Coatlicue

Coatlicue image

Coatlicue is a Summon sequence of the Mercury element found only in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and is the only healing-based summon in either game. When three Mercury Djinn and three Jupiter Djinn are on standby, and Coatlicue’s Summon Tablet has been collected, the Coatlicue Summon sequence can be activated. It resembles a goddess, in clothing featuring giant chimes, who summons water to float upward and bolster the Adepts.

Coatlicue is the only summon that cures rather than damages. When used, roughly 60 HP is restored to all current battling Adepts. Then, at the end of each of the next five turns onward, the Adepts affected will automatically restore their HP equivalent to 60% of their maximum HP values. Coatlicue, however, is not automatically summonable once one collects the required Djinn. Coatlicue can only be summoned once the Summon Tablet containing the sequence has been found in Atteka Cavern at the bottommost tip of Atteka. The cavern can only be reached with the Wings of Anemos attached to the Lemurian Ship, and the Parch Psynergy is required inside as well.

Coatlicue is obviously much different from all other summons. It may actually be the most useful summon of all because of this. Thanks to the very potent effect of this spell, which is much like the classic Regen spells of Final Fantasy games, Coatlicue makes the party almost unkillable for five turns in a row because of how much their HP values regenerate. This can be useful in all boss fights that take place after the Reunion of Adepts; perhaps the best place to summon Coatlicue is in the later stages of the Doom Dragon final battle, whose titanically powerful Cruel Ruin attack brings most Adepts to a very low point in their remaining HP meters; a well-timed Coatlicue summon can automatically restore the Adepts without having to resort to Psynergy such as Pure Wish and Cool Aura in place of attacking.

Cultural Allusions

Origin: Mexico

The Golden Sun portrayal of Coatlicue is radically different in appearance from the original conception. Coatlicue was the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the stars, moon and Huitzilopochtli (the sun and war god). She was also known as the patron of women who died in childbirth, keeping the hands, hearts and skulls of the unborn children close to her own heart to purify them. Despite this matronly aspect and her epithet as "Mother Goddess of the Earth who gives birth to all celestial things", Coatlicue is depicted with claws and wearing a skirt of writhing snakes and a necklace made of human hearts, hands and skulls.