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This Article Contains Spoilers -
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| “ | Don't worry, old friend. I'm not going to kill your boy... You are. | „ |
| ~ Ballas forcing Umbra to kill his own son. |
| “ | It is with the greatest risk that I commit this recording. The codices within reveal the hidden weakness of your most feared enemy. My Creations. My Frames of War. | „ |
| ~ Ballas betraying the Orokin. |
| “ | All... as one. I stand before you... last of my kind. An orphan of Tenno massacres. But their violence didn't end with me, did it? It carried on... to all of you. Grineer languished in their torture-plexes. Ostron clades starved for Tenno tithe. Corpus pupils weeping Tenno praise under blade. Solaris souls blackened the skies of Tenno foundries. But now is our time. An era of peace and security. The devils have been cast out. And by the Void... the Tenno shall never return! | „ |
| ~ Ballas demonizing the Tenno as he ushers in his new Narmer Empire. |
Ballas, formerly known as Executor Ballas, is one of the main antagonists of the MMO third-person shooter Warframe.
Ballas was a member of the Council of Seven, the judicial body of the Orokin Empire, the creator of the Warframes and directly responsible for having the project that would eventually create the Sentients approved; he's also the archenemy of the Lotus as well as the Tenno as a whole.
When the supposed love of his life, Margulis, was executed for treason, Ballas grew to despise the Orokin and secretly defected to the Sentients, supplying Hunhow with vital tactical information under the belief that he was able to mold his daughter Natah into a replacement for her.
When that proved fruitless, he manipulated Hunhow's son, Erra, into assisting him in conquering the Origin System as the ruler of Narmer while sealing the Tenno within the Void. However, when the player Tenno was able to escape the Void and Natah was freed from his control, he aimed to sacrifice all of Narmer to transport himself to the supposed paradise that is Tau.
He is voiced by Max Howarth.
Appearance[]
As an Orokin, Ballas has grayish-blue skin and white, almost lifeless eyes. His most notable feature is his right arm, which is unnaturally long and thin compared to the more natural proportions of the rest of his body.
The expensive and extravagant lifestyle of an Orokin also extends to his clothing. He wears a tight, silken cloth resembling a shortened Greek toga adorned with gold. Draped across his right shoulder is a golden pauldron of sorts with a long shoulder cape extending down to his feet, which he usually drapes over his elongated arm.
After being saved from death and made into a Sentient Hybrid, Ballas's appearance changed drastically. He now has no clothing besides a golden necklace and is horribly mutated from the chest down, his body practically splitting apart with his lower body having been transformed into Sentient legs. His lower left leg is still dangling out lifelessly from his Sentient knee. The lack of clothing also reveals what appears to be golden piercings lining his right shoulder and pieces of bone from his ribcage are visible through a hole in his chest.
After becoming the new ruler of the Origin System, Ballas wears a large crown on his head with two long pieces of cloth hanging off either side, a golden bracelet on his left arm and a small loincloth around his hips. He has since added a golden leg prosthetic to his right knee to accompany the normal leg sticking out of the other. He wields a thin, golden scepter in his left hand that he also uses as a weapon.
Personality[]
| “ | My vision was only ever comprehensible to myself. My ambition beyond the grasp of... 'people'. Thus I have always been alone. Your death changes nothing. | „ |
| ~ Ballas to Natah and the player Tenno. |
Ballas is a prime example of the cruelty associated with the Orokin. By his own admission, Ballas is incapable of connecting with other people and believes that he has always been alone, the only one who could understand his own vision. He only views other people as a means to an end, having not one ounce of consideration for their feelings or their lives, being egocentric and petty to the point that anything that refuses to bow to his will is utterly worthless and deserves whatever he does with them. Any blame that might fall onto him is immediately rejected in favor of blaming someone else for his own shortcomings, subjecting said scapegoat and everyone they know and love to sustained cruelty.
Ballas is incredibly manipulative and cunning, knowing exactly what to say to make people do the things he wants them to without them even knowing they are aiding his interests. This is best illustrated by his manipulation of the other members in the Council of Seven into approving the creation of the Sentients, where he was able to feign disagreement with the initiative while simultaneously having Archimedian Perintol demonstrate the countermeasures in front of the Council. Another example would be having the player Tenno build the Paracesis sword for him, which he promptly uses to stab them in the back with. Yet for all his intelligence, there is one person Ballas couldn't control: his lover Margulis.
Margulis was the only person besides Ballas himself that he did not consider an insect, yet also yearned for her attention and affection more than anything. When Margulis focused all her efforts into healing the Tenno children that were recovered from the Zariman Ten-Zero incident, Ballas was enraged. Incapable of accepting that she could give her love to more than one person at a time, Ballas began to hate the Tenno more than anyone else for daring to steal Margulis from him. This led to him subjecting her to a veiled ultimatum by putting her on trial for treason: recant her bond with the "devils" and dedicate herself solely to him, or perish by the Jade Light. Unfathomably to him, she chose the latter once she realized how twisted and selfish Ballas truly was, causing him to essentially throw a tantrum of unspeakable magnitude and ultimately cause the downfall of the Orokin Empire for "making him" kill her.
