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| “ | Kneel to your god! | „ |
| ~ Gargos' opening quote. |
| “ | For centuries, I have schemed. Setting events in motion that would lead to this day. I have taken the memories of the one that guarded the gates, corrupted their worthless heroes, and manipulated those hungry for power. It is time... BEGIN THE INVASION! | „ |
| ~ Gargos in his Killer Instinct trailer intro. |
Gargos, also known as Lord Gargos and the Shadow Lord, is a demonic warlord and the overarching antagonist of Killer instinct 1,the main antagonist in Killer Instinct 2 (as well as the N64 port Killer Instinct Gold) and the reboot Killer Instinct (2013).
In spite of being the villain of the sequel, he actually made his very first appearance in the first game, disguised as Jago's Tiger Spirit, manipulating him while under the guise of a benevolent and trustworthy figure.
Because of this and more, Gargos is often seen as the main antagonist and greater-scope villain of the entire Killer Instinct series, since he led and used Jago (and through Jago, Orchid) to defeat his rival Eyedol (the previous main antagonist) and then struck when the only one who could conceivably beat him was gone.
Similarly, but to an even greater extent, he is also responsible for nearly every event in the reboot, leading to the entire cast confronting him as a team.
He is voiced by Edward Bosco, who also voiced the Icon of Sin, the Marauders, Kan-Ra, The Ghoulfather, Jagi, Devo, and Líf.
Appearance
Gargos' appearance in Killer Instinct 2 and Killer Instinct Gold.
| “ | Maya: I told you what I saw in the portal. TJ Combo: Some kind of demon, right? Maya: More than that. A king of demons. |
„ |
| ~ Maya and TJ Combo in the Killer Instinct: Shadows at Dawn novella. |
In Killer Instinct 2, Gargos appears as a large, bulky winged gargoyle with reddish-brown skin and pupil-less yellow eyes. He has metal bracelets on both wrists, has pointy goblin-like ears and sharp claws on his hands and feet.
In the 2013 reboot, Gargos features a far more diabolical appearance. He now has reddish-purple skin, but also a tan chest and horn-like protrusions on his arms. His face has undergone a drastic redesign, giving him curled ram horns fittingly reminiscent of Satanic idols and figures, with devious green eyes, bared fangs and tusks jutting out from the sides of his lipless mouth. He has digitigrade legs with two large claws on each foot, and though he lacks the nose and pointy ears his classic incarnation had, he's kept his wings which now appear torn and tattered, and emanate a green aura from the ends along with his horns.
Gargos' classic appearance as his retro outfit and in-universe disguise.
Gargos' retro costume is very reminiscent of his original appearance in Killer Instinct 2, except that he perpetually bears a mocking grin on his face, and has become much taller and less bulky than his 1996 iteration to better fit with his reboot design's build. In Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords, it's revealed that this is just a disguise, and that his reboot appearance is his true form.
Personality
| “ | Pitiful creature. | „ |
| ~ Gargos' victory quote. |
The original incarnation's personality was unclear, but he shared the cunning of his reboot counterpart as both drove Jago to do their dirty work for him while disguised as more benevolent figures, making both incarnations excellent manipulators.
In the reboot, he is no mere gargoyle or warlord, but a devilish and god-like entity with unfathomable power within its universe-sized astral domain, and profoundly corruptive anywhere else, the Shadow Lord and king of demons Gargos has a singular obsession: attaining the ultimate power in the universe and enslaving the bodies and souls of all sentient beings. He can be seen as a diabolical personification of dominance and abasement, as the Shadow Lord consumes all in his infernal path of conquest.
Showing off his sadistic nature even more, any who would wish to join him must kill their most loved or closed ones to prove their loyalty, such as when he proposed Mira to kill her sister Maya. In the comics, he has a particularly vicious moment when he is holding Jago and Tusk by their throats and stomping on Kim simultaneously, and as he ponders who to kill first, decides to go with Kim using the "ladies before gentlemen" protocol, asking the other two if they would like to hear her scream.
During flashbacks of Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords, Gargos is shown to be particularly focused on finding the most powerful of the remaining astral beings who escaped him in the ancient past, the holy dragon spirit Yeouiju accompanying Kim Wu, one of the reboot's main characters and among the heroes that eventually helps defeat him.
