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Characters / Codex Equus: The Shadowed Ones

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Here is a list of characters from the Shadowed Ones, a villainous cabal of deities that held an iron grip on the Nine Realms for millions of years.

To return to the Fourth-Age Villains' page, click here.

To return to the main character index, click here.

The Shadowed Ones

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    General 
  • Adaptational Badass: Their comic inspirations were instantly defeated when their connection to Asgard is destroyed, with Loki terrifying them into fleeing by throwing a Logic Bomb about them ultimately being characters of a story that an outer being made up. While it does weaken them heavily in the Codexverse, the 'Loom of Fate' being destroyed is only the beginning of the fight with them.
  • Ancient Conspiracy: Exaggerated. The Shadowed Ones had been manipulating the "Cycles" plaguing all the Nine Realms (including Cervidia) for thousands of years, with their victims including countless divine pantheons and mortal civilizations. The reason is because their survival comes from devouring the life-energies of both gods and mortals who die from these Cycles, and because they get their kicks from tormenting and dooming their victims to horrific ends over and over again. Since the Shadowed Ones are rumored to be the "children/fragments" of Erebus, a malignant primordial god of darkness, each of them is around 100 million years in age, possibly making them the age-peers or older than the Grand Primevals themselves. Claiming that Cycle-related activity had occurred even before doesn't seem much of a stretch.
  • Ancient Evil: The Shadowed Ones are so ancient that their existence was largely unknown even by beings dating back to the First Age.
  • Big Bad: Collectively for the "Final Ragnarok" arc alongside Surtr, once they were cornered and forced to reveal themselves instead of running away as usual.
  • Dark Is Evil: They're collectively called "The Shadowed Ones" because of their mysteriousness, their (rumored) origins as "children/fragments" of a deceased primordial god of darkness, and their modus operandi is manipulating divines/mortals from the shadows while evading those who wnat them dead. They're also cruel sadists who enjoy invoking "Cycles" for various reasons, such as creating "beautiful" ends or to derive their amusement from watching their victims suffer.
  • Evil Counterpart: To the Redeeming Six, aka the Council of Redemption. The Shadowed Ones are cruel, sadistic, and evil primordial deities who perpetuate destructive cycles to both sustain and amuse themselves with the suffering of others. The Redeeming Six are flawed yet good people who seek to break cycles and help people grow meaningfully because they all know what it's like to be stuck in a toxic cycle themselves. The Shadowed Ones, while very powerful and ancient, grew quite complacent after spending millions of years manipulating a cycle that provided easy victories for them, causing their downfall. The Redeeming Six acknowledges their own flaws and continuously work to control them no matter how hard or painful it is, allowing all of them to become stronger and wiser. And while the Shadowed Ones embody concepts that mostly relate to doom, death, and destruction, the Redeeming Six embody concepts relating to all aspects of positive, healthy cycles, such as death, growth, life, redemption, etc. The contrast is further emphasized when the Redeeming Six settle into the Shadowed Ones' tenth realm many years after "Final Ragnarok" and become its primary pantheon, effectively replacing the Shadowed Ones in both memory and presence.
  • Expy: Of "Those Who Sits Above In Shadows", a hidden pantheon of sinister 'Gods Above Gods' from Marvel Comics who was revealed in the "Thor: Disassembled" Arc to had been responsible for the eternally-recurring Cycles of Ragnarok, feeding upon the energies released, which Thor ultimately freed the Asgardians from. Here, they received much more characterization, portraying them as eldritch and cruelly sadistic deities who influence and perpetuate "Cycles" within realms of influence to survive, and to amuse themselves by watching their mortal/divine victims die to extremely horrific fates in a never-ending loop of death and destruction.
  • God-Eating: Unlike their Fallen ally, Surtr, who eats like a typical giant, the Shadowed Ones mainly passively feed upon the divine and mortal residents of Cervidia through the energies released from each 'Ragnarok Cycle' as they reach their destructive, apocalyptic ends.
  • Götterdämmerung: Both invoked by them, and on the receiving end.
    • They have manipulated the "Cycles" plaguing the divine pantheons and mortal civilizations of the Nine Realms for as long as they have existed, making it so that they could feed off of the life-energies that come from the destruction and death, and watch as their victims die to horrible ends over and over again for their amusement.
    • After countless millennia of getting away with their wicked deeds and fleeing their pursuers whenever they're caught, they're finally cornered and defeated during the "Final Ragnarok" arc, where the Grand Primevals, the three Deer herds, the Changeling Courts, and various other divine/mortal allies combine their efforts to kill them once and for all.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Exaggerated. All of the Shadowed Ones are primordial, eldritch deities who embody darkness, and have been influencing and perpetuating Vicious Cycles, especially the "Ragnarok" one plaguing the Hoyklan Deer deities, for sustenance and sadism. This would make them responsible for the deaths of the Hoyklan pantheon's predecessors and countless other deities and civilizations. However, it's subverted in the "Final Ragnarok" arc, where they would reveal themselves as the collective Big Bad because their plans for the latest Cycle have now unraveled to the point where direct intervention is required, ultimately leading to their defeat and death.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Ultimately one major reason they're able to be beaten is the Cycle they sustained themselves with being broken resulted in a backlash that severely weakened them.
  • Jerkass Gods: The Shadowed Ones are terrible, terrible people who condemn all of the Nine Realms (including Cervidia) to horrific fates, both for sustenance and to amuse themselves by watching their divine and mortal victims die through countless Cycles in various ways. Whenever the Grand Primevals and their allies try to expose them, they'll always find away to escape retribution. Fortunately, their reign of terror would finally come to an end for real in the Fourth Age.
  • Karma Houdini: They have influenced and perpetuated Vicious Cycles such as the "Ragnarok" Cycle, both for sustenance and for kicks. They are described as "vermin insects" by Amareros that would frequently plague a Pony's house only to flee whenever someone (namely, the Grand Primevals) tries to kill them because they can't hope to fight back. Unfortunately for them, their time would eventually come to an end in the "Final Ragnarok" arc, thanks to various individuals and events that even they didn't foresee and couldn't "fix".
  • Nebulous Evil Organisation: Serve the same role as their character inspirations: insidious Greater Scope Villains who manipulated the Vicious Cycle gripping Cervidia, their gods and the rest of the Nine Realms for their own ends.
  • One-Man Army: Each of them is so powerful that even heavily weakened from the Loom of Fates' destruction, they're each capable of fighting multiple powerful gods at once, with the stronger ones able to hold an upper hand on them. Fegrð takes it a step further by having two: shedding his disguise to reveal himself as a Child of the Void and then his monstrous chimera form.
  • One-Steve Limit: A hilarious group aversion - when Amareros inquired about Blackthorn's dealings with the Shadowed Ones, the latter replies that he honestly (possibly) doesn't know which 'Shadowed Ones' Amareros is referring to.
    Amareros: You have a past history of association with a certain group of miscreants that had been called the Shadowed Ones, do you not?
    Emperor Blackthorn: There are many such groups that called themselves or had been referred to as such, and we may have associated ourselves with a few of them. If nothing else, we had learnt there is a profound lack of creativity in how many choose to name themselves or others. You may want to be more specific, Lord Amareros.
  • One-Winged Angel: Each of them begins the fight in a lesser form, but when pushed transform into their true forms.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: While they had gotten away with destroying the Cervidian Pantheons and devastating the Nine Realms hundreds of times, events increasingly shows that their 'Ragnarok Cycle' is ultimately unsustainable and doomed to failure. They and their allies became increasingly complacent, unaware and/or unable to prevent drastic alterations to the Cycle by likes of the Hoyklan Deer Pantheon or secret exploitation by other sinister forces like Emperor Blackthorn and the Changeling Summer Court. And then they and their schemes are gradually discovered, eventually leading to their own Ragnarok. This is noted even in the opening monologue of the 'Final Ragnarok' arc.
  • Unwitting Pawn: They are unaware that their ancient ally, "Malekith", and his Dökkálfar people had been wiped out and replaced by Emperor Blackthorn and his Summer Court Scions, who would in turn manipulate the Cycles they would perpetuate for their own ends. Blackthorn sees the Shadowed Ones as a useful asset that has since diminished, and would gladly get rid of them since they have served their purpose.
  • We Have Become Complacent: Both Amareros and Emperor Blackthorn notes in a canonized Codexverse drabble that countless millennia of uninterrupted success with their Cycle(s) had resulted in the Shadowed Ones becoming complacent and comfortable. This made them too dependent on it as a power source, and too arrogant to become alarmed at just how close the current alterations to the 'Ragnarok Cycle' are threatening to unravel it. Both deities, and eventually the Hoyklan and their allies, count on this for their own plans to ultimately destroy the Shadowed Ones, which is exactly what happened in the "Final Ragnarok" arc.
  • Vicious Cycle: Exploited. The Shadowed Ones have influenced and perpetuated "Cycles" for their own evil and sadistic ends, both for sustenance and to get their kicks from watching their victims suffer. They would also doom people to horrible fates if they tried deviating from their intended outcomes even slightly. Thus, they were responsible for setting up the "Ragnarok Cycle" in its present form. However, it's noted that several Cycles have existed for a very long time even without the Shadowed Ones' influence, such as the racial Changeling-Dragon feud and the conflicts that ruined the Alicorn Civilization and the Imperium of Ponykind. Thankfully, their behavior would bite them in the collective rear when both divines and mortals would catch on and start acting in ways they haven't foreseen.

