But what DOES Noobcaik taste like

THE CONTEXT OF THE CONNECTION

Before we talk about Sword and Illumina separately (that'll be for Part 2!), let's discuss them together and why I think they have a connection. There's a few interesting notes in this regard, so let's start with the very basics: their models.

Looking at them side by side, we can note that their poses are mirrored. This feels very intentional to me, seeing as none of the other SFOTH are posed this way. Sword's cape mirrors Illumina's single wing. They both have the back leg up, and outstretched forward arm. They LOOK like they are taking up stances against each other. Illumina and Sword also have brooches in the same place (Illumina's being a hexagonal shape and Sword's being more circular) holding up draped fabric, and the pommel and hilt of their blades are also similarly shaped, although one could argue Sword's pommel is a little more square compared to Illumina's. That said, there's enough similarity in design to raise an eyebrow.

Let's also look at their color palettes. Red and purple are right next to each other on the color wheel. Generally speaking, two characters having similar colors tends to indicate allyship, or at least a sense of "being in the same camp." (This is also the case for, say, a colorful and brightly colored Power Rangers–type cast being all colorful versus a black, gray, or otherwise monochrome/dark-toned villain group.) However, this is not the case in the lore; Sword is taken in by his color-based contrast, Venomshank (red and green are contrasts on the color wheel), and works with the also-green Darkheart throughout Death in the Family. There is an implication there that Sword and Venomshank, as well as Sword and Darkheart, should be opposed, but they're not. And that is a note that will continue to stick with us throughout this analysis.

But continuing on, Sword was, as far as publicly known, spawned in Lost Temple. Despite that, he does NOT have the skin tone of a Lost Temple native. He does not resemble the Wranglers, Scythe, or Katana at all. Whose skin tone is a closer match to his, however? Blackrock, perhaps, or even Thieves' Den, to be sure... or, more to this theory's point, Illumina.

Now, you might be asking at this point, "Te! What does this matter? Banhammer doesn't have the same skin tone as Windforce. Valk and Dom don't necessarily look like Firebrand. Does this really mean anything?" Honestly, it might not. But the important element of this observation is less about comparing Sword to the other members of the SFOTH family, and instead pointing out that despite being supposedly spawned at Lost Temple, he does not share one of the most defining characteristics of inphernals spawned in that region. The "why that matters" is something I'll discuss in a future post.

So. What else can we say regarding a possible connection between Sword and Illumina? Well, let's look at a specific section of the most publicly available relationship chart:

We see here that Venomshank and Sword ARE listed as "Family." Now, we could take this as a found family relationship, like Zuka and Rocket, and that's certainly a possible interpretation, as they share a mentor/mentee relationship and Venomshank clearly dotes on Sword. However, the wiki implies that they are not necessarily directly related, as stated here: "Sword is related to the Swords by blood, though in what way is currently unknown." Furthermore, Soda confirms that although Venomshank and Sword are related, their relationship is "a secret third thing:"

In addition to saying it outright like this, we also know there must be a deeper connection because the full name of Sword's gear is the Linked Sword, which in Roblox canon/the real world program of Roblox is the gear/model that MANY other sword-based gears were based on. It's also connected to a lot of other scripts and such in the library. I am not an expert in the programmatic aspects of Roblox, but what this means narratively is that the Linked Sword is a gear that served as the basis for many, many others, including the famed blades used in Sword Fights on the Heights, which here in Phighting! are represented by the SFOTH entities/deities. This has several fascinating implications, but the most basic is exactly what's already been stated, in that the Linked Sword gear, and by extension, Sword himself, is linked to the SFOTH as a whole in a meaningful way, beyond just being Venomshank's ward/mentee.

(What the relationship chart also shows is that Venomshank and Darkheart both dislike Illumina, and in Darkheart's case, the feeling is mutual. Once again, this is interesting from the perspective of Sword, who should color-wise be allied with Illumina and against the Darkheart/Venomshank duo, but is actually associated with the latter group instead. It gives the sense that "what should be the case is not reality," and when that sort of dissonance comes up, it's good to analyze why.)

