The Six Mighty Knights of Zexen

[Raww Le Klueze]

So, are these guys supposed to be based on the Knights of the Round Table or not? Given the shoddy translation work (we're talking about people that named a character FUBAR for god's sake), there seems to be enough to lend credence to the idea but some of the names I can't make sense of.

Was there ever an official word on this?

Borus could be a mistranslation of Bors, with Percival being right on the money.

There's mention of Captains Galahad (obvious one), Lanchet (Lancelot?) and Pelize (would be Pelleas I suspect) in the game.

But then I can't figure out who Salome, Leo, Roland and Myriam would be since they aren't even close to any of the Knights of the Round that I've heard of.

Though how the hell they got Roland from Roran is a mystery, and Leo could be short for Leodegrance.

Seems like such a half-assed effort to make some of them based on the Arturian Legend and just make up the rest of them.

Breakdown as follows.

Definitive:

Percival
Galahad

Maybes:

Borus = Bors
Pelize = Pelleas
Lanchet = Lancelot
Leo = Leodegrance

Unknown:

Roland (Roran)
Salome

[suiko2fan2]

Another unknown: Chris, who would she be? not a lot of women in King Arthur's court. I doubt she could be a "Guinevere". There are some similarities, and perhaps the Konami borrowed a little bit, but i dont think it was every their intent to mimic the court with the zexen knights. the round table worked and answered to the king and king alone. Zexen follows their captain, but ultimately they are just the military arm of the Council of Guild Members.

[Antimatzist]

For Roland:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Roland

That would be the best interpretation.

Salome might be a mis-translation of Salomon (maybe it was made on purpose to delete all religious references.. Myriam and Salome are btw female names, which is really irritating.

Your "maybes" all look quite reasonable, I'd say you're right about them.

And Chris..[[too farfetched] well, it comes from Christine, maybe there's a hidden reference to christ there.. she definitely has here disciples (the other knights) and somehow appears to be a saviour for the people. The added mystification ("Silver Maiden") could emphasize that.. Additionally, Salome was the name of one of Christ's (female) disciples.[/too farfetched]

[Raww Le Klueze]

I don't really count Chris cause she's a major character.

Much like Geddoe isn't called King though his followers are Jack, Queen, Ace and Joker.

[Iesous]

I meant to comment on this thread earlier and just forgot.

When I first I read the original post, I immediately thought of The Song of Roland for Roland's name. It's not Arthurian but it is medieval. I think that they just picked names that were medieval. It just so happens that a lot of the quintessential medieval names are found in the Arthurian legends. If they had wanted the Zexen knights to be Arthurian, they should have also included the name Gawain, since he's one of the major players. Since he isn't included, I think that shows that they weren't being systematic, just thematic.

[patapi]

The perceived inconsistency with real world references is most likely comparable to the Zoroastrian elements embedded among the Falenan royalties. Some characters were named after actual Zoroastrian figures (Arshtat, Khorshed, Zahhak), others were outright not.

[Vextor]

Don't forget Arthur the newspaper boy you recruit in Brass Castle! He must be named after King Arthur obviously!

[Raww Le Klueze]

Kinda doubt it.

Then again, going by the disney version he was kinda ugly as a kid.

[eldrasidar]

I don't think the zexen knights were meant to be the knights of the round table as much as just a general stereotype of the ideal chivalric knights of the high middle ages. Many are named after famous knights, including those at the round table. others just have play on common themes. Borus for example is the standard noble son eager for a fight since he probably isn't going to inherit any land, if he isn't the first born son. Percival on the other hand plays into the notion of the peasant knight who perseveres through adversity to become a knight despite his birth. Leo actually reminds me of several knight templar grand masters who were too interested in a charging head long instead of using tactics, and his name is a nod to King Richard the Lionhearted(french- Leonceour->Leo) Likewise, Borus could possibly be a reference to Brian Boru, one of the most famous kings of Ireland, known for his campaigns against the vikings in ireland(i wouldn't put much faith in that, but it's not entirely unreasonable, and it sounds good in theory)

[future_suikoden_writer]

indeed, it was based on its setting alone, medieval time...