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Ruin... has come to our family. You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor. I lived all my years in that ancient, rumor-shadowed manor. Fattened by decadence and luxury. And yet, I began to tire of conventional extravagance. Singular, unsettling tales suggested the mansion itself was a gateway to some fabulous, and unnamable power. With relic and ritual, I bent every effort towards the excavation and recovery of those long-buried secrets, exhausting what remained of our family fortune on swarthy workmen and sturdy shovels. At last, in the salt-soaked crags beneath the lowest foundations, we unearthed that damnable portal of antediluvian evil. Our every step unsettled the ancient earth, but we were in a realm of death and madness! In the end, I alone fled laughing and wailing through those blackened arcades of antiquity... until consciousness failed me. You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial. It is a festering abomination! I beg you, return home, claim your birthright, and deliver our family from the ravenous clutching shadows... of the Darkest Dungeon.
„
~ The Ancestor in the intro cinematic for Darkest Dungeon.
“
Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow, and insidious killer.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player's victory, and the Ancestor's most famous quote.
The Ancestor is the secondary antagonist and narrator of the dark fantasy video game Darkest Dungeon.
The preceding owner of the estate the game takes place in, the Ancestor's endless need for entertainment and his obsessive fascination with the occult are the cause behind many of the evils plaguing the land. He inadvertedly roused the Heart of Darkness from its deep slumber.
He was voiced by Wayne June, who also voices the Academic in Darkest Dungeon II.
The Ancestor is an old man with grey hair, a full beard with mustache and a luxurious red mantle befitting his vast wealth. During his younger years, the Ancestor largely looked the same, although with his black hair allowing for a stylish mustache, goatee, and stubble.
Personality[]
The Ancestor is a highly eccentric individual whose extreme intelligence is juxtaposed by his complete lack of empathy towards the people around him. Sadistic and manipulative, the Ancestor took a quiet delight in the murder of those unwanted on his large estate and had no consideration for collateral damage as long as it did not impact him directly. Once someone had fulfilled all the use they were worth, the Ancestor did not hesitate to dispose of them by either having them killed or inflicted with a fate worse than death.
However, through his own narration the Ancestor was also keenly aware of his own shortcomings, such as his utter ineptitude for summoning rituals, which were either complete failures or bitter disappointments. He also acknowledges that his "out of sight, out of mind" mentality has caused numerous avoidable problems down the line. He encourages the Heir to abandon hopeless expedition, to be wary of allowing their successes blind them to the inevitability of failure and to discard those no longer of any use to them.
Truly, most if not all the terrible deeds the Ancestor has done were made purely in the interest of his own curiosity and boredom.
Biography[]
Darkest Dungeon[]
A Horrible Past[]
The Ancestor's great manor, which would later become the Darkest Dungeon.
“
In time, you will know the tragic extent of my failings...
„
~ The Ancestor's most common quote when returning to the Hamlet.
Long before the events of the game, the Ancestor lived a luxurious life on his vast estate. Bored with the scarcity of challenge and excitement in his everyday life, the Ancestor turned to studying the occult. He invited a delegation of scholars from overseas into his home to learn what he could from them, displaying a high aptitude for the dark arts. Initially humble, his ambition grew quickly. Once he had exhausted what knowledge they had to give, he murdered them in their sleep and then raised them from the dead with much of their intellect intact, which he noted was a remarkable success for even the greatest necromancers. The undead scholars then began to resurrect the dead themselves, amassing an undead army and taking control of what would become known as the Ruins.
Having mastered the arts of death, the Ancestor turned his attention to learning the arts of blood rituals and summoning. Much to his frustration, his talent for necromancy did not extend into talent for summoning, as his endeavors frequently resulted in failure and disappointment. He did discover that both the quality and type of meat used for the rituals was critical to its success, pig meat being a great substitute for human flesh, but the best he managed to create was a brutish and stupid monster called the Swine Prince. The rest of his experiments produced heaps of possessed pig flesh and other failed experiments that quickly became burdensome, so he looked for a way to get rid of it. When excavations discovered a network of ancient tunnels underneath the manor, the Ancestor had his various failures thrown into it, resulting in the catacombs becoming a hive filled with the pig-like abominations.
