Franchise / Filhos do Éden

The angelic tetralogy

The "Filhos do Éden" tetralogy, written by Brazilian author Eduardo Spohr, is a fantasy series that weaves together elements from Abrahamic mythology, high fantasy literature, and other cultural influences. The term "Filhos do Éden" translates to "Children of Eden" in English. The tetralogy consists of four novels, each contributing to an overarching narrative that spans various realms, celestial beings, and epic battles.

• "A Batalha do Apocalipse" (The Battle of the Apocalypse) - 2010:

The first book introduces the character of Ablon, a fallen angel who becomes a central figure in the story. Set against the backdrop of celestial warfare, the narrative explores Ablon's journey through different epochs, leading up to a climactic battle during the apocalypse.

• "Filhos do Éden: Herdeiros de Atlântida" (Heirs of Atlantis) - 2011:

The second installment expands the universe by delving into the legacy of Atlantis. It introduces new characters like Kaira, an ishim commander of the rebels forces and Denyel, an exiled cherub, who must go into a secret mission involving the old nation of Atlantis that could change the path of the angelic war.

• "Filhos Do Eden Anjos Da Morte" (Angels of Death) - 2013:

The third book in the series focuses on Denyel and his past as a Angel of Death, exiled cherubs whose mission is to infiltrate human armies and record the progress of their wars.

• "Filhos Do Eden Paraiso Perdido" (Lost Paradise) - 2015:

The final book in the tetralogy brings the series to a conclusion, addressing the aftermath of the battles and the fate of the characters. It ties up loose ends and provides a resolution to the overarching narrative.

To complement the tetralogy, Eduardo Spohr, along with illustrator Andres Ramos, released an encyclopedia titled "Filhos do Éden: Universo Expandido" (Expanded Universe) in 2016. This comprehensive guide offers additional insights into the lore, including details about the chronology, various planes of existence, angelic and demonic hierarchies, and more. It serves as a companion piece for readers who wish to delve deeper into the rich and complex universe created by Spohr.

The universe of Filhos do Éden includes examples of:

