So what exactly is Ori?

[GlovesWithPockets]

Some kind of light spirit thing? Child of a big tree, apparently? Weird bunny/fox mixed species child? I was never very clear.

[Dread Arkive]

Essentially, he and the others are Kodama (tree spirits of Shintoism folklore, like in Princess Mononoke...which the devs were heavily inspired by). They are, indeed, the children of the Spirit Tree, and act as guardians/splinters of itself. When Ori goes missing, the ST calls out for him/her out of not only parental concern, but also the need to be "whole".

[Zef]

Which makes you wonder then.... what is Naru, exactly ? Japanese version of Bigfoot ? ^^ Not your typical yokai, at least.

[shieldgenerator7]

I think Ori is a seed. You know those ancestral trees all over the map that give you abilities? Don't they look like miniature versions of the Spirit Tree? They had names, and a history as well, before they became trees. I think they were forest spirits like Ori, and they died / became trees before they could get out of Nibel. They could be really small because either (a) they're too close to the Spirit Tree, which surppresses the growth of other soon-to-be spirit trees, or (b) they're really young and haven't had the time to grow to that size yet.

So, why did the Spirit Tree call Ori back? I believe it's because Ori, as a seed, was underdeveloped at the time that he was taken away by the storm. The Spirit Tree wanted him to come back, so that he could complete Ori and make him a viable seed again.

I think the whole purpose of the Spirit Tree spawning beings like Ori is to have them spread out and expand the forest of Nibel or go further and make new forests like Nibel. I mean, that's what trees in general do, right? They drop seeds to spawn new trees to expand the forest. I think the Spirit Tree is no different

[Zef]

Originally posted by shieldgenerator7:

I think Ori is a seed. You know those ancestral trees all over the map that give you abilities? Don't they look like miniature versions of the Spirit Tree? They had names, and a history as well, before they became trees. I think they were forest spirits like Ori, and they died / became trees before they could get out of Nibel. They could be really small because either (a) they're too close to the Spirit Tree, which surppresses the growth of other soon-to-be spirit trees, or (b) they're really young and haven't had the time to grow to that size yet.

So, why did the Spirit Tree call Ori back? I believe it's because Ori, as a seed, was underdeveloped at the time that he was taken away by the storm. The Spirit Tree wanted him to come back, so that he could complete Ori and make him a viable seed again.

I think the whole purpose of the Spirit Tree spawning beings like Ori is to have them spread out and expand the forest of Nibel or go further and make new forests like Nibel. I mean, that's what trees in general do, right? They drop seeds to spawn new trees to expand the forest. I think the Spirit Tree is no different

Could have been a plausible theory, but why then did the Tree call out for Ori in the first place ? If Ori and co's duty is to expand the forest, why give a shlug about him/her going away from him. The tree spirit theory is more appealing to me, more so that throughout the story, the spirits keep close to their "father", like there was a link between them.

[shieldgenerator7]

Originally posted by Zephiron:

Originally posted by shieldgenerator7:

So, why did the Spirit Tree call Ori back? I believe it's because Ori, as a seed, was underdeveloped at the time that he was taken away by the storm. The Spirit Tree wanted him to come back, so that he could complete Ori and make him a viable seed again.

Could have been a plausible theory, but why then did the Tree call out for Ori in the first place ? If Ori and co's duty is to expand the forest, why give a shlug about him/her going away from him. The tree spirit theory is more appealing to me, more so that throughout the story, the spirits keep close to their "father", like there was a link between them.

Yes, I think that the Spirit Tree genuinely cares about the Ori's kind, and I that's why he called out to Ori because he wanted to help him. I think Ori was not fully developed at the time he was plucked from the tree by the wind, and so had some things wrong with him (probably having to do with making a new tree). Thus, the Spirit Tree wanted Ori to return so that the Spirit Tree could fully develop Ori into a working seed.

And yes, I think there is some kind of link between them. No matter where you go throughout Nibel, you can always create a Soul Link. So I think that means that the distance doesn't matter.