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| “ | Pilgrim was chosen. By Azra. I've seen him level cities with only his gaze. Decimate armies with only his words for weapons. | „ |
| ~ Castor |
Castor is a major character in the AMC series Into the Badlands.
He is a Dark One who follows the false messiah Pilgrim, known as one of his "Dear Ones" who kills in his name, alongside Nix. Castor is highly unstable and violent, due to the effect that the Gift is having on his body, slowly killing him due to him overusing it. Knowing his time is short, Castor wishes to spend his final days fighting to ensure their mission to rebuild Azra is successful.
He was portrayed by Dean-Charles Chapman.
Personality[]
Castor is generally shown to be soft spoken and kind to those in Pilgrim's followers, but is extremely ruthless when in combat. Castor is aware of his mortality, and wishes to help rebuild Azra, for those like him who are unlikely to live long in the current world of the Badlands. He is fiercely loyal to Pilgrim, and ends up being the only member of his original group of close followers that does not turn against him. Castor also cares deeply for Nix, and is extremely hostile towards M.K. when he joins their group due to him and Nix becoming close to one another. In his final days, Castor begins to lash out violently against those around him, and decides to go and fight for Pilgrim under Cressida's command, wishing to be useful to Pilgrim's cause one last time. In his last moments, he's so full of rage at his impending demise and the fact that he believes M.K. is replacing him that he even lashes out against Nix and Pilgrim, although he does apologize right before his death.
Biography[]
Journey to find Azra[]
As a child, Castor was found alongside Nix by Pilgrim and Cressida, a false messiah and high priestess who want to bring back the city of Azra, a safe haven for those with the Gift. Due to Castor and Nix both having the Gift, they were raised by Pilgrim and followed him for years, acting as the primary enforcers for him and his followers. Castor's Gift was more volatile that Nix's, and was slowly killing him due to how often he used it. Castor and Nix are brought by Pilgrim to a checkpoint of Baron Chau on the edge of the Badlands, where Pilgrim begins to preach his message and the harbinger of Azra, and asks that Chau's Clippers lay down their weapons and join him. The Clippers begin to fire crossbows at the three of them, at which point Castor and Nix cut themselves and slaughter all of the Clippers at the checkpoint except for one. Pilgrim approaches the lone surviving Clipper and tells him to go back to his territory and tell everyone what he saw, with the message that those in the Badlands must join Pilgrim or die. Their reason for pushing this message is that Pilgrim recently received a radio signal which told him and his followers of the first temple of Azra, which contains the origins of the Gift. Castor is greatly weakened after using his Gift at the checkpoint, and rests in one of the back of the caravans that are carrying Pilgrim and his followers. Pilgrim tends to Castor, who tries to claim that he is actually fine, and this fight just took more out of him that normal. Nix rebuffs this, saying that he is getting worse and needs to stop using his Gift, but Castor is adamant that he wants to keep fighting. Pilgrim tells Castor that he does not need to prove how strong he is, and that Pilgrim is proud of him regardless. Pilgrim speaks to both Castor and Nix, telling them he knows how difficult the burden of the Gift must be, but that them using it is fighting for the greater good of the world.
Pilgrim and his followers finally reach the first temple of Azra, feeling great joy that their long journey has finally come to an end. They sail to the island that the temple rests on, and find that it is an abandoned 21st century museum. Pilgrim tells his followers to explore, and see the relics of the old world. Castor and Nix happily look around at the different objects that are remnants of a different time, feeling deep satisfaction that they have finally reached the origins of Azra. However, some of Pilgrim's followers express doubt at this place as they were hoping to find more than just a museum, to which Pilgrim states that should they doubt his faith, they may strike him down. Castor and Nix initially step forward to fight the doubters, but Pilgrim assures them that he will handle it. Pilgrim proceeds to kill all but one of the followers while blindfolded, displaying his immense combat ability to all who follow him. The last doubter begs forgiveness, and is granted it by Pilgrim, his faith renewed. Castor and Nix begin looking around the museums abandoned Gift shop to take their minds off what has jut happened, where they examine post cards depicting images of the old world. Castor ponders what may have happened to those people, to which Nix tells him that they ignored the signs of their destruction and where thus punished by fate. Castor finds a View-Master that has several more images on it, the last of which depicting the original city of Azra, which he and Nix are ecstatic to see. Castor then begins to bleed slightly from his ear, but begs Nix not to tell Pilgrim, less he be forbidden from being allowed to fight anymore. Nix agrees to this, and the two of them depart to the main hall of the temple, where they witness Pilgrim and Cressida perform a blood ritual in order to see into the future.
