 Spoiler Alert!
|
| The details below contain SPOILERS, you may want to view this after completing the storyline in-game. |
Creation of the Adversary at Black Heaven
“The shape of destiny has been twisted. A new adversary has appeared with the power of the Seal Stone.”
- ― The Black Mage
The Adversary, also known as the Adversary of Destiny, is a member of the Alliance and the one who defeated the Black Mage. The identity of the Adversary is the player character, and thus, any class in the game can be the Adversary.
'Adversary' is also a title that refers to a chosen Vessel, or Vessel of an Adversary, who has bonded with a Seal Stone or a Godsphere. The first Adversaries were described as Adversaries of the Gods.
History[]
The Ancient War[]
The Elders of Grandis[]
After the Primordial God created the Overseers to quell the chaos of the Ancient Gods, the Overseers chose twelve of the most outstanding Anima in the world and tasked them with creating beings who could defeat the gods. These twelve elders of Grandis were given much by the Overseers, including a long lifespan and researchers to aid them in their experiments. The Overseers also created a relic called the World Heart, which had the ability to strip a god or a godlike being of their power.
Using the World Heart as a template, the elders created relics known as the Godspheres. As these man-made Godspheres were weaker than the World Heart, they did not possess the power to drain the energy of higher beings, nor did they share the conditions required to awaken its power. Instead the Godspheres had their own unique conditions - namely that they would only awaken in response to the collective determination of the people, such that their immense power could never be monopolized by a single individual.
In the laboratory of Odium, the elders began conducting experiments to fuse mortals with the Godspheres in order to give them the power to match the gods. The elders created mechanical Guardians to defend the laboratory, as well as to identity suitable test subjects. Worthy candidates were known as Vessels, who would then be experimented upon in order to be fused with the Godspheres.
The elders used a combination of magic and cybernetics to enhance their Vessels and make them stronger, as well as to forcibly make them compatible with the Godspheres. Their early experiments resulted in a number of failed test subjects, many of whom were deemed defective and thrown off the edge of Odium, including Alter.
The First Adversaries[]
Over time, the elders began perfecting their research and were soon able to successfully unite the Godspheres with their Vessels, giving rise to the first Adversaries of Destiny. Imbued with the power to challenge the gods, the Adversaries began the conflict that would one day be known as the Ancient War. With the success of their experiments, the elders began mass-producing Adversaries in order to subdue the gods and end their chaos.
As the war progressed, however, the elders soon began noticing that their research had a critical flaw. As a result of their experimentation, their Adversaries began losing everything that made them human - their memories, their emotions, their free will, and their sense of self - thereby reducing them into empty shells devoid of anything except their single-minded obsession to fulfill their assigned purpose as Adversaries of the gods.
This lack of humanity was called contamination by the elders, who were shocked and disgusted with themselves for having forcibly taken away the humanity and free will of so many heroes of the world. Nevertheless, as they had been given a direct mission by the Overseers to end the rampage of the wild and unaccountable gods, the elders continued with their research, despite knowing that they were committing grave atrocities and compromising all the core values that they held sacred.
Soon after, the elders also realized another side-effect of their Adversaries - one which had been directly created by the Overseers themselves. The Adversaries' power to destroy higher beings made them a great danger to the world, for while they were working to end the chaos of the gods, allowing such powerful and dangerous weapons to remain in the world was a grave risk, as their mere existence had the potential to usher in a new age of chaos, equal to that of the Ancient Gods. For this reason, it had been ordained that the fate of every Adversary - from the moment that they awakened - was to die soon after fulfilling their purpose. As a result, their Adversaries - after defeating the gods - began falling one by one.
Because of this, the elders continued requiring candidates for their experiments in order to give rise to more Adversaries. Though most Vessels were brought in from outside Odium, there was one amongst the researchers who aided the elders named Kaling, who was deemed a suitable candidate for experimentation, despite the research team's reservations about whether she would be compatible with the Godsphere. In spite of knowing the risks of being a test subject, Kaling gladly agreed to undergo the experiments, as she had a strong desire for peace and had full faith that the experiments would bring about that peace. However, though Kaling underwent the brutal experiments, she was ultimately deemed a defective Vessel.