The next item of note is that Sword has a Follower Illumina skin:

Naturally, this skin is not canon-indicative or anything, but it's SUCH an interesting choice for a skin because it builds off of the previous point, namely, the implication via color that Sword is supposed to be allied with Illumina, but is not in canon. It's also necessary to note that this was not a Patreon-requested skin, but one that Soda personally made. The idea here is that under certain circumstances, Sword might have been or become a follower of Illumina. But the question becomes, under what circumstances would he be a follower? Especially of a deity that his mentor and "eccentric uncle" figure explicitly dislike? I don't think that it's something along the lines of "rebellious youth;" Sword isn't particularly the type, nor is this sort of commitment to a deity anything that could be called casual. It is generally binding, meaning that he would have to whole-heartedly believe in Illumina's ideals, and while it surely doesn't make sense in canon, it brings up the idea that there is a world, or at least a possible timeline, in which he would.

So, to summarize: Sword and Illumina share several notable design similarities, including mirrored poses, clothing/attire and gear elements, and skin tone. Their color palettes would also traditionally indicate an allied relationship, but the lore asserts the opposite. The inclusion of the Illumina Follower skin is a notable choice that has the gravity of a clue, and Sword also explicitly has an as-yet hidden connection with the SFOTH as a whole, meaning he is, in some way, related to Illumina.

THE EVIDENCE WE DO HAVE

Admittedly, it's not much. The very idea that there could have been at least one incarnation of Linked Sword before Sword as we know him is mostly speculation at this point in time. However, there is enough evidence to at least consider this idea plausible, so let's break it down.

First, of course, is the idea that reincarnation is possible at all. The wiki states that "[o]nly one of a specific gear can exist in the Inpherno at any one time, and once an inphernal dies, their gear becomes available for spawning once again." Thus, it's entirely possible for a reincarnation to happen, even for a deity, because they can die, albeit not from aging:

We don't know how quickly a deity would come back if they died, but we have no reason to believe that their respawn would deviate from the same rules as the other inphernals. So, let's keep that in mind as we continue.

I'd now like to touch on a bit of in-game dialogue. While the character dialogue in Phighting! is not indicative of "these two have actually met and interacted canonically" (seeing as Sword, in canon, does not know that he's related to Banhammer or the Flipside duo at present), it's moreso an example of "what might they say to each other if they did meet?" After all, it's confirmed that the in-game world of Phighting! takes place a few months after the events of Death in the Family, so there is potential for some of this dialogue to eventually become canon, or at least canon-adjacent, as the comic goes on.

As such, we can still take some useful clues from what's said. Here's one of the exchanges between Sword and Banhammer:

Ban Hammer: "Aren't you meant to be some tall god or something?"

Sword: "I'm not like them."

Ban Hammer: "Clearly, haha!"

What an absolutely insane thing to say to someone you've just met. That aside, Banhammer's question is incredibly interesting. First of all, his first line implies that he has heard of Sword, but is unimpressed by what he sees. However, "some tall god" does not describe Sword in the slightest, so what did he hear that would give this impression? Personally, I think that it's more likely he heard legends of the original Linked Sword from his mother or perhaps from another member of the SFOTH like Firebrand, and upon seeing Sword and learning his name, felt surprised that Sword isn't living up to that impression.

(As a side note, Sword's response is equally interesting! He might just be talking about Venomshank and Darkheart, of course, when he refers to "them," but the way in which he is quick to distance himself from both of them, or perhaps the greater SFOTH if he knows anything about them at this point in time, is notable from an anecdotal perspective. It's not what this essay's about, so I can't go into greater depth today, but there sure does seem to be some bitterness there!)

The next notable element is another dialogue-related detail. When playing on the Sword Fight on the Heights map, Sword says, "Back here again?" There's a few interesting things to dissect here. First, since we don't have voiced lines to go off of, we can only analyze the actual words. "Back here again?" could imply curiosity, but considering how so much of Sword's other dialogue clearly reads as being more upbeat and excited than this, I don't think he's happy to be here, which is almost more intriguing. I think there are two possibilities here:

1) Sword has vague memories, perhaps even echoes or sensations of memories, from this proposed predecessor and being on the Heights brings forth a sense of familiarity, a resonance, a feeling of deja-vu, perhaps, and it unnerves him.

2) Sword has no shared thoughts or memories with his previous incarnation, and he doesn't have terribly positive memories of this place because he doesn't understand what sort of connection he's supposed to have with it.

Personally, I think Possibility 2 is more likely, and that Sword recognizes this place because Venomshank brought him here when he was young. Why? Who knows. The reason could range from him trying to personally confirm the validity of Possibility 1 or seeing if Sword had some other type of reaction to being there, to because he was nostalgic and wanted Sword to have the experience of seeing what's essentially a holy site that also deeply means something to him. It could also be that Sword will eventually travel to the Heights in Death in the Family, and since the game is set a few months after the events of the comic, it could be referencing that. We have no way of knowing for sure at this time, but whatever the case, the "again" is a tantalizing mystery.