• Adam and/or Eve: Adam was the first human (or one of the first) to become aware of himself and the world around him after God gave the soul to humans. He and his wife, Lilith (who was the second to gain consciousness) were taken to the Garden of Eden by Metatron, who intended to preserve the couple from the rest of the world. After Lilith was cast out by the First Angel, Metatron selected another woman for Adam, a young woman named Eve.
• Advanced Ancient Humans: During the Antediluvian Era, humanity lived in many different nations than modern ones. Although these nations never reached the technological level of the 21st century, they had something more powerful and efficient: magic. The Atlanteans, who would be the extreme of this trope, relied on the innate magic of their souls in their architecture and locomotion, for example.
• Alien Geometries: Xandria, the City in the Center of Cosmos, is a strange place home to stranger creatures known as the Watchers. Its architecture, like the other Cosmic Cities, is strangely peculiar: there are long towers that rise from the ground and from the skies, as if the entire city was contained in a sphere. It was a silent environment, but from minute to minute, a high-pitched noise runs through the entire metropolis.
• All Myths Are True: Implied. Pagan gods are, in truth, the disembodied spirits of great heroes and figures who were recognized as gods after their deaths and grew more powerful with the energy of the prayers they received.
• Ambiguously Human: Invoked In-Universe. The Enochians theorized that the Atlanteans were actually descended from water nymphs, which would explain their blue skin and innate, more powerful magic. As this was not really proven, many believed that this theory only served to antagonize the Atlanteans, saying that they were not really human.
• Ancient Evil: Tehom, Enuma, Lucifer, Apollyon… the first three were “born” before the universe and the last exists since the Big Bang.
• Apocalypse How: There are some examples, like:
  • In 180.000 b.C., Michael, in his first attempt to exterminate humanity, had his ice Ishins freeze the entire planet to cause an Ice Age. However, due to the interference of Sentinels such as Kaira, the humans managed to survive.
  • In 100.000 b.C., now that the Sentinels were out of the way, Michael sent powerful earthquakes that tore continents apart. Humanity survived, but great nations like Atlantis suffered a Class 0, allowing rival nations like Enoch to rise to power.
  • In 35.000 b.C., after Ablon captured Metatron, the archangels ordered the Ishins to ignite the volcanoes, cause earthquakes again, and send meteor showers to Earth. The Atlanteans, sympathizers of the angels, were not affected by this cataclysm, but the Enochians, their rivals, were susceptible to attack, but managed to defend themselves thanks to their warriors and their mages. While humanity survived again, Neanderthals, a subspecies of humans, and saber-toothed tigers became extinct.
  • In 11.500 b.C., Michael had enough and decided to launch his Final Solution: by ordering the Fire Ishins to melt the ice caps, he would send a Great Flood to cleanse all humans, along with other living beings and any unfortunate, unconscious angels on Earth. While the Flood eventually took place, humanity once again survived through Noah and other scattered survivors, but all ancient nations such as Atlantis and Enoch were destroyed and humanity was forced to rebuild its civilization after the waters receded.
  • In the 21st century, years of international crises ended up in World War III, which, thanks to Nuclear Option, destroyed major cities, like Beijing, Moscow and New York and caused thousand if not millions of causalities. In the end of the war, Apollyon launched his most powerful ability, the Total Destruction, and not only cleaned Earth of life, finally fullfiling Michael’s plans, but also ended up killing every angel and demon in existence (including himself) save from Ablon, Aziel, Amael and Nathaniel. Thanks to the Wheel of Time, a Cosmic Retcon was set in motion and this apocalypse were erased.
• The Armies of Heaven: The Cherubs are the military caste of the Seven Heavens. They are specialized warriors, assassins, spies and hunters, who participated in most of the angels conflits, like the Ethereal Wars, Lucifer's rebelion and the Civil War. Ablon is a Cherub and so was Apollyon before he was cast down.
• Atlantis: Known as the Jewel of the Sea, Atlantis was the greatest city in human history. Home to the Atlanteans, it was recognized as a utopia by other antediluvian nations, combining advanced technology with magic. Like many other nations, it was destroyed by the Flood sent by the Archangels.
