Matthew Reilly Wiki
Advertisement
Matthew Reilly Wiki

Hardin Lancaster XII, also known by his nickname Sphinx, is a former British Royal and one of the three Trismagi, who began a campaign to perform the trials of the ancients and become the world's ruler.

History[]

Early History[]

Hardin Lancaster XII was born as a royal. He became a member of the Kingdom of Land that included his British homeland, as part of the ancient group known as the Four Legendary Kingdoms. Because of his membership in the Four Kingdoms, Hardin was taught about the true history of mankind, as well as learning of the five trials set by super-ancient beings to test humanity's worthiness to survive through the Omega Event.

When Hardin was a child, Sister Beatrice of the Order of the Serene Maidens was chosen to be his babysitter, who quickly saw that Hardin was exceptionally cruel despite his youth. When he was 13, after a boy from the Ludovico family stole his sunglasses, Hardin blinded him in retaliation. Some like Beatrice started to think Hardin worse than a psychopath, and though whispers of this incident spread through the shadow royal world, there seemed to be no repercussions inflicted upon him. Hardin would later attend attend a boarding school, where he met and befriended John Marren.

As he grew up, Hardin studied much of the history of the shadow world of the Four Kingdoms and their connection to the Super-Ancients, more so than many other royals bothered. He held a particular fascination with the Great Sphinx of Giza, which he later discovered had a greater purpose than the rest of the world knew. His fascination with this icon, along with his skills at uncovering the secrets of his fellow royals, earned him the nickname Sphinx. This trait put him at odds with his cousin, Orlando Compton-Jones, who considered him a snake who would use any leverage he had to his advantage.

During or prior to the 1990's, with the King of Land, Vladimir "Carnivore" Romanov, had no heirs nor any apparent interest in siring one, Sphinx learned that his father would be the next in line should the Russian die. In preparation for this possibility, Sphinx's father allowed his son to see a few classified files marked "Kings Eyes Only", and among the things he learned was the intention that an "Supreme Initiate" of the Super-Ancients' knowledge, the Oracle of Siwa, be sacrificed to ensure the completion of the Trial of the Cities.

Because of this insight, Sphinx decided to befriend the latest of the Siwa Oracles, Milo Omari, in order to ensure that the Oracle bloodline would continue until the time of the fourth trial. The two often drank and gambled together, though whenever the petulant Oracle became too violent with the prostitutes he hired, Sphinx would have to intervene. After realising that Milo had no interest in ever having children, Sphinx informed Milo of the Oracle's intended sacrifice, offering assurances that it might not happen within his lifetime. Sphinx's subtle prodding had Milo fearful that he would end up being the sacrifice, and sought to sire an heir to ensure that he would not be the one sacrificed on the Altar of the Cosmos. Months later, at the same time that Malena Okombo perished giving birth to twin Oracles, Milo was in Monaco with Sphinx.

Before The Three Secret Cities[]

Following Carnivore's death in 2008, the next in the Kingdom of Land's line of succession was to be Sphinx's father. However, despite having prepared Sphinx to succeed him one day, his timid father was convinced to abdicate the title of King to his younger brother. Doing this pushed Sphinx out of the line of succession. After his uncle's death a month later, Orlando became the next King of Land, who then possibly arranged for Sphinx to be assigned the otherwise undesirable role of a Trismagi, being sent to be the watchman for the secret city of Atlas.

As he began watching over Atlas, Sphinx used his wealth to build a mansion close to sunken city's watchtower on the Moroccan coast so that he could live comfortably and in view of the Rock of Gibraltar, which was in reality the Altar of the Cosmos. Despite his frustration at being "exiled", Sphinx decided to take the opportunity to further study the Three Cities and the Omega Event, acquiring artifacts and documents related to them, including the full Newton's Mountain sketch. During his tenure as the watchman of Atlas, Sphinx met the Catholic Church's leading expert on the Trismagi, Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza, though it is unknown if he met his counterparts, Sirs Bjorn and Inigo Defenestra.