This is all of the mostly-plausible evidence I have for the possible existence of a previous incarnation of Linked Sword, but I do also have some other evidence that could support this idea, albeit less directly. Let's delve in!

THE EVIDENCE WE KINDA HAVE

To start, I'd like to review Possibility 1, which I mentioned above: Sword has vague memories, perhaps even echoes or sensations of memories, from this proposed predecessor and being on the Heights brings forth a sense of familiarity, a resonance, a feeling of deja-vu, perhaps, and it unnerves him. What's particularly interesting about this is that Darkheart might believe this is the case:

In the previous part of this theory, I mentioned how this could be related to the Scorch. And it still might! However, what if it instead referred to a previous incarnation of Linked Sword? I believe that if a previous Linked Sword existed, they were likely quite powerful (more on this later!), so if Sword inherited anything from them at all, such as their memories, their authority, or their techniques, he could be powerful enough to shake up the whole Inpherno. Is Darkheart taunting Sword with what he doesn't yet know, wanting him to investigate Linked Sword's past and perhaps broaden his understanding of the powers he likely possesses? Or perhaps even push him far enough so that he's forced to bring out the latent power that may come with his gear? We don't know how much information the SFOTH have on Linked Sword's reincarnation, or whether Sword has access to his previous incarnation's memories or not, so there's a lot of unknowns—and if Darkheart loves anything, it's novelty. This may be part of why he finds Sword's fate to be "intriguing":

As for why exactly Darkheart would want Sword to remember things from his predecessor, it's hard to say. It could be that he thinks the consequences of Sword gaining his predecessor's legacy might cause enough chaos to make things more interesting, or there's something he wants that is, as far as he knows, locked in the original Linked Sword's memory or legacy somewhere. Perhaps he just wants to keep disrupting Illumina's plans, and pushing Sword like this is progress towards that goal.

It's tough to get a read on Darkheart on a good day, though, so let's set that aside.

The next bit of possible evidence is that Sword's character theme is titled "CALL OF THE HEIGHTS". It's certainly a grand and sweeping theme that evokes feelings of flying, of adventure, of ascension. Personally, it reminds me of the Final Fantasy franchise's opening themes, with their grand swells and captivating visuals, drawing the player into the adventure. But the excellent music aside (and I do hate to put it aside, since there may be more clues there, but I unfortunately have no knowledge of music theory), the name is key here. It once again establishes Sword's connection to the SFOTH and the map of the same name, but the most important bit is that I think that Sword himself is the one that the song is calling. He is being called to the Heights, which is likely to be the climactic destination of his Medkit-initiated quest, as seen in the webcomic. "Call of the Heights" is emblematic of his call to adventure, and it's likely that Sword, based on the stage-specific dialogue and this song, will end up at the Heights at some point and possibly receive some revelations there—perhaps even about the original Linked Sword, which would put the dialogue he shares with Banhammer into perspective.

The last bit I'd like to share in this section hearkens back to when I mentioned the differences between Venomshank and Sword's gears in Part 2.

Like I said then, "Venomshank's blade is clearly more of a rapier, designed for piercing, stabbing, lunging, and parrying. Sword's blade is more for slashing. They have very different fighting styles, and despite there being some similarities in areas such as footwork, how they attack would be very different." Once again, the style of swordplay that Venomshank is teaching Sword might not be his own, or at the very least, would not come naturally to him.

As someone with a fair number of years of LARP experience and who has held a proper fencing epee once or twice, an epee is light and flexible, while a typical sword is heavier. If Venomshank were to engage in a duel with his opponent and was aiming to kill, it is likely that he would coat his blade in poison, as seen here in his concept art:

He would then aim to stab his opponent through carefully timed lunges, administering the poison with a well-placed thrust to an exposed area. Once he lands the hit, he would duel fairly defensively, focusing on maintaining good footwork to conserve stamina and endurance, until the enemy died.

Sword's fighting style, on the other hand, would not work like that. His blade is broader, meaning that it's primarily made for slashing motions, and he's not one to use poison and wait for his enemy to fall over. This is even backed up in the names of Sword's in-game moves: Slash, Blade Beam (which is described as firing a slash), Dolphin Slash, and All-Mighty Axle Arc. (To his credit, he does have a Lunge, but that's the only move he uses that could realistically map to how Venomshank fights.)

