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- “I was brought back for a purpose; I am destined to engulf the universes in eternal darkness, and to destroy anyone who dares to stand against me!”
- ―Erebus
Erebus was a prophesied dark entity that was created following the unison and resurrection of Roach and Xarcoh through the Dark Realm. He is the true primary antagonist of the Age of the Soulless saga.
History[]
The Great Prophecy[]
In the distant past, an ancient Dark Realmian scroll containing the prophecy of Erebus found its way into Limbo, where it would come to be acquired and deciphered by the Prophets of the Soulless. Believing that they were destined to fulfill the prophecy, the Prophets attempted to use their dark powers to both open a portal to the Dark Realm and turn one of their own into a vessel for the darkness to convert them into Erebus through resurrection. However, the darkness of Limbo was inadequate to perform the ritual, and without the means to generate a portal to the Dark Realm, they would be unable to enact it. Nonetheless, the Prophets persisted, and decided to first focus on finding another vessel besides one of their own to make into Erebus. To this end, the Prophets launched a special weapon known as the Harbinger into reality, hoping it would one day fall into the hands of an inexperienced user that would ultimately become their pawn.
Years later, the Harbinger would be discovered by Roach and his allies while they attempted to deviate from a time cycle created by Unit 14. Roach, having immediately fallen under the blade's dark powers and having received a telepathic nudge from the Prophets, decided that the best way to escape from Unit 14 was to remove their souls with the Harbinger. Despite the others' unwariness of his plan, Roach immediately used the Harbinger to remove their souls, including his own. This caused their physical bodies to fade away into Limbo, with their souls becoming lost within the Harbinger. Arriving at Limbo, the Prophets corrupted the Soulless with their darkness, ultimately turning them into experimental super soldiers for their plan.
As part of their plan, Echthroi and the Prophets let their new Soulless out onto Earth after years of letting them train, hoping to learn of their strengths and abilities to determine which one would eventually serve as the right vessel for the Dark Realm's darkness. After witnessing the destruction of Lextyr, Yaxnor, and Xirsch, the Prophets concluded that Xarcoh would be their best candidate. Influencing him to return to Limbo with the Harbinger, Xarcoh attempted to return to Limbo, but was stopped by his human counterpart's friends, who sought to restore the Soulless as humans. A fierce battle ensued, and Xarcoh was ultimately slain by the four, which seemingly stopped the Prophets' plans.
In a turn of events however, the Prophets discovered that Xarcoh was able to develop his own non-corrupted soul, which eventually escaped to another universe. Knowing that Xarcoh was their best chance in enacting their scheme, the Prophets departed Limbo through Xarcoh's collapsing rift, silently trailing him throughout his journeys across time. However, when Xarcoh was finally destroyed once and for all, the Prophets soon learned that since his human counterpart Roach was still able to wield the Harbinger, they had to wait until Roach was dead until their plan could come to fruition.
Universal Convergence[]
During the conflict with The Visitor, Roach was fatally stabbed by The Visitor with the Ragnarök. As he began to die, he sensed the Prophets and their dark plans, warning the heroes of the upcoming evil before succumbing to his wounds. Not long after the remaining heroes escaped the realm of Uriqar, Echthroi and the Prophets arrived at the realm, where they proceeded to use the Soul Jar to preserve Roach's soul. Revealing to have done the same to Xarcoh's, the Prophets then began their plan to resurrect the two as one entity, one that would ultimately allow them to fulfill the prophecy.
Age of the Soulless[]
Following the creation of the Cube of Darkness, the Prophets began to put their plan into motion.
Forgotten Past[]
The Prophets first set out to procure the Book of Rituals from the Library of Divination, which contained two important spells; one that would summon the Cube of Darkness from the Dark Realm, and one that contained a resurrection spell needed to resurrect Erebus. The Prophets are successful in this, but they lose the Cube of Darkness to Umbra Ops, who escapes thanks to The Librarian.
Frozen Pride[]
Despite this, Echthroi personally tracks the team down, locating them and the Cube of Darkness on an arctic research vessel heading back to the United States. Boarding the ship, Echthroi is able to secure the Cube of Darkness, using its power to foresee what he needs to do to resurrect Erebus. Prior to fleeing with the now subdued Alex "Rook" Miller after fighting with Umbra Ops, Echthroi reveals the Prophets' plan to resurrect Erebus to the heroes, inviting them to try and stop them.