The First Explorer[]
At the same time, the war continued progressing as the elders had hoped, with the Adversaries successfully accomplishing their mission by defeating the Ancient Gods. Though most Adversaries had been created in Odium, there was one known instance of an Adversary being created outside the laboratory - the First Explorer of the planet Maple World, whose deeds would be told generations later as the Legend of the Maple Tree, the favorite resting spot of the First Explorer.
Though the First Explorer was an orphan, he had never felt alone, as Sugar, the avatar of the Goddess of Maple World, had always been with him. As Sugar genuinely cared for the First Explorer, she was constantly consumed by a sense of guilt, as she had been tasked by the Overseers in guiding him through his destiny, which would ultimately lead to his tragic death - the same fate shared by all Adversaries.
The Four Perils[]
Over time, Kaling grew contaminated from the experiments and became obsessed with fulfilling her purpose as an Adversary. To this end, she created four mechanical monsters - Hundun, Taowu, Qiongqi, and Taotie - with the intention of having them consume thousands of lesser fiends across Grandis, after which she planned to fuse them with a Vessel and a Godsphere to give rise to an extremely powerful Adversary.
Eventually, Kaling fell completely to evil and her creations became known as Four Perils, who unleashed devastation across Grandis. Before the Four Perils could gather enough energy for her, however, the Adversaries defeated the last Ancient God at the holy city of Cernium. At the end of the war, the elders and the researchers realized that they could no longer turn a blind eye to Kaling's madness, and so they sent another defective Vessel named Tai Yu in order to stop Kaling and her Four Perils. Tai Yu successfully sealed away Kaling in a place that the researchers could not reach, and in a way that left no trace.
End of the War[]
After the war ended, the elders realized that the contamination of their Adversaries had reached both them and the researchers, which threatened to completely erode their humanity. They also realized that though the war had ended, their research to create beings capable of destroying gods had the potential to give birth to a new age of chaos. For this reason, the elders, in accordance to the will of the Overseers, decided that they would clear away their research and sequester themselves from the world in order to prevent both the contamination and the secrets of the Overseers from leaking out.
With no Godspheres left in Odium, the elders took the World Heart - the original template made by the Overseers - and forcibly fused it with Hundun, the strongest of the Four Perils. As the World Heart's power was so strong that even they could not handle it, the elders hoped to deplete its power in order to ensure that no one would be able to misuse it. After fusing it with Hundun, the elders used him as the power source of Odium. Meanwhile, Tai Yu sealed away the other three Perils, though the elders kept the truth about Hundun secret from both Tai Yu and the researchers.
The researchers, using some of Kaling's old research, created mechanical dolls called Constables - sentient robots made in the researchers' own image, with their Anima features replaced with metal equivalents. The Constables were then tasked with maintaining the laboratory in the researchers' absence. Additionally, the elders created a powerful sentinel called Guardian Kalos in order to reinforce the other mechanical Guardians, which had been made to keep all but a worthy Vessel from entering Odium. With Hundun and the World Heart powering such a vast and complex mechanical system, the elders hoped to slowly deplete the World Heart's power over the span of many ages.
With all the Adversaries meeting their demise as a result of their preordained fate, the divine power of the Godspheres - originally stemming from the World Heart - permeated deep into the land. The power of the First Explorer, who had met his fate after fulfilling his mission, was imbued into the leaves of the Maple Tree, his favorite resting spot, where it lay dormant, awaiting the one who would inherit his will.
The elders then locked all remnants of their research - including the monstrous creatures born from their failed experiments - inside the laboratory, tasking their Constables and Guardians with safeguarding Odium. With all traces of their research cleared away, the elders used their power to create Shangri-La, also known as the realm of the sages, where they chose to imprison themselves in order to stop the contamination from spreading.
The Seal Stones[]
Following the end of the Ancient War, the Overseers, in order to restore order back to the universe, ordained that only three worlds - Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum - should exist. These three worlds, which had once been connected as one, were separated into different dimensions and governed by the three laws of light, life, and time.
To enforce the three laws and to ensure that the Ancient Gods would never rise again, the Overseers created three Transcendents for each of the three worlds. The power of the Transcendents suppressed the Ancient Gods, who gradually fell into an unnatural slumber, with the exception of Abraxas the Watchful God, who was tasked with watching the graves of the primal forces who had come before.
Eons later, the Black Mage awakened as the Transcendent of Light and enacted a plan to liberate the world from the hold of the Overseers, whose fixed destiny kept humanity anchored to stagnancy and incompleteness. He began a war of conquest to draw out heroes that would seal him away, which was part of his plan to fuse Maple World and Grandis.
