Metis (World of Darkness)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Metis are a fictional breed of werewolves from the Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing game. They are heavily discriminated against, as they all are sterile and have a random deformity. Their natural state is that of the Crinos form, making them very dangerous to sleep around. They are created from the pairing of two Garou, which is a breach of the Litany, mainly because of the stigma of bearing a metis offspring.

The Children of Gaia are the only tribe that openly accepts all metis; a few others accept their own, notably the Bone Gnawers and Silent Striders.

There are some theories as to the nature of why metis are different. Some point out that there is nothing medically wrong with their reproductive systems, so maybe Gaia could have some bigger plan for them.

By the time of the final sourcebook in the game, which was entitled simply Apocalypse, a character had been introduced known as The Perfect Metis. He was born with no deformities at all, and was capable of producing offspring. He is a central player in most of the plots which are offered in the final sourcebook for Werewolf: The Apocalypse. His greatest impact is felt in the Weaver ascendant storyline simply because of the sheer magnitude of his purpose in this plot. This storyline saw the Weaver, rather than the Wyrm, turn out to be the true enemy of the Garou. During this plot, which like all of the scenarios in the book is very epic and broad-reaching in scope, the Perfect Metis (he is given no other name in the book than this), manages to bring an end to the civil war between the surving members of the thirteen Garou tribes and their longtime adversary werewolves, the Black Spiral Dancers. He was also revealed to be both the avatar of the Wyrm, and the true leader of the Black Spiral Dancers. One of his first acts in this scenario when he brokers the peace, is to kill ZhyZhak, a Black Spiral Dancer who was considered at the time to be one of, if not the most powerful werewolves alive at the time, and who had been dead set on killing Jonas Albrecht, the then-reigning king of the Garou and leader of the Silver Fangs tribe.

He is depicted in this scenario as essentially being the ultimate werewolf, and proposes a mission to free the Wyrm from the Weaver, and in doing so, stop the Weaver's mad ambition to bring order to all of reality, which would mean the death of all of existence. By accomplishing the task, the world sees the end of all beings. The Garou themselves become spirits, and the future becomes an open road that has yet to be travelled.

In other scenarios, he is either one of the key villains, or else he becomes a pivotal story of redemption. In one scenario, he is captured by evil forces, molested several times, murdered, and then becomes one of the five pillars of the Wyrm's march towards his final victory. The Perfect Metis' death can then be utilized to cause an attack on the Wyrm by purging his by then tainted soul. Doing so can affect the potential outcome of the Apocalypse, according to storyteller's whims and the actions of the player.