A couple of quick thoughts re: the behelit myth

1) There are clearly two major events of the myth (at least): the divine calling and the Faustian bargain. The divine calling is the moment when the young melonhead becomes fully conscious of their special destiny. The canonical examples are Sephiroth finding the hidden library under the Shinra mansion, Griffith receiving the behelit from the fortune teller, and possibly the moment when Yui Ikari is absorbed into Eva Unit 01. There may or may not be a sacrifice motif here—it’s pretty clear now that I was mixing signals for the two different events. But there is definitely a sacrifice motif in the second part, and the birth/transformation/death-rebirth symbolism will be present in both events. The Faustian bargain is when the melonhead sacrifices everything—especially his friends, family, and country—for his glorious vision in an inverted crucifixion story comparable to the Roman triumph. This event typically occurs during some fated astrological moment of power, like an eclipse or a syzygy, and sets off the regularly scheduled red vortex of doom.

(H/T Audacious Epigone.)

2) One of the hallmarks of the Faustian bargain event is the appearance of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This observation is just a more specific realization about this bit I’d dreamed up originally:

Now, some odd things that happen afterward, which are suggested by a dream I had about this once: it seems that when the god king emerges, there are already a few fanatical, devoted, powerful servants ready to help him get started with the conquering and despoiling, possibly due to a prophecy. It’s sort of a perverse version of the three wise men.

Examples include the appearance of the God Hand in Berserk when Griffith activates the behelit (obviously), the appearance of the four Weapons when Sephiroth activates the black materia in the Northern crater, and the appearance of the angels in Evangelion.