The Heart of Darkness
The Heart of Darkness is the most powerful of all wendigoes and the main antagonist of the "Jack Thunder and the Fragments of Anima" book series.
Divine Domains
The Heart of Darkness is thought to be the ruler of the Flipside, though there is no concrete evidence for this.
It was originally recognized as the supreme fenghuang of Altairus who created the world alongside other less powerful fenghuangs.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The Heart of Darkness is associated with the Null Magic sigil, which takes the form of a dark grey sigil with two question-mark-like symbols, one of them inverted.
When it was the Heart of Altairus, it was associated with the Anima Sigil.
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Its appearance is constantly shifting, but it usually resembles an engorged human heart covered in eyes and mouths and possessing countless writing tentacles.
Special abilities
The Heart of Darkness possesses abilities that all wendigoes share. In addition to the aforementioned possession and manipulation, it enables its host to use Null magic that is more powerful than with other wendigoes but is more destructive. In the process, it drains the host and the world around them, growing stronger in the process.
When it is without a host, its voice is rather distorted and harsh, but when it is manipulating its host, its voice sounds like its host’s inner voice. In hand-to-hand combat, it utilizes its Null magic (which imitates any Anima magic) and tendrils to fight its opponent.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
As surprising as it is, the Heart of Darkness was not always evil. It began its life as the Heart of Altairus, the supreme fenghuang who is said to have created Altairus alongside others. It still took the form of a human heart, but it glowed white and had six tentacles, each in a different color of the rainbow, representing the six elements. For the longest time, the Heart of Altairus was recognized and worshipped as the supreme being by many religions in Altairus.
Herein came the issue; the Heart of Altairus came to love the attention and gifts lavished onto it. So much, in fact, that it began to shirk its duties as Altairus's creator and protector, choosing instead to seek out worship and favors from Altairus's many races, much to their detriment. Alas, as these religions grew in power and prestige, so did the Heart's greed and gluttony.
All of this reached its head at the start of the War of the Wendigoes. When the wendigoes crossed over into Altairus, the Heart of Altairus confronted them. But instead of banishing them, the Heart listened to the wendigoes' promises of endless power and worship. Ultimately, the Heart's greed was its downfall, as it accepted the wendigoes' Null magic into its body, twisting and corrupting it into a shadow of its former self. Cursed with an endless hunger for Anima, it conducted the carnage of the wendigoes both in Altairus and on Earth. Ultimately, it was banished to the Flipside with the rest of the wendigoes at the conclusion of the war, leaving a gaping empty hole in Altairus's soul that could never be filled.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Its motivation is the same as all other wendigoes; to devour and drain the essence of other worlds until there is nothing left. When Jack Thunder embarks on his quest to banish it back to the Flipside, it pulls every trick out of its hat to try and stop him.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Wendigoes have a number of powers and weaknesses. These are discussed in detail here.
Representation & Legacy
It is because of the Heart of Darkness and the devastation it wrought on Altairus that young Altairians are taught defenses against wendigoes as soon as they are able to. As soon as signs emerge that the Heart may be returning, San encourages Jack Thunder to embark on his quest to find the Anima Fragments to banish it once more.
Social
Speech
The Heart of Darkness's voice is very distorted and harsh. It is almost incomprehensible unless disguising itself as its host's inner voice.
The Heart of Darkness was primarily inspired by the Dementors, the demonic corruption from "Princess Mononoke," Dark Matter from "Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon," and the Darkness from "Skylanders." It is supposed to represent a selfish, greedy instinct that only takes from the world without giving anything back, and in turn is all the more miserable for it.
Given that the Heart of Darkness used to be the Heart of Altairus, it is entirely possible for the Heaven's Transformation spell to be used on it and work, but there are quite a few things that need to happen before it could be transformed back to its original state. Not least of these is for the Heart to recognize that making that deal with the wendigoes was a horrible mistake and genuinely want to change back.
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