Post by Esdeath on Mar 14, 2017 0:21:25 GMT
Hello, Ishtaria! It's the best day of the week once again: Monday! Why is Monday the best day? You're looking at it. It's time to Know Your Units!
A certain gal in this community said that Cú Chulainn is perfect husband material when we were looking at the crow-woman that got him killed. We don't discriminate around here. Let's have a ladies' night here in Ishtaria.
Mythological Information
Cú Chulainn is a character from Celtic legend. He is a human manifestation of the god Lugh. He gained the name Cú Chulainn after he temporarily took the place of Culann's guard dog. As a man of honor, he voluntarily did this service as payment for killing the guard dog, even though he had to kill the dog to survive its attack. His new name literally means "Culann's Hound".
There are a ton of stories about him in the Ulster Cycle, but we'll focus on the pieces that pertain to the Ishtarian unit. For a brief overview of the tales of Cú Chulainn, check out the Wikipedia page here.
Similar to the Tales of History timeline's depiction, the relationship between Cú Chulainn and Scathach is that of a teacher/student dynamic. In Tochmarc Emire, Scathach teaches Cú Chulainn how to fight. However, their developed relationship in ToH would be awkward since he tries to hook up with her married daughter.
Although he is supposed to be a man of honor, he has some serious flaws. Remember Aife, Scathach's sister in ToH? Ishtaria depicts the ladies fighting over him, but the legends are far darker. Aife was Scathach's rival, and Cú Chulainn fought her when she invaded Scathach's land. He didn't kill her, but instead he raped her and killed their son 2 years later. Yeah... that ruined that ToH story for me.
Let's not forget the Morrigan. She has her sadistic hand all over the events leading up to his death. The story can be found here, in the post about the psycho crow lady. In his final moments, he tied himself to a rock so that he could die on his feet facing his enemies. When he died, the Morrigan (in crow form) landed on him to signify that her work with him was done.
Strangely, there is no Ishtarian reference to the Warp Spasm, which transforms Cú Chulainn into a terrifying, murderous monster. We might see it in a future iteration, but nothing yet.
In-Game Description
Normal Version
The Prince of the Light... Some respect him, some hate him, some fear him, and some desire him. A body so strong, no one can hurt it. A soul so pure, no one can corrupt it. One thing is for sure... nothing will stop this hero.
The Prince of Light is a reference to the hero-light that shined around him and is mentioned in literature when it's relevant to what's going on. It's immensely powerful, so much so that it caused Cú Chulainn's sword to cut off Lugaid's hand after he was already dead.
The rest of the description is similar to this quote from some of the original literature:
"a dark, sad youth, most handsome of all the men of Erin; he wears a crimson tunic, brooched with gold, a long white linen cloak, and a white, gold-embroidered hood. His hair is black, his look draws love, his glance shoots fire, and the hero-light gleams around him. His shield is crimson, with a silver rim, and images of beasts shine on it in gold."
Halloween Version
Deep within the castle of the Shadow Kingdom, 2 girls lurked, trying to sneak a peak of that magical crystal. What was reflected in that crystal was the image of our hero, only this time he looked a little bit different...The two looked at each other and said, "Is this guy for real!?" While the other replied, "I kinda like it..."
This description acts as a pseudo-prologue to the ToH featuring Scathach and Aife, although this is a Halloween unit, while the ToH is a Valentine's event. Although not a directly-connected story, the description offers a window into the beginnings of the infatuation that both Scathach and Aife felt for Cú Chulainn. Little did they know that their curiosity about this guy would lead to violence. Sounds like a movie you'd see on Lifetime, really.
Skills of Note
Multi Skill- Gae Bolga: This skill is a direct reference to Cú Chulainn's legendary spear, The Spear of Death. The weapon and the techniques of using it were given to him by Scathach. It's a devastating weapon. Although different legends disagree on how the damage is done, they all agree that the spear uses barbs to inflict damage after the initial puncture wound is made. The only way to remove Gae Bolga from your body is to cut all the flesh around it away, so you'll be dead after removing the spear even if you managed to survive the attack (you won't).
Rush Skill- Gae Bolg Taranis: See Gae Bolga above. As for Tanaris, he is a god of thunder and wheels. He is often depicted with a wheel in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other, held like a spear.
Passive Skill- Geis' Blessing: Irish mythology describes a Geis as a spiritual ban of certain behavior. It's a curse that is placed upon a target. That's why the name of this skill seems to be an intentional oxymoron. In the legends, Cú Chulainn is inflicted with a Geis that forbade him from eating dog meat. In a calculated maneuver, an old woman (the Morrigan in disguise, according to some sources) offers him a dog meat buffet (not really), and turning down 'kind' offers (NSFW Dialogue) was something you just didn't do in Ireland back in those days. By eating the dog meat, he invoked the curse of the Geis, weakening him. Shortly thereafter, he went to battle and died. This passive skill weakens enemies instead of him, thankfully.
