The Princes of Creation, The Inheritors, The Storm-Crowned
The Demiurges are the inheritors of the gods. The first Demiurges were extremely powerful individuals from the various universes who, through their own power, mastered time and space through the Art of Division. With this power they breached the walls between the universes, entering Throne and establishing the second age. Subordinate to Zoss, first of their number and Ruling King, the first Demiurges colonised and repaired Throne and built the Red City upon the corpses of the gods, built new bodies for the Angels and made a new law for them to follow, masked the devils and stole their secrets, and founded the four Knightly orders to protect travellers and patrol the multiverse. They also created the King's Road and the first Magus Gates, allowing mortals from their home universes to enter Throne and partake in their new order.
When Zoss created the Magus Keys from the voices of God, he divided this power out amongst his followers. This gave rise to the younger demiurges, who could not master Division on their own but rather used Magus Keys to do it for them. The younger demiurges soon numbered in the thousands and began the Second Conquest, leaving Throne to conquer their keys' universes and ruling them as gods. Inevitably, this unfettered lust for power turned to violence as the Demiurges sought more and more, leading to the Universal War, the extinction of most of them, and the rise of the Seven.
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General
- Achilles' Heel: Demiurges are Physical Gods orders of magnitude more powerful than any non-Demiurge in the setting (with a handful of exceptions), but much of their power flows from their Magus Keys. If a Demiurge ever loses control of that power (due to their willpower faltering) they are as vulnerable as anyone else. Allison was able to knock down Mottom with a slap when the latter was suffering a mental breakdown, and the Demiurge Jantris was powerless to protect himself from the Badass Normal Yaun because he was too afraid of death to use his Key properly. Jadis and Mammon are by far the weakest members of the Seven because their minds are too far gone to focus their willpower.
- Action Girl: Several of the Demiurges were women.
- Badass Army: All of them were this as they were insanely powerful kings and queens who conquered the Multiverse.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The second generation of Demiurges were manipulative sociopaths with sweet words, excusing their conquests as "spreading civilization", though they too would end up making way for the Myopic Conquerors after them.
- Deity of Human Origin: The huge majority of Demiurges were humans. Though as Mammon and Yabalchoath showed, other races like Servants and Devils can also become Demiurges.
- Demiurge Archetype: It's in their name. Demiurges are not true gods, but pretenders to their power and merely worshipped as such. While their Magus Keys let them tune the voices of God and gave them immense Reality Warper powers, even immortality, they could never create something entirely new the way the Gods could.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: One of their accomplishments was to mask the Devils and gave them names. Without masks, Devils are mindless monstrosities that are near-impossible to defeat. Given the fact that almost all Devils seen in the comics wear masks, the Demiurges largely succeeded in masking the Devils and giving them names.
- Dimension Lord: Before the Universal War, they ruled over Throne, its orbiting cities, and the Multiverse.
- Emerald Power: One of the Demiurge combatants in the Universal War had a green Key of Power.
- Enlightenment Superpower: Zoss and the first Demiurges entered Throne entirely on their own, using their own mastery of Division of space to do so. Being independent of a Magus Key meant they were extremely powerful, even amongst themselves.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Demiurges could come from any of the three orders of inheritors the gods created. The only exception were the Aeons, as
Word of God states that an Angel (even a Petal Knight) would be unable to master Want enough to use a Magus Key. The second generation of Demiurges also included devils, but none survived the Universal War. - Evil Colonialist: The second generation Demiurges performed their conquests with the excuse of spreading civilization, though it didn't take long till they dropped all pretenses of sanity and became Myopic Conquerors, simply trying to loot and burn down as much as they could.
- The Faceless: One of the Demiurges in Cio and White's Chain explanation of the history of Throne wears full body armour with a large helmet hiding their face.
- Forging Scene: One of them is seen, forging ash armour for the Angels.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: The later generations all used to be 'normal' before Zoss gave them the Magus Keys.
- God-Emperor: They were powerful and immortal beings who ruled over the Multiverse.
- Gold-Colored Superiority: One of the original Demiurges wore golden armour and a golden helmet.
- Holy Is Not Safe: They're the closest things to gods and ended up decimating the universe in their war for conquest.
- Horns of Villainy: A Demiurge combatant in the Universal War, had 4 horns protruding from his head. Another one was seen, interacting with Incubus in 2 Michael's explantation of how all life is fundamentally fire.
- Insectoid Aliens: One of them was a Xixo Vong, a insect-like species of Servants.
- Mad God: Most of them went mad during the Universal War.
- Master Archer: One of the original demiurges had this look with wielding even a bow and arrow.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Two Demiurge combatants in the Universal War had several astral arms, wielding weapons.
- Multiversal Conqueror: They conquered the Multiverse in the Second Conquest.
- Mutual Kill: Many of the Demiurges during the Universal War ended up killing themselves and the Demiurge they were fighting at the time.
- Myopic Conqueror: The vast majority of second and third generation demiurges decided to feed their sense of victory by spilling blood in a contest to loot as many worlds as they could rather than doing anything productive with their power.
- The Order: They founded the four Knight Orders.
- Our Centaurs Are Different: A centaur-like Servant is among the Demiurge combatants in the Universal War.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Several of them were Kind People or Dragons.
- Our Goblins Are Different: One or more of them were Goblins.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Little is said of the Demiurges during the Universal War, save that 'worlds burned' due to unchecked use of their power and armies and heroes stood little chance against them. 'Little chance' does not mean 'no chance', however, as demonstrated by the Seven.
- Physical God: All of the Demiurges are essentially gods in all but name, being immortal and capable of bending reality to their whims. Many of them ruled over their own empires until the Universal War happened. Seven surviving Demiurges would go on to become the ruling Seven, the most powerful Demiurges after Zoss himself.
- Pinned to the Wall: The Winged Humanoid Demiurge corpse has been pinned to the war by a spear.
