-- Xyra Aukon-Pierre & Xazent Aukon --
At her core, Likoa is a very simple entity: the Incarnation of Chaos from before Xinonix, who unlike Xinonix, had her chaotic essence attuned to not only the power of destruction and sharing animum with Dragites, but also a sense of personal ambition. This turned out to be a bad idea, which is why Xinonix was later created without ambition. Likoa grew jealous of Lixoa, the Void, wielding the full powers of creation and destruction, so she killed nearly every living thing and absorbed their energy so she could get strong enough to cut off a piece of the Void to take that power for herself. She succeeded, and proceeded to use the power of creation to create a twisted alternate dimension which serves as both her kingdom and her prison. She may be the undisputed ruler of it, but she's also there to avoid consequences for her actions. If you take the more optimistic myths at face value, Likoa can never leave Distortion because if she did, she'd get curb-stomped by Veritas' Incarnations. She does, however, send through twisted, many-limbed creatures called chaos entities to cause trouble and steal more of Veritas' animum for herself. After all, as the first Incarnation of Chaos, she gave Dragga its animum and she wants it back.
The less optimistic myths tell a different tale. They point out that technically, there can only be one Incarnation of Order and Chaos. Any given dimension's void only contains enough animum to make one of each. If Likoa is Veritas' real Incarnation of Chaos and she vanished into another dimension -- what is Xinonix supposed to be? Some say that she's made out of the animum debris that Likoa left behind. This means that she can manipulate the Dragite and Animite souls that are formed from Likoa's animum core and engage in destruction, but can't initiate the End of All on her own or do any new allocation of animum. Animum also may not return to her when a soul collapses when its attached entity dies, which is what dictates the lifespan of a dimension. This means that as fine as we may seem, from our dimension's formation onward, the core foundations of the universe were fundamentally fucked, leaving us spiraling towards a gory and entirely unprecedented destruction. The recent opening of dimensional rifts releasing creatures that by all accounts, resemble the myths of chaos entities have made this all the more pertinent.
"Likoa" is a pretty simple word. It makes sense, seeing as the story of Likoa, which is likely a mythologization of an extinction event of unknown origin that occurred roughly 10,000 years ago, when Dragites were first developing intelligence, can be traced back to the earliest Draggan writing we have. "Li-" is a prefix meaning "the". When applied to a root, it shows that something embodies the essence of that thing or to refer to general concepts. For example, xoa- means "void/emptiness", so Lixoa, the Incarnation of Void, is quite literally named "The Void", showing that it embodies the essence thereof. The Vi- in Vipheriv and Xi- in Xinonix's names are likely also mutations of "li-" that got altered in order to have the Incarnations' names start and end with the same sound. Really, although their titles may be used as such, the Incarnations don't have personal names. They're just concepts.
The "li-" part is easy. "Koa" is way more complicated. Its closest translation is something along the lines of "degeneration", "distortion", or "destruction". Its earliest usage is in the story of Likoa. From there, it quickly gets used to refer to natural disasters or places or things that are impacted by a destructive force. It gets used in "Ankoa" to refer to Likoa's dimension, which roughly translates to "broken world" or "distorted world". Distortion is how we refer to it, from a combination of this meaning and a reference to an alternate dimension from an Insulan video game. Likewise, "Kunkoa", which translates varyingly as "chaos entity" or "child of Likoa" literally or connotationally as "demon", "monster", or "abomination", refers to entities who were created by or serve Likoa.
"Koa" gets far more interesting when it's used figuratively. Because of its connotation of mindless and total destruction, it's very rarely used to refer to sentient beings that aren't literally from Likoa's dimension. When it is, it's one of the gravest insults in the modern Draggan language. If you call someone anything based on it, you are showing that you have no interest in ever repairing that relationship. Which is good, because you won't. It's the kind of word that physical fights are regularly started over. As well as being used to describe serial killers and fictional villains who wield destructive powers, using "koa" towards a sentient being says that not only do they destroy everything they touch and not care how much destruction they cause on their way to their goal, like Likoa harvesting the energy from nearly every living thing in the universe, they also relish in said destruction. Not only do they have the metaphorical destructive power of a walking natural disaster, they also enjoy going blatantly out of their way to cause harm. Not even the harshest combinations using "plun-" (lit. refers to someone who leaves excrement in an unsafe or public place, figuratively "filth" or "defilement", used as an all-purpose swear word or to refer to someone who's self-serving at the expense of others) carry that degree of scorn.
