Tainted Coil

The Tainted Coil is the army of the demons from Brutal Legend and are led by Doviculus.

History
The Tainted Coil first came into being when the First Ones were drowned in the blood of Ormagöden after they destroyed his flames with mud. They rose from the seas of the Fire Beast's blood, possessing the First One's hideous appearances and Ormagöden's anger. They were hated and feared by all and almost ended up getting wiped out, but were saved by the majestic Titans, who took pity on them, adopting them as their pets. So as to resemble their kind masters, they hid their horrible faces with restricting garments despite the pain it caused them. However when the Titans ascended to become metal gods, leaving instructions on how to use all they had created, the Tainted Coil failed to understand them. They felt abandoned and betrayed, asking why the Titans has left them alone and where they had gone. But though the demons searched high and low, all they found was one of the nails of their former masters and took to worshipping it. The Coil eventually used dark rituals to try and reanimate it, but all they succeeded in creating were small replicas, humans, that taunted their failure and whom they immediately hated. The demons enslaved mankind showing them nothing but cruelty for generations until the human, Riggnarok, led his kind in rebellion. He was so successful in fighting the Tainted Coil that the desperate demons unsealed the Sea of Black Tears, knowing the lure it had on humans and the terrible effects it had on them. The dark effects caused the rebellion to fall apart. So as to ensure that they remained in control of the land forever, the Tainted Coil sought to reclaim the knowledge unfairly given to the Future Generations by the Titans. To do so, they underwent a 10 year ritual of orgy and sacrifice, which eventually resulted in a perversion of time that sent the then emperor and most ferocious warrior of the Coil, Succoria, into the modern age. They also gave her a small pendant in the image of Ormagöden, which would return the possessor to the past when a blood offering entered its mouth. However she did not return, allowing Doviculus to become the new Emperor. Their rule again went undisputed for some time, until the arrival of Eddie Riggs, Succoria and Riggnarok's son, in the past, who led the humans in a new rebellion against the Tainted Coil. After a long campaign, Doviculus was slain by Eddie and the Coil was defeated.

Druid
The Druids are humans that worship the demons, but are not truly members of Doviculus’ army. They wear red robes to hide their twisted and horrible appearances and most of them wield large swords, while some wield torches that do more damage and burn enemies. The Druids are also known for putting demon poisons on their weapons, which apparently can mutate those it doesn’t kill into demonic forms. They are only fought in the campaign mode and cannot be summoned in multiplayer battles so they don’t have any Double Team Attack.

Battle Nun
The Battle Nuns are the most common members of the Tainted Coil’s hierarchy class, known for their combination of elegance and deadliness. They fight with their sharp claws and a powerful breath attack and Doviculus double teams with them to summon Soul Kissers and Punishing Parties. The Battle Nuns regenerate their health when around their minions, who they heal as well. They have the personality of the stereotypical cruel nun and a dominatrix. The Battle Nuns are voiced by April Stewart, Courtenay Taylor, Megan Hollingshead, and Julianne Buescher.

Soul Kisser
The Soul Kissers are clad in leather with their arms bound behind them, instead fighting with the sharp scissors on their heads. They are summoned by the Battle Nuns and act as simple, yet effective instruments of pain. When Doviculus double teams with a Soul Kisser, he throws her at the enemy, causing her to explode on contact, sacrificing her life, but inflicting a great amount of damage as a result.

Punishing Party
The Punishing Parties consist of the Dominatrices and their Slave (often referred to as the Pin Boy for obvious reasons). The Dominatrices love their Slave and hate their enemies just as much, but treat the both of them the same. They are summoned by the Battle Nuns and attack by throwing sharp spears. When Doviculus double teams with the Punishing Party, he leaps onto the back of the Slave and rapidly throw the spears from his back. If all the Dominatrices are killed, then the Slave dies in an explosion of gore. If the Slave is killed before the Dominatrices, his blood covers them and reduces their resistance to damage. The Dominatrices are voiced by Cree Summers, Courtenay Taylor, Kari Wahlgren, and Tara Platt.

Warfather
The Warfathers are the elite of the hierarchy class and are the dark priests of the Tainted Coil. They attack by reading their Unholy Tomes and unleashing dark spells and Doviculus double teams with them to summon Skull Rakers, Screamwagons, and Pain Lifters. The Warfathers can also produce Superior versions of Battle Nuns, who can produce Superior Soulkissers and Punishing Parties. Like the Battle Nuns, the Warfathers heal when around their minions, who they heal as well. They are voiced by Rick Wasserman, Lex Lang, and Robin Atkins Downs.

Skull Raker
While they possess simple and twisted minds, the Skull Rakers have huge, brutish, and twisted bodies to match. Their choice of weapons are their detachable mace-like heads which are attached to their bodies via chains. In battle, the Skull Rakers crush their enemies while constantly shouting praises to Doviculus. They are summoned by the Warfathers and when Doviculus double teams with one, he leaps onto their necks and uses his Staff Axe to strike the Skull Raker’s head at enemies. They are voiced by Steve Agee.

