Kasuto (Total War)

Kasuto, more famously known as the Great Deku Tree, is the third Sage of Forest of Hyrule and the creator of the Kokiri and Koroks.

Etymology
Kasuto is likely derived from the Deku words kasus (strong, mighty) and utok (warm, gentle, kind).

Physical Appearance
The Great Deku Tree is a massive member of his own race, the largest on record. With a canopy of leaves nearly ten storeys tall, he is one of the largest beings to ever walk Hyrule, only topped by several Druthulidi in ancient times. Though the Great Deku Tree is physically genderless, he assumes a male title after creating the Kokiri.

Powers and Abilities
The Great Deku Tree was given the ability to control the growth and transition of life. He uses this power to transform the Kokiri into the Koroks after their ancestors attempted to destroy the Deku Trees and the Kokiri Forest. Because of his massive size the Great Deku Tree can physically overpower many potential enemies as well as fight entire armies on his own.

Personality
The Great Deku Tree is a very strict and judgmental individual to those outside the Kokiri Forest, but a kind and benevolent father figure to the Kokiri. He is often merciful if he deems a crime small, though he would act with swift retribution if a wrong was committed.

History


Ancient Age
When the Kokiri Bandits formed their stronghold in the forests of the Deku Tree, Kasuto lead an assault against the invaders and killed or drove out many of their forces. A group of their children were left behind however, and the Great Deku Tree took pity on them and spared their lives. He brought the children to the heart of the Kokiri Forest, where he set into motion a plan to transform them into creatures of the woods generation after generation. It was then that the Kokiri were established as a small kingdom and the creation of the Koroks began.

Several years before the rise of Ganon, the Sage Palagard named the Great Deku Tree his successor to the position of Sage of Forest.

The Gerudo Wars
Around 98 AG, just before the Gerudo Wars, the spirit of Sulkaris wanders into the Kokiri Forest and comes upon Mido. Mido converses with Sulkaris and is entertained by the idea of ruling over the entirety of the forests. Mido works with Sulkaris to set up an invasion of the Deku Tree's Grove. It is the plan of Sulkaris to incapacitate the Great Deku Tree and absorb her Sage powers from him. The attack is unsuccessful and the Kokiri manage to hold the Gohma off, though Saria is killed during the battle and made into a new Sage. For his treachery Mido is banished by Kasuto from the Kokiri Forest.

With the Gohma threat still looming on the horizon, Kasuto calls a meeting of all the peoples of the forest. Providing a bunch of Gohma exoskeletons as evidence, he asks them for aid against the invaders. The Deku Scrubs readily accept to help him after he mentions Sulkaris, and the Wolfos chief Shamnon also agrees to put aside his people's vendetta with the Kokiri to help them. However, the Lizalfos Queen Nardu the White and the Huskus Empress Tamako both decline, considering this to be no more than a stray Gohma hive.

Sulkaris then opts to outright invade the Kokiri Forest with the entirety of her Gohma forces and absorb the new Sage's powers herself. When asked who the new Sage of Forest was, Mido lies to Sulkaris and tells her that the Great Deku Tree named Mirora and not Saria the new Sage. During her invasion Sulkaris kills and absorbs Mirora, reconstructing her body and becoming alive again. She does not regain her Sage powers however, and she is swiftly broken and killed by the Great Deku Tree while Saria encases her spirit so that she could not escape. Sulkaris' entrapped spirit is then sealed away in Palagard's Sanctuary, the city of the Huskus, where Palagard keeps watch over her.

The Return of Sulkaris
In 160 AG, Lord Akazoo leads a Gohma invasion through the Kokiri Forest with the intent on attacking Palagard's Sanctuary and freeing Sulkaris. During their march they pass by the Deku Tree's Grove and assaults the village and the Kokiri. The Great Deku Tree attempts to fight off the Gohma, though Akazoo manages to cripple him and allows a host of Gohma Queens to infest and lay their eggs inside him. Soon after Kasuto falls ill and begins to die, passing his final wish off to Saria: to gather as many Kokiri as she could and complete their transformation to Koroks. After that they are to leave Hyrule forever and find a new land for themselves. His final wish revealed, Kasuto dies, leaving Saria with seeds to grow a new generation of Deku Trees.

Stats
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Hero Power
Forest Lord: Drains enemy of stamina and increases allied stamina.