Ian Miller has been thinking about the Bishop puzzle – is it a name, a character class, or both? Here are his comments, though now I think about it a little more, this seems slightly at odds with the Ash/Stunner conversation where they talk about changing to Bishop from Warrior Earlier in this page I wrote: ” however the character class called Bishop in the movie would more normally be Cleric or Priest.” Ian writes:
I think this is quite deliberate, and a correct translation. I do not think Bishop is a Cleric class, rather it is the ‘class’ of the game master.
If I understood this correctly, this is explained by the Bishop when Ash arrives to join his new party (in D99). I forget precisely what questions she asks, but it was something about what his role is. He replies that he is not one of the “Apostles”, the original creators of the game, but one of their successors. This makes sense as in the Christian church the bishops are the successors to the apostles. (See the Catholic Encyclopedia entry on bishops http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02581b.htm which reads: “They are the successors of the Apostles, though they do not possess all the prerogatives of the latter.”) [I suspect that unless you are familiar with this point of church lore, the reference is too fleeting to notice. I don’t think he mentions the word Bishop at this point, so you have to know.]
Of course, this does not tally with Stunner’s comments in the cafe which implies that enough experience points would buy the class bishop. However he also comments that special A earns you lots of experience points, which seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what special A is about. I conclude that Stunner is repeating inaccurate rumour.
I have heard the word ‘Apostles’ used to describe the original creators of games. I think using ‘Bishop’ to refer to individuals that while not being in the original group have inherited control is an innovation of Oshii’s but is a logical extension of the metaphor.
Personally I don’t think his name is bishop; his title is bishop; his name is never mentioned.