Ricardo Mendoza is a Vatican Cardinal, a member of the Catholic Church's Omega Group and Sphinx's entourage.
History[]
Early History[]
At some point, Ricardo Mendoza joined the Catholic Church, and came to know Francisco del Piero, whom Mendoza would later commend on his commitment to the Church. Mendoza moved through the ranks until he became the Under Secretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Later, Mendoza became a member of the Church's Omega Group, and learned much of what the Church knew of the forthcoming Omega Event; the end of the universe. Among the other things Mendoza learned was knowledge regarding the Four Legendary Kingdoms, whom the Church had served for thousands of years (particularly the Kingdom of Land); the Great Games of the Hydra, which was the third of several trials set by a race of super-ancient beings and the heralding events before the Omega Event; and the Trismagi, the wise guardians of the Three Secret Cities. Mendoza would become the leading expert on the Trismagi, and likely met two of them, Sirs Bjorn and Inigo Defenestra, prior to 2016.
Mendoza eventually became the official advisor to the King of Land and the leader of the Omega Group. As part of his role in the latter, Mendoza had his bare scalp tattooed with clues to the Supreme Labyrinth, as had been the way since the days of Imhotep, which led him to start learning about the nature of the ancient maze and the Thrones of Life and Death that kept the Omega Event at bay.
Before The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
After del Piero died at the end of the Capstone mission, the Church appointed Mendoza to take del Piero's place. Mendoza would mistakenly come to believe that Jack West Jr was the one to kill del Piero, and as a result began following the Australian's life and career with interest.
In September 2007, Australian Intelligence discovered that Mendoza had been sent by the Church to meet with the President of Cambodia, as part of a larger tour of Vatican embassies around the world, including India, the U.S. and Brazil. Jack was debriefed on Mendoza and these actions at Pine Gap.
When Orlando Compton-Jones was named the new King of Land, Mendoza became his chief adviser, however the Cardinal was doubtful that Orlando had what it took to lead. Instead, Mendoza was more impressed by his cousin, Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster, the newly-appointed Trismagi watchman of Atlas, due to his knowledge, refined persona and following of the old ways. Later, Mendoza would begin secretly conspiring with Sphinx, whom he believed could lead the way through the Omega Event, to assume control of the world of the Four Kingdoms should an opportunity arise. In return for Mendoza's aid, Sphinx promised to make him the Pope of his new world order. Until such an opportunity could occur, Mendoza continued to act as Orlando's adviser.
Between 2008 and 2016, Mendoza was sent by the Church, on behalf of the Kingdom of Land, to South America to recruit potential candidates to participate in the Great Games. While in Brazil, Mendoza requested the bishop of a São Paulo prison to offer a group of of disgraced troopers their freedom in exchange for taking part in the Games. Mendoza would help prepare the dishonorably discharged troopers for the Great Games, eventually selecting Victor Vargas and Maurucio Corazon as two of the Kingdom of Land's representatives.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
Mendoza accompanied Orlando and Iolanthe to the Underworld to bear witness to the fourth Great Games of the Hydra and proceeded to watch the various struggles of the Champions as they progressed through the first three Challenges.
After the Third Challenge, Mendoza attended the banquet dinner hosted by Anthony "Hades" DeSaxe, and was delighted when he spotted the Oracle of Siwa, Lily West with Iolanthe. After introducing himself, Mendoza leered at Lily and rudely inquired if she was still a virgin, disgusting her. Taking Lily's assertion that it was none of his business in his stride, Mendoza noted that she would make someone a lucky husband before taking his leave. As Mendoza walked away, Iolanthe noted that the Church's abstaining had not been good for the minds of men like Mendoza.
The following morning, Mendoza and the Royals watched the Champions traverse the wall-maze of the Fourth Challenge. As Corazon approached Chaos and the Golden Sphere he guarded, Iolanthe noted to Mendoza that they would see if the Brazilian psychopaths that he had recruited were worthy. As Mendoza claimed that they were, Corazon was effortlessly cut down by Chaos, and Iolanthe gave the Cardinal a look in response. Soon afterwards, Vargas managed to obtain Chaos's Sphere, Mendoza gave Iolanthe a smug smile to show he had been correct with his selections.
As the progression prepared to move on to the Fifth Challenge, Mendoza first attended a lunch Hades was hosting for all of the remaining Champions and their sponsoring Kings, joining Orlando, Iolanthe and their Kingdom's Champions. After telling Vargas to use his reward to request exemption from the Fifth Challenge, Mendoza greeted Jack, noting how he had followed his career since the Tartarus Rotation and del Piero's death. Mendoza then proceeded to explain the Omega Event, the set of trials set by the Super-Ancients and the Trismagi, iterating that they lived in a momentous era where mankind would prove its worth.