- Purple Is Powerful: The Demiurges seen killed by Solomon all had purple Keys of Power.
- Reality Warper: Every last one of them. A Magus Key is a tuning fork for God's voices, and as every Universe is a story in the telling this gave the Demiurges a lot of leeway to interpret reality. The fact that entire planets and even suns were destroyed (and re-created) during the Universal War implies the only true limit to a Demiurge's power is how determined they are to change something.
- Rock Monster: One of the original Demiurges were an Eidolon, a species of Servant that were made out of rock.
- Seeker Archetype: The old guard of the Demiurges travelled to Throne in search of their gods.
- Slashed Throat: One of the Demiurges killed by Solomon David had his throat cut open.
- Solar and Lunar: Downplayed as only the latter symbol appears on a Demiurge that arrives in Throne after Zoss.
- Teleporters and Transporters: All Demiurges can use their Keys to fold time and space, allowing them to teleport. The first ones could do it without one.
- There Can Only Be One: The Universal War started as the Demiurges begun killing each other to gain their rivals' Keys.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Several of the male Demiurges were shirtless.
- Warrior Monk: Several of the original Demiurges are dressed like this.
- Warrior Poet: One of their tiles mentioned by White Chain is of Poet-Kings.
- Winged Humanoid: One of the Demiurge corpses at the ruins of the Concordance of Zoss had wings on their back.
- Wizard Beard: One of the first Demiurges to arrive in Throne after Zoss had this look.
The Conquering King
Zoss
Zoss, the Conquering King
Click here to see Zoss in full armor.
"Heads. Yes, the beast has seven. Slay it, kingling, free us all! You are my redeemer! [...] Quick Alice. The Sovereign. Alice. Kill Six Billion Demons."
A legendary hero, first of the Demiurges and the original conqueror of Throne. Once he discovered that the gods were long dead, Zoss's first act was to claim dominion over the multiverse by defeating the Prime Angels, last attendants of the gods' reign. As more Demiurges found their way to Throne from their own universes, Zoss became their king and ruled Throne in a golden age of enlightenment and philosophy. As the reign of the Demiurges eventually descended into madness and brutal civil war, Zoss abandoned his kingship and disappeared, although the Seven believe that he still survives.
- Abdicate the Throne: Zoss abandoned his Throne after the Universal War ended for reasons unknown.
- Accidental Misnaming: He calls Allison "Alice", which, as she says, is not quite her name note .
- All for Nothing: His final revelation as the Conquering King
was that all his attempts to prevent the Universal War just made it worse, and only another can break the Vicious Cycle he created.Zoss: I spent all my life mastering the wheel, and in time became its lord. Yet for all my effort, I found the world always spun inevitably towards ruin. In my arrogance, I clung to victory. I mustered up all my dreadful might and secret arts, believing this fate could be prevented. Yet in doing so.... I have built a prison. Not only for myself, but for the very world. This was my final revelation: the King of Swords must cast aside his blade and let his burden be taken by another. He that masters the wheel cannot break it. - Artificial Limbs: Abbadon mentions that his right arm is a prosthetic limb made from living wood.
- The Atoner: He sought to appoint an heir to fix his past mistakes, and asks Allison to be his redeemer.
- Badass Boast: In King of Swords 10-140.Incubus: You! You can't be here! It's impossible! You- you disappeared! You were dead!
Zoss: Hasn't stopped me so far. - The Conqueror: As his name implies, he conquered the universe itself by being the first to claim the empty throne of God.
- The Chooser of the One: Names Allison his Successor by giving her the Key of Kings. Only the latest of many.
- The Chosen One: Although everyone believes that Zoss found his way into Throne by himself, there's more to the story than that. Rather than extracting the names of God from Metatron 1 by force, he was given them, and is now cursed, bound to the Vicious Cycle of Throne until a worthy successor is found to fulfill both Metatron's unknown desires and his own.
- Dare to Be Badass: Shows up to deliver speeches on the subject of each volume's title (like Kill Six Billion Demons or Wielder of Names) to Allison at climactic points of said volumes, which generally encourage her in various ways to ascend to becoming the next God-Emperor of the universe, as he once was.Zoss: Fate is not a cage except for those who fear it. A true ruler is the wielder of names. By names she cuts the world as she pleases, and she cuts herself into greater forms still. She is not shaped by the world, but instead becomes the shaper. There's work to be done. What shape will you choose, hm? Will you choose to be a king? Or will you choose to remain as you are? Peasant!
- Dramatic Unmask: In Allison's conversation with him at the end of the first volume, revealing that he was the one who gave her the Key of Kings.
- The Dreaded: The only thing the Seven still fear and respect. For the most part, they still recognize him as the Conquering King, with his throne merely empty, and that he could return and sweep them away with ease if he ever saw fit.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Not outright evil and certainly not a parent, but his relationship with Allison definitely has shades of this; he clearly knows what a horrifying mess his Demiurges have turned Throne into, and wants Allison to avoid the mistakes he made and set things right.
- Expy: While the fact his Signature Move is a lightning bolt brings to mind Zeus, Zoss's disability, tendency to work behind the scenes, and goal of subverting a prophecy foretelling the ruin of his kingdom shows he has much more in common with Odin.
- God-Emperor: Like all the demiurges, but he was a king even among kings and the first Physical God to claim that status.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: For good and for bad. Virtually everything about Throne and its current state can be traced back to things Zoss did, both as the utopia it used to be and the dystopian nightmare it became after his disappearance.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: It's eventually revealed that Zoss has been keeping all of reality in one of these for an unfathomable amount of time, enough time that those bound to Metatron 1 (namely 8 Juggernaut Star and Jagganoth) only peripherally sensing the immense passage of time have been deeply affected by it. The reason is that he has been trying to keep the Wheel from falling to ruin, only to fail every time. His eventual solution? Pick a successor with a fresh perspective.