That said, as stated previously, good footwork is required for any swordfighter, as is knowing the limits of one's stamina and endurance and allocating your power and energy consumption accordingly. This is one of the lessons he tries to teach Sword regarding using his gear:

Wise words, certainly, but no matter what foundational lessons can be carried over, Sword's fighting style does not reflect what Venomshank's preferred style would be.

So, what is Venomshank actually teaching him? As I discussed, Venomshank might be modifying his own style and teaching it to Sword, but I don't think that's likely due to how different they are. Instead, I brought up the idea that the style that Venomshank teaches Sword might actually be someone else's fighting style, and I'd assert that Venomshank is teaching Sword the style of the original Linked Sword.

This is supported by some more in-game dialogue:

Biograft: "WHAT ARE THESE OLD TECHNIQUES YOU USE?"

Sword: "I was taught them by my master!"

Biograft: "THEY ARE OUTDATED."

And:

Hyperlaser: "Your techniques, where did you learn them from?"

Sword: "My master taught them to me!"

Hyperlaser: "Your master must be an old lad."

I want to point these out because if Venomshank has been teaching Sword the original Linked Sword's style, then these comments make a lot of sense. Yes, there is the possibility that Sword has learned Venomshank's own style and they're commenting on it, but as I've mentioned, I don't think he has. Furthermore, while the SFOTH are now reclusive, they were seen as recently as 10 years ago. Venomshank has probably kept tabs on other people's techniques and battling styles, especially if he's been readying himself to fight Illumina, meaning that he's likely to have updated his own style with time (or simply through practice). If a swordsmanship style is old, it probably hasn't been improved upon much based on modern trends—which again makes sense if it's a style from someone who hasn't exactly been around to improve it.

So, with all of that in mind, let's talk about how the existence of a previous Linked Sword may answer some interesting questions about the Inpherno—and about Sword himself.

THE THING YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE FOR

I didn't mean to bury the lede here, but I wanted to present my evidence for why a previous Linked Sword could exist before I got into the truly theoretical stuff. Let's begin.

First things first, the entity or entities that created the SFOTH is/are no more, and that greater Roblox canon does not apply. We know this from Soda:

We also know that there are no other gods/demigods in the Inpherno outside of the SFOTH and their families:

I would suggest that those who created the SFOTH likely also created the Inpherno, and that Linked Sword was the first and the oldest of the SFOTH, with the rest of them being based off of or modeled off of Linked Sword. Let me bring back a note I've made from the other two parts of this theory, as it continues to be relevant here:

"[T]he full name of Sword's gear is the Linked Sword, which in Roblox canon/the real world program of Roblox is the gear/model that MANY other sword-based gears were based on. It's also connected to a lot of other scripts and such in the library… what this means narratively is that the Linked Sword is a gear that served as the basis for many, many others, including the famed blades used in Sword Fights on the Heights, which here in Phighting! are represented by the SFOTH entities/deities."

The SFOTH were likely created to be protectors/defenders of the Inpherno and leaders of the inphernals, fending off outside forces or invaders from the wider Inphinity. The Inpherno itself may have even been made as a place of violence to create soldiers that could fight on behalf of these creators, or it served as a haven for said creators, and they were violent sorts by nature. (Such an explanation would also make it clear why inphernals are so connected to demonic motifs.)

However, whatever the plan, it was not to be. The creators lost their lives, the enemies that they faced were no more, and the SFOTH were left with the Inpherno. That said, although the eight of them were immortal, many other inphernals were not, and whether because of time or their wounds, they died. Without the creators, they also could not be brought back, and as the mortals died, the SFOTH found themselves alone, with an empty world and nothing to protect.

So, Linked Sword had an idea.

Given how deeply connected they were to the very fabric of the Inpherno, and to the Library that was intrinsic to the making of the planet, they decided that even if they couldn't create new life… they could allow for a way to bring back what was lost through a cycle of reincarnation. After all, every gear that the creators had made was recorded in the Library, so Linked Sword could access it, even if in a limited capacity. For the sake of giving their siblings something to properly protect, and to ensure that their creators' mission could be continued, Linked Sword was determined to make this plan a reality.

However, life cannot exist without death. It is the natural order of things. Thus, I believe that Linked Sword made the decision to give up both their godhood and their immortality, and gave their life to create and activate the Spawnpoints. (Alternatively, the Spawnpoints might have already been installed by the creators, and Linked Sword's death either reactivated them or ensured their continued functioning.)