As Sphinx studied the requirements for the completion of the Trial of the Cities and the Omega Event, he came to the realisation that he could use his accumulated knowledge to usurp control of the world of the Four Kingdoms should an opportunity arise. He began desiring to be the one to sit on one of the thrones within the Supreme Labyrinth at the conclusion of the trials and thus become the world's ruler, and to obtain the final reward that would give him the ability to command anyone and not be disobeyed. As the Trismagi began to imagine the ideal world for him to rule, Sphinx came to the conclusion that the world had become infected by mediocrity and overpopulation, and that he needed to cull the masses in order to create his ideal world. He eventually determined that the most effective method to achieve this would be to use the Siren bells to put most of the population into a coma-like state, and then only awaken those he deemed intelligent enough to advance the human race.

To achieve his goals, Sphinx began secretly conspiring with Mendoza, who believed Sphinx was the type of man who could lead the way through the Omega Event, and whom Sphinx had promised could be the Pope of his new world, though in the meantime Mendoza would continue to act as Orlando's chief adviser.

In the years leading up to 2016, Sphinx made rare appearances outside of Atlas, mostly for royal weddings, which Marren invited him to. He also began preparing for the final trials, the Trial of the Mountains and the Navigation of the Supreme Labyrinth, so that he could be fully prepared to undertake them, such as having a replica of an iron mountain's Falling Temple built beneath his mansion to practice in, as well as certain parts of the Supreme Labyrinth.

Under unknown circumstances, he became something of a mentor figure to the sons of the King of Underworld, Dion and Zaitan DeSaxe, becoming a surrogate father to them, and later encouraged them to plot and kill their father at the end of the Great Games of the Hydra. Sphinx later recruited into his employ Chloe Carnarvon, the assistant to the Keeper of Royal Records (his cousin Iolanthe) and whom had been having an affair with Orlando but felt scorned by his refusal to marry her, as well as Yago DeSaxe, the younger brother of the King of Underworld and the Royal Governor of the Royal Prison of Erebus, with whom Sphinx shared a frustration of being side-lined by a relative in becoming one of the four Kings, both agreeing to assist his plans to overthrow the Four Kingdoms when the opportunity arose.

The Three Secret Cities[]

Shortly after the completion of the Great Games of the Hydra in the Underworld, a badly injured Dion reached out to Sphinx for aid, who helped him receive medical attention for his injuries. Dion further requested that Sphinx help him hire the Knights of the Golden Eight to exact revenge on Jack West Jr, Lily West and Alby Calvin for upsetting his plans to usurp his father, which the Trismagi agreed to do.

Meeting with the Knights at Aragon Castle, Sphinx allowed Dion to offer them the down-payment of a Greek island he owned. Additionally, with Jack's actions in denying Orlando the Mysteries and the title of King of Kings during the Great Games, Sphinx knew that it was the prime opportunity for his power grab against the Four Kingdoms, and offered the Knights an alliance that would secure them through the coup d'etat. Jaeger Eins agreed to this plan and Sphinx's request that the Knights capture of Lily alive for the sacrificial ceremony at the end of the Trial of the Cities, as well as to secure an additional "package" Sphinx requested.

Meanwhile, as he took the Helmet of Hades from Anthony DeSaxe's vault, Orlando was annoyed to learn that, with Sphinx being the watchman of Atlas, he might know the location of the long-missing Trident of the Sealord. Despite Mendoza's assurances of Sphinx's likeliness to aid him in finding the Tomb of Poseidon if he knew of its location, Orlando decided to have Sunil Malik make his own inquiries.

Soon afterwards, Sphinx and Dion learned that the Four Kingdoms had issued an arrest warrant to Yago to have Jack and Hades imprisoned at Erebus. Rather than have Yago and the Golden Knights compete with one another right before his move to overthrow the Four Kingdoms, Sphinx and Dion amended their deal with the Knights to allow Yago to imprison Jack at Erebus instead of having him killed.

After the Knights reported that Lily had been successfully captured in London and that Jack had been apprehended by Yago, Sphinx made his way to Erebus to see and confirm capture of the Fifth Warrior for himself. Less than impressed by the figure mounted on the Wall of Misery, Sphinx introduced himself to the Australian before departing to meet with the Knights for Lily.