Biography
Killer Instinct (1994)
Gargos first debuted in the original Killer Instinct as the "Tiger Spirit" which is worshipped by a reclusive order of Tibetan warrior-monks in the Himalayas. When a young Jago emerged as the order's most skillful combatant, the disguised demon lord bestowed the unsuspecting monk a portion of his dark powers, and enticed him to enter into the Killer Instinct tournament and kill Gargos' archenemy and eternal rival, Eyedol. Jago participated in the tournament and defeated UltraTech's first Fulgore prototype but it was actually his long lost half-sister Orchid who killed Eyedol in the original story (Jago and Orchid together defeated Eyedol in the comics, sending him back to his prison-like dimension), making it easier for Gargos' uncontested dominion over the Earth as Jago and Orchid eliminated the biggest threats in Gargos' path.
In Jago's original arcade ending, Gargos appears to him in the guise of the Tiger Spirit once more and empowers his unwitting pawn yet further as a reward for his rival's destruction.
Killer Instinct 2
Following Eyedol's defeat, Gargos made his move after recovering his strength during his thousand-year old exile, but to make sure humanity would become his servants without having to fear Eyedol or the ones who had previously banished him, he went back in time 2000 years into the past, where he would kill the last few enemies that still opposed him, in a world without Eyedol and with weak and unprepared humans that would praise, revere and bow to him as a god.
He revived the skeletal pirate Spinal to serve him and revealed his true intentions to Jago, who, alongside the other heroes, vowed they would slay the gargoyle and go back to the future, to a world uncorrupted by his evil.
As the final boss, he can be defeated and destroyed forever or win, left unchallenged to conquer the world.
Killer Instinct (2013)
Gargos posing as Jago's "Tiger Spirit".
| “ | There is another dimension - the Astral Plane. It is ruled by the evil tyrant Gargos. Long ago the other Astral beings resisted this Shadow Lord, but he slew them all and stole their powers. Good creatures known as Guardians fled from Gargos and his minions, escaping to other dimensions, and they sealed the Astral Plane behind them so that the corruption of Gargos could never taint another world - until the sorcerer Kan-Ra re-opened that door, manipulated by Gargos' powerful mind control. Now Gargos is invading the Earth with his army of duplicate fighters called Mimics. This twisted demigod must be stopped, or he will enslave the human race forever... | „ |
| ~ The Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords opening narration, introducing Gargos. |
Although Gargos did not yet appear during the first two seasons of Killer Instinct (2013), his presence could already be felt in certain places.
Jago's story revolves around the warrior-monk searching for ways to get rid of the demon lord's lingering influence over his soul, or else Gargos will take control over his soul and twist him into an agent of chaos and death. This eventually happens, in a way, with Shadow Jago, the embodiment of this grim fate in which Jago's will has succumbed and he is possessed by Gargos' servant, Omen. When Shadow Jago activates his Instinct Mode, a demonic gargoyle's face rather than the image of the Tiger Spirit manifests, clearly meant to invoke Gargos.
Omen is later introduced as the herald of Gargos, having been sent to "prepare the world" for his master's return. Omen sets out to achieve this by first possessing Jago, and then using the warrior-monk's body to assault two of the Earth's appointed guardians: the immortal Watchman known as Tusk and the young Dragon warrior called Kim Wu. As Shadow Jago, Omen attempts to murder them both and steal their consecrated weapons from them, and while Omen succeeded in possessing Jago, he fails to assassinate either Tusk or Kim Wu, having to flee from Tusk and ultimately being defeated by Kim Wu.
Gargos eventually appears, naturally as the game's final boss.
Background
Gargos is an ancient creature spawned from the Astral Plane. Sadistic, vain and utterly megalomaniacal, this nightmarish entity rampaged across his own dimension, killing all who opposed him and siphoning their powers, eventually becoming the supreme Shadow Lord—a master of Shadow Energy.
Gargos killing Eyedol and stealing his power.
For thousands of years, Gargos attempted to take over other worlds, including the Earth; but he was always thwarted by the benevolent demigodlike Astral beings known as Ichoriens.