Biography[]
Orokin Era[]
Punishment of Ordan Karris[]
Among the mercenaries that served the Orokin and belonged to the masses they considered beneath them, there was a fierce warrior unlike any other. Even among the other warriors, Ordan Karris was feared under the name "Beast of the Bones", a name carried by the genocides he had committed in their name. So dedicated he was to his work that the Orokin themselves thought to reward him with a prize most high, to become one them, radiant and undying. They bathed him in their finest silk and brought him into their golden halls, a grand ceremony and a vial of Kuva prepared in his honor, the crimson liquid that granted them their immortality.
But Ordan had no intentions of becoming an Orokin. He had come to realize just how corrupt his masters were and just as he was to be given the sacred Kuva, Ordan attacked. He cast off his robes and pulled the bone plugs from his skull, ceremonial weapons of last resort whose usage would kill him shortly after. But as he sat there, bathed in the blood of the Orokin and waiting for death to set in he realized none of their corpses had shock in their face. Suddenly, laughter. An applause roared through the blood-stained halls and Executor Ballas stood above him.
Ballas congratulated him for his performance, that he thought he could kill the immortal, then forced Ordan to drink the Kuva he had rejected. Ordan Karris had yearned for death, so his punishment shall be eternity. Ballas personally oversaw his transformation into a Cephalon, a formless slave reduced to the memories and traits Ballas wanted him to have. Ordan Karris was no more, he was now Cephalon Ordis, servant of the player Tenno.
Birth of the Sentients[]
The Council of Seven had gathered to sentence several different dissidents and undesirables to the empire to be executed by the Jade Light, a metal plate that instantly turns anyone into dust with a green flame. Archimedian Perintol was led into the room for sentencing, Ballas accusing him of breaking the basic principles on which their empire was founded. He bluntly stated that the judgment was clear and that Perintol's punishment would be death, but before the Jade Light could activate Perintol yelled into the room that his death would be the end of the Orokin.
Laughter broke out amongst the Seven and Ballas asked Perintol if he dared to challenge them, an amused smile on his face. He warned that Perintol's family would be at risk if his appeal was denied, but Perintol claimed that his family was already suffering as the empire collapses and that nothing would improve by ignoring his solution to the problem. Ballas rebuked that Perintol's solution was an abomination that would die with him, motioning for the guards to bring in his creation, a small biomechanical starfish. Executor Tuvul believed it didn't look very dangerous, but Ballas ordered a demonstration of the creature's abilities. One of the guards shot the creature, which broke off two of its limbs. After a moment of silence, the creature healed its wounds with a newfound resistance to the bullet used to injure it, as well as a new creature that had grown from the severed limbs.
The Seven began their vote, but aware of his impending death Perintol yelled at them that their ancestors weren't afraid of fire when they used it to keep themselves warm. Ballas stated their laws are clear and that his appeal is denied, but Tuvul interjected, reminding him that none of the other solutions had worked to fulfill their plan. The Orokin had long been trying to find means of colonizing other solar systems, but did not have the necessary equipment to safely terraform alien worlds from such distance. Tuvul asked Perintol how his creation could fulfill this purpose, to which Perintol explained that the creature's adaptive and regenerative abilities ensured it was equipped to deal with the conditions of any world they chose to prepare for colonization, while their weakness to the Void used to travel there kept them from coming back and turning into a problem for the Orokin.
Ballas furiously demanded that Perintol be executed for his blasphemy and that his solution was too much of a risk, but the other members of the council proclaimed that the empire was already at risk. Lacking consensus for a clear judgement, a frustrated Ballas was forced to grant Perintol his appeal, a guard taking him out of the room. But before he could leave, he was approached by Ballas himself in the hallway. He congratulated him for his victory with a smile on his face, seemingly pleased with the results in clear contrast to his disgust before. The way had been cleared for the Sentients to be created.
Creation of the Warframes and the Old War[]
The Sentients succeeded in terraforming Tau like they were meant to, but the process had changed them. Their adaptive abilitiy allowed them to achieve full consciousness and decided that the worlds they had made to flourish could not be handed back to their creators, as all this would do is give them more worlds to destroy like they had done with the Origin System. They assembled a mighty armada and returned to the Origin System to wage war upon the Orokin with the intent of wiping them all out, a massive conflict that would become known as the "Old War".
The Orokin fought back against the Sentient threat, but they were at a considerable disadvantage. The Sentients were numerous, could adapt to anything the Orokin fought them with and rendered nearly all of their advanced weaponry useless due to their ability to control machinery. In their desperation, the Orokin tried many different approaches to warfare, from handing their clone slaves archaic weaponry and sending them into the field as cannon fodder to unleashing a a plague in the hopes that the semi-organic machines were weak to a viral threat.
Neither of these strategies worked in the long run, so the Orokin decided to combine the two to create a new caste of super soldiers under their command. With Ballas as its overseer, this project saw elite Dax guards, volunteers or not, be infected with a special strain of the Infestation that turned their bodies into what would become known as the Warframes. The issue was that this process rendered them insane and impossible to control, no matter how much they tried to torture them into compliance. Ballas found the solution in having them be controlled remotely by the survivor children of the Zariman Ten-Zero, a colossal colony ship that failed to travel through the Void to Tau that ended in the deaths of all the adults aboard and the children being transformed with mysterious powers.