A magician named Freud began researching the forgotten power of the Godspheres in order to find a way to stop the Black Mage from destroying the world. Just as the elders had used the World Heart as a template to create the Godspheres, Freud extracted the power of the World Heart, which had permeated deep into the continent, and refashioned them back into gems that he called the Seal Stones, as they had been created as tools to both seal the Black Mage and to restore the damage done to broken lands.
Birth of a New Adversary[]
The one who would become known as the Adversary in present day was an Alliance member who participated in the battle against Black Heaven and was instrumental in defeating Gelimer and Lotus. They were poisoned by Gelimer's Retoxin and were on the verge of death when Empress Cygnus, with the full support of the Alliance, used the final Seal Stone to revive the Alliance member.
Imbued with the divine power of the Seal Stone, the Alliance member unknowingly gained the power to thwart destiny. Elsewhere, the Black Mage sensed the creation of the Adversary, which he described as a twist in the axis of destiny. When Arkarium offered to eliminate the threat, the Black Mage ordered him to leave them alone and instead dispatched Damien to begin his attack on Maple World with the demon army.
After Damien was defeated by the Heroes of Maple, Alicia scattered her life force to restore life to Maple World. Having removed the final Transcendent of Maple World from the board, the Black Mage allowed for the Gate of the Present to open, leading to the Arcane River. The Adversary learned from the Memory Keeper that the Erdas were being removed from the natural cycle in order to create the Arcane River.
In order to gain the power to stop the Black Mage, the Adversary met the three Goddesses of Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum and obtained the Arcane Stones that granted them the power to manipulate Erdas. They also obtained an Arcane Symbol from the Memory Keeper that allowed them to fight the Erda monsters in the Arcane River.
The Arcane River[]
Early Regions[]
In the Vanishing Journey, they met the amnesiac Temple Keeper named Kao and learned that Kao was actually the Adversary themselves, having traveled back from the past to warn them about Arcane Force, which they needed to face the Black Mage. The Adversary then made their way through Reverse City, Chu Chu Island, and Yum Yum Island and strengthened their Arcane Force,
Erda Experiments[]
In Yum Yum Island, Kaling conducted experiments to create a Godsphere and a Vessel for Darmoor, who was planning to create an Adversary. By fusing the Erdas of the most powerful monsters in Maple World, Kaling hoped to replicate the strong constitution of a Vessel. She also attempted to create a Godsphere, though her flawed, contaminated Godspheres - whose power was contained within her blue buttons - were unable to be replicated with the full power of a true Godsphere. During their journey, the Adversary encountered Kaling's creations on Yum Yum Island before moving ahead.
Final Regions[]
before arriving in Lachelein, where they defeated Lucid. Next, they went through Arcana, where they learned of a mysterious girl who had corrupted the forest with her mere presence. In Morass, they encountered Arkarium and the girl, Tana, and learned about her mysterious past in Kritias.
Esfera[]
In Esfera, the Adversary encountered Will and learned that Tana was Aeona, Grandis' Transcendent of Light, and that the Black Mage planned on absorbing her power to become a Transcendent of two worlds. They also encountered a masked figure who saved them from Will, explaining that in order to destroy the Black Mage, an Adversary was needed.
Eventually, the Adversary fought and defeated Will. However, Will explained that the only way to stop the Black Mage's ritual was to kill Tana. Against all expectations, the Adversary refused to take Tana's life. This event, though seemingly insignificant, was the critical moment that allowed the Adversary to step off the path of destiny created by the Black Mage. However, this also allowed the Black Mage to absorb Tana's power, granting him the power of creation.
Tenebris[]
The Alliance made its final stand against the Black Mage by sending its airfleet to Tenebris at the end of the Arcane River. During the events of Tenebris, they learned that the Black Mage not only had the ability to see the future, but had actively manipulated events to ensure that they followed the path of destiny he had preordained. The Adversary made their way through the Labyrinth of Suffering, where they learned that the masked figure who had saved them was Orchid, who sought to destroy the Black Mage as revenge for Lotus' death.
While fighting Hilla, the Adversary briefly used their true power in order to find the determination to defeat her. However, they were unable to consciously control their power to destroy the Labyrinth Core, frustrating Orchid, who decided that she herself would defeat the Black Mage without the Adversary's help.