After the Fifth Challenge was over, Mendoza went with the rest of the procession to the Summit Temple to watch as the first five Golden Spheres were set into place within the mountain's obelisk before proceeding to the observatory to observe the remaining Challenges. As Jack and Vargas began their fight, Mendoza commented that it was unfortunate to have three of the Kingdom of Land's Champions survive the Games so long only to end up fighting one another. When Iolanthe asked Mendoza his opinion on who would win, Mendoza was certain it would be Vargas, giving the sign of the cross for Jack when it appeared he would be killed. Ultimately, however, Jack came out on top of the fight against Vargas and soon won the entire Great Games.
Mendoza and the Royals soon went back to the Summit Temple in order to watch Orlando receive the Mysteries while the Hydra galaxy was diverted. However, when the minotaurs suddenly turned against the Four Kingdoms, Mendoza and the Royals quickly fled down to the helipad in order to try and escape. Mendoza managed to avoid the ensuing carnage and left the Underworld with Orlando and a few of Orlando's surviving people.
When Hades, who had decided to join forces with Jack, learned that Orlando and Mendoza had survived, he quickly deduced that they would be preparing to make for the Three Secret Cities in preparation for the next trial.
The Three Secret Cities[]
A few days leaving the Underworld, Orlando and Mendoza hired Sunil "Sunny" Malik to assist them in locating the Immortal Weapons needed to ensure the Trial of the Cities was fulfilled. Because one of the Immortal Weapons, the Helmet of Hades, was known to be held by Hades, Mendoza accompanied Orlando and Sunny to New York to obtain it and see if there were any other artefacts that might prove important.
Upon arriving at Anthony's penthouse, Mendoza entered the vault with Orlando and Malik, where they claimed the Helmet. As Orlando already possessed the Sword of the Rock, they needed only to find The Trident of Poseidon, to which Sunny noted the beliefs the Trident resided in Poseidon's tomb somewhere near Atlas. While Mendoza suggested that Sphinx might know where the tomb was hidden and would gladly assist, Orlando was less than thrilled by the idea. Mendoza then used a device made to translate the Word of Thoth to decode a tablet belonging to the Altar of the Cosmos, deducing that they were the first of the Mysteries meant to provide the order of the Cities.
Mendoza joined Orlando, Malik and Chloe Carnarvon in heading to the Hall of Royal Records at St. Michael's Mount to gather any information that Iolanthe might have kept there. After retrieving a few documents, Mendoza and the others departed, unknowingly observed by Mae Merriweather, Zoe West and Julius Adamson.
Orlando, Mendoza, Chloe and a number of Swiss Guards the Cardinal brought with them soon arrived at Thule, and after being greeted by Bjorn, they made their way the antechamber where the diamond altar the trial was initiated at awaited. Unaware that Orlando was prematurely initiating the defences of all the Cities, Mendoza watched with anticipation as the King of Land implanted the Sword in the altar and opening Thule's Great Avenue. After Mendoza guided their way through the booby-trapped triple archways, the group arrived at Thule's entrance. With that, Orlando left Mendoza and his Swiss Guards to empower the Sword and departed.
Not long afterwards, however, as Mendoza and his Guards tried to figure out the best way down to the City's vault, the Bronze Guardians emerged from their silver coffins. As soon as the Cardinal heard the 300-strong collective voices of the Guardians, he ordered his men to hurry. Upon reaching a cupola on the bridge, however, they found their way barred opposed by the Silver Guardians. Trapped between the two sets of Guardians and unable to contact with Orlando for assistance due to seismic interference, Mendoza ordered his guards to take on the Silver Guardians in order to continue, however nothing they did had any effect on the automatons, and after three days he was left with only three Guards.
Mendoza was stunned when Stretch and Pooh Bear appeared, and did nothing to stop the former from taking the Sword from him before they stepped up to face the Silver Guardians. Shocked when they narrowly succeeded where all of his men had failed, Mendoza merely nodded when Pooh Bear demanded he treat Stretch's wounds. By the time Pooh Bear returned with the empowered Sword, however, Mendoza and his remaining Swiss Guards threatened to kill Stretch unless he handed over the Sword. Pooh Bear was disgusted with the Cardinal for threatening his friend after they had helped them, but tossed the Sword to Mendoza. Letting Stretch go, Mendoza stated that he served a higher power and to be glad he didn't kill them. before departing with the Weapon.
With the Trial almost completed, Mendoza used a supersonic military jet to speed his way to the Altar of the Cosmos within the Rock of Gibraltar, where Sphinx, Orlando and the new Kings waited to perform the sacrificial ritual. After he and Chloe arrived, they gave their respective Weapons to Sphinx, before receiving word that the Sagittarius A-star was cresting the sun to allow it's radio waves to pass through Earth. As Orlando gloated about restoring order to the Four Kingdoms, Sphinx stabbed him with the Sword, the moment for his coup having finally come, with Mendoza quickly drawing a pistol and shooting Caldwell and Xi from behind.