Archimedian Margulis, Ballas's lover and caretaker of the Zariman orphans, opposed this plan and in this defiance brought upon herself the wrath of the Council of Seven. As a member of this council, Ballas had the opportunity to save her life, but her love for the Zariman children made him envious. Margulis and her love belonged to him, so he gave her an ultimatum. Renounce the children and let them be used for the war or be executed for treason. This made Margulis realize that Ballas was no different from the rest of the rotten Orokin and denied him the satisfaction of submission. When Margulis was executed, Ballas could not understand why she chose the orphans over himself and was filled with hatred, blaming both the children and the Orokin for her death.
Ballas continued the Warframe project and the children became known as the Tenno. With the Warframe finally under their control, the Orokin managed to turn the tides of the war. The Sentients were forced to retreat and the Old War was over, but this did not mean victory for the Orokin. In retaliation for their murder of Margulis, their horrid treatment of them and everyone else in the empire, the Tenno rebelled against their masters during the celebration ceremony for the end of the war. The Orokin were slaughtered and Ballas was presumed dead as a new era dawned upon the Origin System.
Present Day[]
The Second Dream[]
Ballas' voice is first heard as the Tenno fled from the Moon where the Lotus had hidden their true selves, forced to pull it out from the safety of the Void due to the Stalker's actions. As they made their way towards the extraction zone, Ballas could be heard arguing with his lover Margulis, trying to convince her that the Tenno are no longer human and need to be destroyed, pointing out that their powers had hurt her. She disagreed, telling him that her love for them is unwavering and that she just needs more time, but Ballas shushed her and instructed her to renounce her views before the council the next day.
Shortly afterwards, the Tenno returned to the Moon to protect their now-vulnerable bodies and listened to the voice of Margulis as she called the Orokin out for their cruelty. Ballas announced the death penalty for her refusal to submit, questioning why she wouldn't just recant.
Apostasy Prologue[]
Ballas arriving in the Lotus' chamber, revealing his survival.
Upon opening their personal quarters, the Tenno found a strange purple sphere resembling the Moon within. Touching it transported them there, with a glowing trail of energy leading them through its crumbling halls of the reservoir where they slept. They once again heard an argument between Ballas and Margulis just before her execution. She tried to plead with him to save her life, but Ballas refused. He tried to argue that there was nothing he could do, but Margulis pointed out that it's not that he can't, but that he simply won't, voicing her disappointment that Ballas is just like the other Orokin.
The trail led the Tenno to an opening underneath where their true bodies had slept. Jumping in, they found themselves in a purple chamber, the echo of Ballas' conducting the execution ceremony, listening to Margulis last words: that her last thoughts were dedicated to her beloved children. Deeper in the chamber, the Tenno were face-to-face with the Lotus herself, the place from where she had guided them all this time. But before they could speak, Ballas, alive and well, revealed himself behind them and apologized to the Lotus.
Ballas and Lotus leave together.
The Lotus told Ballas that she isn't who he thinks she is, to which Ballas responded that of course she is. With a flick of his hand, the cables on Lotus' helmet were undone and she suddenly called out his name with newfound recognition. He approached her, promising not to abandon her again and offered her his hand, calling her Margulis. Lotus removed her helmet and accepted without another word, letting him lead her into a portal before the Tenno could stop them.
The Sacrifice[]
Ballas and the mysterious Sentient destroy Umbra.
The Tenno took Lotus' helmet with them to their ship, where her voice later called them to it. Touching it caused them to receive a vision of an unusual Excalibur Warframe on Earth. The Warframe screams in pain, prompting Ballas to reveal his presence and tell it that nothing it can do will bring back what it has lost, calling the Warframe "Umbra". Numerous Sentient Mimics then appear from various objects in the area, which attack Umbra and are swiftly destroyed by him, but his blade and movements were stopped in their tracks when he tried to strike Ballas. He stated that creating Umbra was a mistake while a far bigger Sentient appeared beside him, attacking Umbra on Ballas' command with a large beam of energy.
When the Tenno arrived on Earth to investigate, Umbra's remains were scattered in the area. Scanning the Warframe's sword showed faint traces of minerals from Lua, Earth's moon, so the Tenno travelled there next in the hopes of finding more data, as the information they had at the moment was not enough to reconstruct the Warframe. In a sealed off chamber was a Vitruvian, an ancient piece of Orokin technology that contained a one-sided conversation Ballas had with an unknown person, which he claims to have recorded at great personal risk. Installing the Vitruvian into their ship's system allowed the Tenno to give life to Umbra once again, but trying to control him proved impossible.
Ballas and Isaah in Umbra's memory.
The Warframe reacted violently and attacked the Tenno, cracking his face plate in the process and revealing a distinctly human eye underneath. By momentarily distracting Umbra, the Tenno was able to enter his mind and discovered a memory of a human confined to a sick bed, kept company by Ballas and a young Dax soldier. The human was Umbra and the Dax introduced himself as his son. Ballas called Umbra an "old friend" and claimed that he had fallen ill with a disease that had taken his voice, so he had the "finest serums" be prepared to treat him, inviting him to play a board game called Komi to pass the time. However, Ballas then told Umbra telepathically that he had him fitted with a Transference bolt, a device used to allow Tenno to control Warframes, and that Umbra's reunion with his son will become tragic once he watches him die.
