Ancients (Eternal Darkness)
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The Ancients are a fictional race of gods or god-like beings from the video game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem.
Bound by mysterious events in the past, the Ancients wait beyond the veil of our perception, biding their time until the right moment to return to our mortal plane and enact the enslavement and destruction of humanity. The game's protagonists, particularly Alexandra Roivas, must put an end to their machinations. The four surviving Ancients appearing in the game are:
Contents |
[edit] Chattur'gha
| Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem God | |
| Chattur'gha | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Color | Red |
| Strong Against | Xel'lotath (green) |
| Weak Against | Ulyaoth (blue) Mantorok (purple) |
| Power Over | Physical strength |
| Essence | Claw of Chattur'gha |
Chattur'gha is the Ancient God of Strength and powers of the Flesh. He is presented in the game as a being of raw physical power and having relatively little intelligence or imagination. His voice is low, guttural, and can occasionally seem to have more than one tone at a time, thus at first-glance he may appear to be the most intimidating of the three Ancients. He is a long red being with lobster-like pincers and a triple jaw, and the artifact containing his Essence is the Claw of Chattur'gha– resembling a red-clawed worm with an aura of violence around it. He and his minions are characterized by a harsh blood-red color, great strength, and regenerative capabilities. Chattur'gha's immense physical power gives him an advantage over Xel'lotath, whose madness does not affect the mindless, but his focus on pure force leaves him unable to defend against the magicks of Ulyaoth.
During his control of Pious Augustus he displays gullibility, as he relies on Pious's word, and puts his faith in a vague prophetic vision where he destroys Xel'lotath (though Ulyaoth and Xel'lotath also make similar mistakes). Pious does not seem quite as reverent towards him, and even expresses doubts as to the viability of their plans. It would, however, be a mistake to dismiss Chattur'gha as harmless. His power and strength make up for his deficiency in matters of the mind, and as an Ancient, he has much arcane knowledge. The most ignorant Ancient still possesses understanding of the universe far beyond the comprehension of humankind.
[edit] Ulyaoth
| Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem God | |
| Ulyaoth | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Color | Blue |
| Strong Against | Chattur'gha (red) |
| Weak Against | Xel'lotath (green) Mantorok (purple) |
| Power Over | Magick, Wisdom, Planes |
| Essence | Veil of Ulyaoth |
Ulyaoth is the Ancient God of Magick. He is characterized by great wisdom and patience. His observations of the multiverse are deceptively calm and detached, as his intentions toward humanity are monstrous. His appearance is that of an enormous jellyfish with bony plating over its bell and tentacles, and his Essence inhabits the Veil of Ulyaoth, a bluish dome with sharp arms or talons curving downward. He and all things associated with him–his servants, artifacts, etc–appear as cool, ghostly blue, and have delicate tentacles (or legs) that float downward. Many have no eyes, and all have large patches of body parts composed of a matierial resembling jellyfish skin. Ulyaoth's sway over the fabric of the universe gives the plotting, scheming god an advantage against the brutish Chattur'gha, who relies on pure physical force. Due to Ulyaoth's focus on building mental faculties, he is susceptible to the madness induced by Xel'lotath.
During his control of Pious Augustus, he ensures that Pious is aware of his insignificance, “The Universe is a yawning chasm, filled with emptiness and the puerile meanderings of sentience. Why should you deserve special consideration within it, Augustus, above all else?” Pious is humbled, and submits himself devotedly to Ulyaoth.
[edit] Xel'lotath
| Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem Goddess | |
| Xel'lotath | |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Color | Green |
| Strong Against | Ulyaoth (blue) |
| Weak Against | Chattur'gha (red) Mantorok (purple) |
| Power Over | Sanity and the Mind |
| Essence | Sigil of Xel'lotath |
Xel'lotath is the Ancient Goddess of Madness. Of the three Ancients Alex must battle, she appears to have a much deeper knowledge and understanding of the universe, and is much more aware of the other Ancients' plans. This extreme knowledge seems to take a toll on her sanity, however, and she is hesitant to depend on or trust anyone– even her human servants. The very sight of her is maddening; she is a strange, pinkish--or is that green?--being with four arms surrounding a single great green eye and a tail trailing behind her; and the vessel of her Essence is the Sigil of Xel'lotath, an impossible artifact resembling a warped angel. All things in her domain are characterized by the aura of madness and an insipid green color; many of her monstrous creations have no heads, signifying that they are under total control of her madness. Xel'lotath's infectious madness gives her an advantage over the scheming Ulyaoth, who relies on careful planning; but she is easily overwhelmed by the sheer strength of Chattur'gha.
