Aristophanes (comics)
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Aristophanes was a character created by CrossGen comics for the comic book Crux. The first appearance of Aristophanes in Crux was in issue #13 during a flashback, the segment explaining his historic role. He wasn't officially introduced until issue #14 where he had his first dialogue (it came at the very end, on the second to last page).
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[edit] The Legendary Warrior
To explain Aristophanes you must first understand Crux. Crux is a comic book that concerns the ancient city-state of Atlantis and it's people, who have the ability to channel power from the invisible universal energies that surround us. They thrived on Earth until about 100,000 years ago (counting back from the year 2000 a.d.) when they disappeared from the face of the Earth. Of the people of Atlantis, 1,140 stayed behind to mentor the human race, a new race recently evolving on the planet. The other thousands or millions of Atlanteans transcended to a higher state of being by means of a collectively spiritual and personal energy-fueled process called Transition, in which they became god-like in appearance and power. A backlash of energy caused the remaining 1,140 Atlanteans, safe in stasis tubes, to sink, along with their island city, deep into the depths of the ocean. 100,000 years later, six Atlanteans awoke to find Earth deserted, the human race gone. These six didn't have the means to revive the remaining 1,134 Atlanteans still safe in stasis tubes and they were now being attacked by soldiers of the Negation, an Empire composed (mostly not by volunteering) of different races and peoples from various planets not found in this universe but from another dimension. The Negation were a challenge to them as the Atlanteans from 100,000 years ago were known mostly as artists and architects, poets and philosophers, social scientists and seers. More were historians than warriors, but in their history they had their warriors. Their history tells of ancient warriors who protected the city of Atlantis. Some history was thought of more as legend and this ancient people also had their own legends. Aristophanes was one of them.
[edit] The Warrior People of Atlan
It is assumed Aristophanes was born on Earth amongst the people of the nation of Atlan (which would one day become the city-state of Atlantis), which was found on an island in the center of, what we call, the Atlantic Ocean, between the eastern coast of North America and the western coasts of the continents Europe and Africa. The people of Atlan are considered to be the first sentient race found on Earth. Not known to possess any mystical powers, the Atlan people were a warrior race and at that time, Aristophanes was the General and High-Priest of their Legions. [Note: The time of Crossgen's Atlantis is 100,000 years ago (from the year a.d. 2000). The legend of Aristophanes is 10,000 years prior to the time of Atlantis.]
[edit] The War of Two Worlds
As the Legion General, Aristophanes led his warrior people in a legendary battle against an invading race from space. This race arrived on Earth in a saucer-shaped spacecraft over the Atlan city, Atlantis. They used their science to steal men, women, and children for their experiments. When he heard the alien spaceship landed far to the north, General Aristophanes led his legionnaires against the people of the saucer-shaped spacecraft. It is unknown who attacked first but a great battle was fought between the people of Atlan and the people from space (who were also using genetically-engineered beasts, their slaves, to aid them in the fight). In the end, two beings remained: an Atlan and a slave. An Atlantean legend says a hero and a beast were locked in eternal combat. Aristophanes and the genetically-altered beast, Thraxis, somehow became locked in a stasis field.