Sphinx arrived at Aragon Castle shortly before the Knights did with his prize, standing alongside Dion as Lily and Alby saw who had ordered their capture. When Lily questioned who Sphinx was, the Trismagi introduced himself and explained his role in aiding Dion's recovery and the hiring of the Knights. When a helicopter unexpectedly crashed nearby, Sphinx confirmed that it could not be Jack after having seen him imprisoned at Erebus. Sphinx then stood by as Eins killed Julius Adamson and Dion severed Alby's left hand, before receiving word that Orlando had sent some of his people into Thule to begin the trial. Needing to return to Atlas before his cousin turned up, Sphinx took Lily away after confirming his other package was on his boat, but first told Dion of his growing potential to be a better King than his father.

On the final day of the Fourth Trial, Sphinx had Lily join him as he explained some of Atlas's history and the Rock of Gibraltar's true purpose as the Altar of the Cosmos. Sphinx also added his relationship with her biological father and that he had been the one to convince Milo to sire a child, but declined to specify what for. Additionally, the Trismagi told the young Oracle about his removal from the line of succession, the punishment for failing the fourth trial, and implied his plans for a coup. Correctly guessing Lily's questioning of why he was telling her this, Sphinx informed her that he had no need for her talents as an Oracle and that she would soon die anyway.

Once Sphinx was informed that Jack, having escaped Erebus and retrieved the Trident of the Sealord, was on his way, he had Lily imprisoned in a nearby tidal cell before meeting Jack and Aloysius Knight on his helipad. Annoyed by the Trismagi's attitude, Jack stated that Orlando had preemptively activated the defences of all three Cities and that he and his team intended to see the empowering of the three Immortal Weapons through. The unsurprised Sphinx revealed Lily's predicament, and claimed that he would release her if Jack and Knight empowered the Mace and returned it to him. Sphinx then led the two to the flooded entryway into Atlas, providing them with diving equipment before leaving them to their work.

Once Jack confirmed that he had the Mace empowered, Sphinx sent a submersible drone to retrieve the Weapon from him, before revealing his need for Lily for the final ceremony and remotely had Jack and Knight's scuba tanks stop providing oxygen to the pair. Believing them dead, Sphinx retrieved Lily from the tidal cell and called Orlando to announce that he had the empowered Mace and Lily in hand, feigning loyalty. Once he and the Golden Knights were ready, Sphinx's group began heading over to the Rock of Gibraltar.

Sphinx took the disheartened Lily and the Mace to the chamber of the Altar, where Orlando, Dion and the new Kings of Sea and Sky were awaiting the arrival of Mendoza and Chloe with the remaining Weapons. Upon their arrival, they gave the Weapons to Sphinx, who approached his cousin as Orlando gloated about restoring order to the Four Kingdoms. However, he shocked Orlando by stabbing him in the chest with the Sword of the Rock, the same moment that Mendoza killed Caldwell and Xi while Eins and his squires cut down the Kings' guards. Sphinx cruelly told Orlando that he was the one who had seen the trial fulfilled while Orlando had nearly doomed them all with his many mistakes.

With that, Sphinx proceeded to have Lily enclosed inside the sacrificial pool with the empowered Mace and Helmet, commending her bravery and promising that her quick death was for the sake of the world. Sphinx proceeded to complete the Trial as the Sagittarius A-star's radio waves hit the Earth and stabbed Lily in the heart with the Sword. With the Oracle's death, the Trial of the Cities was successfully completed, and soon after Sphinx and his entourage left the Altar to prepare for the final trial.

The Two Lost Mountains[]

As Sphinx was about to deliver the fatal blow to Lily, her twin brother Alexander, whom had previously been captured by the Knights as Sphinx's additional package, appeared and shot Sphinx in the shoulder, only to be gunned down himself. Furious at being injured, Sphinx decided to have the mortally wounded Alexander take Lily's place in the sacrificial pool, and once the dying Oracle was in place, Sphinx successfully performed the ritual, killing Alexander with the Sword of the Rock and fulfilling the Trial of the Cities.