Gateway[]
With everything ready, the Prophets travel to their base in Tunisia, where they use the Book of Rituals and Rook's cursed blood to open a gateway to the Temple of Resurrection in Limbo, the resurrection site of Erebus. During Rook's sacrifice to open another gateway for Umbra Ops, he pleads for them to prevent Erebus' resurrection no matter what.
Darkness Rises[]
At the Temple of Resurrection, Echthroi and the Prophets begin the ritual to resurrect Erebus. With the Cube of Darkness on a central altar in the middle of the chamber, the cube begins to charge up with dark energy the more Echthroi reads the spell. By the time Umbra Ops is able to enter the basement of the Temple of Resurrection, the cube finishes charging up, sending a beam of darkness into the sky and creating a portal to the Dark Realm. Echthroi soon signals one of his men, who then proceeds to bring out the Soul Jar and hands it to Echthroi. Echthroi soon opens the top of the jar and proceeds to release the imprisoned souls of Roach and Xarcoh. Laughing in victory, Echthroi explains to the souls that it was time to resurrect the two as Erebus, sending their souls into the Dark Realm. At that moment, a purple lighting bolt then strikes the Cube of Darkness, causing it to rapidly pulsate. Ignoring the bolt as simply part of the ritual, Echthroi begins to recite the spell to resurrect Erebus.
Suddenly, Umbra Ops enters the chamber, ordering the Prophets to stop. Shocked at their untimely arrival, Echthroi orders his men to destroy them as he continues with the spell. As the team fights off against the Prophets, Echthroi continues to recite the spell, causing everyone great pain except Axel, whom was unaffected due to him already being a Soulless of Rook. Axel then realizes that the spell would turn anyone in the proximity of the spell into Soulless. As everyone but Axel and Echthroi collapsed to the ground, Axel then engages Echthroi in hand-to-hand combat. As the echoing laugh of Erebus could be heard emerging from the portal, Axel is able to overpower Echthroi, throwing him into the central altar, breaking it and causing the Cube of Darkness to fall onto the ground, causing Erebus to scream out in pain from within the portal. Horrified over this, Echthroi explains that Erebus was nearly finished crossing the Ethereal Divide, saying that if he wants to ensure Erebus arrives, a sacrifice must be made. Punching Axel aside, Echthroi calls out to Erebus, saying he was willing to sacrifice himself to allow Erebus to finish crossing the divide.
As Axel gets up from the ground, he sees Echthroi slowly walking over to where the central altar was. Suddenly, Echthroi is engulfed in a beam of darkness, causing him to scream out in pain. Horrified, Axel could only watch as Echthroi melted away into a dark essence, which soon ascended the beam and into the portal. The beam then soon vanished, with the sounds of thunder being heard as it echoed across the realm. As everyone else, now turned into Soulless, got up from the ground, a bright dark purple ball of energy shot out from the portal, landing in the center of the chamber. As the portal to the Dark Realm closed, the ball manifested itself into Erebus, who soon began to laugh out in victory.
The Dark Soldier[]
After finishing his laugh, Erebus picks up the Cube of Darkness and walks over to the temple's balcony, where he comments to everyone that the darkness in Limbo was weak and pitiful, stating that with the power he was able to acquire from the Dark Realm, he would be able to show all universes what it feels to be part of eternal darkness forever. As the Prophets rejoice over his monologue and welcome the arrival of their new master, Axel quietly regroups with the other members of Umbra Ops, who were turned into their Soulless counterparts, although they retained their selfhood and weren't corrupted like they originally were. Axel suggests they flee until they devise a new plan, but as they attempted to leave the room, Erebus telekinetically slammed the door shut on them. Erebus soon comments on Umbra Ops' transformation into Soulless, saying that it was good to see "his old allies" in their true forms. The team asks what he planned on doing to them, questioning if he would kill them. Erebus replied that he would never truly hurt his friends, saying that he would merely test them to see their true worthiness to him. Using his powers, Erebus engulfs the area in darkness.
