| “ | I promise you this, sons of Sparda. It will not be Satan nor it will be my own damn father that you will find at the end of your paths. It will be me. It will always be me. I will always...be your monster. | „ |
| ~ Mundus |
Mundus, also known as the Prince of Darkness and the Dark Emperor, is the son of Lucifer and Lilith, thus being the devil prince of the Inferno. Mundus ruled over Hell when he was able to overthrow his own father and desired to expand his rule beyond the confines of the demonic realm by setting his sights on the human world. He is also the arch nemesis of the Dark Knight Sparda and his entire bloodline.
Appearance[]
Being the child of Lucifer and Lilith, Mundus originally had a fair and beautiful visage but with innate sense of malevolence and wanton desire for power behind his eyes. He had long ethereal white hair with a reddish hue that went past his shoulders and dressed in regal clothing in correspondence with his position and title as the dark prince of the Inferno. His attire usually consisted of draconic themes and almost always had a single eye in the middle of his outfit which ties into his signature triclopean avatar.
Some time later, Mundus began to graft marble-like material unto himself to conceal his mutating form as well as to hold in his power. Mundus' appearance is that of a gigantic living statue of an aging, muscular, bearded man with enormous feathered wings, resembling figures such as Zeus or the common Christian depictions of God. The statue has a circular depression in his chest, where an eye-like core is located in his true form. During his battle with Dante, portions of the statue break away, revealing a grotesque, writhing mass of living tissue, with three eyeballs and hundreds of hands coming out of it.
When compressing his form and becoming more stable with his power Mundus takes the form of a middle-aged man with dark gray skin that bear several cracks mainly around his face, front of his body, and his arms although the cracks themselves appear to be fashioned into a pattern of sorts. His hair shortened and gained a more whitish silver coloration alongside his eyes with his irises being the same color, red pupils, and black sclera. He also his signature third eye in the middle of his forehead which resembles a black gem with a red dot in its midst. He also sports two blackish brown curved horns that emerge from the top of his forehead.
History[]
Background[]
Mundus was born from the union of Lucifer and Lilith, and throughout the centuries the young prince desperately sought the throne and the power it provides. Despite being a child of Lucifer, Mundus held no special privileges with his father as he was the subject of mistreatment and contempt by the fallen angel. This resulted in Mundus growing resentful and hateful towards his father while also fueling his desire to take over the throne in his stead.
Mundus would observe his father's activities on Earth and was rather fascinated and intrigued by the human race. He was amused by the fact that humans would build monuments and effigies in honor of a being they perceive as divine and came to the conclusion that since humans were so simple in their perception of those they regard as far above their feeble material flesh then he would subjugate them under his rule as well. The more he continued to watch the more he would see the many crimes and atrocities the humans would commit through acts of war, greed, and oppression. Given that they, in his own view, are so fond of power then he would show them what true power is and be under constant fear and total obedience under Mundus' hand. Perhaps the two events and series of developments which truly had an impact on him was when the Watchers taught mankind forbidden knowledge and used said knowledge to create many terrible yet great things and even a thousand or so years later their descendants retained said knowledge to create the Tower of Babel.
While Mundus could not fully manifest himself on Earth due to his power being too great, he would come before humans in the guise of a fair and beautiful being similarly to Lucifer. He would manipulate these humans and have them stray from their faiths, abandon their morals, and slowly corrupt them into becoming deranged worshippers of Mundus. The dark prince reveled in their worship and relished in the euphoric feeling of using his power over the weak and dominating the strong. In addition, since he was privy to the discussions taking place within Lucifer or Beelzebub's inner circle, Mundus came to realize that humans possess a power that neither demon nor fallen angel can ever match which made him even more determined to rule over them, thinking that he could use this power to his benefit. Mundus' appearance also began to slowly change, his once fair and majestic complexion cracked and peeled away, growing more demonic which befitted his status as a tyrannical being. He resorted to grafting pieces of marble unto his body, starting with his face as it fashioned into the likeness of his father and God, in order to not only conceal his true visage but also his growing power.
Usurping the Throne[]
While Mundus was not aware of the full scope of Lucifer's New World Order, the pieces of information he gained from overhearing his father during meetings in the Stygian Council made him realize that this would hamper his goals of ruling the Inferno and beyond, thus he conspired against his father. Rumors circulated that Mundus made contact with the archangel Metatron, informing them of Lucifer's plan, and plotted to imprison the Morningstar. Beelzebub and possibly Satan knew of this truth but Beelzebub convinced Satan not to move against Mundus for it as the Lord of the Flies promised that Mundus' reign will not last from what Lucifer has planned in advance and have Beelzebub engage in the plan.