As the ceremony concluded, Sphinx claimed the Emperor's Ring of the Rings of Command as a reward for the Trial's completion, which Sphinx empowered with the Mace of Poseidon's gem, giving him complete control over the armies of bronzemen. After Mendoza confirmed that the first iron mountain was ready for Sphinx's arrival, Sphinx firmly expressed his desire to collect the Siren Bells, since they were necessary for his ruling plan. After ordering Dion and Eins to begin gathering up the bronzemen from the secret cities and Underworld, Sphinx and his entourage left the Altar of the Cosmos, with Lily in tow.

Following a brief side-trip to the Royal Prison of Erebus in order to free Yago and release the Vandals imprisoned there, Sphinx and his people spent the next few weeks consolidating his forces as he overthrew the rest of the Four Kingdoms to take control of their resources, while also preparing for the Trial of the Mountains. During this time, Sphinx learned from the security cameras back at his mansion that Jack and Knight had survived his attempt to drown them at Atlas, and began creating a plan to destroy the other known iron mountains once he had performed his Fall in order to prevent anyone else from pursuing him through the Labyrinth.

Once Sphinx was ready, he and his forces went to Moscow, and invaded the Novodevichy Convent with his bronzemen, where he knew the Order of the Serene Maidens kept the Siren bells. Exchanging words with Beatrice, Sphinx announced his intention, and when Beatrice claimed the bells were not in the Convent, Sphinx toyed with his former babysitter by offering a wager in which he would give the Maidens a quick death if the bells were not in fact there, but would leave them to the cannibalistic Vandals if they were. Once Eins opened the crypt to reveal the 14 huge gold-and-silver bells, Sphinx ignored Beatrice calling him a tyrant and darkly reminded her of his wager, and to prove he was no tyrant, decided to let the Maidens have a quick death while Beatrice alone would pay the price and gave to the Vandals.

Deciding to test one of the bells, Sphinx had one suspended from a Chinook over Moscow and rung, causing a melodious tone that made everyone within a 30 mile radius collapse into a coma-like state. Sphinx explained to Lily that those people affected by the bell would eventually die if left like this for too long, and that he intended for them to wake to a new world when he is the one ruling it. As he had decided to use Lily as bait for Jack, Sphinx knocked her out and placed on the steps of the Cathedral with a message that read "You Will Wake as Slaves", and left some of the Knights of the Golden Eight and some bronzemen behind to ambush the Australian.

Sphinx and his people next headed for Rome with the intention of collecting the Vatican globe to prevent any rivals from viewing it to discover the locations of the other known iron mountains for themselves, and ordered that the Pope give him every document the Church had on the Orphean bell's location since he would need it to awaken those he choose from the siren sleep. Upon landing in St Peter's Square, the Pope shocked the curious tourists watching as he deferred to the royal rather than the other way around. The Pope granted Sphinx the globe and their documents on the Orphean bell, and then tried to suck up to Sphinx under the impression that he would turn the world to the Church's influence. However, Sphinx and Mendoza donned protective earphones before having a Siren bell rung in the middle of the city, and as everyone else began falling into the siren sleep, Sphinx executed the Pope. Giving the papal ring to Mendoza, Sphinx fulfilled his promise to Mendoza to make him the Pope for his new world order.

Sending Mendoza on to Mont Saint-Michel to meet with the rest of his advance team, Sphinx started his final preparations to undertake the Fall before soon making his way to the first iron mountain. Upon arrival, Sphinx declined Mendoza's suggestion of having Dion perform the Fall with him, declaring that this historic event would have him do the Fall without aid. Taking his place atop the Falling Temple, once the lunar alignment began, the Trismagi initiated the drop into the shaft. As he completed his race from the upper altar to the lowest level, Sphinx received the burning key to allow him entrance into the Supreme Labyrinth, and reveled in his moment of accomplishment before having the Falling Temple raised back to the surface.