The Ancestor became interested in studying the arcane properties of herbs and fungi, but his immersion into rare and elusive books were interrupted by a striking young woman. Impressed with her knowledge on herbology, the Ancestor worked alongside her in genuine professional respect, until her self-experiments caused her to become increasingly hideous. He eventually couldn't stand her presence anymore and banished her into the Weald, where she continued her experiments with a coven of witches, creating a cabal to command over, both of other dark mages and fungus-controlled monstrosities.
Finding himself in financial distress, the Ancestor sought to remedy his situation by striking a deal with the pelagic creatures living in the Cove. Among their demands was a sacred idol and a sacrifice of "more troubling portent". He agreed to their bargain, but as they slipped away into the depths he noticed that he had been followed by a maiden from the village, who had seemingly become smitten with him and followed him everywhere, something he had found charming initially, but was becoming troublesome. The Ancestor lured her to the pier's edge, clamped her to the idol and pushed both into the freezing depths before she knew what was happening. The creatures from the deep upheld their end of the deal, leaving behind valuable jewels when the tide receded, and turned the maiden into their queen and slave.
With the roads to the Hamlet getting more and more dangerous, the Ancestor hired a crew of smugglers to bring him valuable artifacts and materials by sea. When they eventually demanded more money for their secrecy than he deemed them worth, he rid himself of them by cursing their anchor while they slept. It dragged them and their ship into the depths, the curse keeping them from finding peace and forcing them into a perpetual state of drowning.
The End of the Ancestor[]
The Ancestor running terrified from what he has unleashed.
Finally, the Ancestor decided it was time to unearth the mysteries he knew were slumbering beneath his manor. His studies and insights had convinced him that there must be something beneath his feet that would give him the glimpse of cosmic truth he sought for, but excavations were interrupted by a particularly annoying homeless lunatic. The gibbering old man roused the citizens of the Hamlet with surprising knowledge of the Ancestor's ambitions, decrying him as a harbinger of doom. To the Ancestor's frustration the old man was surprisingly impossible to silence, as he somehow survived every possible attempt the Ancestor made at killing him. He was eventually forced to give up and simply showed the man the full extent of his plans. The full realization of the ancient horror drove the old man completely insane, clawing out his own eyes and running away screaming and laughing that the end was near. That man would go on to teach his horrific truths to other people of the land, resulting in an outbreak of cultism to emerge.
Nevertheless, the Prophet's warnings had done their work and unrest began to rise in the Hamlet. Unable to ease tensions with bribery, the Ancestor hired some of Brigand Vvulf's minions to restore order. They did as was asked, bringing with them a massive cannon, and the population was "culled to more manageable numbers". With the Hamlet dealt with for the time being, the Ancestor turned his attention back to the excavations where they at last uncovered a massive gateway. They opened the gateway, but were unprepared for the horror they unleashed. A gigantic beast attacked them and slaughtered the miners as the Ancestor fled the scene, screaming and laughing like the madman he was.
The Ancestor reaching for his gun after finishing his will.
He wrote a letter to his Heir, leaving them his estate and instructing them to redeem their family and set his failures right again. Once the letter was sent, the Ancestor took his pistol and shot himself. The estate had already degraded into chaos brought on by the Ancestor's experiments and the horror of the manor by the time the Heir arrived, who went to work hiring mercenaries and repairing the Hamlet. Their ultimate goal, reclaim the land and conquer the Darkest Dungeon within the manor.
Final Battle[]
After breaching the Darkest Dungeon itself and overcoming the horrors within, the Heir's heroes finally reached the gateway to the heart of the beast that dwells beneath the earth. Upon entering they found their fleshy, pulsating surroundings suddenly change into a serene cosmic backdrop. As they walked through the void, an apparition of the Ancestor appeared before them and told them of what lies ahead. All he ever wanted to achieve was to gain a glimpse beyond the veil for a little piece of cosmic truth, which he found down here. The truth broke him, ceasing to be a mere man and becoming a herald for the inevitable. He explained that the true reason for calling the Heir to the estate was not to redeem their family but to strengthen the thing living beyond the gateway, as their failures and the heroes that perished on these grounds only accelerated its awakening.
