ANALYSIS: Joris Jurgen, Mage-Slayer, Bearer of Grougalorasalar's Black Fire.
For quite a while I had wanted to make this post, concentrating my personal pet theory/something I noticed, but as of recently, it has been made especially relevant with to the role Grougalorasalar, as well as the Jurgen-Crepin family, may play in the manga.
This post touches on the following topic: Joris is probably mostly/fully incapable of using magic due to Grougalorasalar's possession, and there may be other consequences too, for his psychology.
"At the time of the Dofus film, we saw [Joris] as a mage-killer. Someone who does not practice magic, nor is attuned to it."
Note: Some parts of this were already proven true (or true-in-the-past-but-now-reconned) by this tweet, but I would like to go more in depth, and talk about why Joris is not practising or attuned to magic.
Black Fire, Stasis, and Dragons:
The magic of the world is based upon the Quadramental Breeze (the elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind), Black Fire (Stasis, energy of destruction), and White Fire (Wakfu, energy of creation).
All of these forces originate from the three dragons of Osamodas: the elemental dragon Spiritia, the white fire dragon Helioboros, and the black fire dragon Ouronigride.
The descendants of Spiritia became the four elemental primordial dragons.
Dofus MMO Book "Dragon Era - Found Fragments III"
Ouronigride had three descendants, of whom only two are extremely relevant to this post: Grougalorasalar (ebony dofus), and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who refused a physical body, and therefore, remained without one, unlike all the other dragons.
Helioboros had three descendants, two of whom are important to keep in mind: Dardondakal (ivory dofus, his guardians used to be Joris, as well as Leorictus Sheran-Sharm), and Croulakrakoss, a dragon that has a history with Grougalorasalar.
"Young Lukruh… You don't know that I'm watching over you… From the shadows!"
Joris is not the first person in the history of the World of Twelve to be possessed by a Black Fire dragon — albeit his possession was less planned, and ended far less tragically for him.
While Grougalorasalar only resorted to possessing a body and mind that would not resist him, in order to save his own life — his sibling, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, had always yearned to possess and overtake, and for that end, he chose a man named Lukruh.
"Go ahead! Set them on fire! Oh yes! Lukruh! Your hatred gave the two of us wings! Keep going, and then nothing will stand in our way!"
He spent a long time slowly weakening his defences to overtake his body and mind (the downside of possessing someone who is not a newborn, and actually has a free will and a mind to overwrite, I suppose), and fed on his anger, at some point even giving him wings.
Feeding on anger to increase control over the body, something isn't unique to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
It is unknown whether possession is something only Black Fire dragons are capable of, but we do know the dire consequences it has for the possessed — because Joris has opinions on this story, and he voices in the Dofus MMO questline for the Ivory dofus.
During the first Crimson Dawn, he took the life of Dardondakal, and some time after, died himself. What really happened is murky (perhaps in part because this is not my lore area of expertise), but we know that Hyrkul ended up as an undead lich, before being abandoned by the dragon.
1. Dragons of black fire are not evil, but merely drawn to destruction. While I personally believe him, the fact that he mentions this immediately and unprompted may point to this being an insecurity of his.
2. The He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kept Hyrkul alive, or turned him into a lich, using black magic. Then, in response to being asked whether it is possible that Hyrkul could have recovered his free will, Joris says the following:
This implies that 1. Joris views the condition of being possessed as one you can't recover from, and 2. that he still does not entirely possess a free will of his own. His mind has forever been tainted by/muddled with Grougalorasalar's, and that is simply not something that can be changed or healed from.
...Perhaps Black Fire stirs his thoughts too. No wonder he would mention this not being an evil thing, then.
(To be honest, one of my own darker thoughts on this topic is that Joris as we know him has been possessed since infancy, so if Grougalorasalar overwrote his brain fully with his own personality without any memories, we'd just never know. Though, considering there wasn't really a personality to overwrite, it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma. Sorry for becoming a conspiracy theorist for a sec.)
Joris also elaborates further on their relationship in the Ebony dofus questline:
This reveals multiple things:
Joris may be implying that he and Grougalorasalar did not part on good terms.
The alternate explanation for his words here, is that Joris knows what Grougalorasalar feels due to his influence over his psyche — meaning that he also neither forgives nor forgets. While it is a fun possibility that fits in with the rest of the post, I am inclined to believe that the shorter and easier explanation for his words is the one meant by the developers. Occam's razor.
The conflict that led to their separation was based in their world-view and morals — but here Joris says something that is very interesting:
The thing about possession, is that it affects both parties, whether they like it or not.
(Imagine two pieces of clay. Imagine pushing them together, and then tearing them apart. There would still be a bit of colour from the other piece of clay, on both of them, you know? I suppose it works the same way with souls.)
Whatever their relationship used to be, Grougalorasalar no longer respects Joris's opinions. Joris still seems to feel protective of the Ebony Dofus — even if he couldn't fulfil his promise of keeping it safe forever.
