Moebius

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Moebius is an antagonist character introduced in Blood Omen; one of the insane sorcerers whom the main character must kill in order to progress in the game. Moebius is one of only two characters who makes am appearance in every game in the series (the other being Kain), and serves as a major antagonist. He is used as a boss character in Blood Omen, but is more frequently used to advance the plot of the games in which he appears. Within the context of the story he has power over time, and his foreknowledge of events allows him to interact with the main characters in a consistent manner despite his chronologically inconsistent appearances. Throughout the series he has been voiced by Richard Doyle.

Biography

Ancient History

Upon the demise of his unknown predecessor (possibly the First Time Guardian), Moebius inherited curatorship of the Pillar of Time. As a human Guardian, he was born some time after the end of the Ancient-Hylden war, and along with the immortality gifted by his role, he was granted "control [over] time travel and its use in froecasting history", a "devious and conniving sorcerer", Moebius often exploited his powers to his own ends and would come to be considered 'untrustworthy'.

Alongside Mortanius and fellow human guardians, Moebius' youth was overshadowed by the decline of the Ancient Vampire race: having lost control of the Pillars due to the sterility imposed upon them by the Blood Curse , they attempted to prolong their dying civilization by "turning" human members of the Circle of Nine into Vampires. They routinely adopted - and, when necessary, abducted - the human successors, planning to pass the curse to them as they came of age. Moebius was subjected to this custom - possibly separated from his family in the process - and was raised in theVampire Citadel. As he matured, Moebius would begin to hear the voice of the Ancient Vampires deity - The Elder God (who had abandoned the ancients, after the effects of the Blood Curse) and probably acting on his instructions, Moebius would form a bond with his peer and human Guardian of Death, Mortanius, and the two conspired with his fellow human Guardians to rebel against their Vampire masters.

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When Moebius and Mortanius came of age, they rejected the dark gift, and incited a bloody human rebellion, which further devastated the Ancient Vampire race. Moebius and his human allies attained full control of the Pillars, and Moebius reigned as the final Guardian of Time, serving up until the Pillars eventual destruction, centuries later. Throughout his long life, Moebius would continue to faithfully serve the Elder God; though much like the Ancients before him, he would be unaware of its true appearance or agenda.

Sarafan era

Many centuries later and Ancient Vampire history had receeded altogether, with many humans seeing the vampires themselves as a "plague upon mankind". With an apparent rise in Vampire numbers, The Sarafan Brotherhood was formed to combat the threat and Moebius, as one of the most senior of the circle was likely heavily involved in the decision of the circle to sponsor the the Sarafan crusades, but to what extent Moebius was involved in the running of the Sarafan is unclear - He is however, amongst those in the circle who would seem likely to be most involved with the order, perhaps even 'setting the agenda' or leader of the order itself (he is shown to display authority over lead Sarafan Inquisitor Malek).

In the aftermath of the Sarafan's murder of Janos Audron, Moebius was present in the Sarafan Stronghold when Wraith Raziel and Vorador made their respective attacks on the Stronghold (actions which would result in the deaths of most of the leaders of the Sarafan Brotherhood and the Circle of Guardians) and Moebius along with Sarafan Inquisitor Malek would confrontRaziel in one of the Stronghold's antechambers, disabling the Wraith Blade with Moebius's Staff and forcingRaziel to use the vacant Reaver blade as a weapon. After ensuring that Raziel wielded the Reaver, Moebius and Malek escaped the chamber, diverting Raziel's progress through the stronghold and forcing him into battle with the highly trained Sarafan Inquisitors. Both Moebius and Malek (and Moebius's contemporary Mortanius, whose whereabouts during this event are unknown) would survive the attacks on the Stronghold.

Following Malek's disgrace and punishment (for failing to protect the circle), Moebius seemed to continue as an active leader of the Sarafan Brotherhood (indeed, along with the Elder God, he is the only significant character featured in Defiance's late-Sarafan era; despite the survival of Malek and Mortanius and possible birth of new guardians). Some years after the legendary attacks on the Sarafan Stronghold, Kain would return to the fortress to confront Moebius about the location of Raziel. Finding the Balance Fragment of the Balance Emblem (whichKain suspected was left by Moebius for him to find), Kain was able to dispel the Blessed Barriers blocking his path and make his way to the caves underneath the Stronghold, where he found Moebius, presumably discussing his plans with the Elder God, and awaiting the arrival of Kain.

