Helis

"The better man is the one who doesn't end up with his guts steaming on the ground."

Helis is a secondary antagonist in the videogame Horizon Zero Dawn.

Appearance
Helis is a tall and intimidating Carja warrior, with pale skin, dark hair, and cold, dead eyes, with two deep cuts on his cheek. He typically is seen wearing normal brown pants, and a shirt and cape made of red cloth and black machine plates, with a collar made from ancient bullets. His armor is also made from black interlocking machine plates with red plumage, giving it a avian vibe to it.

History
Not much is know of Helis' past, other than that he was the champion warrior under the 13th Sun King Jiran of the Carja Empire. Helis also took part in the brutal raids committed against neighboring tribes for sacrifices to the sun after Jiran descended into madness and tyranny. During the uprising carried out by Jiran's son Avad, it was Helis who took Avad's brother Itamen and many loyalists to Jiran out of the city and to the western settlement of Sunfall, where they established the Shadow Carja, with Itamen as a puppet, with Helis and former high priest Bahavas as the true rulers. At some point, he was approached by the wanderer Sylens, who introduced him to the "Buried Shadow", Hades, which offered to make a deal with in order to get their holy city of Meridian back. Although wary at first, Helis accepted Hades' offer, and became the leader of the Eclipse cult, gaining control over the resurrected war machines and corrupted machines that they dug up. In truth, Helis and the eclipse were just pawns for Hades in order to achieve his true goal of wiping out all life, but the only one even mildly suspicious of this motive was Sylens much later on when he defected.

"Turn and face the Sun!"
Several years later, Helis would be tasked by Hades to eliminate a strange girl from the Nora tribe. While Helis failed to see what was so special about her, he moved swiftly, and nearly killed Aloy by cutting her throat. However, Aloy's former guardian, Rost intervened and fought Helis. Though he managed to inflict a deep cut on Helis' face, Rost was beaten and stabbed in the gut. Helis left them both to die by setting up explosives. Aloy would survive however.

Captured
Although Helis' armor was seen in the Eclipse camp, Helis himself would not be seen again until Aloy began searching the ruins underneath Sunfall. Checking for intruders, Helis knocked out Aloy with a bomb and captured her. When she awoke, Helis and Aloy argued over the validity of his actions and his following of Hades, with Helis also explaining how he was left perplexed as to why he failed to kill her, before realizing it was destiny for her to die in the sacrificial sun-ring, while the rest of her tribe perishes to the detachment that he sent to wipe them out. Helis then drop Aloy into the ring, proclaiming to the crowd that a new era for the Carja will begin soon, starting with the death of Aloy by the hooves of a corrupted behemoth. However, Aloy defeats the machine, and escapes with the help of Sylens, much to Helis' fury.

The Battle for Meridian
After learning of Hades' true motives, Aloy gathers her allies and prepares' the defences of Meridian, while Helis readies the Eclipse and their machines, dragging Hades with. Early on, Helis manages to infiltrate the walls of the city, forcing Aloy to confront him directly. Aloy eventually defeats and executes him before the real battle even begins.

Personality
Helis is cold, cruel, bloodthirsty, and a religious fanatic who blindly follows both his king and his 'deities' without question or doubt. He only values strength as a judge of character, and firmly believes in destiny. However, his arrogance and belief in his might has typically resulted in his most crucial failures, and ultimately his death.

Trivia

 * "Helis" is very similar to the name "Helios", the greek titan of the sun, which fits the Carja's sun-themed religion.