[edit] War Among Universes
Hundreds of thousands of centuries later, while on the continent of Australia, two awoken Atlanteans, the brawny telekinetic Tug and the young seer Verityn, found a saucer-shaped ship inbedded in a mountain deep in the outback. They explored the ship and came upon a room that had a platform where which stood a man and a beast facing each other and unable to move because of the invisible stasis field they were trapped within. The Atlanteans unlocked Aristophanes and Thraxis from their stasis only to be attacked by Thraxis. Aristophanes felled the beast and revealed himself as the legend of the Atlanteans. Suddenly, a Negation army attacked them, coming from a portal. Thraxis wakes up and fights a large Negation beast, breaking it's jaw while inside the beast's mouth. During the fighting the Negation armies flee and Aristophanes follows them into the portal, still fighting them as they run. Once in the Negation dimension and facing the armies he followed there, Aristophanes introduces himself, calling himself the warrior prince of Atlan and commences fighting them. The bridge they were on, coming from the portal, shakes and the armies leave. Below the bridge was a liquid much like water from where a creature called a s'lthg'r arose to attack Aristophanes. He prays and attacks back only to have the s'lthg'r's head glow bright orange and blow up to reveal that Galvan, another recently awoken Atlantean from Earth, had been inside. Galvan had entered another portal, a mechanical Transition device, that had recently been used by humans in Australia who had wanted to Transition. These humans were considered tainted by other humans who had Transitioned 10,000 years earlier, leaving them in Australia. The tainted humans spent thousands of years building a mechanical device similar to the ones the humans used and when they were ready, Galvan's twin brother, Gammid, had decided to go with them. Gammid was feeling responsible as an Atlantean to mentor these humans in their Transition. In the days following Gammid's departure, Galvan began receiving visions and hearing his brother call to him, so he decided to enter the Transition portal only to find out that who he thought was Gammid calling to him was really the deadly s'lthg'r pulling him in. Once out of the s'lthg'r, Galvan fell weak to the ground. Aristophanes came to his aid. Before there was much dialogue between them a friendly-looking Lawbringer appeared and commanded them to leave Negation space. Galvan and Aristophanes traveled back through the portal to Earth. Once back in Australia, Aristophanes urged that they return to Atlantis and awaken the others. Thraxis piloted them in the saucer-shaped spacecraft back to their home city.
[edit] War of Atlantis
In Atlantis, Galvan showed Aristophanes the stasis tubes of other Atlanteans who hadn't yet been able to awake. When he knew he was alone, Aristophanes figured out how to open the stasis tubes safely and he revived four dangerous Atlantean heretics known for their illegal actions and their radical views: Amatus, a powerful illusionist; Paxtan, a self-elevated intellectual; Rhezus, a master of mechanics and technology; and Belphir, a scientist who experimented unethically on the genetics of other Atlanteans. With these four, Aristophanes took over the city for a short time.
A company called Terra Cognito, who had turned the deserted Earth into an amusement park, had returned to their property, the planet. With the help of Paxtan and Rhezus, Aristophanes stole a small Terra Cognito spacecraft and flew up to the main TerCog ship which was cloaked and stationary in Earth's upper atmosphere, monitering the city below. Aristophanes blew up the ship and returned to Atlantis where a great battle was led against the Negation and the remaining Atlanteans who were locked in stasis tubes aided in the fight, having been awoken by Tug and Galvan.
[edit] Again Legion General
After the victory over that Negation army, Danik, an Atlantean who had Transitioned and was now god-like, chose Aristophanes to lead Atlantis as a General against the greater Negation armies headed to Earth and other planets throughout the universe.
[edit] His Lords of Halgadae
An interesting aspect of the Atlanteans and their ancient Atlan ancestors was that they seemed to have their own pantheon of gods who they either worshipped, honored, respected, or just admired, as some would become god-like themselves. Aristophanes, when usually under extreme pressure, would often shout out names of deities, such as "Lords of Halgedae", a common expletive among Atlanteans, (especially from Corrin, an Atlantean found in the comic book Negation). "Lords of Halgadae" was sometimes added with "...give me strength" and sometimes Halgadae was spelled Helgedae. Aristophanes would also yell names from history or of legend like "Prophets of Mu" (possibly making reference to Atlantis' Pacific Ocean sister city of Mu), "Towers of Lumer" or "Towers of Lemur" (Lemuria being Atlantis' sister city in the Indian Ocean), and "Warrior Priest of the Halgedae". The use of these honorific expletives in Crux and Negation and because of the way they are used, just as someone in the past would say, "Ye Gods" or today would say "Oh my God" or "God Almighty", it is assumed that these Lords of Halgedae are the pantheon of gods worshipped by the venerable people of Atlan and Atlantis. A prayer said by Aristophanes, before fighting the s'lthg'r, also helps confirm they are gods:
Deep in my warrior's heart I must seek for strength.
Strength to stand before this fiend.
Strength to overcome in this hostile land.
Lords of Halgedae, grant me speed.
Give me sight and steady arm.
And should I fall before my enemies--
--let their victory be a bitter one.