This whole process would explain why Medkit says in his QnA that:

"Spawns in itself are a natural occurrence that we have little to no info about.

We don't know where they came from or how they even came to be in the first place, not to my knowledge, at least...Though...During my time back in Blackrock I had the opportunity to confirm there is seemingly some kind of link between Spawns and SFOTH demons[…]"

The link between spawns and the SFOTH stems from Linked Sword, who served as the basis for the rest of the SFOTH and who, as I've proposed here, died to make the spawns a reality. However, more importantly, it also explains the contradiction that is Sword himself: he is Linked Sword's current incarnation, and because Linked Sword gave up their immortality and godhood, Sword spawned as a perfectly normal mortal. That said, the gear itself, the Linked Sword, is still intrinsically connected to the Library—just because Linked Sword the deity gave up their immortality and godhood, that does not inherently mean that their gear is any less powerful. Should Sword ever fully understand the scope of his gear's ability and authority, he could unlock a whole host of the original Linked Sword's abilities, which were no doubt formidable.

And thus, the riddle posed by Darkheart now has an answer:

He can aid Sword because while Sword himself is mortal, he is also the reincarnation of their eldest sibling and wields a divine blade. This makes him related to the SFOTH (even if indirectly), meaning that he is a relative—and can thus be helped.

BACK TO THE THEORY

Let's now readdress the theory itself: why Illumina would be interested in Sword. Under Linked Sword's leadership, the SFOTH acted in concert to protect the Inpherno, and I feel that Linked Sword, as the oldest and most connected/in tune with both the world and the people in it, was probably the leader of at least the SFOTH, if not all of inphernalkind. The unity that Illumina so desperately craves now had been present back then. But after Linked Sword's death, with time and the influx of new inphernals coming through the Spawnpoints, the original mission remained: be an army at the ready to defend against the enemies of the creators. However, with the creators gone and no more outside threats, there was nobody to fight… except each other. Tribalism and division into factions began, leading to the Inpherno becoming what it is today.

Thus, with no enemies to protect the Inpherno from, the SFOTH became obsolete, and without their creators to give them new orders, they were stuck at an impasse. With all of his siblings trying to fit in and find new paths, only Illumina laments those old days, when there was a common goal that everyone united and strove for together. However, he's blinded by the past glories and nostalgia, and he genuinely misses Linked Sword, who he feels could bring both the family and the Inpherno back together. And so, he hatches a plot: he'll wait for as long as it takes until Linked Sword spawns once more, and then he'll be that inphernal's caretaker, ensuring that they grow up to become the great unifying force for the Inpherno. Then, the family will come back together, and so will the people, and Illumina will have ensured that the creators' will remains.

What could possibly go wrong?

(As it turns out, quite a lot.)

To summarize: The Inpherno having a previous incarnation of Linked Sword is plausible given the evidence we have, and a few things that we can infer from various clues. The presence of Linked Sword would also explain several mysteries about the Inpherno, including the link between Spawnpoints and the SFOTH, Sword being a "weirdo" who is related to the SFOTH but is still a naturally spawned mortal, and why Illumina would be interested in him.

In conclusion: There is an abundance of evidence that Sword and Illumina have some type of narrative connection. I think that it has to do with the first incarnation of Linked Sword, who WAS a deity and member of the SFOTH, and who gave up their godhood and their life for the sake of having Spawnpoints. Sword is Linked Sword's reincarnation, and Illumina seeks to use him as a tool or a method to achieve the unity for the Inpherno that he so desires.

ILLUMINA

Illumina gets to go first because we know less about him, in the general sense. From what has been put out, however, we can understand a few key things about him. First, let's bring back our friend, the relationship chart:

The first thing to analyze is that Illumina is disliked by Venomshank and Darkheart, and dislikes Darkheart in turn, but is neutral towards Venomshank. What could this imply? Well, according to Soda, Illumina and Darkheart have never gotten along:

But what does this have to do with Venomshank? Venomshank and Darkheart are listed as friends, so does Venomshank's dislike of Illumina stem from solidarity with Darkheart? Honestly, I don't think so. Venomshank has been described in Death in the Family as one of the "softies" of the family:

He is also often depicted as smiling, being in a jovial mood, etc., especially during his appearances in the SFOTH QnA:

Based on these elements of his characterization, it doesn't make sense that he would dislike Illumina just because Darkheart does. Instead, I think it's more personal than that, and it's not too far of a stretch to think that, if not born from some personal slight, his dislike may have to do with Sword. (My thoughts on "why" Venomshank's dislike towards Illumina stems from Sword will be revealed later.)

