Arkus
From SpiralKnights
Guardian Knight Arkus was one of the finest warriors serving the Spiral Knights until some time shortly after the crash and one of the first to search for the Alpha Squad. When he is encountered during the The Silent Legion mission, he has transformed into a being similar to a Trojan.
Contents
Background
Arkus was a well known, respected and highly ranked Guardian Knight in the Spiral Order. When the Skylark crashed, he was assigned to one of the several squads to look for the missing Alpha Squad. However, his squad perished in a fierce battle at the hands of a gang of Dust Zombies. Feeling guilty of their deaths and for not living up to the Guardian's Oath to protect his squad, he decided to wander the Clockworks alone, so no other knights would have to suffer under his protection.
He disappeared around Depth 26, and you are dispatched to find him.
After your party fights through a Devilish Drudgery and Candlestick Keep, you arrive in a sanctuary where Trojan statues litter the area. You locate a recon module left by Arkus, where he states that he is drawn to the sanctuary, and continues by saying that the loss of his Squad haunts him in his sleep and every waking thought. When he is first encountered face-to-face, he refuses to return to Haven and renounces his role in the Spiral Order. When encountered at the end of the level he shows clear signs of increasingly losing his sanity: the screams he had heard has turned into whispers and he mourns over the fact that everyone has left him. He then notes that all those close to him have perished and tells you and your party that they are about to suffer the same fate, engaging them in battle.
Arkus's attack patterns resemble those of a normal Spiral Knight: He has two-hit sword combos and a charge attack identical to that of the troika-series swords. During the battle he is slain twice, and revives with energy blasts like a regular Spiral Knight. Each time he revives, the crystal on his back glows more fiercely. Each revival spawns fiends and shadowy balls of energy (similar to the orbs produced by the Dark Reprisal) that orbit him. On the final phase of the fight, his sword's charge attack summons 3 red spikes which protrude from the floor which deal shadow damage. Upon being defeated a third time, Arkus collapses to the ground and all color fades from his eyes as he dies.
Battle
Trivia
- Arkus resembles a generic horse-headed Guardian Knight, like the ones found in Haven and the Hall of Heroes. However, his armor and Leviathan Blade have dulled to a grim black, magenta and grey, and instead of a Guardian banner, he has a magenta crystal embedded into his back, like the ones found on regular Trojans.
- The circumstances regarding Arkus' (at least partial) transformation into a Trojan are unknown, and the subject isn't touched upon. However, his transformation gives evidence that at least some Trojans are corrupted Spiral Knights.
- Unlike a normal Trojan, Arkus can be damaged from all angles. However, all damage taken from the front is significantly reduced.
- As Arkus can only be fought in one level and the map is unique to the mission he appears in, he could arguably be considered a boss.
- He is the first and currently only named Spiral Knight in the game to die on-screen.