Castor is later present when the Widow and her viceroy Lydia arrive to discuss the issue of Pilgrim recruiting followers on her land. Before they can come to an agreement, they are attacked by Gaius Chau, the sister of Baron Chau who has been forced to take a group of Clippers loyal to him and assassinate Pilgrim. Castor immediately cuts himself and begins killing all of the assassins, with only Gaius managing to hold his own against the immense strength of Castor's Gift. The two trade blows until Castor disarms Gaius, but the fight continues after Gaius grabs a samurai sword from a nearby museum exhibit and uses it against Castor. Despite his superior weapon and incredible combat skill, Gaius is overpowered and knocked out by Castor, who then begins to attack the Widow. Before he can kill her, Pilgrim uses his ability to turn off the Gift by speaking the phrase "Peace be with you" which deactivates Castor's power and causes him to pass out. The Widow questions how Pilgrim was able to do this, and he explains that he has been blessed with the power to control the Gift, as he is the harbinger of Azra. Pilgrim agrees to not actively recruit on her land for the time being, and Gaius is taken prisoner by the Widow. Pilgrim then cuts off the heads of all the dead assassins with the plan to deliver them to Chau. Castor and Nix are taken by Pilgrim and Cressida to confront Chau over trying to assassinate Pilgrim, presenting the severed heads of every assassin. Chau at first attempts to claim that this was all the doing of her brother Gaius, but Pilgrim sees through this and tells her that she is now at the mercy of him and his Dark Ones, and that he will want workers to be sent to him as recompense for the attempt on his life.
Final days[]
Shortly after the meeting with Chau, a boy named M.K. is found by Nix in the woods near the temple of Azra. He is taken back to the temple and tended to by Nix, who was instructed to find him by Cressida, after she saw a vision of a new Dark One coming to join their group. M.K. is capable of using his Gift without cutting, something that shocks Nix, Cressida, and Pilgrim. Despite his initial hostility to them due to having been previously held captive by other major leaders, Pilgrim tells M.K. that he is free to leave is he wishes, but Pilgrim asks him to stay as he could be a great help in brining back Azra. M.K. decides to stay with them, something that greatly angers Castor, as he believes M.K. to be his replacement due to his own Gift killing him in comparison to M.K. being in complete control of his. Castor later confronts M.K. and Nix when he finds them bonding after Nix shows M.K. the View-Master which Castor originally showed her. Castor tells M.K. to stay away from Nix, clearly jealous of their relationship, and accuses Nix of bringing back M.K. to replace him. M.K. is confused at this initially, saying he does not mean to replace Castor, but this doesn't sway him, as Castor recognizes how different M.K. is by not needing to cut himself to activate his Gift. Castor nearly attacks M.K., but Nix tells him that it's not what Castor thinks, prompting Castor to question if the two will start sleeping together, indicating that either he and Nix are in a relationship or Castor has feelings for her. M.K. tells Castor not to speak to Nix in such a hostile way, to which Castor nearly draws his blades in anger. Nix steps between them but then notices that Castor's nose is bleeding, once again showing that his Gift is killing him. Castor says he does not need her pity, and angrily leaves the room.
Castor visits Cressida and questions if she can use her blood magic in order to help him recover from the damage the Gift is doing to his body. Cressida reveals that unfortunately she cannot help him, and there is no way to prevent his death. She states that should he completely stop using his Gift, that will extend his life, but is only delaying the inevitable. Castor admits that he has only ever known fighting in the name of Pilgrim, and that he will not stop now. Against Pilgrim's wishes, Cressida wants their time with Castor to end due to his instability potentially bringing doubt among Pilgrim's followers. To accomplish this, she tells Castor that there is one last way he could fight for their cause. She tells him to oversee Chau rounding up workers to be sent to Pilgrim, as those workers will enable them to finally rebuild Azra. Castor at first wishes to get Pilgrim's blessing for this mission, but Cressida manages to convince him that he must go alone, as this may be the last time he fights, which Castor accepts. He departs and meets with Otto, Chau's Regent. Castor explains that he was sent to make sure that the mission is a success, and they work together to round up people from a nearby refugee camp so they can be taken back to Pilgrim. Things take a turn when the Widow's forces arrive to stop Chau's, and while Otto and his Clippers manage to escape with the majority of the required workers, Castor is eventually overpowered by the Widow and captured. She interrogates him and tries to poison his mind against Pilgrim, but he refuses to even humor the idea of turning against his messiah. Instead, the Widow then tells Castor of M.K.'s past, further strengthening his distrust of him. Pilgrim is told by Otto of Castor's capture when the refugees are delivered, prompting him to angrily reprimand Cressida for sending him into battle. The Widow decides to return Castor to Pilgrim so as to not start a war with him, as she is already in one with Chau.