You might be wondering why an immensely powerful entity is solely referred to with something that roughly means "serial killer". The good news is that there's actually a mythical explanation for it. As is explained in the roughly 3,000-year-old Distortion Codex, supposedly written by someone who got sucked into a rift to Likoa's dimension, got out, and survived to write a book about it (modern scholarship believes they were likely hallucinating courtesy of pollution in the local water supply), Likoa thinks of itself as the strongest being in all of creation, and the number 1 thing it hates, other than Vipheriv and Xinonix's creatures being alive and having an industry-standard number of limbs, is Dragites trying to relate to it, name it, or ascribe motivation to it. It feels that by doing so, they're trying to reduce it to their level. As a result, all Dragite texts solely refer to it by various titles that solely describe it as a mindless destroyer.
Because of the longstanding taboo on referring to Likoa by anything remotely resembling a personal name as well as the historical efforts from worshipers of Vipheriv to erase texts describing her from the records, nobody knows Likoa's true name, or if she even ever had one. Seeing as the other Incarnations are solely referred to by the concepts they embody and -koa referred to Likoa before it developed a number of other meanings concerning disaster and degeneration, it's likely that it was never meant to be referred to as anything but a force of destruction whose name took on connotations of personal evil as its mythology got expanded. Some controversial scholars even claim that the original story of Likoa was never even meant to describe a literal divine entity and just referred to the extinction event itself, filtered through centuries of oral tradition. Worshipers of Likoa still refer to her as such. What else would they do with a nameless entity? They just leave out what -koa actually means from their dictionaries or claim that its popular definition was a lie created by worshipers of Vipheriv and Xinonix to erase Likoa's true message of personal freedom from history.
Likoa's gender is slightly more concrete than its name. As with all Incarnations, it uses the archaic verb tense best described as "everything at once", a variation of the plural that is only used for Incarnations. Other than that, Likoa is usually described as simply a mindless force, but when it is referred to with any kind of personification, it is referred to as female, either via Likoa's dimension being compared to a womb or due to being conflated with Xinonix, who is referred to with feminine symbolism to emphasize her connection to Vipheriv. There were several efforts by early worshipers of Vipheriv to conflate Likoa with Xinonix, which is likely to blame for the application of feminine symbolism to Likoa, along with some fundamentalist sects still considering Xinonix evil despite all textual evidence.
Especially given the opening of the Shadowlawn rift, there have been many questions concerning whether Likoa truly exists. That, we remain uncertain of. While most scholarship suggests that its origins as a myth spawn from the massive Proto-Draggan extinction event, we still do not know the cause of said extinction event. All natural causes can not cover everything, so some have decided that nothing other than the fury of an Incarnation could have produced it. Based on the fossil records, something appears to have set the entire supercontinent on fire. Despite that, there is no sign of ash or volcanic activity and the climate was in a cool and wet period, rendering wildfires unlikely. Even if wildfires had started, they wouldn't have consumed the whole supercontinent. Even more bizarre, aquatic fossils still show signs of burning and based on geological evidence, all bodies still contained water at the time. Rocks from that era also retain signatures suggesting a massive animum impact of which the fallout is still present today. The leading explanation other than Likoa is that the continent was briefly covered by a dimensional rift, which didn't last long enough for anything to go through, but blasted it with enough animum to overload and literally burn out all but the most resilient lifeforms. This would explain why dimensional rifts factor into the myths about Likoa despite not corresponding nearly as directly as Likoa killing everyone to an extinction event that destroyed 50% of all Draggan life. No one is sure how Dragites managed to survive after the mass devastation of the ecosystem. Some attribute it to Incarnational intervention, but I find this supernatural explanation unnecessary. Dragite ingenuity can go quite far and the species that survived quickly spread across the newly freed- up niches.