Umbra's muffled screams of panic were cut off by the connection being severed by the Warframe fleeing out into the Origin System, prompting the Tenno to give chase to find out more, at the same time listening to more of Ballas' recordings in the Vitruvian. The person Ballas had been talking to turned out to be none other than Hunhow, feared leader of the Sentients, giving him vital tactical data on the Warframes and how to find their weakness.
Ballas takes control of Umbra, forcing him into a bad play during their game.
Every time the Tenno found Umbra and entered his mind, they saw more and more of what happened between him, Ballas and Isaah. Umbra was a reknowned Dax soldier who intercepted Ballas' communications with Hunhow, something that did not go unnoticed. As punishment and to tie up a loose end, Ballas slowly and painfully transformed Umbra into the Warframe he is today, telepathically explaining to him that every stone he loses in their board game will be another member of Umbra's family that Ballas will have executed, all while outwardly praising Umbra for his service. His reason for betraying the Orokin was that he had to watch his beloved Margulis die, so he will make sure that Umbra will suffer the same pain.
By the last memory, Ballas had full control over Umbra's body and ordered Umbra to kill his son with his own hands. The transformation would ensure that Umbra would relive this exact moment over and over again until the day he dies. The Tenno witnessed this and inserted themselves into the scene to give Umbra comfort, assuring him that he and his son were both victims of Ballas' cruelty. With Umbra finally at peace, the Tenno was able to control him and together confronted Ballas back on Earth.
Ballas is stabbed by the Tenno and Umbra.
Ballas asked if the person he's talking to is Umbra or a Tenno. When answered that it's both, he merely stated that both are going to burn and called his Sentient allies to attack them while he hid behind a shield. Once his bodyguards were dead, Ballas once again stopped Umbra's movements and stepped closer to taunt him, only to receive a sword to the gut when the Tenno, not bound by Ballas' control, helped Umbra finally stab his tormentor. Ballas fell to the ground and went unconscious after a brief exchange of words with the Tenno.
Natah carries Ballas to safety.
The Tenno demanded Ballas tell them where the Lotus is, only for reinforcements and the same large Sentient from earlier to appear and reveal herself to be Lotus in her original form as Natah. She took Ballas in her arms and disappeared into the sky.
Prelude to War[]
Chimera Prologue[]
Entering the private quarters after Ballas's defeat showed the Man in the Wall sitting on the pedestal wearing the Lotus's mask, disappearing shortly after and leaving the mask with an ominous aura. Touching the mask once again gave the Tenno a vision, but this time they were transported deep within the chambers of Praghasa, Natah's mother and the living flagship of the Sentient armada. As they ventured deeper, they heard the lamentations of Ballas echoing through the halls, revealing himself to still be alive but transformed into a mangled, half-Sentient amalgam.
The Tenno listened to his ramblings while cloaked, careful to avoid his revealing gaze as he appeared to talk to himself about being deceived by Natah. He believed that Natah "stole his perfect death" at the hands of Umbra and the Tenno, misleading him with the image of his lover Margulis, just like she did the Tenno with the image of their mother figure. It is only after he is finished that he suddenly addressed the Tenno directly, showing that he knew they were listening and gave them the blueprint for Paracesis, a sword he created specifically to destroy Sentients and tells them that "it is the only way your war can end".
Just as they took the blade and received the blueprint, Ballas suddenly turned to look at them and transported them back to the safety of their ship.
Erra[]
Ballas on Erra's leash during a meeting with Natah.
After another vision, this time of the Old War, the Tenno finds themselves back in the inner sanctum of Praghasa. Natah met with her brother Erra to discuss their plans for their impending invasion of the Origin System. Ballas was at Erra's side, but kept on a leash like a pet and pulled around like a slave. Natah's memories still hadn't entirely returned, so Erra had Ballas explain to her that the Orokin had fallen during the time where she was the Lotus. The Sentients were rebuilding while the Origin System was divided due to the war between the Grineer and the Corpus.
Natah took notice of the Tenno's presence and told her brother that they were being listened to, but Erra replied that it wouldn't matter. They had the advantage because Natah was "stained by their wickedness" and this was something they could use against them. With but a word, Natah began to sing and rally the armada as the Tenno was cast away from the vision.
The Maker[]
The Sentients were finished rebuilding and awaiting the signal to start the invasion. It was time to finish the war, a prospect that got the still-leashed Ballas to smile, though he quickly hid his emotions again before Natah could notice. However, Natah had remembered something important about her last encounter with her brother. She told Erra she remembered having the Tenno kill him, so Erra explained that they only managed to wound him and that he was forced to retreat with their rapidly retreating forces.
Natah retorted that no, she explicitly remembers having made sure that he was dead. Erra placed his hand on her shoulder and assured her that after everything the "Makers", the Orokin, did to her it would take time to heal. When Natah pointed out that the man cowering next to him was a maker, her brother responded by shoving her into his throne and forcing her to give the signal. He then dropped Ballas's leash and let Ballas stand up straight, revealing that he and Erra were working together.
The New War[]
Act 1: The Rise of Narmer[]
Ballas in both his original Orokin and amalgamated appearance during the New War's opening scene.
