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|abode=[[The Underworld]]
|abode=[[The Underworld]]
|plane=[[Theros (plane)|Theros]]
|plane=[[Theros (plane)|Theros]]
|race=[[God]]
|race=[[God]] [[Phyrexian]]<br>Formerly [[God]]
|colors={{mana|B}}
}}
}}
{{TOCright}}
{{TOCright}}
'''Erebos''' is the [[God]] of the Dead on [[Theros (plane)|Theros]]. He was [[Compleation|compleated]] during [[New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse]].<ref name="Weekly Aftermath">{{YouTubeRef|27aI-DaCJyg|WeeklyMTG - March of the Machine: The Aftermath|channel=Magic: The Gathering|date=May 2, 2023}}</ref>
'''Erebos''' (''EH-reh-bohs'')<ref name="Pronunciation">{{DailyRef|theran-pronunciation-quiz-2013-09-26|Theran Pronunciation Quiz|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|September 26, 2013}}</ref> is the [[God]] of the Dead on [[Theros (plane)|Theros]]. He was [[Compleation|compleated]] during [[New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse]].<ref name="Weekly Aftermath">{{YouTubeRef|27aI-DaCJyg|WeeklyMTG - March of the Machine: The Aftermath|channel=Magic: The Gathering|date=May 2, 2023}}</ref>


==Description==
==Description==
===Birth===
===Birth===
When the sun first shone on [[Heliod]], the first shadow was cast. When Heliod saw it, he feared and banished it beyond the so-called Rivers That Ring the World, the five rivers that form a boundary between Theros and its [[Underworld]]. That shadow was Erebos, the god of death. In time, Erebos accepted his role, knowing that although Heliod had banished him, he would always stand behind the sun god.
According to myth, when the sun first shone on [[Heliod]], the first shadow was cast.<ref name="TherosGuide">(2013). ''[https://archive.org/details/theros-players-guide-magic-the-gathering-2013 Theros Player's Guide].'' [[Wizards of the Coast]].</ref> When Heliod saw it, he feared and banished it beyond the Rivers That Ring the World, the five rivers that form a boundary between Theros and its [[Underworld]]. That shadow was Erebos, the god of death. In time, Erebos accepted his role, knowing that although Heliod had banished him, he would always stand behind the sun god.


This, however, is only Erebos' mythical origin, held by the mortals of Theros. As explained by [[Kruphix]], gods are born from mortal beliefs, not the other way around. More precisely, Kruphix, as the god of wonder and the unknown, was the firstborn. Death came next, ultimate and inescapable. Then followed the gods of sun and sea, forest and forge. As such, Erebos was born before Heliod and is the oldest of the five major gods of Theros.<ref>{{DailyRef|magic-story/kruphixs-insight-2014-06-11|Kruphix's Insight|[[Kelly Digges]]|June 11, 2014}}</ref>
This, however, is only Erebos' mythical origin, held by the mortals of Theros. As explained by [[Kruphix]], gods are born from mortal beliefs, not the other way around. More precisely, Kruphix, as the god of wonder and the unknown, was the firstborn. Death came next, ultimate and inescapable. Then followed the gods of sun and sea, forest and forge. As such, Erebos was born before Heliod and is the oldest of the five major gods of Theros.<ref>{{DailyRef|magic-story/kruphixs-insight-2014-06-11|Kruphix's Insight|[[Kelly Digges]]|June 11, 2014}}</ref>


===Domains===
===Domains===
Erebos rules over death and the Underworld. Because of his origins, he is also the god of misfortune, ill fate, begrudging acceptance, envy, and bitterness. Because the dead leave their earthly wealth behind, Erebos has become associated with that wealth, as well as with the abundance of (to him, pretty but valueless) gold in his realm.
Erebos rules over death and the Underworld.<ref name="TherosGuide"/> Because of his origins, he is also the god of misfortune, ill fate, begrudging acceptance, envy, and bitterness. Because the dead leave their earthly wealth behind, Erebos has become associated with that wealth, as well as with the abundance of (to him, pretty but valueless) gold in his realm.


It may seem that Erebos is connected to Nyx more closely than the other gods, thanks to [[black]]'s association with darkness, but this isn't the case: Erebos's realm lacks both the sun and the night.
It may seem that Erebos is connected to Nyx more closely than the other gods, thanks to [[black]]'s association with darkness, but this isn't the case: Erebos's realm lacks both the sun and the night.


