Crack theories

[tardar-sauce]

Yeah, a lot of demons have a permanent place in Assiah. But I doubt that's true for Iblis, the king of presumably red flames, and the "kingdom" under him. Black flames are most likely unique to Renzou's demon, and blue flames are definitely unique to Satan.

[chinonamida]

^if its like I suggested in my previous post and theres no matter other than demons themselves in Gehenna, then the king of earth, water, air or insects are as useless.
I dont know if demons can decay like matter from Assiha. if they dont then the king of decay is useless too.

it didnt looked like there was a sun in Gehenna. it would make sense if there is no matter other than demons since stars are made of matters... actually stars make matters.

I guess Gehenna is as wide as Assiah since theyre mirror worlds. but I wonder. . . do demons only occupy the area parallel to the position of the earth? Since venturing further would be pointless. wait!? we could make missions to mars possible if they passed through Gehenna!
arrh Im straying away from the subject.

*sigh* I guess Im rationalizing for nothing. seeing how katou rarely explains stuff, I guess she doesnt know herself.

[tardar-sauce]

I think, according to the one color picture I saw of what I think is Gehenna, there is a sun (it's not dark enough to not have a sun, or else it's being lit by supernatural means) but the sky is brownish so in the black and white pages it comes out dark. There goes my cave theory. I'm sad.

It looked like there was earth as well. Some sort of mountainous rock forms. It was dark in the black and white pages where Gehenna was shown, so it was hard to see.

http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c039/30.html

http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c038/1.html

[chinonamida]

^I didnt remember that picture. Still, it's not so obvious there's earth. the ground still seems to be covered with or completely made of these things that looks like veins. Also I dont really want to push my theory so much, but this thing rin is sitting on, seems to have an eye socket with rin's blue flame burning inside. so maybe it's a skull.

About the fact it doesnt look so dark, it all depends on how demons' sight works.

I think the background is only miasma.

[tardar-sauce]

I can't really tell either. I call the place Rin exploded from a mountain of rock because it looks like China's landscape or something out of Dragon Ball. I'll give you the veins = skin (or some other eldrich abomination type thing that's totally beyond our imagination). The thing Rin's sitting on looks like a monument and that -does- look like stone. It may also be a skull but it looks too square like. There are a TON of them all over Gehenna and some are huge.

New crack theory time: maybe that's what happens to demons when they go to Assiah! The part of them remaining in Gehenna gets encased in those things! It would explain the blue flame.

I like the miasma thing though. It makes sense for Gehenna to be covered in it.



Uhhh, should we move this over to one of the Gehenna threads?

[chinonamida]

^it does looks like a stone. Though if its a demon skull, shape and size dont matter.

the symbol on it looks like the exorcists' symbol. its probably not demons who carved it.

there was a time I was notorious for being offtopic, I should watch out not to fall back into my old habit.

[MetallicArcher]

^it does looks like a stone. Though if its a demon skull, shape and size dont matter.

the symbol on it looks like the exorcists' symbol. its probably not demons who carved it.

there was a time I was notorious for being offtopic, I should watch out not to fall back into my old habit.

When I showed my mother, who is extremely Catholic, you know, the old fashioned way, the True Cross Order pendant she said the colours represented Heaven and Hell.

[tardar-sauce]

Lol, who else would carve it? Humans? Did Rin carve that one in the image?

Heavenly, did she say anything about the shape of the pin? And why would the Order use that particular color scheme?

[chinonamida]

^I guess its rin T T
but remember humans can go to Gehenna through the gate.
or it could be a demon exorcist...

[MetallicArcher]

Lol, who else would carve it? Humans? Did Rin carve that one in the image?

Heavenly, did she say anything about the shape of the pin? And why would the Order use that particular color scheme?

I don't remember... I asked her way back when I had just picked up the anime... I could ask her again, though.

[Kaibutsu]

The thing I noticed about Gehenna when Mephisto transported himself and Rin was that the place looked like a desolate, corrupted copy of Assiah. Notice that They are teleported into a cave in the mountain, sitting behind behind and on slabs of veined stone that look exactly like the dining table. Even the food and utensils look like they have turned into stone: http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c039/19.html
You can see the giggling demons hiding in the darkness even before Rin notices them: http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c039/20.html

(I wonder if Amaimon knew he was now in Gehenna when he tried to morph into his demon form.)