As appealing as the explanation of an ancient dimensional rift is, it retains its own issues. There is no convincing evidence of alternate dimensions other than Distortion being accessible from this one and as was demonstrated by the Shadowlawn rift, rifts to Distortion could not, as far as we know, be opened until recently; there was simply not enough background animum until roughly 5 years ago, when there was a massive and unprecedented spike in the background animum fields and from there levels continued climbing. Some have connected this to a religious ritual performed in the Shadowlawn temple to Likoa, where the rift first opened. All of the possible explanations for the original extinction event turn up even more holes, but scholarship is nearly certain that the former marks the origin of the myth of Likoa. As to whether the Incarnation herself is real or if she has anything to do with the dimension on the other end of the Shadowlawn rift, we have no evidence on this yet, but if Distortion and chaos entities are, best be prepared for anything. And pray that there's something else out there that's more prepared to fight a cosmic force than you are. Of course, that requires that there's something listening for you to invoke, so who knows?
Stats
- Name: Does not have a true personal name. Referred to as Likoa, "The Degenerate" is the most popular translation.
- Species: Incarnation
- Gender: N/A. Described with feminine symbolism when it's personified at all.
- Pronouns: it/its or she/her
- Age: As old as Veritas itself.
- Abilities: Total destruction or annihilation of absolutely anything. Manipulation of animum derived from her, which includes all of the animum in both Veritas and Distortion. Can create nearly anything from animum including sentient life, but can not put limits or regulations on said lifeforms, so they often burn themselves out. In short, essentially omnipotent unless you need her to make sense.
Likoa does not have consistent character traits due to the taboo on attempting to describe her in any terms that could be remotely described as relatable. The few consistent bits of personality she textually displays include an insatiable lust for power, a belief in herself as the strongest being in and rightful ruler of all creation, and a hatred for Veritas and all of its creatures. However, texts are ambiguous on whether these are conscious feelings that Likoa experiences or something more akin to primal urges or tendencies built into her very nature. Worshipers of Likoa give her a bit more personality, portraying her as a defender of freedom and self-expression and her destruction as necessary for a better creation. However, none of this is consistent. As a result, ascribing character traits to her would be presumptuous and pure speculation on my part. Also, if she really is out there and will smite me for attempting to describe her relatably, best not tempt fate. -- XP
Fun Facts
*Likoa predates Vipheriv and Xinonix, and by a rather wide margin at that! The earliest texts describing Likoa mention her and the Void, but don't mention Vipheriv or describe Likoa as the Incarnation of Chaos anywhere. It's not until the Di-Incarnational system (for those uninformed, that just means that there are 2 main forces or Incarnations that manage the universe) got popularized roughly 3,500 years ago that Likoa started being described as the Incarnation of Chaos or being created alongside Vipheriv. Before then, she was simply an unelaborated-on force of destruction.
*Likoa's physical appearance resembling a white Sluslis may seem random, but it's probably rooted in natural phenomena. Before the myths of Likoa were written down, there are carvings showing flying Sluslan, likely a comparison to the serpentine shapes of lightning or aerial animum pulses. Presumably ancient Dragites connected lightning and storms and their preexisting serpentine symbolism to the destruction wrought by Likoa. Likewise, probably to emphasize their similarities to Likoa once the Di-Incarnational system got established, Vipheriv and Xinonix also got depicted as Sluslan or serpents.
*Likoa's white body dates back at least to over 4,500-year-old carvings and cave paintings of white Sluslan surrounded by corpses or emerging from the sky, which likely depict a prototype version of the entity we know from written sources. However, the dark scars on it from her acts of violence and the idea that by consuming souls or knocking the moon and stars from the sky, Likoa seeks to brighten her body further and cover those scars also originates with the Distortion Codex.
