#god war

[vertigoartgore]

2002's Superman/Aliens Vol.2 #2 cover by Jon Bogdanove (pencils), Kevin Nowlan (inks) and Dave Stewart (colorist).

[homeahoy]

Ares God of War

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, if Rung is Primus in his universe, does that mean that G'nur is the "opposite" mentioned in "Primus: All Good Things"? I don't think so, since he doesn't appear in the Guiding Hand stories, but in that case why does he look like Rung?

Dear Rung Recognizer,

You are quite correct that G'nur of the Pious Pools was not one of the Guiding Hand, but equally right that he did resemble Rung. Of course, they never met under those identities, so they never discovered the similarity.

In fact, G'nur never really gave any thought to his body, even though he knew it was not his original one.

The truth of this story involves going back to the dawn of Cybertron, the ignition of the first five Hot Spots, each done by one of the future Guiding Hand. The Pious Pools were lit by Primus, and the tribe that marched out of the Pious Pools took his insignia as their own, seeking to bring light to Cybertron. They took a myriad of forms, but even then there was a tendency for hero worship among them. G'nur reforged his body to look like that of his mentor, something Primus mildly disapproved of but refused to outright condemn. (Later, in another life, Rung would feel some remnant of this disapproval when he examined those bots who chose to reforge themselves to look like Optimus Prime. Not for nothing did he name the condition Primus apotheosis.)

G'nur ended up fighting in the God War, and nearly perished at the hands of Adaptus' knights, separated from Rung by one of the first emerging Sonic Canyons. In the end he clung to life, only to fall victim to the electromagnetic pulse that wiped out all of Cybertron's memories.

G'nur woke up, amnesiac, and sought to explore the world around him. He managed to avoid the various dramatic events that plagued Cybertron, and eventually retired to being a barkeep.

As for Primus, he too woke up amnesiac, and the only things he had to base his identity on were his serial number, and G'nur's dog tags. Unfortunately he never realised he held them upside down.

[thenamesblurrito]

Can you talk about The God War? Is it like the IDW1?

 ahhhh, the God War

in IDW1, it’s a conflict between the Guiding Hand that ends with the five of them gone. in SNAP, it is... not like that. as per usual with lore like this, there are two answers: the in-universe understanding, and what actually happened.

recorded Cybertronian history is about 42.2 million vorns long, or 3.5 billion human years, so you’ll have to forgive them for forgetting some things and messing up details. but the first epoch of the species was the reign of the Firstforged, including the Guiding Hand. this was the rise of the Progenitors, the first Knights of Cybertron who fought in the God War. all of the surviving records from that time period are either firsthand accounts from these Knights or similarly important figures that have been copied, translated, recopied, and often mythologized, or oral histories repeated as folktales passed down in specific regions throughout generations. for events that took place so long ago, it’s often hit or miss if there’s any archaeological evidence to back up the stories.

the most important source for records of the God War would be the Book of Adaptus, the primary holy book for most Cybertronian religions. it was purportedly written by Adaptus himself, and several passages mention a “great conflict” between “forces greater than comprehension”. the actual term God War isn’t used in this book, but it does appear in the Primal Prophecies, a collection of the Knight’s wisdom and anecdotes also used as a holy book. those passages in particular were written by later Knights who lived after the Guiding Hand had already disappeared, so their information is already second- and thirdhand. the last holy book, the Covenant of Primus, does not appear to mention the God War at all, and scholars argue whether or not some of the events or memories mentioned in the text refer to the God War or to more recent conflicts.

piecing together all this disparate, unclear, and sometimes conflicting information then, Cybertronian historians and religious scholars have several theories:

the traitorous gods model: as the Guiding Hand saw their children raise up more and more Cybertronians, they grew jealous and went to war against the species they created. the Knights of Cybertron overthrew them and cast them down, and the power of the Guiding Hand was distilled into Vector Sigma at the center of Cybertron. alternate interpretations include Primus being the only survivor and fleeing into the planet to become Vector Sigma.

the civil war model: the Guiding Hand bickered amongst themselves until finally one of them reached their breaking point. most interpretations say this is Mortilus. the five of them fought, with some scholars saying they divided the species into five forces to aid them, and some scholars saying they fought alone and unaided by any other Cybertronian. eventually they destroyed each other and their only legacy is the people they left behind.

the colonizer model: this is the theory with the least embellishments and extrapolations from the text, although one of the least believed. as mecha began to expand from Cybertron, they caught the attention of aliens who did not want to compete for space with them. the Guiding Hand protected their people from invasion, anointing the Knights of Cybertron to aid them. this fits with folktales of demons fairly well. the ending of this war is uncertain. some interpretations say the Guiding Hand won, and faded into obscurity, their function complete. some interpretations say they sacrificed themselves to stave off the invasion.

the five fingers model: this interpretation is considered deviant from the dominant religious tenants, given its explanation of Primus and the Hand. Primus was the first and original being, who then broke himself into five aspects to become the Guiding Hand. this proved to be an unstable arrangement, and the aspects soon turned against each other or became corrupt somehow, terrorizing each other and leading the Knights to war against one another. the only way it could be fixed was to reform Primus whole again, dormant in the center of Cybertron. some interpretations say one or several aspects, usually Mortilus, were completely lost along the way, and Primus could not reform completely, instead becoming a lesser version of himself as Vector Sigma.

