flower OF THE qliphoth : a TEAR grants fansite

What I found most interesting about the magical system in Tales of the Abyss was the role of sound as an element, on par with traditional magical elements, like fire. But can sound really act as a weapon? And if it can, how true is it to reality in Tales of the Abyss? Here I attempt to anaylse and discuss the role of sound in Tales of the Abyss in terms of its plausibility as a weapon. Forgive the slightly academic tone, I was having a Jade moment while writing this. Ahem.

Firstly, what is sound? Sound is a form of energy called a wave that's created when molecules vibrate. Molecules make up almost everything, including fire, air, water, and the other elements. Given this, it's unsurprising that sound is a hugely important element - or fonon - in the game, and perhaps the strongest element: it can directly affect any of the elements, with the exception of perhaps dark and light. Although, according to the game, fonons, including dark and light, are the particles that make up all matter. Thus, if our real world definition of sound applies, sound can affect all of the other fonons.

As such, sound doesn't have a physical form. Sound can be "seen" indirectly through the effect it has on the molecules of objects. When Tear uses her fonic artes, for instance, in reality it's unlikely the magical bursts of colour and light would occur, unless the enemies were made up of materials that would react in such a way if a sound wave of a certain vibration frequency propagated through them.

Although sound may not have a physical form, it can have a startling effect on a physical object. Tear herself sings her fonic hymns at a comfortable hearing level, as well as within the range of human hearing. One of Tear's most recognisable - and audible - sound fonic artes, Nightmare, causes enemies to fall asleep. As it exists (to our knowledge) in the game, this isn't a possibility in the real world. However, there is the possibility of Tear signing at frequency ranges outside the range of human earing: either in the infrasonic range (low frequencies) or the ultrasonic range (high frequencies). In reality, Nightmare could work if Tear were singing at a certain very low frequency, beyond the range of human hearing.

If Tear were to sing in the infrasonic range, many possibilities for sonic weapons could exist. For instance, she could cause enemies physical discomfort or even huge internal damage, even though the enemies may not even hear her singing! ¹ Many RPGs make use of a magical ability called "Death", where an enemy can be killed instantly. Such an ability would have been perfect for Tear: a certain frequency in the infrasonic range can cause such massive internal damage that an enemy could be killed almost instantly. ¹ It's important to note that humans aren't typically able to produce sounds that low, but that's where the fantasy element could step in...

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