• Cain: According to the backstory, Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden, finally able to have children. After Adam unified the tribes of the Near East (region of Nod, present-day Middle East), Cain founded Enoch, the Beautiful Giant, a great and mighty city that was recognized as "the fatherland of men." Inheriting part of his parents' powers, Cain was partially immortal, able to live for thousands of years. He was also the first wielder of the Spear of Nod, a powerful weapon capable of slaying angels and other immortal beings.
• Cain and Abel and Seth: Downplayed. The backstory cites both Cain, already explained above, and Seth, Cain's younger brother whose descendants also ruled Enoch. In this work there is no mention of Abel or his conflict with Cain, so it is unknown if he existed or if he had no relevance in history.
• Cessation of Existence: Limbo is a non-existential void that permeates between the dimensions of the Universe. Everything, or everyone, who falls into Limbo is instantly erased from reality. There are two (known) ways to access Limbo: through the Abyss of Nymbie, a bottomless pit in Hell where the souls of suicides meet their final demise, and the Cosmic River Cocytus.
  • The ether is a universal solvent capable of disintegrating matter at an atomic level. Since Kaira said that it propagates in the "gaps between dimensions", it’s implied that the Limbo is filled with ether.
  • Since angels and demons don’t have a soul like humans, this is what happens to them when there heart, the center of their life-force, is destroyed and their spiritual energy returns to the natural cosmic flow.
• Civil War: Since 33 AC, the Loyalists, angels loyal to Michael who want to extinguish humanity, and the New Rebels, those loyal to Gabriel who want to protect humans, have been fighting an endless war to determine the fate of the Earth and the Universe.
• Culture Chop Suey: Many ancient nations in the Antediluvian Era were this, since they were the precursors of the modern societies. The examples are:
  • Arya is for India and Southern Asian nations.
  • Corinthia is for of Italy, Greece and other Balkan states.
  • Einghard is for Scandinavian nations like Norway, Finland and Sweden.
  • Gondwana were a collection of tribes whose descendants formed the central and southern African nations.
  • Hyperborea is for Slavic nations.
  • K’un Lung is for East Asian nations (minus Japan, since it was Rondinia)
  • Kuna is for Central American nations.
  • Nod is for Middle East nations.
  • Sakha is for Egypt and other northern African nations as Morocco, Libya and Algeria.
  • Thuatha and Ys is for Celtic people, like Germans.
  • Yamí is for South American indigenous people.
• Deity of Human Origin: Most of the pagan gods were humans who were great heroes or important people in their nations. After they died, their people began to worship them, causing their spirits to remain on the ethereal plane and essentially becoming gods. Some of them are weaker than angels and demons, but the best known of them (Zeus, Ra, Odin) were so powerful that remained victorious during the wars against the archangels.
• Demon of Human Origin: Demons are created when humans soul who commited to much sins goes to Hell and are submited to years (maybe more, maybe less) of torture in the hand of Baals, an infernal order of fallen angels. When they arrive in the Sheol, they start as some sort of larvae, until they evolve to slave-spirits, working for they masters. If a slave-spirit enlist among the raptors, opportunistic spirits who denounce and hunt angels in Haled, and succeed, they become a demon and join a hellish order.
• The Descendants of Cain: Literally. After Cain founded the city of Enoch, named after his son, all the kings of the city (by extension, of all the land of Nod) are true descendants of Cain until Cainan the Righteous took the throne, as he was actually the grandson of Seth, brother of Cain. There is a short list of the Kings of Enoch that trace back to Cain available in the Expanded Universe book:
  • Enoch, the Lord of Nod: He unified the country, expanded the city and made it an expansionist power.
  • Irad, He Who Should Be Feared: He was the cruelest of the Enochian kings. In his time, the Mediterranean Wars skewed in favor of men and against the Atlanteans.
  • Mehujael, the Voice of Punishment: He was a fanatical king, for during his rule, he persecuted everyone who did not worship Isidrath (the state religion) and crucified people.
  • Methusael, Blood of Cain: The last of Cain’s lineage, he found Enoch on the brink of civil war when he took the throne, spurred on by his father's bloody persecutions. He was murdered at age 432 by his cousins.
• Dream Land: The Dream World is a layer of the Spiritual World that all humans visited when they are dreaming. In it, they can control some aspects of the dimensions, for example, a writer’s dreams may be filled with the characters it created. Angels and fairies can also visit this layer.
• Divine Conflict:
  • The Civil War between Michael and Gabriel, two of the most powerful beings in the universe.
