The meaning of Familias, explained

Key points

• Families in DanMachi are essential, reflecting the will of god and influencing society through various roles.
• Falna is a divine blessing that transforms adventurers, tracks growth, and creates unique abilities.
• Familiars are a mix of families, corporations, and religious bodies, with different types performing different functions in Orario.

In the world of DanMachithe concept of familia is an important aspect of the series that defines the lives of the adventurers and the economic, social and political structure of the City of Orario. These familias are organizations led by gods and goddesses who have come down to the mortal world to live among people. When these supreme beings create their familias, they grant their followers, adventurers who join their family, a Falna, a celestial blessing that allows them to become stronger through the experiences gained in the dungeons and from conflicts.

Families differ from each other in size, purpose, function, and impact, reflecting the will of their god. Some focus on dungeon exploration and combat, while others focus on crafting weapons and various materials needed for adventurers' daily activities. With these different roles in society, familias are very essential for running things in the world DanMachi and Timetable as a whole.

Origin of families

Balancing divine will and mortal survival

For as long as they can remember, adventurers have always explored dungeons with the help of spirits, with the gods watching over them. As time passed, these gods grew tired of the lack of action in the heavens and decided to challenge themselves. They decided to descend into the mortal world and live among mortals, sealing away most of their divine powers to experience the world as humans do. However, the dungeon despises the gods, preventing them from having any direct action. So, they retained one ability, the ability to give Falna, some sort of status. The gods bestow this Falna on adventurers who choose to follow them and fight on their behalf, forming a family.

A familia is essentially a family-like organization in which a god leads a group of adventurers who are blessed by him and are under his protection. The creation of the familias satisfied not only the god's desire to connect with mortals, but also the mortals' need for power in their dangerous world. The gods were able to reduce their abilities to match those of mortals by sharing their divine spirit, but they are able to influence the growth of their followers through this bond they share. The Familias also helped establish an orderly structure in Orario by providing adventurers with security, employment opportunities, and other benefits in exchange for their devotion and service to their gods.

Falna

God's blessing

The Falna is the main concept behind the familias. An adventurer immediately receives Falna once he joins a family, transforming him from a normal human or demihuman into a supernatural adventurer. The Falna is depicted as a sort of tattoo with doodles detailing its characteristics and the family emblem on it. It tracks an individual's growth and experience and converts these things into measurable statistics such as durability, magic, and strength. Since the gods cannot directly influence the mortal world with their full divine power, they use Falna to help their followers grow by guiding and upgrading their statistics, replenishing and improving their statistics from time to time with the experience they have gained .

This is also how unique abilities are created that align with an adventurer's personality, talent, and experiences. For example, Bell Cranel was able to obtain Liaris Freese, an ability that grants rapid growth and immunity to spells as long as he is in love because he attempted to bridge the gap between himself and Ais Wallenstein. This is a concept that does DanMachi different from most fantasy anime. While other anime characters must gain strength through training or are born with it, this one structuredly combines divine blessing with a game-like leveling system.

Family structure

God-adventurer relationship

The family inside DanMachi they are a blend of family, guilds, and religious bodies all rolled into one, and each member has a role to play in keeping their family, even the gods, running. These gods do not directly participate in any form of combat or dungeon exploration, but are responsible for the internal affairs of the family, ensuring their stability and maintaining their reputation in the city. Family members of the familia also stay together, either in a place owned by the familia or granted to them by the city. With the god or goddess taking on the role of parent and the adventurers acting as siblings, familias create a sense of security in a world where it is difficult to survive alone, but exceptions remain.

Each adventurer in a family has their own role to play depending on their skills. Some work on the front lines of combat, while others take on more supporting roles such as healers, mages, and even strategists. However, this division of labor in a family also depends on its size. There are families with few members, such as the Hestia family, which have a simple hierarchy, while others, such as the Loki family, usually have complex hierarchies with captains and commanders who help manage operations and guide the other members during expeditions in the underground.

Types of families

A combination of tradition and specialization

Although all familias have the same model – a leading god or goddess and his followers – they do not all serve the same function. Different families take on different functions in society, usually in line with their god's priorities.

Adventurous family members

These are the most common types of familias and focus on combat and dungeon exploration. Made up of adventurers who seek strength, wealth, and fame by defeating powerful monsters, members of these families pride themselves on their prowess and usually have some of the most powerful adventurers in the city. The Loki family and Hestia are examples of this. These types of families emphasize teamwork, physical training, and strategy training as their main source of income is the dungeon.

Supportive and helpful family members

Not all families need to defeat monsters to be useful. Support families are those who provide the services everyone needs, such as medical care, information acquisition and logistics. An example is the Dian Cecht family specializing in the healthcare sector, which saves some adventurers even from the brink of death. There's also the Hermes family that specializes in intelligence gathering, a factor that makes or breaks missions. They may not be on the front lines, but Orario would fall apart without them.

Merchant family

These are the families that focus primarily on trading and manufacturing magic items, armor, and weapons. Think of them as the shop owners, blacksmiths, and merchants who keep Orario's economy running. For example, the Hephaestus family is the go-to family for weapons, while the Miach family is responsible for potions and the like. While these familias don't get as much credit as adventure-type familias, they are still very necessary.

Family entertainment

A city is no good without entertainment facilities, and that's what families are for. These families belong to the more social side of Orario, running everything from taverns to theaters, and entertaining the citizens and adventurers. However, their political power should not be underestimated, as they usually have powerful connections in high places. Examples of such families are the Apollo family and the Ishtar family.

Family Religion

Some gods take their worship seriously, and their familias are more about devotion than adventure or profit. These families revolve around religious or spiritual activities and their followers are generally quite uncompromising about their beliefs. The Soma familia is an example of this. They are obsessed with a divine drink, Soma, which supposedly brings euphoria. Unfortunately, this obsession causes many problems, turning their family into a disaster. Whether achieving spiritual goals or spreading the influence of their god, these familias have a strong sense of purpose that drives them forward.

Meaning of Familias for Orario

Constituent elements of Timetable

Familias are the backbone of Orario society. Without the familias, Orario perhaps would not have become what it is today. Their main importance for Orario lies in the exploration of dungeons. Unlike normal adventurers, adventurers in familias can explore the Dungeon much deeper, defeating high-level monsters and unlocking more floors. Since the Dungeon endlessly produces monsters, this prevents monsters from reaching the surface, keeping the citizens of Orario safe.

Familias also contribute heavily to Orario's economy. Monsters drop valuable resources, such as magic stones, when defeated. These resources are used to power the city and create weapons and magical items, which stimulate the country's trade and innovation, thus improving Orario's economy and ensuring its survival.

The contributions of the familias to Orarian culture should not be overlooked. Each family has its own traditions and values, shaped by its own god or goddess. The variations in the ways of the familias create a rich and diverse community in Orario, giving it a vibrant and overall dynamic environment. It also promotes loyalty and community within the city. Adventurers often prioritize their family's goals over personal gain, contributing to Orario's overall sense of unity. Furthermore, the competition between different families to reach the top of Orario's society further strengthens the city as a whole.

DanMachi is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Hulu.