GLOSSARY

[godkaru]

I was going to make this all pretty but that's not the point anyway so who cares lmao

Glossary of Terms

Magic Knight Rayearth has some specific terms that it uses regularly with minimal explanation. It's only six volumes long so it gets everything across either with very brief explanation or context clues as it goes on. Hikaru talks about some either in conversation or narration in her tags and to help YOU! 🫵 not feel lost, I've written up a glossary of terms for it.

Basics
Hikaru is from 1993 Tokyo, Japan. So she doesn't really know what Halloween is or home computers or anything like that. She was raised in a traditional kendo dojo with three brothers, no mention of her mother, and her father is out on a training mission. She mentions that she doesn't really play video games (and seems almost clueless about them as well), home computers, or anything more relating to social networking via technology.

Umi and Fuu: Hikaru's two best friends she met over the course of MKR. They don't go to the same schools or live in the same neighborhoods, and didn't meet until the events of the series started. They grew close together over their adventures and she considers them like sisters to her. They are all 8th graders even if Hikaru is both the shortest and the oldest by a few months.

Age: Hikaru starts the series as fourteen years old. She and the girls spend months there only to return to Tokyo for it to be mere seconds after they left. In part 2, it's said that months have gone by when they meet up again, and are summoned yet again spending even more time in Tokyo. How old is she by this point? Who's to say. I tend to play her being at least fifteen by the end of part 2 because it makes sense to me MASSIVE SHRUG. Canon doesn't do anything with this but I will.

Cefiro: Cefiro (or Cephiro if I ever typo it to the old translation's spelling) is an alternate fantasy world Hikaru and two other girls were summoned to by a mysterious voice. Upon first visit, it is your very stereotypical fantasy RPG world of magic, monsters, princes and princesses, and all. The most important thing to understand about Cefiro is that everything one does is strengthened by one's will. The more determined one is, the stronger someone believes in their actions, the more probable it is to happen. Likewise, the more someone believes in their own strength, the stronger they'll become. This extends to the more literal as well: one character was tired of being short and literally willed himself to be about four feet taller in a short time span. In Cefiro, everything is determined by the power of will.

Magic: Magic in Cefiro varies from person to person. The majority of magic we see is all elemental, and usually someone will have only one elemental type magic. Hikaru has fire, Umi has water, Fuu has wind, one enemy has lightning, another enemy has ice (totally different from water. obviously). Another type of magic is summoning magic, where someone can summon beasts/mosnters. In conjunction with the above about one's will, the more powerfully someone feels when using their magic, the more powerful their spell. The spells come from their heart as they feel it starting.

"Hikaru aren't you cold": So with the magic in Cefiro and how short and vague MKR is as a series, I play loosey goosy here that Hikaru's naturally warm heart with her fire magic just. Keeps her warm. She's like a little space heater. She'll wear winter clothes if they're cute but she doesn't need them.

Weapon: Hikaru's got a sword! It's her sword, it was made for her. If anyone besides her tries to pick it up, the sword will burst into flames. That's not a joke.

Cefiro Specific I'm so sorry
Okay so this is where it gets kinda hyperspecific and are very very literal. I cannot express how literal these things are when I describe them. They are Cefiro specific and Hikaru's kinda in the thick of it from her canon point at end of volume 5. This is all part of a prophetic cycle that Cefiro gets wrapped up in. We don't know how many cycles it's happened, but we know it's at least more than two.

Pillar: The Pillar is whomever currently in Cefiro 1. has the strongest heart/will in the country and 2. has undergone the Pillar Test. The duties of the Pillar is to pray for the peace, prosperity, and safety of the entire country. That's it. That's all they can and will do. If they think about anything else, if their heart strays to anything or anyone that isn't Cefiro as a whole, the country falls into disaray and chaos. The Pillar is literally not allowed, in any capacity, to think or feel anything for anyone except the country of Cefiro as a whole. Not themselves, not their specific loved ones, no one. It is also noted that no one from Cefiro can harm the Pillar in any way.

Magic Knight: There are a lot of Cefiro specific words (pharle, palu, cail), while everything else is ostensibly Japanese. However, "Magic Knight" is the only term specifically spoken in English throughout. No one in Cefiro is familiar with the language nor knows who named them that. Magic Knight for Cefiro's world is a specific trio of outsiders summoned to Cefiro to don armor, evolving weapons, and mashin to save Cefiro when something "goes wrong" with the Pillar. They are brought to this world, do their job of saving it, and immediately disappear back to their own worlds once the job is done. And it is instantaneous. It should be noted that only the Pillar has both the power and the knowledge of the spell to summon the Knights. No one else is able to, and no one outside the Pillar and royal family know the legend of the Magic Knights.

Mashin: or rune god, or giant robot. They're giant mecha that only the Magic Knights can summon and use, with their fully evolved swords as the key to doing so (a fact that comes up all of once). They are sentient and can speak to the Knights. When not in use, the mashin reside in a separate dimension stored within the Knights' chest armor jewel. It is implied that the spirits of the mashin are an extension of the Knight's soul. While piloting the mashin, the Magic Knight will move in the same way, cast the same spells, and take on the same damage as the mashin. The mashin were absolutely necessary to saving Cefiro according to legend as they are the only things powerful enough to complete the task.

Road: The mage who taught Hikaru and the girls magic explained that only someone capable of being the Pillar can create a Road. They are physical manifestations of light and one's will that only a Pillar candidate can create and enter. If anyone less qualified tries to enter one, they are repelled back.

Test: Or "Pillar Test" or "testing ground". The Road leads to the Pillar Test, which as far as Hikaru knows, is just a test to decide who becomes the next Pillar. What we know from canon is that the one who gives the test is God (yes, literal) and that it varies from cycle to cycle. There's no real way to know what the Test will be until the viable candidate is ready to proceed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