Reference
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Art
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By Enforcer
By Others
Adoptables Etcetera
Myths
First documented in the Distortion Codex, this account supposedly describes something the unknown author witnessed and is the main modern reference for the story of Likoa. This is part of what makes scholars almost certain that the author never actually visited Distortion -- the animum conditions there would tear apart any Dragite who remained for an extended period and it certainly would not be "indistinguishable" from Veritas until Likoa appeared. Dragite settlements in Distortion are simply not possible.
A group of young Dragites sits around a campfire, an elderly Quarth keeping watch over them. A Klaslan excitedly raises a leg.
"Can you tell us a scary story?"
"All right, honey. I'm going to tell you the scariest story I've ever heard. It's been passed down for generations, I first heard it when I was a little girl."
All around the fire, the young Dragites gasp and squeal in excitement. How scary was this story going to be?
"A long, long time ago, or I suppose I couldn't say it was a long 'time' ago since time and space didn't exist yet, there was nothing except Lixoa, the Void. There was no sound, no light, no life, nothing except complete emptiness, everywhere. Now, who can tell me what happened next?"
A Smutha raises her head from grooming her doll and interjects. "Ooh! I know! Lixoa created Vipheriv and Xinonix, the Incarnations of Order and Chaos so she could start creating the universe and stuff!"
The old Quarth smiles. "Yes, Taliah, that's close, but not quite. See, Xinonix wasn't the original Incarnation of Chaos. There was one before her." All the young Dragites gasp. They'd never heard anything like this in the temples.
"Lixoa created Pheriana, yes, with the force of her will, but the Incarnation of Chaos wasn't Xinonix. The original Incarnation of Chaos was far more powerful. Her true name has been lost to time, but we now know her as Likoa, the Degenerate."
All the Dragites gasped again. They'd heard about an ancient being called the Degenerate, but when they'd asked their parents about it, they shook their heads, saying that she didn't exist and was just a story people made up to be scary. But the elderly Quarth sounded like she knew something their parents didn't. Was the Degenerate real, or just a myth? Taliah had some doubts about Incarnations being real in general. After all, she'd never seen one.
"Yes, the Degenerate was a good Incarnation for a while, filling the role of cosmic destruction and giving us souls and free will. A beautiful white serpent, who could erase half of the stars from the sky with one strike of her tail. But alas, the Degenerate possessed something Xinonix didn't, and unbeknownst to her, Lixoa had made a terrible mistake in creating her. Unlike Vipheriv, who knew her role in the cosmos and dutifully filled it, the Degenerate had been embodied with a certain spark of life and a constant hunger for power and knowledge as a function of chaos. She wanted to be the strongest being in the universe! Now, in you and me, a desire for power is a good thing, but in an Incarnation, it can spell the end of all!"
A Gyar began to cry for his mother, and the Smutha and Klaslan had their eyes fixed on the old Quarth, trembling. They were somehow both horrified and fascinated, terrified of the Degenerate and deeply wanting to know what happened next.
"Yes, the Degenerate continued to destroy as ordered, awaiting the End of All. But in her desire for power, she looked upon Lixoa and Vipheriv and thought 'What do they have that I don't?' She had the power to destroy anything, to break it into billions of pieces, but she couldn't completely obliterate anything like Lixoa, just break it. She could inspire emotions or imbue us with the spark of life, but she couldn't create anything from nothing like Lixoa. The Degenerate hated this. After all, if she was meant to be the strongest being in the universe, she should be able to create and destroy. She contemplated Vipheriv and Lixoa, watched our dimension stay in order, and realized that Vipheriv was completely unnecessary. After all, why bother maintaining order? She had no need for it. She thrived in chaos. But Lixoa, the Void, that infinite expanse of unknowns...it had everything! Lixoa could create from nothing and rend anything to nothing. The Degenerate wanted that power, and she had a terrible idea of how to get it. If she could break anything into a billion pieces, why couldn't she break Lixoa? If she forged weapons from pure chaos and the deepest destruction in the universe, she could shatter the Void into billions and billions of pieces and absorb them into herself, gaining complete control over our dimension and the ability to create new ones. She could destroy everything and recreate it in her own image!"
