- Numan (race)
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Numans, or newmans, are members of a fictional race in the Phantasy Star video game series. They are genetically engineered beings, made with a combination of DNA from Palmans (the series' humans) and artificial wild creatures called biomonsters. Their appearance is mostly Palman, except for their long, pointy ears.
Contents
Appearances
Phantasy Star II
The first numan appeared in Phantasy Star II. Called Neifirst, she was created by scientists at the Biosystems Lab as a combination of Palman and biomonster DNA. Regarding Neifirst as a failed experiment, they tried to kill her, but she managed to escape. Afterwards she sought revenge by infiltrating the Climatrol Center and initiating a devastating biomonster outbreak.
There was a schism within Neifirst between her resentment and anger on one hand, and her more peaceful nature on the other, manifesting in a physical split. Two new beings resulted - Neifirst and Nei. The latter was found by government agent Rolf (Eusis in the Japanese version), who adopted her as a little sister.
She looked like a 6-year-old at that time, although she was actually a few months old. Only seven months later, in the beginning of the game, she was already in her late teens. When Rolf was sent on a mission to investigate the biomonster outbreak, Nei faced off against Neifirst to end her hateful ambitions. There are two possible outcomes, with either Nei claiming victory, or Rolf avenging her after she is slain. Either way, since Nei cannot continue to live if Neifirst dies, the battle marks the end of her life.
Phantasy Star IV
Over a period of a thousand years, the sentient supercomputer called Seed uses the long-lost information about the Neifirst experiment to conduct research into creating a much improved creature, Rika (Fal in the Japanese version), completing its project a year before the beginning of the game. In spite of being only a year old, she takes the form of an adult. She has a bright and cheerful personality, something that belies her formidable combat skills.
Phantasy Star Online
Numans — now renamed newmans — are a playable race in the Phantasy Star Online games. Officially, no plot continuity exists between the original series and the Online games, so there is no canonical link between "numans" and "newmans". There are also certain visual differences between the games, with the newmans of PSO having long curved ears more perpendicular to the head, rather than vertical position of the original series numans. In a new development, a story sequence in PSO points to the uncertain lifespans of numans, and although this was never mentioned in the original series, it could be a consequence of their rapid growth.
Phantasy Star Universe
In Phantasy Star Universe, Newmans are a race of genetically-modified humans, who were given above average mental and spiritual powers. To compensate for these advantages, and prevent them from becoming too powerful, their physical strength and hardiness was reduced. The Newman homeland is the planet Neudaiz; after their initial landing in the Agata Islands area, they established a religion, the Communion of Gurhal (CoG). The CoG is presided over by the Divine Maiden, and is followed by Newmans and non-Newmans alike.
Because of their superior mental abilities, Newmans excel in using TECHNICs, which are roughly the PSU equivalent of magic. They also have higher mental stamina to protect against enemy TECHNICs, as well as evasion, which allows them to block physical attacks much more frequently than other races. In addition, due to their heightened ability to concentrate and focus, Newmans have excellent attack accuracy, the second highest among the races.
Like previous games, Newmans develop faster than Humans and the other races. However their lifespans are apparently now stabilized and are shown to live to old ages. During the story mode of the game, it is revealed that different races have wildly different tastes in food, and that Newmans and Humans differ quite drastically. Notable Newmans in the offline and online story modes include Karen Erra, Maya Shidow, Mirei Mikuna, and Hiro Vol.
External links
Phantasy Star series Main Spin-offs Online Phantasy Star Online · Episode I & II · Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution · Episode IV (Blue Burst) · Phantasy Star 0 · Phantasy Star Online 2Universe Phantasy Star Universe · Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus · Phantasy Star Portable · Phantasy Star Portable 2 · InfinitySega AGES Characters Numan · Dark ForceCategories:- Fictional characters introduced in 1989
- Fictional genetically engineered characters
- Fictional life forms
- Phantasy Star
- Sega characters
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