As the darkness faded away, the team then find themselves standing in a large foyer within a chamber. Erebus appears before them, saying that they are within the Chamber of Darkness on the Dark Island in Alaska, saying that the island has a special effect on those who control darkness, allowing them to amplify their powers to a cataclysmic scale. Axel remarks that they wouldn't allow him to unleash his power, saying that they will pass his trial and defeat him once and for all. Erebus then laughs, saying that's exactly what he wanted to hear. Teleporting away, the echoing screams of zombies then fill the chamber as the sound of the thunder could be heard. Knowing that this was the endgame, the team then begins to fight off the undead, fighting around the chamber until they reach the throne room, with half of the room being sealed off by a dark forcefield. Erebus soon appears on the other side of the forcefield, saying that their first challenge was to find a way to disable to forcefield before teleporting away.
The team then continues fighting until they discover the Cube of Darkness within a secret compartment within the outside hedge maze. Bringing the Cube of Darkness to the throne room, the four utilize it to destroy the forcefield. As they approach the throne, the remaining Prophets soon drop down from the ceiling, saying that if they wished to prove themselves to Erebus, they must fight each and every one of the Prophets, who then proceed to strip away their guns. Knowing what they were referring to, the team then summon their Soulless weapons and engage the Prophets in a brutal fight to the death. Despite the Prophets' advantage in terms of numbers, they proved to be too weak against the combined efforts of the team, who were able to dispatch them all with their special weapons and abilities. As the Prophets laid in defeat on the ground, they remarked that they were ready for what was soon to happen. As they all faded away into nothingness, the throne moved aside, revealing a secret passageway. Knowing that Erebus was waiting for them, the team entered the passageway as the throne slid back into place.
The team then find themselves at the base of a large spire outside of the chamber as it begins to rain. Noticing the large staircase wrapping around the outside of the tower and the hordes of zombies along the stairs, the team realizes that this was the final challenge. Readying their weapons, the team battle their way up the stairs, fighting through wave after wave of zombies on the stairs. Eventually, the team reaches the top of the spire, where they see Erebus summoning a ball of darkness in the sky directly above the spire. As the stairs along the tower retract into it, Erebus commends the four for their efforts, saying that he knew they would pass. As Erebus turns to face the team, he questions if they are ready to join his side as he engulfs the universes in eternal darkness. The team refuses his offer, saying that all they want is to stop his madness and save their friend.
Annoyed by their defiance, Erebus coldly responds that there was nothing left to save of their friend before turning back to the forming ball of darkness above him. Snapping his fingers, the ball explodes, releasing dark clouds, which forms a dark hurricane above the spire, which soon begins to spread around the world and universes. Erebus soon laughs in victory, saying that there was nothing they could do to stop him. Unfazed by this, Axel says that they can try before engaging Erebus in one final battle. As the battle raged on, Erebus continuously used his powers to block the team's attacks, saying that their weapons weren't powerful enough to stop the darkness, explaining that they would soon sleep in eternal darkness. As Erebus laughs yet again, this gives the team an idea as they pull out the Cube of Darkness, which suddenly shocks Erebus. Before he could react, the team begin to use the cube to shoot out beams of darkness, which begin to harm Erebus.
Frustrated that his own darkness was being used against him, Erebus begins to charge towards the team, forcing them to launch one last powerful attack with the cube. Sending out a massive beam, it soon pierces through Erebus' chest, causing him to stop in his tracks and collapse to the ground while severely weakening the team. As the team looks back towards Erebus, they are shocked to see him getting back up and begin to slowly walk towards the team. To their surprise, Erebus begins to plea with them, saying that if they destroy him, then all of his influence would be erased, which by extent would also erase them from existence as well. As the team nods to each other, Axel replies that they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the universes before shoving the Cube of Darkness into his open chest wound. Using the last of their strength, the team use the Cube of Darkness to send devastating amounts of energy throughout Erebus' body. As Erebus lets out one last scream, Xirsch tells the others that it was an honor to serve with them for all these years. As a bright light begins to form inside his chest wound, Erebus solemnly replies to Xirsch's comment, saying that he was sorry for what he has done. Soon, the entire area is engulfed in a blinding light, which soon explodes, sending a bright shockwave across the universe, purging it of Erebus' darkness.
Balance and Order[]
Erebus is mentioned along with the Prophets by the CIA Agent that informs Amici of Umbra Ops' demise.
The Sentinel Trials[]
Prologue[]
Erebus is mentioned when Mackenzie Davis explains what happened to Umbra Ops to Novus.