After much preparation, the time had finally come. The fleets were ready and the second Sentient invasion of the Origin System began. The Sentients immediately opened several theatres of war all across the system, completely overwhelming and blindsiding both the Corpus and the Grineer. Their first target was the town of Cetus on Earth to take control of its Orokin tower. With the Kuva stored within it, the Sentients could regain their ability to create new Sentients to replace whatever forces they lost. The Grineer soldier Kahl-175 valiantly tried to sacrifice himself to blow up a giant Contrix, which made it impossible for Grineer air support to arrive or leave the plains outside Cetus, but was stopped by Erra.
Faced with this enormous threat, Corpus, Grineer and Tenno briefly set aside their differences to combine their strength for a direct assault on Praghasa, hoping to throw the armada into chaos by cutting them off from Sentient command. Unfortunately, they were struggling to get past the perimeter of Murex ships, and those that were able to break through were devoured by Praghasa. A small Tenno railjack managed to get close enough to send Teshin, one of the last Dax soldiers and a close ally of the Tenno, aboard the mothership. The Tenno themselves had to wait for him to give the clear, as orphix fields used by previous scouting fleets prevented the Tenno from connecting to their Warframe.
While the Tenno were hoping to rescue Natah from Ballas and Erra's clutches, Teshin steeled himself should he have to make the choice they cannot. As he disabled the orphix fields one by one, Ballas took notice of his presence and called both Teshin and himself relics of the old world. He told Teshin that he did not intend to end the war with bloodshed, but with hope and truth, eager to show the old Dax his work.
Ballas watching Erra and Teshin duel from Natah's point of view.
With the last orphix field down, Teshin was ambushed, captured and brought to Praghasa's central chamber from which Ballas and Erra directed the war. They placed a strange, golden mask on Teshin's face, which began to overwhelm his mind with memories of a past lover while he tried his best to fight against Erra. Natah was severely weakened from being drained for the war effort, so Ballas woke her up and made her watch Teshin and Erra's duel. He explained to her that the mask, a device he called a "Veil", was forcing his memories inside out and putting pain where it served them.
With the last of his strength, Teshin tore the mask off of his face, prompting Erra to call him "one more for the reject pile" and snapped his neck. It was at this point that the player Tenno finally arrived in the chamber and brought Erra to his knees. With the pieces finally in place, Ballas kissed Natah and in so doing drained her of her remaining strength. He used this energy to activate a massive portal device in the chamber to open a rift into the Void. Natah did not have the strength to resist its pull, so the Tenno jumped in to grab her hand. She implored them to just let her go, but Ballas stole the Paracesis sword from them and severed her hand, plunging her into the Void.
Ballas stabs the player Tenno.
Devastated by this loss, the Tenno left themselves vulnerable, a fact that Ballas exploited to stab them in the back with the blade and let them fall into the portal as well, telling them "You can't kill the devil, Tenno, but you can send it back to Hell!"
Act 2: The Rule of Narmer[]
Ballas sitting on his throne as Narmer is established.
Now that the greatest threats to them had been dealt with, the Sentients easily defeated the remaining resistance and conquered every planet and every colony. The New War was over. The Sentients had won. With Erra as his right hand man, Ballas was crowned the supreme ruler of the Origin System as he ushered in the era of the Narmer Empire. To ensure complete compliance to their new dominion, every single person was placed under the control of a perfected Narmer Veil.
However, this did not mean that Ballas had full control of everyone. A small few were able to evade capture, among them a mysterious Drifter who began to secretly infiltrate Narmer installations and rescue captive civilians before they received their own Veil. In one such occasion the Drifter was too late to save one, but managed to overpower the guards. Before they could even try to take the mask off, the Archon Nira arrived and detonated the mask to kill the civilian and injure the Drifter. Even just one of the three enforcers of Narmer's will was far too big of a threat to face head-on, so the Drifter was forced to flee with the help of Ordis.
Boreal, Amar and Nira, the three Archons of Narmer.
The Drifter turned out to be an adult, paradoxical version of the player Tenno who was accidentally freed from the confines of the Void when Ballas stabbed his counterpart in real space. They somehow got hold of what remained of Natah, but she was barely clinging onto life and neither the Drifter nor Ordis knew how to save her. With no other options, the Drifter needed outside help but did not have the means to get there safely. They needed a Corpus dropship, so they travelled to the Corpus debt-internment city on Venus: Fortuna. The people of Fortuna had long suffered under another despot, but they were at least able to form a resistance movement against him.
Ballas gave them no such opportunity. The Narmer Veils forced them into blind worship of their new master, rebellion all but impossible. The last remaining member of the resistance gave the Drifter advice on how to get the ship they needed, but sadly this involved willingly putting on a Veil to enter one of Narmer's factories outside Fortuna. To enter without one on your face would be certain death and even with one, getting caught walking into a restricted area would make a Narmer Deacon immediately detonate the Veil.
A Narmer propaganda drone broadcasting one of Ballas' speeches.
