Mordegon
| Mordegon | |
| Dragon Quest XI | |
| |
| Japanese name | ウルノーガ |
| Romaji | Urunōga |
| Title | Lord of Shadows |
| Race | Demon |
| Voice actor | James Goode (English) Takaya Kuroda (Japanese, XI S) |
Mordegon (ウルノーガ, Urnoga, Mordegon?) is the central antagonist of Dragon Quest XI. A powerful demon sorcerer styling himself the Lord of Shadows, he orchestrated the destruction of the kingdoms of Dundrasil and Zwaardsrust with his army of monsters 16 years ago before the story begins.
Appearance and personality
In his natural state, Mordegon is a tall humanoid demon with chalk-white skin, pointed ears, two long black horns coming out of either side of his head, and a shorter one from his chin surrounded by a black marking, giving him the appearance of having a goatee. His head is almost completely shaven, save for a red spiked mohawk, and he has green eyes with yellow sclera and purple lips. He also possesses long black fingernails and he wears gold hoop earrings with dangling magenta orbs on his ears.
Mordegon wears a long purple robe with crimson edges on the ends of his sleeves and the bottom of the robe, a long magenta cloak around his neck, a purple collar with alternating black triangles in the center and lined with gold and yellow fabric, as well as a long black cloth with crimson edges hanging from the collar in front of Mordegon's robes. The edges of this cloth and the robe, as well as the sleeves, are decorated with various magical runes. He carries a tall, gnarled wooden staff with a red crystal orb near the top which he is able to levitate at his side using magic.
Upon taking the sword of light and conquering the world, Mordegon's body changes into that of a grotesque hulk with large horns, backwards facing legs, and pink skin with blue lips. Any hint of his magician past has been discarded for a barbarian's sparse armor, which only covers his left shoulder, both forearms, his pelvis, and calves with golden plates. A tattered, red cape sits on his shoulders and her carries the sword of shadows at all times. Upon this form's defeat, Mordegon transforms into Mordragon in a last ditch effort to kill the Luminary. The skeletal serpent has lost all flesh save his eyes and tongue, and his lower torso is replaced with repeating vertebra that extend off-screen to form his tail, which looks identical to the main body save for the dragon skull in place of his own.
Mordegon is a very patient and cautious man, only striking when the circumstances are to his utmost advantage. After his corruption by Calasmos centuries ago, we waited until Erdwin reincarnated as the Luminary to make his assault on Dundrasil castle. This does not mean he is unable to improvise however, as his possession of King Carnelian proves. Upon killing Yggdrasil and stealing the sword of light, Mordegon shrouded the world in darkness to draw strength from the despair and misery of humans and took measures to ensure that Calasmos could never regain his original body by destroying Erdwin's lantern and that no mortal rebellion could rise up by situating his spectral sentinels into every major region of Erdrea.
Appearances
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Mordegon is first alluded to by Jarvis when the dragon gloats to the party that the world will be on it's knees when the Lord of Shadows returns, and is sparsely mentioned again afterwards. Upon the Luminary reaching the heart of Yggdrassil, he makes his presence known by having Jasper dispatch the heroes and then by shedding Carnelian's body to take hold of the exposed sword of light. Corrupting the sacred blade into the sword of shadows, Mordegon plunges the world into darkness and rules unopposed for several months.
After the death of Alizarin, Mordegon becomes aware of the Luminary's survival and awaits him in the Fortress of Fear. Upon reaching him, the party sees that he has lost what little humanity remained and has become a hulking monstrosity. Mordegon is the final boss of the game's second act, and fights in two phases with a different name for each.
After his death, the Luminary and his friends, hoping to find a way to bring back the people who died to Mordegon's rule, including Veronica, search for and discover the Tower of Lost Time. By shattering the orb within, the Luminary rewinds time and returns to shortly before his climb up Yggdrasil, but loses the Sword of Light in the process, though he gains the Sword of Shadows in its place. Using his knowledge of the future, and the Sword of Shadows' power, the Luminary is able to avoid being ambushed by Jasper and defeats him instead.
In this rewritten timeline, the Luminary claims the Super Sword of Light and Mordegon is forced to improvise further by attempting to shift the blame for all the events onto Jasper. His attempts to stealthily steal the Sword of Light are also prevented by a black tockle. Finally losing patience on the night of the victory feast, Mordegon abandons Carnelian's body and attacks the Luminary and his friends in an attempt to claim the sword, but is ultimately slain by them. With his dying words, he taunts the Luminary, understanding why he failed, and warns that he's "not the only one to defy to flow of time".
When the black tockle reveals itself to be Calasmos, the Dark One, and regains its original body, the Luminary begins a new quest while it incubates within Erdwin's Lantern. During this adventure, it's revealed that Mordegon was once the sorcerer Morcant; brother in arms to Erdwin. Near the end of the battle with Calasmos, as Erdwin prepared to strike the final blow, Morcant fell prey to corruption from the Dark One and stabbed Erdwin in the back, then gained a portion of Calasmos' power. However a part him resisted corruption so strongly that he split in two; the good half of him gained a form of its own, independent of his original body, and began to be known as the Seer. Meanwhile, his evil half transformed into the demon Mordegon. Upon Mordegon's death, the Seer began to fade as well, but not before being able to guide the Luminary a little further on his quest to slay Calasmos.
Lord of Shadows battle
Mordragon battle
Heliodor castle battle
Gallery
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Second form -
Final form(s) -
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Mordegon as he appears in Dragon Quest Rivals
