Dethl (Total War)

Dethl, also known as Bongo-Bongo, is a notable and powerful Druthulidi that survived the purge of the Golden Goddesses. A being that feeds on the nightmares of mortals, it has long manipulated the history of the Sheikah Cadre, and created numerous undead abominations such as the Stalfos, ReDeads, and Devoured.

Etymology
Dethl is the Akkalan word for nightmare.

Characteristics
Dethl usually appears as an ambiguous mass of black smoke, tentacles, and a single glowing eye flanked by bulbous arms when interacting with the real world. When manifesting in an individual's dreams, Dethl can assume virtually any shape and form. According to Vaati, Dethl emits a foul stench detectable by other Druthulidi.

After Bongo's death Dethl converts her mindless corpse into a massive Devoured, whose hands are detached from the main body, and with a massive tentacled eye emerging like a flower from the former neck stump.

Dethl is seemingly an elder among its kind, referring to Demise as a "child."

Personality
Dethl shows signs of extreme cowardice, a trait not common amongst other Druthulidi. When exposed it will almost always flee. When Dethl has the upper hand or is in otherwise control of its victim's dreams, it usually displays a sadistic personality that finds enjoyment in emotional torture. Though Dethl is physically genderless, it tends to prefer being referred to as female. Dethl also seems to have an insatiable hunger, this is what leads to its quest for Triforce as it believes it will finally end its hunger.

Powers and Abilities
Dethl is able to invade and manipulate the dreams of almost any individual. Its control over a dream does not seem absolute, study has shown that the creature influences the victim through suggestion and tricks them into accomplishing Dethl's needs. As such Dethl's abilities while inhabiting a dream are rather ambiguous and seem to scale in power the longer it has been influencing a victim. It also seems that Dethl can only influence a victim while they sleep or are undead as Bongo was able to surrender to Princess Nylin Zelda I of her own will; something Dethl likely would not have done.

Those afflicted by Dethl's presence slowly lose their minds, eventually decapitating themselves if their insanity grows strong enough. Upon this the victim's insanity quite literally grows from the mindless corpse, transformation into the undead Devoured. This is Dethl's method of propagating itself, similar to Vaati's process of infecting and assimilating a host.

In the real world the extent of Dethl's abilities are unknown. When Ganon confronted Dethl the massive creature seemed to resort to smashing the Moblins with two rotating arms, as well as being able to rapidly dodge arrows and Ganon's attacks and phase through the floor.

Like most of its kind Dethl seems to have the ability to travel between worlds, how it achieves this is unknown.

History


Prehistory
Before the Dawn of Hyrule, Dethl claims to have "drowned countless worlds in their own nightmares."

Dethl arrived in Hyrule shortly after the first Druthulidi began to battle on its surface for domination. Rather than actively enslaving the creatures of the world, Dethl would appear to them and slowly exasperate them via nightmares. Dethl usually played on its victim's fear of death, eventually twisting the creatures into horrific undead abominations which it could control more easily. Dethl warped entire populations in serving its will, creating many of Hyrule's undead creatures, until the Goddesses put an end to the conflict.

Ancient Age
At some point prior to the Rise of Ganon, Dethl was sealed in the Shadow Temple for an unknown period of time and haunted the dreams of its prisoners. It was able to extract the horrific thoughts and nightmares of these criminal Sheikah and manifest them within the temple, slowly twisting the prisoners into Undead abominations, causing an outbreak that forced the Cadre to abandon and seal the Temple, Its hunger insatiable, Dethl reached out and began haunting the dreams of the Sheikah wizard Bongo, impressing the need to visit the Shadow Temple.

Rise of Ganon
Obsessed with entering the Shadow Temple, Bongo betrays the Kingdom of Hyrule with her Dark Interlopers and tentatively allies with Ganon in exchange for his aid in entering exploring Temple. The two are able to overcome the undead infesting the place, and Bongo is lured to Dethl's lair. The Druthulidi is taken by surprise by the army that is brought in with them. Dethl attempts to stop Ganon's army with hordes of ReDead and other twisted denizens of the haunted prison, but Ganon's army is able to fight their way through and injure Dethl. Before Ganon is able to finish it off, Dethl slips into Bongo's mind and possesses the Sheikah. The Druthulidi also secretly creates the Eye of Truth - an artifact with the ability to read the truth and control people. Though Bongo had notions of rebelling against the Royal Family, it is likely that Dethl's presence convinces Bongo to take advantage of Ganon and seek the Triforce for her own uses.

With the Eye of Truth, Bongo is easily able to extract the location of the Triforce from Princess Zelda, whom Ganon has captured during a previous operation: in the throne room of Hyrule Castle. Bongo suggests to Ganon to ally with the Gerudo and the Darknut Legion from the west, because their combined forces are not enough to occupy the city. The Gerudo refuse, but the Darknuts accept, and through this alliance, Dethl finds itself in another alliance with Vaati and Demise - two other surviving Druthulidi, masterminds behind the leaders of the Moblins and the Darknuts.

After the fall of Hyrule Castle, Bongo extracts the location of the Triforce from King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule after Ganon failed to find it under the throne room. Instead of telling Ganon the truth, Bongo convinces him that the King had the Triforce brought to Spectacle Rock on top of Death Mountain. While Ganon is away seeking the Triforce Bongo gathers her Sheikah followers and takes control of Hylia Marine and the Water Temple; the true location that the King had brought the Triforce.

Dethl and Bongo's efforts are foiled when the Twinrova sisters and Veran catch word of the Triforce's location. Gerudo armies attack the Water Temple from the west, while Veran's Fairies attack from the east. While all three armies are busy fighting each other, General Rutela, Impa, and Princess Zelda I are able to lead an attack on the city. Bongo is knocked unconscious by Impa and later surrenders along with the rest of the Interlopers. While many of the traitorous Sheikah are banished into the Mirror of Twilight along with other Gerudo and Fairy prisoners, Impa personally guillotines Bongo and tosses her corpse into the well in Kakariko. Dethl would proceed to mutate Bongo's headless corpse into a gargantuan devoured-like being that came to be known as Bongo-Bongo.

Gerudo Wars
During the First Golden Age, the Eye of Truth is found by the Sheikah wizard Agahnim, who later becomes consort to Princess Mahrala Zelda Nohansen III and the instigator of the Gerudo Wars. It is unknown if Dethl has attempted to influence Agahnim or not, but it doesn't accomplish anything as Agahnim becomes a servant of Majora.

Second Golden Age
Following Agahnim's death, the Hylian general Akazoo Vapith takes the Eye of Truth from his corpse, and during the following decades, Dethl plays into his resentment about how Princess Oraiya Zelda Nohansen IV chose to marry General Kazakk instead of him, and pushes him to rebel against the Royal Family.

Quotes about Dethl

 * It takes no form and it would make all formless. Fear is its weapon, fear is the goal, and fear is the desire. For in irony it is the fear of definition that drives this one, and it would bring the walls of world down and make everything but a nightmare, a nightmare without beginning, or end.

Trivia

 * Given Dethl's habit of possessing and warping victims into undead beings, it is possible that, much like the other horrors lurking in the Shadow Temple, its first body was originally a Sheikah convict.