McBurn (マクバーン), also known as the Almighty Conflagration (
Profile[]
Introduction[]
Trails of Cold Steel II[]
Enforcer No. I of Ouroboros, appeared in the Erebonian Empire to carry out the "Phantasmal Blaze Plan". Nicknamed "The Almighty Conflagration", he has a listless attitude and shows no motivation for anything, yet, his abilities are the strongest among the Enforcers, and are said to be comparable to that of Arianrhod the Steel Maiden, the Seventh Anguis of the Society. It seems that he has noticed something about the true nature of the "Ogre power" that lies dormant within Rean...?[1]
Trails of Cold Steel III[]
Enforcer No. I of Ouroboros, also known as the Almighty Conflagration, due to his ability to conjure and control flames. Said to be the most powerful of all the Enforcers, but he only really cares about fighting strong opponents and will often abandon missions if he gets bored. After his battle against Viscout Arseid during the civil war, he's been trying to find a foe who can surpass his formidable power.[2]
Trails of Cold Steel IV[]
An Enforcer of Ouroboros who has the ability to create and control fire. While he's generally regarded as the most powerful of all the Enforcers, he acts according to his whims, often abandoning missions that bore him. However, when he encounters opponents powerful enough to pique his interest, he draws out his true strength and becomes the "Blazing Demon," launching cursed black flames at his foes. Once the Great Twilight fell over Erebonia, he began acting on his own, in an attempt to discover his "true self."[3]Appearance[]
McBurn appears as a fairly young man with pale red eyes and blue hair with pink highlights, wearing half-moon glasses. Compared to Rean, who is "mixed" in his chest, McBurn is mixed throughout his entire body. He wears a long red shirt with strips of it flying loosely below his waist and nearly touching the floor, along with a loosely tied white and navy undershirt.
In his partial demon form, his hair turns white, glowing with a slight golden hue and his eyes become yellow. Glowing red tattoo-like markings appear on his skin.
In his true form, McBurn's hair and eyes remain the same color but he has sprouted some horns and a third, red eye appears on his forehead. His hair lengthens and red streams of energy flows from his body.
He wields the sword Angbar (アングバール),[Note 2], one of the weapons forged through Divergent Laws and handed to him by Ouroboros' Grandmaster. It is a large curved blade of black and red color, sporting several spiked protrusions. When McBurn channels more power into it, it emits black flames with a purple glow around the eye.
Personality[]
McBurn is mainly aloof and reserve individual mainly display a placid attitude. Being the strongest Enforcer in Ouroboros, McBurn enjoys the thrills of combat and his primary motivation is to search for opponents that can force him to bring out his full power. As such, he will abandon missions that doesn't bring out the fire in him. He respects those that can give him a worthy fight, dislikes dishonorable tactics and mourns the loss of powerful fighters.
McBurn has seeking regaining his memories and for a long time trying figure out who he was as other part of him was originally human.
Trivia[]
- If one counts the battle against his simulacrum, then he is fought against a total of eleven times in the series,
- In Trails of Cold Steel II, he is fought twice, first with Duvalie at Bareahard and then later at the Infernal Castle.
- in Trails of Cold Steel III, he is fought four times, first at Orchis Tower, then twice at Stargazer's Tower (the first time fighting alongside Campanella), and then once more in the Gral of Erebos.
- In Trails of Cold Steel IV, he is fought against three times, first alongside Ines/Ennea in the Black Workshop, then alongside Victor S. Arseid at Orchis Tower, then in his true form at the Tuatha De Danann.
- In Trails into Reverie, his simulacrum is fought against in of F. Novartis's labs. A copy of his true form is once again fought in the True Reverie Corridor.
- Based on his simulacrum's words, McBurn does not appear to be on good terms with Novartis, though the reason for this is unknown.
- McBurn is the only character to appear in all three of the boss gauntlets in the the final dungeons of the last three Cold Steel games (excluding the epilogue dungeon of Cold Steel II); he is fought at the Infernal Castle, Gral of Erebos and Tuatha De Danann. He was also the only boss fought in the castle who would later appear in another end-of-game gauntlet.
- McBurn is the only Enforcer to have two Enforcer titles, using the "Almighty Conflagration" for his normal state, and "Blazing Demon" for his demon state.
- During the final fight against him in Trails of Cold Steel IV, the Super Arrange version of The Enforcers from SC plays. This song is also briefly played when his simulacrum begins to transform into McBurn's true form before failing.
- The name "McBurn" is a surname of Scottish origin. Incidentally, the prefix "Mc" is derived from the original Gaelic form "Mac" meaning "son of". In the Trails series, the name "Burn" is to allude to his connection with fire, although its actual meaning is based off his true name revealed in Cold Steel IV.
- His corresponding Tarot Major Arcana (I - The Magician) can be said to represent his unnatural ability to call forth fire and forces well beyond comprehension.
References[]
Sources
- ↑ Trails of Cold Steel II, Official Website Page (EN-JP)
- ↑ Trails of Cold Steel III, Official Website Page (EN-JP)
- ↑ Trails of Cold Steel IV, Official Website Page (EN-JP)
Notes
- ↑ The Japanese word 劫 is a Buddhist term for an aeon or kalpa (कल्प) in Sanskrit. His alias 劫炎 can, therefore, be alternatively interpreted as the 'eternal blaze' or, as a representative of the current era, the 'first flame'. The significance of his alias is currently unknown.
- ↑ Though the localisation term differs, Angbar in Japanese is written in the same way as the Flame Dragon of the Five Dragons of Altago in Ys Seven.