- Holy Halo: He has a bright white halo floating above his head. Noticeably, it merely represents his power; it doesn't mean he's a good person.
- Human Pincushion: A recurring symbol in later books shows him impaled by ten swords. This plays into the chapter's Tarot Motifs, as Ten of Swords represents painful endings, betrayal, rock bottom and the end of something important.
- I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: He is the one who gave Allison the Key of Kings at the start of the story after he was beheaded, an event he had already foreseen.
- Ineffectual Loner: For all of his terrible power, even he cannot thwart the universe's destiny to fall into ruin. He eventually realized that he was a fool to have done everything by himself and should have shared his burden with others. Considering it too late for himself, he decides to pass his task on to a successor, to do this in his stead.
- Long-Lived: Even before he became the Conquering King, he was noticeably old, with a white beard, a bald head, and a weathered face. None of this stopped him from fighting and winning against the most prime angels, alone, all at once.
- Mysterious Past: The absolute most anyone, even the smartest beings in the Multiverse, knows about Zoss's life before he became the first Demiurge is that he just showed up in Throne one day using "dark science", murdered everyone in charge, and took the place for himself. Everything else (such as how he acquired the power to slay Prime Angels or where his homeworld is) is a complete enigma.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Zoss's decision to pierce heaven and steal the names of God from Metatron would eventually lead to the opening of the gates, the resulting Universal War, and the rise of the very 7 Black Emperors that Allison is prophesied to defeat.
- Non-Linear Character: Zoss is on the threshold of Royalty, and time, space and causality are suggestions to him rather than hard-and-fast rules. He repeatedly shows up to Alison at stages of his life before he is decapitated in the opening of the comic, and has trapped the universe itself in a near-endless time loop of his own device that only a select few remember fully, namely Metatron, himself and, to everyone's surprise, Gog-Agog.
- Not Quite Dead: King of Swords, 10-140.Incubus: You can't be here! It's impossible! You- you disappeared! You were dead!
Zoss: Hasn't stopped me so far. - Person of Mass Destruction: Zoss split heaven, murdered the colossal Prime Angels, chased them into the Void, and held God's attendant hostage for information. And this was all before he built the power-amplifying Keys.
- Posthumous Character: He disappeared in the backstory, then dies the moment the story started, but his soul still lingers somehow. It's eventually implied that due to the Cycle he imposed on reality that he exists outside of ordinary time itself and thus, death is effectively meaningless to him.
- Red Baron: He is known as "The Conquering King" for his conquest of Throne, "The Ruling King" for overseeing the age of the Demiurges, and referred to as "The Old King" or "Old King Zoss" in less formal writings; some (like Mottom) even seems wary of naming him directly.
- Really 700 Years Old: It's unclear exactly how long ago it was that he first pierced Heaven, but he predates civilization in Throne, making him easily thousands of years old at the time of his death. The revelation that he has been resetting all of reality through many, many, many cycles implies his true age is many times older than that.
- Secret Test of Character: What Zoss is making Alison go through, apparently. He is rather disappointed that she left Cio to die, saying something along the lines that
"I thought this cycle might be different.", hinting at some other things going on. - Shock and Awe: The power he wields takes the form of white lightning. Abbadon explains that he's conceptually based on patriarchal thunder gods like Zeus.
- Stop Worshipping Me: He tried to dissuade worship of himself and disliked the idea of divinity in general, but his overwhelming power resulted in people worshipping him anyways.
- Tarot Motifs: He's paradoxically associated both with the King of Swords, representing mental clarity, intellectual power, truth and authority, and the Ten of Swords, representing painful endings, deep wounds and crisis. Even with his powers of time control, Zoss has been unable to break the Vicious Cycle he's stuck in, and has to trust that Alison can find a new perspective and clean up his mess.
- Unwitting Pawn: According to Jagganoth, Zoss did not extract the names of God from Metatron by force as was thought, but was given them willingly in order to use him as the multiverse's jailor, trapping it in an eternal "Groundhog Day" Loop.
- Warrior Poet: The original. Upon conquering Throne, Zoss sought out kings, heroes, saints, and other masters of their craft specifically to create a society of Warrior Poets working to seek enlightenment.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Makes one of his rare appearances specifically to criticize Allison for leaving Cio to die in the Prison of Air.
- World's Best Warrior: Zoss' deeds are considered works of legend, and combined with his mastery of the Master Key and almost obtaining Royalty he is widely considered, both in-universe and out, to be the strongest non-God being within it. The Seven fear him, the author has stated that Zoss would absolutely destroy anyone else in the comic except True Royalty like Meti, and even Gog-Agog, who has personally experienced almost every reset in the Eternal Recurrence the setting is stuck in, sees herself as Always Second Best to Zoss.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Discussed. Zoss knows the world is inevitably destined to fall into ruin, and for all of his terrible power, even he cannot stop it. But he believes that by passing his burden on to a successor, they can awaken to a different fate. Given he's seen his chosen Successors fail over and over, and still has genuine hope that Allison might be different, it turns out to be inverted.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: 'It' in this case being the title of Top God. Zoss claimed Heaven itself by right of conquest after personally stealing a fragment of the divine song, cutting his way into Heaven, and killing every single Prime Angel when they opposed him. In setting, he's officially considered the King of the second era of Throne, a title which puts him on a level equivalent with the creator of the multiverse.
The Seven
The Seven
The Seven, also known as the Gods of the Seven-Part World, are the last surviving Demiurges at the start of the comic and the Big Bads of the setting.
For tropes that apply to the Seven and their Emissaries, see this page.
The Rogue
Maya
Mathangi "Auntie Maya" Mantra, Mathangi ten Meti, "Murder the Gods and Topple Their Thrones", Former Bearer of the Word FLAME
Click to see Maya when she was younger
Click to see Maya when she was an adult
Click to see Maya as a Demiurge
"What do you think about death?"