  • The Ethereal Wars, a series of military campaigns between the Seven Heavens and the pagan gods of the Ethereal Plane.
• Eldritch Abomination: Tehom, the Darkness, was a primordial entity that existed before the creation of the universe, alongside with God. She was described as more like a force or concept than an actual being. Her children and grandchildren, the Great Ancients, were monstrous and gargantuans beings who live in the darker corners through the cosmos.
• Eldritch Location: Many dimensions through the Universe qualifies like: the Sheol, which is literally Hell, the Pandemonium, an ominous tunnel filled with madness-inducing screams and the Three Cosmic City, places with Alien Geometries inhabited by Eldritch Abomination.
• Fantastic Caste System: Atlantean society was divided into two clans: the devas, warriors who defended the empire, and the asuras, traders and explorers who founded all the Atlantic colonies around the world. In addition to social and cultural, the differences between the clans were also physiological: the asuras had dark blue skin and brown or black hair, while devas had light blue skin and white hair.
• Forever War: The Mediterranean Wars were a set of conflicts between Atlantis and Enoch to see which one would be the greatest nation of the world. It lasted for 26,500 years and was ended by the Great Flood destroying both nations. Had the disaster not happened, the war would likely have lasted much longer.
• Garden of Eden: To preserve the first humans that gained consciousness (Adam and Lilith), Metatron, the First Angel and the one responsible for Earth and humanity, created a beautiful oasis in the middle of the desert and surrounded it with seven golden gates. Its waters granted immortality, but the lands made its inhabitants infertile since Metatron believed that humans were inherently good, but living in large groups caused discord. After Lilith was cast out by the First Angel, Metatron abducted another woman, named Eve, erased their memories and told them that they were married.
• Genius Loci: According with Metatron, the Earth emerged on the Third Day as a form of "miracle", unlike the other celestial bodies created by the Ishins. The planet was alive in a different way, pulsing with its own life force, which made it the favorable place (perhaps even the only one in the Universe) for life forms to be born and evolve.
• God Is Dead: After the creation of humanity, Yahweh gave them a soul and free will. Then he goes to Mount Tsafon, the Seventh Heaven, and went to sleep, at dawn on the Seventh Day of Creation. Some angels believed that God was dead and Uziel, an archangel, confronted his brother Michael about this. This was subverted because Yahweh was not dead, but He "desired omnipotence" and became one with the entire universe, according to Archangel Gabriel.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Although different castes use different colors, Seraphim and Ofanim use both gold and white to represent their divine and benevolent side.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: All the gods and deities of other religions are actually human spirits who began to receive prayers from their followers on Earth and decided to stay in the Ethereal Plane, where they became increasingly stronger with their cults in the mortal world. However, as the Abrahamic religions began to spread among humanity and prohibit the worship of other religions, most of the old gods lost their strength as they lost followers.
• The Great Flood: To put an end to humanity, the archangels proposed to completely flood the planet. For this, they sent the Ishins of fire and lava to the polar ice caps and caused them to melt, covering the entire planet with water. The flood marked the end of the Enochian (or antediluvian, as it was later known) era and forced a restart on humanity, regressing the species to primitive levels.
• Grim Up North: Hyperboria, the ancestor of Russia and other Slavic nations, were located in the northern extreme of Eurasia and was a land covered with everlasting blizzards and many layers of snow.
• Guilt-Free Extermination War: Michael declares a great genocide against humanity because, after years of manipulation from Lucifer, he considers it evil and corrupted and not worthy of God's love.
• Heaven: Called "The Seven Heavens", its a dimension divided in, well, seven layers:
  • Tartarus, First Heaven: Home of the Ishins, elemental angels, and the closest to Earth.
  • Gehenna, Second Heaven: The Purgatory, where the judgment of human souls takes place. Home of the Hashmalins.
  • Celestial Eden, Third Heaven: Paradise, home of good souls and saints.
  • Acheron, Fourth Heaven: Home of the Cherubs, an open battlefield, full of strongholds and bastions.
  • Celestia, Fifht Heaven: The capital of angels, home of celestial cities and the Seraphs.
  • Raqui'a, Sixth Heaven: Home of the Malakins and their holy libraries.
