Sulkaris (Total War)

Sulkaris (pronounced Sul-care-is) is one of the first seven sages of the Goddesses, created at the dawn of Hyrule to defend the Triforce and later becomes the will of the Gohma.

Etymology
Sulkaris' name predates many Hyrulean languages. It is possible the Ancient Hylian words sulkon (seeds, life) and aris (gardener, grower, caretaker) are derived from her name.

Physical Characteristics
In the Book of Mudora, Sulkaris is described as "cloaked in the green of life, she stood tall, proud, and most beautiful in the eyes of the Goddesses. It was thus that woman was separate of man, and Sulkaris assumed such a vessel", implying she was the first female creation of the Goddesses. Sulkaris' appearance is that of a gargantuan Hylian woman, with dark green hair and glowing green-yellow eyes.

In her original form, Sulkaris wears armor made of a dark green metal forged like stylized leaves, composed of a helmet, twin clawed gauntlets, and a plackart stylized to appear like angelic wings, over a ragged green cloak. In battle she fights with a massive two-handed blade weapon similar to a curved Machete.

After her second death and absorption into the Gohma she assumes a humanoid Gohma form with six arms and a crown of feathery feelers, vaguely mimicking her Sage appearance, with her face having two red humanoid eyes as well as a single Gohma one.

Powers and Abilities
Sulkaris was given the ability to control the growth and transition of life. It is said in the Book of Mudora that she alone was given the same power of creation as the Goddesses and could spawn organisms of her own will, as was demonstrated when she created all of Farore's beings across Hyrule during the creation of the Triforce. It is unknown if Sulkaris lost this ability after her banishment from the Sacred Realm, or if she chose not to use it. One of her remaining abilities as Sage of Forests is the ability to sense the bloodlines of any being, able to "smell" Princess Ruto's relation to Queen Rutela. Sulkaris is the central will of the Gohma Hive-Mind, capable of telepathically commanding any Gohma organism as well as communicating with any non-Gohma individual connected to the Hive-Mind.

In her fallen status, Sulkaris displays incredible strength and resilience, being impervious to any form of conventional weaponry, even weapons such as the Master Sword. In combat she can project waves of force with her blade, capable of sending entire enemy battalions flying.

Perhaps Sulkaris' most terrifying ability is her near-unkillable nature: so long as a single Gohma organism exists, she is capable of surviving as a spirit-like entity and reconstructing her physical form.

After killing each of the other First Sages, Sulkaris acquires their Sage Medallions, usurping control over the powers of the corresponding First Sage and cutting off the incumbent Sages from their Sage powers. It is unknown exactly how the current Sage of Forest is impacted by the deaths of Sulkaris where the latter's title was stripped from her and her powers being forcibly transferred to another. Likely although unconfirmed, it is likely Saria has lost her powers as Sage of Forests, as Sulkaris is shown to be in possession of the Forest Medallion upon her reanimation in the City in the Sky.

Personality
At the dawn of time and shortly into its history, Sulkaris alone remains loyal to the Golden Goddesses and attempts to defend the Triforce from the warring First Sages. During their conflicts, her kin would enlist the Druthulidi and eventually Majora. The First Sages would eventually overthrow her, and banish her from the Sacred Realm, telling her she could not be killed. This however, as she would discover after her first death, was a lie, told to preserve the myth of Elemental immortality. The Oocca would spread the lie that Sulkaris displays a very single-minded focus and is driven largely by her ego and ambition. She considers herself greater than the task that was given to her at the dawn of time and holds little value for other individuals. Being an immortal sage since birth, it is possible she has no concept of pain and thus feels no empathy for the suffering of others, leading to her utter disregard for all life. In reality, her anger and disregard for life stems from the betrayal of her kin, who would lead the people of Hyrule in false idol worship.

History


Creation of Hyrule
Sulkaris is the third Sage to be created by the Golden Goddesses. She was created to bring forth the life that would occupy Hyrule after it had finished undergoing its process of creation. She participated in battle against many of the Druthulidi that were corrupting the creation of Hyrule. When the Goddesses initiated their purge of Hyrule, it was said that she spawned all of Farore's living creations across the entire planet.

Post Creation
With Hyrule in its infancy Sulkaris returned to the Sacred Realm and watched over the Triforce, awaiting for the Trilith so that it may be passed on to mortals.

According to the myth perpetuated by the Oocca, during her rest she came to the conclusion that she was greater than her task, and attempted to take the Triforce for herself. She was stopped by Solahrasin, and was immediately banished from the Sacred Realm into Hyrule.