    Ragnarøkkr, Shadow of the End, High King of the Shadowed Ones 

Classification: Ethereal/Fallen, Child of Erebus

Portfolio: Primordial Darkness, Doom, Eternal Recurrence, Fallen

Rank: Primeval

"You are nothing but rebellious puppets! Come at me, you foolish beasts! I am the Shadow of the End! My wheel shall turn once again! The last bell will toll and this land will once again be laid bare! My will be done!"

High King Ragnarøkkr (his entry here) is the Fallen god of Primordial Darkness, Doom, and Eternal Recurrence, and the husband/brother of High Queen Kunnusta.

The self-proclaimed 'Shadow of the End', 'Writer of Destiny', 'Fate of the Nine Realms' and 'Decider of Doom', High King Ragnarøkkr is the leader of the Shadowed Ones and the architect of the entire Ragnarok Cycle as it stands today, having decided to manipulate the pre-existing Vicious Cycle gripping Cervidia and the Nine Realms ages ago to maximize the yield of energies released. Ragnarøkkr is the main antagonist whom the Hoyklan Deer Pantheon and their allies must defeat in order to finally free Cervidia from the eternal recurrence of Ragnarok.
  • Abusive Parent: He is the father of all incarnations of the Norns, but he has ZERO love for them as he does to virtually everyone and everything else. He even gave several incarnations of his own daughters over to Surtr just for displeasing him too many times.
  • Ancient Evil: As a "Primeval"-ranked god, he's at the very least 100 million years old, potentially even older. He's also a sociopathic monster.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Fallen Shadowed god who embodies Primordial Darkness, Doom, and Eternal Recurrence.
  • Achilles' Heel: The pulsing mass of shadows he calls a heart is his one weak spot. Even then, it takes a lot of heroes, gods, kaiju, and effort to expose and finally destroy it.
  • Big Bad: Of the 'Final Ragnarok' Arc alongside Surtr. And boy does he nail it.
  • Birds of a Feather: The main reason why he managed to get along with Surtr and put up with the occasional demands and problems he causes, other than Surtr's immense power and importance to his plans; deep down, Ragnarøkkr can be as sadistic and vicious as Surtr and enjoys Surtr's psychopathy as much as Surtr himself.
  • Control Freak: Considers his Cycle - and even himself - as the unquestionable, immutable, absolute, all-consuming fate of the Nine Realms and would not tolerate even the slightest deviations. He condemned individuals or even entire pantheons and civilizations trapped within the Cycle to particularly worse and sadistic fates just for stepping out of line from his designs.
  • The Dreaded: Even his own fellow Shadowed Ones and his children are afraid of him, and rightly so.
  • Eaten Alive: When he finally transformed into his true form, many combatants who couldn't get off the Tree of Shadows (part of said true form) in time and didn't fall to their deaths are said to be outright devoured by Ragnarokkr. It's also implied he did this to some of his victims, including a few of his siblings, some of their daughters who weren't given to Surtr and some of the old Cervidian gods.
  • Eldritch Abomination: His initial appearance appears to be an enormous divine winged-Deer stag shrouded in shadows and wearing dark obsidian armor. In reality, his form is actually a mass of black gnarled tree branches and roots intertwined with serpents that merely superficially resemble a stag. And his true TRUE form, however, is a titanic horror rivaling Surtr in size made of gnarled tree branches and roots that is a nightmarish conglomeration of deer, eagle, and even a serpent long enough to encircle Cervidia.
  • Eternal Recurrence: Justified. One of his domains and the source of his most dangerous Time Manipulating powers.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Moon Ray Vaughoof. Both are antlered, eldritch deities who embody certain aspects of Cycles, but Ragnarøkkr embodies stagnant, destructive cycles while Moon Ray embodies positive cycles. Ragnarøkkr was monstrously abusive to both his wives and daughters, while Moon Ray is a loving husband and father. Ragnarøkkr hid his presence until he was forced by circumstances to reveal himself, while Moon Ray is a Living Legend. Ragnarøkkr is a narcissistic sociopath who hates even slight deviations in his cycles, while Moon Ray is a Humble Hero who believes in defying fate. The contrast becomes further obvious when, sometime after Ragnarøkkr's death, Moon Ray becomes his Redeeming Replacement as King Tunglið Hreinsar Innlausn-Heimdrasil, ruling over the Shadowed Ones' former realm and creating positive cycles that help people grow.
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair: As his folder image shows, Moon Ray has a small, purple goatee. While he has his faults (most of it stemming from his foalhood abuse), he's a benevolent Death god who wants to help addicts and sinners redeem themselves.
  • Evil Is Petty: He's such an evil, petty bastard, he had subjected those within the Cycle to horrific ends just because they made a comment insulting one of his domains. He had fed several incarnations of the Norns - his own daughters - to Surtr's dark appetites just for displeasing him.
  • Fatal Flaw: Pride. He's full of himself, believing he is the manifestation of Cervidia's destiny and doom itself and would not stand for any slight against him. He was even diagnosed as a 'Malignant Narcissist' by Mentálne. This ultimately bites him in the flank when 'Final Ragnarok' comes around and he's knocked, quite literally, off his pretentious pedestal.
  • Genius Loci: The Tree of Shadows the Shadowed Ones call home is actually part of him.
  • God-Eating: Indulges in this as Surtr does, albeit on a lesser scale. He feeds indirectly upon the energies released in the climatic, cataclysmic end of each iteration of the Ragnarok Cycle like his fellow Shadowed Ones. He is also implied to have eaten his own share of gods personally, notably a few of his siblings and daughters that he didn't give to his ally Surtr to play/consume. When he finally transformed into his true form at the height of the 'Final Ragnarok' arc, many of those who couldn't get off the Tree of Shadows (part of his true form) in time are said to be outright devoured by Ragnarokkr as it imploded back into him.
  • God of Evil: VERY much so, being classified as a Fallen Deity and is a terrible being who had callously condemned countless Pantheons and Civilizations in Cervidia to destruction and death just to feed upon the Vicious Cycle that he himself engineered.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the entire 'Ragnarok Cycle', being the guy who set it up in its modern form in the first place. He becomes a direct antagonist in the 'Final Ragnarok' arc.
  • Happily Married: Ourophion's potential futures showed that he would've become a loving husband to his two wives, especially Kunnusta, had he not chosen to be the arrogant, vicious, and sadistic monster he was in 'Final Ragnarok'.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty: He attempted to have his way with Queen Mzazi during 'Final Ragnarok' after he managed to restrain her with his branches while keeping the other combatants back, pointing out that someone as ancient and beautiful as the mother goddess of Zebrakind is a rare find. He is fully intending to keep her for himself (the other goddesses could go to Surtr), for both his own pleasure and to replace the subordinates and daughters he lost to their defeat or desertion. Luckily, Belyolen and Temnobog's fusion, High King Bogolenya, prevented this from being carried out. This shows how vicious and monstrous he is as a character, and it's likely he had done this before...
  • Ironic Hell: His ultimate fate: Being imprisoned in an endlessly looping situation where no matter what he does or says, his plans, manipulations, and schemes will always fall apart, leaving him completely powerless against forces stronger than him. Considering how he sadistically and callously condemned countless Pantheons and civilizations to be destroyed in the Vicious Cycle he created, as well as engineered extremely horrible fates for those who deviated from his plans or tried opposing him, it's a fate well-deserved.
    Dikaiosýni: FOR THE CRIMES YOU COMMITTED AGAINST EQUUS AND THY FELLOW SAPIENT, YOU SHALL EXPERIENCE FAILURE AFTER FAILURE AS YOUR PLANS AND SCHEMES COME UNDONE IN AN ENDLESS CYCLE THAT SERVES AS YOUR PRISON. NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY, YOU SHALL ALWAYS BE POWERLESS AGAINST THE MIGHT OF FORCES YOU SOUGHT TO EXPLOIT FOR YOUR OWN ENDS.
  • The Juggernaut: Especially once he assumes his true form. He treats being hit with a mana bomb barrage as a minor annoyance.
  • Lack of Empathy: Does not care for anyone or anything other than himself and his designs, and is willing to sacrifice millions, if not billions of lives over and over again for his own benefit.
  • Large and in Charge: Exaggerated. Appears initially as an enormous winged stag-like being for a start, but his true Eldritch Abomination form is so big he rivals Surtr in height (Who's big as a tall mountain like other Giant Divines), and is long enough to encircle all of Cervidia, like a world-serpent or ouroboros.
  • Last Villain Stand: In the end, he's the last of the Shadowed Ones left standing with most of their forces destroyed. He still manages to nearly win by himself.
  • Meaningful Appearance: His true form includes a giant serpent long enough to encircle Cervidia, incidentally like a certain 'world-serpent'. Given his overall theme is Eternal Recurrence and he and his Shadowed Ones had trapped Cervidia and the 'Nine Realms' in a ViciousCycle of death and destruction...
  • Narcissist: Mentálne even officially diagnosed him as a 'Malignant Narcissist'.
  • Nigh-Invulnerability: As a "Primeval"-ranked deity, he's absurdly tough even by divine standards. To note, the Clovenists give him a full barrage of Mana Bombs when he transforms into his true form and he's not even scorched. In the end, it takes an entire army of heroes, divines, and Kaiju to start actually hurting him and even then, they only beat him by targeting his heart, and even then it takes a gargantuan amount of punishment to finally kill him.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Being a "Primeval"-ranked deity, he is likely one of the most powerful beings thus far introduced in the Codexverse that isn't a Grand Primeval or above. His final attack might have been capable of destroying the Nine Realms in one shot if it'd been allowed to hit.
  • Point of Divergence: A 'Tales of Equestria' story revealed that had he actually chosen to rise above his wicked, self-destructive behavior and devote himself to 'constructive evil', he could have become similar to the Void Sovereign pre-Fall, destroying places that became utterly corrupt and dooming genuinely wicked people who listened to his temptations of twisting fate to their own designs. He also would have become a loving father and husband, and one of many forces who opposed Surtr. Unfortuantely, as Ourophion pointed out, he instead chose to waste his potential by feeding his own sadism for Ages, eventually leading to his defeat and death.
  • Sadist: Rivals Surtr in that much regard if not even worse.
  • Smug Super: He is extremely powerful and dangerous, and he knows that. He decides to fight the Top Gods of the Deer Pantheons while still seated on his throne. To his credit, he does a good job of it.
  • The Sociopath: Ticks every box on the list, from Lack of Empathy to delusions of grandiosity and more.
  • Taking You with Me: Cornered, alone, and with various heroes, deities, kaiju, and other groups managing to fatally wound him, he tries to blow himself up in his last, desperate gambit to take down as many of his enemies he could with him. Fortunately, the Grand Primevals intervene before he could do so, containing the ensuing explosion as well as his damned spirit.
  • This Cannot Be!: Shouts this when the heroes manage to break through his defenses and are about to destroy his heart.
  • Time Abyss: He's a Primeval, meaning he's at least 100 million years old, making him one of the oldest beings yet introduced. Notably, he's older than the Thirteen Empyreans themselves, all who are "Preeminent"-ranked deities as well as the first Alicorns created King Equus himself.
  • Our Titans Are Different: He is a Primeval in the Codexverse's Divine Classification scheme and shows it, being an Eldritch Abomination that predates most of the Cervidian Pantheons and feeds upon their lives and their deaths. He and his brethren in turn are created from an EVEN OLDER deity of Primordial Darkness (Apparently called 'Erebus'), who was fragmented aeons ago and from its pieces many descendants arose, such as Rabia, who is currently sealed away in the Frozen North by the Crystal Heart.
  • Top God: As indicated by his title as High King, he's the leader of the "Shadowed Ones". And what he says goes, such is his obsessive control over it and everything else regarding his Cycle.
  • Villainous Breakdown: As the battle continues, he goes from composed and regal to gradually more and more frustrated until he's reduced to near animalistic rage towards the end.
  • The Worf Effect: In a showcase of how powerful he is, even Mzazi is unable to handle him in a one on one fight. And it's noted this is while he's heavily weakened from the magical backlash of the Loom of Fate being destroyed.
  • You Have Failed Me: He handed over several incarnations of the Norns to Surtr as punishment for displeasing him too many times. He may also have done it to his previous wife as well.

    Kunnusta, Keeper of Forgotten Lore, High Queen of the Shadowed Ones 
See her folder entry here.