As he returned to the top of the shaft, Mendoza suggested to Sphinx that they let Dion do a Fall as well in case any of their adversaries also managed to gain entry into the Labyrinth so that the young king could back him up. Agreeing, Sphinx prepared to head to the ancient maze, but first ordered that Rasmussen and his subordinates killed to keep them from sharing what they had witnessed. At this point, Dion returned with a captive Hades in tow, and Sphinx mocked the former king for not doing what he should have for his brother and son. Allowing Dion and Yago to decide his fate, Sphinx then had one of his silvermen brutally decapitate Hades. Deducing from his presence, Sphinx proceeded to call out to Jack, who stood up with Iolanthe (Sphinx taking a moment to recognise his cousin). Taunting Jack, Sphinx laid out his ideas for world rule and questioned what Jack really fought for, and proceeded to depart for the Labyrinth after sending his bronzemen after Jack.

Though Jack destroyed the Falling Temple to keep Dion from doing a Fall, Sphinx opted to simply dispatch his protégé and Eins to the second iron mountain. While beginning his journey to the Labyrinth, Sphinx utilised the Golden Knights' emergency broadcast hack to address the people of the world, taking responsibility for Moscow and Rome before having Tibet's Potala Palace destroyed by a nuke as a warning to any who resisted him (though this was also to destroy the third mountain to keep his foes from using it). Sphinx then offered a reward to any who killed Jack for him, and revealed he knew that the team was based at Hades's estate in Eastern France before he ended the broadcast, just as Yago and the Knights arrived at the estate.

Soon after, Yago contacted Sphinx to report that all that had come of the assault was the escape of Jack's people and the capture of a minotaur. Sphinx decided not to bother keeping Easton as a hostage and ordered Yago to thrown Easton out of the plane, noting that he was about to arrive at the Labyrinth.

Not long after Dion had completed his Fall at the second mountain, Sphinx and his forces arrived at the Labyrinth's gate in the Sinai Desert, with the Trismagi taking a moment to observe the gate to the Emperor's Route with interest. Soon Sphinx, Mendoza (who had shaved his head to reveal the tattooed clues he had for the Labyrinth), the Vandals and a few of the Knights of the Golden Eight were ready to enter the Labyrinth, and Sphinx used the burning key to open the Emperor's Gate, which also initiated the slow closing of the other gates. Once Jaeger Eins reported in that he was en-route with Dion and that the Siren bells had arrived in the major cities Sphinx had ordered them sent to, Sphinx tasked Chloe with retrieving the Orphean bell, and with that, he and his party proceeded into the Supreme Labyrinth.

Only minutes after entering the Labyrinth, however, as Sphinx's forces, including thousands of bronzemen and silvermen, began moving into defensive positions around the gates to keep any competitors from entering the Labyrinth, High Brother Ezekiel (who had performed the Fall at the third mountain before its destruction) and his group crash-landed their plane outside the second gate. The Omega monks proceeded inside the Labyrinth, which also closed off the Emperor's Route to Sphinx's team. His outside defences tried to radio Sphinx to warn him, but could not establish contact.

Meanwhile, following Sphinx's order, Eins had nine of the Siren bells rung over major cities around the world - London, New York, Cairo, Beijing, Washington, D.C., Jerusalem, Shanghai, Mecca and Los Angeles - causing millions to fall into the siren sleep. Several screens in New York showed Sphinx's taunt that those people would wake as slaves, causing the rest of the world began to cower in fear.

The One Impossible Labyrinth[]

Prior to entering the Supreme Labyrinth, Sphinx gave Marren the role of organising select families of the Four Kingdoms of Sphinx's choosing to take shelter under the Storm Cellar Protocol to wait out the period around the Omega Event. He also tasked Marren with preparing for "the transition", in which Sphinx would broadcast to the world from the Oval Office of the White House as a show of strength to the world once he was ready to assume control.

As Sphinx, Mendoza and the rest of their team neared the end of the First Cavern, they heard the Order of the Omega enter the Cavern, and Sphinx ordered Jaeger Sechs to destroy the bridge behind them to slow their rivals' progress. With the Emperor's Route now closed off, Sphinx aimed to reach the Throne of Life and sit upon it first, and as his team began navigating the Endless Tunnel, Sphinx intentionally flooded some of the "under-tunnel" sections and added greystone to them to turn the water to stone to clog up the path and slow his enemies' progress.

