Ancient God

The Ancient Gods of the past

The Ancient Gods - originally known as the immortals - are powerful beings who once created an age of primordial chaos eons before the age of the Transcendents. Numbering in the hundreds, the Ancient Gods waged endless war against each other until the Overseers sealed them away in endless slumber, leaving only a handful to wander the world for millennia.

After the disappearance of Maple World's Transcendents, the Ancient Gods began reawakening from their dormancy, with Gerand Darmoor and his Apostles conducting raids across Maple World and Grandis to steal their divine power. Following the battle of Geardock, nearly every god in the world has lost their power to Darmoor, with only a small number of weak gods retaining what little power they possess.

History

War of the Immortals

In the darkness of the beginning, the Primordial God birthed the universe and brought forth into existence a singular world, with three continental regions: Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum. As the world began to take shape, 365 creations were made - the sun, the moon, the stones, the trees, the wind, the rivers, the seas, and countless others - each adhering to 365 laws that governed the universe. From these 365 creations, hundreds of powerful beings emerged that embodied these natural laws, becoming known as the immortals. Birthed from special divine Erda, these beings could not be harmed by any mortal, but only by the power of another immortal. Nevertheless, the immortals varied in power and influence, with some boasting immense strength and others being small and weak. Though each had their own independent aims and goals, many of the immortals began quarreling as they sought domination and power over all others, thus beginning the War of the Immortals. As a result, an age of immense chaos that led to devastation and destruction spread across the world, with mortals helpless against the subjugation of such indomitable beings. Eventually, however, Noctis - an immortal unparalleled in her raw power and mastery over illusion - was convinced by her twin sister, Luce, to cease fighting and instead create peace between mortals and immortals. At Luce's behest, Noctis created a small temple in the deserts of Grandis, which Luce named Tallahart. Over time, Tallahart quickly grew into an enormous city, with immortals flocking to revere Noctis's power and authority. Soon after, mortals began gathering in the sanctuary city, where they began worshipping the immortals as gods, who would be known ages later as the Ancient Gods.

Over time, more and more gods began gaining followers, with the turbulent conflict stoked by mortals gaining the blessings of the gods. One such faction were the Black Nova, a Nova cult that worshiped Satiras the Devil Dragon, one of the Ancient Gods of the Nova. With Satiras having fallen to evil in his quest for power, he blessed the Black Nova with the power of Malice, allowing them to begin a war of conquest across Grandis. In order to protect the Nova from Satiras and his followers, the other Nova gods created a holy relic called the Outrigger, which contained the will of the Nova gods, making its power usable only for the protection of the Nova. Alongside the Ancient Gods of the Nova, other gods also created their own holy relics, all of which operated on the same principle: that they could only awaken in the hands of one who contained the faith of the gods' followers, allowing them to harness the power of the gods themselves. One god in particular - a small-winged cat named Erion - was responsible for creating countless relics, weapons, and armor for the gods. Amongst his masterpieces was a holy sword called Azor, crafted for the Sun God, Mitra, who descended from the heavens alongside his descendants, a race of demigods called the Celestials. Azor was then bestowed and wielded by the Chosen Ones: Celestials who had the full faith of Mitra's followers. During this time, Tynos - the Ancient God of calamity - spread his tainted influence across the world, sending a black fog of pestilence that darkened the sky. Though the immortal gods were immune to Tynos's power, many mortals were killed by the plague, which caused their bodies to wither and rot away. In Tallahart, the priests and knights of the city worked together to create a cure and seal the fog away, though Tynos's power continued to threaten the mortal world. In order to combat him, Mitra - proclaiming himself as the “god of gods” - personally led his Celestials to war against Tynos and his descendants. After a long and protracted battle, Mitra defeated Tynos and split his body into three pieces, sealing each of those pieces deep beneath High Mountain - a large, floating island that served as Tynos's seat of power. Following the battle, Mitra and his Celestials claimed High Mountain for themselves, where the Celestials built and settled into a city atop the three seals of the calamity god.

The Ancient War

Birth of the Adversaries

As the infighting of the Ancient Gods grew day by day, however, the age of chaos continued without end, with the gods slaying each other in a quest for domination. Though the Erdas of mortals reincarnated in an endless cycle of creation and destruction, the divine Erdas of immortal beings disappeared upon their death. Fearing that the erasure of such massive quantities of Erda would result in universal collapse, the Primordial God sought to put an end to the gods' chaos by creating three beings known as the Overseers to restore balance to the universe. Unlike the Ancient Gods, who were personal gods with physical form, the Overseers were abstract, impersonal beings with no material form, embodying the laws of light, life, and time. With the sole purpose of establishing order and certainty in the universe, the Overseers declared war upon the Ancient Gods, many of whom immediately rallied against the challenge to their rule. With no physical bodies, the Overseers were unable to face the Ancient Gods directly. To this end, they sought out mortals who would carry out their will. On Grandis, twelve wise and courageous Anima sages became known as the elders, famed for their strong sense of duty and their desire to help the world by sharing their wisdom and knowledge. Their excellent character and convictions drew the attention of the Overseers, who gathered them at the Kunlun mountains and tasked them with creating weapons that could seal the gods away in eternal slumber. As the gods could only be harmed by the power of another god, the Overseers created a relic known as the World Heart, imbued with immense divine power far surpassing that of any other holy relic. As a tool for suppressing the power of the Ancient Gods, the World Heart had the ability to strip a higher being of all their power. Revering the Overseers as saviors who would restore order and balance to their chaotic world, the elders came to regard the Overseers as the will of the world itself. The elders were given much by the Overseers, including a long lifespan and researchers to aid them in their experiments to create the powerful beings that would defeat the gods. The elders created a large floating laboratory called Odium, modeled after the Kunlun mountains, where they began investigating how to create mortals that could stand up to the gods. Using the World Heart as a template, the elders created relics known as the Godspheres. As these man-made Godspheres were weaker than the World Heart, they did not possess the power to drain the energy of higher beings, nor did they share the conditions required to awaken the World Heart's power. Instead, the Godspheres had their own unique conditions - namely that they would only awaken in response to the collective determination of the people, such that their immense power could never be monopolized by a single individual.

The elders then began conducting experiments to fuse mortals with the Godspheres in order to give them the power to match the gods. The elders created mechanical Guardians to defend the laboratory, as well as to identify suitable test subjects. Worthy candidates were known as Vessels, who would then be experimented upon in order to be fused with the Godspheres. As the elders conducted their experiments, they began using a combination of magic and cybernetics to enhance their Vessels and make them stronger, as well as to forcibly make them compatible with the Godspheres. As the elders prepared to perfect their experiments, a young boy from Maple World was chosen to bear the destiny of becoming the first living weapon against the gods. After he was brought to Odium, the elders performed their experiments upon him, uniting him with the Godsphere and transforming him into a demigod known as the Adversary. Imbued with the power to challenge the gods, the boy - known from that point on as the First Adversary - began the attack on the gods by laying siege to Tallahart. With more Adversaries created in his wake, the conflict quickly began spreading as the Great War - known ages later as the Ancient War - engulfed the world itself. With their experiments succeeding with great results, the elders began mass-producing more Adversaries in order to subdue the gods and end their chaos. However, the one critical flaw of the elders' research was that due to the nature of the brutal experimentation, their Adversaries lost everything that made them human - their memories, their emotions, their free will, and their sense of self - thereby reducing them into empty shells devoid of anything except their single-minded obsession to fulfill their assigned purpose as Adversaries of the gods. Soon after, the elders also realized another side-effect of their Adversaries - one which had been directly created by the Overseers themselves. The Adversaries' power to destroy higher beings made them a great danger to the world, for while they were working to end the chaos of the gods, allowing such powerful and dangerous weapons to remain in the world was a grave risk, as their mere existence had the potential to usher in a new age of chaos, equal to that of the Ancient Gods. For this reason, it had been ordained that the fate of every Adversary, from the moment that they awakened, was to die soon after fulfilling their purpose. As a result, their Adversaries - after defeating the gods - began falling one by one. With the Adversaries meeting their predestined demise, the elders continued requiring candidates for their experiments to give rise to more Adversaries.

Fall of the Gods

As the war raged on, many of the gods began fearing for their lives, with some choosing to fight and others choosing to flee. Many weak gods began suppressing their powers and disguising themselves as mortals, choosing to survive by casting aside their godhood. Others, such as Erion, survived by creating powerful weapons for stronger gods, thereby making himself indispensable. However, Erion's talents earned him the attention of Odium, which sent its Adversaries to hunt him down and stop him from arming the gods. Because of this, Erion chose to flee and hide from the Adversaries, though he was nevertheless defeated and sealed away. Meanwhile, an Ancient God named Gob - known as the Hand of God for his incredible engineering skills - soon realized that the Erdas of the gods were disappearing from their infighting, which would cause a great imbalance in the world. To prevent this, Gob - with the help of his apprentice, Melian - developed an Erda Condenser in order to coagulate the Erdas of the gods as they perished, thereby preventing those Erdas from disappearing. In addition, Gob created a furnace called Kronos, which could synthesize the coagulated Erdas in order to create an entity powerful enough to destroy the Adversaries. However, Gob was unable to find a way to capture the Erdas of the gods as they perished, for which he deemed his experiment a failure. Though the Adversaries continued sealing the gods, many viewed the Overseers' soldiers as mere nuisances, taking immense pleasure in the carnage and seeking to use the war as a means to gain power and influence over the other gods' domains.

One such god was Ymir, a powerful goddess of illusion who devoured the life force of Adversaries to satiate her endless hunger. Over time, however, Ymir came to believe in the idea of a true paradise, in which only those worthy enough would prosper. In order to commit herself to this cause, Ymir expelled all her inner malice in the form of a clone body called Malefic Star. Ymir then sealed her clone beneath the Dark Sea of Grandis, where her other self spent ages destroying passing ships and draining the life force of sailors, inspiring many songs across Maple World and Grandis about the mysterious disappearances. Some gods, however, remained staunch opponents for the gods' disregard for mortals. In Maple World, the winged goddess Shinsoo used her power to shield countless mortals from the carnage of the war. Meanwhile in Grandis, the river goddess Keira served as the guardian of Carcion, the Cradle of Life. Taking pity on the refugees of the war, Keira took in many displaced snake and turtle Anima who sought sanctuary near the pure waters of Carcion. Amongst these refugees was Gaon, a black tortoise Anima whose entire race had been wiped out by an Ancient God. As the last survivor, Gaon wandered the world in order to fight the gods until arriving at Carcion, heavily wounded. At the coastline of Carcion, Keira healed Gaon and allowed him to recuperate under her care. Over time, Gaon slowly changed his stance on the gods and came to become a close friend and protector of Keira. During this time, an Ancient God named Brihini - an enormous sea serpent capable of creating devastating whirlpools - attacked Carcion, enraged that Keira refused to oppose the Overseers. Though Gaon and Keira managed to drive Brihini away, many Anima were killed and injured in the battle. To protect them, Keira infused her divine blessings into the waters of Carcion, which healed the Anima and strengthened their abilities.