The Ultimate Trial[]
As Vindicta enters the third trial room as part of the ultimate Sentinel Trial, they arrive atop a dark tower below a massive dark hurricane. Mac explains that he doesn't recognize any of this, saying that if the trials are in chronological order, then this must've occurred before the Day of Medusa event. At that moment, the silhouette of the Cube of Darkness formed. Unlike the other two fights, darkness surrounds the silhouette, forming a dark being in front of them. Mac realizes that it was Erebus, the same entity that Umbra Ops defeated right before the Day of Medusa event occurred. Erebus soon charges towards the four, engaging them in a brutal fight. In the struggle, Erebus summoned the Harbinger. Shocked by this, Mac is able to make a connection, realizing that Erebus was in actuality Roach himself. Mac begins to call out Roach's name, but Erebus denies that that is his name before separating Mac from the others. Slowly walking in a circle opposite of each other, Mac questions Erebus, asking who he saw himself as. Erebus replies that he was an envoy for the darkness of the Dark Realm, saying that it is his mission to consume the universes in eternal darkness. Mac responds otherwise, saying that he was a protector of the universes, saying that he would always put his life on the line in order to protect the ones he loved. Enraged, Erebus tackles down Mac, proclaiming that it is his destiny to bring the end times, saying that he was no savior, but rather a destroyer. Punching Mac repeatedly, Mac says that he was sorry before sheading a tear, seemingly accepting defeat.
Suddenly, Erebus began to struggle and he clenched his head and began to cry as well. Mac gets up and continues, saying that he never should've left his friends for retirement, saying that he could've prevented all of this. Erebus then collapses on the ground as he lets out a scream. Looking back towards Mac, he begins to cry some more, asking if it was truly him. Mac says that it was, saying that he was sorry for letting him fall into the darkness. Erebus gets up, saying that it wasn't his fault, saying that he had no control over the future, telling his friend that no matter what happened, he always knew that Mac would never truly retire, saying that they have gone through all of this trouble to undo something, trouble that has cost them more than anything they have ever done. Mac smiles before hugging his friend, telling Erebus that it was an honor to have him as a friend. Erebus responds by saying that his name was Roach before saying that they have passed the third trial room. Erebus then peacefully fades away as a portal formed where he stood.
After Vindicta are able to complete the ultimate trial, they are rewarded with Prima Materia, which they use to undo Master Ronin's actions and resurrect their friends. While they celebrate their victory, Mac questions Roach if he remembered their emotional fight while he was part of Erebus, to which he responds that he does.
Boss Rush[]
A reflection of Erebus is created by the mystical Delphi Amphitheater and influenced by the Grandmaster with the use of Prima Materia that was unleashed by the completion of the ultimate Sentinel Trial. This reflection would be imbued with Erebus' strong thoughts that still lingered even after he ceased to exist, thus allowing Erebus to live on one last time, though he would remain bonded to the Delphi Amphitheater along with the reflections of other villains across the multiverse until he was to be defeated by one of the Heroes of Light.
Erebus would be pitted against Alex "Rook" Miller, O'Ryan Bennett, Chris Bennett, and Tyler "TJ" Jackson, the very heroes that attempted to prevent his creation. After being defeated and seeing what he had been reduced to, Erebus remarked that he had become a mere pawn waiting to be sacrificed for the bigger play. Erebus lamented that he was destined for greatness as a ruler of darkness, but now he was to forever fade into it. With that, Erebus faded away, fulfilling his words. Of the thirteen Roach Chronicles bosses present in the tournament, Erebus was the ninth boss to be eliminated.
Personality[]
As a dark combination of both Roach and Xarcoh, Erebus melds both of their personalities in discordance; primarily, of the two clashing personalities, he acts closest to Xarcoh, but incredibly more wicked and arrogant as a result of the powerful darkness infused within his very being. Despite this, Roach still has a presence within Erebus, as Erebus uncharacteristically displays loyalty and caringness to his former allies for an evil dark lord. However, Xarcoh's half would at times override this display of empathy to assert Erebus' true malice, most notably when Erebus coldly denied that there was anything left of Roach to save from him, mirroring the words Gigabyte once told Umbra Ops during The War Machine.
Much like when Xarcoh was first formed, Roach's undying willpower remained within Erebus, desperately trying to do the right thing and break free of the dark shackles holding him in place. It wasn’t until Erebus met and subsequently battled Mac during The Ultimate Trial that allowed this willpower, the light within him, to push itself to become the dominant personality of the dark fusion. Because of this, Erebus' personality continued to unravel by the time he was revived as a reflection during Boss Rush, causing him to realize that he was ultimately being used as a pawn despite his powerful position.