    Fegrð, the Author of Beautiful Ends 

Classification: Ethereal/Fallen, Child of Erebus

Portfolio: Primordial Darkness, Beauty, Death

Rank: Primeval


Fegrð is the Fallen god of Primordial Darkness, Beauty, and Death, and is a member of the Shadowed Ones.
  • Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear whether or not Fegrð is his real name or merely a facade, as well as if Fegrð was always a member of the Shadowed Ones or if he replaced/possessed the original without the others noticing.
  • Aliens Among Us: He's revealed to actually be a member of Void Traveler's species and thus an alien who's been on Equus for eons.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Fallen Shadowed god who embodies Primordial Darkness, Beauty, and Death.
  • Been There, Shaped History:
    • Apparently responsible for the extinction of the Dinosaurs in prehistoric times. Downplayed in that he's mostly there to finish the job, as apparently a 'Three-Headed Space Monster' beat him to it and devastated them first.
    • As it turns out, he was the one who freed Perniciem, the Great Dying from her prison during the Alicorn Civilization's heyday. This event reshaped the very geography of Equus and destroyed entire civilizations and species.
    • As it turns out, he orchestrated the creation of Oblivion Flame, the Phoenix of Ruin by murdering her family while possessing her friend, then Mind Raping and verbally tearing her down until she accepted the Void.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Has the most bizarre perception of the Ragnarok Cycle, himself and just about everything, seeing meaning and beauty only in cycles of existences that eventually comes to a completed conclusion. Including his/her own. This is later revealed to have stemmed from his nature as a Child of the Void, the Void Sovereign's 'offspring'.
  • Death Seeker: Downplayed. He is not in a hurry to die and would not go quietly without a struggle, but it's clear he on some level accepts and even welcomes it, since to his bizarre beliefs it will 'complete' his/her existence.
  • Defiant to the End: As noted, while he does not mind and even welcomes his demise as it will make him complete, he does not intend to go down without a fight.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: As a Child of the Void, his goal is ultimately the extinction of all life and he's merely using the Shadowed Ones' plan to facilitate that end.
  • God of the Dead: He's the main Death god among the Shadowed Ones and help with planning the apocalyptic climax for each Cycle, approaching each end in the manner of an artist painting masterpieces.
  • Graceful Loser: Despite his defeat, he dies happy as he felt he has finally 'become complete'. He even immortalized his own demise with the last of his powers as a framed picture before finally succumbing to oblivion.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: As it turns out, he's the one who awoke and released Perniciem, the Great Dying during the Alicorn Civilization's heyday, which had a ripple-effect in causing quite a few Alicorns to fall into villainy like Exosus and Morning Star. He also corrupted Oblivion Wing and other villains throughout history to the point some reconsidered if he might actually have been the most dangerous Shadowed One instead of Ragnarøkkr.
  • Mad Artist: Believes that nothing is truly beautiful or meaningful if not allowed to receive an ending, and considers each end of the Ragnarok Cycle and the end of anything in general to be 'beautiful' in the conclusion of their existence. To his credit, this applies to even himself, believing that only in his end will he be 'complete'. He even immortalized his own demise with the last of his powers as a framed picture when he was finally killed off.
  • Mad God: No better way to demonstrate it than treating the whole 'Ragnarok Cycle' than some parade of artworks made beautiful and meaningful upon their completion, and sees everything the same way, including himself.
  • The Magnificent: Known as "the Author of Beautiful Ends".
  • Omnicidal Maniac: While content with the Ragnarok Cycle, he views the end of everything as beautiful, and thus would love for everything to be destroyed. As a Child of the Void, he ultimately wants his master to succeed in destroying literally everything. He also released Perniciem, the Great Dying in hopes that she would destroy all life on Equus in the Alicorn Civilization's heyday.
  • Phlebotinum Killed the Dinosaurs: Was one of several cataclysms that wiped out the dinosaurs.
  • Power of the Void: He's actually a Child of the Void, and thus commands power over it.
  • The Man in Front of the Man: It's implied his role in the Shadowed Ones' actions were just another example of him manipulating people and events from behind the strings as he's done since before recorded history. After his 'art museum' is discovered, showcasing everything he's actually been responsible for, people begin to wonder if he might not have been the most dangerous of the Shadowed Ones, even if he wasn't the most powerful.
  • There's No Kill like Overkill: How he was finished off, and a necessity considering what he really was.
  • The Reveal:
    • He is a Child of the Void, and is of the same species as the Void Traveler, meaning he has a connection to the Void Sovereign that nearly destroyed Equus at the end of the Second Age and shares similar goals. Queen Dazzleglow and the rest of the gods immediately doubled their efforts to destroy him upon learning this. It's left ambiguous whether the rest of the Shadowed Ones are aware of this.
    • He's been manipulating events from behind the scenes since at least the time of the Alicorn Civilization, creating or unleashing various villains in his attempts to bring about the end of the world.
  • Time Abyss: Being a Primeval, he's naturally this. He's at a bare minimum 65 million years old, given he contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Releasing Perniciem, the Great Dying was one. She destroys the world? He gives Equus a 'beautiful end' as he desires. She's destroyed? She still did a lot of damage and she finally got her 'beautiful end.'

    Vig, the Limitless Bloodlust 

Classification: Ethereal/Fallen, Child of Erebus

Portfolio: Primordial Darkness, War, Bloodlust

Rank: Primeval


Vig is the Fallen god of Primordial Darkness, War, and Bloodlust, and is a member of the Shadowed Ones.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Fallen Shadowed god who embodies Primordial Darkness, War, and Bloodlust.
  • Dirty Coward: When finally defeated and about to be taken to the Grand Primevals for punishment, both Vig and his sister pathetically begged for mercy that they never shown their victims. Considering what he is supposed to be, it's honestly pathetic.
  • Half-Identical Twins: With Awnd the Emerald-Eyed Witch, their true form being Vanagard, a gigantic two-headed wolf-like monstrosity made up of all the parts they stole from their victims.
  • The Magnificent: Known as "the Limitless Bloodlust".
  • This Was His True Form: Their true TRUE form, after being defeated and having all their victims' parts (and actual victims) stripped from them, is little more than a mangy and pitiful version of their two-headed wolf-monster form, miniscule enough to fit into Fluttershy/Fluttercruel's hoof. It thematically shows just how pathetic they and by extension the Shadowed Ones really are, as for all their evil, all their power and 'greatness' were ultimately stolen or taken from others.
  • War God: He's the Shadowed Ones' God of War.

    Awnd, the Emerald-Eyed Witch 

Classification: Ethereal/Fallen, Child of Erebus

Portfolio: Primordial Darkness, Envy, Wrath

Rank: Primeval


Awnd is the Fallen goddess of Primordial Darkness, Envy, and Wrath, and is a member of the Shadowed Ones.

Minions and Allies

    The Norns 
The Norns are the divine daughters of Ragnarøkkr and his wife/sister Kunnusta, making them the products of an incestuous relationship. They serve as their parents' agents in Cervidia, ensuring the continuation of the Ragnarok Cycles, but it's noted that they were deceived by their father into doing "positive" work. Ragnarøkkr actually cares nil about them, only doing so in regards to their usefulness to his plans, and has been known to give them to Surtr as punishment if they displease him several times.