Screamwagon
An efficient mobile torture machine, the Screamwagons support the rest of the Tainted Coil. They take the suffering of the unfortunate victim strapped into them and channel them into buffs for the Coil around them. The Screamwagons are summoned by the Warfathers and supply three different buffs, depending on how their victims are being tortured. When he is doused in boiling oil, allied units receive an armor buff, reducing damage. Stretching the victim on the rack increases the Coil’s attack strength and lets them deliver more pain. Finally, blasting him with fire increases the speed at which units are produced by hierarchy units. When Doviculus double teams with a Screamwagon, it sprouts spikes on the front and he can drive it around, as well as cycle through the buffs it is supplying. David Cross voices the Screamwagon’s victim, who you can hear screaming and complaining when near the Screamwagon.

Pain Lifter
The anti-infantry vehicles of the Tainted Coil, the Pain Lifters gather together a core of ghastly, disease-ridden, medical waste. A helpless creature develops around it, known as the Agony Ball, which is thrown at the Coil’s enemies, exploding, and unleashing years of built-up suffering upon those it hits. Pain Lifers are summoned by the Warfathers and when Doviculus double teams with one, he can aim where the Agony Ball falls and fires it. He can then roll it for a limited distance and cause it to detonate.

Tick Chopper


Tick Choppers are small motorcycle riding demons, who can only be summoned via Doviculus’ Summon Hellions guitar solo. While not able to take a lot of damage and only remaining on the field for a limited time, their fast movement and usage of blood-draining metal ticks make the Tick Choppers a good tactical unit. Their design is a tribute to the work of “Big Daddy” Roth, particularly his character, Rat Fink, an anthromorphic mouse that lets his tongue flap out in the wind while driving humorously ridiculous and overpowered cars that wouldn’t work very well in reality.

Overblesser
The Overblesser is the leader of the Coil’s hierarchy class, striding righteously into battle aboard his horrifying four-legged altar. He attacks the Coil’s enemies with dark spells and resembles a bishop, sporting a mitre. Doviculus double teams with him to produce Heart Cutters, Hate Cages, and Superior Warfathers. Superior Warfathers can produce Superior Skull Rakers, Screamwagons, and Pain Lifters and Divine Battle Nuns, who can in turn produce Divine Soul Kissers and Punishing Parties. Like the Battle Nuns and Warfathers, the Overblesser heals when around his minions, who he heals as well.

Heart Cutter


Moving sacrificial altars, the Heart Cutters have hearts sacrificed upon them regularly, which are selected for their muscle mass, blood flow, and ripeness. At first human sacrifices were used, but despite their viciousness, the Druids proved too squeamish. The Heart Cutters summon spikes from the ground to impale their enemies. They are summoned by the Overblesser and when Doviculus double teams with one, the Druid riding it can stab him in the heart, causing a larger cluster of spikes to erupt from the ground. The Druids riding the Heart Cutters are the only ones that can be seen in multiplayer mode.

Hate Cage
The Hate Cages are actually made up of two different creatures, the giant and apparently mindless legs and the caged demon they carry, who has become nothing but a lump of pure hate. The Hate Cages attack by having the caged demon spew blasts of liquid hate at the Coil’s foes. Also if any enemies stand beneath the cage, they will be soaked by hate, which makes them more susceptible to damage. They are summoned by the Overblesser and when Doviculus double teams with a Hate Cage, he leaps on top and rides it and it can use powerful stomp attacks.

Bleeding Death


The most vicious, twisted, and destructive creature of the Tainted Coil, the Bleeding Death is violently shoved into an iron maiden that is fired out of a powerful cannon. When Doviculus plays the Launch of Death solo to summon it, the maiden is fired and crashes onto the battlefield, causing a great amount of damage upon landing. But that’s only the beginning of the carnage the Bleeding Death brings and when it leaps out, it unleashes massive destruction on the Coil’s enemies. However it only has a limited lifespan due to the spikes in the iron maiden it was launched in mortally piercing its body. Along with this flaw, the crazed Bleeding Death doesn’t listen to any of Doviculus’ commands and thus, he can’t double team with one.

Trivia

 * The Tainted Coil is themed around Industrial Metal, Death Metal, BDSM, and organized religion (namely Satanism), heavy metal's greatest enemy. Fitting since they are the main enemies of the Ironheade Army, who are meant to embody heavy metal.


 * In the multiplayer mode, the Tainted Coil are unique in that they have only a few units that come from the Megastage, the Hierarchy units, who can summon the other units wherever they are.
 * The Tainted Coil's Megastage is actually a demon designed to function as a stage which is seen in the fact that it has teeth and gums and bleeds when attacked. In keeping with the Coil's theme, industrial metal plays from the stage during battle such as KMFDM and Ministry.