In the Name of the Light
is an AU of The Owl House published on Archive of Our Own by Magnus The Barefoot. In this AU, Luz is a demigod sent to Earth by her mother to defeat an unstoppable Emperor Belos who is threatening to conquer all worlds. Due to an accident, our hero lands in the woods of Connecticut with no memory, encountering the Owl Lady and her family not long afterward.
In the Name of the Light contains examples of:
- Achilles' Heel: When the gods are pondering how to defeat Belos, they realize his weakness: he never asked to be invulnerable to the attacks of humans. Cue lightbulb moment.
- Amnesiac Hero: When Luz first appears, the only thing she can remember is her name.
- Subverted with Vee, who seems to be completely cognizant when we first meet her. This only causes her to worry more.
- Exact Words: Belos wished to be immune to harm from both gods and demons, but he never said anything about humans. Luz is created as human, but with some divine blessings, in order to make a person who can take advantage of this oversight.
- Mythical Motifs: Multiple characters closely parallel various world mythologies, and the author even acknowledges that the story is inspired by myths.
- Luz shares a lot in common with the Hindu demigod Rama. Both are demigods sent to Earth after an evil force raids the home of the gods. Both are initially unaware of their purpose and the reason they were created. Heck, both were even originally one soul before being split into multiple incarnations.
- Belos is a clear reference to the Rakshasa Ravana, the main antagonist of the Ramayana. Both gained complete immunity from gods and demons through an act of devotion. Both used that gift to destroy the home of the gods.
- It's mentioned that the Titan's body was used to create the Earth. This is remarkably similar to the fate of the Jotunn Ymir from Norse mythology.
- The Progenitor, the primordial god who dreamed the universe into creation, is mentioned as existing four steps beyond the end of the universe. This is a direct reference to the Hindu deity Brahma, who dreamed the universe into existence and is said in the first chapter of the Ramayana to sit three steps beyond the edge of the universe.
- Camila and Cazado are notably similar to the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva, respectively. Camila is a wise, nurturing goddess of creation and preservation who creates the demigod who will defeat Belos; Cazado is an impulsive, fiery god of destruction wielding a bow, a weapon oft associated with Shiva.
- Cazado also gave Belos his invulnerability after Belos sung him devotional songs. This is similar to an interaction between Shiva and Ravana.
- Ayd - the city of the gods - is likely a reference to Ayodhya from the Ramayana.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Philip Wittebane was given immunity to the attacks of both gods and demons. He naturally does what a power-hungry maniac would do with that ability.
- Semi-Divine: Luz is made to be human with just enough of a divine spark to be powerful enough to harm Belos, whose wish has Exact Words protecting him from gods and demons, but not humans.
