God Mask render.
The God Mask in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is a powerful ancient relic, believed to have the ability to bring back the dead. It is related to another mask, the Devil Mask. Gabriel Belmont is encouraged by Zobek to use it to bring back his dead wife Marie, whose soul is trapped on Earth. Each of the three Lords of Shadow holds a piece of the mask, and vanquishing them in order to obtain the entire mask forms the end goal of the journey Gabriel embarks on.
As it turns out, Zobek (the Lord of the Dead), under Satan's influence, is the one responsible for spurring Gabriel to defeat the Lords in order to assemble the mask, with both wanting the mask for themselves, Satan in particular desiring it to challenge his Father and return to Heaven. During their battle, one of Satan's taunts to Gabriel is that the mask's power to bring back the dead was another lie, and that his wife was lost to him forever.
After Gabriel defeats Satan, Marie confirms this, and Gabriel learns that the only thing the mask can do is allow its wearer to see through God's eyes. Marie places the mask on his face, and he sees her as a living being once again, before sharing a kiss. She then removes the mask and Gabriel sees her as a spirit again, calling the mask "a fool's hope". Marie then departs to Heaven, taking the mask with her.
Trivia[]
- It remains unknown exactly what Zobek and Satan intended to use the mask for, given the power it is said to possess. While it is obvious that Satan intended to invade Heaven, it's never said what part the mask would play in this plan, and as for Zobek, no reason is given save that it was power. As the mask was called a "fool's hope", it's possible both Zobek and Satan had false beliefs in what the mask could do for them, such as when Satan wore the mask during the battle without gaining any new apparent power.
- It's possible that the God Mask's reputed ability to bring back the dead was not entirely a lie, as the mask allows a wearer to see through God's eyes. It can mean that, in God's view, no one is truly dead, as when Gabriel looks through it, Marie appears to be alive again, and they embrace and kiss. Therefore, the God Mask possibly restores the dead in a visual and spiritual sense rather than a physical one.
- The mask first appeared in the Next viral marketing site for Kojima Productions, where it was shown crumbling and the title Lords of Shadow, which was the first hint at the game's production.
- The God Mask bears a superficial resemblance to the Stone Mask item which appears sporadically throughout the series. This in turn was inspired by the Stone Mask of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which was used to turn the main villain of the series' first arc into a vampire. Coincidentally, after Gabriel dons the mask, he begins his return to Bernhard Castle, where he too becomes a vampire. However, this change had nothing to do with the effects of the mask.