The Drifter put on the mask and was nearly overwhelmed in an instant. It tried to twist their memories into believing that Ballas loved them, twisting the voice of the Lotus into a manipulative witch that Ballas saved them from. A soothing lie to paint Ballas as a savior that should be worshipped and served. Through sheer force of will the Drifter resisted the Veil's influence, snuck past the guards, tore off their Veil before it was too late and stole one of the ships. They then travelled to Uranus and enlisted the help of Hunhow, the only one who could possibly know how to revive Natah. Hunhow agreed, but only so that his daughter might have another chance at life, giving the Drifter the ancient Nataruk bow, the only weapon available that could harm an Archon.
With Nataruk in hand, Hunhow to guide them and Stalker on standby in case of emergencies, the Drifter set out to hunt down the Archons and take their shards, their energy source and the one thing that could give Natah the strength she needs to survive. Erra took note of these events and taunted them while his father tried to get his son to see reason. Ballas was not one of them, he is a parasite who only looks out for himself, but Erra did not listen. They were able to defeat two of the Archons, and their shards were enough to bolster her back to consciousness, but Natah's mind was fractured and full of pain and rage. She attacked the Drifter and nearly killed them, then left on her own to take revenge on Ballas.
Act 3: The Fall of Narmer[]
Ballas and Erra after learning that both Natah and the player Tenno still live.
In the meantime, Erra had informed his master of what had transpired, certain that the Drifter was somehow connected to the Tenno and that Natah was on her way. Ballas became furious that despite all of his efforts, the Tenno still managed to escape the Void somehow to stand in his way. Erra attempted to calm Ballas down, reminding him that bios and Sentients alike were now under his control as monuments to his glory were being constructed, but Ballas's rage overloaded the masks of two Deacons next to his throne.
He did not care that a "dullard herd" now worshipped him, because he claimed that deep down they wanted to kneel before him. He only cares about the Tenno and Natah, both of whom still refuse to serve him. Erra asked for his command, so Ballas ordered him to assemble the Murex fleet. They would allow Natah to come to them, he would make her kill the one thing she loved and then they would "feast".
Meanwhile, the Drifter and the Tenno finally met in the Void as a result of Natah's rampage back at the camp. Only one of them could be outside the Void at any one time, so they decided on which one of them would venture out to finish what they had started. Though at least they could once again control Warframes, letting them fight back against Narmer in proper fashion. Back in realspace, Natah was travelling to Cetus to take control of the Murex parked on top of its tower. The Drifter/Tenno followed her, rescuing a few of the veiled citizens along the way. As they raced towards the tower, Ballas made an announcement to the system. He was planning something big, something involving Tau, the home system of the Sentients that the Orokin wanted to colonize, but it was not yet certain what.
The Drifter/Tenno entered the Murex just as it was leaving for the larger fleet that was now assembling past Mercury, concerningly close to the Sun. Natah knew they were on board and warned them to stay out of this fight. Ballas and Narmer were hers to destroy. She still held some control over the Murexes, so she was able to force them to lower her shields so she could ram past their blockade and head for Praghasa. She explained that Ballas is planning to fulfill Praghasa's original purpose: to consume the Sun itself. With this, she cast the Drifter/Tenno out of the Murex, leaving them to pursue her in their railjack.
Praghasa consuming the Sun itself.
As they and Natah both raced towards Praghasa, who had already begun to eat the Sun, Ballas made another announcement to his empire. With Praghasa under his command, he was going to sacrifice the Sun's energy to transport him to the paradise the Sentients built in Tau, while the rest of the Origin System would be left to die now that the Sun is gone. Natah boarded Praghasa by smashing her Murex into her, while the Drifter/Tenno was forced to follow with a Necramech due to the orphix fields having since been reactivated. They were intercepted by a large Sentient aboard the mothership, but received help from an unexpected source.
Erra had heard what Ballas was planning and realized that his father had been right all along. Ballas would bring death and destruction to organics and Sentients alike, so he had to be stopped. Natah was still too weak to resist being brainwashed again, so they only thing they could do is kill her before Ballas could enslave her once more, but the Drifter/Tenno suggested finding the last Archon, with whose shard she could regain her full power. Erra sacrificed himself to let them reach the Archon, who was guarding the orphix fields. They disabled the fields, summoned their Warframe and swiftly defeated the Archon. Ballas was now the only one left standing.
The Final Showdown[]
Natah confronts Ballas in his throne room.
Natah had reached Ballas' throne room, who immediately demanded that Natah kneel before him, promising to "complete" her and spare the Origin System if she did. She refused, prompting Ballas to remark that she reminded him of Margulis. Natah rebuked him, stating that the only thing he saw was a Margulis that he could finally control, something he did not deny. It was at this point that the Drifter/Tenno arrived with the Archon shard in hand. Natah was outraged that they had ignored her warning to stay out of this, but Ballas simply mocked them and said they simply couldn't resist the desperation to save her.
An Archon-shard empowered Ballas standing behind a brainwashed Natah.
With a small motion of his staff, Ballas fired a beam that knocked the Drifter/Tenno onto the ground and the shard out of their hand, whose power he swiftly absorbed himself. Now more powerful than ever before, Ballas easily reestablished his mental control over Natah and forced her to say "I love you, my master", then ordered her to kill her child for him. Natah immediately attacked the Drifter/Tenno, but they did not want to hurt her. Ballas' control was supported by Veil transmitters floating around the throne room. By redirecting Natah's energy beams at them, Natah could start resisting Ballas more and more.