While we're on the subject of the SFOTH siblings, let's look at Ghostwalker. These two are listed as "working together," and it's very likely that his and Illumina's work is connected with why he made the Watchers and the data he's having them collect. Regarding why they have teamed up, this is hinted at somewhat in the QnA:

Compare Ghostwalker's response to Illumina's response to another question:

What we can glean from this pair of responses is that what Ghostwalker wants most is to fulfill the original purpose that he was created for. (I have to pay attention to the use of the word creation here because the term for new inphernals coming into the world is spawning. Inphernals are spawned. Ghostwalker, however, says that he was created, which has a very different implication. It's quite likely that the other SFOTH were also created instead of spawned, and that distinction will become relevant in a later post.) Illumina, by that same token, feels that the SFOTH's original purpose, their reason for being, has become obsolete, leaving him feeling rather adrift—other family members have found their own callings and paths, but he is not sure it's for the best, implying that he's also not sure where he fits into the current landscape of the Inpherno. This ties in with another answer Illumina gives in the QnA:

He cares most about unity in a time when the Inpherno is incredibly fractured (as mentioned above, he wonders if his siblings' choices to carve their own paths are for the best, "especially in recent times"). Blackrock has slaughtered its own soldiers to make way for robots, Playground is split between Splintered Skies and Craterdust Capital, the Church and the Wranglers are fighting over Lost Temple, and Thieves' Den is insular and cruel. Crossroads is the closest thing to unified, and even then, it's rife with its own problems.

Thus, I feel that the implication here is that the Swords were once created for a specific purpose regarding the Inpherno, perhaps defending it from outside threats or somesuch. Blades are meant to be used, turned against an enemy, whether in defense of others or for personal gain and glory. The SFOTH, having lost their purpose and perhaps even outlived their usefulness, have had to resort to finding purpose again, although it appears as though—especially in the cases of Venomshank (who occasionally goes feral), Firebrand (who caused the Scorch), Darkheart (who is perfectly happy to toy with mortal lives), and Windforce (who does what she wants)—the deities are still inherently inclined to violence, despite the fact that many of them would prefer not to be. So, not only are the SFOTH drifting apart, but so is the Inpherno, and Illumina is desperate to find a way to unify it all.

Unify… or link.

There's one more interesting note that I have on Illumina, and it's this:

This is built upon by Soda in a more recent set of tweets:

This might tie into the fact that he is incredibly skilled at verbal manipulation, as stated on his wiki page:

"Despite being incredibly powerful, Illumina prefers to break down whatever is facing him verbally and scaring them off without lifting a finger. He finds amusement in handling situations like this."

In other words, he's an incredibly skilled orator, but this skill is framed as something that should be seen as dangerous. Illumina takes pride in his ability to manipulate others with his words alone, and given the tense climate of the Inpherno, could attempt to use these skills for any number of reasons.

(As a note, I understand that I have said nothing about Illumina's relationship with Zuka. Zuka is such a fascinating figure, and he is the subject of my ongoing fanfic, but he will not be discussed in this essay. There's just too much to him to touch on here and now.)

This is all of the analysis on Illumina that I have for now that feels relevant to how his story may be intertwined with Sword's. There are, however, a few details that I haven't mentioned, such as the loss of his wing, that will be more relevant in a later part. For now, let's turn our focus to…

SWORD

There is a lot to say about Sword, so I'll do my best to keep the analysis relevant to the discussion at hand.

First things first: let's revisit the nature of his gear, which I discussed in Part 1:

"[T]he full name of Sword's gear is the Linked Sword, which in Roblox canon/the real world program of Roblox is the gear/model that MANY other sword-based gears were based on. It's also connected to a lot of other scripts and such in the library… what this means narratively is that the Linked Sword is a gear that served as the basis for many, many others, including the famed blades used in Sword Fights on the Heights, which here in Phighting! are represented by the SFOTH entities/deities."

Now, there's an obvious contradiction that's immediately apparent: if the Linked Sword was the basis for the other Sword Entities, how does it make sense that Sword himself has only spawned now? Theoretically, he should have been first by this logic. Well, there's a possible answer for that, but THAT is for Part 3! Still, it'll be important to keep this in mind as we continue this analysis.