Lucifer was put to sleep by Lailah, then detained and later imprisoned by Michael using Judecca chains and had Jophiel create tomb where he would remain until Judgement Day. The elated Mundus took this opportunity to establish himself as the new Emperor of Hell. However, Mundus feared that Lucifer might emerge from his tomb and in response to this would siphon Lucifer's power and add it to his own. Moreover, many demons vied for the taking of the throne whilst others desired for one of the other six princes to rule in Lucifer's stead leading to a civil war. Mundus fought and killed any demon that opposed him and his means of taking the throne until he finally ascended to being Emperor of Hell after which he ended the civil war.
Emperor of Hell[]
Not only was Mundus enthroned as the new emperor but also became the head prince amongst the seven great monarchs of Hell. However, while many demons admired and feared the dark emperor, a majority only had utter disdain for him, especially the six main princes of Hell whom held him in high contempt for his methods of ruling. While he was cruel, stern, and efficient Mundus was narrow-minded and very power-hungry as he only ever focused on expanding his power and authority across not just Hell but beyond its borders as well. Moreover, they were aware of Mundus' hand in imprisoning their former ruler but unfortunately could not move against Mundus due to the laws of Hell.
Because of Mundus' pursuit of expanding his power and rule across the infernal realms he even attempted to colonize his rule through foreign realms like the Underworlds of mythology. His two most prominent attempts and later failures was when he suggested to overtake the kingdom of Hades, finding the precious and exceedingly rare minerals that dwell within the lord of the dead's domain to be quite beneficial for his own uses. However, he was convinced by Beelzebub to not move against Hades for not only would the latter be able to defeat him but this would be a breach of contract between the Abrahamic Hell and the mythological Underworlds.
Seeing that he could not breach this contract as it would incite a war that he knew he would not be able to win despite their own powerful resources, Mundus instead opted to create a symbiotic relationship between his kingdom and another chthonic god's own kingdom. He tried this with the Norse goddess of death, Hel, but the goddess immediately, and threateningly, turned his offer down as she does not take kindly to the likes of Mundus even setting foot into her domain. The Dark Emperor left at Hel's demands in the end, preventing any rising animosity that would spark a chthonic war between two underworlds.
Belial's Revolt[]
However, during his ruling period, the demon king Belial could no longer bear being under Mundus' rule and challenged the Dark Emperor. Seeing that his rule was under threat by Belial's power, Mundus had Beelzebub develop a plot to create a revolt against Belial. Beelzebub accepted but only because this would be in accordance to the plan of Lucifer's eventual freeing without Mundus' knowledge. Using his influence and power, Beelzebub's revolt against Belial was successful and the Lord of Pride was thrown into the Cocytus river that lay within the deepest regions of the Ninth Circle of Hell with the aid of the Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda who lead the Knights of Hell. Seeing the power of the knights, particularly Sparda, Mundus promoted Sparda to be one of his generals whilst also forming a blood-pact together.
Mundus also had to deal with another powerful enemy, one of the Maleficar known as Argosax, who in his arrogance and lust, wanted to take the entirety of the Inferno for himself, forgoing his original mission of dismantling the power structure of Hell in order for the Prime Evils to mount their offensive. Argosax amassed an army with his power alone but was met with resistance by Mundus who had the Knights of Hell, specifically the Vassals of the Morning Star, defeat the entirety of Argosax's armies. Mundus fought against Argosax, and was later joined by Sparda, then banished the Great Evil into the void that lay beyond the borders of Hell.
But of course, because of Mundus' way of ruling, unrest amongst his subjects and fellow monarchs was never far away, evidenced in another powerful contender for the throne, Amenadiel. Like most devils, Amenadiel was not exactly ecstatic to sharing the infernal kingdom with a false god like Mundus. Amenadiel was perhaps among the few infernal monarchs, barring the Seven Kings of Hell, who could openly match Mundus. As such, many brutal and warring conflicts between him and the Dark Emperor endured for millennia with Sparda being once again at the helm of fighting against the growing conflicts incited by Amenadiel alongside his trusted compatriots. According to Trish, Amenadiel and Mundus have been in a continuous stalemate until the demon king stayed his hand for unknown reasons. Trish believes that Amenadiel concluded that it would be pointless to expend his armies against Mundus and his generals, and instead bided his time for his empire to crumble from within.
Hell's Invasion and Sparda's Rebellion[]
An unknown amount of time later, and feeling unsatisfied with his rule over Hell Mundus planned to lead an assault on the human world and conquer the realm for himself, ruling both worlds as one. Mundus thought back to when the Watchers taught humanity forbidden knowledge and in the process created both amazing and terrible weapons, artifacts, substances, and constructs. This knowledge remained with them even after thousands of years of the Great Flood's passing. Mundus proposed to his fellow emperors that with the knowledge they hold, they could impart said knowledge to the mortals where under their tutelage could create strongholds, constructs, and weapons in the imagery and likeness of what the emperors represent. With such dark knowledge spreading across the lands, they will have an iron grip onto the the human world with their power and mind.