These demigods sent Astral Spirits to aid humans in their battles against Gargos; and sometimes gave Astral powers to human warriors, like the immortal Barbarian called Tusk or the prideful (and later corrupt) Eyedol.
Gargos corners the Guardians, shortly before their escape.
Gargos finally vanquished the once mighty Ichoriens; and the last good Astral denizens, the Guardians, fled that plane, escaping to other dimensions. They sealed off the Astral Plane behind them so that Gargos could never taint another world with his corruption.
But then Gargos used his telepathic abilities to manipulate an Earthling—the nefarious sorcerer Kan-Ra into reopening the gateway between the two worlds.
| “ | Using Aganos' siphoned power, Kan-Ra opens the portal, and awaits his army. But instead, a lone being exits, a creature so old it makes Kan-Ra's immortal life seem like a grain of sand in an hourglass... and for the first time in thousands of years the sorcerer feels fear. He has brought about the age of a new God, and mankind has no place in it. | „ |
| ~ Kan-Ra freeing Gargos. |
Now the Shadow Lord is bent on spreading his corruption across the globe, turning humans into his slaves for eternity or annihilating them.
Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords
In the Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords story mode, The Alliance, composed of the entire cast barring Gargos, unites in order to defeat the Shadow Lord.
It is possible for Gargos to win in the end, with the resulting cutscene playing if he does:
| “ | Gargos has defeated the doppelganger. Earth's heroes are conquered... And now he has mastered the Astral Plane. Now what should he do? (Gargos glares at the Earth from outer space with a vicious grin, then flies through one of his portals with a savage burst.) Rage on, Shadow Lord. | „ |
| ~ The narration of Gargos' victory in his Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords ending. |
Tusk killing Gargos.
But canonically, going with the true ending of Shadow Lords and the continuation in the 2017 comics by Dynamite, Gargos is defeated by Tusk and his rune-powered blade Warg-gram in the final battle.
| “ | The gods of old made Gargos, but Warg-gram un-made him. DAH! | „ |
| ~ Tusk killing Gargos in Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords. |
Gargos reborn.
However, it is later revealed that Gargos had been prepared in case he somehow lost the final battle on Earth. His soul escaped into the Astral Plane and captured the Astral Spirits, siphoning their energy and slowly killing Earth.
Gargos was reborn but was once again defeated, this time by one of his ancient enemies, Aganos, who he had sealed within a soul gem and banished him from the Astral Plane long ago. In his true form, as the Light Lord, Aganos was able to fend off Gargos, sending him as far away from the Earth as possible.
Gargos vowed that he would return.
Powers and Abilities
| “ | Gargos draws his god-like power from the Astral Plane... But outside of his own realm, he is mortal. The spread of corruption transforms the Earth to feed Gargos' power. As this corruption spreads, so does the Shadow Lord's power increase. | „ |
| ~ The Narrator on Gargos. |
In the original universe, Gargos had a more limited, but still powerful, moveset that included claw-based attacks and spewing fireballs at his opponents, even from the air, though he's generally not seen as being as powerful, dangerous or difficult as Eyedol was in the previous game, which could be explained by the fact that he was weakened due to his exile.
The reboot updated him into something far greater than a mere demon warlord, becoming a universal threat in the form of a devilish god.
As the tyrannical Shadow Lord of legend, Gargos has attained untold power by absorbing the essence, power or souls of the numberless mortal and astral beings he has slain, Eyedol being the only one that has ever managed to return thanks to external help. Most who have survived an encounter with Gargos have only done so from fleeing, rarely from being able to challenge his might as Eyedol, who had been stated to be the only one, did.
The numerous claims of Gargos being a god are no exaggeration, while inside the Astral Plane he boasts power capable of altering entire planets. His struggle against Eyedol was compared to an explosion of stars and a creation of his even claimed Gargos could destroy suns.
| “ | The recent emissions from the portal—lightning that seared the ground, altering matter and corrupting it by breaking down its molecular structure—gave chilling proof to that theory. Something was beginning to reform the Earth.
So what do we do?” asked Cinder, standing behind ARIA and tossing a blob of plasma in one hand as though it were a child’s ball. “Reports are coming in saying—” “Yes,” interrupted ARIA. “I have access to all Ultratech communiqués. There are portals opening above every continent on the planet. Hundreds of thousands of people are already dead from these lightning emissions.” |
„ |
| ~ ARIA and Cinder in the Killer Instinct: Shadows at Dawn epilogue. |
Gargoes flies over a portal leading to his future domain.
