Summary
In theTower of Godanime,there are numerous classifications of individuals and entitiesfound within the Tower, most with average abilities, but others with more powerful and unique ones. Nonetheless, the anime has an interesting set of abilities shared among the general population of the Tower. One of the most powerful and envied people within the Tower are Guides. Guides are a special position granted to individuals who possess the ability to make predictions for the future and give the most efficient paths people can take to meet a specific goal, which is facilitated by their powerful foresight.
The abilities Guides possess make them powerful in their own way, as well as influential due to these abilities being highly sought after. It has also been heavily implied that Guides are able to reach floors without necessarily needing to pass the test of that floor. The abilities of a Guide have been stated to be innate anddescribed as a blessing from the Tower, primarily possessed by two distinct races: the Red Witch and the Silver Dwarves.
Abilities And Limitations
Overview Of The Abilities And Application Of Their Power
Guides are unique with a special range of abilities, the Guide itself is a role given to an individual and works in tandem with a team to lead them down a path.The author, SIU, describes Guidesas a human GPS that gives the best moves or the best direction to a certain path. The path could be any road or scenario that needs guidance; this means that guides could inform their allies on the best path to pass on a floor or even the fate of someone’s life. Guides possess the ability to see into the future and people’s faith, as well as potentially change it, but it is said they can only show the path to those who can walk it.
These abilities apply both externally and internally, meaning that guides can see their own fate and end; this makes them unafraid of their own mortality. On one side,they have a very strong abilityof foresight, but on the flip side, they usually possess low combat abilities. It should be noted that just because Guides can see your death does not necessarily mean that they can provide a way to avoid it. Lastly, their abilities can be hindered on the floor of death and can be completely negated by a weapon called Emily.
The Influence of Guides in the Tower
What Sort Of Influence Do They Possess?
The guide’s power may not always be inherent in their combat abilities, but in how they can affect the world around them. The Tower can be a very dangerous place, so a guide’s intervention is essential when navigating the Tower. They provide strategic advantages, especially to High Rankers, during critical missions, and their foresight could be a major difference between success and failure in a mission. Outside of the realm of navigating the Tower, Guides play a role in affecting the political landscape of the Tower, often advising their affiliated organizations or houses toward their goals.
Guides are individuals that cannot be owned; this means that they can choose their alliances and act on their wishes, although a princess of Zahard is entitled to a Guide after they become a ranker, which is the only loophole surrounding that rule. These rules surrounding them give them the freedom to act in accordance with their whims. There are High-Ranker Guides who stand out in power amongst their peers; for example, Soo Oh, who is a very powerful High-Ranker who guides Khel Hellam;she possesses immense Shinsu controland is much more powerful than the average Guide. Guides are extremely influential in most affairs of the wall and are respected due to their abilities.
Allegiances and What They Could Mean
The Allegiances Of Known Guides
Guides can lead anyone down a path depending on their wishes and desires, but there seems to be an unexplained trend of allegiances of some Guides to certain factions. The most notable examples are HwaRyun and Yuto, who are Red Witches that ally and guide members of FUG. Other examples are Alumik and Evan Erdok, who are Silver Dwarves allied to the Zahard family, with Evan being the chief guide of the Zahard family. Other Guides such as Ai, have not shown any allegiance to any faction.
These Guides are powerful and necessary parts of the factions they associate with and are crucial to furthering the objectives of their allies. With no guide stated or portrayed as being inherently evil or having dubious motives, their reasons and choices become a question of what possible benefit these alliances could grant to them.
These two factions being constantly at war makes fans question what these allegiances could possibly mean. With no other instances of known Guides of either race allying with the opposite factions, there may lie an underlying reason as to why it was made like this.
The role of the Guides is clearly stated, but the possibilities oftheir effects on the overall plotcould not be overstated or overanalyzed. The role of Guides changes depending on the situation, the person, but most of all, the whim of the Guide themselves. There lies the possible moral dilemma of Guides potentially helping evil doers to reach their goals, or worse, the Guide manipulating individuals through means of lying and withholding information for personal benefit.
I didn’t create that path for anyone’s sake. The path which that boy now walks is simply the path that he walks. It’s a path that no navigator can create. One which no one has traveled before. A completely ‘New Path. -HwaRyun.
This is seen multiple times during the series, particularly by HwaRyun, who withheld information such as the true nature of Racheal from the twenty-fifth Baam or not give a full picture of the dangers Baam and his team faced during the Hell Train arc. What this means, in summary, is that Guides are powerful people with their own goals and motives and can change fate as they know it, sometimes for their own dubious or malicious reasons in mind.