Passive Skill- Bark at the Moon: This skill plays on the meaning of Cú Chulainn's name "Culann's Hound". Because a Cú Chulainn was released for Halloween, they gave him a skill that plays off his mythology and the season.
Power Play
Shadow Duel- Green: This is a power play between Aife and our "Hero". These two shared an epic battle in ancient lore, and so they are immortalized with a health boost.
Shadow Teachings- Yellow: When Scathach and Cú Chulainn are together, the time they spent together honing his skills pays off, granting them both increased skill chance.
Phantom Prince- Red: The bitter and hateful relationship between Cú Chulainn and the Morrigan leads to an ever-intensifying conflict. They both get an attack boost to make the fight more intense.
Images
Normal Version
Celtic armor went through a variety of changes, depending on the era. The armor used in the artwork for the original Cú Chulainn resembles this style, but his armor seems more organic, almost as though it is a part of his being rather than an addition. He's holding his trusty spear of brutal death, ready to satisfy its undying thirst for the blood of his enemies. Honestly, his armor looks more like that of a villain's rather than a hero's. It looks as though it was carved from darkness and bones. His evolved form looks similar to the base, but his helmet is removed and the spirit of Culann's Hound is manifested in the background to kill whatever Gae Bolga doesn't. An epic scene for an epic warrior.
Halloween Version
The Halloween Cú Chulainn looks similar to the original. The most evident difference is that he now has dog ears, pointing to the Halloween season as well as his connection to dogs. A more subtle detail is the pumpkin charm attached to Gae Bolga with a chain. His fingers are also more like claws than his original form. In the evolved version, his hair is more wolf-y (that's a word now), he has red ribbons on his arms and on a newly-added skull charm on his breastplate. The ribbons are clearly a sign that he's been gift-wrapped for Pototo. Clearly. There's also a majestic wolf howling at the moon in the background, just waiting for you to pet him.
That's all the time we have for this one, folks. I hope you've enjoyed the ruining of yet another innocent character. Make sure to check out the poll at the top of the post; it's kinda important and will affect your quality of life forever. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know via your preferred method.
A certain gal in this community said that Cú Chulainn is perfect husband material when we were looking at the crow-woman that got him killed. We don't discriminate around here. Let's have a ladies' night here in Ishtaria.
Mythological Information
Cú Chulainn is a character from Celtic legend. He is a human manifestation of the god Lugh. He gained the name Cú Chulainn after he temporarily took the place of Culann's guard dog. As a man of honor, he voluntarily did this service as payment for killing the guard dog, even though he had to kill the dog to survive its attack. His new name literally means "Culann's Hound".
There are a ton of stories about him in the Ulster Cycle, but we'll focus on the pieces that pertain to the Ishtarian unit. For a brief overview of the tales of Cú Chulainn, check out the Wikipedia page here.
Similar to the Tales of History timeline's depiction, the relationship between Cú Chulainn and Scathach is that of a teacher/student dynamic. In Tochmarc Emire, Scathach teaches Cú Chulainn how to fight. However, their developed relationship in ToH would be awkward since he tries to hook up with her married daughter.
Although he is supposed to be a man of honor, he has some serious flaws. Remember Aife, Scathach's sister in ToH? Ishtaria depicts the ladies fighting over him, but the legends are far darker. Aife was Scathach's rival, and Cú Chulainn fought her when she invaded Scathach's land. He didn't kill her, but instead he raped her and killed their son 2 years later. Yeah... that ruined that ToH story for me.
Let's not forget the Morrigan. She has her sadistic hand all over the events leading up to his death. The story can be found here, in the post about the psycho crow lady. In his final moments, he tied himself to a rock so that he could die on his feet facing his enemies. When he died, the Morrigan (in crow form) landed on him to signify that her work with him was done.
Strangely, there is no Ishtarian reference to the Warp Spasm, which transforms Cú Chulainn into a terrifying, murderous monster. We might see it in a future iteration, but nothing yet.
In-Game Description
Normal Version
The Prince of the Light... Some respect him, some hate him, some fear him, and some desire him. A body so strong, no one can hurt it. A soul so pure, no one can corrupt it. One thing is for sure... nothing will stop this hero.
The Prince of Light is a reference to the hero-light that shined around him and is mentioned in literature when it's relevant to what's going on. It's immensely powerful, so much so that it caused Cú Chulainn's sword to cut off Lugaid's hand after he was already dead.
