Suikoden's Tenkai Star

Time for a little something that's different. Been reviewing, looking back, and then talking about bad dungeons and what not. Let's look at a certain trait the Suikoden games had. You all know the drill if you've played at least one of these games, gather 108 characters who are the Stars of Destiny to get the best out of the game's ending. And by looking at the tablet, you can gauge which characters you have. But what do those Japanese names mean? What is the correlation for making certain characters under certain particular named stars? Do you notice a trend in which characters with similar characteristics end up on the same star numbers?

This post focuses on the very first of the stars, the Tenkai Star. This is Star #1 on the tablet, the so-called Chief Star of Heaven. Suikosource lists this very star as the one in which the game's main hero is on. And for the most part, that's completely right, as each and every one of the characters on this star for the five main games is controllable by the player on the field. Tir McDohl was the hero in the first game, Riou in the second, Thomas in the third, Lazlo in the fourth, and Prince Freyjadour in the fifth. But not all are equal of course. While these characters are all controlled, there is one outlier in this group.

You see, Thomas isn't the main hero of Suikoden 3, despite being the Tenkai Star. You have three main heroes in that game, any of which can become the Flame Champion, but none of those can be Thomas. Thomas is simply a rich boy that ends up owning a large castle, and said large castle ends up being the main headquarters of course. He gets his own chapter where you play as him, but it's both optional and too short to be of nominal importance as opposed to the stories of Chris, Hugo, or Geddoe. So what exactly is Thomas's connection to the Tenkai Star? I'd say it's because he's a gatherer of the stars. This can easily apply to the other Tenkai Stars in the series as well, but it's Thomas's own castle that ends up being the headquarters. Even when he gives the ownership up to the new Flame Champion in-game, it still counts in a way.

That's what I think the Tenkai Star is about in the Suikoden series. It's not about being a hero, and it may not exactly be about being young either (despite all the Tenkai Stars all being young). It's about gathering the remaining stars under your cause.