Known for most of the narrative simply as "Auntie Maya", Maya is a Mendicant Knight who first encounters Allison by chance during her first accidental entry into Throne in Kill Six Billion Demons, and is the most persistent member of the 108 followers who begin to hound Allison for her Key of Kings (as in, she persists while the others die). She makes intermittent appearances through the comic, both directly crossing Allison's path and sometimes shadowing her at a distance.
Maya's birth name is "Mathangi Mantra", and she later took the name "Murder the Gods and Topple Their Thrones". As the student (and only true apprentice) of the sword-saint Meti ten Ryo, Maya is a master swordsman, wielder of the "Maybe Sword" (which may not actually be a sword), and student of the Principle Art of Cutting. She conquered over 20,000 worlds during the Universal War, during which she served as general of the Middle army of the Yellow City of Vesh and was known as "The Destroyer
". Unable to deal with the Seven, Maya retired to a life of foul-mouthed reclusivity, habitual drunkenness, and noodles, until Allison — and the Master Key — crossed her path.- Absurd Cutting Power: Maya wields the sword of Maybe. It does not actually have a blade, but in her hands a single cut can divide an angel, everything in the room behind it, and the room itself in that direction.
- Aesop Enforcer: When Allison refuses to answer Maya's question about whether violence is the best solution to her problems, Maya inflicts violence upon her, violence that will kill her if her will isn't strong enough to resist the technique.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: As a young child, Maya would always beg Meti to teach her the ways of the sword so she could become a hero, or a god. Despite Meti's attempts to scare her away from that path, Maya refused to be swayed. So Meti throws her an old, rusted sword, with Maya's first lesson being learning how to care for it so she could cut off her own hair.
- Almighty Janitor: She was once the conqueror of 20,000 worlds and a player in the Universal War along with her 'brother' Incubus, as well as the prodigal student of Meti, considered the greatest swordswoman to ever lift a blade. Currently, she is a fat penniless drunk who often says she wishes she had become a noodle vendor.
- Ambiguously Evil: She's pursuing Allison for reasons unclear, yet hasn't outright antagonized her yet, opting to give her vague words of advice whenever they happen to cross paths — And some of her actions (such as deflecting the bullet from Mottom's guards and cutting down Juggernaut Star as Allison flees) can even be interpreted as protecting her. On the other hand, one doesn't survive the Universal War without having conquered and murdered your way to power first, and her stated goal is to murder Incubus for betraying her and murdering Meti. Alt Text implies that she wants Allison's key. According to Meti herself, she's sworn to protect Allison, although who she swore to and why is anyone's guess.
- And Then What?: Her inability to answer this question when her former master posed it to her is what broke her desire for conquest and made her who she is today.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Her desire for conquest was broken when Meti, her former master, asked her And Then What?, to which she didn't have an answer.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: As a young girl, Maya dreamed of being a legendary warrior-hero instead of a noodle vendor, despite facing strong discouragement and ridicule from everyone around her. Even Meti refused to teach her, only relenting when Maya kept begging her to. Many millennia later, she achieved her wish by becoming a powerful warrior and Demiurge, who led one of the mightiest armies in the universe and conquered whole worlds during the Universal War. However, Maya ended up abandon everything when she was asked "And Then What?" by her old mentor, making Maya realize she hadn't thought things through and her childhood ambitions led to her abandoning her own family. While she retired to another world and started a family, her past caught up to her in the form of Incubus, who murdered her husband and children before trying (and failing) to behead her. By the present, she spends her days as a wandering Mendicant Knight, drinking and chowing down on noodles while lamenting the lost future she could've had as a noodle vendor.
- Being Evil Sucks: In her prime, she was a bloodthirsty conqueror, but at some point, came to regret it and abandoned everything.
- Best Served Cold: She's been waiting for a chance to strike down Incubus for what's implied to be centuries. When asked how she even managed to live that long, her answer is a laconic "hate". It's unclear though if she's even capable of carrying out that vengeance, and she seems fully aware of the apparent futility of her quest.Maya: If your opponents were the gods themselves, it would be sensible to seek an honorable death, don't you think? If you were a fool you might hold on to pride. You might think you have a chance some day. (...) No... You'd be a fool not to seek a quick and honourable end. And instead wait. And rot. And contemplate death.
- Big Damn Heroes: She saves Allison from Incubus' deathblow by deflecting his sword with her own.
- Blasé Boast: When Maya properly introduces herself to Allison in Mottom's palace, she says this:Maya: I would like to tell you that I am a noodle vendor, but alas! Instead, I am a student of the principle art of cutting.
- Blessed with Suck: The Maybe Sword. Maya implies that learning the technique for all intents and purposes turns the user into a Human Weapon, almost literally cutting off all other possibilities as a person. This is very much in line with Meti's teachings, which similarly describe the sword as an ugly piece of metal whose adherents are all idiots.
- Break the Haughty: She survived the Universal War, the only known survivor other than the Seven, but only as a broken, fat recluse with a broken blade. Toyed with later when it's revealed she could've won, but walked away instead, because Meti's Armor-Piercing Question broke her desire for conquest before then.
- Broken Pedestal: It is implied she served as one to Incubus, who once looked up to her like a big sister. But when Meti broke her will to conquer, he saw the new life she had chosen as an insult to her previous path and decided offing her was a Mercy Kill.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: Meti's Armor-Piercing Question caused her to realize that her accomplishments were meaningless and had sacrificed everything she really should have valued. Her pride broken, she fled her empire and tried Starting a New Life, becoming a mother and farmer. Incubus tracked her down, partially because he wanted her key, and probably because he viewed her new life as an insult to everything the two had previously believed in. He defeated her, and while he was unable to finish her off no matter how hard he tried, his soldiers were able to murder said family.