Finally, the heroes entered the portal to the Heart of Darkness itself. Once more the Ancestor appeared, but this time it was he that challenged them to combat. Using the control over the human body that the Heart had granted him, the Ancestor made clones of himself while rendering himself invulnerable. Only by attacking the imperfect ones could progress be made, lest the heroes die through war of attrition. Eventually the Ancestor changed tactics to a more direct approach, growing in size and attacking them personally. Upon his defeat the Ancestor suddenly morphed into the gestating Heart of Darkness and suggested that the heroes pray for the beast to not take too hideous a form.
The heroes managed to best the Heart of Darkness, but the Ancestor called their victory a hollow one. The Heart could never truly be destroyed, as all of humanity is born from it and will return to it in due time. Though forced back into dormancy, it is inevitable that the Heart will be roused from its sleep once more and eventually hatch from the Earth, destroying it and all life that exists on it. Faced with this realization, the Heir sends away a letter and shoots themselves with the Ancestor's gun, starting the cycle anew.
Crimson Court DLC[]
During the Ancestor's youth, he and an entourage of fellow hedonistic aristocrats often held lavish feasts and indulged in their twisted pleasures inside the grand courtyard of his estate. One night, during a particularly intoxicating and vile party, the Ancestor's eye was caught by a particularly seductive countess. They began to dance under the moonlight, but he had a different kind of pleasure in mind. Keeping a knife behind his back, the Ancestor prepared to murder the noblewoman in a display of sadistic sport, yet when the moment came when he decided to strike the Countess revealed her dance to have had a similar purpose, her usually gorgeous face contorting into the monstrous visage of a vampire, thirsting for blood.
Though taken by surprise, the Ancestor managed to overpower the fiend with just his knife. Arrogant in his victory, the Ancestor then thought to combine insult with depravity and had her blood drained from her and filled in wine bottles. He served this new crimson beverage to the other aristocrats, but the taste yielded unexpected results. The entire courtyard went even madder than before, biting into their own flesh and ripping each other apart in a frenzy, spreading from guest to guest like a plague. The Ancestor himself merely had a drop of it, sparing him from the curse but gifting him with a glimpse of the horror that lived beneath his feet, dedicating the rest his life to uncovering its horrible truth.
Years later, the curse still lingered on, trapped within the closed gates of the courtyard. Not long after the new heir arrived at the estate, particularly nasty mosquitoes started to plague the Hamlet they call their home. Activity roused the beasts from their slumber, thirsting for the crimson liquid hiding away beneath the skin. A search party had to be sent into the courtyard to burn their hives, but this only prolonged the inevitable. Over time, the mutated aristocrats and their servants steadily infested the entire estate, even infecting the very heroes the Heir employed. A disgraced monk eventually arrived on the estate to fight against the disease, but his obsession quickly revealed itself to be another problem that needed to be dealt with.
The aristocrats protected the entrance to their domain fiercely, only allowing those with an invitation inside so they could play their murderous games. To fight back against the curse, it needed to be rooted out by its source. Three individuals led the others in their spread throughout the estate: The Baron, considered a nasty sadist even by the Ancestor's standards, the gluttonous Viscount and finally the Countess herself. She survived her encounter with the Ancestor and became the hive queen of the vampire aristocrats. Her death finally allowed the local sanitarium to discover an antidote against the Crimson Curse, marking the end of this long nightmare.
Color of Madness DLC[]
Before the horrific discovery of the gateway beneath the manor the Ancestor was visited by a miller, a simple farmer who worked with his wife on the estate's farmstead. Famine had struck again and the harvest was once again looking dire, so the miller came to the Ancestor to ask him for aid. The Ancestor saw opportunity and promised to lend his expertise, ordering the construction of a ring of stones with strange symbols carved onto their surface around the fields. He appeared to have helped kept his promise and things seemed to look up, but the improved fertility of the land was only a secondary effect that these runes were supposed to bring.
