Dev Diary 2 - The King of Darkness

Hello everyone, long time no see!

It has been a while since our last diary update here, but we promise it has been worth it! We have been working really hard on the game and December 15 (our release date, in case you didn’t know) is just around the corner, so to speak.

As the special date is getting closer and the game is looking more complete everyday, we have decided that we want to show more details about the game’s world and its development, so we are going to make weekly announcements with brand-new game details and images! To start this off, this week we are talking to you about our beloved protagonist, the King of Darkness.

The King of Darkness is one of the two rival monarchs of the Kingdom of Aeterna, both of them cursed with Immortality by the Supreme God Chaos. Long ago, the conflicts and hatred between the King of Darkness and his nemesis the Queen of Light, escalated so much that it enraged the Supreme God Chaos, so much so that it condemned the both of them to eternal life, intertwined with their never ending conflict as its form of divine punishment.

Since then, each time one of the cursed leaders defeats the other, the winner takes the throne of Aeterna, and the opponent must reclaim the throne by recovering their power, reaching the castle, and starting a duel. A cycle starts when one ruler sits on the throne, ending only when either the King of Darkness or the Queen of Light are killed and reborn. Once they start their reign, they are allowed to wear a crown: a purple one for the King of Darkness and a silver one for the Queen of Light.

The King of Darkness is recognizable at first glance. His ashy long hair and pale skin are unique and can not be found in other life forms, human or monster. Despite being hundreds of years old, the King of Darkness looks young, athletic, and has an attractive semble, as a result of having the gift of immortality. No matter how many times he is injured, mutilated or apparently killed, he never shows scars or any kind of damage over the skin.

Only the emotional trauma is what remains as time continues to pass and the world around him keeps changing. The King of Darkness is the archetypal adventure character. He does not usually show emotions, except sometimes out of anger or rage. He is cold and ironic when he talks to others, and he is scathing in his replies during the dialogues.

The King of Darkness’ visual design has evolved a lot since the first concepts of the game. The first versions showed a being with no face, hands or feet, and an extremely minimalist costume design. As a fun fact, we internally called him “the pijama guy”, and the design ended up inspiring the current logo of our studio.

As for his name… What’s the King of Darkness really called? Time has buried his real name, and no one has been brave enough to ask him. Only the elder Chronicler knows it, among many other details of his life, but those are well-hidden secrets that you will have to discover once Aeterna Noctis releases on Steam on December 15th.