Mundus' ambitions were said to have surpassed his judgement, for while he had creative ideas on how to expand the ruling and shadow of Hell, its execution was flawed. He awaited for the coming of the Conjunction and when it began, Mundus had Mulciber craft the Seven Gates of Hell across the seven continents of the world. The gates in question would act as conduits for the dimensional energy that would run amok through the main plane of reality, which in turn would allow the demons of Hell safe passage through the gates and unto the Earth. However, Sparda woke up to justice, and opposed his masters. He started by vanquishing Mundus' armies single-handedly and later engaging the Dark Emperor in single combat then later defeating him after a long and terrible battle. He would then imprison Mundus, his armies, and the other monarchs that followed suite with Mundus' declaration of war. In defeat, Mundus remained embittered at Sparda's betrayal, but more so towards the fact that he defeated the Dark Emperor, which had him shaking with rage. Having his pride be broken, Mundus retaliated with a terrible vengeance which resulted in an event that was cemented in human history books as one of the greatest tragedies on Earth; the Destruction of Pompeii.
As the centuries passed by, one of Mundus' spies relayed information to the Dark Emperor regarding Sparda's whereabouts and activities, and it was alerted to him when Sparda was fighting the Marble Hornets, the assassins of Ciaran. Knowing he would be unable to crossover to the mortal realm in his weakened state, more-so that it would take too much time to have the humans build a lesser Hell Gate, Mundus took it upon himself to find information regarding the construction of the infamous Tower of Babel, which possesses properties that would not only allow Mundus to pass over to the mortal realm successfully but also grant him enormous power, and one that he hoped would have him gain victory over Sparda. He found one hidden beneath Mount Vesuvius and enacted his plan, which consequently resulted in the destruction of the mountain. Sparda, in the meantime, was amongst the people of Pompeii who witnessed Mount Vesuvius erupting and destroying the city of Pompeii and most of the population completely. The Destruction of Pompeii was the result of Mundus raising one of the four towers of Babel in a vain attempt to the harness the power that lay within the tower to dominate the Earth after his defeat by Sparda. This was the result of Mundus proclaiming a terrible vengeance against Sparda and wanted more power to defeat the Dark Knight, however, the action only resulted in Mundus being severely punished by Beelzebub.
Sons of Sparda[]
Mundus, of course, was relentless in his vengeance. Mundus had a squad of demons kill Sparda's wife, Eva, as well as their children Dante and Vergil. Eva unfortunately perished from Mundus' forces though Dante and Vergil survived. As Sparda's son Vergil found himself trapped in Inferno due to sacrificing himself after his battle with Dante, he comes upon Mundus, who glares down on him silently with his triple eyed avatar. Vergil challenges him in battle, however, in his weakened state, the Dark Slayer is defeated and tortured by Mundus for several years. Mundus then transformed Vergil into Nelo Angelo, in twisted retaliation to spite and mock Sparda's legacy.
Mundus would resurface again years later facing off against Dante. Mundus attempted to vanquish the young cambion by having his own brother, once thought dead after a vain attempt to defeat him, to kill him only to fail along with the rest of his forces. Mundus then challenged the son of Sparda to a duel and after a lengthy and mighty battle, Mundus was overwhelmed and suffered another humiliating defeat by Dante.
Because of Vergil's failure to kill Dante and his defeat at the hands of the latter, Mundus took his frustrations and anger out on Vergil. Vergil's soul endured endless, brutal, and unspeakable torture from the likes of Mundus, alongside the Malebranche, Alastor, and Lilith herself. While Vergil would escape each time, he would only fail each time and is returned to the chamber to begin the torture all over again. Despite the fact that Mundus originally claimed Vergil's soul after defeating him, it was Lilith that staked an indirect claim over Vergil's soul as she was among those who knew of Lucifer's grand plan of a New World Order with Mundus having little information over the matter, thus seeing as how essential it is for Vergil to break the first seal with Lilith on the plan, she would have claim over him.
Lucifer's Return[]
It was because of Lilith's actions, with Mundus in extension, that Vergil's will was completely shattered but did not impede his efforts in escaping and to finally succeed. Mundus was attempting to prevent Vergil from escaping Hell only to fail when Vergil received aid, unknowingly, by Immanuel himself, an angel of the Lord. However, this only served as a victory for Lilith as Vergil's escape from Hell was in fact the first seal that triggered the coming events that will lead to the Apocalypse.
Mundus' fear soon came to fruition when the seals upon Lucifer's tomb were broken and resulted in the subsequent release of the Morningstar once again. Lucifer's first course of action was to exact his revenge on his son, and when confronted him, demanded that he relinquish his seat of power as well as the power he stole from him.