- Character Catch Phrase: Asks the question "What do you think about death?" multiple times throughout the story, including in her introduction.
- Clean Cut: She manages to completely bisect 6 Juggernaut Star in a single cut.
- Covered in Scars: Her robes and hairdo conceal extensive scars and burns. Her throat is covered in scars from Incubus trying to decapitate her ten times, to the point her neck was reduced to half a windpipe.
- Dented Iron: Her Super-Toughness can handle a point-blank explosion that tears apart a building around her — and a subsequent fall from several kilometers up in the air — but the marks do add up. Maya mentions the damage put her in no fit state for a rematch with 6 Juggernaut Star, despite having bisected the angel's body during their last battle. Her body is covered almost entirely with cut scars, and special attention is brought to her throat when she comments Incubus tried to decapitate her ten times in a row, but failed.
- Dissonant Serenity: During the battle in Hell 72. While everyone else is freaking out about the revelation that a Magus Gate is present, her reaction is, as the author points out, to really enjoy her noodles. Later, when actual violence is about to break out, her reaction is a simple "Hm."
- The Dog Bites Back: After several years of sleeping with Preem Manamum Mana, he openly admits that he never had any intention of upholding his end of the deal, telling her that she was unworthy of his swords. He terminated their bargain by handing her the failed practice sword of one of his apprentices. A bitter, furious Maya swung the sword at him and it shattered, as he knew it would. But little did he know, she had spent the past few years forging a spiritual sword out of her own soul. She sliced his head in half with it while he was mid-laugh.
- Drunken Master: She describes both herself and her mentor, Meti, as "habitually drunk".
- Due to the Dead: One of the causes of the schism between her and Incubus. Incubus fed their master to the dogs, like she had requested, while Maya feels they should've given her a proper funeral. It's genuinely unclear which is correct, since Meti's teachings were incredibly strange and deliberately self-contradictory.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Known to many as "Auntie Maya".
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A normal village girl in one of Throne's many outlying worlds (implied to be the Yellow City orbiting the main one) who went on to be one of the few Demiurges to survive the Universal War and a contender for a seat among The Seven who willingly gave up her place at the table.
- Generation Xerox:
- As a young swordswoman she attempted to make a highly unwilling Meti teach her Sword Lore. Come King of Swords, and Monkey has begun following a highly unwilling Maya around, calling her 'master'.note
- When she's forced to take Allison as an apprentice, her first lesson is the exact same one as Meti made Maya go through.
- Get It Over With: This happens in "Seeker of Thrones" when she calmly tells Juggernaut Star she's in no condition for a rematch and to "be quick about it". Fortunately for her, neither was Juggernaut.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Though she says it casually, Word of God is that she's always regretted leaving the cooking business.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: She is a master of the Art of Cutting, so of course she can do things like Parrying Bullets and cutting an angel in half, along with the room behind it, despite the fact that her sword is broken to the point of being little more than a hilt. This appears to be a Charles Atlas Superpower developed from her training under Meti.
- Improbable Weapon User: She wields the Maybe Sword, which appears to be a sword that was broken off a few inches above the hilt. In no way does this make her any less lethal.
- Jaded Professional: As a child, she dreamed of becoming a Master Swordsman in her nation's famous Middle Army. After doing so, conquering 20,000 worlds, and abandoning it in disillusionment, she sincerely wishes she'd stayed a noodle vendor. Notably, the brief time where she got married and raised two daughters of her own was the happiest time of her life.
- Killer Rabbit: Looks like an overweight middle-aged woman with a broken sword, but as most of the tropes in her entry will show you, appearances can be deceptive.
- Like Brother and Sister: Maya mentions that she and Incubus used to be rather close in their youth, and later she recounts to Allison in "Wheel Smashing Lord" that they "clung to each other like siblings" because they had no one else. However, a number of factors, like Maya's growing disillusionment with being a Demiurge, Incubus' murder of her family, and his murder of their master, eventually and irreconcilably drove them apart.
- Mama Bear: In "Seeker of Thrones", she protects two young girls from Juggernaut Star, even pulling one of them away as Juggernaut's real body emerges from the rubble. She then holds the girls close to her as she tells Juggernaut Star to "be quick about it", knowing both of them are in no shape to fight.
- The Man Makes the Weapon: Taken to its logical conclusion; as a Master of the Art of Cutting, even using a sword at all is optional. When she wants to get serious, she pulls out the "Maybe Sword", a broken sword with only an inch of blade left. She can use it to cut buildings in half... and angels.Proverb: Beware the swordsman who carries no blade.
- Master Swordsman: The first (and only) student of Meti, the most dangerous swordsman in the entire multiverse — and now that her master is dead, Maya herself carries the title. Though she is nowhere near as powerful as Meti, she can still cut bullets from the air and fight toe-to-toe with powerful angels... while wielding a broken sword.
- Mistaken for Profound: When she tells Allison to fetch a bucket of water, Allison thinks that she is going to teach her martial arts by cleaning first, the way White Chain did. No — it's because wet hair makes the sword glide easier.
- Multiple-Choice Future: How the Maybe Sword works. Maya swings her broken blade and wills her target cut. If her target wishes to survive, they must enforce their own will on which outcome her Maybe Cut will produce before they realize that they are already dead.
- Myopic Conqueror: In her prime, she embraced the ideals of the other demiurges, decided that morality was for the weak, and that "winning" through violent conquest was all that matters. Meti asked her And Then What? What will she do with her victory when she is done murdering her way to the top? Prove that Might Makes Right, that the power to kill is the most important thing in the world, and declare the end of time? Maya then realized that she hadn't thought things through that far.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Her full name means "Murder the Gods and Topple Their Thrones".
- Not So Stoic: Meti is generally quite chill and whimsical, but when she reminisces about how Incubus killed their teacher and fed her chopped-up corpse to mutts, her eyes glow red with anger.