The Adversary followed her through Limina and soon learned that the Black Mage had set them on an inescapable Path of Destiny. As they began to fall into despair, Cygnus reminded them that they had the power to step off the path and called them the Adversary of Destiny, rather than the Adversary of the Black Mage. With their renewed determination, the Adversary arrived at the Temple of Darkness, where they engaged in a fierce battle with the Black Mage.
Their fight transcended the plane of existence as the Black Mage ascended to godhood and took them to a plane beyond existence, where the Black Mage entered the Genesis Crux in order to remake the world. The Adversary attempted to use their true power to stop them, but failed to muster the needed strength, to which the Black Mage explained that they were still on the path and would not live to claim the true power of the Adversary. As the Adversary fell into despair that they were unable to take even one step off the path of destiny, Tana's shapeless form emerged from the Genesis Crux and encouraged the Adversary, telling them that they had taken but one step off the path.
Realizing that they needed the will to survive, rather than sacrifice, the Adversary mustered their determination and summoned a divine blade, plunging it through the Genesis Crux and piercing the Black Mage. Following this, the Adversary dissolved into Erdas and was sent to the Erda Flow, where they met the White Mage. He explained that he had orchestrated events such that the Adversary would finally kill him, as his ultimate goal was to make a world without Transcendents, including himself.
Continental Grandis[]
Cernium[]
Some time after the defeat of the Black Mage, the Adversary followed Grendel the Really Old on his path towards understanding the Black Mage's motivations. This led to Grendel breaking the thin barrier between Maple World and Grandis, finally fusing them both into one world. The Alliance was then approached by Prince Carlisle of Cernium, who crossed the seas of Grandis in order to find the Adversary and enlist their help in saving the Holy City. Carlisle introduced the Adversary to Azor, the Holy Sword of Mitra the Sun God, in the hope that they were the legendary Chosen One.
Upon picking up the sword, the Adversary felt a surge of hostility emanating from Azor, causing them to faint. Soon after, they learned about the origin of the first Adversaries in a book from the Cernium Royal Library. At Seren's appointment as the Chosen One, Aaron whispered an incantation in her ear that caused Mitra the Sun God to possess her. Mitra was hostile towards the Adversary, whose power was responsible for sealing away the Ancient Gods.
After a fierce battle, Aaron revealed himself as Gerand Darmoor and proceeded to extract the Seal Stone from the Adversary. Reminding them that he had warned that it would only bring death, he shattered the Seal Stone, thus destroying both the Adversary's power and the only weapon the Alliance had against the Transcendents.
Arcus[]
The Alliance soon discovered a lead on the Ancient Gods and traveled to Arcus, a desert in Grandis. Soon after the awakening of the Ancient God, Archelon, the Adversary met Nicky, who was pretending to be a Seeker. Nicky led the Adversary and the Glory Guard to Karote, where they were recognized as a true Vessel for the Adversary by the guardians, despite not having a Seal Stone within them.
After Nicky revealed himself as T-Boy and forced Kalos to attack the Adversary, the tower began to collapse. As they plummeted, Nicky had a change of heart and pushed the Adversary to safety, explaining that Gerand Darmoor had planned to destroy the Adversary's Seal Stone long before they had reached the end of the Arcane River. He then told the Adversary that the answers to all their questions could be found in Odium.
Odium[]
In Odium, the Adversary learned about the experiments that the elders conducted in the laboratory, as well as the fate that befell all Adversaries created in Odium - to have their humanity and sense of self erased. There, they met Hundun, who was surprised to find that they were a Vessel who had been completed once before, and one who had strayed from the path while retaining their sense of self. He then bestowed the World Heart, which he called the final Godsphere of Odium, to the Adversary, though he explained that it was worn-out and could only be restored by an expert in the field of Godspheres. Tai Yu then led the Adversary to Shangri-La, the realm of the sages, where the elders would be able to restore the Godsphere.
Shangri-La[]
In Shangri-La, the Adversary met with the elders of Grandis, who were shocked to discover that they had not lost their humanity, nor had they succumbed to their fate as an Adversary, despite having fulfilled their purpose by killing a god. They revealed that the Overseers, believing that allowing such powerful beings to remain unchecked would throw the world into chaos once again, had ordained that the destiny of every Adversary was to die after fulfilling their purpose.
