This article is about the character. For the tome, seeLoptous (tome). For other uses, seeLoptous (disambiguation).

Loptous (pronounced /⁠ˈlɑp.təs⁠/^[key][1]; Japanese:ロプトウスLoputousu), known as the dark god (Japanese:暗黒神dark god), was anearth dragon originally hailing fromArchanea. He terrorized and dominated the people ofJugdral for centuries as the true ruler of theLoptrian Empire, through hisblood pact with and subsequent possession of the bishopGair. Throughthe unholy tome bearing his power, Loptous possessed the successive line of seventeen human emperors of the Loptrian Empire and, thousands of years later, their indirect descendantJulius ofGrannvale.

Biography

Ancient Archanea and the Loptrian Empire

In the prehistory ofArchanea, Loptous was a member of the then-flourishing dragon civilization as one of the earth dragons. At the onset of the degeneration of the dragons, as with all earth dragons exceptMedeus, he refused to shed his dragon form to become aManakete and joined the earth dragons in theBattle of the Guardian Deity Naga. During this war, he was approached by the pilgrimGair, who had come to Archanea seeking the power of dragons for himself.^[2] Loptous granted Gair's request, seeing it as an opportunity to exact his hatred and vengeance upon humanity on a wider scale than the current war,^[3] and formed a blood pact with him, possessing his body and accompanying him back toJugdral.

Upon Gair's return to Jugdral, he founded theLoptr Church, a religion based around the worship of Loptous. Its then-unique access to magical powers of dragon origin served to quickly supplant the relatively powerless primal religions of Jugdral and control the society; this eventually culminated in the foundation of the Loptrian Empire in the year Grann 448, following the cult's obliteration of the continent's prior superpower, the Grann Republic, a year earlier.^[4] The Loptrian Empire's rule imposed a strict caste system upon the society, condemning followers of other faiths to the lowest caste of society and to slavery, unless they were capable of paying enough money to enter the Loptrian cult themselves.^[5]

For two centuries, Loptous ruled over Jugdral through a successive line of seventeen emperors, all named Gair and all possessed by him through the Loptous tome. During his reign, the people of Jugdral were subjected to innumerable horrors, including numerous major massacres and the rise of the practice ofchild hunts, where children were rounded up to be sacrificed to Loptous. In Grann 535, Loptous rejected the work ofMaera, the brother of the Emperor Gair of the time who sought to harmonize the existence of the Loptrians with the prior religions of the world, and had Maera exiled, unwittingly securing his genealogical link to Jugdral's future. The first true concentrated effort of resistance against Loptous first arose in Grann 611, with the rise of revolutions across all of Jugdral; however, by Grann 632, the resistance had been mostly crushed and confined toDahna, where in that year theTwelve Crusaders were born in theMiracle of Dahna afterNaga learned of Loptous's role in the misery facing Jugdral. Sixteen years and a Holy War later, in Grann 648, the Loptrian Empire finally fell with the defeat of Gair XVII. With the death of his last host, Loptous returned to dormancy within the Loptous tome, which was taken into the custody of the remants of the Loptrians.

Modern Jugdral

As Gair XVII died childless, the Loptrians sought to create a new host for Loptous using the descendants of Maera, bearers of minor Loptous Holy Blood, who continued to live in seclusion in the Spirit Forest of Verdane. Their quest finally succeeded in Grann 760 with the marriage ofArvis ofVelthomer toDeirdre; the two were half-siblings, both children ofCigyun and bearers of minor Loptous blood, with the added benefit of Deirdre being the heiress to the throne ofGrannvale. The two had two children,Julia andJulius, and as planned the latter possessed major Loptous blood. In Grann 770, Julius was presented with the Loptous tome byManfroy, the present leader of the Loptrians and architect of the plot behind Julius's birth; Loptous's influence immediately took hold of Julius, turning him against Deirdre and Julia (both bearers of the major blood of Naga, enemy of Loptous); Deirdrewarped Julia out of Julius's range and was killed.

Under Loptous's influence, Julius wrested control of the Grannvale Empire from his father, EmperorArvis, and began to twist it into a facsimile of the Loptrian Empire. Under his rule, Grannvale mercilessly subjugated all nations of the continent, restored the Loptrians to a position of power and reinstated the child hunt practice. However, while Loptous did have a strong corrupting influence over Julius, the actual possession was not complete until Grann 777, in which Julius/Loptous were challenged by Julius's elder half-brother,Seliph, and his revolutionary army against Grannvale. In a final battle, Julius/Loptous was slain by Seliph and Julia, and in Julius's dying moments Loptous briefly took full control to curse Naga's name and threaten that he would someday return so long as humans have evil in their hearts.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

Role

Loptous himself, in his original dragon form, appears as part of theLoptous tome's spell animation, and again in a brief cutscene afterJulius is defeated inthe Endgame, emerging from his body and vanishing. Otherwise, every scene in which Julius appears in dialogue is technically also Loptous making an appearance.

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

Role

Again, Loptous technically appears through Julius's minor speaking roles. Loptous is overall less significant to the plot ofThracia 776 as a result of its narrow focus on theThracian conflict.

Personality

Like many dragons, Loptous possessed a burning hatred and resentment for mankind and the idea ofbecoming like them; however, he was shrewd enough to realize that accepting Gair's request for a blood pact would enable him to more efficiently terrorize humanity, and so chose to accept this pact with a human rather than continue the war alongside the rest of his kind.^[3]

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Cipher

While Loptous does not yet have his own card inFire Emblem Cipher, he does appear as part of one ofJulius's cards.

Flavor text

Trivia

• In the description ofthe Loptous tome on theFire Emblem Museum official website, Loptous was referred to as a Shadow Dragon.^[6]

Etymology and other languages

Gallery

• 
  Depiction ofNaga's and Loptous's clash fromIntelligent Systems'sold website.
• 
  Artwork of Loptous and Naga from the Super Tactics Book.
• 
  Loptous, as channeled throughhis tome, inGenealogy of the Holy War.
• 
  Loptous emerging fromJulius and vanishing at the end ofGenealogy of the Holy War.
• 
  Artwork of Loptous with other characters fromGenealogy of the Holy War from the25th Anniversary Staff Book.
• 
  Loptous appearing in Julius's andSeliph's joined artwork fromCipher.
• 
  Julius castingLoptous, thus calling forward Loptous's image, inHeroes.
• 
  Loptous in artwork of Julius: Scion of Darkness fromHeroes.
• 
  Loptous in artwork ofUllr: The Bowmaster fromHeroes.

References

This article is part ofProject Characters, a project focused on writing articles for every character present in theFire Emblem series.