- Older Than They Look: Despite appearing middle aged, she's a survivor of the Universal War and about as old as the Seven. Specifically she's a few years older than Incubus, who is the youngest of the Seven.
- Parrying Bullets: She not only parries it but cuts it in half, here. She isn't seen actually moving when shot at except to STARE intensely at the bullet, leaving people to speculate what technique from the Art of Cutting she used to parry the bullet.
- Pet the Dog: The first sign that Maya might be motivated by higher motives than the rest of the 108 pursuers is when she protects a noodle vendor and his stall from the chaos in Hell 72 (she did help herself to a portion of noodles in the process, however). Following the fight in Mottom's Palace, she instinctively pulls a child out of the way of 6 Juggernaut Star and places herself between the two.
- The Power of Hate: She attributes her unnaturally long lifespan to her undying hatred.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her eyes glow red when she's feeling fierce.
- Retired Badass: She survived the Universal War, having grown up and fought in it. Apart from the Seven, no non-Angel in the comic can claim the same. And she would have been one of the Seven if she hadn't abandoned her throne, allowing Incubus to replace her.
- Retired Monster: She killed thousands of people during the Universal War, and while she seems to regret it to an extent she also fully admits she's only staying alive for revenge, not for any personal sense of atonement.
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair: She makes up one half together with her former companion Incubus. Maya is the 'right way', having followed in Meti's footsteps and become by far the better swordman of the two, though ultimately Incubus is still 'stronger'... To the extent that is even a valid comparison between them any more.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: She is potentially willing to kill students if they don't answer her questions about violence. Her final and only lesson of the Maybe Sword is to cut Alison in half with it and wait to see if she dies, as the sword only cuts those who are imprisoned by their fates and thus incapable of overcoming Jagganoth.
- Starting a New Life: Her will to conquer broken, she abandoned her empire to start a simple life as a mother and a farmer. Contrary to her career as a warlord, these were the happiest years of her life.
- Stealth Mentor: The few times she's encountered Allison, she has opted to give her some timely advice rather than slitting her throat and stealing her key; why she's done so remains a major mystery both in universe and outside of it. She graduates to The Mentor in Wheel-Smashing Lord, ironically taking this role from Incubus when Allison severs ties with him and resolves to take out Jagganoth.
- Stout Strength: Word of God is that she was specifically written with this trope in mind.
- Sword Beam: The one time we see her fight seriously she produces one of these that slices the entire room in half, along with everything in it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Noodles. As seen in a Flash Back, she is the daughter of a noodle vendor, and before she became the unstoppable badass she is today, Meti berated her and called her an idiot for wanting to learn Sword Law instead of following that career path. Nowadays she wishes she had listened to her aunt and stayed a noodle vendor, saving other noodle vendors from raving hordes just to eat their noodle bowls.
- Training from Hell: Subjects Allison to this when serving as her teacher; her teaching style consists of essentially getting drunk and beating the shit out of Allison, while mocking her for not being able to stop her.
- Tranquil Fury: She doesn't raise her voice, but there is visible fury◊ when Maya remembers how her Master was killed. Murdered by her fellow student Incubus, then chopped up and fed to dogs. Her dialogue implies that she's far more bitter and scarred by her experiences in the Universal War, and that her kindly and blasé facade might be a way to cope with her actions.Allison: So... you were around during The War?
Maya: Unfortunately.
Allison: How are you alive?
Maya: Hate. - Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Untold centuries ago, she was a trainee cook who dreamed of being a hero. But over time, she abandoned her teacher's moral lessons, dismissing them as "feeble and irresolute", and became a conqueror who ravaged worlds during the Universal War. However, she became disillusioned with everything and became an alcoholic, reclusive Beggar Knight, becoming as cynical and miserable as her teacher. This is prominently shown in her eyes — in her youth, her eyes were wide and innocent-looking, but in the present, her eyes are squinted, indicating a bitter, hateful, and world-weary character.
- Virtue Is Weakness: In her prime, she abandoned her youthful idealism and became a bloodthirsty conqueror, dismissing her teacher's moral lessons as weak.
- Was It Really Worth It?: She spent her entire career as a Demiurge convincing herself that yes, yes it was. Sure, her teacher had told her that she had already lost, and she had abandoned her family to be slaughtered by other warlords. But she was strong, won numerous conquests, had legions at her command, and was one of the most important people in the multiverse. In the end, she realized that none of this really mattered and her accomplishments as a Myopic Conqueror were meaningless.
- Wild Card: A former Demiurge who doesn't have the political obligations or the debilitating insanity of the Seven, but also isn't associated with Devils, Angels, or the Thorn Knights. Despite supposedly hunting Allison for the Key of Kings, she's acted as a Stealth Mentor to her instead. Her ultimate motivations and allegiances are unknown to all except Maya herself.
Other Demiurges
Hastet Om (Spoiler Character for "Wielder of Names")
Hastet Om
An ancient demiurge who was known for keeping an enormous number of wives, including Nadia Om, AKA Mottom of the Seven. Currently deceased.- And I Must Scream: Well, he does still have a mouth, but he uses it exclusively to consume the blood of his wives, or to demand more wives to consume. However, he's literally rooted to the place where he was buried, and seems to have been utterly consumed by his desire.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Although covered by the veneer of legitimacy offered by marriage, Hastet was essentially a prolific serial rapist whose appetites only became more depraved and sadistic as time went on.
- Asshole Victim: He was such a monstrously abusive husband to his wives that one of them, Nadia Om, killed him to end his abuse, plucked his Key from his head before burying his corpse in the palace gardens, then fell asleep for three long days. Hastet's subjects apparently hailed Nadia as a heroine for this, and her deed immortalised in the form of a statue hanging over the entrance of her palace. Unfortunately, Hastet's corpse turned into the Tree of Woe that sprouted immortality-inducing peaches in exchange for drinking the blood of young virgin women, ensuring Nadia would never be freed of his abusive influence... until Allison comes along and ends Haset's life for good by burning the Tree of Woe.