[[Kain|

Kain]]'s first meeting with Moebius would not go well; Moebius was well aware of Kain's motivations and after paralysing Kain with his staff, Moebius lectured Kain on his "messianic delusions" (as the Scion of Balance) and his ignorance of "Raziel's true nature". Moebius departed, assuring Kain he would "have to learn the truth for [him]self" and leaving him armed with the Reaver blade. Kain would continue to search out Moebius and after recovering the Flame Fragment of the Balance Emblem, Kain was able to reach the upper level of the tower of the Stronghold, where he was able confront Moebius again. This time Kain would use TK (Telekinesis) to strip Moebius of his staff and keep the conversation on a "somewhat different footing". Moebius would congratulate Kain on his possession of the fragments of the Balance Emblem, but he would deride Kain's attempts at changing history as "pathetic", eventually confirming that, whilst Raziel had true free will, his likely actions would still lead to Kain's death. Moebius concluded thatRaziel was presently "contained" but incredibly "dangerous" and offering 'proof' of this fact he gave Kain directions to the hidden Vampire Citadel. At some stage after Kain's assault on the stronghold, the Sarafan crusades would effectively cease, though they would remain a major inspiration to Moebius.

The Tragedy of William the Just Centuries later, in the Pre-Blood Omen era, Moebius would set a trap for the fledgling Kain by manipulating (and supposedly changing the history of) young boy-king William the Just. Over several years, the "insidious designs" of the timestreamer corrupted the "kind and fair" king into a sadistic tyrant known as "the Nemesis"; whose armies were supposedly destined to "lay waste" to Nosgoth. By the Blood Omen era, the Legions of the Nemesis stood on the brink of conquering Nosgoth.

During this time, Moebius acted as a "wise hermit" called 'the Oracle' and resided in the Oracle's Caves; dispensing 'benevolent' advice to pilgrims. Following the Corruption of the Pillars, Moebius would use this guise to predict "horrific events [and] exploiting them to his own ends". Thirty years after the corruption, it would be in the guise of 'the Oracle' that Kain would first meet Moebius. Kain had been unable to overcome Malek and sought the guidance of 'the Oracle' to help defeat him; Moebius gave Kain some enigmatic clues about King Ottmar and the Legions of the Nemesis, before telling him of Vorador's defeat of the Paladin in the Sarafan era and directing him to follow the Ignis Fatuus into the Swamp to locate Vorador's Mansion.

Later on in his quest, When Kain killed Dimension Guardian Azimuth, he found on her body one of Moebius's Time Streaming Devices and after restoring the Pillar of Dimension, Kain turned his attention to Moebius himself. Advised byAriel that he "needed to understand [Moebius'] machinations", Kain travelled to Willendorf and remembering the words of 'the Oracle', he set out on a side-quest to restore the Princess of Willendorf and rouse King Ottmar and his Army of Hope to defend Nosgoth against the Legions of the Nemesis, but in the fateful Battle of the Last Stand, the Army of Hope would be defeated, leaving Nosgoth at the mercy of the Nemesis. Kain was able to escape the battle when theTime Streaming Device activated, sending him fifty years backwards in time to the Pre-Blood Omen era.

Realizing the opportunity he was presented with, Kain travelled to the 'Land of the Nemesis', planning to assassinate William the Just before he could become the tyrant "The Nemesis". Succeeding in gaining access to William's Keep, Kain was able to overhear a conversation between Moebius and William; in which Moebius gave William some weapons and warned William of a Vampire assassin. After Moebius left, Kain confronted William and as Moebius had planned, both were armed with the Soul Reaver. The ensuing Soul Reaver Paradox allowedKain to change history and kill William (igniting the Second paradox timeline). Believing he had "thwarted" Moebius's plans, Kain returned to theBlood Omen era with a Time Streaming Device he found on William's corpse. But with unbeknowst to Kain, he had provided exactly the "catalyst" that Moebius' plans required.