===Personality===
===Personality===
Erebos is a jealous and tyrannical ruler, proud of his domain as lord of all that ever lived. He is an effective warden and lord of the Underworld realm. However, he is not without compassion, but his compassion is limited to feeling on behalf of others what he feels, and his acceptance of his fate means that his lieges, the dead, must accept theirs. He envies the sunlit world of the living, but only in a daydream-like way. Erebos knows that all that lives will eventually join him, which affords him a kind of satisfaction and certainty. When others suffer, it brings Erebos peace, but not glee, because the alienation and banishment of others enable them to identify with his own. He doesn't take pleasure in the suffering of others, but he sees it as a necessity in the order of Theros.<ref>Flavor text of <c>Dictate of Erebos</c></ref> Erebos creates [[monster]]s to guard his realm.<ref name="On cards">{{DailyRef|feature/theros-beyond-death-story-cards-2019-12-16|The Theros Beyond Death Story on Cards|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|December 16, 2019}}</ref>
Erebos is a jealous and tyrannical ruler, proud of his domain as lord of all that ever lived. He is an effective warden and lord of the Underworld realm. However, he is not without compassion, but his compassion is limited to feeling on behalf of others what he feels, and his acceptance of his fate means that his lieges, the dead, must accept theirs.<ref name="TherosGuide"/> He envies the sunlit world of the living, but only in a daydream-like way. Erebos knows that all that lives will eventually join him, which affords him a kind of satisfaction and certainty. When others suffer, it brings Erebos peace, but not glee, because the alienation and banishment of others enable them to identify with his own. He doesn't take pleasure in the suffering of others, but he sees it as a necessity in the order of Theros.<ref>Flavor text of <c>Dictate of Erebos</c></ref> Erebos creates [[monster]]s to guard his realm.<ref name="On cards">{{DailyRef|feature/theros-beyond-death-story-cards-2019-12-16|The Theros Beyond Death Story on Cards|[[Wizards of the Coast]]|December 16, 2019}}</ref>


===Worship===
===Worship===
The god of the underworld is worshipped by those who exalt death, those who desire wealth, and those who pray for acceptance of their fates. The first group is the smallest but the most dangerous because they seek to bring about a confrontation between Heliod and his shadow. The second group is the largest. The final group is Erebos' favorite — those who have been cast out and who seek peace with their fate.
The god of the underworld is worshipped by those who exalt death, those who desire wealth, and those who pray for acceptance of their fates.<ref name="TherosGuide"/> The first group is the smallest but the most dangerous because they seek to bring about a confrontation between Heliod and his shadow. The second group is the largest. The final group is Erebos' favorite — those who have been cast out and who seek peace with their fate.


===Signature Item===
===Signature Item===
[[Image:Mastix.jpg|right|thumb|250 px|Erebos' Whip, Mastix.]]
[[Image:Mastix.jpg|right|thumb|250 px|Erebos' Whip, Mastix.]]
Erebos wields '''Mastix''', a golden-handled whip with an impossibly long lash. The whip is a means of inflicting pain when he must, but its more frequent function is as a snare to pull the reluctant dead into his realm.
Erebos wields '''Mastix''', a golden-handled whip with an impossibly long lash.<ref name="TherosGuide"/> The whip is a means of inflicting pain when he must, but its more frequent function is as a snare to pull the reluctant dead into his realm.


==History==
==History==
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! Title !! Author !! Publishing date !! Set !! Setting (plane) !! Featuring
! Title !! Author !! Publishing date !! Set !! Setting (plane) !! Featuring
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/emonberry-red-2014-02-05|Emonberry Red}} || [[Clayton Kroh]] || 2014-02-05 || ''[[Born of the Gods]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || Erebos, <c>Fate Unraveler</c>
| {{ArticleArchive|feature/tragedy-2013-10-23|Tragedy}} || [[Jennifer Clarke Wilkes]] || 2013-10-23 || ''[[Theros]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || [[Penthikos]], [[Iroas]], [[Heliod]], [[Purphoros]], [[Athreos]], Erebos
|-
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|uncharted-realms/gideons-origin-kytheon-iora-akros-2015-07-01|Gideon's Origin: Kytheon Iora of Akros}} || [[Ari Levitch]] || 2015-07-01 || ''[[Magic Origins]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]], [[Alara]] || [[Gideon Jura]], [[List of secondary characters|Drasus]], [[List of secondary characters|Epikos]], [[List of secondary characters|Olexo]], [[List of secondary characters|Zenon]], [[List of secondary characters|Ristos]], [[Hixus]], [[Heliod]], Erebos
| {{ArticleArchive|feature/i-iroan-2013-11-04|I Iroan}} || [[Jennifer Clarke Wilkes]] || 2013-11-06 || ''[[Theros]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || [[Pandamator]], [[Iroas]], [[Heliod]], [[Purphoros]], [[Keranos]], [[Anax]], Erebos, Nymosyne, Arissa, Lanathos
|-
| [https://web.archive.org/web/20150326051917/http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/uncharted-realms/asphodel-2013-12-10 Asphodel] || [[Kelly Digges]] || 2013-12-11 || ''[[Theros]]'' ||  [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || [[Maia]], [[Purphoros]], Erebos, Kadmos, Pylia
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/emonberry-red-2014-02-05|Emonberry Red}} || [[Clayton Kroh]] || 2014-02-05 || ''[[Born of the Gods]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || [[Adrasteia]], [[Pavios and Thanasis]], [[Purphoros]], Erebos
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/desperate-stand-2014-04-16|Desperate Stand}}|| [[Matt Knicl]] || 2014-04-16 || ''[[Journey into Nyx]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]] || [[Vinack]], [[Aesrias]], [[Solon]], [[Kedarick VI]], [[Kytheon Iora]], Erebos, [[Athreos]]
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|feature/gideons-origin-kytheon-iora-akros-2015-07-01|Gideon’s Origin: Kytheon Iora of Akros}} || [[Ari Levitch]] || 2015-07-01 || ''[[Magic Origins]]'' || [[Theros (plane)|Theros]], [[Bant]] || [[Gideon Jura]], [[Hixus]], Ristos, [[Drasus]], [[Olexo]], [[Epikos]], [[Zenon]], [[Heliod]], Erebos, [[Moukir]]
|-
| {{ArticleArchive|magic-story/promised-end-2016-07-27|The Promised End}} || [[Ken Troop]] || 2016-07-27|| ''[[Eldritch Moon]]'' || [[Innistrad (plane)|Innistrad]] || [[Liliana Vess]], [[the Gatewatch]], [[Tamiyo]], [[Emrakul]], [[Raven Man]], Erebos
|}
|}


