Talk:The Protectors - Changelog 0.8.7/@comment-102.182.230.106-20191221232011/@comment-5395153-20200112185008

From my article:

'A set of units almost as frequently discussed as the oakman, the three mages were first introduced in WBC1. Initially, the three mages were little more than a reference to final fantasy. Each seemingly existed for this reference and as such, a single side ended up with three strong spellcasters. The question is, are they any more than a reference? Do they have any foundation in old or new lore or is their implementation purely arbitrary?



When they were first introduced, their place was solely on the human side. Since humans split into two different races in WBC3, the imperials took all three spellcasters. Their basic function hasn’t changed throughout the series, though their voices have received changes. In WBC2, the black mage now mentions a ‘Book of Ages’ and the white mage mentions ‘The White Council’. Red mages have had the same voice over the whole of the series, and mention ‘The Red Mages’.

The White Council is already known (for more information, see https://www.moddb.com/games/the-protectors/features/the-protectors-why-we-did-what-we-did-part-1 under Divination Magic > Call Sage), but the ‘Book of Ages’ and ‘The Red Mages’ are both unknown concepts in the lore. It could be assumed that the Book of Ages may be a record of chronological history, but The Red Mages are completely unknown. Both the Book of Ages and The Red Mages are creations of WBC and have never been referenced anywhere - not in older Warlords games nor in the new Puzzle Quest games. In fact, the terms ‘white mage’, ‘black mage’ and ‘red mage’ never existed previously and have never been used post-WBC (there are priests, clerics, sages and seers but no white mages for example. In addition, the three terms have never been used in WBC other than for their names). This indicates that although some lore may have been conceptualised for them over the franchise’s history, the three mages existed and still exist as a reference.'