there are a number of other models, such as the God War being a conflict with the unknown deity Xal, a game played by the Chronarchitect or Primacron, or the invention of the mythical Unicron virus and a metaphorical war against it to quarantine and sterilize the population, but none of them are as popular as the above four.

all of these theories share some form of the Guiding Hand disappearing during or after the War, the sundering of Simfur, the involvement and/or inception of the early Knights of Cybertron, and Primus retreating into Cybertron. there is also, of course, the agnostic theory that paints the entire thing as completely mythological with no basis in factual history.

that is the in-universe answer, as studied by Cybertronians. the actual answer?

none of these theories are correct. but one of them is at least decently close :)

[danddfan-madeconcepts]

The Soul Heart (Campaign idea)

Here’s one for you DM’s that wants a campaign based around finding one object.

Long ago, a war raged between a god & the people of the world. It was long, bloody, & nearly destroyed everything, but in the darkest hour a hero emerges. The hero stood up to the god in a head to head fight & throughout their own sacrifice, was able to rip the god’s heart out & chuck it towards the world. With this, the war ended & the world was saved…

But legend has it that the heart still beats on, with the soul of the god still inside of it.  People now seek to find the soul heart for their own purposes that they can gain with it’s godly powers. Some wish to use it for an energy source, some wish to use it to bring the god back, others wish to consume it to gain the godly powers held within. All that is known about its location is that someone beforehand had found it when it originally landed & hid it from the world’s view so that no one could use its power for ill… & maybe the soul heart holds more than dark secrets & power in it’s still beating pulse.

[sinfuego]

Natter God War

The following is an account of a God War the happened on the social network Natter earlier this morning. Be warned, gods appear.

Begins when user Fuckhands McMicke ascended to Godhood. Starts pestering the rest of Natter to join him and accept his power.

User Krungle turned Dark to fight McMicke. They went to War. Several other joined, including user Fluff and user Tickles Man. Each for their own reason. Fluff did it to get her wife Krungle back. Tickles did it for the fun, but got bored and soon reverted.

All the while user False God Garbage Lorde had to run around doing all the paperwork, and advising ppl against becoming gods. ppl say this war came about because former user Cowbot was not there to protect them.

User Mr Thomas the Train sets up a shield for the rest of the people to protect them, but gets hurt. The ppl help him maintain the shield.

The war brews for a while, and Fluff ends up Evil in the void. Meanwhile, Dark Krungle defeats McMike by Validating him.

All efforts go to help Fluff. A portal is opened by Thomas, and several ppl jump through, including Kungle (who is no longer Dark) and user Hurgle Turgle, who invokes the power of Pika to help. Eventualy, they find her, but theor power is low. Luckily Fuckhands McMike comes to help keep the portal open. They manage to get Fluff back by reminding her her ice cream is melting. However, their power was too low. Thomas sacrificed himself, much to False God’s chagrin. She set out to get him back, picking up his ashes, with the help of user Rue. They’re still doing that.

Fluff and Krungle reunite, but not for long. User King Tut goes evil, and to stop him, Fluff ascends once again, ignoring user Sin Fuego who just posted his survival guide which explicitely states not to ascend.

Everyone wars them against their godhoods, including Tickles man, who has experienced the dark power of godhood. Krungle asks for her wife to come back. Goddess Fluff and King Tut fight. While that happens, new gods ascend. Mecha Cow Bot, tryng to replace the Pure Cowbot. Mod Jessica, a newcomer with moxie. And G O D O F M U S C L E S, from the church of Natter.

Fuckhands, Tickles, False God all try to stop them. Mecha Cowbot is revealed to be user Egg Salad, and many proclaim her false. She proclaims to come from the future, and that she will leave once all the evil of the timeline has been vored. G O D O F M U S C L E S leaves to stream push ups.

Suddenly, user Rue Rue appears, claiming to be able to bring Thomas back. False God giver them the pieces of Thomas she has. Tickles says they can’t allow that kind of power.

And that is as far as I got. Someone else fill me in with the side stories and ending

[thenamesblurrito]

did i really need to make an entire two page infographic on the mythos and legends of Cybertron in SNAP? no.

did i do it anyway? yes.

the Knights of Cybertron include a lot of specific subgroups like the Guiding hand, the original 13 Primes, and several others. if you see names in here you recognize as being modern characters, it’s because these historical figures became important enough to name children after.

this also reveals one of the more interesting details about ancient legends in SNAP’s canon: the Guiding Hand were the parents of the first 13 Primes! they were a big family of heroes, and the Primes then raised the Guardian Knights, and society was well and truly founded by then, before the God War. that’s why those three subgroups are known as the progenitors, because they were a family who created Cybertronians as a people and civilization. by the time the Primus Vanguard came around, though, the Guiding Hand had mostly... disappeared. At least, that’s what surviving records say. who knows what actually happened.

by the way, there isn’t a single term on this sheet that isn’t pulled from canon. no OCs (even though i love OCs), no made up names, nothing original. i think the only thing on here not canon is the heroes of legacy label, which isnt so much an actual term as much as it is saying the people listed are also considered knights of cybertron, just scattered long after the originals lived.