A wandering plague upon existence itself, the demonic half-god can create extremely deadly and destructive dimensional portals which enables him and his servants to bypass the limitations of physical space; travelling vast distances in an instant, summoning his minions to his location, and allowing him to reach for his victims out of nowhere. This ability to drain the powers of his prey typically manifests itself as "soul-stealing", causing Gargos to gain Shadow Meter.
Jago and Orchid, turned to stone.
Despite his size, being among the tallest characters in the KI series aside from Aganos and Eyedol (standing around 7 to 8 feet tall and 9' to 10' at the tips of his wings), Gargos' wings enable him to fly both great distances in order to close the gap between him and his opponent or to put distance between them.
His Instinct Mode allows him to transform his entire body into pure stone, making him impervious to the impact of his opponents' attacks (i.e.: no stagger or knockdowns on light or medium attacks) but at the cost of it greatly reducing his movement. He can then "erupt" his stone skin into shards which will inflict harm to his enemy and violently knock them back. He is presumably responsible for doing something similar to Jago and Orchid, showing that he can do it to others and not just himself.
| “ | Gargos can destroy whole suns. Why not a mere ember? | „ |
| ~ Mimic Glacius to Cinder. |
The immortal Tusk claims only Gargos can kill him.
In the Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords mode, Gargos boasts many unique astral powers such as rapid healing, resurrection, immense damage output, ability to inflict full damage on a blocking opponent, permanent Instinct Mode, etc. These powers can only be countered by defeating the four Omens that herald Gargos' arrival on the Earth.
In the novella Killer Instinct: The Watchman Awakens, we also learn that he can speak a modified, dark and twisted version of the Ichoriens' language, similar to Black Speech.
| “ | One night, as he sat in front of the fire, he took out from his pouch the piece of silk he had found in the ice cave—the cloth that had been hidden under Warg-gram. Who had put it there? It was another annoying puzzle piece. A useless bit of nothing. Cursing, he tossed it on the fire; and as the cloth curled on the coals a strange vision unfurled before his eyes—a hideous winged gargoyle with glowing eyes… A cruel and vicious beast that mocked him. He could hear its harsh voice speaking in an ancient and evil tongue—a bastardization of the language of the Ichoriens: Ashkal grood zel-ichor! That is what it said, over and over again. Bellowing its hideous and cruel laugh. I will flay your soul! That is what the words meant. He remembered that much at least. This monster was no myth. It was real. |
„ |
| ~ Tusk sees a vision of Gargos through a fire. |
Quotes
| “ | How does it feel to meet your god? | „ |
| ~ Gargos to Jago in his trailer. |
| “ | I can play your game too, machine. | „ |
| ~ Gargos to ARIA in his trailer. |
| “ | Hahaha! Pathetic! | „ |
| ~ Gargos' taunt. |
| “ | Your immortality ends here! | „ |
| ~ Gargos to Tusk in his trailer. |
| “ | Why do you aid these pitiful Earth-beings, Jago? It is time for you to join your brothers by my side, and together, we can rule this universe for eternity. | „ |
| ~ Gargos to Jago in Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords. |
| “ | You will kneel to me again, Jago... Now or later, it matters not. | „ |
| ~ Gargos to Jago in Killer Instinct: Shadow Lords. |
Trivia
- According to creative director Adam Isgreen, Gargos' personality for the remake was heavily inspired by Tim Curry's performance as the "Lord of Darkness" in the 1985 fantasy film Legend.
- Gargos' tendency in the remake to grab his opponents and lift them helplessly up into the air likewise seems to have been derived from this movie's last battle scene.
- Gargos' move "Reckoning" is similar to M. Bison's "Psycho Crusher".
- Additionally, his Shadow Lord Exclusive move, "Resurrection", is similar to Gill's attack move with the same name.
- One of Gargos' profile card taunts ("You are already dead!") is actually Kenshiro's famous quote from Fist of the North Star.
External Links
- Gargos on the Pure Evil Wiki
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