Topic: Zobek (spoilers)

[crisis]

So we have this Zead-like character aiding Gabriel to fulfill his quest, which in the end turns out to be the 3rd Lords of Shadow, "Lord of the Necromancers," death personified yadda yadda.

What I don't understand is why he acts the way he does. When his good half ascended into Heaven, all was left was the corrupt, evil half of his spirit, yet in his monologues he sounds anything but. His betrayal of Gabriel was very abrupt, making all what he said prior absolutely meaningless. In the epilogue, is it just me, or does it seem that he still has some good left in him? He still refers to DracuGabriel as his "old friend," yet he basically denounced their friendship at the end of the game. The way he stares at the Crucifix in the church, even his facial expressions suggests that he's not entirely corrupt. It seems he truly wants to free Gabriel of his curse, which contradicts his emotions at the climax of LoS. Then again, it's been a near-thousand years since they've interacted (presumably), so who knows what could've happened.


Also, I don't remember if this was touched upon, but where/when did he get the Devil Mask? I seem to remember he just randomly was holding it in one scene, never explaining where he got it from..

[Kale]

His plan the whole time is to get Gabriel to get the god mask, so he can steal it, because according to prophecy, only Gabe can (or one like Gabe).

In the epilogue, he's "helping" Gabe because he requires it. Satan will go after both of them. So Zobek prefers to team up with Gabe before Satan makes Gabe and him, his bitch.

[Innovator]

I agree with Kale.

Zobek was fooled by Satan who left his nearly dead at the end of LOS, so he wants to fight back. When he was told Satan and his minions were about to resurrect, he feared to be a slave of him, so he proposed Dracula to team up to fight Satan together due to his supernatural strengh.

Crisis, I'm not sure about he being Death, like you refer with Zead. Lord of the Necromancers, yes, he calls himself like that, Death, wasn't he talking with Gabriel just before resurrecting the Dragon Skeleton ?

There's a lot of parts surrounded by shadows in the plot (regarding the final scene) but after all it's only a game, who cares about storyline really.

[Nagumo]

Considering how easily Satan ass whooped Zobek, couldn't he just have collected the pieces of the God Mask himself?           

[Innovator]

Considering how easily Satan ass whooped Zobek, couldn't he just have collected the pieces of the God Mask himself?           

For sure ! But if he's doing all and kills the 3 Lords by himself, what's the game ? ^^

That's why I always tell fans to concentrate on games and not storylines which are condammed to be dull in every video game.

Just take a Mario game : Bowser doesn't to be defeated ? He just have to put an big gap between Mario and him, which Mario can't jump because of its size, and he'll be sure to win. Will Nintendo allow it ? Never, of course.

Storyline are just a mean, not the end of all things.
I've played lot of excellent with NO storyline and they remain excellent
I've also played lot of games with deep story but awful to play.

If you just want a story, please watch a movie or read a book.

Games are made to be played, not to be talked.
Is a game fun to be played or not ? Nothing else matters.

(what I say is general dear Nagumo, it's not against you, I think you see my point)
 

[Kingshango]

Considering how easily Satan ass whooped Zobek, couldn't he just have collected the pieces of the God Mask himself?           

I thought about that but then my brain started to hurt, so I just left it alone.

[Alutwon]

I thought about that but then my brain started to hurt, so I just left it alone.

I'm sure Satan could have killed the 3 lords easily but wouldn't be able to recover the mask, he needed Gabriel for that.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Yeah Satan isn't someone pure of heart... AT ALL! xD

[Kale]

Well, he might be pure evil >.>

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

[REmaster]

I've been thinking about Zobek and his hidden agenda. There are obviously several points in the game when it's hinted that Zobek may have more sinister plans in store. However, I never really thought about it until my second play through.

For instance when Zobek says that Carmilla can sense the living, but she cannot sense death also...that was what did it for me lol. Anyways, I'm wondering more about the in-game possibilities.

