Festum

Festum
Festum (フェストゥム, Fesuto~umu)
Data
Enemies	Neo U.N.

The Festum (フェストゥム, Fesuto~umu^?) are the main antagonists of the Fafner in the Azure franchise.

Types

• Mir Type

Often simply called the "Mir", are the highest theorized evolution of Festum consciousness. In 2085, an unknown photon crystalline body is discovered in a huge crater at the bottom of the Seto Inland Sea. Named the Seto Inland Sea Mir, the photon crystalline body is determined to be an intelligent life-form. Presented at the Astrobiological Society conference, it is analyzed under the direct control of the Japanese government. Mir controls the Festum hivemind, and are constantly assimilating information. Miwa Hino and people called Esperanto (Emery Almond, for example) are able to know Mir's language in order to seek peace and understanding each other.

• Core Type

Serves as the "mediator" between Mir and human. Tsubaki and Orihime Minashiro of Tatsumiya Island and newly reborn-core of NSSC Bollearios (where Misao Kurusu merged with) are the example of this type. Idun was revealed to either have originally been a Core Type, or was pretending to fill this role, but after awakening he immediately became a Master Type and within months had evolved into an adult form.

• Sphinx Type

The most commonly seen type; primarily consists of A Types. B Types rarely appear in the series, but serve as the primary Festum in Right of Left. Only one C Type appears early in the series in episodes 5 and 6 and is taken out by a suicide attack from the Fafner Mark VI. A D Type primarily uses long ranged weaponry and is the first Festum to be killed in the first joint operation by Fafner Mark II, Fafner Mark V, and Fafner Mark VIII. Misao Kurusu is an exceptional Sphinx Type Festum who has emotional feeling and wanna live in order to see the beautiful sky.

• Grendel Type

Human sized Festum that resemble fleas.

• Alhenterus Type

Weaker versions of standard sphinx types.

• Pleiades Type

Asexually reproductive Festum with highly explosive larvae. Exactly 117 newborns can easily destroy a mountain.

• Coagula Type - Festum that only assimilate with no real offensive weapons; later uses bombs in the movie. They can only be killed when their eyes acquire serious damage.
• Scarab Type - Festum that only destroy with no assimilation properties.
• Master Type - The leaders and the most powerful of the Festum, only a select few can differentiate from the hive mind.
  • Idun - The most powerful Master Type and the main antagonist of the series. His power at both the destructive and assimilation level is greater than any other Festum and can turn into a gigantic sphinx type that required the power of Mark Sein to stop. Near the end of the series he assimilates the Mark Nicht's pilot, Yukie Kariya, and hijacks the Mark Nicht. Idun seemed to have originally been a Core Type of an abandoned island, or perhaps had been pretending such a role to ambush the Tatsujima Island explorers.
  • Mjolnir - A Master Type Festum, like Idun. Mjolnir is the Festum that assimilated Kazuki's mother, Akane Makabe. It collaborated with Yoji Hino and was apparently killed shortly after delivering the Mark Sein to Kazuki; however, Mjolnir reappears on Tatsumiya Island during the series finale.
• Slave Type - Mentioned in the first season. So far, Kouyou Kasugai after he became Festum is the only known Slave type.
• Eurus Type: Newly evolved Festum in the Movie: Heaven and Earth. Its body appears in red color. Notable in its ability to mimic and utilize human weapons like the Dragon Tooth sniper rifle.
• Azazel Type - A new Type of Festum introduced in the sequel: Exodus. There are two sub-type of Azazel, Walker and Road Runner. Each of their seen number are unique, and are far larger than most common Festum. They seem to be the current new antagonists, replacing Idun and the North Pole Mir. Their appearance varies; for instance, the azazel in Srinagar walked on four legs and was destroyed by Sein and Nicht but it managed to transport its core where it either reformed again or was consumed by another possible Azazel Type Festum, whereas the Azazel at Tatsujima Island stands like a human and possess high intelligence. It is implied that the Azazel Type are parts of and/or connected to a Mir, possible even the remains of the North Pole Mir, and Soushi claims that there are many more Azazel Types than the single two seen so far.
  • There are six known Azazel-type Festum:
    • Walker, a humanoid Festum that has attacked Tatsumiyajima. In Episode 23 of Exodus it was assimilated by Vagrant, before its core was destroyed by the Zero Fafner's Resonance Blaster and Amaterasu acting in concert.
    • Roadrunner, a Festum that attacked Hawaii at the beginning of Exodus before ROE Alpha was delcared over the entire island and it was nuked. It later turned up at Srinagar and nearly destroyed the Neo U.N. and Alvis forces there before Salvator-model Fafners Mark Sein and Mark Nicht arrived and forced it to teleport away. It was then eaten by Aviator.
    • Aviator was an almost bird-like Festum that first appeared whe it ate Roadrunner. From there it became an enemy to the mass exodus from Srinagar up until Kazuki and Mark Sein seemingly assimilated it.
    • Floater was an Azazel shaped not unlike a UFO. It appeared onscreen for less than five seconds as it almost instantly was revealed to be Kurusu's ship.
    • Crawler was a Festum with the ability to freeze things. It first appeared during the three way brawl between Tatsumiyajima & the exodus, the Neo U.N. and Festum in Russia. It was then assimilated by Vagrant next episode via Mark Raison.
    • Vagrant is a space station made from the old core of the third Alvis, Watatsumijima, and controlled by the Neo U.N. As part of the Seto Inland Sea Mir, it can control Festum, and its status as a satellite enables the Neo U.N. to use satellite communications, cutting out the barrier that forces Alvis to use high-speed rocket planes for communication. It does, however, despise the Neo U.N. for slaughtering the residents of the third Alvis, and seeks to destroy them. In this cpacity it uses its status as the progenitor of the Puppet program to hijack Mark Raison, using its control of light to assimilate Crawler via a portal, which it uses to devastating effect against Walker, the Zero Fafner and Ashoka. Ashoka and the Zero Fafner, however, survive.
      • It was taken out of orbit by Sui's SDP and the Neo U.N. nuking it.
• Diablo Type - A new Type of Festum introduced in the sequel: Exodus. They seem to demonic in shape and appearance, close quarter Festum that seem capable of overpowering and defeating mass produced Fafner singlehandedly, by targeting their cockpits or attach to the pilot by assimilation and can take over the controls of Fafner. They form worm spheres which can cut any Fafner.
• Gregory Type - A new Type of Festum introduced in the sequel: Exodus, which is said to be "ghost" by Jonathan. Gregory is a result of human assimilation with Festum, leaving them dead and reappears as a ghost, taking humanoid form, such as the creepy-boy whom appeared in area Srinagar. Its appearance is not dangerous and aggressive like the other types, although disturbing. It is the avatar of the Seto Inland Sea Mir in Vagrant.