Though the mortally wounded Orlando cried out for Mendoza and Chloe to help him, the Cardinal merely stared at the man who had nearly doomed them all with his many mistakes. As Sphinx revealed that Mendoza and Chloe had long been in his employ, Mendoza iterated his belief that Orlando was unprepared for what was required to see the trials through. With that, Mendoza watched as Sphinx proceeded to complete the Trial by stabbing Lily in the heart with the Sword. With the Oracle's death, the Trial of the Cities was successfully completed, and soon after Sphinx, Mendoza and the rest of the 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 appeared and shot Sphinx in the shoulder, only to be gunned down himself. Mendoza quickly moved to check on his master's well-being, and then watched as Sphinx had the mortally wounded Alexander take Lily's place in the sacrificial pool and be stabbed with the Sword of the Rock to fulfill the Trial of the Cities. When text inthe Word of Thoth began glowing in response to the trial's completion, Mendoza used his translation program to reveal the text describing the next step in the ancient trials, and when Sphinx put on the Emperor's Ring, Mendoza prostrated himself before his emperor. After Mendoza confirmed that Father Rasmussen was preparing the first iron mountain for his arrival and that their other preparations were ready, Sphinx announced that he wanted to obtain the Siren bells. While this concerned Mendoza, he yielded to Sphinx's determination, yet spat at the idea of confronting the women of the Order of the Serene Maidens.
Over the next few weeks after the ceremony, Mendoza was present as the Trismagi freed Yago DeSaxe and the Vandals from the Royal Prison of Erebus, and assisted Sphinx as he and his entourage began consolidating his newly-acquired resources from the Four Kingdoms and prepared for the Trial of the Mountains.
Mendoza was among Sphinx's retinue as they invaded the Novodevichy Convent to acquire the Siren bells, and soon joined Sphinx as they headed to Rome to collect the Vatican globe and the Church's notes on the Orphean bell. Once they'd arrived, the Pope praised Mendoza for his work on the Church's behalf, however, Sphinx and Mendoza donned protective earphones before having a Siren bell rung in the middle of the city. As everyone else began falling into the siren sleep, Sphinx executed the Pope and then proceeded to give the papal ring to the appreciative Mendoza, fulfilling the promise Sphinx had made to make him the Pope.
Mendoza was then sent ahead to the first mountain at Mont Saint-Michel to assist the advance team in their final preparations before Sphinx's arrival. While at the Mont, Rasmussen took every opportunity to suck up to Mendoza in the hope of impressing his superior. Once Sphinx finally arrived, Mendoza reported that they were ready. After counting down the time until the Fall, the new Pope watched Sphinx successfully undertake the Fall, and once the Trismagi had returned, Mendoza embraced him in congratulations. As Sphinx prepared to leave for the Supreme Labyrinth, Mendoza asked if he would like Dion to do the Fall as well as a backup should any of Sphinx's adversaries get into the ancient maze before confirming that he of course still had Imhotep's notes on the Labyrinth with him. After watching the execution of Hades, Mendoza then departed with Sphinx and Chloe as the bronzemen were sent after Iolanthe and Jack.
Once again sent on ahead of Sphinx, Mendoza headed to the gates of the Supreme Labyrinth to make the final preparations, and while awaiting his master's arrival shaved his hair off to reveal the clues to the ancient maze should they need them. When Sphinx did arrive, Mendoza led him to the Emperor's gate, and began preparing to head into the Labyrinth along with the rest of Sphinx's Labyrinth team. Mendoza pontificated his honour at being able to serve the Trismagi for the momentous occasion, though Sphinx gave him no response. Once Sphinx opened the gate to the Emperor's Route, Mendoza warned that it would be a full day before the outer gates fully closed, and with that, Mendoza and the rest of the group joined Sphinx as he made his way into the ancient maze.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
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 so they hurried to maintain their lead and reach the Throne of Life first. With the knowledge he had gained from Imhotep's clues, Mendoza was able to guide Sphinx through the Endless Tunnel to the entrance of the City-Maze with ease.
As the City-Maze starting rising to the Labyrinth's surface point, Mendoza used his notes to start guiding the way to the Castle of the Throne of Life, and when Jaeger Sechs asked why they didn't call in a helicopter to take them directly to the castle, the Cardinal responded that only one who had properly navigated the maze could ascend the throne. As they neared the summit, Mendoza waited at the base of the pinnacle while Sphinx ascended to the Throne of Life, but was shocked as Jack used a destroyer's cannon to destroy the throne. When Sphinx rejoined Mendoza, the pair realised that their only chance now lay in reaching the Throne of Death further within the Labyrinth first, and ran to reach the entrance at the base of the castle, only to find themselves now behind General Garthon Rastor and his remaining men.
