensive capabilities, however, require much advance preparation, given that she is reliant upon weapon-making and casting reinforcement magic to maintain an offense.
She also displayed the power to imbue weapons with unique, powerful, and lasting magic, such as those of Elisa and Tart.
She has also displayed the ability to teleport, during which she appears to fade away.
Observations
- Considering her husband is the famed alchemist Nicholas Flamel, and her weapon is a caduceus, it is more than likely that her abilities are alchemical in nature.
- Pernelle states she created the rifle-weapon that Elisa uses as well as the magically endowed sword the Épée de Clovis which she gifted to Tart.
- While the real-world Pernelle's date of birth has been recorded as October of 1320, Pernelle's Magical Girl Story in Magia Record indicates she is much older than that. There, it is revealed that she had created the Épée de Clovis for Clovis I (c. 466-511), the man who would become the first king of the Franks. She also forged weapons his siblings, including Audofleda, who was a magical girl as well.
- Furthermore, she remarks in her Magical Girl Story that Kyubey used to call her "Child of Hermes." Kyubey also reveals that she was born in a cave associated with the god Hermes (which is likely referring to a cave in Mount Kyllini; according to mythology, it is said to be the birthplace of Hermes, and is the most significant cave in legends associated with him). Given this information, as well as the name of her Witch, it is possible that Pernelle was born to the Cult of Hermes, which pursued the discovery of wisdom and hidden knowledge. The figure of Hermes Trismegistus has writings that date as far back as 3 BCE, which relate to astronomy. His first writings connected to alchemy date to 1 BCE. Therefore, as of the events of Tart Magica, Pernelle could potentially be over 1400 years old.
- Hermes was also considered to be the god of writing. In Pernelle and Nicolas's civilian disguises in Paris of the year 1427, Pernelle is said to have an occupation involving manuscripts, furthering her connection with Hermes.
- Given that she has not created the Philosopher's Stone as of 1431, it is implied that her long life whilst maintaining a relatively youthful appearance is the result of her wish, or something she used her magic to create or accomplish, or simply something all magical girls are technically capable of under the right circumstances.
- She first met Nicolas in Europe shortly before the outbreak of the Black Death in the mid-1300s (which is revealed to have originated from a Witch who was a magical girl in Kaffa, who wished to fend off the invasion from the Mongol Empire to protect her hometown and received the power of disease to do so, only to annihilate her town as well, resulting in her despair).
Etymology
- In her Magical Girl Story in Magia Record, it is revealed that Pernelle was not always known as such. Rather, it was a name she adopted for herself due to its meaning of "stone," which she relates to her pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone, and to a magical girl's Soul Gem.
- Her doppel is named after Hermes Trismegistus, a Greco-Roman cult figure that combined the Greek god Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth (which is reflected in the various aesthetic influences of her doppel's design). Hermes Trismegistus worked in the domains of alchemy, astrology, magic, and other occult subjects; the philosophy that developed from his writings is said to have offered "a means of personal ascension from the constraints of physical being."
Gallery
Manga
Pernelle's character bio from Tart Magica volume 4.
Pernelle watches the fight from afar
Official Art
Art of Nicolas Flamel, Pernelle's husband, from Masugitsune's twitter. First appearance
Art of Jeanne Flamel as Magical Girl from Masugitsune's twitter.
Magia Record
Pernelle's Magia Record Profile
Character talk sprite
In-Battle Sprite
Doppel Sprite