The Adversary then realized that Darmoor had destroyed their Seal Stone in order to change their fate, as they would not have been able to keep living if the Seal Stone were to have remained inside them. Believing the Adversary's existence as one who had defied destiny to be an affront to the will of the Overseers, the elders attempted to seal them inside Shangri-La, along with the World Heart that Hundun had given them.
However, Kaling - with the help of several traitorous elders - broke into Shangri-La with an invasion army and unleashed the three Perils that she held. The Adversary confronted Kaling, who revealed to them that they were not the Adversary that Darmoor was looking for. The Adversary then defeated her with the World Heart, which drained her of the Transcendent powers that Darmoor had bestowed upon her. Following the battle, the elders admitted that despite their reservations, they would allow the Adversary to leave Shangri-La as repayment for having saved them.
They explained that the World Heart in the Adversary's possession was the original Godsphere made by the Overseers, and that it had the ability to strip a god or godlike being of their powers. They also revealed that they had attempted to drain it of its energy by using it as the power source of Odium, though they had never expected that the World Heart could steal the power that it erased in order to restore itself. They explained that unlike the Godspheres and the Seal Stones, the World Heart did not respond to the collective will of the people. In order to restore its power and learn its activation conditions, the Adversary set out on a new journey.
Shortly before leaving, the Adversary and Gaon - one of the Four Symbols - learned that Kaling had left behind several contaminated Godspheres, which contained her memories, in order to further the contamination of the elders and the researchers. The Adversary destroyed all the button Godspheres and saw Kaling's past through her memories, in which they learned that the reason why some of the elders had betrayed Shangri-La was to escape the will of the world.
Arteria and Carcion[]
Following the battle of Shangri-La, Darmoor sent his Apostles throughout Maple World and Grandis to steal the power of the Ancient Gods and the Transcendents. In Maple World, the Adversary and the Alliance battled against Reina, who invaded Ereve aboard Arteria and extracted Cygnus' Transcendent powers.
Soon after, the Adversary traveled to Carcion in order to protect Keira, an Ancient God and a friend of Gaon. There, they faced off against Limbo and two of the traitorous elders of Shangri-La - Shensung and Xula - who were experimenting on the Anima of Carcion in order to find a suitable test subject for their Adversary experiments, which used a strange combination of Adversary and Specter research, such that the elders were researching the existence of a 'special soul', which allowed a host body to retain their humanity when injected with a Specter soul.
Selection and Powers[]
Vessels and Compatibility[]
During the era of the Ancient Gods, the elders extensively researched how to create an Adversary. The two main components for an Adversary are a Vessel and a Godsphere, which are then fused together. Vessels can be distinguished into two categories: a true Vessel and a defective Vessel. True Vessels are those who are compatible with a Godsphere, while defective Vessels are those that have been rejected by the Godsphere.
Although it remains unknown what the criteria are for determining a true Vessel, it is speculated that what determines the success of a Vessel is whether their ego can be erased upon fusing with the Godsphere. Kaling, Alter, and Tai Yu were all considered to be defective Vessels, with all three initially retaining their sense of self for a time after the conclusion of the experiments.
The player is the only known Adversary capable of retaining their humanity and sense of self. While the reason for this is unknown, it is speculated that it is due to the Adversary being organically chosen by a Seal Stone, rather than being forcibly fused. The Seal Stones and the Godspheres both respond to the collective will of the people, and at the time of the Adversary's creation, the Seal Stone of Ereve had responded to the deep desire of the people of Maple World for the Adversary to be saved from death.
It is possible that this organic, symbiotic fusion is the reason why the Adversary retained their ego, as the wish of the people was for the Adversary - as a person - to survive unscathed, for which the Seal Stone recognized them as a Vessel of the people's will and chose to fuse with them on its own accord.
Additionally, Hundun - who was fused with the World Heart - retained his ego, although the World Heart drained him of his powers and left him dependent on the power cycling through it to keep him alive. It is possible that the unique properties of the World Heart resulted in him retaining his ego, as the World Heart does not respond to the will of a population, meaning that it would not necessitate Hundun to be an embodiment of the people's will, for which his ego would not need to be erased.
Contamination and Mysticants[]
The erasure of the Vessel's ego is accomplished through a combination of magic and cybernetics, which not only erodes the test subject's sense of self, but also enhances their innate strength and power. The loss of humanity in a Vessel is known as contamination, or alternatively, corruption. This contamination appears to be transmissible, as both the elders and the researchers were affected by it over the course of the experiments.