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|associated=
|associated=
*<c>Agent of Erebos</c>
*<c>Agent of Erebos</c>
*<c>Anikthea, Hand of Erebos</c>
*<c>Boon of Erebos</c>
*<c>Boon of Erebos</c>
*<c>Claim of Erebos</c>
*<c>Claim of Erebos</c>
Line 73: Line 85:
*<c>Erebos's Intervention</c>
*<c>Erebos's Intervention</c>
*<c>Erebos's Titan</c>
*<c>Erebos's Titan</c>
*<c>Ordeal of Erebos</c>
*<c>Whip of Erebos</c>
*<c>Whip of Erebos</c>
|art=
|art=
Line 80: Line 93:
*<c>Ephara's Dispersal</c>
*<c>Ephara's Dispersal</c>
*<c>Extinguish All Hope</c>
*<c>Extinguish All Hope</c>
*{{card|Hero's Downfall|Clash Pack|CP2}}
*<c>Omen of the Dead</c>
*<c>Omen of the Dead</c>
*<c>Starfield of Nyx</c>
*<c>Starfield of Nyx</c>
Line 90: Line 104:
*<c>Drown in Sorrow</c>  
*<c>Drown in Sorrow</c>  
*<c>Excoriate</c>
*<c>Excoriate</c>
*<c>Fruit of Tizerus</c>
*<c>Inevitable End</c>
*<c>Inevitable End</c>
*<c>Lash of the Whip</c>
*<c>Lash of the Whip</c>
*<c>Marshmist Titan</c>
*<c>Marshmist Titan</c>
*<c>Ordeal of Erebos</c>
*<c>Scourgemark</c>
*<c>Scourgemark</c>
*<c>Thassa's Ire</c>
*<c>Thassa's Ire</c>

Latest revision as of 14:19, 6 June 2024

Erebos
God of the Dead
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Erebos-bleak.png}}|250px]]
Details
Race God Phyrexian
Formerly God
Birthplace Theros
Divinity
Abode The Underworld
Colors
{B}

Erebos (EH-reh-bohs)[1] is the God of the Dead on Theros. He was compleated during New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse.[2]

Description

Birth

According to myth, when the sun first shone on Heliod, the first shadow was cast.[3] When Heliod saw it, he feared and banished it beyond the Rivers That Ring the World, the five rivers that form a boundary between Theros and its Underworld. That shadow was Erebos, the god of death. In time, Erebos accepted his role, knowing that although Heliod had banished him, he would always stand behind the sun god.

This, however, is only Erebos' mythical origin, held by the mortals of Theros. As explained by Kruphix, gods are born from mortal beliefs, not the other way around. More precisely, Kruphix, as the god of wonder and the unknown, was the firstborn. Death came next, ultimate and inescapable. Then followed the gods of sun and sea, forest and forge. As such, Erebos was born before Heliod and is the oldest of the five major gods of Theros.[4]

Domains

Erebos rules over death and the Underworld.[3] Because of his origins, he is also the god of misfortune, ill fate, begrudging acceptance, envy, and bitterness. Because the dead leave their earthly wealth behind, Erebos has become associated with that wealth, as well as with the abundance of (to him, pretty but valueless) gold in his realm.