Castor is tended to by Nix in the temple, seeming to be on the verge of death due to having used his Gift during the raid on the refugee camp. Nix tells Castor that they will see Azra together, but Castor begins to rant about how they won't, as Castor is dying, and that Pilgrim lied to them. M.K. walks in and tells Castor not to yell at Nix, which causes Castor to attack him in a fit of rage. M.K. quickly overpowers Castor, but is pulled off him by Nix before he can hurt Castor, who yells that M.K. is a liar. Pilgrim enters, and tells M.K. and Nix to leave so he may speak to Castor alone. Castor begins to cry, saying that he doesn't know what came over him. Pilgrim tells Castor that he does not need to apologize, and that he sees him as a warrior similar to that of the samurai from the old world, and the two embrace. Pilgrim then strangles Castor and breaks his neck, saying that he will sing his praises in the halls of Azra. Pilgrim collapses to the ground in tears over having done this, believing it was the only way to prevent Castor from sewing doubt among his followers. Pilgrim, Cressida, Nix, and M.K. are all present at Castor's funeral, where he and his followers burn his body and chant "long live Castor" in his memory. Nix examined his body before they burned it and realized their were bruises on his neck, meaning Pilgrim likely killed him. After M.K. explains to her how to use her Gift without cutting, by focusing on a feeling that hurts worse than any cut, she begins focusing on the thought of Pilgrim killing Castor, allowing her to use her Gift whenever she wants. Castor is seen one last time after Pilgrim obtains the Gift and begins experiencing hallucinations due to the strain it puts on his body. He finds Castor's View-Master in the forest and hallucinates Castor appearing before him. Castor then reprimands Pilgrim over the fact that Nix recently abandoned him due to Pilgrim betraying the two of them, and the fact that Pilgrim killed Castor when he was no longer useful to him. The hallucination of Castor screams at Pilgrim that he is no savior or God, but a monster. M.K. manages to snap Pilgrim out of this hallucination, and after this Castor is not seen again.
Powers & Abilities[]
- The Gift: Castor was shown to be highly skilled when using his Gift in combat, despite still having to cut himself in order to activate it. While he would kill most people he saw while it was active, he was shown capable of controlling his Gift to the point that he would not attack his allies such as Nix, and could also remember what happened when using it, in contrast to the novices at the Abbot Monastery who would be completely unstable whenever their skin was cut.
- Martial Arts/Swordsmanship: Castor was an extremely proficient combatant, serving as one of the two main enforcers of Pilgrim alongside Nix, able to take down dozens of Clippers even when not using his Gift. He also held his own against the Widow, one of the Barons of the Badlands who was considered to be among the most skilled warriors in the world.
Quotes[]
| “ | Castor: What do you think happened to these people?
Nix: Pilgrim says they ignored the signs of their destruction, so fate decided to punish them. |
„ |
| ~ Castor and Nix discussing the old world. |
| “ | You go out without me one time... and you've already found my replacement? | „ |
| ~ Castor's hostility towards M.K. joining them. |
| “ | Castor: I saw you, with Pilgrim. You don't have to cut yourself, you're not like us. Nix: It's not what you think. |
„ |
| ~ Castor's jealousy of M.K. and Nix. |
| “ | Fighting is all I know. That's who I am. Avoiding battle is the coward's way. | „ |
| ~ Castor's philosophy on spending his final days. |
| “ | Castor: I'm dying. Nix: Don't say that. Pilgrim promised we would see Azra together and we will. |
„ |
| ~ Castor and Nix's final conversation in which he expresses doubt towards Pilgrim. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Castor's method of cutting his face sets him apart from other young Dark Ones who typically cut their arms in order to activate their Gift. This is possibly the explanation for why his Gift is killing him but Nix is not suffering the same affects, as she only cuts her wrists, and the Gift is stated to be a poison in the persons blood that cannot be properly contained when an untrained person bleeds, thus Castor cutting his face would make his Gift more unstable due to it drawing more blood than when Nix cuts her arm.
External Links[]
- Castor on the Into the Badlands Wiki
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 Villains
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Armadillo Territory Butterfly Territory Fox Territory Pickaxe Territory Other Territories Dark Ones The Black Lotus Other | ||