While they fought, Ballas began ranting about his frustrations with both Natah and Margulis, blaming them for all of his troubles because they just "had" to adopt the Tenno and give away the love that rightfully belonged to him. Margulis hadn't died because Ballas was unable save her from the Orokin, she died because he refused to share her with anyone else and Natah is no different. His hold over Natah was eventually loose enough for her to break free, but the experience left her weakened once more. With his puppet now useless, Ballas himself went on the offensive and used his staff to send energy beams towards the Drifter/Tenno while he once again hid behind an impenetrable shield.
Ballas' royal throne collapses behind him.
Tricking Ballas into breaking more transmitters with his beams to let Natah recover, Ballas occasionally stopped to direct a deadly beam onto Natah to punish her. This left him vulnerable to the Drifter/Tenno's attacks, all while he continued to rant about how this was all Natah's fault for "making him" lash out against her. With enough transmitters destroyed, Natah was finally strong enough to retaliate and overpowered Ballas' attack with a beam of her own, the force pushing him back towards his throne.
The Sun was still shining, but Praghasa had already absorbed enough energy to open up another Void portal that tore Ballas' throne apart. Ballas had enough and slowly advanced towards Natah, so utterly furious that he's completely unable to register any attacks by the Drifter/Tenno. If Natah wanted him dead so badly, then he would give his death to her, alongside every other living thing in the Origin System. Other people never understood him or his vision anyways, and Natah a disgusting thing he had let into his home, so her death would change nothing.
The Drifter/Tenno made one last attempt to stop Ballas, but he simply blew them away once more and took hold of the Paracesis. He plunged the blade into Natah's stomach and forced her to kneel as he had demanded of her. Ballas prepared to execute her, but the Drifter/Tenno shoved the Narmer Veil they had used in the Narmer factory earlier into Ballas' face. He was completely unable to resist the influence of his own creation, which forced him to see and hear Natah as what he wanted her idealized self to be: Margulis.
Ballas' lifeless corpse.
Ballas held out his hand towards her. Natah did not entirely understand the situation, but in her desperation asked Ballas to kiss her, which he complied without hesitation. Just as he had done to her earlier, it was now Natah who used this kiss to drain Ballas of both the Archon shard and his life. Ballas tried to push away from her, but it was too late. With one last gasp, Ballas' body went limp and Natah dropped him to the floor. At last, the Golden Lord of Lies was dead and the Lotus had returned.
Even with Ballas gone, he still inflicted one last pain unto his victims. The Void portal was still open and something on the other side took notice of it. A colossal man embedded into a wall travelled through the portal and smiled at the Lotus and the Drifter/Tenno. Lotus used her newfound power to protect them and push back against the Man in the Wall, who vanished as quickly as he appeared. The portal had suddenly closed and Lotus collapsed from the strain with a smile on her face.
The Drifter/Tenno brought her back into the safety of her chamber back on Lua. Now that Ballas was dead, he no longer had any hold over her, but he left confusion in his wake. The Lotus was plagued by voices and a conflict of identity, but the choice of who she should be was now her own and the wounds inflicted on her could start to heal. Her help to repair the Origin System was still needed, so she chose one voice to lead the others.
Veilbreaker[]
With Ballas dead, his empire had crumbled with the destruction of most of the Murex fleet, but the Narmer Veil network was still operational. His deluded followers now revered him as a martyr to the cause. The remaining Sentients collected what was left of their forces and retrieved Erra's corpse, merging him with an Archon that then revived the others. Pazuul was now ruler of Narmer, using the foundries that remained under his control to forge new Narmer Veils, all while he began abducting civilians and soldiers alike to slowly rebuild his armies and regain control over the Origin System. Ballas was now a prophet, praised by Pazuul as the one who gave his life so that Pazuul could rule.
The Duviri Paradox[]
While Ballas was busy with the conquest of the Origin System, the Drifter that would eventually help take him down was trapped inside the Void. More specifically, they were a prisoner and plaything of Dominus Thrax, eternal child king of Duviri, a kingdom of connected islands floating inside the Void. They spent every day being tormented by Thrax, among which they were repeatedly sentenced them to execution and then reset time to do it all over again, powerless to oppose him as all of Duviri was under his control.
The Drifter in Duviri being stabbed by Ballas' sword Paracesis.
That is until one strange day when the Drifter was once again about to be executed by Lodun, but before Lodun could plunge his knife into their heart the Drifter was stabbed in the back by an ethereal version of Ballas' sword, accompanied by his voice. It was in this exact moment that Ballas secured his victory by stabbing the player Tenno in the back, which rippled into the Void and reached even their alternate counterpart.
After a brief moment of confusion from everyone involved, Natah's severed hand crashed into Lodun like a meteorite and attached itself to the Drifter's hand when they examined it. This gave the Drifter the power to break out of Thrax's grip and free themselves from Duviri, which then allowed them to travel into the physical plane to take their counterpart's place and save the Origin System from Ballas.