The Last Battles

By the latter half of the war, a powerful god named Jupiter, who ruled the holy land in Western Grandis, amassed immense power and influence, gathering as many as 30% of the surviving gods under his banner. Believing that the only way to defeat the Adversaries was to unite together, Jupiter sent out a call to all the remaining gods, hoping to create an alliance that could win the war. However, many gods refused Jupiter's call, with some distrusting his intentions and others believing that to rely on another's strength was a disgrace to their godhood. Despite this, several gods - particularly those too weak to protect themselves - chose to follow Jupiter, hoping that they could survive under his protection. During this time, Melian - Gob's disciple - came to believe that the chaos of the gods was intolerable, for which she proposed to revive the Kronos experiment. As Gob could not capture the Erdas of the gods as they died, Melian suggested that they instead throw the gods directly into the furnace in order to destroy their physical bodies and synthesize their Erdas directly. However, Gob was shocked by her inhumane suggestion and expelled her from his tutelage, banishing her from his workshop, Geardock. Meanwhile, with the gods fighting against the Adversaries in full force, the Overseers realized that those who feared the power of the Adversaries, as well as those who coveted it, may attempt to attack Odium. For this reason, they chose the four strongest Anima in Grandis: Gaon the Black Tortoise, Ara the Blue Dragon, Shuli the Vermillion Bird, and Baekyeon the White Tiger. These four Anima became known as the Four Symbols and severed their ties to their old lives in order to protect the elders and their research. After Gaon was chosen by the Overseers to protect the elders, Keira - upon seeing how conflicted he was at the realization that he would be helping the Overseers seal her away - chose to help him by making the decision to seal herself away first, declaring that she would do her part to quell the primordial chaos. Before falling into dormancy, Keira gave Gaon a jewel infused with her powers, which was embedded in her spear. However, by the time Gaon arrived at Odium, the divine power within the jewel had already faded away with Keira's slumber.

Over time, the war continued progressing as the elders had hoped, with the gods falling one by one to the Adversaries' power. As the end of the war approached, only two strongholds of the gods remained - Tallahart and the holy land ruled by Jupiter at the edge of Grandis. In Tallahart, Noctis's immense strength allowed her to effortlessly defeat the Adversaries who came to face her, leading her to believe that none could harm her or her twin sister, Luce. Though Luce had doubts about the war, Noctis promised her sister that the Adversaries were nothing more than puppets for the Overseers' selfish fears and that the Adversaries' blades would never reach them so long as they fought an unjustifiable war, for which she invited the Adversaries to keep attacking, declaring that upon their graves, the world would start again in Tallahart. Meanwhile, the other gods of Tallahart began to fear the Overseers, realizing that their divinity remained under threat at the hands of those who could seal them away forever. As stronger and stronger Adversaries were sent forth from Odium to attack Tallahart, the other gods betrayed Noctis in an effort to steal her immense power. By kidnapping her sister, the gods forced Noctis into an agreement to surrender her power in exchange for her sister's life, though the gods nevertheless stripped Luce of her power and banished her from Tallahart. Though the gods of Tallahart claimed Noctis' power, they were unable to handle that power, resulting in Tallahart's destruction and the gods being sealed away by their Adversaries. Tallahart's fall signified the final act of the war, with nearly all the gods either sealed away, hidden amongst mortals, or taking their final stand. With many powerful gods - such as Mitra the Sun God - falling at the hands of the Adversaries, Gob decided to hide himself from the war by creating a pocket dimension inside his dimensional toad, Tirnog. With the age of the gods slowly coming to a close, Jupiter and his alliance stood in the holy land as the last gods left in the world. Eventually, however, only one god remained at the edge of Grandis, and the elders continued their experiments to create an Adversary to confront the last god standing. however, the last god was defeated in a climactic battle, in which their blade carved a great scar across the holy land. Having been felled by their Adversaries, the Ancient Gods' bodies were sealed away across the world, lying dormant for ages as they recovered from the injuries sustained in battle.

Age of the Transcendents

A New Order

Following the end of the Ancient War, the Overseers, to restore order to the universe, divided the world by splitting each of its continents - Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum - into their own dimensions, which would be governed by the Overseers' three laws of light, life, and time. As the Overseers existed for the sole purpose of ensuring universal order and certainty, they determined that there existed a possibility that the Ancient Gods may someday awaken. To ensure that such a possibility would never happen, the Overseers created the Transcendents: mortals who had transcended human limitations to become the Overseers' immortal agents to maintain order. Each of the three worlds received three Transcendents: a Transcendent of Light, a Transcendent of Life, and a Transcendent of Time, with each of the three Overseers managing the Transcendents of their respective domains. Blessed with the divine power of the Overseers, the mere existence of the Transcendents themselves maintained the dimensional boundaries between Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum. The power of the Transcendents suppressed that of the Ancient Gods, thereby ensuring that they would remain forever sealed away in their unnatural slumber. Despite this, several gods remained in the world, having survived the war by hiding themselves away, walking amongst mortals, or choosing to side with the Overseers. Amongst these gods, Shinsoo - who had protect the people of Maple World from the gods' chaos - was tasked by the Overseers with protecting a particular bloodline on Maple World, which had grown intertwined with the Transcendents, such that a descendant of that bloodline would one day awaken to become a replacement Transcendent should the need arise. After the end of the war, Shinsoo used her power to create the floating island of Ereve, which became a seat of power for members of that bloodline, with each of their descendants ruling as the Empress of Maple World after accepting Shinsoo's divine power. Shinsoo also created the Piyos, a race of bird-like creatures, who would carry out her will to aid the Empress. To defend the Empress, Shinsoo bestowed a portion of her power to a guardian known as the Knight of Light, who used the power of light inside their Soul Shield to serve as the Empress's protector, with the Knight of Light's title and power being passed down across generations to worthy inheritors chosen by the Soul Shield. With the Transcendents as their proxies to enforce order, the Overseers manipulated the shape of destiny, erasing all unpredictable variables to ensure that the future remained completely deterministic and predictable. In this way, the Overseers sought to create absolute certainty that the War of the Immortals would never take place again, thereby maintaining the balance of the Erdas and the universe as a whole.

Legacy of the Gods

Though the influence of the gods was sparse in Maple World, the people of Grandis continued passing down legends and stories about the gods and their powers for generations. Amongst the gods of Grandis, the sealing of Satiras resulted in the Black Nova being hunted down by those whom they had once subjugated. The surviving cultists eventually made a decision that resulted in their horns, wings, and tails being lost to both them and their descendants, thereby ensuring that they would not be identified as Black Nova. Afterwards, the survivors fled to a remote part of Grandis and founded a hidden village for their people. Meanwhile, after Mitra was defeated by the Adversaries, the Celestials moved his body to a temple somewhere on Grandis. With the fall of the Ancient Gods, the Celestials lost their powers and remained trapped on Grandis, settling in High Mountain and founding an order of Templars, who guarded the holy sword Azor. At the same time, various faiths gathered at the scar of the earth, the site of the final battle against the gods, which had been carved with the blade of the divine. Amongst those who had gathered, the strongest was a priest named Masra, a worshiper of Mitra. Masra used his strength to overpower the priests of all other religions and founded the holy city of Cernium as a temple dedicated to Mitra, founding the Order of Mitra in the process. Many people gathered together in Cernium, including the followers of the Sun God and those who merely wished to flock towards Masra and his power. In the process of establishing governance over these various factions, a great war was waged that resulted in the establishment of Cernium as its own nation with its own laws. Masra then became the first king of Cernium, serving also as the first High Priest, and began the tradition of members of the royal family carving the pattern of the Sun God upon their foreheads, which reflected their dedication to Mitra.

Despite Cernium being established as a nation, the large number of believers who worshiped the Sun God soon began to fragment into different sects, each creating different practices of worship. Of these sects, one began worshiping Mitra as Spisa, based on the sun's position at sunset, believing that Spisa brought flaming passion. Those who followed Spisa became known as the Flame Priests, who chose to honor their god with loud explosions using gunpowder, meant to mimic their flame powers that were lost to them after Mitra's disappearance. Another sect worshiped Mitra as Nerota, claiming that she brought hope at dawn and dusk. The followers of Nerota - the Dawn Priests - believed that their god's spirit lived inside everyone, for which they would gather together in order to pray to each other, even using a mirror to pray to their own reflections if they were alone. They also believed that Nerota only appeared to those with a tranquil heart in the form of a dark blue deer, with the sun rising between its antlers if one stared long enough without blinking, for which they trained themselves not to blink in order to show their devotion. As a result of these internal divisions, Cernium was engulfed in civil war as these various sects attempted to gain control over the city. At one point, the Order of Nerota was able to gain footing in the city, resulting in them creating a temple dedicated to their god. In the end, however, Masra and the Order of Mitra became the dominant power in Cernium, thus ending the civil war. Though many hoped for peace to return, external enemies began invading the holy city, which had grown weak from the infighting. With the land that Cernium was built upon - the scar of the earth - being a holy site for many gods, not simply Mitra, those who hoped for the return of their respective gods continued to gather in Cernium. As the outside threat continued besieging the city, Masra chose to step down as High Priest and appointed a new High Priest to rule in his place, after which he continued ruling solely as the king. By separating religious and state duties, Masra was able to focus on the war effort. However, the war continued endlessly, and many citizens began turning against Masra and his ineffectual leadership. Even after Masra was succeeded by other kings, the infighting continued for centuries. Over time, the various sects of Mitra began to lose sight of their origins and came to believe that their gods, Spisa and Nerota, were entirely separate gods from Mitra. As a result, the Orders of Spisa and Nerota were viewed as heretics by the Order of Mitra, which continued attempting to push out the followers of all religions except their own.

The Outrigger and the Sacred Stones

After Magnus sacked Heliseum, the Nova priests attempted to take the Outrigger's power with them to Pantheon, for which they extracted as much energy as they could into a sacred stone. However, as a result of this, the physical body of one of the Nova gods who had created the Outrigger was destroyed, leaving only the god's clone body - Eskalade - to be sucked into the sacred stone. The Nova then divided the stone's power into four sacred stones, which were used to create the Protective Shield around Pantheon, keeping Magnus and his Specter army out of the city. Meanwhile, Magnus began attempting to take the power of the Outrigger for himself, though his attempts continued being rejected by the will of the Ancient Gods of the Nova.

Abraxas, the Ruins of Memory

In Maple World, the Ancient God Abraxas, who was sealed away by the Adversaries, continued having his power manifest through the ruins of his sanctum, where the remnants of his power continued recording the history of Maple World for ages. After the Black Mage was sealed away, Freud was directed by Alicia to the sanctum of Abraxas, where he accessed the records of history and discovered the existence of the Abyss Crystal, which the Black Mage had sealed away in a subspace between Maple World and Friends World after using it to steal the power time from Rhinne. Freud also discovered Abraxas's relic - a massive airship - which he sealed away with his power before casting a powerful encryption spell on the ruins to prevent the unworthy from seeing the history of the Abyss Crystal.

Relic of the Karuppa

During the age of the gods, the Karuppa of Partem worshiped a sacred tree infused with the power of the Ancient God of the Karuppa. From this tree, the Karuppa fashioned a holy relic capable of healing the sick and guiding the lost. After the age of the Transcendents, the power of the relic disappeared from the world until, centuries later, a man named Kirston took the relic and attempted to restore its lost power by turning back time. However, due to the Barrier of Time that Freud had created, which made it impossible for time to move before the moment that the Black Mage's seal had been created, Kirston was unable to restore the relic's power, resulting in his dark magic placing a curse upon the relic.