Appearance[]
Updated[]
Erebus physically appears a dark undead version of Roach and Xarcoh but with enhanced physical features. His skin has become grey, with various glowing purple runes as seen on the Cube of Darkness appearing on his face, upper torso, back and shoulders. His hair has turned white, appearing much messier and flair than his previous selves, and his pupils have become purple while his sclera have become light purple. Parts of his arms are wrapped in dark grey bandages, while another wraps around his lower face like a mask. His ears are each pierced with a golden earring, while resting around his neck is a large golden ring engraved with various markings. He wears white loose-fitting pants of a gi with tattered ends and a golden stripe on both outward sides, with two red ropes tied around his waist like a belt to keep them up. Hanging around his belt is a scroll containing an except of the prophecy he originated from, a black and gold Oni mask, and a small dark shard originating from the Dark Realm. He is also barefoot, with red bandages wrapped around his ankles that reach to the bottom of his pants.
Original[]
In his original Dark Soldier form, Erebus takes on the form of an armored soldier, wearing grey armor that covers his chest. He wears black clothing that covers his entire body, as well as and black shoulder pads and a hooded facemask with blue glowing eyes. When the mask and hood are taken off, Erebus' face is shown, which is identical to Roach's, although his skin is blueish-pale in color and his pupils are dark purple, with small cracks of darkness forming under and above his eyes.
Abilities[]
As a being created to wield the most powerful of darkness known to all of existence, Erebus wields tremendous amounts of dark power that he channels into various attacks and abilities. Much like Xarcoh, Erebus has the ability to teleport, though his teleportation prowess is far superior to Xarcoh's, as Erebus can generate a dark fog that will teleport anyone caught in it with him to any location he so chooses. Erebus can focus his darkness into spheres of energy, which he uses to materialize a massive one overhead the Dark Spire to generate a dark storm that would spread across the universe, consuming it into darkness. In combat, Erebus uses a plethora of a various dark-based attacks, such as generating a dark shield in front of him to shield himself from attacks and siphoning the darkness of other beings around him to drain them of their power and replenish health for himself.
Due to his vast strength, Erebus was nigh-invincible against Umbra Ops, as he constantly was using his dark storm to rejuvenate him at all times. However, while immune to virtually almost everything else during this, Erebus is revealed to be weak against other dark-based attacks, at it was the power of the Cube of Darkness, in conjunction with Master Ronin's own power within it, that allowed him to be truly harmed and ultimately defeated. In his subsequent battles, Erebus, while still powerful, can be harmed by normal attacks. In Boss Rush, Erebus can generate a smaller orb of energy similar to the one he made to plunge the universe into darkness overhead the arena, which can amplify his powers while the orb is active.
Weapons[]
- Erebus wields a staff known as Light's Perdition as his primary weapon of choice. It has a grey and black shaft separated by golden separators, with a golden pommel resting at the bottom of the shaft. Closer to the top of the staff is a red bandage wrapped around the grip where Erebus holds the staff by. The staff's head consists of a dual-bladed dark crystal resembling wings, which is held in place by a large golden piece embedded with a smaller dark crystal on either side of the staff. Emanating from the top of the staff is a dark aura, with the runes seen on the Cube of Darkness manifesting throughout the larger dark crystal.
- As a version of Roach, Erebus has the ability to wield a mystical sword called the Harbinger, though he only uses it when his staff is immediately unavailable to him as seen during The Ultimate Trial. The sword's teeth and head are black with a silver outline and possesses a round, cog-like shape. The handle is silver and the guard has the same coloration and cog-like shape as the teeth. The shaft is predominantly colored in shades of grey and sports a dark grey-colored gear in the center, with two intersecting, black chains wrapped around it. Two more chains are wrapped around the base of the shaft in a similar fashion. Embedded in the hilt is a dull grey cat-like eye that is in reality the Summoning Key, having lost its form after being inserted into the sword. Additionally, there is a larger eye on the head, which is where beams of spatial energy can be fired from.
Theme[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Erebus' name is derived from the Greek God of Darkness of the same name.
- Originally, Erebus was known as the "Dark Soldier", a parody of the Winter Soldier from Marvel.
References[]
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