The exact properties of contamination are unknown, although given its transmissibility, it is likely magical in nature, possibly generated and exacerbated by the power of the Godsphere being fused with the Vessel's body and mind. Kaling and Alter both demonstrated symptoms of contamination after the experiments, while Tai Yu did not, despite having undergone the same experiments.
Based on the possibility that the experiments sought to completely erase the Vessel's ego, and given that Kaling, Alter, and Tai Yu all demonstrated some level of individuality, it can be inferred that defective Vessels possess varying degrees of contamination depending on the extent to which their ego was erased through experimentation. It is also possible that the contamination of defective Vessels occurs due to their proximity to completed, fully-contaminated Vessels in the laboratory, or it could be a mix of both reasons.
Through an unknown influence, countless cursed objects known as mysticants were brought into the world, manifesting as ordinary objects. In a book written by the elders, it was described that mysticants existed independently of their will. The elders later created the bell mysticant in order to cleanse the contamination that had spread to themselves and the researchers. It was also described that the bell is capable of cleansing the evil energies of other mysticants, as any sickness caused by a mysticant can only be cured by another mysticant.
In the same book written by the elders, it was explained that the bell had been created as a unique amalgam of their own will and purpose. Given that the bell was made to cleanse the contamination, and that it has the power to purify the evil energies of mysticants, it can be speculated that mysticants contain a portion of the contamination of the Adversaries. The paintbrush mysticant, which holds the ability to gouge out happy memories and paint them on a canvas, is indicative of this, as the loss of memory and emotion is a symptom of the contamination.
Although the bell was capable of cleansing the evil energies of the paintbrush mysticant, it was later revealed that the ringing of the bell did not erase the contamination of the elders and the researchers. Though the reason for this is unknown, the elders believe that it is indicative of their sins being beyond forgiveness. This can be interpreted to mean that while the bell is capable of cleansing evil, the sheer magnitude of the elders' contamination is beyond its capacity to purify.
Though it was thought impossible by the elders, it is possible for contamination to be reversed. The only known instance of this happening is with Kaling, who subtly began regaining her ability to feel after spending a year with the private investigators of Cheong-woon who had rescued her from her seal. Though Kaling had originally intended to merely use them to find the Four Perils, there were evident signs of her feelings beginning to return, such as her smiling softly at a flower that the investigators gave her as a gift.
After the investigators were all killed by Qiongqi, Kaling began experiencing immense sadness and guilt after finding the investigators' final gift for her amidst their bodies. Because of this, it is highly likely that contamination - described as a lack of humanity - can be naturally cleansed through immersing oneself in humanity. As the elders had sequestered themselves away from humanity in order to stop their spread of contamination from affecting others, it is likely that this is the reason for why they never learned of this.
In the midst of Kaling's grief, Gerand Darmoor approached her and hoped to recruit her as his Apostle by telling her that he needed her research. As a result, Darmoor intentionally chose to feed into the effects of Kaling's contamination by enabling her hardwired obsession with fulfilling her purpose through completing her research, which exacerbated the effects of her contamination and ensured that her feelings would fade away.
Kaling would later describe that there was a chance that her lost, resurfaced emotions would have persisted, had she been given enough time to process them. Because of this, there is a possibility that Kaling's contamination could have fully been erased given enough time, had Darmoor not interfered in the process of her regaining her humanity.
Although there is no known way of erasing contamination outside of immersing oneself in humanity, it is possible to halt its exacerbation through a counteracting force of balance. For this reason, the elders created Shangri-La as a convergence of the four seasons, with its harmonic energies stopping the worsening of the contamination.
It can be speculated that Tai Yu, who was said to be one of the last Vessels in Odium, was spared from the contamination, as the laboratory was shut down soon after the experiments on him concluded, meaning that there would only be a short amount of time that he would have been exposed to the contamination before moving to Shangri-La and spending most of his life in its natural harmony, which would prevent the contamination of the elders from spreading to him.
Additionally, as Tai Yu spent many years in the outside world, meeting others, and raising Hoyoung, it is possible that any amounts of contamination within himself was erased through him choosing to strengthen his ties to his humanity. Tai Yu would often emphasize humanity existing above the earth and beneath the heavens, making it possible that this trigram helped him retain his humanity, and possibly also to ensure that Hoyoung would not become contaminated by the elders and the researchers while he dwelled in the Hermitage in Shangri-La.