The Road to True Paradise

During the Flora Civil War, Gerand Darmoor - Grandis's Transcendent of Life - began making plans to create a true paradise, in which only those who exhibited true selflessness and self-sacrifice - known as "noble lives" - would be allowed to exist. During this time, Darmoor and those loyal to him created offshoots of the Godspheres called draining crystals, which worked as weaker imitations of the World Heart, allowing him to drain the power of the gods. Darmoor then began stealing the power of various gods who had survived the Ancient War and bestowed their power to his Apostles. Amongst his Apostles was the Ancient God Ymir, who had expelled her inner malice ages ago in order to dedicate herself to bringing about the true paradise. In order to help Darmoor enact the great culling, which would erase all unworthy lives from the world, Ymir used her powerful illusion magic to conduct experiments for how to bring about such a grand selection of living beings. Over the decades, Darmoor - believing that the Ancient Gods would someday reawaken - began making preparations for his grand plan, awaiting the day that he could take the power of the gods for himself.

The Drakas

Around this time, the Apostle Ypsilon attacked the Black Nova village and captured two children, Kain and Luska. With his ability to extract abstract concepts, Ypsilon created a mercenary company called the Drakas, which utilized the power of Malice extracted from Kain to gain control of Toolen City. Eventually, however, Kain broke free of Ypsilon's control and exposed his manipulations to the other Drakas, with the resulting insurrection nearly wiping out the organization. In the aftermath, Kain left Grandis to become stronger in Maple World, while Ypsilon erased Luska's memories and took her under his control to retain his hold on the divine power of Satiras inside her.

Fall of High Mountain

In order to prepare for the reawakening of Mitra, Darmoor sent the Apostle Havoc to wipe out the Celestials in High Mountain. With only a handful of Celestials surviving the battle, Darmoor used his power to weaken the seal on the calamity god Tynos, once sealed away by Mitra deep beneath the city, injecting him with a special crystal that significantly amplified his power.

The Cygnus Knights

After Empress Cygnus ascended the throne, she created the Cygnus Knights in order to lead the fight against the Black Mage's forces. To this end, Shinsoo blessed the Cygnus Knights with her divine power, granting them magical strength and affinity with elemental spirits to augment their power.

Siege of Heliseum

After the Maple Alliance and the Nova launched a joint operation to retake Heliseum, Magnus was defeated by Alliance forces, after which Darmoor used his power to transport both Magnus and the Outrigger away from Heliseum.

Cygnus Awakening

While Cygnus and her Knights were away from Ereve, Damien invaded the capital and used the power of the Sword of Destruction to mortally wound Shinsoo, after which he kidnapped Alicia. Upon returning to Ereve and seeing Shinsoo nearly killed, Cygnus's latent Transcendent powers partially awakened, transforming her into a Transcendent-in-waiting. After Cygnus used her power to heal Shinsoo, the divine bird left Ereve in order to find a way to help Cygnus master her newfound abilities.

Heroes of Maple

During the Heroes' mission to find Freud's legacy, Evan led the Heroes to the sanctum of Abraxas, where they unsealed Abraxas's relic and used it to find the Abyss Crystal in Friends World. However, Abraxas was attacked by Damien and the demon army, causing it to crash in Friends World and lose all its divine power.

Tenebris

As the Alliance prepared to battle the Black Mage, Shinsoo bestowed her divine power upon Empress Cygnus to bolster her strength as she used her Transcendent powers to lead the Alliance to victory. Using Shinsoo's power, Cygnus created a powerful shield of light that defended the Alliance from Gloom.

Reawakening of the Gods

After the Black Mage went against the Overseers to change the destiny of the world, his plan to create a new world - though stopped by the Adversary - nevertheless resulted in the elimination of all three of Maple World's Transcendents. In the wake of his death, Grendel the Really Old broke the dimensional seal between Maple World and Grandis, resulting in the two dimensions becoming one once again. With the power of the Transcendents weakening, the dormant Ancient Gods began reawakening, with their power slowly returning to the world. As the gods slowly began returning to power, Gerand Darmoor began mobilizing his Apostles to absorb their power into his draining crystals, for which he cast a powerful magical aura across Western Grandis to weaken the Ancient Gods. Hoping to investigate the Ancient Gods' power to use in the battle against Darmoor, the Alliance began sending its forces to Grandis, hoping to learn more about the power of the gods' ancient relics.

Cernium

During the Alliance's investigation in the holy city of Cernium, Darmoor ordered the Apostle Havoc to lay siege to the city. After Seren - a Celestial of Mitra - awakened the holy sword Azor and used its divine solar power to defeat Havoc, Darmoor - disguised as a librarian named Aaron - revealed his true identity and forced Mitra to possess Seren and attack the Adversary. During the battle, the Adversary managed to shatter Azor and break Mitra's hold over Seren, though Darmoor used the chaos to destroy the Adversary's Seal Stone.

High Mountain

After the battle of Cernium, Mitra awakened from his seal and rushed to High Mountain in order to rally the Celestials and get his revenge against the Adversary for defeating him. There, however, he discovered that the city had been overrun by the descendants of Tynos, whose power was leaking from the seals weakened by Darmoor. With the help of Seren, who had come to High Mountain in order to restore Azor, Mitra absorbed back the power he had used to create the seals, after which he engaged in a cataclysmic battle with the calamity god, who used the power of Gerand Darmoor's crystal to fuse with High Mountain itself. In the aftermath of the battle, Seren awoke to find that Tynos had been slain, while Mitra had gone missing. Having repaired Azor with the strength of her will, Seren vowed to use Mitra's power in order to defeat Darmoor once and for all.

Hotel Arcus

While searching for traces of the Ancient Gods, the Alliance came across Hotel Arcus, where Senya Angler was sent by the Angler Company in order to seize control of the hotel's machines, which had been created with the power of an Ancient God. During the mission, the Alliance helped the robot Archelon recover his missing memories as an Ancient God, with his true body slumbering deep beneath the sands awakening at long last. After Senya retreated, Archelon took back control of the hotel robots and offered his aid to the Alliance for their help.

Erion's Return

After awakening from his slumber, Erion began selling knockoff weapons in Maple World until he was arrested by the Alliance. In order to investigate his claim that he was an Ancient God, the Alliance brought him to Archelon, who confirmed Erion's story and revealed that he was the master craftsman who had produced countless masterpieces like Azor. The Alliance then brokered a deal with Erion, promising his freedom in exchange for creating a weapon for the Adversary. Erion created the Astra Sub Weapon for the Adversary, after which he was so pleased by the Adversary's appreciation for his talents that he requested to join the Alliance, becoming its special weapons expert.

Invasion of Odium and Shangri-La

As part of his goal to create the true paradise, Darmoor worked with the Angler Company to manipulate the Adversary into reaching Odium, where they obtained possession of the World Heart. The Adversary then crossed into Shangri-La, where they met with the elders and requested their help in restoring the World Heart's power. During this time, the Apostle Kaling invaded Shangri-La, with the Adversary defeating her and absorbing Darmoor's Transcendent powers inside her to restore a small spark of the World Heart's power. Thanks to Kaling's invasion, six of the twelve elders fled Shangri-La and came to serve under the Apostle Ymir in order to conduct experiments for the great culling and creating a new Adversary. The remaining elders then gave their support to the Adversary in order to help them restore the World Heart, tasking the Adversary with absorbing the power of Ancient Gods and Transcendents.

Arteria Invasion

Following the battle of Odium, Darmoor sent the Apostle Reina to invade Maple World and drain Cygnus's Transcendent powers. With Ereve under siege, Shinsoo returned and bestowed her aid to the Cygnus Knights, surrendering a portion of her divine power to the World Heart in order to help the Adversary rescue Cygnus. In the aftermath of the battle, however, Cygnus's powers were stolen, with the Empress falling into a coma from her injuries. As only the power of the gods could awaken the Empress, Shinsoo gave up all her remaining power to the Adversary, after which she fell into a deep slumber alongside the Empress.

Nightmare Paradise

In the aftermath of Shangri-La, Ymir began conducting an experiment on Baekyeon, one of the Four Symbols guarding Shangri-La who had been kidnapped by the elders. Ymir placed Baekyeon in a nightmare that tested whether he would have the resolve to sacrifice his life to stop the contamination from Shangri-La escaping into the outside world. After Baekyeon proved himself to be a noble life, Ymir and the elders congratulated him on his success, with the experiment proving that Ymir's illusion magic could even work on someone as strong as Baekyeon.

The Dark Sea

While searching for traces of the Ancient Gods, Edea discovered that while the gods numbered in the hundreds, very few had awoken from their slumber. Believing that the mysterious disappearances in the Dark Sea were linked to the power of the gods, Edea led the Alliance to investigate a temple at the bottom of the sea. There, they encountered Malefic Star, who attempted to trap them in a powerful nightmare and drain their life force. However, the Adversary was able to use the World Heart to break her illusion and defeat her once and for all, after which they absorbed her power. Following the expedition, Ymir came to the temple and discovered that her clone's power had completely disappeared. Realizing that the Adversary had used the World Heart, Ymir left the temple to warn Darmoor.

Battle of Carcion

In the wake of Reina's attack, the Alliance began searching for the Ancient Gods to keep Darmoor from taking their power. Their search led them to Carcion, where the Apostle Limbo had worked with the corrupt elders to take control of the sanctuary where the river goddess Keira slumbered. There, the Adversary and the Alliance worked with the Anima of Carcion to defeat Limbo, allowing the Adversary to gain greater control of the World Heart. Nevertheless, nearly all of Keira's power was stolen by Limbo and Havoc. After the battle, the Alliance learned that the Apostles had been attacking and stealing the power of countless gods across the world, for which the Alliance decided to seek out the Primacy and ally with them.

Extradimensional Visitors

After the battle of Carcion, the Ancient God Gob - who had made an alliance with the Primacy - invited the Alliance to his hideout within the dimension toad Tirnog. As the hideout had been attacked by the Apostle Baldrix, Gob asked the Alliance for their help in repairing the dimensional machine. As the Alliance lent their aid, the Primacy - despite mistrusting the Alliance - tolerated their presence in the base, believing that the day may come when they would work together.

Battle of Tallahart

While investigating the High Flora presence in Tallahart, the Adversary encountered the ruins of the ancient city, which was resurrected as a powerful illusion with the World Heart's influence. There, the Adversary began absorbing the power of the dormant gods in Tallahart with the help of Luce, who had survived the Ancient War and sought to resurrect her sister, Noctis. In Tallahart, the Alliance and the Primacy fought together against Baldrix and the Knights of the Einherjar. After Baldrix recognized that the World Heart's power had grown faster than anticipated, he secretly allowed the Adversary to absorb the power of Tallahart's gods before killing Luce and taking her power. The Adversary then fought and defeated Baldrix, recovering Luce's power, before Baldrix revealed that Darmoor intended to enact the great culling. After Baldrix retreated, the Adversary fought and defeated Noctis before making a deal with the goddess, who surrendered her power in exchange for Luce's power, hoping to use it to resurrect her sister. In the aftermath of the battle, the Adversary began investigating the phantoms of Tallahart and soon received a message from Jupiter, who had awoken in the present day and had sent a call to unite all the remaining Ancient Gods against Darmoor.

Geardock Investigation

Some time after Jupiter's call, Gob received an invitation from his old disciple, Melian, who kidnapped him and brought him to his old workshop, Geardock. There, Jupiter gathered the remaining gods whose power had not been stolen by Darmoor and tricked them into believing that he intended to create a new alliance. In reality, however, Jupiter sacrificed all the gods to Kronos, hoping to use their divine Erda and create a god-like entity that could destroy Darmoor. When the Adversary and the Primacy came in search of Gob, Jupiter and Melian sent Gob's machines to attack them. With the help of a god named Tiny - who had escaped Jupiter's trap - the Adversary learned the truth about Kronos and set out to face Jupiter. After Jupiter blackmailed Gob into activating Kronos by threatening to sacrifice Melian, Gob awakened his machine, with Jupiter sacrificing Melian anyway before fusing with the entity created from the furnace. However, Jupiter was defeated by the Adversary before the entity consumed him. As the World Heart attempted to absorb the entity, Gob - realizing that the entity was far too unstable - used his Erda Condenser to coagulate it into a purple crystal before resolving to stabilize its power so that the World Heart could safely take in the godly power. As a result of Jupiter's plan, however, nearly all the gods in the world had disappeared, leaving only a handful of weak gods with their power and the other gods rendered powerless.

