Zobek

Zobek was a founding member of the Brotherhood of Light and one of the Lords of Shadow in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow who aids Gabriel on his quest. He encourages Gabriel to use the God Mask to bring back his dead wife Marie.

Zobek also serves as the narrator of the game (except for the DLC chapters). At the end of the game he is revealed to be the third Lord of Shadow and master of the Necromancers, the Dark Lord of the Dead.

Zobek returns in the sequel, Lords of Shadow 2, as both an ally and enemy.

Character History


Zobek was one of the three founders of the Brotherhood of Light. When the three founders of the Brotherhood of Light ascended to Heaven and left their dark sides behind with their bodies creating the Lords of Shadow, Zobek became the Lord of the Dead.

The Lords of Shadow formed an uneasy truce between themselves, Zobek however became resentful of this and wanted to gain power over the others. He probed the depths of Hell and the abyss for knowledge of how to acquire such power.

There he unknowingly came under the influence of Satan, who provided him with knowledge of the dark arts, and planted the idea to manipulate Gabriel Belmont into his mind, using the Devil Mask to force him to kill his wife Marie, sending him on a ultimately tragic path.

Zobek cast the spell which separated the Earth from the Heavens, knowing his counterpart in Heaven would be forced to contact the Order on Earth. He then posed as Gabriel's ally, and spurred him into finding the God Mask to resurrect Marie. Later, he again influenced Gabriel into unknowingly killing Claudia, so that in the end he could use the Black Knight's Dark Gauntlet to kill him if he became too powerful.



After Gabriel gained the final piece of the mask from the Necromancer, Zobek reveals himself as the true Lord of the Necromancers and the remaining Lord of Shadows. In the guise of his original human self, the Dark Lord of the Dead was able to walk among mankind as a member of the Brotherhood. Gabriel was shocked to see Zobek as the last Lord of Shadow. As he admitted the truth, he also confessed that through Gabriel's quest, he was pulling his strings, making him collect the God Mask's pieces for him so that he could gain its power. He even revealed to Gabriel that he himself (under Zobek's control) had killed Marie. As Gabriel fell into despair, the Dark Lord of the Dead electrocuted him, killing him slowly and painfully.

The Dark Lord of the Dead then walked up to Gabriel's body and took the God Mask from him. He laughed triumphantly, but just as he was about to use the mask, he heard a voice in his head. The voice belonged to Satan, the Devil himself. Satan was the reason that Zobek had such powerful knowledge, and now that he was of no further use to him, Satan set him on fire, burning him into ashes, leaving nothing left, except his Devil Mask.

Events of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate
It was evidenced that Zobek revived himself shortly after the events of Lords of Shadows and sought Trevor Belmont's combat cross for unknown reasons, as a Necromancer serving Zobek impeded Simon Belmont's progress, having been promised by Zobek the return of his soul if he successfully delivers the combat cross to him.

Lords of Shadow Epilogue
In 2057, Zobek, alive and well, finds Gabriel hiding out in a church as a vampire calling himself Dracul, meaning "the Dragon" or "the Demon", as the words are synonymous in this language. Zobek tries to coax Gabriel into helping him stop Satan's return, lest he take revenge on both of them. The two begin to fight and Gabriel falls from his tower into a street full of people. Out in the streets, Zobek reveals that he knows what Gabriel yearns for: an end to his current existence as neither dead nor living. He offers to free Dracula of his immortality in return for his help, and Gabriel vanishes, leaving Zobek to walk off into the night, promising his "old friend" that it would soon all be over.

Lords of Shadow 2


Shortly after, Zobek's Lieutenant retireves Dracula after saving him from one of Satan's soldiers and gives him a human family to feed on. After Dracula brutally murders the family and regains his strength, Zobek convinces Dracula to aid him in combating the return of Satan by once again offering him eternal rest with the reforges Vampire Killer. With their deal set, he sends Dracula to the first location of the acolyte who is preparing for Satan's return, the Bioquimek Corporation.

While Dracula has been hidden away, Zobek has somewhat adjusted to the modern world, appearing to have become a successful businessman, revered by the populace of Castlevania City. He helps Dracula regain his strength by offering him a family of humans to feed on. Zobek's Lieutenant acts as a bodyguard and servant.

Throughout the story Zobek acts as Dracula's mission giver, tracking down Satan's acolytes for him and occasionally sending his lieutenant out to assist him. Ultimately he becomes the victim of a far greater conspiracy arranged by Alucard, his thought to be loyal lieutenant, the goal being to kill both him an d Satan. Zobek fights Dracula in his true form but is ultimately killed by the vampire lord.



Powers and Abilities
Even before his status as the Dark Lord of Death was revealed, Zobek displayed impressive combat prowess. He was able to hold back the Ice Titan's hand to protect Gabriel and leap to its shoulder as well as survive the fall to the ground. He also displayed incredible strength in Wygol Abbey, where he and Gabriel took turns holding up the stone roof as it nearly crushed them. In his final monologue to Gabriel, he describes his fights through the realm of Satan against the demons as one source of his strength.

As the Lord of the Necromancers, he is considered the most powerful Lord of Shadow, Zobek posessed powerful magical abilities, which were augmented by the Devil Mask.

In his monologue to Gabriel, Zobek tells of his battles in the Abyss against demons granting him strength, until Satan entered into him and expanded his knowledge of the Dark Arts to "unimagined heights". This signifies that he is privy to powers previously held by Satan, evidenced by his control of the Black Knight's Gauntlet, though it is unknow if he retains any of these powers now that he is no longer in Satan's thrall.