Moebius' Mercenary Army

With Kain's murder of William, the boy-king died a "martyred saint" and Kain was appropriately demonized as 'the vampire assassin". Exploiting the grief and vengeance of William's citizens, Moebius was able to create a new order dedicated to exterminating the Vampires, igniting a second great vampire purge; led by the timstreamer himself - Moebius's Mercenary Army. The order would come to use the former Sarafan Stronghold as a base and over a period of 'mere decades', the vampire purge would be successful enough to have eliminated the majority ofNosgoth's Vampire population.

It was in this capacity as leader of the Mercenary Army, that Wraith Raziel would 'first' meet Moebius. Travelling back in time from the Chronoplast in theSoul Reaver era, Raziel emerged from a Time Streaming Chamber in the Sarafan Stronghold in the Pre-Blood Omen era, twenty years after William's death. Moebius claimed to had "snatched" Raziel out of the timestream, seemingly intending to aid Raziel in his pursuit of the elder Kain , but Raziel (who was aware of Moebius' reputation) was instantly suspicious of the timestreamer and even more so when his Staff disabled the Wraith Blade. Nevertheless, Moebius encouraged Raziel to "re-embrace the essence of [his] humanity, and the nobility of [his] Sarafan heritage" and sent Raziel after Kain.

Shortly afterward, asRaziel explored the Sarafan Stronghold, he found William's Chapel in the Sanctuary area of the Stronghold and discovered William's broken Soul Reaver blade. As Raziel was 'leeched' by the Wraith Blade to restore the physical Reaver, Moebius was watching the process with "intense fascination" and Raziel turned on Moebius, threatening him with the conjoined blades. Moebius, supposedly appearing without his staff to "prove [his] good intentions" to Raziel, begged Raziel to "stay [his] hand"; realizing the potential consequences of a history-altering Soul Reaver Paradox removing him from this stage of history. Distrusting Moebius, Raziel was fully prepared to strike him down, but Moebius' desperate revelation that he was a servant of Raziel's creator, the Elder God, persuaded Raziel to stay his hand and continue his quest for Kain. Moebius was visually relieved as Raziel left the Sanctuary area.

After meeting Kain and Vorador and imbuing the Dark and Light Reavers (and reflecting with Vorador on the "unsettling" progress of the Mercenary Army), Raziel returned to William's Chapel and discovered Kain waiting for him. Kain would explain to him the significance of the Soul Reaver Paradox; how two versions of the blade could meet and thus change history. Kain presented Raziel with William's Reaver, forcing the the Wraith Blade to manifest and as Raziel advanced on Kain with the conjoined blades he fought the 'pull' of history (and the Wraith Blade) and was able to divert the blades, sparing Kain and igniting the Third paradox timeline. Apparently shocked by Raziel's sparing of the elder Kain and changing of history, Moebius arrived, once again without his staff. Raziel, relishing the 'distress' his actions had caused Moebius, threatened Moebius to activate a Time Streaming Chamber to send him back in time to the Sarafan era. When Raziel was transported however, Moebius' "cunning grin" suggested he had more deceptions planned and when he arrived Raziel found Moebius had sent him to the Post-Blood Omen era instead of the expectedSarafan era.

The Triumph and Deaths of Moebius

TheVampire purges of Moebius' Mercenary Army would continue into the Blood Omen era, leaving Vorador and the fledgeling Kain as some of the last vampires in Nosgoth. When Raziel travelled to the Blood Omen era in Defiance he visited Vorador's Mansion and in contrast to the populated mansion encountered by Kain shortly before in the First Paradox timeline, Raziel found the Mansion abandoned and desolate before the advance of Moebius Mercenary Army and Vorador himself apparently awaiting them. Raziel would leave to investigate Avernus and when he returned after murdering the elder Kain to recover theHeart of Darkness, he found the Mansion overrun with Mercenaries and Moebius waiting for him. Moebius gloated at Raziel's murder of Kain; revealing that to him (and the Elder God) the prophecies of Vampire and Hylden Champion were irrelevant so long as Kain was dead; and relishing that he had manipulated Raziel into this course of action despite his free will. Moebius also confirmed that Vorador had been captured ("not without a considerable price in blood") and Moebius teleported away to see to his execution, aware that he himself was going to his own death.