When the village boy warns Gabriel of Brauner and Zobek says "I'll take care of the boy...", do you think he just killed him as soon as Gabriel was out of sight? I mean, it does seem like Zobek is the most humane and civil of the dark lords, but I still wouldn't put it past him. Also, right before you meet zobek in the village abbey, he says he has to "take care of some things that could spoil our plans". Could he have murdered all those brotherhood knights that he kneels next to? Vampires slayed the whole army...sure, zobek

Just some thoughts, yours?

[Harrycombs]

Storyline are just a mean, not the end of all things.
I've played lot of excellent with NO storyline and they remain excellent
I've also played lot of games with deep story but awful to play.

If you just want a story, please watch a movie or read a book.

What you say is true, however a great story can enhance a game (or save it). Just look at Braid. It was a great game in its own right with some of the cleverest puzzles to be seen outside of Portal, and the story was incredible and greatly enhanced the game.


I think the bigger question isn't why Satan didn't get the mask himself, but why did he even want it? So he could see the world from the eyes of God? Thats kind of pointless.

And if Zobek was being manipulated by Satan, maybe he never wanted to betray Gabriel, but the idea was also created by Satan, but like the rest of his scheme.

[Danial]

Both Cornell and Carmilla acted civil towards Gabriel when they first met, but that doesn't make them any less evil.  It's the same with Zobek, he was just being friendly toward Gabriel to manipulate the situation.  I have no doubt that he "took care" of that child by killing him.  Since he is the Lord of the Dead, theoretically every time a living thing dies, Zobek's power and influence grows stronger.  The Dracolich was reanimated by one of his his generals.  Just imagine how much power Zobek gained when Cornell, Malphas, Carmilla, and Baba Yaga were killed.  Like dead puppets, he should be able to reanimate their bodies and use their powers as his own.  The Lord of Death ultimately wants everything dead.  Just because he can banter with Gabe doesn't mean he's not evil.

As for Satan, I think he made the classic villain's mistake of thinking he could use God's own power against him. He didn't understand that the Mask's power is more metaphorical than literal.  If you could see what God sees, then you would theoretically reach enlightenment and peace. A perfect understanding of all things.  This is why Gabriel saw Marie as alive while he had the mask on, because through God's eyes no one is truly dead.  Gabriel was too crushed emotionally to truly understand what he was seeing though.  And just like Gabriel couldn't see the truth beyond his sadness, Satan couldn't see the truth beyond his ego.

I personally don't think Gabriel became a Lord of Shadow at the end of the game.  The three founders ascended to heaven, each with a piece of the Mask, when they reached enlightenment.  But their more base and evil natures were left on Earth and became the Lords of Shadow because evil doesn't go to heaven.  Marie tells Gabriel that he has a good heart and is not evil. But when she puts the mask on him, even though he is using it's power, he doesn't understand it and only sees disappointment.  Gabriel isn't even split into good and evil halves.  But Marie, who is technically Gabriel's better half, does ascend to heaven while holding the mask.  Leaving Gabriel cursed to immortality until he makes up for his sins.  Which is another reason why I don't think Gabe is a Lord of Shadow.  He may be immortal, but he has the ability to redeem his sins.  This is something the Lords could never do because they were sin.

[Alutwon]

Somewhat unrelated but did anyone notice the green necromantic energy around Frankenstein's abomination the second time you fight it?

[Valtiel]

I thought about that but then my brain started to hurt, so I just left it alone.

I doubt the three founding spirits would have sent the mask pieces to Satan the same way they did with Gabriel.

One thing you need to consider is the amount of foreshadowing Zobek gives in his level introductions: if you play the game a second time, the amount of foreshadowing is mindboggling. From things like "plans long dreamed are coming to fruition" to him having "business to attend to" wherever witnesses are left behind, to his comments about Carmilla being unable to feel death close to her (it seems like he's talking about her incoming fate, but he's actually just musing about him being hidden somewhere in the vicinity) and so on.

I don't think Zobek's villanous ends are undermined by his civil tone. Steward did a good job with his voice in the revelation cutscene, because he kept the same tone he had through the whole game but played it in a more amused, playful way - he's some sort of Joker revealing his masterplan there, complete with a "I fooled you all along" voice.