- Decadent Court: Mottom inherited this from Hastet, although, it's implied it was actually worse under Haste's rule.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: After he "sprouted" in death, the trunk of the Tree of Woe emerged from where his lower abdomen and groin once were, and his branches appear to produce the fruit that Mottom used to sustain her youth — literally feeding on the fruit of his loins. The fact that he's fed constantly by the blood of beautiful virgin women only makes the imagery more apt.
- Domestic Abuse: In life, he was monstrously abusive to his Royal Harem on top of being a serial rapist who took and forced himself on any young woman that caught his fancy, Nadia Om included. Eventually, Nadia grew sick of the abuse and murdered him, but that only turned him into the Tree of Woe, forcing Nadia to supply him with more "wives" for him to feed on. Even while paying tribute to his tomb, Nadia absolutely has no love for him and only does so to give Allison some background on her life. Nadia and Allison pass by statues of several women that look horrifically disfigured and stained with blood, giving further implications to how far the abuse went.
- Hate Sink: He is an utterly despicable and immoral man who, in life, abused his power and status to have his way with multiple women, essentially kidnapping them for their beauty and violating them whenever he pleased. He was so cruel that when Mottom killed him to end the abuse, no one mourned his death and in fact immortalized Mottom's deed with a statue of it at her palace gates. And yet death was not the end for him, as his taste for women was so greate that his corpse turned into a tree that bore immortality-inducing peaches in exchange for being fed the blood of young virgins, ensuring that Mottom would never escape his abusive influence. Indeed, as a character he only serves to provide backstory for how Mottom came to be a Demiurge and what shaped her into the cynical, bitter woman she is in the present. Allison finally puts an end to him by torching his tree-corpse, but only to try free Mottom from the cycle of abuse and co-dependency.
- I'm a Humanitarian: In death, he became the Tree of Woe, a corpse-like-plant (or perhaps a plant-like-corpse) that must constantly feed on the blood of his wives to sustain himself.
- Karmic Death: Both times, Hastet Om's deaths came about at the hands of a woman. The first time, Nadia killed him to end the abuse he was inflicting on his many wives, and was hailed as a heroine for it... except his appetite for women is so great that instead of dying, he turns into the Tree of Woe. The second time, Allison ends Hastet Om permanently by setting the Tree of Woe on fire, freeing Nadia and saving countless more women from being taken from their homes and being sacrificed to him.
- Monster from Beyond the Veil: When Nadia killed him and buried his corpse in the palace gardens, she thought that would be the end of it, and went to sleep for three days. Then on the third day, she discovered to her horror that Hastet Om had turned into a monstrous tree, pleading for more wives...
- Nothing Is Scarier: It's never stated what he did to his wives as he become more "sadistic and monstrous". But Mottom's description of his behaviour is juxtaposed with a statue of a woman seemingly in prayer, but missing several fingers, an eye, and her nose. Also the statue itself appears to be stained with blood leaking out of its eyes, nose and mouth...
- Posthumous Character: By the time he's introduced by Mottom, he's long dead, having been killed by Mottom himself to end his abusive treatment of his wives. However, he continued menacing Mottom as the Tree of Woe that feeds on the blood of young women, and the Decadent Court he once ruled over would be inherited by Mottom, forcing her to rule and whet the depraved appetites of both parties. He finally dies for good when Allison torches the Tree of Woe, ending the cycle of abuse and suffering.
- Predecessor Villain: Without Hastet Om, there would have been no Mottom, for better or worse. And without Hastet's fruit, Mottom could not sustain her eternal youth.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: While Om was far from the only person in the multiverse to engage in sex slavery, the way he treated his wives was so ghastly and despicable even by Throne's metric that nobody missed him after his death and Nadia was hailed as a heroine for murdering him.
- Royal Harem: Even by the standards of Throne his appetite for women was rather extraordinary, causing him to take countless wives, and his desire did not end with his death, as he feeds upon them constantly in his current form as the Tree of Woe.
- Youkai: Downplayed, but as the Tree of Woe, he resembles the Jubokko, a bloodthirsty tree.
Yabalchoath (Spoiler Character for "Seeker of Thrones")
Yabalchoath, Thief-Queen of the Shadeside Rim, Night-Walker, Life-Plucker
"I've heard of only one who stole a Key away in recent memory. An Ebon Devil of unrivaled power."
Yabalchoath was an Ebon Devil, and one of the most powerful of their number outside of the Heretic's Court. At the peak of her power she did what had been thought impossible - she stole a Magus Key from one of the Seven and thus became a Demiurge, the first one to arise since the formation of the Pact of the Seven-Part World. However daring her theft, she was no match for the Seven and was quickly brought down and killed by a coalition of the Red City's peacekeepers and the servants of Mammon, the Black Emperor whose Key she had stolen.
Click here to view details about Yabalchoatch under Cio's entry.
Au Vam
Au Vam, Pankrator of Vesh and the Middle Army and King of Kings
"A true sovereign need not flex a single muscle in his body, and a hundred men die. A true sovereign may murder without a single impulse, or even intent, sight, breath, even thought of his murder."
Au Vam was one of the older demiurges, possibly even one of the first generation who could split space-time without a Key. He ruled over the Yellow City of Vesh until they both were destroyed in the Universal War. Amongst his titles was that of Pankrator of the Middle Army, the same army that trained Meti, was later commanded by Maya, and is currently in the possession of Incubus. Wrote a highly regarded book called "Fifteen Ways of Ruling", passages from which is commonly quoted in The Rant of the comic.
- Big Book of War: "Fifteen Ways of Ruling" appears to have been this, only about ruling rather than war.
