This article is about the character as seen in Ori and the Blind Forest. For other uses, see Spirit Tree (Disambiguation)
| “ | '"The light of the Spirit Tree lives in all of us. He is the reason we're alive, he's the reason we grew."' | „ |
| —Sein upon the first encounter of an Ancestral Tree |
The Spirit Tree (also referred to as The Ancient Being in the achievement you obtain upon encountering him) is the guardian of Nibel, biological father to Ori and most notably the narrator of Ori and the Blind Forest. He is responsible for keeping balance between the Elements of Light. Unfortunately, the events following the Great Storm would eventually cause the Spirit Tree to lose his power and control over Nibel's forests.
As seen in Ori and the Blind Forest[]
Before the events of the game, a gigantic event known as the Great Storm swept through Nibel. During the ensuing winds, the Spirit Tree lost Ori from his branches, but was able to oversee the events that surrounded the young spirit when it was found and adopted by Naru.
Some time later, the Spirit Tree attempted to call out to Ori during the Light Ceremony in order to bring them back, but was unable to reach his child. His light stretched across Nibel in search for Ori, but its sheer strength accidentally killed three hatchlings raised by a black owl named Kuro. In a rage from her loss, Kuro attacked the Spirit Tree and the Spirit Guardians that were gathered there. She stole Sein, the source of the tree's light, and dumped it into the depths of the forest. Without Sein to focus his power, the Spirit Tree was unable to provide balance to the forest's Elements and Nibel withered and decayed. Subsequently, Ori's adoptive home became blinded and lost all of its luster.
After Naru's death, Ori set out from their home in search of the Tree's light, but was unable to find it. Losing all of their strength, Ori died only a small distance away from the Spirit Tree's roots. Sensing his child had passed on, the Spirit Tree used the last of his power to revive the young spirit in hopes they would be able to save Nibel from Kuro's misguided will. Ori later meets the Tree after finding Sein, where they learn the reason for the forest being blinded.
Throughout the rest of the game, the Spirit Tree acts as a narrator for the events that Ori goes through. He explains the nature of Gumo's actions, why Kuro did what she did, as the general nature of places Ori travels to.
The Spirit Tree appears again at the very end of Ori's journey when Kuro sacrifices and redeems herself in order to restore Sein's power. With the Elements having been rekindled, the Spirit Tree puts out the raging fire slowly consuming Nibel from Mount Horu and restores the forest to normal. At the end, the Spirit Tree creates new Spirit Guardians with his powers restored whilst Ori watches from his roots.
Trivia[]
- There is often a misconception about Ori's gender among fans thanks to a certain line that the Spirit Tree says. At Ori's first encounter with the Spirit Tree, he explains that: "We told Ori the tale of her misguided will". When the Tree says "her", he is not referring to Ori, but to Kuro. Moon Studios eventually clarified in a Q&A that Ori is ungendered.