The Ancestor did not live to see his work bear fruit, but a comet struck the old windmill after the arrival of his heir. The comet was of an otherworldy nature, having been attracted by the arcane markings on the stones and immediately started to corrupt the land around it. The Miller, his wife, the farmhands and the animals were all consumed by the will of the evil sleeping within the comet, crystalline growths growing within them, morphing them into empty husks. Some of the farmhands even fused with the livestock, becoming a hulking amalgamation of flesh and crystal that broke out of the barrier and roamed the estate. Even time seemed to warp and repeat.
The voice of the Ancestor noted that his only regret in the matter is that he was not around to see the miller's mill be smashed into pieces by the bounty he reaped from the stars.
Quotes[]
“
There is a place, beneath those ancient ruins, in the moor, that calls out to the boldest among them... "We are the Flame," they cry, "and Darkness fears us!" They descend, spurred on by fantasies of riches and redemption, to lay bare whatever blasphemous abnormality may slumber restlessly in that unholy abyss... But Darkness is insidious. Terror and Madness can find cracks in the sturdiest of armors, the most resolute of minds... And below, in that limitless chasm of Chaos, they will realize the truth of it. "We are not the Flame," they will cry out, "we are but moths, and we are DOOMED!" And their screams will echo amidst the pitiless cyclopean stones... of the Darkest Dungeon.
„
~ The Ancestor in the "Terror and Madness" trailer for Darkest Dungeon.
“
You will arrive along the old road. It winds with a troubling, serpent-like suggestion through the corrupted countryside. Leading only, I fear, to ever more tenebrous places. There is a sickness in the ancient pitted cobbles of the old road and on its writhing path you will face viciousness, violence, and perhaps other damnably transcendent terrors. So steel yourself and remember: there can be no bravery without madness. The old road will take you to Hell, but in that gaping abyss we will find our redemption.
„
~ The Ancestor shortly before the tutorial begins.
“
Women and men; soldiers and outlaws; fools and corpses. All will find their way to us now that the road is clear.
„
~ The Ancestor when the player checks the stage coach for the first time.
“
All the decadent horrors I have seen pale in comparison with that final, crowning thing. I could not look, nor could I look away!
„
~ The Ancestor regarding his unearthing of the Heart of Darkness.
“
The fiends must be driven back, and what better place to begin than the seat of our noble line?
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon entering the Ruins.
“
I knew all these paths once; now they are as twisted as my own ambitions.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon entering the Weald.
“
They breed quickly down there, in the dark, but perhaps we can slay them even faster.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon entering the Warrens.
“
These salt-soaked caverns are teeming with pelagic nightmares - they must be flushed out!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon entering the Cove.
“
The way is lit. The path is clear. We require only the strength to follow it.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says when the player lights their torch completely.
“
Glittering gold, trinkets and baubles - paid for in blood.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon collecting treasure.
“
Wealth beyond measure, awarded to the brave and the foolhardy alike.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon collecting treasure.
“
A handsome reward, for a task well performed.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon collecting treasure.
“
A moment of respite. A chance to steel oneself against the coming horrors.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player setting up camp.
“
Cruel machinations spring to life, with a singular purpose!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon a trap activating.
“
Ancient traps lie in wait, unsprung and thirsting for blood.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon a trap activating.
“
Gnawing hunger sets in, turning the body against itself, weakening the mind...
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the party's health dropping due to a lack of food.
“
Soothed. Sedated.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon a member of the party healing.
“
As the fiend falls, a faint hope blossoms.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the death of an enemy.
“
Confidence surges as the enemy crumbles!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the death of an enemy.
“
Press this advantage. Give them no quarter!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the death of an enemy.
“
Their formation is broken! Maintain the offensive.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the death of an enemy.
“
Continue the onslaught! Destroy. Them. All!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the death of an enemy.
“
A death by inches...
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon an enemy dying from a status ailment.
“
Great is the weapon that cuts on its own!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon an enemy dying from a status ailment.
“
Slowly, gently. This is how a life is taken.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon an enemy dying from a status ailment.
“
The slow death. Unforeseen, unforgiving.
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon an enemy dying from a status ailment.
