Fai D. Flourite
Encyclopedia : F : FA : FAI : Fai D. Flourite
Fay D. Flourite is a character in the manga by acclaimed manga artist group CLAMP. The romanization of his name has also been expressed as Fye D. Flourite, Fai D. Flowright, or any combination of the three, but CLAMP's official character guide published for the manga officially spells it "FAY D FLOURITE." Fay is pronounced as Fye rhyming with rye and lie.
In the anime adaption of the manga he is voiced by Daisuke Namikawa
Story
His first appearance in the manga is in chapter 2, where he is about to leave his country, the country of Celes/Ceres/Seles/Seresu. His past is largely unknown; compared to Syaoran and Kurogane, his motives for joining the group are the least clear. What is known about him is that he is connected to Ashura-ou, the King of Celes, whom Fay has now trapped in a state of eternal (or near eternal) slumber. It is also known that he has transformed his "creation", Chii (originally from Chobits) into a net-like shield to serve as a sort of alarm for Fay should Ashura awaken. It appears that a battle had taken place within the palace; there are bodies dressed in the same blue coat and black armband that Fay sports.His greatest desire becomes ensuring he never returns to Celes, fearing an unknown consequence if Ashura should awaken. He also fears that if Ashura does awaken, he will search for Fay thoughout the dimensions.
Unlike the other members of Syaoran's group, Fay does not require the magic of another to arrive at the shop of the Space-Time Witch, Yuuko Ichihara. Instead, he uses his own magic to send himself, because he is a mage. While he does possess the power to travel to other dimensions, Fay notes that his powers (and others with the power to send others through dimensions, like the High Priest of Clow and Princess Tomoyo) are limited in this ability and usually must use a great deal of magic to accomplish the task. Yuuko Ichihara, as he states, is currently the only person who possesses the power to send people through multiple dimensions.
Character
Of Syaoran's group of allies, Fay is the most enigmatic. He appears to be happy-go-lucky, good-natured and acts like a fool, but has been shown to be as perceptive as Kurogane and a skilled fighter. However, it has also been seen that he does not value his life and that he hides a deep emotional burden; this is demonstrated by his dark reactions when Kurogane asks him about his past, and the aftermath of a battle where Fay does not defend himself for an attack when he had the ability to. His past is a profound motivating factor for his actions and is something Fay cannot seem to overcome; instead he masks it all with the guise of cheerfulness and carefreeness.
Fay is emotionally distant, refusing to allow anyone to become too close to him, in fear of harming them by allowing them to get involved with his personal problems. Despite this, Kurogane has noted that the mage has become attached to Syaoran and Sakura. While Fay places little value on his own life, he worries about his companions and would go as far as breaking his own personal vows to ensure their safety. Kurogane confronts Fay about this, and states that Fay should figure out what he's doing with his present and future, because his past has nothing to do with neither Kurogane nor their younger companions.
None of Fay's travelling companions are aware of his past, save that he is trying to escape someone (Ashura). Kurogane, the most perceptive of the group, is usually the one to question Fay as to why he is trying to escape and why he fears Ashura, outside the presence of Syaoran and Sakura. In rather careful responses, Fay has revealed that he would know if the Ashura he flees from is just another look-alike sharing the same soul (there can be someone who shares the same soul in several dimensions) because he "...would know if it's just the same face or if it's the same person. I would know.". It is not clear if Fay is a criminal on the run, but it seems to be how he has come to think of himself judging from a conversation between him and Kurogane in chapter 112.
It is also interesting to note that Fay seems to know the secret behind just what is going on, nearly all of the time. The fact that he does know and doesn't bring it to the attention to his companions is a sign that he again has no wish to involve himself too deeply in their affairs and that he is extremely intelligent.
Magical Ability
Fay sports a tattoo in the shape of a phoenix, which spreads all the way across his back and wraps around his body. This tattoo is the "most precious thing" that Fay pays in order to have Yuuko grant his wish to maintain dimensional distance from Celes.
While initially believed that he could no longer use magic without the tattoo, it is later revealed that Fay can still use magic; it's just that he made a vow to not use magic without the tattoo. While he manages to use "passive magic" to detect things such as barriers, he breaks the vow once in the world of Rekord/Lecourt in order to aid the group's escape after stealing back one of Sakura's feathers. In chapter 120, he uses his magic again in the world of Tokyo in a vain attempt to reseal Syaoran's "heart", the source of Syaoran's emotions and memories located in his right eye. It is also revealed that Fay's eyes are his source of magic. In chapter 120, Fay's left eye has been ripped out by Syaoran, who - once his "heart" is removed - is revealed to be a clone seeking only power to regain Sakura's feathers. It is also revealed that Fay had known from the beginning that the Syaoran that they've been traveling is just a clone with half of the "heart" from the original Syaoran. Syaoran consumes the eye, causing his right blind eye to turn blue like Fay's eye. Syaoran is now able to use Fay's magic with a devastating level of power.
Unlike previous magic-using characters created by CLAMP, Fay's magic is "written" out as he casts it, previously by aid of his magical staff and later using his finger, instead of summoning a magic circle like Yuuko Ichihara, Clow Reed, and Sakura Kinomoto. During the group's escape from Rekord, Fay casts his magic by whistling, which he remarks is a method he had never used before and doesn't really count as his "real" magic. It is unsure how powerful he is while missing one eye, or if there is more to Fay's magic than what we can see.
Trivia
- On several occasions, Fay would say the sound 'Hyuu!' (translated as 'Whee-Whoot' in the English Del Rey books), saying that he doesn't know how to whistle, but as we later find out he is able to use magic by whistling, explaining why he refused to actually make the sound before.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.