Meanwhile, Sphinx forces outside the Labyrinth continued to mobilise, following his orders in continuing to subject major cities to the Siren sleep with the bells, while his defensive forces from the gates moved to join a Russian naval fleet loyal to Sphinx on the coast of the Red Sea near the Labyrinth's surface point.

Upon reaching the entrance to the City-Maze after several hours, Sphinx triggered a mechanism that caused the section of the Labyrinth to rise out of the ocean in the Red Sea, the display awing the usually-stoic Trismagi. Leaving Jaegers Seiben and Acht to delay their rivals further, Sphinx - preparing to assume his destiny - began heading for the Castle of the Tree of Life with Mendoza and Sechs, quickly progressing through the maze-like streets and bridges using Mendoza's notes. Despite a brief setback caused by the Omega monks, Sphinx's team reached the Castle and began navigating their way to the top, and Sphinx forces on the nearby Red Horizon Star-4 oil rig and Russian naval vessels cheered as the Trismagi reached the summit.

Before Sphinx began climbing the final pinnacle to the Throne of Life, an RPG fired by General Garthon Rastor narrowly missed him thanks to a Warbler he carried. But after Sphinx boasted about his countermeasures, Rastor called back to proclaim that Sphinx didn't understand the lengths he was prepared to go through to see the Omega Event happen, and turned to fire on the seawall around the City-Maze. As the water flooded the City-Maze, Sphinx struggled to secure himself in the subsequent shaking, and cursed Rastor for the carnage his actions were causing. Soon Sphinx managed to get back on his feet and began climbing the pinnacle, but as he got within 10 meters of the Life Throne, it was suddenly blown apart by a destroyer's cannon manned by Jack. Though outraged, Sphinx scrambled back down to Mendoza, and the pair - knowing that their only chance now lay in reaching the Throne of Death first - ran to reach the entrance to the second half of the Labyrinth at the base of the castle, only to find themselves behind Rastor and his remaining men.

After several hours, Sphinx and Mendoza came across the Four-Sided Maze and began attempting to navigate it without any rest. However, in addition to losing his Warbler, Sphinx's lack of numbers to help plot their path and the timing of their wall's rotations slowed his and Mendoza's progress, resulting in Jack's team ultimately coming out ahead of them. When they did escape the Four-Sided Maze, Sphinx and Mendoza fired on Zoe, Lily and Alby while they grieved Jack's apparent demise, and as the passed the ruins of the cupola, Sphinx took a brief look at a note sticking out of Jack's loose helmet. Upon realising it contained last words for his friends, Sphinx snorted that Jack's sentimentality was his weakness, and then pressed on to start climbing the Tower of Judgement.

Knowing the nature of the next challenge, Sphinx had Mendoza remain behind to wait while he alone entered the cage that ascended out of the cavern and up into the Chamber of Judgement. There, the Trismagi came across a colossal gold statue containing a consciousness of the Super-Ancients and probed his mind probed to determine his worthiness. Since the entity did not judge in terms of malevolence or benevolence, but rather the purity of one's own intentions, Sphinx's determination to rule allowed him to be judged as pure in his own way, and was allowed to proceed up to Stadium of the Throne of Death. Once there, however, Sphinx was quickly pinned down inside the chapel by a high-velocity rifle being fired by Rastor, who was determined to keep him from reaching the Death Throne.

The still-living Jack soon arrived and found himself pinned next to Sphinx, who revealed the source of their shared problem and grimly welcomed his enemy to the end of everything. With both men out of ammunition and the time before the Omega Event quickly running down, Sphinx questioned Jack if he had another clever plan to get out of the situation. Jack suddenly asked about Sphinx's Warbler, who revealed what had happened to it, and while Sphinx doubted it would have worked against Rastor's rounds, Jack was certain that the one his mentor had designed could manage it and ran out onto the bridge. As Jack and Rastor fought hand-to-hand, Sphinx used the opportunity to make a run for the Castle of the Throne of Death, using Mendoza's map to follow the correct path up to the pinnacle.