The rest of the description is similar to this quote from some of the original literature:
"a dark, sad youth, most handsome of all the men of Erin; he wears a crimson tunic, brooched with gold, a long white linen cloak, and a white, gold-embroidered hood. His hair is black, his look draws love, his glance shoots fire, and the hero-light gleams around him. His shield is crimson, with a silver rim, and images of beasts shine on it in gold."
Halloween Version
Deep within the castle of the Shadow Kingdom, 2 girls lurked, trying to sneak a peak of that magical crystal. What was reflected in that crystal was the image of our hero, only this time he looked a little bit different...The two looked at each other and said, "Is this guy for real!?" While the other replied, "I kinda like it..."
This description acts as a pseudo-prologue to the ToH featuring Scathach and Aife, although this is a Halloween unit, while the ToH is a Valentine's event. Although not a directly-connected story, the description offers a window into the beginnings of the infatuation that both Scathach and Aife felt for Cú Chulainn. Little did they know that their curiosity about this guy would lead to violence. Sounds like a movie you'd see on Lifetime, really.
Skills of Note
Multi Skill- Gae Bolga: This skill is a direct reference to Cú Chulainn's legendary spear, The Spear of Death. The weapon and the techniques of using it were given to him by Scathach. It's a devastating weapon. Although different legends disagree on how the damage is done, they all agree that the spear uses barbs to inflict damage after the initial puncture wound is made. The only way to remove Gae Bolga from your body is to cut all the flesh around it away, so you'll be dead after removing the spear even if you managed to survive the attack (you won't).
Rush Skill- Gae Bolg Taranis: See Gae Bolga above. As for Tanaris, he is a god of thunder and wheels. He is often depicted with a wheel in one hand and a lightning bolt in the other, held like a spear.
Passive Skill- Geis' Blessing: Irish mythology describes a Geis as a spiritual ban of certain behavior. It's a curse that is placed upon a target. That's why the name of this skill seems to be an intentional oxymoron. In the legends, Cú Chulainn is inflicted with a Geis that forbade him from eating dog meat. In a calculated maneuver, an old woman (the Morrigan in disguise, according to some sources) offers him a dog meat buffet (not really), and turning down 'kind' offers (NSFW Dialogue) was something you just didn't do in Ireland back in those days. By eating the dog meat, he invoked the curse of the Geis, weakening him. Shortly thereafter, he went to battle and died. This passive skill weakens enemies instead of him, thankfully.
Passive Skill- Bark at the Moon: This skill plays on the meaning of Cú Chulainn's name "Culann's Hound". Because a Cú Chulainn was released for Halloween, they gave him a skill that plays off his mythology and the season.
Power Play
Shadow Duel- Green: This is a power play between Aife and our "Hero". These two shared an epic battle in ancient lore, and so they are immortalized with a health boost.
Shadow Teachings- Yellow: When Scathach and Cú Chulainn are together, the time they spent together honing his skills pays off, granting them both increased skill chance.
Phantom Prince- Red: The bitter and hateful relationship between Cú Chulainn and the Morrigan leads to an ever-intensifying conflict. They both get an attack boost to make the fight more intense.
Images
Normal Version
Celtic armor went through a variety of changes, depending on the era. The armor used in the artwork for the original Cú Chulainn resembles this style, but his armor seems more organic, almost as though it is a part of his being rather than an addition. He's holding his trusty spear of brutal death, ready to satisfy its undying thirst for the blood of his enemies. Honestly, his armor looks more like that of a villain's rather than a hero's. It looks as though it was carved from darkness and bones. His evolved form looks similar to the base, but his helmet is removed and the spirit of Culann's Hound is manifested in the background to kill whatever Gae Bolga doesn't. An epic scene for an epic warrior.
Halloween Version
The Halloween Cú Chulainn looks similar to the original. The most evident difference is that he now has dog ears, pointing to the Halloween season as well as his connection to dogs. A more subtle detail is the pumpkin charm attached to Gae Bolga with a chain. His fingers are also more like claws than his original form. In the evolved version, his hair is more wolf-y (that's a word now), he has red ribbons on his arms and on a newly-added skull charm on his breastplate. The ribbons are clearly a sign that he's been gift-wrapped for Pototo. Clearly. There's also a majestic wolf howling at the moon in the background, just waiting for you to pet him.
That's all the time we have for this one, folks. I hope you've enjoyed the ruining of yet another innocent character. Make sure to check out the poll at the top of the post; it's kinda important and will affect your quality of life forever. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know via your preferred method.