He also posesses the power to control life as well as death, evidenced by his return centuries later. It is unknown if Zobek as the Lord of the Dead would have had the power to kill the Forgotten One, as he is not known to have returned to Bernhard Castle after his transformation.

Lords of Shadow 2 reveals Zobek possesses knowledge of a variety of spells, ranging from teleportation to even confusion, no doubt learned over the centuries of his long life. He also possesses telepathic abilities, able to read Gabriel's mind, though this ability can be blocked or even misdirected.

Lords of Shadow 2 reveals that, like his fellow lords of shadow, Zobek's true form, and with it a slew of impressive powers and abilities. He has extreme durability, able to take several blows from Dracula's weapons, mastery of a long, whip like scythe fused with swords and forged from bones and metal, and the ability to summon legions of the dead to attack Dracula.

Like his fellow Lords of Shadow, Zobek is immortal, but he does meet a true death at the hands of Dracula.

Personality
Zobek is an ambitious, master planner with a desire for more power and a treacherous deceiver, hiding behind the charade of being a friend and mentor to Gabriel. Despite being a pawn to Satan, he was able to fool Gabriel into retrieving the pieces of the God Mask, under the belief that it could resurrect his wife Marie. Zobek had a clear dislike for the other Lords of Shadow, despising the truce they formed to divide the power of the God Mask pieces amongst themselves, believing they should have combined the power. Zobek also seems to revel in the defeat of his enemies, as he laughed triumphantly after revealing himself for who he really was, killing Gabriel and taking the God Mask. Despite being the catalyst that made Gabriel into what he is now, even Zobek did not foresee the great darkness within Gabriel and stating God Himself has seen what Gabriel truly was, calling him a "cold-blooded murderer. Beyond redemption, beyond hope".

Despite all this, he is a clear enemy to Satan, whom he viewed as one of his greatest enemies, the other being Dracula himself. Zobek was aware that Satan's acolytes were preparing for his return and would seek revenge against him and Gabriel. To counteract Satan, he sought the aid of Gabriel, now known as Dracula, despite his past treacheries against him, because he knew he was no match for Satan by himself. Knowing how Gabriel seeks to truly die and finally rest in peace, he offers to free him of his immortality if he aids him.

Given his resurrection and wandering amongst the living in modern times, he seems to have adapted to the modern era, as he is seen wearing modern day clothing, becoming a powerful, influential businessman and smoking a cigarette.

Battle Quotes

 * I'll exterminate the filthy lineage of the Belmonts!
 * I'll take you to the limit of pain!
 * I'll savor your death, traitor!
 * I'll destroy your body and cause your soul to yield!
 * I'll force your soul to serve me!
 * You've never been a match for me!
 * Your soul will kneel before me!
 * Your efforts are pathetic!
 * That creature you call a son will follow you in death.
 * Chamberlains, let the banquet begin!
 * Come, my children. Come to eat.
 * Take his flesh; I'll take his soul.

Actors

 * David Cox has mentioned on Twitter that some of Zobek's facial features were modeled after Patrick Stewart himself, while others were based on Christopher Lee and Sean Connery.
 * Before Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen was MercurySteam's first choice to voice Zobek. McKellen wasn't available at that time, but suggested Stewart to voice Zobek.

Zobek

 * It is unknown what became of Zobek's heavenly counterpart after his death at the hands of Satan, given that he was able to revive himself. Conceivably, his angelic half is still alive until the 21st century, when he was killed by Dracula.
 * Zobek's title as Lord of the Dead and Lord of the Necromancers, along with his vast power and initial friendship with Gabriel, who would later become Dracula, denotes him as the Death character of the Lords of Shadow universe, who in other Castlevania games serves as Dracula's ally and second-in-command.
 * In a Facebook post by David Cox, several facts were revealed about the Lords of Shadow series. Cox further confirmed Zobek is in fact the Lords of Shadow amalgamation of both the dark priest Shaft and Death from previous installments.
 * Zobek's appearence when wearing the Devil Mask mostly resembles Shaft (long fingernails, pale greenish skin, hooded robe), except his face then is not shown at that time. His true form in LOS2 is akin to Death from the original series.
 * In Zobek's description on the Main Character page, Zobek claims to have inherited his Brotherhood of Light attire from a distant ancestor who was a founding member of the order. Combined with the knowledge that the founding members became the Lords of Shadow, the conclusion that Zobek is the Lord of the Necromancers (or at least connected to him) can be made before ever encountering him in the Land of the Dead.
 * When Zobek returns, his eyes are completely black, save for white irises, hinting that something may have changed in him.
 * He is the only member of the Lords of Shadow not to be killed by Gabriel as a human, instead killed by him as a vampire.
 * He is the only member of the Lords of Shadow whose name doesn't begin with a "C", although like the others there is at least one hard consonant "C/K" sound in his name. He is also the only one without fangs in his true form.
 * His scythe is modeled after his henchman Slogra, whose corpse is seen during Castlevania: Lords of Shadow's epilogue.
 * Zobek was killed in the exact opposite way in Lords of Shadow 2, instead of being burned alive by Satan, Zobek is instead killed by Dracula with his Void Sword, where he was frozen and shattered.
 * Zobek's demise is also incredibly ironic, given how he was deceived over the course of 900 years before realizing that his second in command and Dracula had betrayed him, cornering him with his own nature and killing him. In the first game, it was Zobek who betrayed Gabriel over the course of his journey, using his own nature against him with the devil mask before killing him outright.