Jack narrowly managed to follow Sphinx's path up the Castle, soon began racing against the Trismagi in scaling the pinnacle, and Sphinx slowly began to lose ground against Jack. When he saw that Jack couldn't make the final climb due to the damage to his artifical hand, Sphinx taunted Jack and reminded him of what he had said earlier about how a man's reach shouldn't exceed his grasp. But when he saw Jack's team pass up Alby's prosthetic hand to replace the damaged appendage, Sphinx realised he couldn't waste any more time and made the final climb up to the peak.

Standing on opposite ends of the platform with the Throne of Death between them, Sphinx tried to dissuade Jack from sitting on it, reciting the quote about the two thrones and offering rewards to Jack if he relented and let Sphinx do what he was born to do. Jack refused however, and both men ran to the Throne, and Sphinx was aghast as he saw Jack reach the it a mere meter ahead of him. As Jack sat upon the Death Throne, Sphinx was blown back to the floor as the Throne released the quantum pulse that kept the Omega Event from happening.

When it was over, Sphinx gaped at Jack in horror as he realised his failure, before pleading for Jack to let him know what the power granted for preventing Omega felt like. Jack then ordered Sphinx to stand up, and the Trismagi was visibly astonished as he did so without question. He then made to step towards Jack, only to next be ordered Sphinx to not move, and the would-be-emperor was unable to refuse, freezing mid-stride and allowing Jack to take the Emperor's Ring from Sphinx's finger. Sphinx remained immobilised like this until the rest of Jack's team arrived to pick them up, and was effortlessly handcuffed and ordered into the chopper before being flown away.

In the aftermath, with Sphinx's forces outside the Labyrinth having being defeated and his plans exposed to the world, Sphinx was charged for his crimes in felling several worldwide cities that resulted in thousands of death, and was quickly sentenced to life in prison. At Jack's recommendation, Sphinx was taken to and imprisoned at Erebus since its location was among the world's greatest secrets, and the remaining bronze and silver guardians were stationed at the Royal Prison with the single order to never allow Sphinx to escape.

Personality[]

.

Skills[]

  • Genius-Level Intellect: To Be Added.
    • Ancient Knowledge: As a high-ranking royal in the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Sphinx has been taught many things regarding the true history of mankind. Additionally, as one of three Trismagi, Sphinx is privy to some secrets and information that few others know, particularly regarding the third of the Secret Cities, Atlas, and additional details regarding the final trials of the Super-Ancients. In his planning to overthrow the Four Kingdoms and become the world's ruler, Sphinx further studied the requirements to fulfill the final trials and navigate the Supreme Labyrinth.
  • Trained Marksman: Presumably as a necessity to protect himself, Sphinx has apparently trained in marksmanship.

Equipment[]

Weapons[]

  • Sword of the Rock: One of the Three Immortal Weapons, which Sphinx took from Mendoza and appeared to be ready to present to Orlando, only to then mortally stab as he began his coup, and soon used to stab Alexander ritualistically for the final ritual of the Fourth Trial.
  • Trident of the Sealord: One of the Three Immortal Weapons, which Sphinx took from Jack after the Australian had it empowered, and appeared ready to present to Orlando at the Altar of the Cosmos, only to enact a coup and instead used it in the trial's final ritual.
  • Pistol: A handgun that Sphinx carried during the invasion of the Novodevichy Convent, using it as a club to knock Lily out at one point, and later used it to execute the Pope in Rome.
  • Steyr AUG: An assault rifle that Sphinx carried with him through the second half of the Supreme Labyrinth. He used it briefly to fire on Zoe, Lily and Alby to force them to take cover and allow him and Mendoza to overtake them. Sphinx later tried to use the Steyr to try to escape Rastor's suppression fire near the Throne of Death, but the rifle ran out of ammunition.