Speaking of the SFOTH, Sword is NOT a deity, or even a demi-deity like Banhammer or Dom and Valk. He is confirmed to be mortal. Soda has said this several times, including here:

Thus, he does not have wings, and does not bleed ichor, as seen in this sketch by Soda:

The fact that he's mortal is even mentioned in the comic panel I showed above with Venomshank and Darkheart!

However, despite being mortal, Sword is still related to the deities in a meaningful way. How? We'll get to my thoughts on that later. For now, though, let's move on to another important facet of Sword, which is that he was naturally spawned. According to the wiki, a "naturally spawned" inphernal is one who came from the Spawnpoint without two caretakers sacrificing part of their gears' power (or in the case of the demi-deities, their SFOTH parent). This is another reason why Sword cannot be a deity or demi-deity—all demi-deities are classified as unnatural spawns.

What is interesting about this though is that despite appearing naturally, according to his lore page, "Sword was taken in by Venomshank as soon as he spawned, who took him to live in Crossroads with him[.]" This implies that Venomshank was prepared for Sword's arrival, as Venomshank has not been known to show interest in making a particular region his territory. (And even if he was interested in ruling a faction, it would likely be Blackrock:)

So, Venomshank being in Lost Temple is NOT due to it being his territory, and he was at the Lost Temple Spawnpoint at the moment of Sword's spawning. At the time of this writing, it is unknown how long they stayed in Lost Temple before moving to Crossroads, but it is my opinion that the Scorch may have happened while they were still settled in Lost Temple, and the fallout and violence from that event caused Venomshank to hurriedly move with Sword to Crossroads out of safety and/or caution.

After all, while Sword "doesn't have many memories [from his time] there" according to Soda (and shown in the comic)…

…that doesn't mean he doesn't have any, or that he remembers all of them.

Now, having established Sword's background, we can once again recall a thought that I posed in Part 1: Sword does not have the skin tone of other inphernals who naturally spawned in the Lost Temple region. Given that he's such an outlier, let's take a short detour and look at Spawnpoints themselves.

According to the Spawnpoints wiki page, "Spawnpoints are typically considered sacred ground, and few inphernals would ever tamper with them. There is an additional known Spawnpoint on The Heights, which is the spawnplace of the Swords and their offspring."

We also have some information from Medkit, of all inphernals, on the subject, sourced from his QnA:

"Spawns in itself are a natural occurrence that we have little to no info about.

We don't know where they came from or how they even came to be in the first place, not to my knowledge, at least...Though...During my time back in Blackrock I had the opportunity to confirm there is seemingly some kind of link between Spawns and SFOTH demons[…]"

Interesting, but how does that relate to Sword? Well, the description for Spawnpoints says that few inphernals would ever tamper with them, but few does not equate to zero. Given what the Linked Sword represents, it is my theory that either 1) someone orchestrated Sword's spawning through the Lost Temple Spawnpoint via tampering with it in a way that caused Sword to be spawned naturally (and this would almost absolutely have to be one of the SFOTH, as only they have the requisite connection/ability to pull off something like that), or 2) this someone was able to accurately predict or track that the inphernal with the Linked Sword gear would be coming through that precise Spawnpoint at that exact time. This level of granularity would take a lot of watching and waiting, I would think, as well as a whole lot of data collection—which happens to map almost exactly to what we know of Ghostwalker's activities.

Either way, I think that if anyone was going to take a vested interest in the appearance of the Linked Sword, it would be Illumina and Ghostwalker. If those two orchestrated Sword's arrival through tampering with the Spawnpoint so that he appeared as a natural spawn, or even just correctly predicted where and when Sword would spawn, it's not outside the realm of possibility to think that Venomshank and Darkheart caught wind of this plan and decided to interfere by taking Sword themselves and hiding him away before Illumina could collect him.

PIECING IT TOGETHER, FT. VENOMSHANK AND DARKHEART

This brings us back to possible Sword & Illumina connections: what interest would Illumina have with Sword, or rather, the inphernal with the Linked Sword gear? Well, his stated interest is unity, and the Linked Sword is theoretically linked to at least the SFOTH, if not every gear based on the Linked Sword. With this in mind, Illumina may have had plans to use, coerce, or otherwise manipulate Sword into helping unite the Inpherno in one way or another through use of his gear, and these plans have, at least temporarily, been thwarted through Venomshank and/or Darkheart's interference. (This might also be where and how Illumina lost his second wing, given that he DEFINITELY had two back when Banhammer was young.)

