Habeas Corvus

I think it might be about time to post on update on my post about Dragon Quest villains that incorporates Dragon Quest IX. As I indicated in a post last week, I still haven’t beaten the main boss, but I think I know enough about him to write this entry.

The main villain this time is a fallen angel named Corvus, which actually means “crow.” More significantly, perhaps, is that Corvus is the name of a constellation. All of the named Celestrians, which is what the guardian angels in the DQ9 world are called, are named after constellations, and specifically bird constellations. Corvus was the guardian of Wyrmward Creek, but grew to despise humanity after being betrayed by the people he was sworn to protect, including his lover Serena. He was captured by the Gittish Empire, and his power siphoned to summon monsters to serve the empire.

The Gittish Empire itself is obviously named after the British Empire, although since “git” is an insult in British English, it’s kind of a mean joke. Their seat of government is Gittingham Palace, and their ruler Godwyn of the House of Gitt.

And while England never had a king named Godwyn or Godwin, that WAS the name of the father of the last Anglo-Saxon king. The Gittish Empire used the power of the dark dragon Barbarus to terrorize the world and expand its own territory, but it was eventually brought down, due largely to the efforts of Barbarus’ brother Greygnarl. About three centuries later, however, Corvus resurrected his old enemies to aid in his goal of destroying mankind forever. He was still trapped in the dungeon of Gittingham Palace at the time, and Godwyn and his servants were unaware of who they were really working for. The resurrected Gittish were much more monstrous than they originally were, many of them becoming undead, and others taking on monstrous features. The most notable case of the latter occurred with the Triumgorate, King Godwyn’s three generals. Their names are Goreham-Hogg, Hootingham-Gore, and Goresby-Purrvis, and all have the forms of the animals suggested by their names: a pig, an owl, and a leopard.

The story has it that they were originally human, but why would someone be named “Goreham-Hogg” if they weren’t already porcine? I guess this is yet another case of fictional characters having a descriptive names that date back to before the description would have actually fit them, like how the Riddler was named E. Nigma before he became the Riddler, or Remus Lupin not having been born a werewolf. Also, to continue the trend of monstrous forms, Godwyn takes on the features of some sort of skeletal dragon after you beat him the first time.