Well, here it is, such as it is. I decided to do this
in FAQ format after all. Please C&C with technical
points, formatting points, additional questions, etc.

I've been having trouble sending this to the ML. 
Hopefully it will go through this time!

Thanks,
Brian W.


-------------------------------------------------
AA! MEGAMI-SAMA / AH! MY GODDESS / OH MY GODDESS!
                  TECHNICAL FAQ
-------------------------------------------------

          Version 0.1: January 31, 2002

-----

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. HOW DOES THE AMG UNIVERSE WORK?

2. WHERE IS HEAVEN?

3. WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE GODDESSES?

4. HOW POWERFUL ARE THE GODDESSES?

-----

1.  HOW DOES THE AMG UNIVERSE WORK?

Despite what one might assume from the light-hearted
tone of "Oh My Goddess!" and its roots in Norse
mythology, the AMG universe is in fact based upon the
same laws of physics and works in the same ways as our
own universe. Things like string theory and black
holes, and names like Maxwell and Schrodinger are
encountered throughout the manga. Besides liking
motorcycles, it seems Fujishima also has a thing for
hard physics.

To understand how the goddesses do things in AMG, you
have to understand what the superstring is and how it
works. During the Terrible Master Urd story arc, we
encounter the "universal superstring."  We are told
that if the superstring is cut, the universe will
cease
to exist.  So, what is the superstring and why is it
so
important to the existance of the universe?

According to string theory, the universe is made up of
lots and lots of tiny loops of string with radii of
approximately the Planck length (approx. 10e-33 cm).
In fact, there is one string for each elementary
particle in the universe, so there are zillions of
them.  By the way, string theory was developed as a
way
to explain some strange observed behaviors in quantum
mechanics (the study of how really tiny things like
electrons interact with other tiny things).

Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman put a
twist on string theory by supposing that, instead of
zillions of individual loops of string, there might be
only ONE loop of string which, like the electron beam
drawing an entire image on a TV screen, would become,
sequentially, every particle in the universe. Of
course, such a string would have to move, as someone
once said, at a god-like (pun intended) rate of speed.
Also, since the superstring is, in fact, the entire
universe, if it were cut... you understand the
problem.

If this is confusing, then picture the universe as
being the image on a TV screen. The universe is not
the
screen itself, but the image (picture) being
presented.
Now, in a standard CRT that picture is made up of
little red, green, and blue dots (phosphors) which are
lit up by a stream of electrons from an electron gun
located at the back of the TV's picture tube. In our
example the universe is the image, and the superstring
is the stream of electrons which light the phosphors
to
create the image. Now, if you can control the electron
stream, then you can make the image look like anything
you want. That's what Yggdrasil does. It controls the
superstring by changing the data the superstring uses
to tell itself how to create the universe, just like
the video signal coming into your TV tells the
electron
beam what picture to paint on the screen. Therefore,
everything which exists in the universe can be
affected
by Yggdrasil. In fact, problems in Yggdrasil can be
reflected as problems in this universe, things such as
unexplained earthquakes, etc.

Needless to say, if you were to "cut" the universal
superstring, the universe would cease to exist, just
as
the image on a TV ceases to exist when you cut the
electron beam (turn off the TV). Unless, of course,
you
had this wonderful computer system which could both
emulate and repair the superstring. This is what
happened in the manga, of course.  Note, however, that
when the superstring was cut in Terrible Master Urd,
it
took all of Yggdrasil's processing power to emulate
and
reconstruct the superstring. For all intents and
purposes, Yggdrasil was down for an extended period of
time (the moonrock bracelet chapters) while this
emulation and reconstruction took place.

-----

2.  WHERE IS HEAVEN?

Heaven and its inhabitants exist completely outside of
this universe and all associated parallel and pocket
universes.  We know this for two reasons.

1. Yggdrasil was able to emulate the superstring after
the superstring was cut during Terrible Master Urd.
Because the supersting IS everything in the universe,
Yggdrasil could not have emulated the superstring if
Yggdrasil was in any way a part of our universe. Since
Yggdrasil is located in Heaven, then Heaven is also
completely separate from our universe.

Confused? Let's go back to the TV analogy. Yggdrasil
is
like the TV station, VCR, or DVD player providing the
signal for your TV. If the electron beam (superstring)
were cut, that would of course not affect the TV
station, VCR, or DVD player (Yggdrasil) because they
aren't a part of the image (universe) on the TV
screen.
Of course, Yggdrasil is much more powerful than your
ordinary TV station, VCR or DVD player because it was
able to emulate the electron beam and keep the image
alive on the screen.

2. According to string theory our universe is 10
dimensional. However, looking around at our universe
we
only see 4 dimensions; length, width, height and time.
Somehow, when our universe formed the other 6
dimensions never expanded along with the 4 we can see.
You might think of them as still being tied up in a
very tiny knot. They're still there, just too small to
see. However, since Yggdrasil was able to emulate and
reconstruct the 10 dimensional superstring, it must be
at least 10 dimensional itself.  Therefore, since
Yggdrasil is in Heaven and Yggdrasil must be operating
in at least 10 dimensional space, Heaven must exist in
at least 10 dimensional space. In other words, all 10
(or more) dimensions have expanded to fill Heaven's
universe. Therefore, Heaven's universe can't be our
own
universe or any related parallel or pocket universe
(in
all of which only 4 dimensions are expanded).  Heaven
is a very different place from our own universe.