The Black Fire eats away at all magic and life, like rust; and rules the thoughts and impulses of those affected by it, like hunger.
But it's not an evil energy — merely the yin to Wakfu's yang. It destroys without a malicious intent.
Even if we've seen the consequences that an abundance of it has, in season 4 of Wakfu...
*relevant parts of the quotes are marked with a red tint
It is not a secret that Joris was first conceptualized to be a character who had no innate powers of his own — instead drawing them from his magic wand/hand-held tree stump. (Well, the first idea was a warrior with a woman's voice, but Xa disregarded that brief and made up a whole new guy...)
It was the idea they had during the making of Wakfu season 1 — which is why he always held his magic wand back then — and it was the idea they had during the development of the cancelled spin-off game "Joris the Powerless".
It is also why he has seldom been shown with the tree stump afterwards — it has lost its relevance to his character outside of being his preferred weapon.
The reason I bring it up is that, while ideas change — when something is so integral to a character that you almost name a game after it, even multiple rewrites may not get rid of an idea entirely.
If black magic is a hunger that corrodes other magic, then wouldn't it make sense, if Joris could not use magic to begin with?
His situation is far different from Julith, who used black magic to try and resurrect Jahash. Black Fire is a part of Joris the same way it is a part of Black Fire Dragons, — it's not just a tool to him.
...Though, he does make use of it.
All of this together would explain why Joris was envisioned, and could still turn out to be, someone who neither practices nor is attuned to magic, and how the idea of him being a powerless individual may have evolved.
It is important to note, that while I think he is mostly incapable of magic, he can probably still preform simple spells:
Joris is shown using some type of magic in the Wakfu series, though we don't know what sort of magic it is, and what is its source.
And, this is a bit more shaky, but he may be shown using some sort of electricity magic in Dofus MMO's battles — to enhance his mobility/melee attacks. The only reason I am unsure is that it could just be game-specific animations, to make the fight more interesting.
Either way it would make sense — Black Fire Dragons are living beings attuned to Stasis, but they are not devoid of Wakfu, (if they were, they would either be dead or necromes...) and Joris is simply an individual whose body was warped — capabilities for branching out into other types of magic could be limited, instead of being gone.
From possession to possessiveness:
While the main point of this post was to analyse the fact that the possession probably affected his magical capabilities, it is also important to note, that I don't think his psychology was untouched.
We have multiple sources claiming that dragons are, in general, emotionally unstable, as well as textual evidence of said fact (via Arty's Burning of Bonta, which is mentioned by Qilby; Grougalorasalar's... Grougalorasalarness, as well as Adamai's many crises.)
As well as an interesting quote by Qilby, in regard to Grougaloragran. But it comes with a preface:
While we don't know whether the vocabulary of "white fire/black fire" applies to the Eliatropes, it is important to consider this:
It was said by Tot that six dofus are required to create a world.
The appearance of a new primordial black fire dragon (Rotalström) in the necroworld could signify that having six primordial dragons for the four elements, as well as stasis and wakfu, is a constant between various worlds.
According to Tot, Rotalström was the last dragon defeated by Toross. Could it be that Primordial black fire dragons play an important role in keeping the world safe? And is this why Grougalorasalar is very active in the new manga?
This would probably make Grougaloragran a black fire dragon. It would also explain why he is both impulsive, and very keen on self-control and trying to be a kind person. But this isn't outright canon — just my speculation.
(It would also explain why Adamai knows how to use stasis magic at such a young age, having been raised by him.)
Which brings me to this point: it is interesting to think about the way Grougaloragran craves violence and destruction as a baby (cute), and how this quote about impulsiveness and jealousy also fits Grougalorasalar:
Many people may not know it, but there is a lot of lore pertaining to Grougalorasalar in the Dofus MMO — and especially to his child, Crocoburio.
Crocoburio and Grougalorasalar tried to devastate and control the lands, slaughtering countless people, and Grougalorasalar was madly obsessed with his offspring: whispering him advice in the dark, supporting him every step of the way, giving him enchanted items.
These aren't necessarily normal behaviours for a dragon — but his son was so much like him, that it bewitched him for centuries, even after he was gone.
The quests in the MMO involve Grougalorasalar wanting to ressurect his offspring, even if it damages Crocoburio's soul irreparably — and the player trying to ressurect Crocoburio without hurting him, to use as a bargaining chip.
What I am saying is that:
Joris is a very impulsive person, a misantrope prone to poor decision making, involving himself in situations that don't concern him, and anger issues. He is also obsessed with his family — his so called "sons" (they aren't, but the three of them love playing pretend).
And maybe it's just how he was born — but maybe, just maybe, this too, is something that can be in some way traced to Grougalorasalar.
But maybe Joris also relishes in having posessive control over Kerubim and Atcham. Maybe he also hates everyone else besides them, and barely tolerates some people outside the family unit, with his brief friendships with others. Maybe its just like Grougalorasalar, and his love for Crocoburio.