Powers[]
An Adversary is a unique amalgam of mortal and god, closer in status to a demigod, though true demigods are those descended from gods, such as the Celestials being descendants of Mitra the Sun God. Though mortals are unable to harm higher beings, such as Ancient Gods and Transcendents, this limitation can be circumvented through utilizing a relic containing the power of such a higher being. The Seal Stones and the Godspheres, which contain the power of the Overseers, allow Adversaries to kill immortal beings by calling forth a divine blade.
The conditions to awaken this divine power in an Adversary is similar to the conditions required to awaken a Seal Stone or a Godsphere - namely, powerful determination and willpower. However, there are certain caveats to the type of determination needed to awaken the relic.
In the case of the Adversary, their attempt to summon the power of the Seal Stone in Limina repeatedly failed when they attempted to focus on their strong determination to sacrifice their own life for the sake of the world. As the time of Genesis approached, Tana emerged from the Genesis Crux and revealed to the Adversary that the world was crying out that it didn't want to disappear, and because of that, it would not lend its power to the Adversary, who was ready to kill themselves for the sake of victory.
Her words helped the Adversary realize that they had been prepared to sacrifice themselves all the while that they had faced the Black Mage, but what they had instead needed to believe was that they needed to survive and save everyone, including themselves, not to give up on themselves and die for the sake of a world that wanted them to live.
From this, it can be inferred that an Adversary's intentions must align with that of the world, as the Seal Stone only awakens in response to the will of the people. As the Adversary is meant to be an embodiment of that collective will, the Seal Stone will not activate unless there is a synchronization of the Adversary and the people's will.
In the case of the Adversaries of Odium, the Adversaries were stripped of their individuality, emotions, and sense of self, hardwired with only a singular desire to fulfill their purpose. As the player is the only known Adversary to have retained their sense of self, it can be assumed that the reason why the Adversaries of Odium were turned into unthinking, tenacious machines was to ensure that they would be selected by the Godspheres as compatible Vessels, as they held nothing inside them except their desire to carry out the people's will.
In the case of the player, the Adversary required a strong desire to survive - an act that fundamentally required them to have a sense of self and an ability to care about themselves. In the case of the Adversaries of Odium, their singular drive was to kill the gods, not to survive, as the fate of every Adversary was to die immediately after fulfilling their purpose, which the player did not know at the time of fighting the Black Mage.
It is possible that this is a result of the Adversary having lived and fought alongside the Alliance, causing the people of Maple World to respect and care for them, whereas the Adversaries of Odium had been created in a laboratory far removed from the world, because of which, the people from the time of the Ancient War would not have known the Adversaries personally, meaning that their deepest desire would only be for the gods to be defeated, not for the Adversaries to survive, allowing the Adversaries of Odium to easily summon the power of the Godsphere with their programmed determination.
Weaknesses and Limitations[]
There are several major weaknesses to the power of an Adversary.
The first is that in order to use the power of the Adversary, there must be sufficient determination summoned, along with a proper synchronization with the determination of the world. This was seen several times in Limina when the Adversary erroneously believed that they must be determined to sacrifice themselves. This was also seen when Kao was unable to kill Tana in their timeline with the Seal Stone, as they were facing extreme psychological distress due to Ollie's death, preventing them from summoning enough determination and resolve to awaken the Seal Stone's power.
Another limitation is that the power of the Adversary itself does not guarantee victory, as it simply allows one to face higher beings. The Vessel's innate strength plays a significant factor in such battles, as seen when the Adversary was severely wounded after being overwhelmed by Mitra's power, as they were barely able to win the battle by destroying Azor, which itself was only possible because Seren had been resisting Mitra's possession. In order to circumvent this, Kaling attempted to have the Four Perils consume countless fiends, whose power would be added to a Vessel in order to greatly augment their strength.
The greatest weakness of an Adversary, however, is that they are destined to die after fulfilling their purpose. This limitation was created by the Overseers in order to ensure that such powerful beings like the Adversaries would not remain and cause chaos in the place of the Ancient Gods. The precise nature of how death occurs is unknown, as it was stated that the Adversary was only able to avoid their destiny by Darmoor destroying their Seal Stone, suggesting that the Seal Stone itself is responsible for inflicting death upon the Adversary.