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As the fledgeling Kain returned from the Pre-Blood Omen era, after murdering William the Just and changing history, he found evidence of the changed timeline; assailed by Mercenaries, Kain followed screams and the scent of blood to a garrison south of Stahlberg where he found Vorador (the last of the eras vampires aside from Kain himself) guillotined before a blood-thirsty mob. Recognizing the leader of the mercenaries as 'the Oracle', Kain realized that Moebius had manipulated his quest all along to eliminate the vampire race. Moebius identified Kain to the mob as the last vampire left and they turned on him, but Kain was able to fight off the crowd and confront the timestreamer himself. Moebius summoned enemies from "from the past, from the present and from ages yet to come" (including a probable illusion of a 'future Kain') to battle Kain, but eventually Kain was able to defeat Moebius. As Moebius lay injured he admitted to altering history to create the Nemesis and gave Kain a final prophecy of his future death before Kain (probably in reference to Vorador's death) beheaded Moebius and recovered Moebius' Hourglass; his pillar token (see Moebius (boss)). After his final confrontations with Mortanius and theDark Entity, Kain was able to return Moebius' Hourglass to the Pillar of Time, temporarily restoring it. As Kain was presented with his fateful decision at the climax of Blood Omen, Moebius true cunning was revealed as Kain realized that to restore Nosgoth he would have to commit suicide and thus eliminate theVampire race; recognizing the "game was rigged", Kain rejected the sacrifice, damning the pillars to collapse.

For his centuries of loyalty and service to the Elder God (who had "power over life and death"), Moebius was ressurected in Defiance, shortly after his death in Blood Omen and summoned to the Spirit Forge in the Vampire Citadel (recently made accessible by the efforts ofRaziel to activate the forge). Moebius was confirming to the unseen Elder God, that the Hylden (recently 'released' by Raziel) would be "dealt with in time". However as he proceeded that their release was a "small price to pay for Kain's death", the elder Kain floated down behind Moebius and revealed that there was "a crack in [Moebius'] omniscience" -

Moebius had failed to forsee that Kain had in fact survived the confrontation with Raziel (minus the Heart of Darkness). With Moebius shocked at Kain's survival and that his staff no longer effected the Vampire. Kain would once again kill Moebius, unmoved by his claims of serving "one who has power over life and death".

With his death, Moebius' soul arrived in theSpectral Realm and he continued to address the unseen Elder God asking him to "make use of your good servant"; not realizing that he had appeared directly in front of the Wraith Raziel, Moebius was impaled on the Wraith Blade Spirit Reaver before he finished the sentance. The Spirit Reaver cleansed Moebius' sight allowing him to see the Elder God for the first time and horrifying him with the revelation of what he had worshipped. Raziel consumed Moebius' soul; sending him to feed the Elder God and his Wheel of Fate. Recognizing from Moebius' death that no-one had ever seen the Elder God and that he was "the true endeavor", whose unseen influence had caused "all of the conflict and strife throughout history", Raziel accepted his destiny, possessing Moebius' corpse and using it to return to the Material Realm and tricking Kain into impaling the apparently ressurected corpse. Raziel fully manifested and sacrificed himself to create the Soul Reaver, whilst simultaneously dispersing theSpirit Reaver into Kain to cleanse him of injury and corruption and enable him to see the Elder God.

Beyond Death

Despite being killed (twice) and returned to the Wheel of Fate, this would not be the last of Moebius in Nosgothic history. A century after the collapse of the pillars and Moebius' death, Raziel's emerged from a Time Streaming Chamber in the Sarafan Stronghold of the Post-Blood Omen era (following Moebius sending him to the wrong era) and a statue of Moebius depicting the execution of Vorador confirmed the era he now occupied. Shortly afterward, Raziel would meet the supposed "martyred spirit" of Moebius himself (though this 'spirit' has since been confirmed to have actually been an illusion, utilising Time Travel). 'The Spirit' attempted to convince Raziel of Kain's culpability for the horrors of the demon infested Post-Blood Omen era, but Raziel saw through the timestreamers "disingenuous" argument and offerd to test whether he was a spirit - through devouring his soul. Moebius rejected the offer and vanished.