“
Many fall in the face of chaos... but not this one! Not today!
„
~ The Ancestor upon a character gaining the Stalwart virtue.
“
And now the true test. Hold fast, or expire!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon a character being put into the Death's Door status.
“
These nightmarish creatures can be felled! They can be beaten!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player's victory.
“
Success so clearly in view... or is it merely a trick of the light?
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player's victory.
“
A trifling victory... but a victory nonetheless!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player's victory.
“
Ghoulish horrors... brought low, and driven into the mud!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon the player's victory.
“
Impressive haul!... If you... value... such things!
„
~ One of the lines the Ancestor says upon filling your inventory.
“
The buffoon is flummoxed!
„
~ The Ancestor if a player takes too long to act in the Butcher's Circus.
“
Madness can take many forms, but none so contemptible as man's belief in a mythology of his own making. A world view buttressed by dogmatic desperation invariably leads to single-minded fanaticism, and a need to do terrible things in the name of righteousness. This man is an animal - rabid, destructive, and incapable of nuanced understanding. He. Must. Be. Put. Down.
„
~ The Ancestor describing his disgust for The Fanatic.
“
The spasmodically squirming, braying, and snorting half-corpses were heaped each upon the other, until at last I was rid of them. The warrens had become a landfill of snout and hoof, gristle and bone - a mountainous, twitching mass of misshapen flesh, fusing itself together in the darkness.
„
~ The Ancester describing The Flesh.
“
You still foolishly consider yourself an entity separate from the whole. I know better. And I... will... show you.
„
~ The Ancestor as he engages your heroes in battle at the heart of the world.
Gallery[]
The Ancestor's estate, now home to all kinds of horrors and miscreants.
The Hamlet, where the Ancestor's and now your servants live.
A Perfect Reflection encountered in the first phase of the Ancestor's boss fight.
An Imperfect Reflection, your targets during the first phase of the Ancestor's boss fight.
Trivia[]
During the late stages in the game, it is possible to acquire the Ancestor's personal items as trinkets for heroes by going on long expeditions on threat level 5. These have a special "Ancestor" quality, can only be collected once each and are some of the most powerful trinkets in the game.
Because the Ancestor physically morphs into the Heart of Darkness upon reaching the third stage of the final boss fight, it is called into question as to whether or not he was ever here to begin with. While there is no doubt that the horrible things he had done prior to his death were made of his own free will, it is possible that the Ancestor faced at the end of the game was just the Heart of Darkness in disguise. Or perhaps the voice heard throughout the game was the Heart of Darkness all along instead of the Ancestor. The game leaves this ambiguous.
Despite being called "The Ancestor", it is unclear whether or not the Ancestor is actually related to the protagonist. He states in the game's opening that ruin has come to their family and that his heir must try to redeem them, but clarifies in the ending that he was actually referring to humanity as a whole, the "great family of man".
Navigation[]
Villains
Heroes The Antiquarian |
The Grave Robber |
The Highwayman |
The Jester |
The Plague Doctor
Darkest Dungeon The Ancestor |
Heart of Darkness |
Brigands (Brigand Vvulf) |
Undead (Necromancers, Drowned Crew) |
Cultists (The Prophet) |
The Hag's Coven (The Hag) |
Swine (Swine King, The Flesh, Wilbur) |
Pelagics (The Siren) |
Crimson Court (The Countess, The Baron, The Viscount, Garden Guardian) |
Husks (The Sleeper, The Miller, The Thing from the Stars) |
The Shambler |
The Collector |
The Shrieker |
The Fanatic
Darkest Dungeon II The Scholar |
Iron Crown |
Cultists |
Gaunts |
Pillagers |
Plague Eaters (Harvest Child) |
Swinefolk (Wilbur) |
The Fanatics (The Librarian) |
Lost Battalion (Dreaming General) |
Fisherfolk |
The Leviathan |
The Shambler |
Death |
The Grave Robber's Husband |
Royal Advisors |
The Prioress |
The Torturer |
Great Denier |
Seething Sigh |
Focused Fault |
Ravenous Reach |
Body of Work
Villains