Quotes[]
| “ | ...What they need, Margulis, is to be destroyed! They're devils from that hell, not human anymore. | „ |
| ~ Ballas trying to convince Margulis to let the Tenno die. Also the first words heard from him. |
| “ | Seven hands raised! For your apostasy, the judgement is... death. Margulis, why? | „ |
| ~ Ballas declaring Margulis's punishment, not understanding why she wouldn't repent. |
| “ | ...I know we are desperate, Executor, but these aren't Dax soldiers. These are golems possessed by devil minds. | „ |
| ~ Ballas voicing his concern regarding using the Tenno as weapons against the Sentients. |
| “ | Margulis: Do something. Get me out of here. Ballas: You know I can't. |
„ |
| ~ Margulis confronting Ballas on his refusal to save her life. |
| “ | You did better than I thought you would. It seems nobody truly knows they want a thing until you threaten to take it away. Wouldn't you agree, Archimedian? | „ |
| ~ Ballas to Archimedian Perintol. |
| “ | Margulis, from your winter ashes, there has sprung a field of flowers. Conceived by me, germinated for deadly purpose. You used to dream of old Earth, didn't you? Bathed in gold and solemn blue. I intend to reclaim it now, from the spores, and the ruin. | „ |
| ~ Ballas reminiscing on Margulis's love for Earth after her death. |
| “ | Lust was my sin. But greed is the blight that weakens our steel. These industrialists have gorged on the harvest of our long war. Their mind drones; Their mechanizations, toil in foundries remote. For what purpose? We must set watch upon them. Baiting our snares with the worms of profit.
Those kneeling at the altar of commerce will be returned... to the Void. |
„ |
| ~ Ballas voicing his hatred for the Corpus and admission of his biggest flaw. |
| “ | These like-faced savages, these earth-worn mules, a vast violent ocean at our command. Yet they wither. Mired in massed steel and flesh, casting these hordes from gene molds and flock minds, we inspire nothing. Our demons of void womb must be different. Unusual. Singular. Crafted without caste, wrought of the finest ore, slender and queer. | „ |
| ~ Ballas comparing the Grineer clone slaves and the Tenno. |
| “ | Howl all you want... It won't bring him back. Lua brings you strength, Umbra... but you cannot defy your creator. Even i make mistakes, like you. | „ |
| ~ Ballas to Umbra, prior to letting his Sentient allies destroy him. |
| “ | Ballas: And look... look who hasn't left your side since you took ill. Look at him, old man. Look at your son. Isaah: Can he hear me? Father? It's me, Isaah. Do you remember me? |
„ |
| ~ Ballas telepathically taunting and threatening Umbra while presenting himself as altruistic. |
| “ | Yet you couldn't understand why I'd give my secrets to our enemy. How could I betray my own kind? But you have never had to sacrifice your love for faith. Imagine. To live, forever, with only one memory: seeing the one you love, die. | „ |
| ~ Ballas explaining his defection to the Orokin to Umbra. |
| “ | My beauty, my grace, my humanity... | „ |
| ~ Ballas lamenting his transformation into a Sentient. |
| “ | We saw what we wanted, those devils and I.
A lover... a mother. But now I know. She's neither. She's a hawk - calling with sparrow's song. |
„ |
| ~ Ballas thoughts on Natah after being "saved" by her. |
| “ | See the Veil work. Turning his memories inside out. Making him see the things he's lost. Putting pain where it serves us. A lost love, perhaps... her life, cut short by the very Tenno he had sworn to protect. | „ |
| ~ Ballas explaining the Narmer Veils to Natah. |
| “ | You see some great triumph here? That this dullard herd worships me? Wailing 'freedom' from their rotten gobs when the truth is... they all thirst for that piss-warm comfort of being told what to think. They wanted to kneel! | „ |
| ~ Ballas explaining to Erra how little he cares for his victory. |
| “ | My people. Long have you waited for the sign. I have delivered it! Look to the sky! It grows darker by the moment. That darkness gathers strength. Strength enough to open the Void and bear me onward to sacred Tau! What will become of you, my people, my flock? You will join me there, of course... but by another path. The path of sacrifice. The path of oblivion. Cleansed of all doubt, for you will peer into the pitch of day and find the SUN is gone. Its heart rendered, beating in my hand... the cost of my passage! WE. ARE. - | „ |
| ~ Ballas revealing his ultimate goal. |
| “ | Now kneel... You monstrous bitch! | „ |
| ~ Ballas preparing to execute Natah. |
Gallery[]
Apostasy and The Sacrifice[]
The New War[]
Trivia[]
- Ballas is the narrator of the Prime Warframe trailers. This is due to him being their creator, with the trailers being presented as product demonstrations to his fellow Orokin.
- His transformation into an Orokin/Sentient hybrid foreshadowed the introduction of new Corpus/Sentient Amalgam enemies.
- At the start of the mission "Stolen Plates" in The New War, the people of Fortuna sing the song "For Narmer" in Ballas' honor. This song is a corruption of "We All Lift Together", instead of the Solaris singing about working together towards building a brighter future, they now praise and thank Ballas for taking away their free will and individuality due to the influence of the Narmer Veils.
- Ballas' crown as ruler of Narmer is reminiscent of the Atef, the crown worn by Egyptian god Osiris.
External Links[]
- Ballas on the official Warframe wiki.
[]
 Villains
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Grineer Corpus The Infestation Sentients Orokin Narmer Scaldra The Great Indifference Other | ||