- "For we're the Ancients. We may not prosper, but we will prevail."
- —Enra in the opening cinematic.
Ancients are immortal demons, which rule Shadow Realm and appear in Shadow Warrior (2013) and Shadow Warrior 2.
Overview
Ancients are humanoid demons, which rule Shadow Realm. Differently from other demons, Ancients are immortal and only Nobitsura Kage can kill them. While all Ancients are considered rulers of the realm, Enra seems to be the true ruler, as other brothers abide his every command. Gozu, Xing and Mezu have control over the demon army, while Hoji is engineer of the realm, responsible for creating battle armor for his brothers. Their sister Ameonna is responsible for fueling the realm with water by constantly weeping. They have lived for thousands of years and their origins are never specified. They also can speak and understand English and are highly intelligent compared to common demons.
Known Ancients
Design
All Ancients have humanoid design more akin to humans, than common demons, encountered in the game. All, except for Enra, bare horns. Each Ancient wears clothes tailored to them, instead of thrown together rags like common demons.
History
Before Shadow Warrior
For thousands of years, Ancients ruled Shadow Realm. The land was prosperous, because of Ameonna weeping, which fueled the realm with water. But if she cried for too long, Ameonna's tears could drown the realm. So in turn, every few often Ameonna would drink a sleep potion, which would put her to sleep and in the process, stop the rain. One of her brothers, Hoji was responsible with mixing the potion and then bringing it to her. But Hoji and Ameonna had an incestuous affair, which made her happy and stopped the rain.
This caused a disastrous drought, and when the affair was discovered by Enra, the ruler of the Shadow Realm, Hoji's other brothers,Gozu, Mezu, and Xing, separated the pair and skinned Hoji's face as punishment, forcing him to wear a mask. Ameonna accepted her responsibility to the Shadow Realm, which embittered Hoji against both her for her abandonment and Enra for his tyranny over the Ancients. He conspired to poison his sister and take revenge upon Enra, tricking Xing into delivering a tainted potion that put her into an eternal slumber and causing another drought, using this to draw Enra to the temple so that Xing could overthrow him and rule the Shadow Realm in his stead.
But the plot was stopped by Mezu, the most loyal of the brothers to Enra. Xing was beheaded by Gozu on Enra's orders for his role in the plot, which did not kill him, and Hoji was banished to the mortal realm for his treachery. Enra later saw that only the sacrifice of an Ancient could revive Ameonna and save the Shadow Realm, and thus sought the Nobitsura Kage, the only thing in existence which can kill an Ancient. Enra brokered a deal with the mortal Zilla to find and assemble the sword, promising a cure for his paraplegia and the assistance of demons to conquer the Earth. Hoji after wandering Earth for hundred years, made contact with a collector named Mizayaki and allied with him.
Shadow Warrior (2013)
Lo Wang is captured when Mizayaki reveals his bond with a demon named Hoji, and is caged, but escapes when demons attack the compound. Mizayaki is killed in the attack and Lo Wang allies himself with Hoji in hopes of retrieving the sword. Hoji explains that the Nobitsura Kage, as the sword is called, is capable of slaying immortals and is anathema to demons. He also mentions that the Nobitsura Kage is actually three swords, and so Lo Wang seeks them out to merge them into one.
Over the course of the game, both Gozu and Mezu are defeated by Lo Wang. Wang with help of Hoji manages to find two parts of Nobitsura Kage. On his quest for the third piece of the sword, Lo Wang, who originally sought the Nobitsura Kage to deliver to Zilla, turns against his boss, betraying the Kyokagami twins, fellow assassins who also work for Zilla, in order to help Hoji retrieve the final piece of the weapon. It's discovered that Zilla was holding a Whisperer hostage the whole time, and is in possession of the third piece of the sword.
When Enra teleports Hoji back to the shadow realm, Lo Wang uses the last Whisperer on earth to travel to the Shadow Realm and learns that Hoji, who originally created the Whisperers, regrets his role in plunging the Shadow Realm into misery and seeks to undo his wrong by creating another Whisperer, taking away his memory of Lo Wang. Lo Wang convinces him that Enra needs to be stopped, and so the two join forces once more, with Hoji seeking to redeem himself by killing Enra and using his blood to revive Ameonna. Upon their return to earth, Lo Wang confronts Zilla, and cuts off his sword arm. As Lo Wang reassembles the Nobitsura Kage to its full Ancient-killing power, Zilla escapes with the help of the Kyokagami twins.
With the full Nobitsura Kage in his hands, Lo Wang returns to the Shadow Realm with Hoji to confront Enra. Lo Wang is captured by Enra and stripped of the sword. Enra tries to sacrifice Hoji to revive Ameonna by means of using the original Whisperer that Hoji made, which like the others before, can handle the Nobitsura Kage without harm, but Hoji disarms the Whisperer and hands the sword back to Lo Wang, forcing Enra to retreat. But by touching the Nobitsura Kage, Hoji dooms himself. Lo Wang corners Enra after a tense battle with Xing's headless body, Enra allows Lo Wang to slay him, since he is the only sacrificial candidate left. Ameonna awakens, and upon seeing the dead body of Hoji, she weeps, bringing rain back to the Shadow Realm.
Shadow Warrior 2
Ancients are present in the sequel.
Gallery