Powers and Weaknesses

Immortality and Invulnerability

As higher beings, the Ancient Gods boast power on a scale that transcends the mortal plane. Because they are created from divine Erda, the Ancient Gods possess a nature that leaves them invulnerable to the ordinary Erda of typical mortals. This property led to a popular maxim in ancient times, which stated that only gods had the power to challenge other gods. Like all higher beings, the Ancient Gods were immortal, unable to die unless they were killed by a god or a weapon containing divine power. In the event that a god is killed, their physical body will disappear, and unlike mortals, whose Erda is reincarnated in the Erda Flow, the divine Erda of the god will disappear altogether from the world. However, if the power of the fallen god is captured before or during their death, their divine Erda will not disappear, instead remaining in whatever vessel it has been captured in. Because of this - in very rare cases - it remains possible for a god's physical body to be restored if their power has not vanished. One instance of this was Luce, whom Noctis sought to revive using their connection as twins, as well as using Luce's divine power stored within a draining crystal. Another instance was Prague, who sought to create a new body for himself by using the divine power of relics belonging to his fellow gods, though his attempts were foiled by Gob before he could succeed.

It is currently unknown whether a god retains their invulnerability to mortal attacks if their power has been completely drained. During the Apostles' attacks on the Ancient Gods, it was observed by Carlisle that the Apostles had simply taken the gods' power, with the gods being left alive. While the reason for this is unknown, it is possible that Darmoor had deliberately allowed the gods to retain their lives in order to judge their value during the great culling, for which it remains possible that a god stripped completely of their power would be rendered no different from an ordinary mortal, thereby equalizing gods and mortals as they stood before Darmoor's judgement as the final authority over all living things.

Powers and Forms

The Ancient Gods boasted a variety of different powers, with each of them embodying one of 365 different creations. One example of this was Mitra, whom many regarded as the Sun God because of his solar powers. Some gods, such as Mitra, also have different aspects, such as how the various sects of Cernium worshiped Mitra in three different forms: Mitra, Spisa, and Nerota. Despite the fact that these forms have different names and abilities, all of them collectively fall under the domain of Mitra as the Sun God, such as Spisa representing sunset and Nerota representing dawn. During the Ancient War, each god ruled their own domain with their own set of natural laws, which resulted in conflict between the gods quarreling over their laws and beliefs. Unlike the Overseers, who were abstract, impersonal gods with no shape or form, the Ancient Gods - like the Transcendents - were personal gods, having physical forms that could directly interact with the physical plane. Many of these gods boasted enormous forms, such as Archelon being a tortoise the size of a city, or Satiras being a large dragon. The immense size of these beings added to their legendary status as gods, for which mortals worshiped them as greater powers.

However, not all gods boasted such intimidating forms, as some gods were instead small and weak, such as Gob and Enki. Nevertheless, their ability to change the natural laws of the world was what gave them the status of gods. Like mortals, many of the gods had their own talents and specializations, allowing them to survive in various ways. While powerful gods dominated others with their strength, many weaker gods survived by creating powerful defenses for themselves, cultivating talents that made them useful to stronger gods, or living under the protection of other gods. During the Ancient War and its aftermath, many gods chose to give up their divine status by hiding their powers and disguising themselves as ordinary mortals.

Manifestations of Power

Blessings

Like all higher beings, the Ancient Gods are able to pass on their divine powers to mortals, either through the form of blessings or holy relics. Keira was able to bless the waters of Carcion in order to heal and strengthen the Anima under her protection, while Satiras was able to bless the Black Nova with the power of Malice. These blessings are dependent on the strength of the god who bestows them. During the age of the Transcendents, the waters of Carcion gradually weakened in power with Keira sealed away, and it was presumed that the power of Malice did as well inside the Black Nova. In the case of Mitra's followers, the followers of Spisa lost their flame powers completely. The criteria that determines whether a divine blessing is erased or simply weakened currently remains unknown. Despite the fact that divine blessings contain the power of the gods, every known instance of such a blessing has been depicted as a weak manifestation of a god's power. These blessings appear to only strengthen mortal abilities to a finite degree, giving them superior power over other mortals, but not a god. Because of this, mortals blessed with the power of a god do not appear to have enough power to match a god in combat.

The following blessings have been seen from Ancient Gods thus far:

• Mitra: Mitra blessed his followers, who worshiped him in his Spisa form, with the power of flame magic. After the fall of the Ancient Gods, the followers of Spisa lost their flame powers completely, resulting in them using explosives to mimic their old abilities. Although their power has not yet been regained, it is possible that Mitra's full awakening may restore their blessings once again. However, given that Mitra has presumably been captured by Gerand Darmoor and drained of his powers, this appears to be unlikely.
• Satiras: Satiras bestowed his followers, the Black Nova, with the power of Malice. This power was used by the Black Nova to subjugate the other races of Grandis, though Satiras' fall resulted in the Black Nova being hunted down by those whom they had subjugated. Nevertheless, the Black Nova retained the power of Malice, which continued manifesting over the ages in their descendants. The power of Malice was weaponized by Ypsilon, who used it to arm the Drakas with Malice Stones, allowing them to seize control of Toolen City.
• Shinsoo: After Empress Cygnus created the Cygnus Knights, Shinsoo blessed the Knights with her divine power, allowing them to use powerful skills in conjunction with elemental spirits. Shinsoo also blessed the Soul Shield, which was wielded by the Knight of Light in order to protect the Empress.
• Abraxas: During the Ancient War, Abraxas infused their divine blessings upon their sanctum, which recorded the complete history of Maple World. Even after Abraxas was sealed away, their power manifested in the Ruins of Memory and continued recording all of Maple World's events, with Abraxas's divine influence even allowing them to record events that had been erased from other historical records, such as Shade's sacrifice.
• Keira: Keira blessed the waters of Carcion, infusing them with her divine power. By drinking this water, the Anima of Carcion were able to heal their injuries and gain considerable strength. Over the centuries, these blessings began weakening with Keira sealed away, eventually disappearing altogether when Keira used the last of her strength to restore Carcion after the High Flora invaded and stole most of her power.
• Enki: During the age of the gods, Enki blessed the island of Identisk with the Sunlight Blessing and Wind Blessing, allowing the otters of Identisk to survive. After the Ancient War, Identisk was split into Iden and Tisk Islands, though the power of the blessings persisted over the ages. However, after the convergence of Maple World and Grandis, Enki - after learning that Darmoor and his followers were targeting the power of the gods - allowed the island's blessings to vanish, though he later restored them after the High Flora came to believe that Identisk had no traces of the gods left.
• Ancient God of the Karuppa: The Ancient God of the Karuppa infused their blessings into a holy tree, which was later fashioned into a holy relic by the Karuppa, capable of healing the sick and guiding the lost. The blessings in this relic eventually faded, though Kirston attempted to replicate its original power by turning back time on the relic. However, the resulting failure placed a curse on the relic, with the cursed energies and divine power coexisting in the relic simultaneously.

Holy Relics and Relic-Grade Weapons

Holy relics are artifacts infused with the power of the gods. Unlike blessings, holy relics hold a significant amount of divine power, such that a mortal wielding a holy relic can injure or even kill a god. Many of the holy relics of the gods share a specific property, such that the relics will only respond to one whom the followers of that god believe in. For instance, the holy sword of Mitra only recognizes a Chosen One who has the full support of Mitra's followers. This property was adapted by the elders of Grandis when they created the Godspheres, designing them such that they would only respond to collective desire of the entire world, rather than the followers of any specific deity. Because the holy relics contained immense divine power, these items shared a similar property with the Ancient Gods themselves, rendering them indestructible to anything except the power of a god. One example of this was the holy sword of Mitra, which was only destroyed by the Adversary wielding the power of the Seal Stone, which held the Overseers' power. Similarly, the relics of Archelon - large mechanical sentinels infused with his divine power - were invulnerable to the Adversary's attacks after the destruction of their Seal Stone. Although a holy relic may belong to a particular god, the relic itself may have been created by another god. In particular, Erion was responsible for creating a wide array of powerful weapons for other gods, such as Azor for Mitra.

Relic-grade weapons, on the other hand, are powerful weapons containing an immense quantity of divine power. Unlike holy relics, which possess special criteria to awaken their power, a relic-grade weapon can be wielded by anyone who comes into possession of it. Unlike artifact-grade weapons, which are mortal weapons infused with magical power, a relic-grade weapon is capable of being wielded against a higher being, possessing a degree of power that far surpasses any mortal-made weapon. In particular, one special property of Erion's weapons are that they grow stronger by absorbing the residual energy of the wielder's enemies. Because of this, many of Erion's weapons start out as weak, artifact-grade weapons and grow stronger through a process of continual refinement. Because of this, the quality of Erion's weapons is determined by the strength of the wielder, as a wielder who does not strengthen their weapon's power against stronger foes will often find that their weapon will be easily destroyed compared to Erion's masterpieces, such as Azor or the Astra Sub Weapon, which have been strengthened through countless battles.

The following holy relics of the Ancient Gods have been seen thus far:

• Mitra: Mitra's relic - the holy sword Azor - was created by Erion as one of his masterpieces and historically wielded by Mitra's descendants, the Celestials. Although Azor started out as a relic-grade weapon, the sword was infused with Mitra's divine power and transformed into a holy relic, whose power could only be awakened by one who has the support of Mitra's support. Though Azor survived the Ancient War, the weapon lost its power after Mitra was sealed away until the Sun God's power returned to the world after the convergence of Maple World and Grandis. Soon after, however, Azor was broken during the battle between the Adversary and Seren, who was possessed by Mitra as a result of Gerand Darmoor. Following this, Seren underwent a quest to restore the holy sword, which led her to find a way to repair Azor after fighting alongside Mitra at High Mountain.
• Ancient Gods of the Nova: After Satiras and the Black Nova began their quest for dominance, the remaining Nova gods created a holy relic known as the Outrigger, which was given to the Nova for their protection from Satiras and his followers. The Outrigger was installed in the throne room of Heliseum and remained under the protection of the Nova royal family. After Magnus sacked Heliseum, the Nova priests transferred as much power from the Outrigger as they could into a sacred stone. However, as a result of this power transfer, the physical body of one of the Nova gods was destroyed, leaving behind only their clone body, Eskalade, who was sucked into the sacred stone from the Outrigger. The sacred stone was later divided into four sacred stones, each of which was installed in the four corners of Pantheon to create the Protective Shield. Despite Magnus's constant attempts, the Outrigger continued rejecting his attempts to seize its power, as their will and desire to protect the Nova was infused into the relic, making it such that Magnus - a traitor to his people - would be unable to take it. Decades after the fall of Heliseum, a Nova girl named Tear fused with one of the sacred stones containing Eskalade's spirit, allowing her to wield Eskalade's divine power as Angelic Buster. According to Eskalade, the condition to activate his power is that the wielder must be a being of high prestige and reputation, for which Angelic Buster became a magical idol. These conditions are nearly identical to the conditions of the holy relics, in which the relic's power is given to one whom the people believe in.

