Umineko no Naku Koro ni Glossary

Blue Truth: A style of truth. Any statement said in the Blue Truth can be assumed to be truth unless directly refuted by a Red Truth or Golden Truth. Detective's Authority: A genre convention stating that the detective must not be hindered in the discovery of any clues necessary to a solution. The concept of Detective's Authority is never explained to Battler so Battler never properly makes use of it until he sees Erika use Detective's Authority once she takes over as detective. Devil's Proof: A logical dilemma stating that, though evidence will disprove the existence of something, lack of evidence will not disprove it. Put simply, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Episode: An Episode refers to a single self-contained story that takes place within the Umineko no Naku Koro ni sound novels. Each episode consists of a main story, a Tea Party, and a ????. Fragment: Fragments are bits of light that represent infinite parallel worlds with infinitely different possibilities. Certain witches can use fragments to hop between different game boards. Furniture: Furniture refers to any servant created by those with magical abilities. Game: Supernatural beings in Umineko no Naku Koro ni play "games" using certain setpieces as the game boards. The game is often paralleled with chess and consists of two opposing sides attempting to solve a murder mystery. One side, the Witch Side, attempts to prove that the murders could only be committed by witches. The other side, the Human Side, instead attempts to prove that it is possible for a human culprit to commit the murders and effectively deny the existence of magic within the game board. Game Board: Game Boards in Umineko no Naku Koro ni refer exclusively to Rokkenjima on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of October 1986. The island is used by supernatural beings as means of entertainment. Game Master: The Game Master of any given game is the one crafting the murder mystery. The Game Master must avoid creating Logic Errors in a game else the game will be destroyed. Golden Truth: A style of truth that can only be used by the Game Master. Any statement said in the Golden Truth is definitively true. Hempel's Raven: A logical dilemma illustrating a logical contradiction in the definition of "evidence". The titular example for the paradox is that, in order to prove all ravens are black, one may observe either a black raven or a non-black non-raven and both constitute as evidence (By this logic, a black raven and a red apple are both evidence that all ravens are black). Typically used as a counter to the Devil's Proof. Logic Error: A logic error occurs when there is a contradiction in the tale created by the Game Master. After the discovery of a Logic Error, the Game Master can choose to either shamefully admit their mistake or attempt to fix it. If the Game Master admits the mistake then the game is destroyed. If the Game Master tries to fix the game then they will be submitted to an eternity of trying to fix the Logic Error. Due to the complex nature of these errors, this is viewed as a type of torture. Meta-World: A dimension separate from the reality of the game boards. The Meta-World is occupied by the Game Master and the players of any given game. Piece: A term that refers to any character that exists on the game board. Character's in the Meta-World are typically not referred to as "pieces" though pieces are occasionally brought to the Meta-World. Purple Declaration: A declarative statement and unique style of truth. Any purple statement is unquestionably true unless spoken by the culprit of the game. Red Truth: A style of truth. Any player on the Witch Side can present a Red Truth and it is assumed to be truth without requiring proof.Turning the board around: A phrase often repeated by Kyrie and Battler. The concept of turning the board around is based in chess. Essentially, the phrase means to consider the situation from the opponent's perspective. The flaw in the phrase comes from the core difference between chess and the games of Umineko no Naku Koro ni. In chess, both sides have the same goal (capturing the opposing king) but in the games the Witch Side and Human Side have different goals. As such, without a true understanding of the opponent's motives, nothing can be gained from "turning the board around."