  • Mount Tsafon, Seventh Heaven: Where God rests.
• Hell: A dimension called Sheol, it was where God buried Tehom and his monster gods. After the banishment of Lucifer and his followers, the dimension served as a home for demons and evil spirits. Unlike the Seven Heavens, Sheol is a homogeneous dimension and its nine circles are merely geopolitical divisions.
  • Jahannam, the First Circle, ruled by Asmodeus, The Forgotten Prince
  • Avernus, the Second Circle, ruled by Orion, The Fallen King of Atlantis
  • Gerython, the Third Circle, rule by Molloch, The Executioner
  • Dis, the Fourth Circle, ruled by Beelzebub, The Lord of Flies
  • Duzak, Fifth Circle, ruled by Bael, The Unfortunate
  • Caina, Sixth Circle, ruled by Mammon, The Miserly
  • Malebolge, Seventh Circle, ruled by Alastor, The Hateful
  • Mephasta, Eighth Circle, ruled by Mephistopheles, He Who doesn't Love the Light
  • Zaqqum, Ninth Circle, ruled by Apollyon, the Destroyer
• Hell Invades Heaven: Not Heaven actually, but during the Battle of Armageddon, Lucifer's demons join forces with the Loyalists, under Michael's control, to wipe out the New Rebels protecting humanity. This invasion took place on the Ethereal Plane, one of the layers of the Spirit World.
• Human Subspecies: In the Antediluvian Era, at least three species of the genus homo coexisted: the Enochians, which was actually Homo sapiens, the Atlanteans and the Neanderthals. After the flood, only the Enochians survived and spread their descendants across the world.
• Humans Are Survivors: And how! Humanity survives four apocalypses sent by the archangels and thrive all the times, rebuilding civilization after civilization. The only time they actually gets extinct is after a global, massive war that leads to de destruction of the greatest defense humanity had against the supernatural, the Fabric of Reality, which leaves them susceptible to Apollyon’s most powerful ability, the Total Destruction.
• Land of Faerie: Arcadia, the home dimension of Fairies, elfs and dragons.
• Magical Society: Thanks to the Fabric of Reality being more loose and fragile around that time, many nations in the Antediluvian Era used magic in their daily lives. The more extreme examples of this trope were Atlantis, Enoch, Arya and Lemuria.
• Mysterious Antarctica: Before the Flood, Antarctica was known as Pangea, a frozen and lifeless continent filled with many untold mysteries. The Atlanteans build two colonies on it and a clan of wizards built two temples to worship the Great Ancients.
• Nephilim: Nephilims are, naturally, offspring of angels with humans. They were considered bastards and hunted down by witches because their blood and guts were used in unholy rituals. Usually, they inherit angelic powers from their parents.
• Original Man: The Eridais, known by the angels as the First Race, are the first generation of humanity, evolved from hominids approximately 400.000 years in the past. They were slightly more intelligent than the animals around then, but they lack conscience, so they were guided by their instincts. When Yahweh give them the soul, they became self-aware and even more intelligent, starting civilization as we know it.
• Our Angels Are Different: They are divided in castes and have no free will, being forced to follow the instincts of their respective caste. They also cannot be killed unless their mystical heart is destroyed. And some of them are quite genocidal with Michael being the responsible for the Great Flood and the destruction of Atlantis. They're also prone to using guns and do Saint Seiyaesque duels in bridges.
• Prison Dimension: The fairies uses the Mirror Dimension, a dimension behind every reflective surface, as a prison to their enemies. If the reflective surface breaks, anyone in the dimension is killed.
• Runic Magic: Enoch's mages used runes to cast different spells.
• Spirit World: The spirit world is one of the two main divisions of the Universe, the other being the Physical World, also known as Haled. It’s divided in five known layers:
  • The Astral Plane is the first and shallowest layer. Angels and demons uses to cross to the Physical World and humans can access it by, guess what, astral projection.
  • The Etheral Plane is the deepest layer and home to pagan gods and other embodiments of the human mind.
  • The Shadow World is a dark and morbid layer inhabited by ghosts engulfed by anger and by manifestations of negative human emotions like hate and wrath.
  • The Dream World is a Dream Land that humans visit when they are dreaming.
  • The Mirror Dimension is a collective of Pocket Dimension behind any reflective surface.
• Time Abyss: Yahweh and the archangels existed since before the universe itself. Metatron and the all of the angels, like Ablon, Orion and Apollyon, were created in the center of the Big Bang, making them approximately 14 billions years old.
• Weak Spot: Destroying an Angel's heart is the only way to kill them for good.