The following relic-grade weapons of the Ancient Gods have been seen thus far:

• Mitra: Mitra's relic - the holy sword Azor - initially began as a relic-grade weapon until Mitra infused his own power into Azor, transforming it into a holy relic.
• Abraxas: The relic of Abraxas was a massive airship containing Abraxas's divine power. Though not a weapon, the airship was nevertheless a relic-grade creation that remained tied to the Ruins of Memory until its divine power disappeared after the airship crashed in Friends World.
• Gob: As a master engineer known as the Hand of God, Gob created countless relic-grade weapons, such as the robots in Geardock and the machines in Hotel Arcus. These robots had immensely complex internal mechanisms that only a god with advanced engineering skills could understand. However, certain talented mortals - such as Kelly and Rusty - were able to understand certain aspects of Gob's complex machinery, allowing them to perform simple repairs or maintenance after years of study.
• Erion: As one of the most famous godly blacksmiths, Erion's skills were said to be equal to Gob's, allowing him to create countless relic-grade weapons for the gods during the Ancient War. Though Erion had created many famous weapons during ancient times, his latest relic-grade masterpiece was the Astra Sub Weapon, which was created for the Adversary and honed into a relic-grade weapon through the Adversary's battles.

Covenants

A covenant is a sacred agreement made between a god and a mortal, or a group of mortals. The power of a covenant is such that it can never be broken, not even by the god who made it. Although the terms of a covenant are immutable, the precise way in which the terms of the agreement are carried out can vary. For instance, when Noctis made a covenant with the gods of Tallahart to surrender her power in exchange for Luce's safety, the gods of Tallahart - while sparing Luce's life - nevertheless stripped her of her godly power before casting her out of the city. In this way, the gods ensured that while they themselves wouldn't harm her directly, the threat of the Adversaries made it so that she would likely be killed anyway, allowing them to adhere to the letter of the covenant, but not its spirit.

The following covenants have been made thus far:

• A covenant was made between Noctis and the gods of Tallahart, in which Noctis agreed to surrender her power in exchange for Luce's safety. Though the gods agreed to spare Luce, they nevertheless drained her power and banished her from Tallahart. Noctis was then divested of nearly all her godly strength, which proved to be too much for the gods of Tallahart to handle, resulting in them being sealed away by the Adversaries. Meanwhile, Luce survived the Ancient War and attempted to free Noctis ages later with the help of the Adversary, though she was killed by Baldrix.
• A covenant was made between the Adversary and Shinsoo, in which Shinsoo bestowed a portion of her power to the World Heart in exchange for the Adversary agreeing to rescue Cygnus from Reina. The Adversary successfully used Shinsoo's power to confront Reina, though Cygnus was drained of her Transcendent powers and rendered comatose after she took a mortal blow meant for the Adversary. Later on, Shinsoo freely surrendered the remainder of her power to the World Heart so that the Adversary could use the power of the gods to revive Cygnus.
• A covenant was made between the Adversary and Noctis, who agreed to give up her own power, alongside the remaining power of Tallahart's gods, in exchange for the draining crystal containing Luce's power. The terms of the covenant were met successfully, with the Adversary absorbing all of Tallahart's power into the World Heart and Noctis leaving the city in order to find a way to revive Luce with her remaining power.
• A covenant was made between the Adversary and Prague, who agreed to reveal the identity of the god who sought to create an alliance against Gerand Darmoor in exchange for the Adversary collecting several relics from Tallahart. Though the Adversary collected the relics and brought them to Prague, the covenant was not completed, as Prague - while willing to complete his half of the agreement - conspired to first use the power of the relics to create a new body for himself. However, Prague's illusion was swallowed by Tirnog after Gob arrived to stop him, after which Gob revealed the identity of the god as Jupiter to the Adversary.

Demigods

Demigods are beings descended from the gods, wielding a portion of their divine power. The Celestials of Mitra, for instance, were heavenly beings with feathery wings, said to have descended from the heavens when Mitra first appeared in the world. Similar to holy blessings and relics, the source of demigods' powers are their godly ancestor. Because of this, demigods will lose their power if their connection to their god is severed, such as when the Celestials lost their solar abilities when Mitra was sealed away. In certain writings, the Adversaries were said to have attained the comparable status of demigod after fusing with the Godspheres, although the Adversaries do not trace their ancestry directly the the Overseers, unlike true demigods.

The following demigods have been seen thus far:

• Mitra: The Celestials of Mitra were demigods descended from the heavens. After Mitra was sealed away, the Celestials lost their powers and remained stranded on High Mountain in Grandis, where they continued protecting the holy sword Azor over the ages. Historically, all the Chosen Ones of Mitra have been Celestials, possibly because their status as demigods led to the followers of Mitra regarding them as the most worthy to wield the holy sword. After the battle of Cernium, Seren remains the last Celestial left in the world.
• Shinsoo (possibly): As an Ancient God, Shinsoo created the Piyos and Mimis in order to carry out her will. Although it is unknown whether these beings can be considered demigods, their status as the executors of Shinsoo's will makes it possible that they can be classified as such. As Shinsoo had lost most of her divine power during the Ancient War, it is possible that the Piyos and the Mimis are weaker than typical demigods as a result of this.
• Tynos (possibly): Similar to the Celestials, the monstrous creatures spawned by Tynos were said to be Tynos's descendants, making it possible that these beings are demigods.
• Slime God (possibly): Although it remains unknown whether the Slime God is truly an Ancient God, if their status as a god is confirmed, it may be possible that their Guardian Angel Slimes may be considered demigods, as they were created by the Slime God and sent down to the world in order to judge the cutest Slime, highly reminiscent of the Celestials descending from the heavens to carry out Mitra's will.

Primordial Chaos

One property shared by the Ancient Gods is that their mere existence is a harbinger of chaos. This is largely because of the fact that the gods, as beings with extraordinary power, have the ability to impact the world in a much stronger way than mortals, which gives them higher influence over the course of the future. As a result of countless gods fighting over their domains, disregarding the natural order and the mortals inhabiting their worlds, chaos naturally manifested in the universe - not only in terms of war, but also in terms of making the future indeterministic, as the gods were unpredictable variables that made the future impossible to predict. After the Ancient Gods were defeated and sealed away, the Overseers remade the universe to operate on just three universal laws - light, life, and time - enforced in three worlds by three Transcendents each. Because of this, chaos was eradicated and destiny could be manipulated, which the Overseers leveraged in order to prevent the chaos of the gods from reemerging. Following the end of the Transcendents on Maple World, the Ancient Gods have begun reawakening one by one, with their influence likely resulting in the primordial chaos returning to the universe. However, it is also possible that Darmoor taking the power of the gods from them may result in the future remaining predictable, as the gods cannot create chaos without their power.

Weaknesses

Despite their immense strength, the Ancient Gods have several known weaknesses:

• Transcendents: Arguably, the greatest threat to the Ancient God is the Transcendents. Despite the fact that the Transcendents have never directly fought the gods before, the mere existence of the Transcendents was powerful enough to ensure that the gods would remain sealed in their unnatural slumber, from which they only awakened when the Transcendents disappeared from Maple World. Furthermore, the Transcendents - as higher beings - have the power to match the gods in combat, making them one of the few known beings capable of killing the Ancient Gods.
• Adversaries: The Adversaries are the ancient enemies of the gods, created by the elders of Grandis in order to quell the chaos of the world. Stripped of their egos and humanity, the Adversaries were turned into living weapons, existing solely for the purpose of killing the gods. Due to the tenacity of the Adversaries, the gods were defeated and sealed away, after which the Adversaries met their preordained ends. In the present day, the player - after losing their Seal Stone - has lost their status as an Adversary, though they continue posing a threat to the gods with the World Heart, while Darmoor plans to create a new Adversary for his own purposes.
• Relic-grade weapons: Relic-grade weapons - including holy relics - containing divine power are powerful enough to kill higher beings, and as such, those who wield these relics can match the Ancient Gods in combat. During the age of the gods, mortals conducted experiments to fill a host body with countless Specter souls in order to trick the holy relics into awakening for them, as the relics would mistakenly conflate the Specter souls for the host body being filled with the will of the god's followers. In doing so, these special Specters were able to wield the gods' own relics against them. In addition to the Ancient Gods' relics, the Overseers' relic - the World Heart - has the power to strip a god of their power, and to even absorb such power. Furthermore, draining crystals - offshoots of the Godspheres - have the power to steal the power of the gods as well, as well as the Abyss Crystal - a substance containing the power of devouring darkness formed when the Black Mage awakened as the dark Transcendent of Light.

There is one single instance of a relic-grade weapon created by mortals: the Sword of Destruction, which was the result of experimentation by pure-blood demons to replicate the power of the Transcendents. Though the Sword of Destruction is considered to be a failed experiment, its power was strong enough for Damien to mortally wound Shinsoo.

Known Gods (Alive)

Name	Title	Race	Relics	Blessings	Descendants	Followers	Status
Shinsoo	Divine Beast	Piyo	N/A	Magic and Elemental Affinity (Cygnus Knights) Soul Power (Knight of Light's Soul Shield)	Piyos Mimis	Noblesse	Alive (comatose, powerless)
Ancient God of the Karuppa	Unknown	Unknown	Sacred Tree	N/A	N/A	Karuppa	Alive (sealed)
Ancient Gods of the Nova	Dragon Gods	Dragons	The Outrigger	N/A	N/A	Nova	Alive (except the creator of Eskalade)
Eskalade	Nova God	Dragon	The Outrigger	N/A	N/A	Nova	Alive
Satiras	Devil Dragon	Dragon	N/A	Malice (Black Nova)	N/A	Black Nova	Alive (sealed)
Ancient God of the Flora	Unknown	Flora	N/A	Divine Wrath (Flora classes)	N/A	Flora	Alive (sealed)
Ancient God of Ristonia	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed)
Ancient Gods of the Dusk Temple	N/A	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed)
Ancient God with Lightning Powers	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (powerless)
Abraxas	Watchful God	Unknown (power imbued in sanctum)	Abraxas's airship	History Recording (Sanctum of Abraxas)	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed)
Slime God	N/A	Slime	N/A	N/A	Guardian Angel Slimes	Slimes of Ramuramu Valley	Alive (sealed)
Enki	God of Identisk	Otter	Lighthouse Statue	Sunlight and Wind Blessings (Identisk Island)	N/A	Otters of Identisk	Alive
Mitra (also worshipped as Spisa and Nerota)	Sun God	Human	Holy Sword Azor	Flame Magic (Order of Spisa)	Celestials	Order of Mitra Order of Spisa Order of Nerota	Alive
Archelon	Captain	Turtle (Main Body) Robot (Secondary Body)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive
Erion	Master Blacksmith	Cat	Holy Sword Azor Astra Sub Weapon Countless relic-grade artifacts	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive
Gob	Hand of God	Toad	Machines of Hotel Arcus and Geardock	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (nearly powerless)
Ancient God with Ice Powers	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (powerless)
Ymir	Goddess of Illusion	Unknown (possibly Flora)	N/A	N/A	Malefic Star (clone)	N/A	Alive
Keira	River Goddess	Unknown	N/A	Healing and Strength (Waters of Carcion)	N/A	Snake and Turtle Anima of Carcion	Alive (powerless)
Noctis	Goddess of Illusion	Unknown (possibly human)	N/A	N/A	N/A	Gods of Tallahart (formerly)	Alive (powerless)
File:NPC Portrait Prague (Past).png Prague	God of Illusion	Unknown (possibly human)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed, powerless)
Edmir	Goddess of Illusion	Unknown (possibly human)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed, powerless)
Ancient Gods of Tallahart	Gods of Illusion	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (sealed, powerless)
Ancient Gods In Baldrix's Crystal	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (powerless)
Ancient Gods In Various Draining Crystals	Various titles	Various races	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive (powerless)
Tiny	Unknown	Unknown (possibly spirit)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive

Shinsoo, known as the Divine Beast, is an Ancient God who protects the Empress of Maple World. During the Ancient War, Shinsoo took pity on the weak mortals who fell victim to the chaos of the gods, using her divine power to keep them safe, with the descendants of those mortals becoming the Noblesse, swearing to uphold Shinsoo's ideals. While many gods were sealed away by the Adversaries, Shinsoo survived the war by siding with the Overseers, who tasked her with protecting a bloodline which had grown intertwined with the Transcendents, such that a descendant of that bloodline would someday awaken as a replacement Transcendent, should the need arise. For this reason, Shinsoo expended most of her power to create the island of Ereve, the seat of power for that bloodline, whose members ruled as the Empress of Maple World. To carry out her will, Shinsoo created the Piyo and Mimi race, as well as infusing her power into the Soul Shield, bestowed upon the Knight of Light to protect the Empress. For ages, Shinsoo protected the Empresses of Maple World, with each Empress wielding Shinsoo's full power after reaching adulthood. Under the banner of Empress Cygnus, Shinsoo blessed the Cygnus Knights with her power in order to help them face the Black Mage. Shinsoo was mortally wounded by Damien, who used the demonic power of the Sword of Destruction to maim her before kidnapping the World Tree. The shock of seeing Shinsoo nearly killed prematurely triggered Empress Cygnus into awakening as a Transcendent-in-waiting, prompting Shinsoo to leave Ereve in order to find a way to help Cygnus control her powers. Shinsoo later bestowed a portion of her divine power to Cygnus in order to help her lead the Alliance during the battle of Tenebris. During the High Flora invasion of Maple World, Shinsoo returned to Ereve in order to help the Cygnus Knights after Cygnus was kidnapped by Reina, bestowing a portion of her power to the Adversary inside the World Heart. Following the battle, Cygnus was drained of her power and placed into a coma, after which Shinsoo surrendered the remainder of her power to the World Heart so that the Adversary could find a way to revive Cygnus with the power of the gods, after which she fell into a deep slumber alongside the Empress.

The Ancient God of the Karuppa was once worshipped by the Karuppa of Maple World in Partem. This Ancient God had a relic carved out a sacred tree and fashioned into a compass, which had the power to heal the sick and help the lost. After the fall of the Ancient Gods, the relic lost its power and fell into dormancy. Eventually, Kirston discovered the relic and attempted to turn back time on it in order to restore its powers. However, because of the Barrier of Time created by Freud, it was impossible to turn back time any further than the point that the the Black Mage had been sealed. The resulting failure placed a curse on the relic. Eventually, the relic was discovered by the Pathfinder, who became cursed by the relic. She learned that the divine power and cursed energy coexisted in the relic, and that she could remove the ancient curse by becoming the true owner of the relic.

The Ancient Gods of the Nova are immense dragons who serve as the divine protectors of the Nova race. After one of the Nova gods - Satiras - fell to corruption and attempted to conquer the world with his followers, the remaining Nova gods created a holy relic called the Outrigger in order to keep the Nova safe from Satiras's power. The Outrigger contains the will of the Nova gods, preventing the unworthy - such as Magnus - from claiming its power. However, after Magnus conquered Heliseum, the Nova priests extracted as much power as they could from the Outrigger into a sacred stone. As a result of this power transfer, the physical body of one of the Nova gods was destroyed, leaving behind only his clone, Eskalade, trapped within the sacred stone.

Eskalade is the clone body of an Ancient God of the Nova who helped create the Outrigger. Though Eskalade once dwelled inside the Outrigger, his body was transferred into one of the sacred stones, which was used to create the Protective Shield around Pantheon. Though Eskalade's spirit was capable of leaving the sacred stone and traveling across Maple World and Grandis with the help of the Interdimensional Portal, much of his memories and power was lost during his time trapped inside the sacred stone. Eskalade's power was later inherited by Angelic Buster, who awakened the power of the Outrigger inside the sacred stone by gaining the support of the Nova people. Although Eskalade himself is merely a clone of an Ancient God, Malefic Star's existence as a clone body created from divine Erda suggests that Eskalade himself constitutes as a god in his own right.

Satiras, also known as the Devil Dragon, is one of the Ancient Gods of the Nova who fell into corruption in his pursuit of power. Satiras bestowed the power of Malice to his followers, the Black Nova, who wielded his divine blessings in an attempt to conquer Grandis. After Satiras was sealed away, the Black Nova were hunted down to near-extinction, for which they gave up their Nova features to hide their identities. Nevertheless, the power of Malice remained accessible to the Black Nova, with that power growing stronger over the ages. Following the invasion of Arteria, Satiras remained sealed away in slumber, though it remains unknown whether he has awakened or has had his power taken by the Apostles following the mission to the Dark Sea.

The Ancient God of the Flora is the patron deity of the Flora race. Although little is known about them, the Divine Wrath skill common to all Flora classes invokes the power of the Ancient God of the Flora in order to boost the damage of Flora classes in the party. It is speculated that Ymir - who has pointed ears and uses mytocrystal magic - may be the Ancient God of the Flora.

The Ancient God of Ristonia lies dormant beneath Ristonia. At the High Flora's request, Count Cedric of Ristonia attempted to find the key to awakening this Ancient God. Through the efforts of Adele and Jerome, Cedric was stopped and the key was kept out of the hands of the High Flora. Jerome later undertook a mission alone to hide the key somewhere safe. Though it remains unconfirmed, it is speculated that the statue of the goddess at the fountain in Ristonia's town square was made in the likeness of the Ancient God of Ristonia.

The Ancient Gods of the Dusk Temple are gods who once dwelled in the Dusk Temple on Maple World until they were sealed away by the Adversaries. Following the Ancient War, the Dusk Temple became the Temple of Time, serving as the sanctum for Maple World's Transcendent of Time. Nevertheless, the Dusk Temple remains accessible by traveling back in time through the Gate of the Past to reach the oldest point of the Temple of Time. The priests who serve Alpha and Beta have stated that the Dusk Temple is said to be a place filled with the remnants of old gods that predate Rhinne. According to the World Archive, Pink Bean possesses the ability to temporarily manifest a small fragment of those gods' power, placing that power in the five statues of Solomon the Wise, Rex the Wise, Hugin, Munin, and Ariel. Although it remains unknown whether these statues are the true likenesses of the gods of the Dusk Temple, Pink Bean is said to channel the power in the names of those gods to manifest their power into the world.

The Ancient God with Lightning Powers is an Ancient God whose lightning powers were stolen and taken into a draining crystal. Their abilities were later used by an unknown Apostle to create a lightning storm that nearly drowned the fox Anima of Vulpes until the Fox God used her abilities to dispel the flood. Although this god lost their power, the Apostles deliberately spared the lives of the gods whose power they stole, meaning that this god is currently alive and exist without their divine power.

Abraxas the Watchful God is an Ancient God who possessed the power to observe and record events across history. Though Abraxas was sealed away, their power was infused into their sanctum, the Ruins of Memory, which continued recording the full history of Maple World over the ages. The Ruins of Memory were visited centuries ago by Freud, who learned about the existence of the Abyss Crystal in the magical records. Freud would then enchant the relic of Abraxas, a massive airship, to awaken only for his successor. In the present day, Evan led the Heroes to the Ruins of Memory, where they read through the records of the sanctum before using the relic to fly to the Abyss Crystal in Friends World. The airship was later attacked by the demon army, causing it to crash in Seoul, with its divine power mysteriously vanished.

The Slime God, is the patron deity of the Slimes. Long ago, Slimes were said to have been one being that admired its cuteness by contorting its body until it twisted too far and exploded, raining goo down upon the world that took form as smaller Slime monsters. Since then, the Slime God has tasked the Slimes with cherishing their cuteness. The Slime God is said to immortalize the cutest Slime by turning them to stone in their cutest moment, thus making them into a monument that towers over Ramuramu Village. According to the World Archive, Slimes which have been turned to stone ascend to becoming Guardian Angel Slimes, which serve the Slime God's will. Across the ages, Guardian Angel Slimes will occasionally descend from the sky to crown the cutest Slime and deliver them to paradise.

Enki is the Ancient God of Identisk who created a special lighthouse relic to protect the otters of the island. After the Ancient War, Identisk was split into two islands - Iden on Maple World and Tisk on Grandis. With Enki's blessings having faded away, the otters gradually forgot about their god and created man-made blessings to simulate the lost power of the gods, with their descendants mistakenly believing those blessings to be divine. After Identisk was reformed following the convergence of the two dimensions, the High Flora stole the man-made blessings, believing them to contain the power of the gods. After the High Flora left, Enki appeared to restore the true divine blessings, having made the High Flora believe that there was no reason to return back to the island. Though Enki left Identisk to keep the otters safe, he continues to watch over them from afar, occasionally returning to walk amongst them during their adventures.

Mitra the Sun God is a solar deity and the self-proclaimed 'god of gods'. Long before the Ancient War, Mitra and his descendants, the Celestials, sieged High Mountain and claimed it from its ancient master, Tynos the god of calamity. Mitra commissioned the blacksmith god Erion to create him a powerful sword called Azor, which he transformed into a holy relic by infusing his divine power. Across the years, Azor's power was granted only to his Chosen Ones: those who held the faith of his followers. During the Ancient War, Mitra was defeated by the Adversaries and sealed away in eternal slumber, with his followers moving his body to a tomb in Grandis. In the ages since, the Order of Mitra was founded in the holy city of Cernium, where his followers gradually split into three factions, each worshiping a different aspect of him. Over time, his followers lost sight of their origins and came to believe that each aspect was a different god altogether, with Spisa representing sunset and passion, and Nerota being a gentle blue deer who represented dawn and hope. These three orders waged war for control of Cernium for centuries, though the Order of Mitra eventually gained control of the city. Following the convergence of Maple World and Grandis, the Celestial Seren became the Chosen One, wielding Azor's power to defeat the High Flora invading Cernium. Soon after, Gerand Darmoor used a spell to force Mitra to possess Seren, with Mitra fighting the Adversary after recognizing their Seal Stone as the same power which had sealed him away. Following his awakening, Mitra returned to High Mountain, where he worked with Seren to defeat a reawakening Tynos. However, Tynos had been augmented with power from Gerand Darmoor, and though Mitra successfully slayed him, his whereabouts remain unknown after the battle, though it is presumed that he has been captured by Darmoor.

Archelon is an immense turtle who longed to understand the human heart. For this reason, he requested his friend, an Ancient God named Gob, to build him a robotic body so that he could live amongst mortals. With Archelon's true body falling asleep, protected by Gob's machines, Archelon spent his days in his mechanical form until the birth of the Transcendents, causing Archelon to lose his memories. Archelon's robot body continued to serve as a bartender in Hotel Arcus for ages until his consciousness was linked back again to his true form after the reawakening of the gods, after which he became an ally of the Maple Alliance.

Erion is a winged cat who whose skills as a blacksmith were legendary during the age of the gods. Despite being weak, Erion was famed by the gods for his ability to create powerful relic-grade weapons during both the War of the Immortals and the Ancient War. Because of his abilities, Erion became a prime target for elimination by the Adversaries, leading to Erion fleeing and going into hiding. Nevertheless, Erion was sealed away by the Adversaries until he awoke in the present day, where he were recruited by the Maple Alliance. After creating the Astra Sub Weapon for the Adversary, Erion currently serves as the Alliance's special weapons expert.