Mundus only responded by attempting to kill Lucifer, however, despite being severely weakened, Lucifer soundly and effortlessly bested Mundus before draining him of the power he stole as well as his own. Rendered to a pitiful and broken shell of his former self, Lucifer then supposedly killed Mundus by having him combust and inform the denizens of Hell that Mundus' actions were a minor nuisance and set-back for his plans. Unbeknownst to Lucifer, or that is what is believed, Mundus actually survived by having a sliver of essence escape.
Personality[]
Even for a demon, Mundus is depicted as the epitome of evil. He was utterly malicious and cruel, as he revels in torturing his enemies and destroying anyone that crossed him. Ever since he was born and raised in the Inferno, Mundus has been famously known for his tremendous megalomania, seeing himself as the true ruler of not just Hell but all that of which he feel he is destined to rule to the point where he desires to, "stand on the heavens and end the unbearable vacancy on the world's throne". Mundus is therefore the definition of malevolence, terror, and destruction, expressing his power and cruelty over nearly all who dare face him.
Mundus is extremely obsessive, especially with gaining his goals. Although this is a flaw that many other high-ranking demons have pointed out when it comes to describing him. Mundus is very power-hungry and is desperate to expand his rule beyond the reaches of Hell and this in turn makes him narrow minded but also quite stubborn, very aggressive, overconfident, and prideful for despite being defeated not just by Sparda but also by his own sons, he would make a vow to return. However, Mundus has, on rare occasions, expressed fear and becomes easily enraged when in situations that he cannot overcome such as when confronted his resurrected father and the sons of Sparda at their most powerful; in regards to the latter, Mundus displays violent rage because he is unable to comprehend how a half-breed has surpassed him.
Despite his views on his father, Mundus wanted to be like Lucifer which is why he would assume the form of a heavily bearded angel or god-like entity in a statuesque form. This form that Mundus would take is, according to Beelzebub, Mundus' pitiful attempt of combining two great rulers (Lucifer and God) into one and exalting himself in a place higher than them both to secure his prideful disposition. This could also imply some sense of insecurity as Mundus despised being looked down upon and would destroy or threaten anyone he perceives of doing so. Although it could only be part of him having a god-complex, since he fancies himself a god he believes he should look the part.
Like most other demons, Mundus has a low opinion of humans, even going so far as to wonder if Dante's human heritage had weakened his father's blood. Completely unsympathetic towards humans he would not shed a tear if a billon of them were slain instead would relish over the reality of ruling over them. However, he is willing to make deals with humans that are beneficial for his plans, taking advantage of their greed and corruptibility, but should they fail he will not hesitate to severely punish or outright kill them. Indeed, Mundus has shown to be completely intolerable towards failure, incompetence, or insubordination and as such he has no compassion for his minions and acts without regard to their loyalty, killing one of his own generals, Griffon, after the latter failed to defeat Dante and pleaded for his master's aid.
Powers and Abilities[]
As the son of Lucifer and hailed as the Prince of Darkness and Devil Emperor, Mundus has the power to back up these titles. He was known for having posed a difficult challenge to the god-like legendary Dark Knight Sparda and was powerful enough to surpass the earlier level of might wielded by the Sons of Sparda. Mundus is among the most powerful demons in Hell and while he is nowhere near as powerful as Satan, Lucifer, or Beelzebub he is nonetheless superior to the likes of many other powerful monarchs of the Inferno.
As the Emperor of Hell, Mundus has absolute control over almost all lesser demons within his domain and commanded other powerful entities such as the Hellspawn and the Knights of Hell. Mundus is also shown to be capable of creating other powerful demons to serve him. His power was great enough to even rival Ares, the Greek god of war, to the point where a battle between him and the war god was said to have split and warped the skies from their collision and created massive chasms that threatened to swallow distant cities and villages; Mundus was also young at that time. He also directly challenged Hades, wanting to expand his rule through Hades' domain, but was convinced by Beelzebub not to move against the god of the underworld for according to the Lord of Flies their fight would make the two underworlds collapse onto one another.
Despite his terrifying power, there have been several instances where Mundus was defeated and overwhelmed. The most notable of the defeats he suffered was against Sparda, his son Dante wielding his father's sword, the war god Ares, and his own father Lucifer. Even after being defeated, Mundus was relentless and brutal in his battle prowess and was quite difficult to put down as a result but in Lucifer's case it was not even a challenge for the Morning Star whom effortlessly defeated his son even when weakened from being awakened from his tomb. Mundus was even humble enough to bitterly acknowledge that Satan was far above him in terms of power and saw Belial as a threat to his ruling, resulting in him requesting Beelzebub to devise a way to get rid of him. Beelzebub also stated that Hades would more than likely defeat Mundus after the Devil Prince challenged him.
