The Universal Church of Truth is the main antagonistic faction of the 2021 video game Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Headquartered within the former mining ship of Sacrosanct, the Church is a technologically religious cult dedicated to healing pain and suffering. It was originally found by Raker and Adam Warlock during its first encounter with a group of sick miners from an incurable disease.
The organisation's prominence soon grows especially during the Galactic War and after it, attempting to "heal" those who were traumatised by Thanos's terror during the conflict through the Promise. In reality they plan to use their brainwashed victims as unwitting sacrifices for the Faith energy in order to awaken Magus, with the dark entity planning to conquer the galaxy for himself and devour the universe to his own ends.
Background[]
The Universal Church of Truth denotes that a "Promise", a mysterious, strange phenomena, will put an end to all suffering throughout the universe. It embraces those who follow to it but tries to get rid of those who do not.
Prior to the events of the game Raker and subsequently Adam Warlock encountered a ship containing sick miners who died from an incurable, deadly disease. Making matters worse was that the miners' home colonies were also ravaged by the same disease that costed the lives of their fellows, as well. Realising that Warlock was the only actual healer, Raker's expression of shock turned to relief as Warlock soon healed the miners, causing him and those who were healed to worship him as the Church's new "God". This led to the creation of the Universal Church of Truth in the first place.
During the eve of Galactic War, Warlock and the Church sought methods to undo the damage caused by Thanos during the Galactic War, but the organisation dealt a blow after their "God" mysteriously disappeared, who abandoned his followers, leading to Raker becoming the de facto leader of the Church after Warlock's disappearance.
The Church makes its appearance in the present-time when they are firstly met by the Guardians including Peter Quill and Rocket in Chapter 2: Busted, where their members and Raker make a brief appearance.
In Chapter 5: Do or Die, the Church manage to brainwash the Nova Corps officers within Hala's Hope, who were all victimised through the Promise, with the Guardians forcing to incapacitate them for good. Magus soon killed Ko-Rel, before he brainwashed Nikki into becoming the Church's Matriarch.
During Chapter 8: The Matriarch, the Guardians infiltrated Sacrosanct, the Church's main headquarters, to meet up with Raker in order to pay visit to the Matriarch. However, with Quill and Gamora knowing of the Matriarch's true identity, as well as with Quill destroying the Promise within him, Raker soon grows furious, as he ordered his guards to send the Matriarch away, before Raker soon engaged the Guardians in a battle. But he managed to defeat all of them when his attacks did nothing, causing him to fire a faith-powered spear onto them. Raker then escapes as he sends his own guards to deal with the Guardians.
In Chapter 9: Desperate Measures the Xandarian Worldmind refuses to help the Guardians out in their battle against the Church, coldly warning that the Church's influence has infiltrated not just the entire Nova Corps, but also all of the universe, as well. This in return makes them a far more formidable force to reckon within the universe, leaving the Guardians in a predicament as tensions grew much higher between members over dealing with the Church due to their failure in saving Nikki.
In Chapter 12: Knowhere to Run, the Church soon infiltrated Mantis' home of Lamentis, forcing the Guardians and later Warlock to leave Mantis and visit Knowhere, which is now under the control of the Church, where they now commence siphoning Faith energy by sacrificing the brainwashed. However, realising that the Church fleet is much bigger than it was in their first encounter, the Guardians are forced to visit Maklu IV to reach Fin Fang Foom.
In Chapter 14: Into the Fire, the Sacrosanct was soon under attack by the Guardians and Lady Hellbender's army, with tensions rising high between both sides. Within the inner sanctum of the ship, Raker then rebuffs a captive Warlock, who claimed that he "abandoned his flock", to which Warlock himself castigated Raker how he only used subjugation and mania during his reign as its leader through its Promise, which were ideals that Warlock were totally against for. After Warlock was freed by the Guardians, Raker then single-handedly stops them, while he attempts to let the Matriarch initiate Magus' awakening, where the monstrous being soon attempting to devour anything in its path as it gained a new form. However, Quill soon helped Nikki getting out of her brainwashing after destroying her Promise, thereby halting Raker's plans of spreading the Fulfillment as he attempts to defeat the Guardians in a final battle. Though, he would soon be defeated by them, thereby ending the Church's terror across the galaxy, as well as containing Magus and freeing the brainwashed from his control. It is assumed that Raker's demise caused the Church to be disbanded.
Members[]
- Adam Warlock - God figure and founder; formerly
- Raker - Leader and co-founder
- The Matriarch/Nicholette Gold - Figurehead leader; formerly
- The Inquisitors - Raker's personal bodyguards
- Unnamed Church minions
Trivia[]
- Unlike in the comics where Sacrosanct is from the planet GS Deneb, the Sacrosanct depicted in the Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is a huge mining vessel.