    Surtr Muspellson, the Swarthy One 

Classification: Ethereal/Elemental, Destroyer Deity, Adversai

Portfolio: Fire, Destruction, Doom, Giants, Fallen

Rank: Divine (Tier IV/Greater)

"I am the Fires of Ragnarok! The Doom of the Gods! By my blade, the Nine Realms shall burn once again!"

Surtr (his entry here) is the Fallen Jotunn god of Fire, Destruction, Doom, and Giants, and a particularly infamous minion/ally of the Shadowed Ones.

Surtr is the infamous Destroyer Deity at the center of many Ragnarok Cycles, where he would be among the Cervidian gods' greatest adversaries, whose burning blade would slay many gods and set the Nine Realms ablaze, and from the ashes a new Cervidia and a new generation of gods would reemerge, starting the cycle anew. Recent revelations following the 'Final Ragnarok' event had revealed more of his origins and motives, which completely overturned everything that had ever been known about him.

As it turned out, Surtr is the eldest son of Adversus, the Adversity Primeval with a mysterious, powerful god in Muspelheim, home of the Fire Jotunn, and thus is not only a god of fire and destruction among the destructive and dangerous Fire Jotunns, but also a particularly nasty member of the Adversai, a branch of Adversus' children governing adversity. From a young age, he would already show a disturbing addiction to destroying things and tormenting others, which became increasingly prominent and problematic as he grew up and become powerful. He indulgence in destruction and sadism eventually went too far, and when he not only showed no remorse but even attacked his father in a rage, he was brutally defeated and banished from Muspelheim for his misdeeds.