It may seem that Erebos is connected to Nyx more closely than the other gods, thanks to black's association with darkness, but this isn't the case: Erebos's realm lacks both the sun and the night.

Personality

Erebos is a jealous and tyrannical ruler, proud of his domain as lord of all that ever lived. He is an effective warden and lord of the Underworld realm. However, he is not without compassion, but his compassion is limited to feeling on behalf of others what he feels, and his acceptance of his fate means that his lieges, the dead, must accept theirs.[3] He envies the sunlit world of the living, but only in a daydream-like way. Erebos knows that all that lives will eventually join him, which affords him a kind of satisfaction and certainty. When others suffer, it brings Erebos peace, but not glee, because the alienation and banishment of others enable them to identify with his own. He doesn't take pleasure in the suffering of others, but he sees it as a necessity in the order of Theros.[5] Erebos creates monsters to guard his realm.[6]

Worship

The god of the underworld is worshipped by those who exalt death, those who desire wealth, and those who pray for acceptance of their fates.[3] The first group is the smallest but the most dangerous because they seek to bring about a confrontation between Heliod and his shadow. The second group is the largest. The final group is Erebos' favorite — those who have been cast out and who seek peace with their fate.

Signature Item

Erebos' Whip, Mastix.

Erebos wields Mastix, a golden-handled whip with an impossibly long lash.[3] The whip is a means of inflicting pain when he must, but its more frequent function is as a snare to pull the reluctant dead into his realm.

History

After the demise of Xenagos, Heliod instructed his champion, Daxos, to remove all traces of the other gods from the great city of Meletis.[7] The other gods, refusing to stand for such an affront, called upon their champions from the Underworld; with this, the gods were at war. And when gods clash, mortals suffer the consequences. One such consequence took the form of rifts to the Underworld from which countless monsters poured forth. Erebos was consumed by this conflict. He hated Heliod most of all, and in his rage, he neglected to keep a tight grip on the souls under his purview.

When the planeswalker Elspeth Tirel managed to defeat Heliod, Erebos took the defeated sun god and placed him beneath a giant boulder in the Underworld, where he would suffer for all eternity, or until he was forgotten by his worshippers above. As for Elspeth, Erebos gifted her his eternal gratitude — and safe passage back to the mortal realm.[6]

During New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, Erebos was compleated.[2]

Inspiration

The character of Erebos is inspired by Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, dead, and riches; and Erebus, Greek primordial deity of darkness (even in their name). Erebos's whip is inspired by the snake tail that King Minos has in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.

Trivia

Gallery

Story appearances

Title Author Publishing date Set Setting (plane) Featuring
Tragedy Jennifer Clarke Wilkes 2013-10-23 Theros Theros Penthikos, Iroas, Heliod, Purphoros, Athreos, Erebos
I Iroan Jennifer Clarke Wilkes 2013-11-06 Theros Theros Pandamator, Iroas, Heliod, Purphoros, Keranos, Anax, Erebos, Nymosyne, Arissa, Lanathos
Asphodel Kelly Digges 2013-12-11 Theros Theros Maia, Purphoros, Erebos, Kadmos, Pylia
Emonberry Red Clayton Kroh 2014-02-05 Born of the Gods Theros Adrasteia, Pavios and Thanasis, Purphoros, Erebos
Desperate Stand Matt Knicl 2014-04-16 Journey into Nyx Theros Vinack, Aesrias, Solon, Kedarick VI, Kytheon Iora, Erebos, Athreos
Gideon’s Origin: Kytheon Iora of Akros Ari Levitch 2015-07-01 Magic Origins Theros, Bant Gideon Jura, Hixus, Ristos, Drasus, Olexo, Epikos, Zenon, Heliod, Erebos, Moukir
The Promised End Ken Troop 2016-07-27 Eldritch Moon Innistrad Liliana Vess, the Gatewatch, Tamiyo, Emrakul, Raven Man, Erebos

In-game references

Represented in:
Associated cards:
Depicted in:
Quoted or referred to:

References

  1. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (September 26, 2013). "Theran Pronunciation Quiz". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ a b WeeklyMTG - March of the Machine: The Aftermath (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (May 2, 2023).
  3. ↑ a b c d e (2013). Theros Player's Guide. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. ↑ Kelly Digges (June 11, 2014). "Kruphix's Insight". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ Flavor text of Dictate of Erebos
  6. ↑ a b Wizards of the Coast (December 16, 2019). "The Theros Beyond Death Story on Cards". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ Wizards of the Coast (January 10, 2020). "Theros Beyond Death Story Summary". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ Magic: The Gathering - Journey into Nyx Trailer (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (April 12, 2014).

External links

Theros block
Theros sets
Theros storyline
Publications
Characters
Locations
Other
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