Men of the Harem 500-Year Cycle Guide
A work in progress post to consolidate facts about the supernatural aspect of MOTH as we go along. Obviously huge spoilers.
Updated as of Chapter 516
What We Know of the 500-Year Cycle
Points here have been confirmed at some point in the story
Every 500 years, undead begin to rise even before the Lord awakens
Most undead seek to help the Lord awaken and put themselves in close proximity to them
Lords have never won
The Lord always gains momentum in the beginning of the war but always ends up losing to the adversaries
As far as the living population goes, they only know black mages last rose 500 years ago. They do not know this is a repeated process.
Lords can have children
The first Lord is named Arital
The Lord and Adversary are prophecised to be born on the same day
The Lord and Adversary can be any combination of genders
Every Lord has an Awakening where they then gain their full power and begin the war against the Adversary proper. This process is usually caused by a traumatising event such as losing a loved one.
The Adversary has a sword that only they can wield
The Adversary always has a sense of justice to kill undead no matter what
In battle, the Lord rides a griffin
After 500 years, all members involved in the cycle reincarnate
The process of the Adversary directly killing the Lord can be avoided through making a sacrificial deal on the Lord's part, but this is provided the Adversary is not killed afterwards.
Souls can split due to the breaking of a sacrificial deal
The undead are not biologically forced to help the Lord, though going rogue is extremely uncommon
What We Do Not Know of the 500- Year Cycle
Points here have not been addressed or explored by the story at all yet
If it can be stopped for good
Why the cycle began
How many cycles have passed before the start of the story
If there has ever been an instance where neither the Adversary nor Lord were killed by each other and survived till old age
If the Adversary/Lord title is heridatory
If Latil's Mind Reading powers are because of her potential Lord-status or if it is just from the royal bloodline
What We Are Unsure About
Points here are currently being addressed and explored by the story
If there can be more than one Adversary
If there can be more than one Lord
If someone who is still alive from the previous cycle keeps their powers/role (such as Baek Hwa and Anya)
Roles in the Cycle
Lord
Also known as Vampire Lord, Undead Lord. Commands all the undead.
Current Generation: Heavily implied to be Latil, but she would need to Awaken for it to be confirmed
Previous Generation: Domis, Arital (first Lord)
Adversary
Kills the Lord with their sword. Mentored by Girgol, who kills them after they have killed the Lord for unknown reasons.
Current Generation: Ranamun/Aini
Previous Generation: Anya
Knight
Stays by the side of the Lord and protects them
Current Generation: Sonnaught
Previous Generation: Carlein
Pure Soul
In order for a sacrificial deal to be made, a pure soul must be there to help complete it.
Current Generation: Klein
Previous Generation: Baek Hwa
Supernatural Creatures
Griffin: A ferocious bird who tears apart enemies while the Lord rides on them into battle.
Meradim: the Mermaid King. Mermaids dislike Adversaries but hate aligning themselves with Lords more (debut chapter 217)
Guesta: The most powerful warlock in all of Tarium. Not known to be immortal, so assumed to only be involved in the current 500-year cycle.
Heium: Turned into a ghoul after killing Aini's friend Ledler so as to gain a physical body.
Thula: After being used by the masked animals as a fake Lord to divert attention, is now an ordinary undead. It is not known what type he is exactly as he simply acts like a reincarnated human, but possesses inhuman regenerative abilities.
Humans
Characters that so far do not possess any supernatural abilities.
Tasir: Coined by Anya as the weakest among the group
Jaisin/Zaicin: Has healing abilities as a priest but has otherwise no supernatural traits.
Hyacinth: Survived almost being turned into a zombie but otherwise no mishaps
Any other background character not mentioned here
Theorisations
What will cause Latil's awakening? If her story is to parallel Domis', it is likely one of the consorts would have to die so that she Awakens to resurrect him. Using the process of elimination to remove the immortals or those protected by the prophecy, the likely candidate is Tasir (due to rumored death flags) followed by Klein (Anya has avoided killing him so far so as not to awaken Latil), then either Guesta or Jaisin.