A Xifwo looked ready to burst into tears, clutching her favorite stuffed toy in fear.
"But...she didn't do that...right? Because we're all still here."
"Oh, hold on, Elex, I'm going to get to that. Once she realized what she needed to do, the Degenerate got to work. She solidified the bolts of chaos she controlled, turning them into impossibly sharp blades. One could crumble anything to particles, and the other destroyed minds, souls, all the energy contained in something and gave it to her. As she set out across the dimension with her weapons on a path of destruction, absorbing all the energy she could to gain strength for her battle against Lixoa, her own body became just as sharp and deadly as her blades. Her weapons fused with her hands, and she sprouted spikes, just as sharp and capable of destruction as her sword all along her body. Her once completely white serpentine form developed veins and gashes, scars in black and red, tinged with a twisted light. She grew two new arms with vicious claws whose sole purpose was to tear and maim, turning her entire body into a vessel of destruction. But even worse than the corruption of her body was the slow degradation of her mind. Once a faithful servant of Lixoa, she became more and more vicious with every life she stole, delighting in the ground crumbling beneath her and the screams of those whose energy she fed on. Though beneath the gashes, her form glowed an ethereal white, her soul became as empty as the Void she aimed to harness, filled with nothing except a burning desire for power and control. There was no room for anything other than her sheer lust for domination."
The young Dragites' eyes were wide, their tears of terror reflecting the fire, which appeared to be turning redder by the second. Several of them had left to find comfort in their mothers' arms.
"When she had gathered all the energy from the world, leaving our entire dimension a burned wasteland, she set upon the Void with her blades, screeching like the savage beast she had become. Even with all the energy of the world, Lixoa's infinite power quickly overcame her, but it was too late, for being infinite, one sector of the Void possesses the same power as all of it. The Degenerate had gained all the power of creation and destruction. But even with the power of the Void, the Degenerate still was not infinite in herself, and Bicolored began to attempt to destroy her for violating the cosmic order of our dimension. But instead of being destroyed, the Degenerate vanished, having created a new dimension for herself to rule, alone, outside of the power of Lixoa, but she left a fraction of herself behind, which Lixoa used to create Xinonix to restore our dimension, but without the Degenerate's hunger for power as she had seen the damage it could cause. This dimension grew, and possessing the power of creation and destruction, capable of chaos but not order, the Degenerate created worlds, and life to inhabit them. She imbued her creatures with souls and free will, giving them control over their own actions. Even without cosmic order in their dimension, the creatures of the Degenerate's dimension created order for themselves through their words and actions, and now some would say, unless one looks into the Void, the Degenerate's worlds are unmistakable from those ruled by Pheriana and Xinonix, until she appears."
Instead of being focused on the old Quarth as she completed her tale, all the Dragites' eyes were on the fire, which had gone from a comforting beacon to a blazing inferno, splitting the sky with vibrant red plumes of pure destruction, igniting the trees and houses of the village beyond. Thunder began to rumble in the distance as spirals of wind and lightning combined into a massive tornado, prepared to destroy anything it hit, heading for the fire and combining with it. The Dragites all tried to flee in terror, salvaging some aspect of their homes, but they were too late, consumed by the wind and flames, screaming in pain and fear as their lives were stolen from them, as if reaped by a massive scythe. A glowing white tendril, interrupted by black scars, emerges from the fiery vortex and looks down upon the ruins of the village of Tyraka, taking the form of a Sluslis-like serpent, levitating above the ground, her four arms flexing, two wielding massive blades, the other two massive claws made entirely of spikes that may have once been gold before being stained by eons of corruption and death. Nothing alive remained in Tyraka to see her, but the serpent smiled nonetheless, talking to herself as she observed the chaos.
"The Degenerate, huh? Heh. Cute. It's so funny when they try to name what they don't understand. It's like trying to name death, or the Void itself."
All content by Enforcer unless otherwise stated
Background edited from official Neopets SWF of Fiery Battleground Background, sourced via Dress to Impress.