Vehicles[]

  • Princess Motor Yacht: A 130 foot (39 meters) private luxury yacht cruiser owned by Sphinx. The Trismagi used it to transport himself and the captive Lily from Aragon Island to his mansion, and then onward to the Rock to Gibraltar once the Trident was empowered.
    • Williams Speedboat: A smaller luxury cruiser that Sphinx used to get to the tidal cell at the bottom of the site of his mansion in order to briefly imprison Lily.
  • CH-47 Chinook: To Be Added.
  • Mi-4000 Quadcopter: A heavy-lift troop carrier/gunship, which is a Russian-made design of bolting two Chinooks together. Sphinx used this as his primary transport while undertaking the Trial of the Mountains.

Other Equipment[]

  • Greystone: A mysterious substance that can turn water into solid stone. Sphinx had a sample of the powder in his mansion, and used it to demonstrate the intended punishment for failing the Trial of the Cities to Lily. Sphinx later used some greystone powder in the Supreme Labyrinth to clog up parts of the Endless Tunnel to slow his rivals' pursuit of him.
  • Submersible Drone: An unmanned drone which Sphinx used to take the empowered Mace from Jack while he and Knight were still beneath the surface in Atlas.
  • Helmet of Hades: The helmet of the three Immortal Weapons, which Sphinx took from Chloe and appeared to be ready to present to Orlando, only to enact a coup and took control of for the trial's final ritual.
  • Emperor's Ring: The primary of the five Rings of Command, which Sphinx took as his reward for completing the Trial of the Cities. After empowering it with the Mace of Poseidon, Sphinx became able to use the ring to command the numerous bronze and silver guardians created by the Super-Ancient Beings from each of the secret cities and the Underworld. While the four lesser rings each control a single contingent, Sphinx can use the Emperor's Ring to control all of them, and can presumably override the commands given by the holders of the lesser rings.
    • Bronze Guardians: The ancient bronze-coloured automatons which guarded the important locales of the Super-Ancients' trials, which Sphinx and his entourage gained control of after acquiring the Rings of Command. Sphinx used them as assault troops on the Novodevichy Convent and as guards at the first iron mountain. He later left thousands of the bronze guardians at the gates to the Supreme Labyrinth as the bulk of his defensive force to keep adversaries from following him into the ancient maze.
    • Silver Guardians: The ancient silver-coloured automatons which guarded the viaduct bridges before each of the Secret Cities' vaults, which Sphinx and his entourage gained control of after acquiring the Rings of Command. Sphinx used them as personal guards at the first iron mountain, and used one to decapitate Hades. He later left the silver guardians at the gates to the Supreme Labyrinth as part of his defensive force. After arriving in the First Cavern of the Labyrinth, Sphinx used the Ring to have the silverman on his bridge stand aside so that his team could pass.
  • Siren Bells: The 14 gold-and-silver bells which, when rung, can send anyone who hears its tone into a semi-comatose sleep. Sphinx planned to use them on the world's population so that he could easily cull the masses as part of his plan to remake the world upon his ascension to Emperor. After taking the bells from the Order of the Serene Maidens, Sphinx tested them by having one rung over Moscow, and later had another rung in Rome. As Sphinx headed into the Supreme Labyrinth, he had his forces transport the Siren bells around the world and rung over several major cities to place the people in the Siren sleep.
  • Warbler: An anti-gunfire device presumably derived from the original device Max Epper sold to the U.S. military. Sphinx carried it on his person while in the Supreme Labyrinth, which managed to deflect the RPGs fired upon him by Rastor, as well as other gunfire. However, Sphinx lost his Warbler while traversing the rotating Four-Sided Maze.

Assets[]

  • Mansion: A private manor that Sphinx had constructed by Atlas's watchtower on the Moroccan coast so that he could live comfortably while serving his role. Sphinx kept several of his belongings and valuables there, and he would often view the Rock of Gibraltar / the Altar of the Cosmos from across the Mediterranean strait. The mansion also featured a helipad, an airstrip, a garage that could hold up to six cars, and a dock at the bottom of the cliffside for Sphinx's private yacht.

Former Assets[]

  • Unnamed Greek Isle: An island located in Greece which Sphinx used to own, until he offered control of it to the Knights of the Golden Eight as a down-payment for their services on Dion's behalf.

Trivia[]

Advertisement