The Keeper (Jade Empire)

"Gaze upon our forms and bask in our glory! You should be honored to see the true strength of the cannibals!"

- The Keeper revealing the true forms of himself and the other cannibals. The Keeper is a villain from the video game Jade Empire. He's a member of a race of cannibals that serves the ancient demon called the Mother. He appears in the second chapter as a crucial character of the subquest in the Great Southern Forest.

He was voiced by Armin Shimerman who also voiced Emperor Sun Hai from the same game.

Background
The Keeper was originally the innkeeper of the Pilgrim's Rest in the Great Southern Forest. The inn had been built atop the hill in which the Mother was sealed millennia ago by the Forest Shadow, the Mother's mortal enemy and light counterpart. After the Mother was stirred from her torpor by the dark emotions of the restless dead, she reached out into the minds of men. With promises of power, she began to turn men into her cannibal minions, starting with the Keeper.

As a more intelligent specimen of the cannibals, the Keeper was taught some of the Mother's magic. He disguised himself and some other cannibals as humans, maintaining the Pilgrim's Rest and lure in travelers. The travelers would either be dragged underground to be eaten or corrupted into cannibal reinforcements. At some point, the bun master Henpecked Hou came to the inn and was caught. Considering him too scrawny for a meal, the Keeper kept him around as a cook in order to make the inn look more normal to the victims.

The Mother's power grew with the increasing rate of ghosts and the blackened sick trees. However, the cannibals couldn't dig the Mother free, for she could be freed only by the Forest Shadow dying or allowing it. The fox spirit was immune to the Keeper's illusions, so the cannibals couldn't reach her. However, neither could she attack them in the Pilgrim's Rest. The cannibals also came to face the problem of resupplying, for there were less and less travelers because of the ghosts. The Keeper tried to find a way to kill the Forest Shadow.

Dealings with the last Spirit Monk
By the time the last Spirit Monk enters the Great Southern Forest, the Keeper has sent one of his disguised cannibal brothers to reach to Tien's Landing in order to lure people to the Pilgrim's Rest. After the cannibal is saved from ghosts by the Spirit Monk, he's killed by the Forest Shadow, though not before he invites them to the inn and warns them to avoid the Forest Shadow's temple. The cannibals have found out that the hunter Spear Catches Leaf is attempting to contact the Forest Shadow through a ritual. They've stolen one of the key crystals essential to the ritual, and the Keeper has it.

When the Spirit Monk first comes to the Pilgrim's Rest, they have to fight off ghosts. The disguised Keeper witnesses this and is impressed. He acts politely to the guest, but he has a peculiar choice of words. He makes it clear that the the inhabitants of the inn want to destroy the Forest Shadow, but he reveals only through a bit of persuasion that he has the temple crystal. He agrees to let the Spirit Monk have it only if they'll use it to find and slaughter the Forest Shadow. He also offers to reward them with silver worth a half year's worth.

There are several ways for the Keeper to reveal the cannibals' true form. If Henpecked Hou is conversed with, he can give the tip of mentioning the Mother to the Keeper, after which the cannibal drops the illusion and tells everything about the Mother and the cannibals. He also does this if the Spirit Monk threatens to take the crystal without accepting the Keeper's offer. Alternatively, the illusion is dropped after the Forest Shadow is encountered in her piece of heaven.

If the Spirit Monk immediately rejects the Keeper's offer or insults him, he and the other cannibals in the inn try to kill the Spirit Monk. After they're all killed, Henpecked Hou becomes a follower of the Spirit Monk. The same happens if the Spirit Monk decides to help the Forest Shadow after talking with her and return to the inn in order to confront the Mother underground. If the Spirit Monk sides with the cannibals and kills the Forest Shadow, the Keeper gives the silver he promised and a technique called Mother's Touch. He also hands over Henpecked Hou whom he considers to have become redundant. He and the other cannibals can then be left alone to plan for the spreading of the freed Mother's corruption, while Lord Yun, the owner and guardian of the land, can be convinced to visit the Pilgrim's Rest where he'll likely be killed. Alternatively, the Keeper as well as the Mother can be killed after the Forest Shadow is killed.

Powers and Abilities
The Keeper is one of the more intelligent cannibals. He has been taught by the Mother to disguise himself and other cannibals as humans with magic. He fights with the Ice Shard magic style as well as barehanded.