Unrepentant and rejected by others, including his mother Adversus and his own brethren among the Adversai, he eventually found his way to Cervidia, part of the 'Nine Realms', gleefully joining in and encouraging its already preexisting Vicious Cycle of Ragnaroks to truly destructive ends. This attracted the attention of the mysterious Shadowed Ones, who were planning to subvert and manipulate the Cycle from behind the scene to their benefit and invited him to help them. Surtr thus became a willing partner and ally of the Shadowed Ones, ensuring the 'Ragnarok Cycle' would run its predetermined course, which not only allowed him to indulge his destructiveness and cruelty upon those trapped in it, but also get his cut of the energies released to stave off his own impending doom, as prophesied by his father before his banishment. That reckoning would come when, after ages of repeats and complacency, the Hoyklan Deer Pantheon discovered the true nature of the Cycle and fights to end it, leading to a 'Final Ragnarok' where he would face his destiny...
  • Abusive Parents: To say Surtr is a horrible father is an understatement. He's prone to brutalizing and tormenting his own children. He's also known to rape his own children.
  • Anthropomorphic Personification: He's a Fallen Jotunn god who embodies Fire, Destruction, Doom, and Giants.
  • Armor-Piercing Question: On the day he was judged and permanently exiled from the real Muspelheim, his father asked him a question that would haunt him forever: "WHAT WILL YOU DO?"
    • To elaborate: His father is asking him how he would face his OWN destruction, at his and his victims' hooves, when it finally comes. The Armor-Piercing Question here came as part of his father's judgement upon him: the realization of his own mortality, for all he reveled in the mortality of other beings and things. Needless to say, Surtr doesn't know, and doesn't want to know.
  • Ax-Crazy: It REALLY has to be seen to believe. To note, even the Fire Jotunns, who are known for this, considers him this.
  • Bad Boss: Surtr once at least reveled in the worship and reverence of the mortal Fire Jotunns while he was still the 'crown prince' of his people and fellow gods. Now he treats those Fire Jotunns that still followed him with the same cruelty and hate he has for the rest of the world, eating, torturing and pleasuring himself with them to satisfy his psychopathic hunger, cruelty and lust even as he use them to carry out his orders. Meanwhile his similarly horrid subjects are often too terrified of him to defy his capricious, brutal and merciless will.
  • Berserk Button:
    • He IS a Dirty Coward at his core, but do not call or imply he is one. Being compared to one is what set off the battle against Surtr during 'Final Ragnarok' between him, his minions and the battle-group led by Astrid Titanna sent to hold him off and defeat him.
    • Also, don't remind him or trigger his mortality complex in any way. The moment Astrid, Terraton and the others managed to break off an antler and blow his armour and chest open during 'Final Ragnarok', he went absolutely ballistic.
  • Breaking Speech: Surtr received one from his father as part of his ultimate lesson/judgement for his crimes after Curbstomping him, basically foretelling him that no matter what he does and where he runs, one day he too will meet his doom, and one at his and his victims own hooves. Cue instant Mortality Phobia that would haunt him forever and drove many of his actions afterwards.
  • Big Bad Duumvirate: Shares this role with Ragnarøkkr for the "Final Ragnarok" Arc. While Ragnarøkkr is the mastermind of everything, Surtr is a 'join partner' and the only one anywhere close to Ragnarøkkr's sheer power. Unlike the other Shadowed Ones, who obey Ragnarøkkr's every order, Surtr is largely permitted to do as he pleases and defeating him is seen as being just as vital as killing the Shadowed Ones.
  • Big Eater: Standard as to Giants and their deities, but Surtr really takes the cake. In the past, he had consumed virtually all of Cervidia and the other Nine Realms down to bedrock, devouring and destroying all civilizations and leaving only very few survivors to start over for the next Cycle. And he has feasted upon the Nine Realms multiple times in multiple Cycles, sending countless millions of mortals and living things screaming down his gullet, all to sate his genocidal hunger. Unlike the other Giants and their Deities in their entries, which are mostly play for laughs or considered neutrally, Surtr's civilization/pantheon-ending appetite is played for horror given how much of a sadistic, destructive psychopath he is.
  • Bigger on the Inside: Implied, and standard as to both Giant and even Non-Giant Divines. In multiple Cycles, Surtr was given free rein to eat EVERYBODY and EVERYTHING in the 'Nine Realms', and over the Ragnarok Cycles the hungry, destructive god had consumed all, swallowing thousands of gods and millions upon millions of mortals and other beings and creatures for pleasure and power. His body must be pretty big inside even by Giant standards to hold all those hundreds of pantheons, civilizations and lands he had devoured, doomed at best to continue existing like parasites in his guts, or at worst digested and absorbed into his being.
  • Blood Knight: Of the worse kind. He is very destructive and sadistic at his core, so revels in bloodshed, stomping and killing anything that gets in his way. Some of his demands to his Shadowed Ones partners is having a choice of who he fights at the climatic final battle of each Ragnarok.
  • The Bully: His entry notes that he is this trope at his core. Like a typical bully, he would rampage through the mortal and divine lands, eating, destroying, killing, and tormenting those weaker and smaller than him because he enjoyed it, and tries to justify his actions with a very flimsy excuse that wouldn't hold under scrutiny from those who are capable of seeing right through him. Once he's exposed for who he is and even defied, he reacts in a rage and attacks the offender(s), which got him permanently exiled from his homelands by both of his divine parents in one incident after his multiple crimes came to light and he attacked his divine father for deconstructing his motives. After his exiling, he developed a Mortality Phobia so bad that it further motivated him to ally himself with the Shadowed Ones and continue his usual behavior so he could feel invincible and, ultimately, prove his father wrong about eventually falling to his own doom at the hands of the very people he terrorized.
  • Card-Carrying Villain: Cervidian legends wrote him as simply an all-destroying monster. The reality is that he is much, much worse: Essentially, he is a cowardly and despicable bully who relishes in the destruction, death, and suffering he caused because he fears the consequences of his actions. And because he was prophesied/cursed(?) by his divine father to one day fall by his own hooves and the hooves of his victims, he also torments those smaller and weaker than him to make himself feel powerful and invincible.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Indulges in this on weaker victims, owing to his sadistic, destructively psychopathic personality, preferring to drag out their deaths for his amusement.
  • Curbstomp Battle:
    • Is capable of inflicting this due to his great size and power. Had dished this out to the Cervidian gods many times in many, many Ragnarok Cycles.
    • Was on the receiving end of one from his own father when he attacked him in a rage. To note: His father more or less ONE-SHOT him with a swing of his sword, a blow which shattered Surtr's own sword, threw him across Muspelheim and reduced him to a badly-wounded wreck. He got stomped so bad that it and his fathers' words afterwards instilled in him a Mortality Phobia so bad he hooked up with the Shadowed Ones just to find a way to escape it (and indulge in his dark nature without restrain). Justified in that his father is heavily implied to be a Destroyer Deity even more powerful and terrifying than he is.
    • After this, he tried to seek refuge with his mother's side of the family. His eldest sister, Strife, denied him this. Surtr took an angry swing at her...and she effortlessly caught his full power slash with two fingers. She makes it fully clear how utterly outmatched he is, and that unlike his father, picking a fight with her will end in him being rendered 'extinct.' Surtr instantly gives up and backs down, realizing he stands zero chance against his big sister.
    • During the 'Final Ragnarok' arc, he was dishing this out to the entire first wave of the battle-force sent to hold him at bay and ultimately defeat him. The entire battle-force was led by the Jotunn War Goddess Astrid Titanna, and the first wave alone is an army composed of some of the most powerful and capable of Giant gods, demigods, angels, champions and heroes on Equus, including Terraton, Lysats Far, his son Tarou and many Giants of Light. Despite having numbers, preparations, Surtr weakened by the Loom of Fate's destruction and the element of surprise, they had only barely managed to survive long enough for the second wave of reinforcements to arrive.
  • Darker and Edgier: Is Codexverse's adaptation of the infamous Surtr from Norse Mythology and likely one of the darkest possible portrayals to date. Basically, Codexverse Surtr is what happens when Surtr's Card-Carrying Villain and For the Evulz portrayal is taken to the absolute extreme: Essentially a remorseless, sadistic and destructive psychopath who indulges in genocide, torture, cannibalism and other horrific atrocities with a death count of thousands of gods and millions of other beings.
  • Destroyer Deity: One of the most infamous on Equus, and particularly notable for his excess cruelty and lust for destruction. His father is implied to be an even more powerful and terrifying one. Notably, while he is one of these, he takes things to such lengths even his own kind and other Gods of Destruction are disgusted by him and he was banished from both his parents' realms for his actions.