Gob is an Ancient God with an immense mastery over technology, with his skills being famed as equal to those of Erion. Gob was a friend of Archelon and created a robot body for Archelon to walk amongst humans, creating powerful superweapons to protect Archelon's true body. During the Ancient War, Gob created an underground workshop called Geardock, where - with the help of his disciple, Melian - he attempted to find a solution to the divine Erdas of the gods disappearing by creating an Erda Coagulator to capture the fallen gods' Erda, as well as the furnace Kronos, which used those Erdas as fuel to create a god-like entity that could destroy the Adversaries. However, Gob was unable to find a way to capture the Erdas of the gods as they died, for which he abandoned his experiment and later banished Melian, who sought to sacrifice the gods directly into Kronos. Gob later hid from the Adversaries created a special dimension inside his dimensional toad Tirnog, allowing him to survive the Ancient War. In the present day, Gob was attacked by Gerand Darmoor during one of his expeditions outside Tirnog and lost most of his power. For this reason, Gob formed an alliance with the Primacy to protect him in exchange for allowing them to use Tirnog as their base. Soon after, Gob was kidnapped by Melian, who had allied herself with Jupiter to complete the Kronos experiment. Gob was brought to Geardock, where Jupiter forced him to activate Kronos, allowing him to fuse together with an entity created by sacrificing all the remaining gods. After Jupiter was defeated by the Adversary, Gob used his Erda Coagulator to transform the entity into a crystal, hoping to stabilize its power so that the Adversary could absorb it into the World Heart.

The Ancient God with Ice Powers is an Ancient God whose ice powers were stolen and taken into a draining crystal. Gerand Darmoor bestowed the draining crystal containing their divine power to Reina, who augmented her own ice magic with the crystal. Reina would use the crystal to attack Ereve and kidnap Empress Cygnus, after which she absorbed Cygnus's Transcendent powers into the same draining crystal. As this god's power was stolen before the Apostles' raids in Grandis, it is unknown whether this god was killed or spared at the time their power was taken by Darmoor.

Ymir is an Ancient God who wields powerful illusion magic. During the Ancient War, Ymir fought against the Adversaries and drained their life force to grow stronger until eventually, for unknown reasons, she came to believe in the idea of a true paradise, in which only noble lives who exhibited true selflessness and self-sacrifice would exist. For this reason, Ymir expelled her inner malice in the form of a clone body called Malefic Star, whom she imprisoned deep beneath the Dark Sea. Eons after the Ancient War, Ymir came to serve as an Apostle of Gerand Darmoor, serving as his chief researcher to carry out the great culling - a purge that would allow only those deemed worthy by Darmoor to survive. Ymir currents leads the six traitorous elders of Grandis to conduct research pertaining to the great culling and the creation of a new Adversary for Darmoor.

Keira is a river goddess of Carcion and the protector of the snake and turtle Anima of the land. A staunch believer in peace, Keira abhorred the violence of her fellow gods and hoped to protect mortals under her care, blessing the waters of Carcion to heal and strengthen those who drank from it. Keira befriended Gaon the Black Tortoise, who was eventually tasked by the Overseers with defending Odium. In order to contribute to a peaceful resolution to the war, Keira chose to seal herself away, sleeping for ages until Carcion was attacked by the High Flora. In the aftermath of the invasion, much of Keira's divine power was stolen by Limbo, after which Keira used her remaining power to cleanse the waters of Carcion, which had been defiled by Specter poison. Without her powers, Keira decided to accompany Gaon on a mission to find his comrades, who had been kidnapped by the High Flora.

Noctis is a supreme Ancient God, whose immense power resulted in her being worshiped by the other immortals at Tallahart, eventually leading to mortals revering her kind as gods. Noctis was highly confident in her power rendering her immune to the Adversaries, vowing to protect her younger sister, Luce. With her power bringing in stronger Adversaries to Tallahart, the other gods conspired to steal Noctis's power for themselves by kidnapping Luce and forcing Noctis to give up her strength to them. Though Noctis was drained and sealed away, the other gods were unable to handle her immense power, resulting in their defeat. In the present day, Noctis was unsealed by the Adversary, and after being defeated by them, made an agreement to surrender her remaining power in exchange for the power of Luce, who had been drained and killed by Baldrix. Following this, Noctis underwent a mission to find a way to bring Luce back to life by utilizing their connection as twins.

Prague and Edmir are Ancient Gods of Tallahart who, out of fear of the Overseers and their Adversaries, forced Noctis into making a covenant by kidnapping her twin sister, Luce. In exchange for Luce's life, Noctis agreed to surrender her power to the gods of Tallahart, who hoped to use her supreme abilities to defeat the Overseers once and for all. However, Prague and Edmir were unable to handle her immense power, resulting in their eventual defeat at the hands of the Adversaries. After the resurrection of Tallahart, Prague - with his physical body sealed away - disguised himself as an illusion of Tallahart and attempted to trick the Adversary into reviving him. However, his deception was foiled by Gob, who instructed Tirnog to swallow him before he could regain his body. Both Prague and Edmir's power was given to the Adversary by Noctis in exchange for surrendering Luce's power to her.

Seven Ancient Gods of Tallahart aided Prague and Edmir in their conspiracy to take the power of Noctis. However, these gods were consumed by Noctis's power and eventually defeated by the Adversaries. In the present day, Noctis gave the Adversary all the remaining power of Tallahart's gods in exchange for Luce's power.

The Ancient Gods In Baldrix's Crystal are gods who were defeated by Baldrix and had their power stolen into draining crystals. As the Apostles had been directed to leave the gods alive, it is presumed that these Ancient Gods still exist in a powerless state. The power of at least one of these gods was channeled by Baldrix during his battle against the Adversary in Tallahart, manifesting as the Ancient God's Soul. The power of the Ancient God's Soul would inhabit four statues named Fenrir, Midgard, Surtr, and Hel, who are speculated to be other Ancient Gods whose power had been stolen by Baldrix.

The Ancient Gods In Various Draining Crystals are countless Ancient Gods whose power was stolen by the Apostles. Although these gods lost their power, the Apostles deliberately spared their lives, meaning that these gods are currently alive and exist without their divine power.

Tiny is a small, spirit-like Ancient God who had once served under Jupiter during the Ancient War until he was sealed away by the Adversaries. In the present day, Tiny followed Jupiter's call to Geardock, where he and the other gods pledged their support to Jupiter in his fight against Gerand Darmoor and his Apostles. However, after Jupiter betrayed the gods and sacrificed them to Kronos, Tiny was the sole survivor and attempted to flee Geardock until he encountered the Adversary and the Primacy, who had come to rescue Gob. Tiny helped the Adversary find Gob, and after Jupiter's defeat, Tiny remained in Geardock as the Alliance investigated the workshop.

Known Gods (Deceased)

Name	Title	Race	Relics	Blessings	Descendants	Followers	Status
Tynos	God of Calamity	Unknown	N/A	N/A	Tynos's Descendants (creatures of calamity, pestilence, etc.)	N/A	Deceased
Malefic Star	Goddess of Illusion	Unknown (possibly Flora)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Luce	Goddess of Illusion	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Melian	Engineer	Human	War Machines	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Garuda	Unknown	Eagle	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Jupiter	Unknown	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Unnamed Male God	Unknown	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Unnamed Female God	Unknown	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased
Ancient Gods Sacrificed to Kronos	Unknown	Various races	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Deceased

Tynos was the Ancient God of calamity who once ruled High Mountain with his descendants until Mitra and his Celestials defeated him, with Mitra splitting Tynos into three pieces and sealing him beneath High Mountain. In the present day, Gerand Darmoor used a special crystal to weaken Tynos's seal and augment his power, intending to trap Mitra when he would eventually return to his seat of power. Soon after, Tynos and his descendants overran High Mountain until Mitra and Seren defeated him once and for all, resulting in his demise.

Malefic Star is the clone body of Ymir and the embodiment of Ymir's inner malice. Malefic Star was sealed away in a temple beneath the Dark Sea, where she spent centuries destroying passing ships and draining the life force of sailors. After the battle of Arteria, the Alliance launched an expedition to the Dark Sea in order to investigate the strange disappearances, where the Adversary defeated Malefic Star and absorbed her into the World Heart.

Luce was an Ancient God of illusion and the twin sister of Noctis. As a weak goddess, Luce lived under Noctis's protection in Tallahart, remaining sheltered in the city during the Ancient War. After the gods of Tallahart betrayed Noctis, Luce was kidnapped in order to force Noctis to surrender her power. Luce was then stripped of her divine strength and banished from Tallahart, after which she spent ages attempting to find a way to save her sister. Luce eventually allied with the Adversary in order to enter Tallahart, though she was eventually killed by Baldrix, with her power being stolen in a |draining crystal. After Noctis was freed, she was given the crystal by the Adversary and hoped to find a way to restore Luce's body.

Melian was an Ancient God who studied engineering under Gob as his sole disciple. Melian harbored a deep resentment of her fellow gods and believed that only the most noble gods deserved to live, while the others should be wiped out. After Gob deemed the Kronos experiment to be a failure, Melian continued researching to find a way to make Kronos work, eventually proposing to Gob that they sacrifice the gods directly to Kronos in order to capture their Erda. Because of her extremist views, Gob expelled Melian from his tutelage and later abandoned Geardock altogether. Ages later, Melian allied herself with Jupiter after the reawakening of the gods and created a powerful mechanical arm for him after he lost his right arm to an Apostle. Melian kidnapped Gob and brought him to Jupiter, who would later threaten to sacrifice Melian to Kronos in order to convince Gob to activate the furnace. However, Jupiter chose to sacrifice Melian anyway, disdainfully noting that Gob was an affront to the name of 'god' by going along with another's will, rather than his own.

Garuda was an Ancient God who once followed Jupiter during the Ancient War, accepting his invitation to form an alliance against the Adversaries. After Garuda and the other gods were sealed away by the Adversaries, Garuda awoke in the present day and followed Jupiter's call once again to Geardock, where he was sacrificed to Kronos.

Jupiter was a powerful Ancient God who commanded a large fraction of the gods during the Ancient War. In order to defeat the Adversaries, Jupiter attempted to unite the gods against their common enemy, though his attempts were met with failure when many of the gods believed his invitation to be a trap. As a result, Jupiter and the holy land that he ruled fell to the Adversaries until ages later, when Jupiter awoke from his seal and was defeated by an Apostle. After allying himself with Melian, who created a mechanical arm to replace the one he had lost to the Apostle, Jupiter sent out a call to all the remaining gods whose power had not been taken by Darmoor. However, Jupiter instead sacrificed them to Kronos and fused with a god-like entity created from the furnace. After Jupiter was defeated by the Adversary, however, his physical body was devoured by the entity, resulting in his death.

An Unnamed Male God and Female God were Ancient Gods who followed Jupiter's call to Geardock, where they pledged their support to him. However, both these gods - alongside countless others - were sacrificed to Kronos, leading to their deaths.

The Ancient Gods Sacrificed to Kronos were countless Ancient Gods who were sacrificed to Kronos alongside the Unnamed Male God, the Unnamed Female God, and Melian.