In truth, it was the other six First Sages who immediately forsook their duty and declared war against each other to covet the Triforce. Sulkaris was the only First Sage to remain loyal to the Goddesses and her task to protect the Triforce from the warring First Sages. The First Sages enlisted the Druthulidi to defeat her, but rather than destroy her, they exiled her to Hyrule, fearing that her death would reveal their own mortality to the races of Hyrule.

Ancient Age
Sulkaris wandered the surface of Hyrule alone for an untold number of years until she stumbled upon the Gohma, still wandering aimlessly as she was after the destruction of their creator, Iemanis. Seeing potential in the collective species as the perfect, unquestioning servants, she granted them higher intelligence and physically shaped the species to suit her needs. Sometime around 3000 BG, she set the Gohma loose on a rampage and they began eating everyone in their path before being defeated by the Akkalans and the Huskus under command of King Gustaf in the region that would become Ordona Province. During this battle Sulkaris was slain by Gustaf by a light arrow. It was then that Sulkaris realized that the supposed immortality of the First Sages was a myth, and she was subsequently reborn within the Gohma Hive Mind.

Trapped in a spirit form, she swore revenge on the other First Sages, beginning a millennia-long plot to expose their crimes to the mortals of Hyrule then kill them. She planned to then seize the Triforce for herself and establish her dominion over Hyrule. When the information of the Gohma's rampage reached his ears, Demoko chose the Huskus Palagard as Sulkaris' successor as Sage of Forests and forced the other First Sages to choose their own successors as well.

Gerudo Wars
Around 99 AG, just before the Gerudo Wars, the spirit of Sulkaris, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Gerudo Wars, travels to the Kokiri Forest planning to identify and capture or kill the current Sage of Forests, when she 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 current Sage of Forest, 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 the next Sage of Forest. For his treachery Mido is banished from the Kokiri Forest.

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 is, 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. However, she quickly realizes that she has not regained her Sage powers, and is overpowered by the Great Deku Tree and imprisoned in Virid Crystal by Saria. Sulkaris is then sealed away in Palagard's Sanctuary, the city of the Huskus, where she is kept under watch by her successor, Palagard.

The Return of Sulkaris
In 126 AG, the Gohma under Mido and Agitha, with the help of Hyruleans traitors Akazoo and Azrily, launch an assault from the Misery Mire through the Kingdom of Hyrule to the Kokiri Forest. The Gohma first take over Kanokiri, a town near the western border of the forest, killing the Great Deku Tree and capturing Saria, before heading to the prison of Sulkaris at Palagard's Sanctuary. After Palagard is killed defending the city, Mido and Agitha bring Saria to the chamber where Sulkaris is held and coerce her into releasing the Fallen Sage. Immediately after being freed, Sulkaris places Saria back into the emerald crystal, who warns her that Link will stop her, to which Sulkaris scoffs, saying no Kokiri can kill her.

Agitha then kneels in front of Sulkaris and offers to vouch for Mido, though Sulkaris pays her no heed and heads straight to the throne room, where the Huskus Empress Tamako is making her last stand. Sulkaris taunts her and her dying Imperium, saying Valadeku would be disappointed, but Tamako remains defiant demanding Sulkaris remember the Huskus as a legend when she claims dominion over the world. Sulkaris responds by saying that the name Huskus will be remembered by no one in her new world, before breaking Tamako's neck.Deciding the newly-established Lanayru Province to be the biggest threat to Gohma expansion, Sulkaris leads an attack on Airu to end the only threat facing the Gohma. She manages to kill Queen Rutela, but the rest of important Lanayru personnel all manages to survive. As the Gohma take over the rest of Lanayru, Sulkaris discovers the location of the First Sage of Water Malkorbagia from local Zora cultists: under the library of Greshou. When Mido asks her to do something about Agitha, who is in the custody of the Hylians, Sulkaris ignores his request, saying Agitha has done her job.

After a clash between the Gohma, the Hylians and their unexpected allies, Sulkaris receives a warning from Liyer, the mouth of fellow First Sage Demoko, that he'll intervene to stop her. However, she correctly deduces that Liyer is only bluffing, declares to her and the Hylians that she'll force Demoko to intervene, and immediately sets out to do so by heading to Greshou Library and killing Malkorbagia by boiling her alive with Armagohma beams.

Demoko falls for her gambit and attempts to contain and destroy her in Greshou with his Aura superweapon, but Sulkaris recovers Malkorbagia's Sage Medallion from the pool of the library and uses it to survive by shielding herself with the ocean.

After Malkorbagia is killed, the rest of the First Sages are alerted to her invasion. She travels to Death Mountain and confronts Maphaeus, revealing that she discovered the Sages were never immortal by being killed by Gustaf, and comes to the realization her exile was merely to conceal their own vulnerability. Sulkaris commands her Gohma to create a fog in the magma chamber, and uses the Water Medallion to freeze the surrounding area, causing Maphaeus to cool to stone, to be shattered by Sulkaris' sword. She then retrieves the Fire Medallion from Maphaeus' corpse.