  • Dirty Coward: At the end of the day, this is what his Mortality Phobia made him. When his father had him in his utter mercy, a hapless Surtr suffered a breakdown and pathetically sobbed and begged for his forgiveness and life. And his participation in the Ragnarok Cycle is motivated as much by self-preservation from getting a power-boost through the energies released as it is For the Evulz. As the Codex noted, he is ultimately nothing more than a cowardly bully too afraid to die.
  • Disappointed in You: On the receiving end of this from his father, after his callous rampages and cruelty came to light, not only showing no remorse for it, and even attacked his father when he thoroughly deconstructed his supposedly well-intentioned motives and called him out for who he really is. To punctuate his disappointment, his father's response to his son's aggression was to Curbstomp him, inflict a Mortality Phobia as his ultimate lesson/judgement and then exiled him from Muspelheim forever. While unshown, it's implied his mother Adversus feels the exact same way.
  • The Dreaded: Already this for his role in Ragnarok. Especially after his origins and motives are revealed.
  • Didn't Think This Through: It didn't occur to him at all that his own 'Doom' spell - which he learnt from High King Ragnarokkr - could be reflected back at him, and that since he is vulnerable to it he would need protection against it or a way to remove it. Of course, Ragnarokkr might not actually give him that knowledge in order to make him more controllable, but Surtr was so complacent about the possibility he didn't even bothered to ask.
  • The Exile: After Surtr took his destructiveness and sadism too far and even attacked his father when called out on it, he's banished from his people. No one else would take him in afterwards either, considering all the horrid things he had been indulging in up until that point.
  • Expy: Of Surtr from Norse Mythology. However, the Codexverse version of the character is fleshed out in such a way he's arguably a different character from his real-world mythological counterpart, and is considered as such even in-universe by overturning all previous assumptions of him from Cervidian myths. Notably, he's not in fact the oldest being in the world like the Cervidians thought he was (Though his father MIGHT be one of the oldest still around), he doesn't actually rule Muspelheim (He's an exile from the REAL place) and where Surtr in Norse Mythology was merely a purely-destructive one-dimensional Card-Carrying Villain Destroyer Deity with no depth, Codexverse Surtr is not only more complex in motives, he manages to be much, much worse a villain than people assume he is.
  • Fate Worse than Death: Surtr here is a destructive psychopath and a VERY sadistic one at that. If you are a Cervidian god, getting killed by him is merciful compared to the things he does to those he decides to keep for his amusement and pleasure. Not even his own subjects and children are safe from becoming the next victims to feed his dark, destructive desires.
  • For the Evulz: Loves destroying everything for the sake of it, and torture, eat and kill his victims for his amusement and pleasure as it is for power from the Cycle. As noted in his entry, to him everyone and everything ultimately exists only to feed his endless cruelty, hunger and lust for destruction.
  • Freudian Excuse: Subverted. While he was banished from his homeland and held a fear of death since his last interaction with his father, he was a destructive psychopath from the very beginning. What few justifications he has for his behavior are ultimately revealed to be selfish, crass, and baseless, and deep down, he really doesn't care for what he does.
  • God-Eating: On top of the energies released in each Ragnarok, he had directly consumed thousands of Cervidian gods within the Cycle, both to get extra power from the Cycles and also because he enjoys it. Whole pantheons had been feasted upon by Surtr along with the rest of the Nine Realms as one way he destroys them, on top of burning and crushing and brutalizing them.
  • The Heavy: Serves as this for the Shadowed Ones in the Ragnarok Cycle, both as internal check against the Cervidian gods trapped in the Cycle as well as an external check against anyone who could disrupt the Cycle. The fact that he REALLY enjoys it was a bonus for all involved.
  • Hidden Depths: While he mostly indulges in his destructive psychopathy, his entry notes he's much more dangerous than he seems. He's not only incredibly skilled with his sword in close-quarters combat, he is also dangerously cunning and smart in battle. He also knows how to forge and repair his own weapons and armour, which he learnt from his father. While he was a partner to the Shadowed Ones and helped them subvert the Ragnarok Cycle, he was actually manipulating it to ensure the Cycles ends as destructively and spectacularly as possible even BEFORE the Shadowed Ones, who had only been feeding passively beforehand, approached him with their offer. He may be a psychopath, but he can be quite capable and clever if it serves his destructive and sadistic urges.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Bellamos manages to reflect his Doom curse (which ensures the one inflicted by it's inevitable doom) right back at him, and due to never considering it being used against him, he never bothered to ask Ragnarokrr, who taught him how to use it, how to remove it.
  • I'm a Humanitarian: To possibly beyond Cronus' level - not only had Surtr eaten the Cervidian gods and everyone/everything else in the Nine Realms multiple times, he bred and eat his own children and subjects for additional pleasure, power and preservation of himself. Everyone was quite horrified when they found out.
  • Implacable Man: He is so powerful that few things or beings can really hurt him, and he milks it for all its worth. Virtually no Cervidian god had ever been able to stop him from killing/eating them, or worse.
  • The Juggernaut: He was this even before and after he got into the Ragnarok Cycle, due to being a Fire Jotunn Divine and a particularly powerful one from his heritage. In the many conflicts between Muspelheim and Jotunnheim, he leads and kills at the head of the Fire Jotunn hordes, and it often took Jotunn gods of his generation significant numbers and cunning tricks just to force him into retreat, and often not without losses. Entire WARS were fought by entire Pantheons during the early days of his exile just to keep him away from them and their lands.
    • He managed to maintain this during the 'Final Ragnarok' arc, where despite being weakened by the destruction of the Loom of Fate, outnumbered by a whole army of well-prepared Giant/Non-Giant gods, demigods, angels, champions and heroes, who attacked his base of operation with the element of surprise, he not only managed to hold his own but still managed threaten the entire battle-group with annihilation, slaying lesser gods and demigods by the dozens with relative ease and No-Sell attacks by beings powerful enough to level entire kingdoms by themselves. It would take virtually monumental effort and losses on the battling heroes' and divines' side to finally bring him down.
  • Karma Houdini: After joining forces with the Shadowed Ones to subvert the Ragnarok Cycle so they could use it for their own ends, he has gotten away with tormenting, consuming and destroying countless thousands of gods and millions of mortals for hundreds of Cycles. His luck would finally run out at the 'Final Ragnarok'.
  • Karmic Death: His father foretold that his demise would come at the hooves of himself and his victims, which finally happened in the Final Ragnarok. Surtr was terrified of this.
  • Lack of Empathy: Has literally no empathy for anyone or anything. He only cares about the world as far as it can allow him to indulge his cruelty, hunger and destructiveness, no matter how many victims and damage he cause.
  • Mortality Phobia: Beneath his destructiveness and sadism, he has this. His actions and deeds are motivated by a fear of his own destruction, which was inflicted on him by his mysterious father as punishment for his misdeeds. And for a destructive psychopath who wanted to destroy forever, there was no worse fate. It's ambiguous from the wording whether his father merely made an observation that really rattled Surtr, or if he actually inflicted a curse or foretold his doom like Surtr believe it is. Certainly, the Curbstomp Battle his father inflicted on him - his greatest ever defeat and closest he comes to his death before 'Final Ragnarok' - certainly helped.
  • Never My Fault: He never accepts responsibility for his crimes and fears facing the consequences of his own misdeeds.
    • To note, he justified his callous rampages across Equus destroying lands and pantheons by saying that it's simply in his nature (Which he blamed his parents for) and his right as a destroyer to wipe out whoever he wants, purpose or reason be damned. Then after he attacked his father in a rage (And getting Curbstomped for his trouble), he mentally excuses himself and begged his disappointed father that he didn't mean to do that.
    • The main reason why he didn't learn anything and remain unrepentant even after getting banished. His newly developed Mortality Phobia also drove him to help the Shadowed Ones subvert the Ragnarok Cycle in exchange of his share of energies, so he could stave off his supposed doom as foretold/cursed by his father.
  • Our Giants Are Bigger: Surtr is noted to be huge even by Jotunn Divine standards, being size of a tall mountain in his true form, although he is still dwarfed by his father and mother in their true forms.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: Is described as a 'destructive psychopath' and it shows, completely addicted to causing destruction. While the Fire Jotunns were known to be this as well, he is considered one even by THEIR standards.