-----

3.  WHAT IS THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE GODDESSES?

Heaven and its inhabitants are at least 10 dimensional
entities, in other words able to perceive and function
in 10 dimensional space. We know this because:

1. Belldandy explains in the manga, shortly after
Skuld
arrives, that the 3 dimensional forms of the goddesses
which we see are not their true forms and must be
constantly regenerated or else they will fade from 3
dimensional space and we will no longer be able to
detect them. They will still be there, just not in a
form we can detect from 3 dimensional space.

2. Yggdrasil and Heaven exist in a (at least) 10
dimensional space.  Since the goddesses are from
Heaven, they  must also be at least 10 dimensional
entities.

So what does this mean for our goddesses? Well, it
means that very little in 3 dimensional space will
have
a significant effect on them or any other heavenly
being. Things which do affect them are usually
unexpected. Urd falls asleep when she hears Austrian
polkas (in the original manga, it's a similarly stolid
Japanese musical form), Belldandy gets drunk from
cola,
etc. Things which we would expect to cause problems
such as poisons don't seem to affect them (if you
accept the Mini Goddess comic strips as canon,
anyway).
From some of Urd's comments on potions, it's plain
that
divine beings and humans react very differently to
various substances.

So, how does Belldandy generate a 3 dimensional form
for Keiichi to hold hands with? She simply tells
Yggdrasil to tell the superstring to draw a 3
dimensional Belldandy in the temple holding hands with
Keiichi. Her true form is also presumably right there,
only imperceptible to Keiichi. Note that generating a
3
dimensional form is a subconscious function, requiring
little power, kind of like breathing is for us. In
other words, even Skuld could do it without problems,
even during the moonrock bracelet episodes.

Final Note: The demons in OMG have similar abilities
as
the divine beings. Though they don't have a direct
link
with Yggdrasil and they don't even seem to have a
direct link to Nidhog (the demon's computer system),
probably everything said here applies to them as well.

-----

4.  HOW POWERFUL ARE THE GODDESSES?

First of all, AMG is all about relationships, about
love for each other despite the odds, about friends
and
family. Even contemplating what it might take to harm
someone like Belldandy is distasteful to a true AMG
fan. However, this subject seems to come up whenever
fans of other series discover AMG so we'll tackle it
briefly here. The extra-dimensional nature of the
goddesses when in this universe combined with
Yggdrasil's control of the superstring puts our
favorite goddesses on a level that most of what passes
for deities in fiction, anime or otherwise, just can't
match. We'll use Belldandy as an example in this
section.

Consider when Mara attacks Belldandy. It doesn't look
like much to us, but remember that Belldandy's true
form is 10 dimensional. Therefore, Mara directs most
if
not all of her attack into 10 dimensional space. What
Keiichi and we observe from 3 dimensional space is
just
a shadow of the true attack. Of course, deities and
demons can destroy things in 3 dimensional space as
well, just as we can destroy a 2 dimensional image.

However, can that 2 dimensional image do much to
affect
us while we are looking at it from 3 dimensional
space?
Of course not. Likewise, there is very little anyone
attacking in 3 dimensional space can do to
significantly harm Belldandy. Even if her 3
dimensional
form were destroyed, she would simply regenerate it
since she has to constantly do so anyway. Of course,
Belldandy isn't completely immune to events in 3
dimensional space. Remember how she gets drunk from
cola? Little unexpected vulnerabilities seem to be a
part of goddesses and demons alike.

We've seen how indestructible Belldandy is, so now
let's look at the other side of the coin. How powerful
are her attacks? Attacks come in basically 2 forms in
AMG.

1. The first kind of attack is the raw power "blow
something up" attack, the kind of thing you find in
Dragonball. Remember that Belldandy's power is limited
by her limiter earring. Without her limiter she is
capable of Dragonball-like levels of destruction. With
it, she is much less powerful.

2. The second kind of attack is the spell. While less
spectacular and requiring more time and effort on
Belldandy's part, it is virtually unstoppable by
anything in the universe. This is because spells in
AMG
are actually programs running on Yggdrasil. When she
forms a spell, Belldandy is actually writing a program
on Yggdrasil. In fact, spells are often called
programs
in AMG. Since Yggdrasil can change the universe to
look
like or act like anything it wants, nothing in this
universe can resist one of Belldandy's spells any more
than the image on your TV screen can resist when the
video signal begins sending a new scene. Let's
consider
an example. Belldandy is confronted with a character
who is capable of blowing up the entire planet.
Belldandy, of course, thinks this would be a bad thing
and tells Yggdrasil that the character should become a
turnip. Yggdrasil tells the superstring, and voila!
Instant turnip. Not a turnip capable of destroying a
planet (unless Belldandy defined it as such), but a
plain old, everyday turnip. There is no possible
defense to such an attack unless the character can
also
control the superstring and tell it that they are not,
after all, a turnip.

Given their (unsealed) raw power levels and ability to
re-define the universe at will, it is no wonder that
the behavior of both deities and demons in AMG is 
more closely regulated than most other anime 
characters.