Sulkaris then waits, accurately predicting that the armies of Solahrasin, Kovaloo, and Evaleen have arrived to kill her, and revels in the vicious battle of Sages, taunting Demoko to personally come and kill her.

Demoko, gripped by fear and hatred of Sulkaris, sacrifices his remaining kin to kill her, destroying much of Death Mountain with the Aura and killing the three other First Sages. With her rivals dead, Sulkaris stands for the incoming aura and lets it destroy her body.

Sulkaris sends Mido to rescue Agitha from the dungeons under Hyrule Castle. Being disembodied for the moment, she uses Agitha as her mouth to convince the Hylians, Zora and Gorons that Demoko will destroy them all, suggesting an alliance to destroy the Oocca's presence on the ground. After securing an Oocca surface base, Sulkaris has the Gohma ascend to the City in the Sky to confront Demoko and secure the Aura, which she plans to use to scour Hyrule clean of all life aside from her Gohma servants.

On the top of the tower in the City in the Sky, Agitha activates the Forest Medallion to use her own flesh as biomass to remake Sulkaris' body, who proclaims that she is the Gohma, and she cannot be killed as long as the Gohma live. She then proceeds to start consuming the city.

Sulkaris makes her way to Demoko's throne, destroying Demoko's greatest guardian Koloktos along the way and confronting her hated brother in his room. Unexpectedly, Demoko offers to confess his crimes to the rest of the world, as long as the Oocca are allowed to live. Sulkaris accepts, and as Demoko finishes telling the story of how he and the rest of the First Sages brought the Druthulidi to the world and framed Sulkaris for taking the Triforce, his palace comes under fire from Oocca Walker Cannons. Sulkaris desperately tries to finish off Demoko with her machete but finds herself staggered and unable to strike before the palace falls down to the surface and violently explodes in a blue mushroom cloud, destroying her brand new body.

Trivia

 * Sulkaris' stained glass window is one of the two that do not feature the three halos of the Goddesses, the other being Lord Dakkon's. This is likely because she and Dakkon both betrayed the Goddesses. Sulkaris however, did not actually betray the Goddesses. Her title was stripped from her as she attempted to protect the Triforce from the warring First Sages only to be banished to Hyrule as a means to preserve the myth that First Sages are immortal.
 * Alongside Midna and Majora, Sulkaris is one of the few voiced characters in Hyrule: Total War, speaking via whispering telepathy during her dialogue.
 * Sulkaris' initial design was inspired by Warcraft III's Night Elf Warden.
 * Sulkaris' resurrection in the Sky City is a homage to the 1985 film, Lifeforce.

Quotes
''And soon they will no longer be able to hide. Soon their hand will be forced. Soon their lie will be exposed to all of Hyrule... and there will be a rift and a tearing of civilizations the likes of which have never been seen since the dawn of time. At long last justice thousands of years in waiting will be dealt. No more idols, the pedestals shall fall."''
 * All of us have the ability to take what we desire. There is nothing wrong with it. You just have to prove yourself better and destroy those that oppose you.
 * You cannot kill one such as I for I was crafted eternal, not in flesh as you, but in mind and spirit. I have endured the ravages of this world, I have knowledge the likes you could not hope to peer into with twice the time you shall walk on this world. I have seen the face of that which created me and witnessed the birth of this land that you so cling to. I am, I have endured, and I shall not end. You may slay my body a thousand times and accomplish naught, for the Gohma are more than mere vessels. They are a concept, an idea, something deeper than you would credit them. The Gohma are inevitable, there is no escape. I am Sulkaris, and I am the Gohma. What hope do you possibly have, knight clad in green, to stand against a force that has outlasted cosmic terrors and the very Gods you worship?
 * That the Great Deku Tree would form such an insult in my likeness more than justifies his execution by my will. Where a glorious figure of imposing might would master and shape the land, he would have a child, innocent and harmless and symbiotic of the earth! I will take back my mantle and undo the damage the Sages have wrought on this land, starting with your death, Forest Sage!
 * "They have long kept the biggest lie in all of history a secret. They are willing to enforce the word of the Goddesses, and utterly eradicate all trace of Majora to conceal the truth. They have deceived, manipulated, and directed the course of countless nations for thousands of years without their knowledge and consent. They may be a legend to many. They may be revered, idolized, and outright worshiped by many. But they are liars. They are cowards. Their deception is so great, no justice could be dealt to them but by the horrifying verdict of Majora himself.