(As an interesting side note on this topic, I have long wondered why Sword's in-game moniker is "THE LOST ADVENTURER". If he was picked up by Venomshank and never left Crossroads, how does that make him lost? Well, we may now have an answer: he was supposed to be taken by Illumina, who then "lost" him when Venomshank snatched him up instead. The "adventurer" part is more self-explanatory, given that Sword has had to answer his own "call to adventure" and go find his sworn brother Medkit, as seen in Death in the Family.)

If Illumina is indeed searching for Sword, several things about him and Venomshank suddenly make more sense. For example, I mentioned previously in this post that Venomshank probably dislikes Illumina for reasons related to Sword. If Illumina was interested in Sword simply to use him to achieve his goals, then it makes sense that Venomshank would dislike Illumina because of that; I've already pointed out how he's described as a soft-hearted character among the SFOTH, and it's logical that he would not be amicable towards the one who's looking to make a tool out of his ward.

Furthermore, this would also explain Venomshank's overabundance of caution, keeping Sword hidden away from the vast majority of the world and only entrusting knowledge of his existence to Zuka, an old acquaintance and once-favored mortal. It's likely that he and Darkheart don't exactly know where Illumina is, as he has no fixed address:

So, Venomshank is keeping Sword safe as best he can, despite that, and keeping his ears open for any news:

It's my thought that Venomshank is teaching Sword how to defend himself in order to prepare him for the outside world, yes, but also a possible showdown/confrontation with Illumina. He's probably the most aware that Illumina will find Sword eventually; it's inevitable. It's also hinted at with his bird, Sisyphus, whose job is to watch over Sword:

A Sisyphean task is one that must be done, but can never actually be completed or accomplished. In other words, keeping Sword safe is a goal that Venomshank will forever strive for, but can never succeed at. So, all he can do is try to prepare Sword for the dangers of the Inpherno, whatever form those may take, and according to the wiki, gave Sword his helmet to help with that:

"He is almost always seen with his signature steel gladiatorial helmet, which was a gift from Venomshank to protect him from any dangers he may face. He is only seen taking it off to go to sleep."

Venomshank knows that Illumina will be a difficult opponent, and even though he states that he doesn't intend to keep Sword here in Crossroads forever, given Illumina's power and apparent ability to speak circles around his opponents, it's highly likely that he's worried that Sword won't be able to hold his own, whether it's in a battle of blades or a battle of wits.

(It's also interesting to compare Venomshank's blade with Sword's:

Venomshank's blade is clearly more of a rapier, designed for piercing, stabbing, lunging, and parrying. Sword's blade is more for slashing. They have very different fighting styles, and despite there being some similarities in areas such as footwork, how they attack would be very different. Venomshank is actively teaching Sword a style that is not his own, which is quite impressive! The question, though, is whether or not he's teaching Sword a modified version of his own swordfighting style, or if he's teaching him someone else's. More on that in Part 3.)

Now, let's look at Darkheart. Darkheart's interest in Sword mostly stems from him being a source of amusement, but this particular line also stands out:

Darkheart clearly knows something about who or what Sword is or represents. He also brings up an interesting contradiction regarding the "is Sword mortal or not" conundrum:

If Sword is mortal, how can Darkheart make him an offer of help, seeing as that would count as a forbidden interaction? But also, Sword isn't a deity, for the many reasons already described in this post!

To summarize: Illumina's goal is to achieve unity, and feels that his siblings' actions and choice of paths has not contributed towards the overall good of the Inpherno. He is working with Ghostwalker, who seeks to work towards the original goal he was created for. My theory is that they are looking for Sword, whose gear is the Linked Sword, to help achieve that unity, and that Venomshank and Darkheart disrupted those plans, with Venomshank adopting Sword and hiding him away.

Really, like Soda said, Sword is just some kind of weirdo who seems to have a foot in both worlds. He's not a deity, and he's not a demi-deity, but he's apparently still eligible to make deals with Darkheart. He's not the first of the SFOTH, despite the Linked Sword being their Roblox-canon basis. So, what is he?

Well… what if he's not the first Linked Sword? We know from the wiki that "[o]nly one of a specific gear can exist in the Inpherno at any one time, and once an inphernal dies, their gear becomes available for spawning once again."

Perhaps he's not only not the first, but the original Linked Sword was a deity, and died for some reason or another?

If that's the case, that opens up a whole world of possibilities… ones that we'll have to explore in Part 3.