After several hours, Mendoza and Sphinx came across the Four-Sided Maze and began attempting to navigate it without any rest. However this, a lack of numbers to help plot their path, and the timing of their wall's rotations slowed their progress, with Jack's ultimately coming out ahead of Mendoza and Sphinx. When they did escape the Four-Sided Maze, Mendoza and Sphinx fired on Zoe, Lily and Alby Calvin while they grieved Jack's apparent demise, and were able to pass them and start climbing the Tower of Judgement. Knowing the nature of the next challenge, Mendoza remained on top of the Tower while Sphinx ascended in the cage to the Chamber of Judgement, prepared to make his own way up once Sphinx was through.
When Zoe, Lily and Alby arrived at the top of the Tower, Mendoza held them at gunpoint with his rifle, and the Cardinal snorted at Zoe's suggestion that Sphinx had left him behind. As the golden cage returned, Mendoza stepped onto it and prepared to fire, but was caught off-guard when the still-alive Jack reappeared, took his rifle and used it to knock the Cardinal unconscious. Jack chose to travel up in the cage first, though he didn't bother to remove Mendoza from the cage, and so he ended up ascending with the Australian to the Chamber of Judgement.
When the cage stopped before the Gold Colossus, the consciousness within the giant gold statue began probing both Mendoza's and Jack's minds, rousing the startled Cardinal due to the unexpected telepathic contact. As it asked who they were, Mendoza tried to conceal his thoughts from the colossus, however the ancient consciousness quickly saw the truth in that he was a deceitful man who gave others false hope, telling him he was unworthy and would thus die. Though Jack had assumed the voice in his head was addressing him, he quickly realised the truth when he saw Mendoza convulsing beside him in pain as the colossus assaulted his mind, and the Cardinal swiftly died as his eyes exploded and ears bled profusely.
When the cage arrived in the chapel before the Stadium of the Throne of Death, Jack used Mendoza's body to protect himself from Rastor's sniper fire, and left his corpse where it was as the cage descended back down.
Personality[]
.
Skills[]
- Expert Historian: As one of the highest-ranking members of the Catholic Church, Mendoza has been taught many things regarding the true history of mankind. His knowledge regarding the Four Legendary Kingdoms and the Super-Ancients' trials has led to him becoming the Kingdom of Land's chief advisor, and he is the leading expert on the Trismagi. As a result of being the leader of the Omega Group, Mendoza has also been entrusted with the secrets to the Supreme Labyrinth, with the clues even being tattooed onto his scalp.
- Trained Marksman: Mendoza has apparently been trained in using pistols, as he was able confidently hold Stretch as gunpoint, and expertly executed the Kings of Sea and Sky.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
- Sword of the Rock: One of the Immortal Weapons needed to empowered at Thule, which Orlando left to Mendoza to empower at Thule. Though it was taken from him by Stretch and Pooh Bear when he failed to do so, he forced the latter to hand it back over by threatening the injured Stretch's life. He later gave the Sword to Sphinx at the Altar of the Cosmos to use in the sacrificial ceremony.
- Pistol: A handgun that Mendoza carried during the mission at Thule, using it to threaten Stretch's life and to execute Kings Caldwell and Xi.
- Steyr AUG: An assault rifle that Mendoza carried with him through the second half of the Supreme Labyrinth, and which he used to threaten Zoe, Alby and Lily on top of the Tower of Judgement.
Other Equipment[]
- Word of Thoth Translator: A device which Mendoza developed and perfected to translate the Word of Thoth's written language, although how he did so is unknown when all previous attempts by others to build translators failed. He used it to translate the symbols on the Altar of the Cosmos tablet within seconds, and later the text in the Altar of the Cosmos related to the Trial of the Mountains.
- Papal Ring: The ring belonging to the head of the Catholic Church, which Sphinx took after killing the Pope and gave to Mendoza as a token of proof of his promise to make Mendoza the head of the Church in his regime.
Trivia[]
- Mendoza mistakenly believes that Jack killed de Piero by throwing him into a jet engine. It was Judah who actually killed del Piero, while Judah was the one Jack threw into the engine. Mendoza likely received the wrong information, and Jack doesn't attempt to correct Mendoza either.
- Along with Dion DeSaxe and Chloe Carnarvon, Mendoza has among the highest number of appearances of any antagonist throughout Reilly's novels, appearing in four novels (although only Mendoza and Dion had antagonistic roles through all four of their appearances, while Chloe's debut appearance was only akin to a cameo).
- Additionally, Mendoza was also mentioned in the novel preceding his first actual appearance (The Five Greatest Warriors).