- Genre Savvy: Was an adherent of the Evil Overlord List, in particular rule#12, which is noted to "allowed him to win most of his battles".
- God-Emperor: Of the Yellow City, being both its ruler and a Demiurge. One of his known titles was "King of Kings".
- The Good King: Going by his writings he certainly seems to have been a better one than the surviving seven, for certain.
- Modest Royalty: Encouraged this in "Fifteen Ways of Ruling"."Do not surround yourself with splendor. Spend your treasury sparingly. Stock the halls of your holdfast with sturdy and plain men, and do not adorn your walls. Abhor gold. If you sit next to the sun for too long, you're likely to go blind".
- Nice to the Waiter: Encouraged kings to keep scores of exotic and rare flowers as an exception to the above rule, because the state of a king's flowers would be an indicator of how well the servants were taking care of them (and hence how devoted they were to their job, and to their king).
- Posthumous Character: Died alongside his city in the Universal War.
Yemmod
Yemmod Storm-Crowned
Yemmod was a Demiurge during the Universal War and a powerful general and warrior. He besieged the Blue City of Lam, and lay waste to the world of Rayuba. He would later die at the hands of a survivor of Rayuba, the Ki Rata master Solomon David, who took his Magus Key for his own and became a Demiurge.
- The Conqueror: From what is told of him, he was a prolific (and extremely brutal) general in the early stages of the Universal War and destroyed the realms of several other Demiurges.
- Genocide Backfire: He conquered Rayuba, tore it down brick by brick, shattered and enslaved its people and even destroyed its sun for good measure. A survivor of that slaughter eventually tracked him down and killed him.
- Posthumous Character: Died long before the story began at Solomon's hands.
- Predecessor Villain: Much as Mottom's backstory was defined by Hastet Om, Solomon David's backstory is defined by Yemmod and what he did to him.
- Rape, Pillage, and Burn: His modus operandi, having destroyed both Lam and Rayuba in an extremely brutal and final fashion.Yemmod said, “For every man of age to fight, hack off his right hand,” and it was done. “And his sons too,” and it was done. Then the hands were set in a pile, like pale driftwood, and the people could see his cruelty.
- Red Is Violent: Both him and his armies were prominently decked in red, in contrast to the purple used by the Rayubans (and Solomon David).
Jantris
Jantris Storm-Crowned
Jantris was a Demiurge during the Universal War, where he served in a mercenary unit known as the Corpse Legion. Under his leadership, the Dead Men of the Corpse Legion committed innumerable atrocities across the Multiverse, in particularly through turning motherless young boys, made motherless by him, into more Dead Men. He later became a concordant of the highest chamber of demiurges and the master of a fortress called Gamion until one of the many Dead Men he had created, Jagganoth, eventually turned on him and brought him down.
- All for Nothing: He ravaged a hundred worlds and slaughtered millions, but nothing he did would prevent what he dreaded most, his eventual death.
- Ambition Is Evil: A quote from him says that "Nothing but total victory will suffice."
- The Conqueror: He brought ruin to one hundred worlds.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Close to his end, he was decayed and skeletal, presumably due to the methods he used to keep himself alive.
- Immortality Immorality: He attempted to delay his death at all costs, keeping himself alive using blood alchemy on virgin sacrifices. Ironically, being a Demiurge should have given him immortality, but like Mottom, his fear of death only led to an Epiphanic Prison of his own making.
- Karmic Death: He was brought to his end by Jagganoth and Maya in Revenge for the countless mothers he massacred, including Jagganoth's own. Jagganoth pretty much says that he brought it on himself.
- Moral Myopia: Jagganoth describes him as a man who fed on the blood of motherless boys, yet had the gall to complain about his own skull being split.
- Posthumous Character: Jantris died before the story began at Maya's hands.
- Predecessor Villain: A long-dead man responsible for turning Jagganoth into what he is today.
- Sanity Slippage: According to Jagganoth, Jantris was a very intelligent warrior-king, his mind "sharp as a razor". However, his fear of death utterly consumed him to the point where he started resembling a rotting corpse, obsessed solely with extending his own life.
- There Can Only Be One: While Jantris was appointed to his position, he also managed to claim ten thousand keys by killing his fellow demiurges.
Janus
Janus
Janus was a Demiurge from before the Universal War. Part of a family of philosopher kings, he was obsessed with completing his family's goal of witnessing the Shape of the Universe, and indoctrinated his young daughter, Jadis, into fulfilling this role.
- Abusive Parents: A titanic one, forcing Jadis to punish herself and constantly putting her down mentally and verbally. His own gift for prophecy seems to have been strong enough that he knew Jadis would be the one to succeed instead of himself, and he treated her accordingly by attempting to mold her in his image.
- Jerkass: In the brief time he appeared, Janus was shown to be an elitist, abusive asshole who pursued power for its own sake and cared nothing for his family's downtrodden subjects. When questioned by Jadis what is even the point of their family's project, Janus snaps back that there is no point before ordering his daughter to beat herself bloody with a heavy book.
- Karmic Death: Janus was a cruelly ambitious tyrant of a Demiurge who sought power through his young daughter, Jadis, and frequently abused her for daring to show empathy for "livestock". Eventually, Jadis decided to take matters into her own hands and killed her father.
- Lack of Empathy: Despite being a Demiurge who hails from a royal family of philosopher kings, the only thing he cared about was power and nothing else. He was also emotionally and mentally abusive to Jadis growing up; his response to her showing empathy towards their family's subjects was to have her beat herself in the head with a book until she bled.
- Wanted a Son Instead: Janus (or at least a manifestation of him from Jadis' fractured psyche) makes his displeasure with Jadis clear by telling her straight to her face that she "should have been born a son".
The New Demiurge (Spoiler Character for "Wheel-Smashing Lord")
Click here to view details about the new demiurge under 82 White Chain's entry.
