Hi, I didn't see anything about religion, so sorry if I'm asking a question that's been discussed already.

I figured that the True Runes were considered the "Gods" of the Suikoden world and hadn't really given it much thought otherwise, but in Suikoden 3 the Zexens are always talking about their Goddess.

Does anyone know anything about this?

There is a topic on religion.

I'm on my Wii right now, no c/p. Just look for it.

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Keep your Coins, I want Change.

I can't find the topic either. I've got some questions of my own.

It seems that there are different religious factions in the Suikoden world. Some are more spirit based/earth based like in S3, but I saw something interesting in S2. Down the stairs towards the docks and graveyard, there is a sign with a Christian cross showing to go right to the graveyard. Also, after defeating the Beast Rune and entering the throne room, you can see stain glass windows with characters resembling saints as you would in any church. Can anyone give some information on religious beliefs in this area or is this just another real-world reference added by the creators to give Highland a more Western middle-ages kingdom feel?

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"I'd be happy to demonstrate its sharpness on your neck."

Religion seems to be a topic that the creators of Suikoden try to keep unimportant within the Suikoden world, because there's very little detail given about faith in general.

There are scattered cases of religion being mentioned in the game, such as how Valeria mentions "god" in Suikoden 1 (and is told by SME soldiers "god doesn't exist"), and the existence of a church in Tinto, and a marriage ceremony in Highland officiated by a priest, etc.

In the case of the teh christian-esque church in Tinto, in-game info tells you that the priest was sent from Harmonia, so whatever faith that is in Harmonia seems to be modeled from Christianity (and Catholicism in particular).

The marriage ceremony between Jowy and Jillia is officiated by a priest who mentions the Circle Rune, so likely the priest was sent from Harmonia as well. The fact that Highland is a vassal state of Harmonia only strengthens how the Harmonian faith may be widespread within Highland.

Harmonia itself has been clearly defined as a sort of theocracy, where the High Priest is at the core, shrouded in mystery. You have Bishops like Sasarai making important decisions, but otherwise we know very little about the actual "faith."

Based on the Highland marriage ceremony, it seems like the faith is based on the significance of the circle rune, though.

Other than that, Zexen worshipps their own goddess, The Horned Loa, and a number of other other deities seem to exist within the Zexen faith. However, it's stated within the game that these deities are "false." Probably because True Runes are the true ontic entities that define natural law and all that stuff within the Suikoden World.

Besides that you have the shamanistic tribal faith of the Karaya, but there's little detail about that. It seems more likely that what they call as spirits have more to do with runes, etc.

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http://www.infidels.org/ -- A place for information on atheism and secular free thinking.

There's also the theocracy of Nagarea where Eresh comes from, though we know next to nothing about them they have to have some sort of faith system to be a theocracy and obviously seperate from Harmonias.

They like to send missionaries (the violent sort) to nations not tied to the Nagarist Order, and they consider Dragon Horses impure creatures for undisclosed reasons.

True Runes do seem to be regarded as gods, or a manifestion of one, by some people, as Caesar says "You want to destroy God. Is that it, killer priest? - To destroy a rune is to clash with fate and destroy God." when Luc tells of his plan to destroy the True Wind Rune. Though that could be part of the crappy translation Suikoden III is riddled with.

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Doctorum Non Urina Singulus.

Suikoden Tierkreis seems to be a little more religiously minded. In the way they revere the One King's decent unto the Earth. I found it to be somewhat of a jab at various religions myself, and found it a little odd that the game so heavily featured something so ironically religious as a driving point. There are definite parallels with Christianity in it.