  • Oh, Crap!: During the 'Final Ragnarok Arc', Surtr in the heat of the moment attempted to launch an overcharged 'Doom' curse at the defected Norns who were helping to counter that hex - and got it reflected back and striking him by Bellamos' magical reflective shield. Surtr didn't take too long to realize that he had inadvertently cursed himself with an inevitable doom - the one thing that he feared the most - and immediately descended into full-blown panic.
  • People Farms: He bred his captives or have his way with them and his subjects partly so he can have more gods and demigods to eat (After toying with them) between Cycles. The only other reasons are for his own pleasure and sadism. Everyone was a bit horrified when they found out, among other things.
  • Persona Non Grata: His divine father would permanently exile him from the real Muspelheim after the full scale of his destructiveness and cruelty come to light (that Surtr attacked his father also helped), to the point where it was forbidden even among exiles in that area to speak of his name. Even his ancient and powerful mother, Adversus, agreed with her husband's verdict and turned him away, knowing that her wayward son brought his predicament upon himself, and his own siblings rightly rejected him out of disgust.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Is this as a Fire Jotunn Destroyer Deity and particularly powerful thanks to his heritage. Even before he joined the Ragnarok Cycle he was already burning, eating and destroying whole lands and their pantheons. This made him well suited as a valuable partner of the Shadowed Ones when they decided to start manipulating the Ragnarok Cycle in their favour.
  • Playing with Fire: As a Fire Jotunn deity, he can use fire magic, throwing fireballs and unleashing torrents of flames from his hooves, antlers and mouth, to creating firestorms and fire-explosions that could scour whole kingdoms and lands.
  • Psycho for Hire: The Shadowed Ones needed someone to be the enemy and destroyer in their Ragnarok Cycle, and Surtr was perfect because he was already a destructive psychopath who'd have done it anyway. Notably, he's not directly controlled by them like most of their forces and is largely just left to his own devices.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: As noted by the Codex entry, he behaves so much like this. He indulges in destruction and sadism with no self-control or care for the consequences, justifies his misdeeds with flimsy excuses, gets enraged when he doesn't have his way, never accepts responsibility for his crimes, fears facing the consequences of his own mistake, and the moment it comes back to haunt him, he breaks down like a child.
    • He also treats gods, mortals, or heck, everyone and everything smaller and less powerful than him as little more than his toys and food to break and devour.
  • Pyromaniac: Like all Fire Jotunns, he has an arsonist impulse as part of their collective compulsion to destroy. When he isn't torturing, violating, eating, crushing or otherwise killing and destroying everything in sight, he's burning them all down with his fire powers.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: He loved to do this even before he got involved with Ragnarok, and afterwards had done this to Cervidia, their Gods and the rest of the Nine Realms again and again, and loves EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT of it. He helped the Shadowed Ones set up the Ragnarok Cycle just so he could do this forever.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: His entry revealed that one of his ways to pass the time in-between Cycles is to have his way with both his subjects and his divine captives in his realm of 'False Muspelheim'. The true horror is what he does with the many children his actions produce afterwards, which sicked many people upon realizing what he had done to his own kids.
  • Red Baron: Known as "The Swarthy One", which translates to "The Black One" in Norse. After his crimes and the depths of his destructive, unrepentant sadism came to light, and after spending countless millennia spreading death and suffering for his own sake, even the most vile of the Fire Jotunns came to feel horrified and disgusted with him.
  • Sadist: One of the reasons why he is so utterly reprehensible. It's bad enough he has a psychopathic obsession with destruction, but he also relishes in the power he has over many of his victims. While he will eventually destroy them, he likes to drag it out first for his amusement, toying with them, using them for his own pleasure and making them humiliate themselves in exchange for mercy, and his entry notes that in his eyes, those who could not fight or escape him deserves whatever suffering he inflicted upon them.
  • Serial Rapist: Surtr's sadistic hedonism doesn't stop at his love of destruction, rather he's prone to having his way with his captives and subjects as well as his own children, such as Aska, the Ashes of Renewal.
  • To Create a Playground for Evil: One of his motives for becoming a willing partner in the Shadowed Ones' plan to subvert the Ragnarok Cycle for their own ends is to create one for himself, where he could torment, consume and destroy to his heart's content without fear of retribution or death forever. If he could, he would had done this to the ENTIRE WORLD, everyone and everything existing only to feed his cruelty, hunger and lust for destruction.
  • The Unfettered: Surtr Muspellson has little to no restraints whatsoever and despises any attempts to bound his destructive and sadistic impulses, even before he found his way into the Ragnarok Cycle, and it was going too far destroying other lands and gods behind his parents' back that eventually led to his exile. One of the best things about the 'Ragnarok Cycle' for him was that it allows him to indulge his destructive psychopathy without restraint, destroying as much as he likes forever and giving him free rein to violate, torture, eat, burn and kill his victims at the end of each Cycle. And since few of those in it can really stand against his power, his unchecked psychopathy had only grown to monstrous extremes.
  • Villainous Breakdown:
    • When he father one-shot him, he broke down in terror begging for his life.
    • Once he's actually harmed during the fight with him and his armor is destroyed, he begins to have another one through a combination of rage that they were actually beginning to harm him and his mortality phobia beginning to get to him.
  • Villainous Incest: He forces himself on his children and grandchildren he has from having his way with his captives and subjects, and for what purposes? Why, so he can farm their descendants and have more gods and demigods to play with and EAT between Cycles! Nearly everyone in-universe was horrified when they found out.
  • Villains Want Mercy: When at his father's mercy, he begged for his life.
  • The Worf Effect:
    • Is set up to be one for his father, who is heavily implied to be the parent deity of the Fire Jotunns and an even more powerful and terrifying Destroyer Deity than Surtr himself. To note: Surtr is a powerhouse who had laid waste to hundreds of pantheons and lands throughout his existence. When he attacked his father in a fit of rage, his father literally ONE-SHOT him.
    • His eldest sister Strife caught a full-powered, angry swing from Surtr with two fingers. Even Surtr acknowledges he doesn't stand a chance and obeyed her order to get out.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: He is the self-proclaimed 'Doom of the Gods', and one of his special powers is inflicting a fate of 'Doom' upon an opponent, making it such that they are destined to be beaten no matter what happens. This could be broken by special artifacts or beings with special powers, like Luminiferous' fate-breaking ability.
    • Also fears this, specifically the one pertaining to his own destruction, and by his and his victims' hooves no less. A lot of what he does after getting into the Ragnarok Cycle is to stave this off by getting his own share of the energies released and became strong enough to avoid it. He learned it from Ragnarøkkr, the leader of the Shadowed Ones, who also embodies Doom.
  • Zerg Rush: Both attempted on him (and attempted by him) with varying levels of success. Often a necessity considering how powerful he is.
    • In the past, during the past conflicts between Muspelheim and Jotunnheim, he was such a juggernaut in battle it often took entire groups of Jotunn gods of his generation just to drive him back through weight in numbers and cunning tactics. Early in his exile, when he is wandering around Equus, venting his rage and hatred on the world at his predicament, whole wars were fought by the gods against him as it often took the combined numbers and effort of entire pantheons just to drive him away.
    • During the 'Final Ragnarok' Arc, the battle-group led by Jotunn War Goddess Astrid Titanna was a proverbial army of some of the most prominent Giant/Non-Giant gods, demigods, angels, champions, heroes and miscellaneous warriors on Equus, arriving and attacking in multiple waves just so they could stand a chance in holding off and defeating Surtr while he was surprised and weakened by the destruction of the Loom of Fate like the Shadowed Ones. It's still barely enough to threaten him, and is constantly threatened with annihilation by his hooves.
    • Surtr attempted this with his own Fire Jotunn minions and champions against the battle-group. It is stated in the entry that the battle-group was out-numbered 10 to 1 for virtually the entire battle, but given among them are some of the greatest Giant/non-Giant gods, heroes and warriors of Equus, the threat their numbers pose pales in comparison to their master Surtr himself.