Then here, Rin gets launched out of the side of the mountain that looks like a cliff side. Then we have more of those plateaus in the pre-last panel: http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c039/30.html

Next page, you can see the silhouette of the mountain he crashed down from (which to me looks very, very similar to the silhouette of the True Cross Academy) and lands on the ground littered with rib cages and bones: http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v10/c039/31.html

There is definitely matter in Gehenna, because at the very least we have rocks and bones.
I think Gehenna is the mirror image of Assiah, just much more corrupted, desolate, destroyed and barren. In this case, it makes more sense why some demons seem to be more fascinated with humanity. It also feeds into the "opposites" theme between Gehenna (desolate) and Assiah (lively).

It also could be that Mephisto purposefully took Rin to a desolate landscape to not reveal much of Gehenna to him and/or attract other demon's/Satan's attention. Therefore, other parts of Gehenna may be more lively and populated than this rocky place.

Edit: This also makes more sense if you remember that Shirou said that Gehenna and Assiah are 2 dimensions joined like a mirror - one looking normal and the other looks corrupt: http://mangafox.me/manga/ao_no_exorcist/v01/c001/31.html

[chinonamida]

There is definitely matter in Gehenna, because at the very least we have rocks and bones.

My theory was there's only demons in Gehenna. the ground and any constructions are made of some demonic living organism and/or dead demons' remains.

I thought too this place looked like true cross academy with Mephisto's mansion on top, but then the surrounding looks nothing like Tokyo.
Mephisto probably built this place in Gehenna. And he probably helped built true cross academy in Assiah. Thats why they look alike. I suppose.

[MetallicArcher]

You mean the surface of Gehena is like one big demon and all other demons existing over it?

Or maybe it's like in the Taoist creation myth where the giant that separated ying and yang died and its body parts created everything else that exists.

[chinonamida]

You mean the surface of Gehena is like one big demon and all other demons existing over it?

This is a crack theory. Im not even sure what Im saying.

If there's no stars then there's no matter. if theres no matter there's no planets (and no living beings as we know them). if there's no stars or planets, there's no gravitational fields...
which means demons can occupy space however they want(?) though its fun to have a general idea wheres the ground so they build structures with what they have(?)
at least thats the theory.

[MetallicArcher]

So I asked her again and she brought her notebook (she is studying something religious, I dunno understand but she let me see her notes from class):

Blue -> represents expansion, society's creation, conciousness, inspiration.

It represents the spirit and matter.

The spirit it's said to be the link between the soul and the body.

Red -> separation, energy, assertion, directing or transmitting.

It represents fire and soul and strength.

She also told me the pendant resembles a heart and that those are the colours of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I searched some pictures, and it seems Mary is mostly represented clad in red and blue:

(click to show/hide)

So I searched a little more:

(...) one Orthodox author will say that the blue represents the human nature wrapped in the red mantle of divine nature. Another author writes that blue signifies the divine nature (heaven) and the red signifies the human nature (earth or blood). (...)

(...) the depictions of the Mother of God are not as consistent. Eastern icons nearly always have the Mother of God in a blue dress and with a red mantle. This is the case in Greek icons in which she holds the Christ Child, her station at the Crucifixion, and even on her bed at the Dormition.

However, there are exceptions so that Mary wears red and has a blue mantle. This latter arrangement is more popular in Western depictions. For example, Raphael always pained Mary with a red dress with a blue mantle whether she be depicted in her espousals or in holding the Christ Child. Catholic depictions of Mary Assumed always have her wearing a blue mantle.

http://taylormarshall.com/2012/03/iconography-why-do-christ-and-mary-wear.html

Red colors symbolize the Holy Spirit and is the color of Pentecost. Red also represents fire and is associated with power and importance. Crimson red also symbolizes the presence of God and the blood of martyrs. It is the Christian liturgical color for Pentecost and represents atonement and humility.

Blue colors symbolize heavenly grace. The Virgin Mary is often depicted wearing blue clothing. Blue also represents hope, good health and the state of servitude.

http://www.catholic-saints.info/catholic-symbols/symbolism-of-colors.htm