Professor Fran is a character who appears in Phoenotopia and Phoenotopia Awakening. She's a scientist that works at a lab located north-west of Daea, by the edge of a lake. She is an avid researcher of Moonstones and endeavors to recreate teleportation through their properties. She works with her colleagues Van and Lan in the lab, and recruits the help of three explorers to collect Moonstones: Gail, Gill and Floe. In Awakening, she has an ongoing rivalry with Thomas over who's the best scientist in Castella.
Description
Appearance
Fran is a short female with green hair, dark eyes, and a white labcoat with a pair of glasses over her forehead. She appears to be wearing a light blue handkerchief or bandana.
Personality
Fran appears to be an optimistic, brave woman, who is passionate about the project she is working on. She cares about the people she interacts with, which can be seen in the high rewards she gives to Gale for her collaboration, as well as paying Gill and Floe firmly. According to Stan, Fran ‘does not stay mad for long,' which indicates that she is laid back and levelheaded. Her bravery can be seen through her ability to not panic while she was trapped under the rocks in Atai Bridge and her immediate willingness to befriend the members of the Hidden Village, which could seem terrifying for most people.
Social Profile
Fran is a secret researcher, so her occupation has not much relevance to ordinary people. In the game it is never told where Fran gets her funding from, so it is unclear what her actual importance in society is. Nevertheless, she is the leader of her research and is essentially the boss of her two colleagues, who consider her ‘one of the best scientist they’ve ever met,' which shows that they respect and admire her.
Events of Phoenotopia
Fran is first found trapped under some rocks in Atai Bridge. Rescuing her is completely optional to reach the main ending of the game, though it creates meaning to the gathering of moonstones and is essential for reaching 100% completion and finding all the game’s secrets.
When Gale rescues her, Fran expresses her gratitude, says that she is interested in doing business with her, and mentions her lab near Daea.
When Gale finds her again (in Atai or Daea), she will mention her quest for moonstones and will take 5 from Gale if she has them. Fran asks her to visit her every time she collects five more moonstones and will reward her when delivering them to her lab.
After Gale gets her the sixth pack of moonstones, she mentions that her teleporter is almost finished, and that she will test it soon. Seeing her again in her lab will not be possible after this conversation.
Gale finds Fran again when she arrives at Hidden Village, in the heart of the Forgotten Forest. There, the scientist tells her that she found Grasso, an old lost explorer, who is now living in the village, full of friendly arcs and harpies. The teleporter brought Fran and her colleagues directly there.
After delivering a seventh pack of moonstones to her, Fran says that the life in the village has opened her eyes, and that she wants to dedicate her career to something that could help the community. She discusses with Grasso about the teleporter and both decide that the human civilization is not ready to meet these creatures yet. This way, the teleporter remains a secret to the people. After telling this to Gale, Fran offers her help with anything she is dealing with.
Moonstone Quest
Phoenotopia
Fran is the researcher of Moonstones in the game and rewards the player every time they give her five of them. Also, every time they do so, she speaks about the properties of the rocks and the history of their discovery. After delivering her thirty moonstones, she will succeed in creating a teleporter, which transports her to a firstly unknown place, which happens to be Hidden Village. The player can use this teleporter as well, but it will only take them to the edge of Forgotten Forest, requiring them to make their way through in order to find Hidden Village.
Phoenotopia Awakening
Fran's Moonstone quest plays a more vital role in the remake. There are now a total of 100 Moonstones (more than twice the amount of Moonstones in the original game) that can be brought to Fran. This, in turn, means more rewards that Fran can provide to Gail, chief among them being access to a network of teleporters in Fran's lab. Because certain areas, such as Atai Bridge, can't be skipped over on the world map in Phoenotopia Awakening, Fran has taken the liberty of installing teleporters all over Castella. These teleporters are linked to various locations in the game, including Panselo, Atai, Cosette, and others, allowing Gail to instantly travel to those locations without having to pass through other areas. As Gail brings more Moonstones to Fran's lab, more teleporters will be activated.
Trivia
- Only 40 Moonstones can be given to Fran. The other 2 have only collectible value for the player.
- In Fran’s Lab, there are two Golem Hunter action figures, which might be the ones that Stan said Fran motorized.
- Fran is never seen near Golems, in opposition to Rutea and Thomas, the other main scientists of the game.
- However, a few Golems can be found in some parts of Fran's lab.
- There are however no golems in Fran's lab in Awakening.
- However, a few Golems can be found in some parts of Fran's lab.
- Rescuing Fran is entirely optional; the game can still be beaten even if the player never rescues her. In fact, the speedrun achievement of the game requires for players to ignore her in order to get it.
- If Gail visits Thomas in his old house in Panselo after upgrading all four equipments (Slingshot, Lamp, Civilian Crossbow and Bombs) as well as repairing the Kobold Blaster and the Berserker Band, he will introduce her to his contact Narf, who is actually Fran in disguise.