In the Blood Omen 2 era, four centuries after his death, there was a colossal statue of Moebius in the final outer courtyard of the 'timeless' Eternal Prison. The statue was originally in pieces on the floor of the courtyard, having apparently long collapsed, but during his battle with Magnus, Kain was able to utilise some of the time manipulation effects of the prison to rebuild the statue. After luring Magnus into charging at the statue and damaging the supporting staff, the statue collapsed onto Magnus, causing him significant damage and regaining his memerory (see Magnus (boss)). The Moebius statue in the prison is unexplained, but it is possible that Moebius had a hand in the building of the 'timeless' prison or otherwise claimed it as Time Guardian.

Kain's "boasted exploits" of his past ensured that the legend of Moebius would live on into the Soul Reaver era. Investigating the Oracle's Caves searching for Kain, Raziel would uncover the Oracle's Chamber and as he entered he recounted the tale of Kain's first meeting with 'the Oracle' and how Moebius had subsequently manipulated Kain's journey. Commenting on rumours that "like Moebius himself", the caves were "a facade for a much larger, more elaborate complex" and using Constrict on the cauldron , Raziel was able to open the way to Moebius' secret complex - The Chronoplast, discovered by Kain centuries earlier. As he descended into the machinery of the Chronoplast, Raziel found a statue of the timstreamer, which he noted " radiated a certain undeniable power". Continuing through the Chronoplast and observing some of its visions, Raziel finally confronted Kain in the main time streaming chamber and after battling him (see Kain (SR1 second encounter)) Kain activated the Chronoplast portal and lured Raziel back in time to the Pre-Blood Omen era. As Raziel passed through he was greeted by Moebius and no doubt Raziel's Soul Reaver era knowledge of Moebius' exploits led to his mistrust of the timestreamer in their first meeting

Notes

Moebius' name is likely inspired by mathematician and theoretical astronomer Augustin Ferdinand Mobius, who has several geometrical and astronomical phenomena named after him (including a crater on the far side of the moon), Mobius is usually associated with the Mobius strip - a single surface that has only one (twisted) plane of geometry; typically the infinity sigil is presented as a Mobius strip. According to bonus features in the games, Moebius was known as "Bridenal" in the early development of the series.

Moebius (along with the Elder God) is one notable character who is able to address Kain and Raziel in proper context on each occasion (regardless of time travel on the part of the protagonist); indeed, Moebius's status as Time Guardian (and his associated time travel and foreknowledge) means that Moebius personal chronology may be largely uncertain, as ultimately it is unclear whether (some or indeed all of) his appearances are due to time travel.

Moebius's appearance, gloating at Raziel in Vorador's Mansion, seems oddly placed in the storyline of Defiance, as it follows Mortanius's telepathic communication with the younger Kain ("Come to me my undead son"); by the established sequence of events shown in Blood Omen, Moebius should have been murdered by the younger Kain before Mortanius called Kain. Crystal Dynamics staff have admitted that the scene showing Moebius (still alive and only just going to his death) at Vorador's Mansion was a mistake. The events can still be accepted however; either Moebius has time-travelled beyond his death to gloat at Raziel, or alternatively Mortanius may simply be leaving a 'recording'.

Moebius' appearance and personality may be allusions to Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious of Star Wars as both had declared genocide against a race of ancient, but 'benevolent' warriors for their own personal agendas and both have the appearances of elderly men dressed in black robes. Also, both characters had frequently manipulated the protagonists for their own agendas.

Gallery

Moebius (SR1)

Moebius (SR2)

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Moebius Statue (Blood Omen 2)

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Raziel views a stained glass mural of what appears to be a young Moebius (w/ a ponytail) in the sound temple (SR1)

See Also

Template:Icon-DC Moebius the Timestreamer at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Walter).

References

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