The question of Dark Force and intrinsic evil

[etony33]

Sometimes, the person does a 180 from their evilness after Dark Force is defeated (or they are about to die). Sometimes they do not. Let's take a look...

Lassic - He made no indication that he was simply possessed, and 2000 years later, he was still causing trouble.
Governor of Motavia - He said he had been under an evil spell.
Earthmen - They still wanted to kill Rolf and his friends (and possibly did, depending on how you think that went). They certainly didn't renounce their evil ways.
Rulakir - "You have freed me - kill Dark Force!"
Zio - He basically said a variant of Psalm 22 (My Lord, My Lord, why have you forsaken me?), so take that for what you will.

Any theories on this? Were the Governor of Motavia and Rulakir really good, but simply became bad because of DF's influence? What about Lassic, who, by all accounts, was a benevolent ruler at one time? What's your theory on the Earthmen and how they came to create Mother Brain (and how Dark Force got there)? What about Zio - was he truly evil, or was he simply a pawn in Dark Force's attempt to take over?

[Zucca]

This is quite interesting. Especially the case of Lassic.

Afaik Earthmen were good, but Dark Force (that came to Algo in Noah, the spaceship) corrupted them. But at what point? After the Mother Brain was built or before it?
Was Dark Force the cause of Earthmen to travel to Algo? Before that did Dark Force play major role in destruction of Earth?

[DarkMyau]

Well I've thought about Rulakir quite a lot and what his motivations would be.

He only has a few lines of dialog in Phantasy Star 3 so not much to go on there. He at first seems very hateful, then relieved to be free of Dark Force.

Was he envious of Orakio? Did he hate him? Did he blame him for the death of his family?

An interesting question is who were Rulakirs family that died? Was that actually Orakio who died? Laya described a man with a black sword and Miun also described the sword, not the man.

So who is to say that either man was in fact Orakio? Orakio might have been long dead by this point and Rulakir trying to keep his memory alive by pretending to be him.

But to get back on topic. Rulakir was more bitter than evil and had 1000 years to realize his mistakes. When he confronts Aron/Sean/Crys/Adan he just wants it to be over with.

[Edless]

Well, it depends on your version.

Aparently, in the japanese story, Lashiec was a king/wizard that sought the power he could obtain from another dimension (Dark force's dimension).

So originaly it was already a grey area and when PS was brought to us oversea, it became a more black and white story with a good king corrupted by a new religious cult.

http://www.ripplinger.us/camineet/theor ... ystars.asp

Moreover, the sonic team had vague ideas about exploring the other side, the profound darkness for a PSV so we can argue that dark force's universe may not be a literal hell and might not 100% evil.

Indeed it could be a nice way to introduce a new character for a PSV. A character more knowledgeable about the other side.

[BenoitRen]

Aparently, in the japanese story, Lashiec was a king/wizard that sought the power he could obtain from another dimension (Dark force's dimension).

So originaly it was already a grey area and when PS was brought to us oversea, it became a more black and white story with a good king corrupted by a new religious cult.

Actually, both versions had the same backstory of Lashiec joining a religious cult to obtain immortality. You can read the translation of the original manual at SMS Power!.

Then the Compendium came along and changed some things.

[Edless]

Actually, both versions had the same backstory of Lashiec joining a religious cult to obtain immortality. You can read the translation of the original manual at SMS Power!.

Then the Compendium came along and changed some things.

Here we go, retcon it is.

Thanks for the information.

So they were definitly going for new routes at that time and wanted to see the profound darkness's side.

Well, traveling to an alternate universe could have been a way to explore new territories, maybe they were stuck having blown palma and only being able to use Dezo and Mota

[brightstar]

I hate to say it but If we take Phantasy Star Online 2 On Stage and Phantasy Star Online 2 Episode 4 into account, we probably have our answer right there as to when, how, and what a Dark Falz was doing on Earth to corrupt the Earthmen. (Since creatures and more recently people are transcending space and time in the series it really wouldn't surprise me that this will lead back to Algol at some point.) We'll have to see how Episode 4 plays out, the people's fear apparently is what's bringing out the attack. On Stage made one fact clear, it was Dark Falz Elder that visited Earth.

[Lutz25]

I was under he impression that Lashiec 'sold his soul to the devil' and made a pact for his additional power. Hence why at the Air Castle he is pretty much a slave. Zio fits into this mold as well.

It seems to me the Governor didn't make a pact, and just fell victim.

The earth men could have been just like humans today, greedy. But then again, they were no different doing to algo what the US did to native Americans.

Rulakir is the wild card. He does say 'dark falz' took my soul. Maybe he was corrupt because of his anger, but never actually made a pact. Unfortunately, the developers only touched the surface of his story.

[MrStarbird]

We technically know of the five heroes of legend in Phantasy Star III (Orakio, Miun, Siren, Laya, Lune), but it stands to reason that Rulakir and Alair were also part of that grouping but perhaps lesser known. We know there was a war between Orakio and Laya, but it was soon they came to realize that they were being tricked by Dark Force into fighting each other (words from Laya's Pendant). This is where my theory splits a bit as I cannot decide which would work better.

1. The realization that they were being tricked happened after Orakio and Laya had already sealed their enemy's generals (Lune, Alair, and Siren) on the moon while Miun possibly tried to escape the trap and ended up damaged in the process, wandering Aridia for the remainder of her life. It's possible that Rulakir was going to be sealed along with Siren but he may have escaped Laya's trap in time and went into exile in Lashute, where he ended up being sealed by simple fact that the three caves linking Terminus to Draconia, Aridia, and Frigidia are all sealed as well.

2a. Orakio and Laya realized they were being tricked by Dark Force before they sealed their generals away. They could have easily realized it and told their generals in a meeting, but their generals were so corrupted by the evils of war that there was no hope for them. Doing so, they lured their opposing generals to the moons and using the Control Tower's Moon Machine (since it requires both the Moon Tear and Moon Stone at the same time to move both satellites), they ended up being sealed away for 1000 years, believing that their enemy had sealed them away and not the devised plan of both their masters. Perhaps Miun (who gets damaged in the fight with Dark Force) and Rulakir both manage to help Laya and Orakio seal away Dark Force in the temple in Landen which Rulakir's power could have possibly been used to sink the temple while Orakio and Laya held him in, thus sacrificing their lives. Being the lone survivor, Rulakir hid away, angry at his brother for leaving him alone in the world and angry at Laya for convincing Orakio to do so with her (or perhaps Orakio and Laya had a romance involved that Rulakir became jealous of). Either way, Rulakir possibly could also have been damaged during the Dark Force fight, enough that Dark Force left a piece of him inside Rulakir so that motions could be set for his return (similar to Seth in Phantasy Star IV).

2b. A little different, but most of what happens in theory 2 still happens, except Miun doesn't get damaged in the battle. Instead, as Dark Force is being sealed away, he possesses Rulakir slightly. Miun and Rulakir go to Aridia when Miun realizes something is wrong with Rulakir. Rulakir's emotions overflow and HE damages Miun while in Aridia. He leaves Miun near Hazatak, conflicted by his emotions as he goes to Terminus, sealing the three caves from within with his last act of heroism before Dark Force's essence fully takes over. The essence takes over Rulakir and he puts into plan the motions that lead to Dark Force's freedom and the monster infestation of Terminus.

[zio_falz]

Was Seth possessed too? Or merely camouflage?