Movie
Description
Pejite, sometimes written as Pejitei, is a city-state in the world of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind rather than a single individual, and it functions as a collective character in the story. It is a workshop city known for its skilled artisans and mechanics, and it is described as an old friend and ally of the Valley of the Wind, with ties of alliance and mutual respect between the two communities. The people of Pejite are craftspeople who have spent generations excavating the ruins of the old world, most notably recovering ancient engines from a vast pit called the Pit of Pejitei. This long history of salvage and engineering gives the city a reputation as a center of technological skill in a world where much knowledge has been lost.
The background of Pejite is defined by its discovery of a buried God Warrior, one of the giant bioengineered weapons that once destroyed civilization. When the Torumekian Empire learns of this find, Princess Kushana invades Pejite to seize the embryo of the God Warrior, and the city is overrun and largely destroyed. The royal family is torn apart by this invasion: Prince Asbel escapes and becomes an exile seeking revenge, while his twin sister Rastel, also called Lastelle, is taken prisoner and later dies after her airship crashes near the Valley of the Wind. The city itself is left in ruins, with survivors hiding in underground tunnels.
The personality of Pejite as a political entity is shaped by pride, craftsmanship, and deep resentment. Before its fall, it is presented as a peaceful and productive artisan community. After the invasion, its survivors become consumed by hatred for Torumekia and for the insects of the Sea of Corruption, which they blame for their suffering. The mayor of Pejite embodies this bitterness, appearing as a wrathful leader who wants to destroy the toxic jungle and who hates the Torumekians so intensely that he is willing to sacrifice the people of the Valley of the Wind to achieve revenge. The city's motivations shift from peaceful survival to vengeance, and this desperation leads it to adopt cruel tactics.
In the story, Pejite serves as the source of the conflict that sets the main events in motion, because the God Warrior taken from its ruins is the prize that brings Torumekia into conflict with the Valley of the Wind. The city also provides the protagonist with key allies, especially Asbel, who becomes a friend and companion to Nausicaä after they meet in the Sea of Corruption. Asbel is characterized as a hot-blooded and loyal young man, skilled with machines because of his upbringing in the artisan city, and he is able to repair and pilot aircraft. Rastel, in contrast, carries a more dignified royal bearing, and her dying plea to destroy the God Warrior cargo passes responsibility for the weapon to Nausicaä.
The city's relationship with the Valley of the Wind is one of friendship that turns tragic. The Pejite survivors, hidden in their tunnels, devise a plan to lure an enraged herd of Ohmu toward the Valley, where the Torumekian garrison and the revived God Warrior are stationed, hoping to destroy both their enemies and the insect horde in one stroke. They wound a young Ohmu and use it as bait to provoke the swarm, a scheme that horrifies Nausicaä when she learns of it. Their revenge plot ultimately backfires, as the Ohmu rampage annihilates the already ruined city, and its fate at the end of the film is unknown, though it is presumed to be abandoned and never rebuilt. A Torumekian observer laments that this fine city of peaceful artisans was destroyed and will probably never recover.
The development of Pejite across the story traces a decline from a prosperous, respected community into a vengeful remnant that loses its moral footing through its willingness to sacrifice innocents. Its notable abilities lie in its engineering knowledge, its capacity for building and operating airships and other old-world machines, and its deep familiarity with the underground remnants of the ancient civilization through centuries of excavation. These skills make Pejite valuable as an ally and dangerous as an enemy, even after its physical destruction has reduced it to a shadow of what it once was.
The background of Pejite is defined by its discovery of a buried God Warrior, one of the giant bioengineered weapons that once destroyed civilization. When the Torumekian Empire learns of this find, Princess Kushana invades Pejite to seize the embryo of the God Warrior, and the city is overrun and largely destroyed. The royal family is torn apart by this invasion: Prince Asbel escapes and becomes an exile seeking revenge, while his twin sister Rastel, also called Lastelle, is taken prisoner and later dies after her airship crashes near the Valley of the Wind. The city itself is left in ruins, with survivors hiding in underground tunnels.
The personality of Pejite as a political entity is shaped by pride, craftsmanship, and deep resentment. Before its fall, it is presented as a peaceful and productive artisan community. After the invasion, its survivors become consumed by hatred for Torumekia and for the insects of the Sea of Corruption, which they blame for their suffering. The mayor of Pejite embodies this bitterness, appearing as a wrathful leader who wants to destroy the toxic jungle and who hates the Torumekians so intensely that he is willing to sacrifice the people of the Valley of the Wind to achieve revenge. The city's motivations shift from peaceful survival to vengeance, and this desperation leads it to adopt cruel tactics.
In the story, Pejite serves as the source of the conflict that sets the main events in motion, because the God Warrior taken from its ruins is the prize that brings Torumekia into conflict with the Valley of the Wind. The city also provides the protagonist with key allies, especially Asbel, who becomes a friend and companion to Nausicaä after they meet in the Sea of Corruption. Asbel is characterized as a hot-blooded and loyal young man, skilled with machines because of his upbringing in the artisan city, and he is able to repair and pilot aircraft. Rastel, in contrast, carries a more dignified royal bearing, and her dying plea to destroy the God Warrior cargo passes responsibility for the weapon to Nausicaä.
The city's relationship with the Valley of the Wind is one of friendship that turns tragic. The Pejite survivors, hidden in their tunnels, devise a plan to lure an enraged herd of Ohmu toward the Valley, where the Torumekian garrison and the revived God Warrior are stationed, hoping to destroy both their enemies and the insect horde in one stroke. They wound a young Ohmu and use it as bait to provoke the swarm, a scheme that horrifies Nausicaä when she learns of it. Their revenge plot ultimately backfires, as the Ohmu rampage annihilates the already ruined city, and its fate at the end of the film is unknown, though it is presumed to be abandoned and never rebuilt. A Torumekian observer laments that this fine city of peaceful artisans was destroyed and will probably never recover.
The development of Pejite across the story traces a decline from a prosperous, respected community into a vengeful remnant that loses its moral footing through its willingness to sacrifice innocents. Its notable abilities lie in its engineering knowledge, its capacity for building and operating airships and other old-world machines, and its deep familiarity with the underground remnants of the ancient civilization through centuries of excavation. These skills make Pejite valuable as an ally and dangerous as an enemy, even after its physical destruction has reduced it to a shadow of what it once was.