During her command of Pious Augustus, she displays a somewhat antagonistic relationship with her herald, appreciating him but openly stating that she distrusts him. It is hard to tell if this is an example of her insight—if Pious was truly plotting against her—or if she is simply paranoid and insane (something hinted at by her bizarre and contradictory speech patterns, which suggest dissociative identity disorder). (Xel'lotath's two voices are actually provided by different voice actresses.)
Her servants are more bizarre than those of the other ancients: her Zombies' limbs are replaced with ghost limbs as they're removed, her Bonethieves do not have heads (which would traditionally be a Bonethief's weakness), and her Guardians are enchanted corpses mashed together, in contrast to the others' guardians, which appear to be composed more naturally. Her Black Guardian kills Paul Luther at the end of his stage by blasting his mind with a bolt of pure insanity, causing his head to explode, whereas the Black Guardians of the other Ancients merely crush him under their massive limbs.
[edit] Mantorok
| Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem God | |
| Mantorok | |
|---|---|
| Gender | None discernible |
| Color | Purple |
| Strong Against | Chattur'gha (red) Xel'lotath (green) Ulyaoth (blue) |
| Weak Against | None, but unable to fuel summonings |
| Power Over | Order, Chaos, Death |
| Essence | Black Heart of Mantorok |
Mantorok, God of Order and Chaos, also known as the Corpse God, is the creator of the Tome of Eternal Darkness. Although it appears in the game to be in a position of inferiority, it is in actuality the ultimate Ancient. It created the equilibrium between the other three Ancients, ensuring that they would fight and destroy each other; and before being bound by Pious Augustus, it kept them imprisoned for eons. Although the color associated with its alignment is purple, many things related to it are tainted with black shadow.
Xel'lotath's Voice 1 “How can you, a mere mortal, comprehend what that entity [speaking of Mantorok] represents, or what power it can wield?[Voice lowers to that of Xel'lotath's second voice, much more menacing and sinister]We know not.[Voice returns to the first voice of Xel'lotath]And we know more than thou...” -Xel'lotath to Pious Augustus
Mantorok's physical form is cumbersome and amorphous with many mouths and eyes surrounding one central mouth, and Mantorok's Essence is within one of its many black hearts. The heart never stopped beating, even throughout the many centuries of the Corpse God being bound, during which time it has apparently lain dying. Mantorok is beyond the circle of aggression in which the others are locked, as the Keeper of the Ancients and the warden of their prison. At some point during the main antagonist Ancient's bid for power, Mantorok is bound by the Liche Pious Augustus with a very powerful nine-point binding spell. The binding consists of enchanted stakes (actually great stone pillars) that impale its flesh. The chaotic energies of the Mantorok alignment are able to corrode and overpower the magick of other alignments, but following its binding it is no longer able to power summoning spells. Spells cast using the Mantorok alignment are voiced in a whisper (as opposed to the bold invocations in the other alignments).
Because Mantorok's very being is both chaotic and ordered at the same time, it is the natural enemy of the other three Ancients, who strive to create chaos in the universe by destroying the others, and yet inadvertently keep balance through their warring. However, Mantorok's true power over Chattur'gha, Ulyaoth, and Xel'lotath rests in its ability to manipulate them to its own ends. By subtly influencing Pious, as well as the Roivas family and several others through the Tome of Eternal Darkness, and using the power of the Ruined City of Ehn'gha, Mantorok is able to help fuel the summoning and binding of each Ancient in turn, to defeat the Ancient it is dominant over; and to then connect the three alternate timelines so that all three Ancients are destroyed and only Mantorok remains.
Mantorok is neither obviously good nor clearly evil, although it is helping Alexandra Roivas on her quest. Its motivations remain inscrutable, and are likely beyond mortal understanding.
[edit] Trivia
Yellow-colored magick appears at various points throughout the game, most notably the final chapter, which is not aligned to any of the known Ancients. Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights has since confirmed in an interview that this magick represents another Ancient who does not appear in the game. Speculation on the nature of this entity generally has it oppose Mantorok, possibly as an incarnation of light/order against Mantorok's darkness/chaos.[citation needed]
Roivas, the last name of the main protagonist and her family, is Savior spelled backwards.
[edit] Resources
The video game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was consulted in the writing of this article, as well as its Instruction Booklet and the Official Player's Guide from Nintendo Power.