However, the Adversary did, in fact, die immediately after killing the Black Mage and fulfilling their purpose, as their physical form was destroyed and scattered into Erdas. Soon after, the Adversary spoke with the White Mage in the Erda Flow, after which they were resurrected back in the physical world.
Given that the Black Mage had the powers of both creation and destruction at the time, it is possible that it was the White Mage, not Darmoor, who changed the Adversary's fate by destroying and recreating them, thus satisfying the Adversary's fate to die and then returning them back to life. If it is true that Darmoor changed the Adversary's fate, rather than the White Mage, it remains unknown why the Adversary continued living many months after fulfilling their purpose. Given that the elders were the ones who speculated that Darmoor changed the Adversary's fate, it is possible that they were unaware that the Adversary had already died and been resurrected by the White Mage.
Known Adversaries[]
Adversaries[]
The player (formerly) - The player was once an Adversary upon bonding with the Seal Stone of Ereve at the end of Black Heaven, although the Seal Stone within them was shattered by Gerand Darmoor at the end of Cernium, leaving them an incomplete true Vessel.
Kao - Kao, the player from another timeline, was an Adversary who was fused with their timeline's version of the Seal Stone of Ereve. Upon being sent back in time by the Black Mage, both Kao and the player existed as Adversaries in the same timeline until Kao sacrificed themselves to save the player from Arma.
First Explorer - The First Explorer was an Adversary created in Maple World who fought in the war against the Ancient Gods. He was guided through his destiny by Sugar until his death, and his power was contained within the maple leaf that the Explorer inherited.
Hundun (possibly, formerly) - Hundun was forcibly fused with the World Heart by the elders before being enslaved as the power source of the laboratory. He then gave up the World Heart to the player at the cost of his own life. It is unknown whether Hundun was a true Adversary or not, as the properties of the World Heart - which are unique from that of the Godspheres and the Seal Stones - are currently unknown in regard to how its fusion with a Vessel functions.
Vessels[]
True Vessels[]
The player - Though the player has lost their Seal Stone, they still remain a true Vessel of an Adversary and have the ability to fuse with another Godsphere.
Kao - As the player from another timeline, Kao was a true Vessel until their death.
First Explorer - Given that he was able to successfully fuse with a Godsphere, the First Explorer was a true Vessel until he met his end.
Hundun (possibly, formerly) - With the assumption that Hundun was an Adversary, it also means that he has been demonstrated to be a true Vessel.
Chief Lyon (possibly) - As it is suggested that only a true Vessel can destroy a Godsphere, even a contaminated one, Lyon destroying a button on Yum Yum Island suggests that he may be a true Vessel.
Defective Vessels[]
Alter Angler - Alter was deemed a defective Vessel and thrown off the edge of Odium. He eventually created Karote in order to have a true Vessel open the path to the laboratory and founded the Angler Company.
Kaling - Though Kaling was deemed a defective Vessel, she continued researching in Odium and eventually created the Four Perils. Kaling and her creations were later sealed away, although she broke free from the seal and became an Apostle of Gerand Darmoor, although she was later killed by the Adversary.
Master Tai Yu - Despite being a defective Vessel, Tai Yu was highly trusted by the elders and was responsible for sealing away Kaling and the Four Perils. He was then tasked with bringing peace to Grandis and eventually adopted Hoyoung after finding the abandoned Anima child in a destroyed village.
Unnamed Afrien Fusion - Created as a Vessel to be fused with a Godsphere by Kaling, this Afrien fusion was ultimately deemed a defective Vessel, despite being created from the Erdas of Afrien, who was described as a being who had gotten closer to the power of the Godsphere than anyone, as he was bonded with Freud, the creator of the Seal Stones.
Yum Yum Island fusions - All the artificial fusions in Yum Yum Island - including Caster, Muppy, Bappy, and Puptail - were Vessels created by Kaling, who ultimately deemed them all failures.
False Vessels[]
Nicky Angler, Senya Angler, Laha Angler, Cosim - Created with the technology of Odium, Nicky was constructed by Alter in such a way that made him nearly indistinguishable from a true Vessel. Nevertheless, Kalos was able to discern him as a fraud, though a well-made one. Along with Nicky, all his siblings who were constructed by Alter were presumably created in the same way, making them false Vessels as well. It is strongly implied, though unconfirmed, that these false Vessels are all defective Vessels, as Alter's children were never attempted to be fused with a Godsphere to say so with absolute certainty.