Known Gods (Unknown Status)

Name	Title	Race	Relics	Blessings	Descendants	Followers	Status
Ancient God Who Attacked the Black Tortoise Anima	N/A	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Brihini	Unknown	Sea Serpent	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Small-Winged Gods	Small-Winged Gods	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Large-Winged God	Large-Winged God	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Forest God	God of Eternal Flame	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Wandering God	Wandering Bard	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Black-Fanged God	Black-Fanged God	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown
Unknown Gods Who Lost Their Weapons	Unknown	Unknown	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown

The Ancient God Who Attacked the Black Tortoise Anima is a large golem-like Ancient God who wiped out the black tortoise Anima at the beginning of the Ancient War, leaving Gaon as the last survivor. As a result of this massacre, Gaon was left with a deep resentment for the Ancient Gods until he eventually met Keira in Carcion. It is currently unknown whether this god was sealed away by the Adversaries or killed by another god during the Ancient War.

Brihini is an Ancient God who took the form of a massive sea serpent. Brihini resented Keira for her refusal to oppose the Overseers, for which he attacked Carcion and the Anima living there. Though he was driven away by Keira and her followers, many Anima were killed in the battle, for which Keira blessed Carcion's waters to heal and strengthen those who drank from it. It is currently unknown whether Brihini was sealed away by the Adversaries or killed by another god during the Ancient War.

The Unknown Small-Winged Gods are two Ancient Gods who attended the Night of Phantasms during the Ancient War. These gods believed that Noctis couldn't protect them when she remained solely concerned with Luce, and that Tallahart itself wasn't safe because of Prague's scheming. For this reason, they sought to leave Grandis and go to another land under the protection of a god with enormous wings. Although it remains unknown what the fates of these gods were, it is speculated that the land they wished to go to is Maple World.

The Unknown Large-Winged God is an Ancient God in another land beyond Grandis whose power was strong enough that the small-winged gods wanted to seek the large-winged god's protection. It is speculated that the identity of this god is Shinsoo, who protected countless innocents in Maple World from the carnage of war.

The Unknown Forest God is an Ancient God who ruled a forest region in Eastern Grandis. This god once disguised themselves as a mortal and attended a festival in their own honor. The forest god was offended that the mortals had given cheap liquor as part of their offerings while keeping the high-quality liquor for themselves. Though the forest god wished to burn everything with their divine flames that burned eternally, they were swayed by the earnest prayers of the mortals that they ultimately chose to overlook it. The forest god would later attend the Night of Phantasms alongside their friend, who was inspired by the forest god's story about wandering the world as a mortal.

The Unknown Wandering God is an Ancient God who attended the Night of Phantasms alongside the forest god. After hearing their friend's story, this god was inspired to wander the world as a traveling bard, noting that many other gods had already disguised themselves as mortals until the day that the age of the immortals began anew. This god is speculated to be Selazar, a wandering bard who possesses unusually extensive knowledge about incidents across Grandis seemingly unwitnessed by anyone else.

The Unknown Black-Fanged God is an Ancient God who attended the Night of Phantasms. This god believed the Adversaries to be nothing more than worthless nuisances, and that the Overseers' war was nothing more than a sideshow compared to the struggle between gods. They believed that once the Adversaries had been dealt with, they could finally face their true final enemy, Jupiter, and claim everything as the last one standing. It is speculated that this god is Satiras, a black and red dragon god with fangs.

The Unknown Gods Who Lost Their Weapons are two Ancient Gods who attended the Night of Phantasms. During the festival, one of these gods complained to their friend about how their weapon, which had been crafted by Erion, had broken far too easily, lamenting that they had wanted Erion to craft them a masterpiece like Azor. As Erion had gone into hiding because of the Adversaries, they resolved to seek out Erion and obtain a new, more powerful weapon before the Adversaries sealed Erion away.

Possible Gods

There are several other characters in the game who are speculated to be Ancient Gods, though it remains unconfirmed whether these are truly gods or other beings mistakenly stated to be gods.

Name	Title	Race	Relics	Blessings	Descendants	Followers	Status
Minerva	The Goddess	Human	N/A	Hero's Echo (Explorers only)	N/A	Eliza (pet)	Alive
Nella, Lakelis, and Cloto	Unknown	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive
Great Spirit	Elven Protector	Elf	Mistelteinn (speculated)	Elemental and Spiritual Affinity (Ruler of the Elves)	Elves	Elves	Alive
Selazar	Wandering Bard	Human	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive
Thales	Librarian	Monkey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Alive
Unknown Anglerfish Monster	N/A	Anglerfish	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Unknown

Minerva, known simply as 'The Goddess' to most, is a deity well-known throughout Maple World. Minerva was sealed into a stone statue by Papa Pixie, though she is rescued by the player during the Remnant of the Goddess Party Quest. Orbis Tower was built in Orbis, linking the clouds of Orbis with El Nath, with a statue of Minerva built on the top of the tower. This statue has a stylized depiction of Minerva with one angel wing and one demon wing. The Goddess's pet is a wise and noble beast known as Eliza, to whom Minerva would play a melody to help him sleep. Explorers who reach Level 200 can scale Orbis Tower and reach its 8th Floor in order to attain the Hero's Echo skill from a statue, with this skill being the Goddess's blessing.

Nella, Lakelis, and Cloto are beings rumored to be goddesses. In particular, Lakelis was responsible for inadvertently creating a growth potion that was ingested by the monsters Dyle and King Slime. These three beings are nearly identical in appearance to Minerva and assist the player during the First Time Together Party Quest.

The Great Spirit is the protector of the elves of Elluel and the source of power for the Ruler of the Elves. The Great Spirit can be summoned by playing a song known as 'The Sovereign's Appeal' at the King's Seat, where she bestows her power upon the elven ruler. It is speculated that the Great Spirit is an Ancient God of the elven race, similar to the Ancient Gods of the Nova and the Flora. It is also speculated that the Mistelteinn - a sacred bow and the elves' treasure - is a relic of an Ancient God, as its immense power rendered Athena Pierce immune to the curse of a Transcendent like as the Black Mage.

Selazar is a wandering bard who tells stories of various events across Grandis. Because Selazar appears to possess such complete knowledge of isolated events that he has allegedly never witnessed, it is speculated by some that Selazar is an Ancient God who uses his power to learn about these events. It is also speculated that Selazar is the Unknown Wandering God who appeared in the Night of Phantasms storyline.

Thales is the librarian who oversees the Grand Athenaeum, a library that contains records of nearly every event in universal history. Similar to Selazar, it is speculated that Thales may be an Ancient God who uses his power to observe and record the history of the world, similar to Abrazas. Further evidence to support this is that both the Grand Athenaeum and the Ruins of Memory remain the only known locations that Lotus had not erased the history of the Black Mage, with some believing that the reason for this is because these areas were under the protection of a higher being.

The Unknown Anglerfish Monster was an enormous anglerfish encountered by the Angler Father after he sank into the sea. The light of this anglerfish helped the Angler Father create Karote in order to escape the ocean, after which he gave himself the surname 'Angler' and founded the Angler Company in memory of the aid that it provided him. Given the size and power of this creature, it is possible that the anglerfish was an Ancient God.

Trivia

• The Ancient Gods were first mentioned in the original Heroes of Maple storyline, which first established that the Ancient Gods were 365 beings who quarreled over their own 365 laws until the world was reorganized to follow the laws of light, life, and time. It was also stated in this storyline that all the gods gradually disappeared, with Abraxas remaining the only god left in the world, tasked with watching over the graves of the fallen gods. The Ancient Gods were reintroduced in the Convergence storyline, which revealed that the Overseers had sealed the gods away in order to create a deterministic future without the chaos of the gods creating unpredictable consequences for the world.
• After the KMS story team was established, a great amount of lore regarding the Ancient Gods has been retconned. With the Heroes of Maple story remaster, the concept of there being 365 gods was deleted and instead retconned into there being an indeterminate number of gods birthed from 365 creations. Additionally, the lore about Abraxas being the only god who remained awake in the age of the Transcendents was also retconned in order to support the setting of a number of different gods who had survived the Ancient War and persisted in the age of the Transcendents through various methods.
• There are several other beings in the story who have the title of 'god' or 'goddess', despite not being Ancient Gods:
  • Despite being known as the Goddess of Time, Rhinne is not an Ancient God, as her existence as the Transcendent of Time is directly opposed to the nature of the Ancient Gods, existing as their fundamental opposite. Instead, Rhinne's guardianship over the laws of time, as well as her sanctum in the Temple of Time, has led to others revering her as a goddess.
  • Sino the Fox God - once speculated to be an Ancient God - was revealed to be a Great Spirit of Grandis, similar to Guwaru, in the behind-the-scenes storybook for Shade released in the Milestone Update. It is stated that the Fox God's protection has resulted in the fox Anima revering her as a higher being.
  • The Goddesses of Maple World, Grandis, and Tynerum are primordial entities who watch over the Erda Flow. Despite being worshiped as goddesses, these beings exist on a higher plane than the Ancient Gods and watch over the balance of the world, even actively working to quell the chaos of the gods. Although the exact nature of these beings has not yet been revealed, it is certain that they are not Ancient Gods.
• Many of the known Ancient Gods derive their names from real-world inspiration:
  • Shinsoo is a Korean term that typically means "god" or "deity", generally referring to a divine being.
  • Abraxas, in Gnostic practices, is considered the supreme God who rules over the 365 spheres. This is likely the inspiration for the concept of the 365 Ancient Gods, as well as Abraxas' significance in the original Heroes of Maple storyline as the only god permitted to remain awake in the era of the Transcendents.
  • Mitra is both another name and an aspect of Surya, the Hindu god of the sun. Surya has several different aspects, which likely served as the inspiration of Mitra having Nerota and Spisa as his own aspects.
  • Archelon is an extinct marine turtle and the largest turtle ever to be documented, which was likely meant to allude to Archelon's physical body being an enormous, fortress-like turtle.
  • Enki is a Mesopotamian deity depicted as the god of water, wisdom, and creation, reminiscent of characteristics of otters, and a protector of humanity, similar to the Ancient God Enki's role in protecting the otters of Identisk.
  • Noctis is a name derived from the word Nox in Latin, or Nyx in Greek, referring the the Greek goddess of night, a primordial entity that alludes to Noctis' status as an ancient and supreme deity, even amongst the other gods.
  • Ymir is a primordial entity in Norse mythology from whom the gods and the world itself originated.
  • Garuda is a Hindu deity who serves as the king of birds and the mount of the divine protector, Vishnu.
  • Jupiter is the Roman god of of lightning, known also as the king of gods, which alludes to Jupiter's power and status as the leader of the largest faction of gods.
  • It appears to be the case that the strongest Ancient Gods are those whose names are based off real-life deities, as seen with Mitra, Noctis, and Jupiter.
• Hypnos, the antagonist of Lynn's storyline, has been described as an Ancient God who once ruled as the Dark Forest Master of the Eternal Forest, making Hypnos the first overseas-exclusive Ancient God. However, this leads to a contradiction between Lynn's storyline and the official KMS storyline:
  • Hypnos is capable of being harmed by the Forest Child, who holds the power of Gaia. Although it is said that Gaia's power matches that of Hypnos, it is not stated that Gaia is an Ancient God. As Lynn does not make any mention of it, despite explicitly recognizing Hypnos as an Ancient God, as well as sensing 'familiar' power in Shinsoo, who is also an Ancient God, it is probable that Gaia was not intended to be an Ancient God. This leaves a continuity error in regard to what kind of being Gaia, and why she holds the power to match that of a higher being.
  • Despite this plot hole, however, Hypnos does not exist in the official KMS continuity, meaning that this plot hole can be disregarded as negligible, with the KMS lore about the Ancient Gods only being ancillary to Lynn's storyline, rather than any need for it to be strictly adhered to.