    Malekith and the Dökkálfar 
One of the Old Fae races, ruled by the Malekith Dynasty of Kings, the Dökkálfar are one of the earliest allies of the Shadowed Ones, and their bargain was to aid the Shadowed Ones set up and maintain the 'Ragnarok Cycle' in its modern form in exchange for surviving and prospering from each Cycle. They are responsible for arranging things from behind the scenes to that end while Surtr poises a more direct and overt presence in controlling and protecting the Cycle.
  • Cavalry Betrayal: Subverted. It's not a betrayal when they can't even do so, having already been wiped out and replaced in secret by Summer Court Changelings. The Shadowed Ones' forces besieging Ljosheim found this out the hard way.
    Dökkálfar Lord: (Actually a disguised Changeling King) "We were never really on your side."
  • Expy: Of the Dökkálfar, complete with their leaders being called Malekith (Though that's more of a inheritable title). They even have the evil eye and vulnerability to Cold Iron characteristic of those Dark Elves.
  • The Fair Folk: They are Codexverse's version of the Dark Elves from Norse Mythology, and one of the 'Old Fae' races. Their portrayal also borrows from the Marvel Comics version, though.
  • Kill and Replace: At some point in the past, possibly after the 'First Great Fae War', Emperor Blackthorn and the Changeling Summer Court had them wiped out and replaced, with even the Shadowed Ones none the wiser, allowing them to exploit the 'Ragnarok Cycle' for their own interests. This becomes critical to 'Final Ragnarok' as Amareros, the Love Primeval persuaded Blackthorn aid them in ending the 'Ragnarok Cycle' and take down the Shadowed Ones once and for all, noting that Blackthorn would had eventually done it himself anyway. Blackthorn, naturally, replaced Malekith, the king of the Dökkálfar.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Had this as a reputation, having been helping the Shadowed Ones set up and maintain each Ragnarok Cycle from the shadows while Surtr enforces and defends it in the open. They were ultimately no match for the Changeling Summer Court though, as the latter have this as their hat even among the Changelings.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: The similarities are cited by Spring Court Changelings as the reason why the Summer Court Changelings which replaced them were able to fool even the Shadowed Ones in their guise for so long: Both groups are consummate liars, betrayers, schemers and manipulative bastards. The only big difference is that Changeling Summer Court just proved to be better at them than the Dökkálfar.

    Spoiler Character 

Traitor Cervidian Gods

Not all the Gods of previous Cervidian Pantheons were killed in their Cycle. A few of them had, in the course of the Cycle, betrayed or otherwise abandoned their kin for one reason or another to side with the Shadowed Ones, mostly to save their own skin. During the Final Ragnarok, many of them would be sent forth by the Shadowed Ones to fight the Cervidian Gods and their allies in battle, in the process revealing just how far they had fallen.

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